The volcanic archipelago was only a few hundred kilometers from the coast of the Southern Continent. With just a short pair of Vortex Transmissions, Byron brought The Golden Deer to the coastal waters of the continent.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...

The torrential rain from the skies continued to pour relentlessly. At the junction of sky and sea, only a vast expanse of white rain curtain was visible, with waves surging one after another below the ship.

The hydrological environment near the coastal seabed was extremely complex. Navigating carelessly could result in a ship hitting a reef, a shallow bank, or a sandbar temporarily submerged by the rising tide. Invisible assassins of navigation were everywhere.

This was precisely the purpose of the Nautical Charts drawn by generations of Navigators; the safety of sailboats could only be guaranteed when they navigated within fixed routes.

As a vanguard arriving in unfamiliar waters, they could only rely on themselves.

Navigator Delia’s expression tightened. The flame in the Whale Oil Lantern in her hand shone brightly, sending out invisible ripples. These ripples transmitted all nearby hydrological information directly into the heart of Bruh, who was at the helm. In her other hand, she held the No.10 Crystal Skull, the "Southern Goddess," which Byron had just found in the Chasm Trench. With it, they needn’t fear even the most complex underwater environment.

The No.4 Crystal Skull, "Rain God," caused the torrential rain to automatically avoid the Warship, keeping the deck of The Golden Deer perpetually dry.

"Eh? Captain, look, there’s a tribal village here?"

Sailing southward close to the continental coastline, they stumbled upon a village by the coast in a crescent-shaped bay that seemed to consist of about a hundred households.

The village looked sizable, although it clearly had just been settled recently. The houses were still very crude, mere shacks made of branches and palm leaves, without even a single slightly more luxurious stone building in sight.

On the shore, several lean indigenous men were repairing houses amid the sudden tempest. Their skin was noticeably darker than that of the Aztec, the Taino People of the Taya Empire, and the Quechua People who founded the Sun Empire, with a faint hint of blue-black.

In the middle of the village stood a very tall Totem Pole that was evidently ancient. It seemed to share the same lineage as the Bantaan Archipelago, with a ferocious hammerhead shark with bright red jaws perched at the very top, signifying the Guardian Spirit. In the Spiritual Vision, it formed a vast deep blue domain, shielding the tribe from other Evil Spirits and Bizarre intrusions.

So the Southern Continent, like the Bantaan Archipelago, has many small tribes besides the two great empires of the Aztec and Taya. Overall, even these small tribes seem much stronger than our kin on the Bantaan Archipelago. The strength of their Guardian Spirits is probably between the Third and Fourth Orders. However...

Violet, acting on the instincts of her Night Demon form, sniffed the air before continuing, "These people share the same bloodline as our Taino People, but their bodies seem to be mixed with something else; they are no longer purely Human."

Byron, who had reached the same conclusion, turned to Prince Atahualpa. The prince, despite some sighs, was in quite good spirits, having "struck a great bargain" in their trade. Byron felt fortunate to have a Fourth Order Mythical Creature as a guide immediately upon arriving in this new territory on the Southern Continent. This was far better than the other colonizers who were scurrying around like headless flies.

Upon seeing this tribal village, which had seemingly relocated near the Sun Empire only recently, Atahualpa deeply furrowed his brow. He considered their next steps from his perspective as Governor of Chinchasuyu, all while not forgetting to clarify his companions’ doubts. Instead of answering directly, he first asked a question: "His Majesty, the Lord of Heaven, I wonder if you have ever heard of the forbidden knowledge, the ’Book of the Beast Kinship’?"

Upon hearing this familiar name, Byron’s heart stirred. He suddenly recalled something. Yet he answered candidly, "Of course, I know of this forbidden knowledge. Because more than a thousand years ago, it was the founder of the Taya Empire, the Heavenly God Itzamna, who first received Divine Inspiration and learned this knowledge from the Mother of Monsters·Echidna, and then spread it among all Taino People. The entire Transcendent System of the Bantaan Archipelago, the ’Beast Spirit Warrior,’ was built upon this knowledge. Moreover, the most complete ’Book of the Beast Kinship’ (Volume One) is right here with me."

He gestured towards his head—which was also home to the No.1 Crystal Skull, [Lord of Heaven], and the countless ancestral Dead Souls sleeping in the Mount Flower Heavenly Kingdom. "All Beast Spirit Warriors who believe in [Lord of Heaven] can receive his blessings and inherit a portion of the Power from those ancestors who have become incarnations as various plants and are now in slumber on Flower Mountain."

Atahualpa had not expected such an unexpected connection. After a moment of surprise, he continued, "Now it’s much simpler to explain. We natives, whom the pale-skinned barbarians call ’savages,’ likely all originated from the same tribe in ancient times. The original Hundred Beasts Paradise, the Shattered Isles, and the Bantaan Archipelago were likely all connected, forming a single intact continent (Chapter 354). The difference was that after the continent fractured, geographically isolated from each other, we each obtained different knowledge. You of the Bantaan Archipelago have the first volume, while our Hundred Beasts Paradise has the second volume. The second volume contains descriptions of the first volume, and the difference between the two is that the first volume belongs to Humans, while the second belongs to the other kind—the myriad peculiar Nature Spirits!"