Chapter 517 - 514: All Beings and the Self

Chapter 517: Chapter 514: All Beings and the Self

The Captain had never imagined that one day, he would come to understand the inner worlds of things he’d never even thought to understand.

Trees, soil, rivers...

It turned out that different trees thought different things. Some wanted to grow very, very tall to bathe in the sunlight. Some wanted to sink their roots deep, to see what was beneath the earth. Some wanted to grow the greenest leaves, and some even wanted to stretch beyond their Sky Island and grow onto another.

Some soil wanted to hide deep underground forever. Some wanted to defeat other soil to make itself harder...

Rivers were even more complex. Different currents often had different ideas. Most were very simple, yet full of whimsical notions.

Not only that, but there were also even more wondrous things—light, darkness, decay... these conceptual things actually had thoughts of their own.

Yet, when the Captain asked in earnest, "Can I maintain my sense of self?"

Not a single one of the consciousnesses refused. They all granted his request.

They praised the beauty of the human experience, encouraging the Captain to persevere. They understood and empathized with one another. They understood the conviction in the Captain’s heart, as well as his reason for clinging to his identity.

But as the Captain fused with these consciousnesses, he felt an endless sorrow.

As they lost their selves and fused their consciousnesses, these consciousnesses also gave up their own convictions.

’Consciousness is born from a vessel; how could it ever be separated from one?’

The Captain roamed through memories that weren’t his, experiencing thoughts that were not human. The turmoil in his mind grew increasingly calm. After connecting with more and more consciousnesses, he found that he had truly grown dull.

Although the points of light had all relinquished their selves to let the Captain take the lead, the memories and thoughts still often left him in a daze, and he would occasionally forget who he was.

But whenever this happened, the hopes of those points of light would surge into his mind.

"After you rescue your teammates, remember to go have a look outside the Sky Island."

"Can you help me see what’s beneath the Sky Island?"

"Water flows and flows... where does it end up? Can you go see for me?"

"..."

These hopes all served as a reminder that he still had more important things to do.

After fusing with countless consciousnesses, the Captain finally found all of his teammates.

By now, most of them had already fallen into a state of confusion, having forgotten who they were after countless fusions.

They only felt an instinctual closeness to the Captain.

After finding these points of light belonging to his teammates, the Captain decided on his next step: to return to a vessel.

He took the points of light that were his teammates and left the Sea of Consciousness.

The Eye of the Stars didn’t stop them. It was just as the stone had said: "After the fusion is complete, every point of light is free to choose its own vessel..."

However, after returning from the Sea of Consciousness, the Captain did not choose to go back to their original bodies, even though those bodies were still intact.

The Captain looked toward the luggage containing the relics.

He had a better idea—an idea that could completely defeat the Eye of the Stars...

He took the countless points of light and plunged into the relics.

"You, go into the Flip-Lid... You, go into the Magic Curtain..."

The Captain directed the dazed points of light that were his teammates, guiding them into some of the relics.

Then, he looked at a projector.

This was the only relic he could think of that could resist the Eye of the Stars.

And so, taking the countless points of light that belonged to him, he plunged into the projector.

Due to the impact from the torrent of consciousness, the projector even began to change.

As if to adapt to this terrifying consciousness, the projector grew larger and larger, bursting right through the luggage bag.

But the transformation didn’t stop. The projector broke through the starlight and soared into the sky. Driven by a sense of affinity, the relics occupied by his teammates’ consciousnesses followed, flying into the sky with him.

After briefly familiarizing himself with the relic’s abilities, the projector’s deep lens aimed at the starlight blanketing the forest.

"Eye of the Stars! It’s time for revenge!"

The rage in the Captain’s heart had reached its peak.

He wasn’t just angry because of what had happened to his investigation team, but because of the consciousnesses he had fused with—those that had been created for no reason, only to be harvested into the starry sky.

’Are living things happier than inanimate ones?’

The Captain didn’t think so. After fusing with so many consciousnesses, all he felt was an endless sorrow.

’There is no superiority or inferiority between having a consciousness and not having one. To blindly believe that all things should share the same feelings is a form of arrogant selfishness.’

’Things are inherently separate. The wolf should not understand the sheep, nor the sheep the wolf. That is the fundamental nature of how the world works.’

’The space between stars is not a barrier preventing their communication, but a form of protection.’

’The vast, empty void isolates the "many" into the "self."’

’It is only against the backdrop of the dark void that the twinkle of countless stars gains its meaning...’

At the same time, the Eye of the Stars also realized something was wrong. It tried to once again release its starlight to strip the consciousness from the group of fleeing relics, but the Captain immediately released a brown film, blocking the dazzling starlight.

"It’s useless, Eye of the Stars! Just give up!"

This projector relic was a powerful counter to the Eye of the Stars’ abilities, which was why the Captain had chosen to enter it.

As a human, controlling a relic required paying a price. But by becoming a relic, one could use its abilities freely. That was why he had abandoned his human body and led his teammates directly into the relics.

He would risk everything for this one battle against the Eye of the Stars.

Realizing it couldn’t affect the relics in the sky, the disappointed and helpless voice of the Eye of the Stars came from within the starlight:

"Humans... so stubborn. You clearly felt the beauty of conscious fusion, yet you still insist on destroying everything. Isn’t empathy a good thing? You understood their thoughts, you understood their wishes. Consciousness is beautiful precisely because of the sparks of inspiration that burst forth from every little point."

"You had already connected the starlight completely, transforming it into a beautiful river of stars. And now you want to return to a false shell, to be bound by cumbersome reality. What a regression! How selfish!"

The Eye of the Stars continued to espouse its philosophy, deeply disappointed by the Captain’s "betrayal."

The Captain didn’t answer. He knew that no matter what he said, he couldn’t change the Eye of the Stars’ mind. The Eye of the Stars had become utterly obsessed.

He attacked directly, sending the brown filter into the starlight to begin searching for the Eye of the Stars’ location.

As long as he could find the Eye of the Stars, he could use the film to pin it down, completely severing its control over this starry sky.

The Eye of the Stars also realized something was wrong. It discovered all of its abilities were useless; the projector’s power seemed to counter it completely. Its starlight had no effect.

And so, it quickly hid itself, diving deep into the Sea of Consciousness.