59: Marching under the guidance of star charts

Early the next morning, the mist in the Rainforest was even thicker than by the river, with visibility less than ten meters. The air was damp and cold, and every breath drawn into the lungs carried the fishy-sweet scent of decaying vegetation.

Led by Juan, the team officially entered the jungle behind Eagle Head Rock.

There were no roads—or rather, roads were everywhere and nowhere at once. Juan and another support staff member walked at the front, taking turns using machetes to hack through the vines and shrubs blocking the way, forcibly carving out a path barely wide enough for one person to pass.

Lin Feng held a military-grade compass and a copy of that star chart, constantly confirming directions with Juan. Although the stars weren't visible during the day, he could roughly ensure the team didn't deviate from the planned route by using the azimuth calculated from the star chart in conjunction with the sun's position.

Wang Dalong followed in the middle of the team, carrying heavy photography equipment and stumbling along. Before long, he was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. The ground here was covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves, beneath which lay slippery humus; one wrong step could lead to a fall or a slip into a hollow.

"Brother Feng... this... this path is way too hard to walk..." Wang Dalong leaned against a tree, gasping for air. "I feel like my legs aren't mine anymore. This damn place doesn't even have a decent spot to set foot."

Just as he finished speaking, a support staff member walking ahead of him suddenly let out a short cry of alarm and jumped back.

Everyone immediately stopped and nervously gathered around.

Right where the support staff member had been about to step, beneath a dead leaf camouflaged among the others, sat a spider with eerily vibrant colors. It was as large as an adult's palm, its eight long legs covered in fuzz, and the bright red pattern on its abdomen looked like a ghostly face.

"Brazilian Wandering Spider," Carlos said with a grim expression. "Its venom can kill an adult within hours. Many things here are more lethal the prettier they are."

Wang Dalong's scalp tingled; he felt as if he had just walked past the gates of hell. He immediately distanced himself from that patch of leaves, not daring to step blindly ever again.

Juan didn't speak. He simply used the back of his machete to precisely flick the venomous spider away, tossing it deep into the jungle before continuing to lead the way.

The team's progress was extremely slow. Along the way, Juan relied on his vast experience to help the team avoid one hidden danger after another: green tree snakes camouflaged as vines, poison dart frogs hiding in tree hollows, and countless unknown venomous insects on the ground.

This Rainforest was like a massive, sophisticated death trap, with every step being a test.

Lin Feng maintained a high level of focus throughout. On one hand, he was responsible for navigation; on the other, his danger perception ability was constantly active. Several times, he called the team to a halt before Juan did, acting on a sudden surge of palpitations to avoid potential threats.

This caused Juan and Carlos to look at him with a hint of awe. They couldn't understand how Lin Feng did it, so they could only attribute it to a mysterious 'intuition'.

By evening, the team found a relatively high, level spot to set up camp. Everyone was exhausted to the point of collapse; after a simple meal, most people fell asleep instantly.

Lin Feng, however, felt no sleepiness. He climbed onto a massive rock and took out his binoculars, waiting for the stars to appear in the night sky.

As night fell, the clouds gradually dispersed, and the brilliant galaxy revealed itself without reservation. Without urban light pollution, the Southern Hemisphere's starry sky appeared exceptionally deep and bright.

Lin Feng quickly located Orion and the Southern Cross. He set up a simple goniometer and began performing precise positioning and route calibration according to the methods recorded in Reginald's notes.

Wang Dalong also climbed up and sat beside him, watching Lin Feng skillfully operate instruments he didn't understand.

"Brother Feng, do you think... we can really find El Dorado?" There was a hint of bewilderment in Wang Dalong's voice. "I feel like this is an impossible mission. This forest is too big, and too dangerous."

"We can," Lin Feng's answer was simple and powerful, his eyes never leaving the eyepiece of the goniometer.

"Why are you so sure?"

Lin Feng put down the instrument and turned to look at him, his gaze clear and firm in the night. "Because the clues are all linked. Kidd's Golden Mural, the knowledge in my head, this expedition journal, and that star chart... they all point to the same place. The universe wouldn't arrange so many coincidences unless the truth was right there."

Wang Dalong nodded, only half-understanding. Although he didn't grasp the complex logic, he believed in Lin Feng. Starting from the Qinling Grottoes, Lin Feng had turned the impossible into the possible time and again.

"Alright, anyway, wherever you point, I'll follow," Wang Dalong patted his chest. "But it's a deal—if we really find El Dorado, half the gold inside is mine... no, a third is fine too!"

Lin Feng ignored his nonsense and threw himself back into the surveying work.

Above the starry sky over their heads, in a much higher orbit, a military-grade spy satellite silently streaked across the heavens. Its powerful optical lens could even clearly capture Lin Feng's every move on the rock.

In Osiris's command center, the large screen displayed real-time footage sent back by the satellite, along with Lin Feng's surveying results reconstructed through data analysis.

"He is calibrating the route with extreme precision," the female assistant reported. "According to his surveying results, he will head southeast tomorrow. His target... should be a canyon marked as 'Devil's Throat' on old maps."

"Devil's Throat..." Osiris looked at the label on the map, deep in thought. "An appropriate name. The current there is the swiftest in the entire basin, and the underwater conditions are complex."

"Scorpion Squad reports that three kilometers southwest of the target camp, they have discovered traces of another group. Numbers unknown, well-equipped, and their movements are highly professional."

"Oh?" Osiris's eyebrow arched. "It seems quite a few people have their eyes on this cake. Dispose of them."

"Yes."

"Wait," Osiris called her back again. "Leave one alive to find out who sent them. I'm curious to see who else, besides me, is so interested in 'that thing'."

He redirected his gaze to the screen. On the screen, Lin Feng had finished surveying and was preparing to climb down from the rock.

There wasn't a hint of tension in Osiris's eyes; instead, they held a sense of appreciation. Like a chess player watching an opponent make a brilliant move.

"Lin Feng... you'd better not disappoint me. Faster, just a bit faster... open the door." He whispered to himself, his voice filled with anticipation and an irresistible will.

Meanwhile, in the dense forest three kilometers away from Lin Feng's camp, a fully armed squad was moving silently. They all wore dark green combat fatigues with face paint, blending almost perfectly with their environment.

Suddenly, the member at the very front made a hand signal to stop.

The team instantly dispersed to find cover, their muzzles pointing in all directions.

In the jungle, there was only the rustling of wind through the leaves.

A few seconds later, several nearly inaudible whistling sounds rang out.

The three members at the front of the team slumped to the ground almost simultaneously, black metal crossbow bolts embedded in their necks.

"Ambush!" the captain's roar sounded through the throat communicators, but it was already too late.

In the darkness, several ghost-like figures pounced from trees and bushes, their cold-glinting combat knives precisely and efficiently slitting one throat after another.

It was a silent massacre.

In less than thirty seconds, the battle was over.

The captain of the Scorpion Squad, a burly Caucasian man, stepped over the corpses strewn across the ground and used a tactical flashlight to check the arm of one of the fallen. On that man's arm was a tattoo of a snake and a crown.

"It's the 'Royal Snake' people," he reported in a low voice into his communicator. "They've arrived as well."