Chapter 658
Chapter 658
Patrick took out a map of the Strozzi Islands,
He spread the old yellow map on the rock and discussed with others, “…We are on the Barbarian
Island now.”
“According to the message Lucy left us, the palace on the Barbarian Island is equivalent to a mountain
resort for fun.”
Patrick pointed to the central area of the map with his slender finger. “This area is the largest and
busiest island of the Strozzi Islands. This is our destination.”
“…where the owner of Island lives.”
The island in the middle was the lair of the Strozzi family.
Christina was standing at the periphery of the crowd. Although she couldn’t squeeze in, she was still
surprised to hear their discussion.
Her mother, Mary, probably lived there. If it had been as desolate as the Barbarian Island, Mary would
have run away long ago.
The Strozzi Islands mainly consisted of three large islands, with many small islands in the marginal
area, Now, apart from the Barbarian Island in the east, they knew nothing about the Second Largest
Island in the center and the Third Island in the north.
“… We’ve used both coercion and cajolery to ask the Matriarch of the Barbarians for information. But
she didn’t know anything about the other two big islands.”
“Rafael is nowhere to be found. The strongest possibility is that he is now on the Second Largest
Island. Plus, the Elder of the Barbarian Island is also missing.”
The leaders of the Barbarian Island were always female, while the Elders were highly respected men.
“There have been legends of Eight Elders in the Strozzi Islands. In addition to the Elder of the
Barbarian Island, the other seven Elders are likely to be on the Second Largest Island, too.”
… There is no bridge between the Barbarian Island and the Second Largest Island. According to the
map, we have to cross a big river. How deep is this river?”
“We could build a raft to pass over to the other side of the river.”
After the discussion, Patrick folded the map. Gary and the others looked ahead, and their eyes were
filled with both anticipation and uneasiness.
Christina was the only woman in their small team of 17, and she was obviously ostracized. Standing in
a corner,
she was not welcomed to participate in the conversation
* Why should I come with you?” Christina was a little dissatisfied,
“You are the first to find that the vegetation on the riverside is becoming embrowned, and you are
immune to the polluted water.” They spoke in a bureaucratic tone again.
Christina began to suspect that these were just excuses.
“I haven’t told Samba that I’m leaving the Barbarian Island…”
At first she was only told that they were going to carry out a survey in the upper reaches of the river. No
one said anything about leaving the island. Otherwise, she would have said goodbye to Samba. If she
did not go back for a long time, Samba would worry again.
Patrick looked at the river beside him as if he was carefully examining these unleashed breakers, while
others all played dumb, pretending not to have heard her complaints.
Christina knew that it was going to be a long and dangerous journey, so she did not dare to toy with this
great issue. “Won’t it be troublesome to bring me with you?”
Charles turned his back to her and rolled his eyes. God knew that he had been strongly opposing
taking Christina along from the beginning.
But Patrick insisted. What else could the rest of the team do?
“… Why don’t you let Crystal come with you? At least she can cook delicious food for you.” Feeling she
had been tricked, Christina was indignant.
Finally, Patrick retorted calmly, “Crystal is weak and not suitable for this long journey. What’s more, she
has a great natural aptitude for learning languages. Staying here, she can learn the Aboriginal
Language of the Barbarians.”
He was right. In a short time, Crystal had developed higher proficiency in the Aboriginal Language than
Christina.
In other words, Christina was someone of more muscle than brains, which made her well-fitted for this
arduous journey
Christina had no choice but to accept it. The group started to proceed upriver.
Before, Charles and Gary were really worried that Christina would drag them down. This trip is of great
significance and full of danger. Crystal had gone with thern before. Although she tried to hold on, they
could see from her pale face that she was physically exhausted,
Fortunately, although Christina was also a woman, she was not run down so far.
Instead, she walked even faster than the men.
Of course. We all have to carry heavy bags. She’s the only one who travels light.” Patrick had been
carrying her share of luggage
Christina did not know the worries these men had about her.
She had proved with her actual deeds that she was not a burden. After all, she had been with Samba
for so long and had learned the most useful survival skills of the Barbarians.
The journey was full of danger, expectation, uneasiness, and at the same time boredom.
They marched along the river in an orderly manner. The vegetation around big rivers was usually
relatively lush. As they walked, they observed the condition around the river. For example, whether the
water quality had changed, and whether the plants had turned withered.
Christina, on the other hand, picked fruits and leaves as she walked, and sometimes just ate the fresh
fruits with relish.
She also picked up a lot of flexible vines and weaved a soft and dense basket as she walked. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
With her crude craftsmanship, the basket looked really ugly, but it was big, dense, and strong – very
practical.
Christina did not walk in a straight line like the rest of the group did, but ran around like a kid. After a
while, she had picked up so many things that her basket was half full.
Gary and Charles didn’t know what to say. It felt like she was having an outing.
“… I didn’t hold you back.” Christina turned her head and said leisurely.
Seeing a few towering trees 500 meters ahead, she quickened her pace and ran over.
Charles was a little anxious. “Hey, don’t run so fast.” This woman was way too careless. What if there
was something dangerous?
Patrick saw everything and was very calm as if he was herding a sheep.
Christina was agile, like a monkey. She used both hands and feet and shinned up an old tree. The thick
leaves blocked their views, so no one knew what she was doing on the tree.
When they hurried to the big tree, Christina had nimbly elimbed down from the tree. There were more
than 20 eggs in her ugly basket. With dark gray eggshells, these eggs were slightly bigger than goose
eggs.
Onginally, they wanted to scold her, but when they saw the eggs, everyone was surprised
Christina looked as if nothing had happened. She ran to the nver, picked a large leaf that looked like a
lotus leaf,
and covered it directly on her head, just like she was wearing a big green hat.
It looked absurd, but it could act as a great sun helmet.
Charles watched her back. She was walking briskly in front of him, with a big green leaf on her head
and an ugly basket on her back. The basket was stuffed with a lot of messy things. Charles was
helpless with laughter.
Gary and the other men were also chuckling. Christina kept strutting around, not knowing it at all that
she looked funny.
Christina ignored these idiots.
She deeply understood that on this island, attractive personal appearances were completely
superfluous. The only thing necessary was to survive.
Patrick also went to pick a big lotus leaf. When Charles and the others saw his ridiculous look, they all
bit their lip hard to prevent themselves from laughing.