"Look at this place, it's like a dead calm pond. If it hadn't been for the sunlight reflecting off of it at just the right angle, we probably wouldn't have noticed the reflective surface. Walking in there directly would most likely spell disaster."

"Yeah, it's a good thing we noticed it in time. It turns out this area is quite large. Look, from this point to that point, I estimate it's at least about 20 square kilometers."

"So, this formation must have a certain age. If that's the case, could it be that as time progresses, this swamp will continue to spread to the surrounding areas?"

"Yes, it's very likely. Including the surrounding area, why is it barren? It's because underneath, it's all mud, making it impossible for plants to grow. Gradually, as this swamp keeps expanding, after a few years or even decades, this little island will be completely covered by swamp, and the island will cease to exist."

"No wonder. I figure some expert probably surveyed this place before and determined it wasn't valuable. So, they just temporarily abandoned it as an unnamed Deserted Island."

At this moment, Ye Chen clearly felt that everything here had been anticipated long ago, which is why he hadn't noticed it before.

After hearing Ye Chen's analysis, Anying only nodded in agreement. She didn't have much insight in this regard, but she felt that his analysis seemed quite plausible.

"I guess geologists surveyed this island before and found it worthless. Moreover, as time goes by, this island might slowly sink into the sea and eventually vanish completely."

"Wait a minute, what did you just say? Sink into the sea?"

Anying was just saying it casually, but Ye Chen seized upon it as if he'd seen some hope. He quickly grabbed her hand and asked.

"Yes, gradually becoming a swamp here. And what does a swamp require to exist? Water. Eventually, the sea will engulf everything, and naturally, the island will no longer exist."

"I want to ask you a question. If it really is a swamp, then what's beneath the swamp?"

"Do you even need to ask? Beneath the swamp, it's naturally just more swamp—pools and pools of yellow mud. That's how we can understand it."

"But normally, beneath this island, shouldn't it be water? It should be seawater, right? So why has a swamp suddenly appeared?"

Ye Chen's questioning brought everyone into an awkward situation.

It seemed that everyone realized this was indeed a big issue.

They had never thought about why there would suddenly be a swamp appearing in this place.

And what does the appearance of this swamp signify? Unfortunately, no one could truly explain it all.

"Perhaps there's something hidden deep below this island, preventing it from directly contacting the seawater. If that's true, I can understand it as a long-term crustal fixation motion forming this island, which might be continuously connected to the seabed below."

"If that's the case, then strictly speaking, the sea wouldn't swallow it. Even if it does, it would only temporarily reside beneath the sea surface. Before long, as the water level drops, it should re-emerge above the sea, and the island would appear again."

"Yes, it might undergo such changes every few hundred or thousand years. That's why I think this island has been here for a long, long time. But it has no practical value, which is probably why it's been left here all along."

"Right, I think that's the situation too. Since that's the case, we won't find any valuable clues here. Let's not waste any more time in this unknown swamp."

As he spoke, Ye Chen glanced around. Luckily, although this area was tightly surrounded, there were some small paths on the sides. Even if they took those paths, they wouldn't be hindered at all.

"Let's detour from that side. Since it's difficult to deal with this swamp, we shouldn't waste time here. Let's keep moving forward, besides, it's about to get dark. In the jungle, it gets dark early. We must quickly find a place to shelter, or we'll have to camp outside tonight."

"We really can't camp outside at night. It could be quite troublesome if we do. But don't worry, I brought some tents. If we can't find shelter, we can set up tents and find a sheltered spot to protect ourselves."

After Anying finished speaking, Ye Chen nodded. After all, Anying had prepared everything. Even if they couldn't find a shelter here, at least they had a tent to stay in temporarily.

They continued walking forward, just as they had predicted. After passing through this area of yellow mud, they gradually entered another forest.

However, after entering, it was obvious that they felt uneasy, especially Anying. She hadn't seemed relaxed since they arrived.

As she walked, she kept looking around, feeling that there were many hard objects on the ground. Occasionally she picked something dark up to have a closer look and then tossed it aside.