Chapter 323 - 320: Different Memories

Chapter 323: Chapter 320: Different Memories

"How is he now?"

Through the haze, he heard the Station Head’s urgent voice nearby.

"He can’t move right now... We’ve figured out the price for using that sand. The period of immobility lasts for as long as the construction took. The user will only recover once the sand sculpture collapses."

A researcher’s voice added from nearby.

"If someone spent a year building a sand sculpture, it would stand for a year before collapsing. And for that entire year, the user would be unable to move..."

The Station Head fell silent at this.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again, his voice trembling as he asked:

"So how long did he take?"

"It’s hard to say... We examined his body. He’s aged roughly forty years."

Silence fell once more.

"Didn’t you people run experiments? Why didn’t you give him all the information beforehand? Why are you only figuring out the price *now*?"

"He was only in his twenties! In the prime of his life! He dreamed of becoming an explorer, of exploring the entire Abyss."

"And the result? He spent forty years building a damn sand sculpture! And now he has to spend another forty years stuck here, unable to move!"

"To think we’d sacrifice a young man’s entire life for this..."

The Station Head could no longer hold back. He erupted in a tirade of curses, shouting until he ran out of breath, his voice eventually fading away.

The researchers nearby remained silent, quietly bearing the brunt of the Station Head’s fury.

All he could hear was the sound of their arguing...

Another wave of dizziness washed over him.

It had been so long since Xiaozhang had heard anyone speak. He felt a torrent of information rush into his brain, leaving him dizzy and overwhelmed.

The sudden, cacophonous voices were too much for his eardrums. Before long, a severe tinnitus drowned out their words, leaving only a sharp, high-pitched ringing.

Still, he could make out snippets of the conversation.

But Xiaozhang had no idea what they meant...

"Enough arguing! There’s another way."

"What way?"

"Send him to Paradise Island..."

...

The vision cut off abruptly, leaving only darkness.

Mo Ling snatched his hand back from the black bicycle as if he’d been shocked.

Images from the vision continued to flash before his eyes. He gasped for breath, the entire experience like a waking nightmare.

He had followed Xiaozhang’s memories through forty hazy years, yet it felt like it had all passed in a fleeting instant.

Just like Xiaozhang, he had lost all perception of time. All he knew was riding the bike and piling sand, then riding the bike and piling sand, over and over again.

It seemed Xiaozhang had never once questioned why he had to persevere. Not even the faintest thought of giving up had ever crossed his mind. He had simply carried out his task, step by methodical step.

’A machine that would never stop.’

If Mo Ling hadn’t just experienced it all from Xiaozhang’s perspective, he would never have believed anyone could actually be capable of that.

’To persevere for forty years over something so intangible...’

Mo Ling knew he could never do such a thing, which was perhaps why he had been unable to pull himself out of the memory sooner.

Still gasping for air, Mo Ling felt a wave of exhaustion and collapsed onto the bed.

The black bicycle was still there, sitting quietly as black dust continuously drifted from it.

After a long moment, Mo Ling finally managed to pull himself together.

’Xiaozhang... is the cyclist.’

The moment he saw the white hair in the vision, Mo Ling understood everything. The "simpleton" who had spent forty years building a sand sculpture was the same cyclist he and Li Luo had encountered earlier that day.

But the contents of this vision contradicted what the cyclist had told them during the day.

Recalling Li Luo’s "memory tampering" ability, Mo Ling couldn’t help but be suspicious.

’Have the cyclist’s memories been tampered with, too?’

’But which version is real, and which is fake?’

Mo Ling pondered for a moment. He ultimately decided that what he had seen with his own eyes was more likely the truth.

The story the cyclist told them during the day must have been the tampered version.

’But why does this island have such an ability?’

’And what does it have to do with one’s "identity"?’

Mo Ling felt as if he had grasped a clue, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

’"Cyclist"... What does that identity truly mean?’

He didn’t understand.

The black bicycle before him only added to Mo Ling’s confusion.

Though battered and worn, Mo Ling could still recognize it. This was the "variable-speed bicycle" the cyclist always rode—a powerful relic capable of altering the flow of time. But why was it now on Paradise Island?

With this in mind, Mo Ling got to his feet. He wanted to touch the bicycle again, to try and find a new clue, but just then, he heard a strange noise from outside.

The moment he looked out, a sheet of purple gauze lunged at him.

...

「A short time earlier」

When all the sand trapping Li Luo had scattered, she immediately rushed forward, hoping to collect a sample. However, the sand vanished as soon as it hit the ground, melting directly into the darkness.

In just a few moments, all the black sand had vanished without a trace, as if nothing had happened at all.

Li Luo stood holding the sample capsule, at a loss. She could only turn to look at Block. "Did you kill him? Where did the body go?"

However, Block didn’t respond, merely floating silently in the air. Li Luo paid it no mind, assuming Block was simply unwilling to answer.

She could only lower her head again to search for any remaining black sand... until, at the mouth of the alley, she saw a pitch-black robot.

With a spider-like lower body and four mechanical arms, the robot stood motionless at the mouth of the alley.

And yet, its body was trembling nonstop.

The moment Li Luo noticed it, the robot began to shake even more violently. Its sturdy mechanical legs actually went limp and collapsed. Despite its formidable appearance, it acted like a timid child.

"Don’t hide. Can you communicate?" Li Luo asked warily, placing her hand on the end of her rope.

Seeing that it had been spotted, the robot immediately tried to flee, scrambling on its legs and darting into the alley.

But Li Luo was ready. She yanked the end of her purple wrist-rope.

A large net of gauze unfurled in an instant.

However, the gauze didn’t go after the robot. Instead, it wheeled around and shot menacingly toward Block, who was floating in the sky.

Only after Li Luo issued a command did the gauze instantly change direction, swiftly binding the fleeing robot.

’Why does it always go after Block? Is it really that dumb?’ Li Luo sighed in exasperation and walked toward the struggling robot.

The robot struggled for a moment, but upon realizing it was useless against the purple gauze, it gave up the fight and went completely limp, lying there like a beached fish.

"Are you a Paradise Island robot, too? Why do you look so strange?" Li Luo asked, puzzled by its black casing.

The robot’s head tilted, looking at Li Luo.

"What Paradise Island?"

"This is Hell Island!"