Chapter 514 - 511: Stopping the Activation

Chapter 514: Chapter 511: Stopping the Activation

"Deactivate it, and I’ll tell you."

Lord Ying didn’t immediately tell the Eye of the Stars how it had found the void. Instead, it began to state its terms.

The starry expanse flickered for a moment. Finding it was still unable to move, the Eye of the Stars said helplessly to Lord Ying, "You have to lift the restrictions on me first... I can only end the activation then."

The words had barely been spoken when the brown filter faded slightly. Lord Ying lifted the blockade on the Eye of the Stars without a second thought, seemingly unconcerned that it would go back on its word.

The motes of light surged once more, forming a river that poured into the ground beneath the beacon. Before long, a flash of green light emerged.

Following that, a jade-like sprout of Little Grass pushed up from the soil, enveloped by the motes of light as it ascended into the sky.

"This is the source of the activation. Destroy it, and the activation will stop spreading. But there’s nothing to be done about the areas that have already been activated..."

So, it turned out this jade-like Little Grass was the relic responsible for the activation.

Except now, it seemed to be nothing more than an empty shell, its consciousness having vanished to parts unknown.

Hearing the Eye of the Stars’s words, Lord Ying’s lens fixed on Little Grass. The brown filter overlaid it, but the sprout’s green light seemed to pierce right through, completely unaffected.

At the sight of this, Lord Ying’s lens flashed, and several relics suddenly appeared beside Little Grass. Among them was the little bottle cap Mo Ling knew so well.

"Lord Ying, are we to take care of this grass?" the little bottle cap asked earnestly.

"Yes, Little Bottle Cap. Give it your all, but it’s okay if you don’t succeed." Facing these activated relics, Lord Ying’s voice became gentle once more.

"Yes, Lord Ying!"

Little Bottle Cap, brimming with motivation, tumbled and flipped against Little Grass. But the sprout just spun around a few times with it, completely undamaged.

"I failed, Lord Ying..." Little Bottle Cap said, dejected.

"It’s alright. Old Bu, you try," Lord Ying said to the black cloth.

The black cloth said nothing, simply enveloping Little Grass before twisting violently.

However, when the black cloth unfurled, the little sprout was unchanged, aside from being a bit cleaner.

"Lord Ying, I cannot harm it."

After that, Lord Ying had the other activated relics try, only to find that none of their abilities had any effect on the small sprout.

The small, jade-like sprout was unexpectedly resilient, completely indestructible.

Just then, Little Bottle Cap spotted the motionless Block off to the side and flew over excitedly.

"Apprentice! Apprentice!" Just like before, Little Bottle Cap circled Block endlessly, then pressed itself forcefully against it.

"I’ve missed you so much, Apprentice! It’s been too long! You’ve gotten so thin. Have you been working too hard? And you’re all dirty..." As Little Bottle Cap fussed over Block, it used its ability to clean the dust from its surface.

"There, much better! Even if you work hard, you have to take care of your appearance. You can’t let yourself get all scruffy, understand?"

Little Bottle Cap bumped forcefully against Block, as if worried its "silly" apprentice hadn’t been paying attention.

Mo Ling quickly made Block vibrate a little to show he understood.

’How am I "thin"? How could it possibly tell?’

While Mo Ling was still wondering, Little Bottle Cap turned to Lord Ying and said excitedly, "Lord Ying, let my apprentice try! He’s really strong. I’m sure he can take care of it."

And so, that profound lens turned to Mo Ling once more.

"I used you before, but it was truly to stop the activation contamination. If you are willing, please, try..." Lord Ying said earnestly, its voice tinged with a plea.

If destroying Little Grass would truly stop the activation contamination, Mo Ling was more than willing to do it. However, he still had his doubts about Lord Ying.

So, he took a precaution.

Mo Ling used his teleportation ability on the jade-like Little Grass, but instead of destroying it, he transported it, completely intact, into Block’s interior.

Holding the small sprout, watching its diffuse green glow, Mo Ling felt the gentle smoothness unique to jade. Yet, he could also smell the fresh scent of grass and trees, as if he were standing in a spring rain that brought all of creation back to life.

’What a peculiar feeling.’ Mo Ling reluctantly set the sprout down and extended his perspective back outside of Block.

"Apprentice, you did it!" Seeing that Little Grass had vanished, Little Bottle Cap began to excitedly circle Block again, celebrating nonstop.

Lord Ying’s lens slowly rose, seeming to gaze into the distance. After a short while, its voice was heard once more:

"The activation contamination has, in fact, stopped."

Its tone betrayed an unmistakable exhaustion, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted from its shoulders.

"It’s finally stopped... It’s finally stopped..."

The reel’s rotation slowly ground to a halt, emitting a stuttering CLICK. It seemed that after spinning at such high speeds, the old machine could finally no longer take the strain.

The brown filter suddenly began to destabilize, slowly fading away as the surroundings gradually returned to their original appearance.

The once-profound lens became dull and lightless, like a pair of worn-out reading glasses, clouded with an unsettling murkiness.

"Lord Ying, what’s wrong?" Little Bottle Cap was the first to notice something was amiss and immediately flew in front of the lens, asking anxiously.

"I’m fine," Lord Ying said weakly.

Its clouded lens turned once more to the Eye of the Stars. Though it had lost its profound gaze, its boundless authority remained. It stared fixedly at the Eye of the Stars, its tone turning serious again.

"Eye of the Stars!" Lord Ying’s voice was no longer ethereal. It was now raspy and muffled, tinged with the rattling of parts, yet it was exceptionally firm.

"Eye of the Stars!" it shouted again. "You are the assigned relic for the Third Abyss Investigation Squad, Material Transport Unit, responsible for responding to extreme crises and suppressing contamination disasters. Do you remember this!"

Hearing Lord Ying’s words, the light of the Eye of the Stars flickered again. "How do you know that?"

"Of course I know. Now answer the question: do you remember!" Lord Ying demanded.

"I remember. Of course I remember," the Eye of the Stars replied.

"Good. Then fulfill your duty. As an assigned relic, you must carry out your responsibilities. Although the Material Transport Unit has been completely wiped out, you must resume your mission."

"I will now issue your mission directive. You are to commence the mission immediately after you have finished reviewing it..."

After it had spoken, the reel on Lord Ying’s body began to CREAK and turn once more. The old film spun, and the brown filter once again descended upon the forest.

With the stuttering clatter of its parts, hazy human figures began to appear, and the scene started to shift.

Lord Ying was beginning to play its final film...