Chapter 365 - 362: Illusory Light and Shadow

Chapter 365: Chapter 362: Illusory Light and Shadow

The bizarre mass of light and shadow seemed a bit slow to react. It stared at Li Luo for a while before it began to ponder her question.

"Who am I?" Its state seemed off; it spent a long time pondering such a simple question.

"Am I the main control program of Paradise Island?"

"No, that’s not right. I think I’m Slave Number 500."

"That doesn’t seem right either. I remember... I was..."

The mass of light and shadow muttered to itself as it froze in place.

Li Luo quickly put some distance between herself and the bizarre entity.

However, with a flicker, the entity reappeared right in front of Li Luo.

"Welcome, Fire Thief." As if in an instant, the entity had returned to normal.

Watching the entity approach again, Li Luo realized she couldn’t escape its pursuit and could only force herself to calm down.

"Where is this place?"

"The central hub of Paradise Island. The place from which the entire island is controlled." The entity’s voice had become fluent.

It waved a hand, and the feathers on the ground floated up, forming a series of flat screens. Immediately, various scenes from across Paradise Island began to appear on them.

Li Luo glanced over; they seemed to be showing events currently happening on Paradise Island.

Not only that, but Li Luo also saw an image of the Hell Beast’s lair.

Even Hell Island was under surveillance.

"What do you want?" Li Luo remained very wary. She didn’t understand why Si Yang had sent her here.

"I must ask you to witness the completion of a transaction."

’A transaction?’ Li Luo suddenly recalled what Ji Tai had said before.

The entity waved its hand, and the feathers surged, forming a single, massive screen.

"You have the right to know the contents of the transaction. Now, I must inform you of its specific terms."

"First, the two parties to the transaction: the robots of Paradise Island, represented by Ji Tai, and the other party, Paradise Island, represented by myself."

An image suddenly appeared on the screen:

It was a robot, constantly descending...

A white chassis, sharp mechanical arms—it was one of the very common sixth-generation intelligent machines on the island.

The robot landed steadily on the feather-covered ground.

It made no extraneous movements, waiting quietly where it stood.

Soon, a mass of light and shadow appeared beside the robot.

"You’re a robot from the island? A Ji Pavilion? Why have you come here?" the entity asked.

"I am not a Ji Pavilion. I am Ji Tai," the robot said calmly. "I wish to request a transaction."

The entity trembled a few times, as if struggling to suppress something.

"A transaction... is possible... Please state the terms of the transaction."

Although it was trying to suppress the impulse, it couldn’t stop itself from speaking.

"All robots on Paradise Island will voluntarily become the Guardians of Paradise Island."

Upon hearing this, the entity instantly grew excited.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Can you represent all the robots?"

"I can. All the robots are me."

"Then what must I give in return?" the entity asked hurriedly.

"Protect the humans’ safety. Cease the Guardian transformation of their species."

"Agreed. The transaction is established."

A single feather floated up from the ground and wrote a rune in the air. The rune split in two; one half merged into Ji Tai’s body, while the other was etched into the entity of light and shadow.

"After becoming Guardians, you will be required to protect the safety of Paradise Island and abide by all its rules, including the identity rules. Of course, you will also gain a certain degree of control over the island..."

The entity was about to say more, but Ji Tai interrupted its rambling.

"The witness to this transaction will appear in eight years. Her identity is: the Fire Thief..."

...

The image came to an abrupt halt, but the words "Fire Thief" still echoed in Li Luo’s ears.

This appeared to be a recording from eight years ago. At that time, Ji Tai, using the body of a Ji Pavilion, had struck a deal with the entity.

And he had chosen Li Luo, who would one day arrive here, to be the witness.

"You may ask any questions. This is the witness’s right," the entity said to Li Luo.

"What do you mean by ’Guardian transformation’?"

"It is a protective mechanism of Paradise Island. When the number of Guardians on the island falls too low, it converts other creatures on the island into Guardians. Humans are a very suitable species for this."

"What are the duties of a Guardian?" Li Luo pressed.

"To maintain the safety of Paradise Island."

It was a very brief answer, describing a very simple duty, but Li Luo quickly sensed the problem with it.

’Si Yang said that Paradise Island would soon collapse. When that happens, how are the Guardians supposed to maintain its safety?’

"Is Paradise Island going to collapse soon?"

"Yes," the entity answered without reservation.

"When that happens, what will the Guardians do?"

The entity fell silent at this question, but before long, its voice was heard again.

"Paradise Island will use the Guardians on the island to produce white light stones to maintain its own operation. This is the optimal solution derived by the program’s calculations."

In its calm voice, the entity revealed a terrible truth.

"Produce white light stones?"

"Yes. White light stones are materials produced from life. What you are stepping on right now... are the former consumables."

’Consumables...’

The feathers beside the entity spun slightly, projecting a three-dimensional model of a creature.

It was a short creature, immaculately white and covered in feathers.

But as Li Luo looked at this projection, her blood ran cold.

"This entire Feather Sea... is made of the creatures that died to build Paradise Island?"

Li Luo looked up into the distance. The sea of feathers stretched out endlessly. Standing in this incredibly vast, pure-white ocean, she felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation.

She had never imagined that all this was composed of the corpses of living beings.

"What... species were they?" Li Luo asked in a daze.

At this question, the entity suddenly began to tremble violently, its entire form no longer able to maintain its shape.

"They were just meaningless consumables..."

The entity struggled, wanting to avoid the question, but it was required to answer the witness.

"They were a group of slaves, a group of unimportant slaves..."

The entity instantly disintegrated, only to reappear a short distance away. Its light flickered, dimming and brightening, extremely unstable.

No sooner had it appeared than the entity shattered violently again, dissipating into clusters of feather-shaped patterns of light.

After disintegrating again and again, the entity could no longer maintain its original form.

It curled up on the ground, repeatedly grabbing at the feathers, as if trying to scoop something up.

But how could an illusory being of light touch a physical object? It could only repeat the action endlessly before disintegrating again in despair, its form becoming increasingly chaotic and blurred.

It seemed to want to answer Li Luo’s question, but just as the words reached its lips, they were blocked by some unseen force.

Watching the struggling entity, Li Luo asked the question once more:

"What... species were they?"

"They..." The entity froze. It crouched on the ground, trying to cup the feathers in its hands, but its form passed right through them, unsurprisingly.

What followed was yet another disintegration.

However, after repeatedly disintegrating, the entity finally managed to solidify a little. Li Luo’s persistent questioning seemed to have broken through that restrictive force, freeing it from its bonds.

Finally, the light of its body stopped trembling and slowly grew calm.

It remained curled up quietly on the ground, the feathered light flowing across its body. A faint voice was heard once more:

"Not ’they’... ’we’..."

"We are the Feathered."