[Venture Company]

The scene returned to Stranglethorn Vale.

Tonatiuh had no idea where in Stranglethorn Vale they were. Chromie, that unreliable navigator, had no destination at all. Bringing the team to Stranglethorn Vale was apparently the end of her job.

That made Tonatiuh regret letting Rokhan go. If that native troll were here, he could have served as their guide.

Tonatiuh could only rely on the prayers of Zul'An's followers within the system to estimate Zul'An's general location. After Chromie said they could only wait in Stranglethorn Vale and had no destination for the next step, he had wanted to visit Zul'An. Yet now, he only knew its rough direction, not its exact location.

After a brief discussion, everyone decided to follow Tonatiuh south. Zul'An lay in that direction.

Originally, Tonatiuh had wanted to ride Nergigante with Chromie to Zul'An. They could have arrived quickly that way. However, Chromie refused to keep acting as an airplane. She said she was already exhausted after flying for so long! If they wanted to fly, everyone could squeeze onto Nergigante. In any case, she refused to be an airplane any longer.

As a result...

The team could only head toward Zul'An on foot.

Nergigante refused to let anything without Tonatiuh's scent ride on its back. Not even Tonatiuh's reassurance could change that. It had principles in this regard.

Thus, everyone began walking.

After following the coastline south for a while, the path soon came to an end. Stranglethorn Vale had a long coastline and complicated terrain. Its shores were not all beaches and reefs; there were many other obstacles as well.

For instance, a continuous mountain range lay before them, steep and thick with forests, valleys, and hills. To the team, there seemed to be no trees, valleys, or hills ahead that could guide their