On the other side of the island, whether it was Doraemon and Nobita's group, or Gian and Suneo's group, or even the team formed by the people of the Wind Village—
None of them had found even the slightest clue about the Lan Tribe, the Sealed Sword, or the whereabouts of the Mafengka Beads.
If not for the fact that the Wind Village elder was a highly respected senior back home, they would've started doubting whether the old man's memory had become unreliable with age.
This place might really be Dragon-Jaw Island, but the Sealed Sword and the third Mafengka Bead seemed to be nowhere near here at all.
It would be one thing if they simply failed to find the sword and the bead.But on this entire island, there wasn't even a trace of anyone ever having come here.
If the Sealed Sword and the Mafengka Bead were truly hidden somewhere on this island, the Lan Tribe should have arrived long ago and made some sort of move.
Yet now the entire place was silent—completely still.
It felt like they had arrived at an ordinary, deserted island.
The only unusual thing about this island was the massive active volcano at its center, one that looked like it could erupt at any moment.
Forget the Lan Tribe for a moment—after all this searching, even Lin Feng himself was starting to doubt whether they'd come to the wrong place.
Logically speaking, as long as the Lan Tribe hadn't shown up, the Sealed Sword and the three Mafengka Beads should definitely be on this island.
But Lin Feng had already searched every corner of the volcano crater.
Not only that—he'd even sent Fengzi and Xiaohei out to help search.
Fengzi was naturally delighted. With a cheerful series of "fwoosh~! fwoosh~! fwoosh~!" he shot off into the air to investigate.
Xiaohei, on the other hand, was quite unwilling, but in the end he caved under Lin Feng's oppressive authority and reluctantly joined the search.
But even with both of them helping, the end result was still the same—
Absolutely nothing.
Everyone had reached the same conclusion:
This island was just a damn deserted island—a place where no one had set foot for a very, very long time!
Other than the volcano and some native animals and plants, there was nothing even remotely related to what Lin Feng and the others were looking for.
Could something unexpected have happened? Some unforeseen change?
After circling the entire area and finding no clues, a faint but uneasy feeling rose in Lin Feng's chest.
Others might suspect that the elder from the Wind Village had simply gotten old and misremembered things.
But Lin Feng—someone who knew the original story—knew very well that this wasn't the case.
The legends were real, the history of the Wind Village was real, and the ancient great flood had detailed records.
And back then, the Wind Tribe's leader, Noah, did defeat the wind monster Mafengka and did use the Sealed Sword to pierce one of the Mafengka Beads, sealing it here on Dragon-Jaw Island.
"Now that we can't find the Mafengka Bead or the Sealed Sword… what should we do next…?"
Shizuka looked around at the empty cavern—nothing but volcanic rock—and turned toward Lin Feng.
Lin Feng's expression had grown more serious than ever before.
He was trying to figure out where things had gone wrong.
Before coming to Dragon-Jaw Island, he had felt relaxed, almost casual, because he always had the sense that he held the entire situation in the palm of his hand.
It was like playing a game while holding the walkthrough guide—nothing to stress over.
But now, things were different.
The plot had twisted. An unforeseen change had appeared.
And it had completely caught Lin Feng off guard.
The worst part was, after all this searching, they not only failed to find the Sealed Sword and the Mafengka Bead—
They also hadn't found any traces of the Lan Tribe.
Could it be that the Lan Tribe never came here at all?
That they weren't the ones who took the Sealed Sword and the Mafengka Bead?
All of this suddenly made what was supposed to be an easy, straightforward story mission…far more complicated.
"No matter what, let's head back and regroup with Doraemon and the others. There's no point staying here."
Truthfully, Lin Feng still held onto a bit of hope.Maybe Doraemon's group had found a clue somewhere.
In the original story, the Mafengka Bead and the Sealed Sword were indeed placed near the volcano crater.
But earlier, while passing through the dense forest, Lin Feng had noticed that quite a number of wild monkeys lived on this island.
Maybe some overly curious monkey thought the shiny objects looked fun and stole the Sealed Sword and Mafengka Bead from the cave near the crater…
It was unlikely—extremely unlikely.But still not impossible.
"Mm."
Shizuka nodded quietly, not asking further questions.
Soon, the two of them followed the path back the way they came and returned to the shoreline where they'd anchored their boat.
"It's Shizuka and Lin Feng! They're back!"
"Hey—Shizuka, Lin Feng! Did you find any useful clues…?!"
Seeing Lin Feng and Shizuka emerge from the forest and walk toward the boat, Gian cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly.
Beside him stood Suneo, Nobita, and Doraemon.
Judging by their faces, they hadn't found anything either and had returned empty-handed as well.
"Sorry. Lin Feng and I searched the volcano area, but we didn't find anything."
Shizuka apologetically bowed her head a little when she reached them.
"It's fine, it's fine. We're the same—no discoveries at all…"
Doraemon waved dismissively.
Lin Feng had originally intended to ask whether Gian's group found anything, but Doraemon's words already answered that question for him.
Which meant he had to start thinking in an entirely different direction.
"So… doesn't this basically mean that today's entire trip was for nothing…?"
Nobita drooped his head, arms hanging loosely as he muttered in defeat.
And for once—no one could tell him he was wrong.
Suddenly—
A ringing phone broke the silence, instantly making everyone lift their heads.
Curious eyes swept around, searching for the source of the sound.
Very quickly—
All eyes landed on Lin Feng, who had just taken out his phone.
He himself stared at the screen in confusion.
The caller ID clearly displayed—
A call from Manyue Miyako.
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