Seeing that Danny had already climbed more than a dozen meters, Xia You wasted no more time. Using both hands and feet, he began climbing as well.
Although Navel Volcano looked intimidatingly tall, once Xia You truly put aside his distractions and focused on tackling it, he actually felt calmer.
His movements were a little clumsy, and he was not as nimble as Danny, but his strategy was to proceed steadily, one foothold at a time, without making any mistakes.
Besides, with Haunter secretly protecting him, he did not have to worry about falling to his death if he lost his footing.
Just then, amid the rumble of the tracks beside him, Sabrina rode past in a cable car, heading for the summit.
Xia You turned to look and saw her waving gently at him through the cable car's window.
"Keep going. I'll wait for you at the summit."
Although it was only a simple word of encouragement, Xia You was instantly filled with enthusiasm. With every move upward, he seemed to have an endless supply of strength!
And after his initial awkwardness, he actually began catching up with Danny!
The distance between them kept shrinking until they were climbing side by side.
More than twenty minutes later, when they reached the mountainside's halfway point, Danny stopped and suggested taking a break.
Xia You still had plenty of stamina and had wanted to push straight on to the summit, but Danny was the professional, after all. After some thought, he decided to follow his advice.
"Phew..."
Sitting down heavily on a flat rock, Xia You let out a long breath and gazed into the distance.
A few white clouds drifted beside them, moving slowly with the breeze. They were so close that it seemed he could reach them with the