At the border, we didn’t have much trouble crossing to the Nether.
“Welcome back, Detectives Peter and Calvin.” Agent Scott said. “I see you’ve brought two of your friends back to the Nether.”
“Hey there.” Johansson said.
“Listen, Agent Scott, I know the rules state that all humans must return to the Overworld after 24 hours, but Johansson and Beatriz came here to help us with the investigation. They know David Park and will help us find the guy. So, they might stay here for more than 24 hours. Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely, Detective, I will inform the Mayor of your mission, and you will have no problems. I hope you find David Park soon,” Agent Scott said.
“Okay, thank you. We will be on our way.”
“So, here we are in the Nether. Crimson City is down there, passing through the Red Forest. Which is the highest peak in this area?” Johansson looked around. “Aha! Over there!”
He pointed west to the Soul Sand Valley biome which was right across the lava ocean.
“Yes, there is a tall mountain in that direction, but it’s impossible to cross that lava on foot.” I said. “The only way to get there is by taking the path from the Basalt Delta to the south, which takes days. I guess you could use a Strider, but David Park wouldn’t know how to, would he?”
“Well, the guy is an expert with animals. Despite not having much experience with Nether creatures, it wouldn’t take him long to learn how to tame and ride a Strider, trust me,” Johansson said.
“Okay. In that case I have two sailors in mind that might help us.”
We went to the docks. The sailors Henry and Aaron were still there, working as usual.
“Look at that, if it isn’t our favorite Detective Duo.” Henry said.
“They are accompanied by friends today. I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen those faces around here,” Aaron didn’t recognize Johansson and Beatriz.
“Don’t be silly, Aaron. Don’t you remember? These are the Professors who saved the Nether from the Triad Bastion along with the Piglin Menace.” Henry said.
“Oh boy, I haven’t heard that nickname in such a long time,” I said.
“Piglin Menace… hahaha. I remember that one.” Johansson laughed. “But yes, here we are, Professor Johansson and Professor Beatriz at your disposal, Piglemen.”
“We are honored to receive so many important Piglins and Humans at our humble docks. What can we do for you?” Aaron asked us.
“Well, you see, we need your Striders to cross the lava ocean once again, dear sailors,” Peter asked.
“Sure, the Striders are all yours,” Henry said. “The only thing is someone stole one of our Striders a few days ago.”
“Come again?” I asked them.
“Yes, one Strider went missing. We don’t know what happened to it. I arrived one day, and it was gone.” Henry said.
“Yep, never to be seen again,” Aaron said.
“Did you report the Strider’s disappearance to the Police?” Peter asked.
“In fact, I did. I called the Station and talked to some Officer Tenpen or something. I told him about the Strider and he said he was going to look into it,” Henry told us.
“I see. We should have stopped at the Police Station before going to the Overworld, but we haven’t been there in a few days,” I said.
“Thank you for your report, Henry. We’ll do our best to locate the Strider for you,” Peter reassured him.
“Thank you. It’s one of my favorites, actually. That Strider really knows how to ride in lava.”
We got on the Striders and crossed the lava channel separating Crimson City from the Soul Sand Valley.
“Riding Striders is quite something, isn’t it?” Johansson said.
“It feels extremely dangerous at times, but it’s super safe. Go figure,” Peter said.
At the Soul Sand Valley, we left the Striders behind and went on to explore the surroundings.
“Here we are, the Soul Sand Valley biome,” I said. “I haven’t been here in a while.”
“Same,” Johansson said. “I gotta say walking on Soul Sand is always a terrible experience. I hate being slowed down by this sandy block.”
“Don’t you have Soul Speed Boots, Dad?” Beatriz asked him.
“Yeah, I did have a pair, but I accidentally left them in the lab in my haste to search for David Park. Now I have to walk around slowly thanks to this wretched block.”
“Don’t worry; I’m sure we’ll find something soon.”
“I guess we did,” Peter said. “Look at these marks on the ground.”
“Weird they’re not only footprints - it looks like someone was dragging something along with them,” I said.
“Interesting. Could it be that David Park dragged his machine over the Soul Sand all the way to that mountain? Cause the path is taking us straight to it,” Johansson said.
“Indeed. I think you’re right, Johansson,” I said. “The question is, why would he drag the device now? Up to now, it seemed that David Park had no trouble carrying the device in his hands.”
“I have no idea. Perhaps he ran into some sort of trouble, forcing him to drag the machine,” Beatriz said.
“It’s a start. Let’s go to the mountain and see if we can figure it out,” Johansson said.
We headed to the big mountain in the middle of the Soul Sand Valley, where we expected to find the missing scientist and his strange machine.