Arriving at the foot of the volcano, looking at the mountain from this angle, it was not difficult to see that a section of the Nether Lord's hull was clearly damaged, suggesting it had been attacked while at Sea.
Edwina gazed at that section of the hull and said, "Beyonders of the Death pathway, once they reach demigod status, can Teleport through the Spirit Realm."
Lex glanced at her from the side, thinking to himself: So, the Nether Lord was attacked, and then the demigod on board Teleported it here through the Spirit Realm?
Hmm, someone capable of Teleporting such a large ship might not just be a demigod, but possibly even an Angel.
But if that's the case, what could have made the Nether Lord, with an Angel on board, flee in disarray?
Whatever it was, it must have been an extremely terrifying and powerful entity!
"Captain, look." Danitz pointed to several stone piles at the foot of the mountain; these piles, built from black rubble, each had a charred piece of wood stuck in them.
Some of the wood had golden necklaces hanging from them, others had compasses.
The wood was carved with names in Ancient Feysac, suggesting that these stone piles were graves, burying Adventurers who had reached the Sea Island but died there.
"Valen." Edwina walked past these stone graves. "They should be Valen's companions. It seems they rest here; we shouldn't disturb them."
Danitz nodded, not objecting. He stood up, carrying his Barrel and Iron Skin, and walked towards the stone steps at the foot of the mountain not far away.
Upon reaching the stone steps, Lex realized that each step was very high, only about thirty centimeters wide, and the steps were extremely steep with no railings.
Walking on them, one could easily fall if not careful.
Edwina observed for a moment and then said, "When going up, try to keep your center of gravity low and lean forward as much as possible."
Danitz nodded and climbed the first step. Behind him, the Barrel struggled a bit, and as he climbed, the plump pirate complained, "They should have built the steps wider and gentler!"
The pirates successively ascended the steps, and after walking for a while, they entered a deep, dark tunnel.
Before entering the tunnel, Danitz lit a torch and then motioned for those behind him to wait. He walked into the tunnel, stood still for a moment, and seeing the torch still burning, indicating sufficient oxygen in the tunnel, he then allowed the others to enter.
The tunnel was rugged, and the walls on both sides were not smooth; in some places, it was impossible to walk upright, only to crawl on the ground.
After crawling through a low, narrow passage, Danitz stood up, only to be startled by a skull suddenly appearing in the torchlight.
He jumped to the side, and then the Barrel, who had just managed to squeeze through, also saw the skull upon standing up and immediately shrieked in fright.
"Coward."
Forgetting that he himself had been startled just a moment ago, Danitz chuckled, held the torch closer, and discovered it was a skeleton tightly entwined by withered vines.
The skeleton's hands were bound together and crossed over its chest, and the entire skeleton was embedded in the wall. There were black marks near the wall, which looked like blood.
From the shape and angle of these marks, Danitz drew a conclusion: "Was this guy tied up and embedded in the wall while he was alive?"
"This should be an internal punishment of some primitive tribe."
Standing up with her hunting rifle, Edwina looked at the skeleton and softly said, "It's very possible that a primitive tribe existed on this Sea Island before the Nether Lord arrived."
Such things were not uncommon; across the vast Sea, on those Sea Islands, primitive tribes were once ubiquitous.
With the advent of the colonial era and the armies of various countries setting foot on countless Sea Islands, primitive tribes greatly diminished.
Within these primitive tribes, there were various strange and evil cults, as well as terrifying and gruesome punishments.
Compared to those, being tied up and embedded in a wall to die while alive, as seen here, could even be considered merciful.
They continued to walk, seeing many more similar skeletons, including even those of infants a few months old.
As they walked, Danitz, who was scouting ahead, suddenly stopped, causing the Barrel behind him to crash into him, caught off guard.
"Why did you stop?"
The Barrel, clutching his throbbing nose, looked past Danitz and realized there was no path ahead.
Danitz was also in a daze; in front was an uneven wall, also embedded with two skeletons bound by vines.
The tunnel had such limited space that it was clear at a glance, with no sign of an exit.
"No way, how did we run out of road? Did we miss a hidden fork when we came?" The Barrel felt the wall, then pressed his ear against it, and then said in surprise, "I hear wind; this wall isn't very thick."
Danitz immediately said, "Stand back, I'll blow it up."
"No."
Lex quickly interjected, "We're in a tunnel right now; if anything goes wrong, everyone will be buried alive."
Edwina walked to the wall, looked at the ground, and then squatted down, saying, "Look."
On the ground, in front of the wall, there was a pile of sand and stones, and there were irregular scratches on the ground, clearly indicating that something hard frequently scraped across the surface.
Iceberg Admiral gently patted the lower part of the wall and said, "This might be a door. Try to push it and see."
"I'll do it!" Iron Skin said gruffly. He took a stance, placed his hands on the lower part of the wall, let out a shout, and pushed hard.
A creaking sound immediately came from inside the wall, and the wall also retracted a little.
Seeing that the wall could indeed move, several strong pirates immediately went up to help Iron Skin push.
After a moment, the wall flipped inward, revealing a space about half a person's height.
At once, two pirates, one on the left and one on the right, one in front and one behind, held up their arms from below, propping up the wall to allow their companions to pass.
Once everyone was out, the pirates in the tunnel quickly rolled out, and as the pirates outside let go, the wall slowly flipped back, returning to its original position.
Emerging from the tunnel, they were still on a section of stone steps that extended upwards along the cliff, reaching a cluster of wooden houses and buildings constructed on the mountain face. These structures had supports beneath them, holding them suspended over the cliff.
The pirates cautiously climbed up, hugging the mountain wall, and soon they arrived near a wooden building. It was unknown how many years the building had been abandoned here; the floor was covered with a thick layer of white dust.
When people stepped on it, it made creaking sounds, as if it could collapse at any moment.
Edwina said in a deep voice, "Five people per team. Only one team passes at a time. Once they enter another wooden house, the second team will depart."
This arrangement was made out of concern that too many people entering the wooden building at once would cause the structure to be unable to support the weight and collapse.
Danitz nodded, gestured, and in addition to Iron Skin and the Barrel, he called two more pirates. Then, he tried to lighten his steps as much as possible while passing through the wooden building.
When this small team was halfway through, suddenly, one pirate shrank his neck, stopped, and stood in the middle of the room like a log, refusing to move.