In the absolute darkness, only the faint panting of three people could be heard.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The surrounding darkness rapidly receded like an ebbing tide, replaced by the morning sun slowly rising in the distance.
The next instant—
Everyone except the Boat Captain collapsed almost immediately. After an entire night of intense mental strain, the other two had finally reached their limits.
Only then—
Did the man leading them get a clear look at the Strange Entity in the crater before him.
It resembled an octopus.
Its limp body lay in a heap, viscous fluid scattered across the ground. It had dozens of tentacles, and beside it lay several Eerie Stones and an Exotic Treasure he did not recognize, shaped like a Token.
He quickly gathered everything from the ground and tucked it into his clothes. Token-shaped Exotic Treasures were usually worth a fortune.
Meanwhile—
A muffled rumble of thunder came from high overhead.
Then!
A Green Rainfall suddenly enveloped the entire Deserted Island. Beneath the verdant Emerald Rain, trees that had withered for who knew how many years seemed to have been watered with the fountain of life, rustling as masses of green leaves rapidly sprouted.
In the blink of an eye—
The entire forest brimmed with greenery. Faint birdsong and the chirping of crickets could even be heard.
And that was not all.
High overhead, the Emerald Rain formed a string of words in the air. They could not read the script, yet they clearly understood its meaning. He had seen this writing before, when the Eternal Night Continent had advanced to a Second-Level Continent.
``` "Rugged Island successfully occupied."
"Occupying faction: Mortal Domain of the Eternal Night Continent."
"Occupier: Zhang Taiping, Boat Captain of Group Seventeen, Mortal Domain Commerce Pavilion, Eternal Night Continent."