The Goblins outside the city were insignificant in Malin’s eyes, but the mention of humans from their mouths piqued his curiosity, and this information astonished Jason and his group — given the catastrophic conditions in North America brought by Nagoth’s passage, it was surprising that some humans had survived. So Jason specially sent a projection over — it was his last functional backup body. Although the satellite factory could produce new ones, the scarcity of materials emphasized the significance of this backup body. He would personally lead a team of Elf Rangers westward to investigate. Considering they used four-wheel drive motorcycles and had satellite and drone support overhead, the threat of ambush in America’s East was minimal. Furthermore, Malin was capable of rescuing, so after giving them the communicator, Malin let them proceed. If they were lucky, they might discover human settlements, possibly even towns or kingdoms. Given that satellites hadn’t frequently passed over the East before (in Jason and his group’s perception, all North American humans had perished around six months after the Great Catastrophe, with a few survivors briefly howling on public distress channels before falling silent.), perhaps there really were some survivors after all. Malin handed this task over to Jason, along with Bei Luo for satellite reconnaissance support, and returned to camp. The whole battle was far less thrilling than Malin’s directional teleportation, although Malin didn’t mind. However, to the Mages and Sorcerers who followed, it was an entirely different story — even as a mortal deity on land, the teleportation channel Malin summoned was too unadornedly robust. After all, teleportation channels rely heavily on their coordinates, any mishap could either end up in the Bottomless Abyss or on the granite layer; the former likely results in utter annihilation, while with the latter, one can only hope someone later excavates them during planetary remodeling. Having merely a glimpse through his falcon, he fixed the channel on the small platform atop the ruins, how could he ensure the platform’s stability? Ultimately, these Immortal Masters and Mages could only regard it as a minor divine trick — for mortals indeed couldn’t accomplish all this in mere tens of seconds. Malin couldn’t care less what the squad members thought, he was busy with matters, and upon hearing Malin and their operation plan, the person in charge produced a more detailed map. Heading north from here, the present Chesapeake Bay had transformed immensely, certain routes became even more perilous. The Ranger reconnaissance teams were departing from the small harbor north of the camp, heading north to the opposite shore, where a city ruin named ’Newport News’ was identified through search. Advancing further north, Rangers established a route reaching Yorktown, where the Elves constructed their first new camp owing to the repaired bridge, despite its dilapidation. With this bridge, the Elves could bypass the southern dangerous Dark Zone of Chesapeake Bay — the fish spirits here were immense and strong, notorious for capsizing Elf ships; twenty elves were lost during the first visit due to these fish, which reportedly were inedible as they contained a complete, exaggerated set of elemental compositions. Elves previously employed some Goblin laborers, who, indulging their greed, ate the fish and perished en masse, suffering significant losses. "How to proceed after crossing the bridge?" Onor was curious as the person in charge had overturned their previously prepared route map. "There are two routes. One goes north along the ancient roads, passing through Gloucester, then proceeding northeast after crossing a small bridge south of Saluda. The other route goes east after the small bridge and heads north across a large bridge before reaching Deltaville’s three-way intersection." "What’s the difference between the two pathways?" Gold asked. "The former one leads closer to the Stafford transfer area, but the journey is fraught with ruins, particularly the northwest Richmond City, a sprawling city teeming with spirit different kinds, extremely perilous. The latter route, though longer, traverses forested areas, where a Leopard Spirit community we contacted will guide us directly to Stafford, circumventing threats." "Under normal progression speed, where would be the last rest stop before reaching Stafford?" Malin asked. "At Saluda, Lord Malin, there we have a safe zone maintained by our Tree Spirit friends." said the person in charge: "From there, we must reach Stafford within three days as supplies are limited." "Regarding route selection, after reaching Saluda, I’ll personally explore the first option, then decide which path to take. Now, explain what we should do upon arriving in Stafford." "Two roads exist. One goes along ancient roads, highly dangerous, lined with discarded ancient chariots, undead souls appear only at night, rendering ancient roads the most hazardous route. Our reconnaissance team on their first northern expedition would’ve perished without mages worshipping the Moon Goddess." Through the introduction by the person in charge, Malin learned that indeed this reconnaissance team was fortunate, as nighttime did not instantly spawn the undead, but once the moon rose, they congregated thickly. Without the Moon Goddess’s prayers driving away the souls, and favorable weather that night, the reconnaissance team danced with ghosts the whole night, and fortunately, all those selected for North America were Elite, none went mad.