Chapter 693 Earth Navel

"Arnold, Angel, and Ryan, I and I plan to go through the 'umbilical' to explore the unknown area in the dark region. It is indeed risky to do so, but the reward is also greater. Is there anyone willing to follow us? Peer?"

Lowry looked around the crowd and was not surprised to see that no one responded to his invitation. He turned back to Arnold, Angel and Ryan, and said softly, "It's getting late, let's go."

Arnold turned over and straddled the ground lizard, gathered the reins, and after a little hesitation, looked back at Audrey in the crowd.

"Miss Zion, are you going to lead the rest of the people back to the transfer station?"

"No one here needs me to 'lead', and each of us has the right to decide our own itinerary."

Audrey smiled lightly.

"As for myself, I'd rather move on."

"Since you don't plan to turn back now, why not just go with us, and I will protect you." Arnold's eyes were burning, full of expectation.

"Thank you for your attention, Mr. Laval. However, in my opinion, the sword in my own hand is more reliable than accepting the protection of others. Besides, I have three trustworthy teammates by my side, so I don't need to worry about it."

Audrey's refusal was firm but polite.

Arnold's face froze slightly, but he still refused to give up.

"Your teammates can also walk with us."

"Sorry, we're going to go the other way."

"This is not a smart decision! Miss Zion, you lack experience in adventures in the underground world. It will be safer and more rewarding to go with us. Why ask for trouble for face!"

Arnold suspected that Audrey was hiding from him on purpose, and he couldn't help showing anger in his voice.

"You say 'asking for trouble'? That's not necessarily true."

Audrey still had an elegant and charming smile on her lips, but her eyes became cold and sharp.

"Our captain, Hailar, has enough exploration experience, and we also have a mage who is good at surveying terrain in our team."

Audrey glanced at Joan, her eyes full of trust.

"He will lead us to choose a passage to the deep area, and the final harvest may not be less than your team."

"Just because of the little mage who participated in the expedition for the first time?" Arnold smiled disapprovingly, "Miss Zion, if you really have confidence in your team, do you dare to make a bet with me?"

"How to bet?"

"How about seeing who can get more practice points during this expedition?"

"What about the bet?"

"If I win, I hope to have the honor of having dinner with you. If you win, if you have any conditions, just ask."

Arnold looked confident with his arms folded across his chest.

Joan's heartstrings couldn't help but tense.

Judging from Arnold's meaning, it seems that he wants to win Audrey's approval through this bet and accept his pursuit, which is not surprising.

So what kind of bet will Audrey make?

From a common sense point of view, would you ask Arnold to stop pestering her after losing the bet?

In fact, compared to the bet between the two, Joan was even more surprised by his mentality.

Usually, when he encounters such things that have nothing to do with him, he doesn't bother to pay attention to them. Why is he inexplicably nervous today, and his heart is pulled by what decision Audrey will make?

Joan couldn't explain why he had such a weird state of mind, but he was very sure of one thing.

Even if there is no personal grievance between himself and Arnold, deep down in his heart he still doesn't want Audrey to lose to Arnold.

"If I win..." Audrey rolled her sapphire-like eyes and smiled slightly, "I hope that Holden, Joan, and Hyrule can all receive invitations to join the 'Skull Club'."

"Of course it's fine, good luck!"

Arnold flicked the rein, urging the ground lizard to gallop away.

"Hey! Audrey, how can you make up your own mind! I never said that I want to join the 'Skull Society'!"

Hailar was a little emotional.

Audrey put her arms around the female swordsman's waist, smiled sweetly, and her words revealed a temptation that Hailar couldn't resist.

"If you really don't like it, just quit after you join. In this way, you will become the first girl in the history of Midgard University to voluntarily quit the 'Skull Club'."

"It makes sense!"

Hailar nodded approvingly.

...

Walking in the dark Great Rift Valley, you can often see caves, large or small.

The surface of these caves seems to be the same deep and dark, as if leading to the center of the earth, but in fact most of the caves are just a dead end.

There are also some caves, which seem to be deep and tortuous. People in them think that they have been heading underground. In fact, the section of this underground tunnel is a "U"-shaped structure. The explorers unknowingly turned a big bend. Going back to the surface is tantamount to busy work in vain.

Excluding the "dead end" and "U-shaped tunnel", the few remaining caves leading to the "underdark region" are the real "navel".

Explorers in the ancient abyss usually use the topographic map generated by the second ring "surveying technique" to judge whether a certain cave is a real "navel".

However, "mapping" is not always reliable.

The effectiveness of this spell is closely related to the level of the caster. The higher the level of the caster, the larger the range of mapping.

For a level 5 mage, he can map out a map within a radius of 5 miles at most.

If the length of a tunnel exceeds 5 miles, it cannot be fully displayed on the map, and no one knows whether it will hit a dead end if it continues to walk.

In addition, "Surveying and Mapping" also has a shortcoming, that is, it can only generate an inaccurate plan, and can only barely see the general outline of the tunnel.

As for whether the tunnel will pass through water or quagmire, can the narrowest area allow humans to pass through?

These details cannot be seen on the floor plan.

Looking for a safe and reliable "earth umbilicus" through the map largely relies on personal experience and continuous trial and error.

Of all the people who participated in this internship, Arnold had the most expedition experience. In contrast, in Audrey's team, only Hyrule has expedition experience, but he is far from being able to compare with Arnold.

In this situation, Audrey still accepted the gamble proposed by Arnold, and believed that she had a chance to win, and her confidence mainly came from Joan.

Joan can also use the "Surveying and Mapping Technique", but he also has a more efficient method of surveying and mapping, which is to use the magic tool that he got from Cloud City - the navigation compass.

With Joan's current mage level, even if the "mythical mana" is counted, he can only get a rough map within 7 miles of the surrounding area by using the "surveying and mapping technique". map.

The bigger difference is that the "navigation compass" generates a three-dimensional image that can be zoomed in, and the details presented are far richer and more vivid than the two-dimensional planar image.