H25 Ghosts of the Island Grove

Book Cover

**Ghosts of the Island Grove**, the 25th book in the The Golden Age of Adventures series was published in March 2019. It is the English language edition of the original Chinese comic, "**椰林鬼影"**, which was published in October 2018.

## Synopsis

AIMING FOR THE TOP! RESCUE MISSION ON A HAUNTED ISLAND!

After the war, the Global Alliance for Humanity placed a worldwide ban on adventures. Unable to continue adventuring, Alex goes to Penang with Lulu, Rita and Rica to recuperate from his injuries. There, they meet a boy named Abu who claims to have escaped from a strange island from which his friends have just vanished.

## Cast

* Alex
* Lulu
* Rita and Rica
* Ben Randee
* Glee

## Plot

***Spoiler warning!** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

### Chapter 1: Adventure Mamak

Alex, Lulu, Rita and Rica go to the Adventure Mamak. Alex gets there first with his technological wheelchair, Trailblazer. They have a meal with the owners of the shop, Affin and Aida. Marie Wright seeks Abbot Xuan Zhen to become more powerful, so that she can protect her sister.

Goken and Ming Kong returned to their countries. Sally is helping to repair the Saraswati Colossus. Axe searches for the top secret files the Neo-Nazis stole and Benny is hunting Dark Adventurers. Robert is enjoying himself in Africa and Darwin has taken interest in African animals. The Global Alliance for Humanity deemed Hank's equipment to powerful, so they seized them. Fenrir parted ways with Sally. Cammy is taking the wee folk back to Indonesia. Samara is healing. The Tomb Guardians are held by the Alliance, assisted by Aligon. Jones and his students assist Axe and Benny.

Abu returns and says Randee disappeared.

### Chapter 2: Rescue Mission

Ben Randee is a famous actor, singer, composer and screenwriter. He told Affin he wanted to know the life of an Adventurer, so Affin wanted him to meet some Adventurers, then the ban on adventuring came into effect. Randee asked him to reveal some sites so that he can adventure alone, but Affin won't allow a non-Adventurer to do that.

Two days ago, Abu secretly took and gave Randee an Adventurer job brief from his father's drawer. He also demanded Randee to take him along. They got on an island near Langkawi. After some time, Abu saw Randee and his friend, Adi, have disappeared. Alex thinks of calling nearby Adventurers for help. Khairul is abroad and Baljit Singh is sleeping and won't wake up. Lulu, Rita and Rica are mad at Alex that they are also nearby Adventurers. It is almost dark, so the Adventurers move out. Glee from the Ferocious Four watches them.

The job briefing is about Mahura's tomb. Alex thinks it is related to Mahsuri's curse. About 200 years ago, there was Mahsuri. The village chief fell for her, which made Mahura, his wife, angry. Mahsuri was betrothed by the chief's son, Wan Derus. After they both married, the chief still admired Mahsuri, making Mahura see Mahsuri as a threat. Wan Derus wnet abroad, but hadn't come back in days.

Mahsuri was delighted to hear a bard that came to the village, so she had him come over her house often. After Mahsuri gave birth, Mahura became more angry. She accused Mahsuri of having an affair with the bard and the baby was their child. On her execution day, Mahsuri was pierced at her chest, but her blood was white. She uttered a curse: Langkawi would be stricken with poverty and discord for seven generations. Not long after, the Siamese army invaded Langkawi and the chief was slain. After the war, the island was plagued with flood and droughts.

Everybody has arrived to the island Randee went to, Coconut Grove Island.

### Chapter 3: Coconut Grove Island

Since Abu wants to become an Adventurer like Alex, before going deeper into the island, Alex tells him the he learnt the first lesson of adventuring: knowing one's weakness.

Alex and co. find the place Randee and his friend disappeared in. They find a boulder with a tree symbol. Alex spots a tree identical to the symbol. Alex finds its hidden compartment with a rope. He pulls it, revealing a hole surrounding another tree. Lulu feels a presence. They go down there by rope. Somehow, the hole is covered. There is a puzzle on a wall: "You can climb the tallest tree or the peak of the highest mountain, but there is one thing you can never surpass. Use it to touch the plate."

