We were pushing deeper into the bottom of this super creepy valley, exploring and trying to move forward. I couldn't help but think, "What a creepy place!"

Suneo was walking along, trembling a little, and he said, "Is this really the Land of the Dead Spirits?" Looking around at the eerie surroundings, Doraemon added, "Let's hurry and climb up the cliff on the other side!"

We all picked up our pace right away.

But when we got to the cliff on the opposite side, there was this massive rock formation that looked like a huge skull, glowing with this weird white light. The enormous skull was even making a faint, humming buzz.

"Ah!" Shizuka saw it and instinctively hugged me tightly—I felt my face get a bit warm, but I tried to stay cool. Suneo, still trembling, said, "Weird glow, and weird sounds. There must be dead spirits here!"

Suddenly, these white eerie glows flew out from inside the massive skull.

"Ah! The dead spirits are coming this way!" Suneo yelled and started running backward. I facepalmed—man, all that training still isn't working out for him! But I get it; this whole scene would be pretty terrifying if you didn't know what was really going on beforehand.

I just used my telekinesis to disperse those flying white lights that looked like ghosts, and I grabbed a clump of the white light back with my powers.

"Look, these are just things that look like bugs," I called out to the others who were trying to run away. Doraemon looked at the white bug in my hand and suddenly realized, "Huh? These are like tiny mosquitoes, but their bodies are covered in glowing fungi." Suneo, still a bit shaken, said, "Oh, so that's it! They don't seem scary anymore?"

"In that case, the dead spirits' sounds are probably the same, right? They can be explained scientifically!" Suneo, who had been such a coward just moments ago, climbed up onto the rocky skull like he was trying to prove himself. Then, he got sprayed with white steam and scalded, yelling in pain. We all rushed to check if he was okay.

He suddenly shouted, "I get it! This area is all volcanic terrain, so steam vents up from underground, causing these rocks full of holes to resonate. It's the same principle as blowing a flute." Gian suddenly hugged Suneo tightly. "Suneo, not bad at all!"

Suneo said embarrassedly, "Oh, no, not at all!"

But just as things were starting to relax, we heard clapping sounds from atop the skull. We all looked up in confusion, following the sound. There was the Dog Prince—he'd somehow run up there and was clapping. "Impressive, truly worthy of the heroes I chose!"

To our shock, he actually spoke. This was the first time I'd seen a non-human creature talk, and even though I already knew about it, I was still a bit surprised.

Doraemon stepped forward to question him, shielding us behind him and watching vigilantly. "You're the one who guided us here, right? Who exactly are you?"

The Dog Prince said as he stood up and walked down toward us, "I have no intention of harming you. Actually, I should have explained earlier—I'm asking for your help!"

But aside from Doraemon, Shizuka, and me, who were listening seriously, Suneo and Gian were being total clowns. "A dog that can talk and even stand up?"

"What breed is this? It's so white, probably not a mutt—must be purebred!"

"This adventure is totally worth the ticket price! Seeing such a rare breed."

Doraemon, Shizuka, and I just listened and were speechless!

The Dog Prince ignored their chatter and continued, "But I thought you might not believe what I said, so I decided to guide you here to see for yourselves. Actually, I am the 108th prince of the kingdom of Bauwanko, Prince Kuntakku. Thanks to all of you, I've finally made it back here after some circumstances took me to your country!"

Doraemon said in surprise, "You're a prince?" Suneo finally stopped clowning around and asked, "Then what about that giant statue projection?" The prince explained, "Oh, that! I projected it using the gem on my neck. It's a statue of Bauwanko the 1st, who founded the kingdom." As he spoke, he demonstrated the giant statue projection. Suneo suddenly understood—turns out that thing like a holographic camera wasn't one of Doraemon's gadgets!

He'd thought the gem on the dog's neck was something Doraemon and I had put on it. He even wondered why I'd give such an expensive gem to a dog.

Gian unconsciously thought of good food and asked, "So, is your kingdom really prosperous?"

Prince Kuntakku shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, it's not like that. I'll explain the details as we walk."

He beckoned us to follow him.

The others instinctively looked at Doraemon and me.

"Should we go with him?"

I pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Let's just follow him. We're heading to find the giant statue anyway, right? The so-called Great Demon Realm should be ahead!" Doraemon patted his chest confidently.

"With me and my gadgets here, there won't be any problems!" Seeing that, everyone felt reassured and followed along.

We left the Orodorolon Valley and walked along an underground river channel. Prince Kuntakku explained as he walked, "There's only one path to the kingdom, and that's this underground cave. The water in this river flows out from the kingdom's lake." He also described a whole kingdom made up of dogs. Doraemon exclaimed, "A kingdom of dogs—it's really hard to believe!"

The prince replied, "Actually, I was just like you. Before I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe there was a world belonging to humans. It might have been caused by a massive crustal shift millions of years ago! Part of the land sank, isolating us from the outside world. In the outside world, monkeys evolved into humans; here, it's the ancestors of dogs."

Suddenly, as we walked, the path ahead ended, leaving only a raging river. Prince Kuntakku looked at the turbulent river and said helplessly, "This is one of the reasons I couldn't return to the kingdom." Doraemon wasn't flustered at all.

"This is easy!" He pulled out a boat from his fourth-dimensional pocket. We all wondered if the boat would get swept away, but he said, "It's the Reverse Boat—it can go upstream!"

He called us aboard, revved it up fiercely, and we charged into the raging river. The Reverse Boat swam faster and faster in the turbulent waters until finally, a white light from the cave exit appeared ahead. We passed through the exit and finally reached the surface.

Advanced chapter here: p-atreon.com/Sajaboyzzz

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