The answer is your head! Alex uses his head to touch the plate, revealing a tunnel. At the tunnel's exit, there is a pool of water.

### Chapter 4: Water Ghosts

Alex and co. hear a man shouting. Alex, through his binoculars, sees Randee surrounded by water ghosts. Alex activates Trailbalzer's rockets, rapidly going towards Randee to save him. The water ghosts bite Rita and Rica, then they walk somewhere else. Adi was also bit by them and wandered off against his will, so Alex and Lulu have to get to a place where the water ghosts can't reach.

Alex tells Lulu to kick down the trees in the direction the twin maids went. Alex burns the trees, so the water ghosts can't go through. Alex sees Rita and Rica walk into a house and he is almost out of oil. Randee and Lulu hold onto Trailblazer. Alex let's it rip. When they reached the house, they see the house on a pillar in a void.

### Chapter 5: Inside the House

Alex and co. have nowhere else to go but enter the house, which somehow has a large corridor. Randee only came to the island to experience an adventure first-hand. If he knew this would happen, he would've never brought Abu along. To him and his friend, Abu disappeared. They heard a cry in a cave, so they investigated. They found themselves at a coconut grove, where they met the waterg ghosts. Randee's friend was bitten and Randee went up on a tree. That was when Alex and co. arrived.

They see a lady. As Lulu goes near her, she is actually a bunch of centipedes. Puppets, ones used in *wayang kulit* (an art form that uses shadows to tell stories), appear from the gaps of the walls, floor and ceiling. Lulu cuts one, revealing it to be controlled by earthworms. The corridor behind collapses. Everyone quickly gets out with Trailblazer. Alex anchors Trailblazer to the pillar. Below them is a pool of gold. Rita, Rica and Adi are lying down there.

### Chapter 6: Penanggalan

Two Penanggalan fly around them. Lulu throws her sword at them, but misses. Alex activates Trailblazer to get away from them. Lulu throws Alex's explosives, but the Penanggalans dodge them. One of them hits Alex and co. from the front. It bites Lulu. Alex has Akhazane's cells activated, but the other Penanggalan bites his arm. The cells fade. The Penanggalans suck Alex and Lulu's blood.

Randee remembers a legend that a Penanggalan died becaue it couldn't return to its body. He finds two giant pots with mummified corpses inside. He pours Alex's oil in them. Randee catches the Penanggalans' attention to return to their bodies before he burns them. As the Penanggalans fly back, Randee burns the corpses.

### Chapter 7: Mahura

The Penanggalans burn. Alex sees a stone plaque, it says all the treasure belong to Mahura, and those who steal will be slain. Lulu sees Mahura's ghost. Everyone feels a wild sensation in their bodies. Mahura tells them those who find her treasure must die like Mahsuri. Alex tells, her in Siamese, that the Siamese will put her in flames. Randee does so too. He says he will slay her with a frightening face. Mahura, frightened, explodes.

The explosion revealed a circular plate. It says to use the biggest thing seen before your eyes to touch the plate. The answer is eyelids. Alex uses his eyelids to touch the plate, revealing an exit. Upon exiting, it is already daytime.

### Chapter 8: Invitation

Affin is surprised to see them, since Alex and co. have been gone for the whole night. Alex has thoery with Mahura's treasure. While legend says Mahura incriminated Mahsuri out of jealousy, she probably did so becuase Mahsuri discovered her hoard. The ghosts encountered earlier could've been guarding the treasure or are attracted to the curse.

A boat from the maritime police sails towards the island. Aida must've made a report when everyone didn't return last night. As the boat closes in, Alex and Lulu see Glee. Alex tells Affin, Randee, Abu and Adi to hide behind the trees. Glee gets to the island with his bombs. He makes Rita faint. He dodges all of Rica's bullets. He makes her and Lulu faint too. He also makes Alex faint, then ties his arms up. He is kidnapping Alex because the Void would really like to meet him.