Chapter 520 - 517: The Returning Consciousness

Chapter 520: Chapter 517: The Returning Consciousness

A gentle breeze blew, just like when they had first arrived on this Sky Island.

Li Luo stood off to the side, gently patting Block so as not to disturb Zhou Dynasty.

Only after watching that final movie did she realize that her and Block’s arrival on this island had been an inevitability.

But even though she had been "used" by the captain, treated as a "key item," Li Luo felt no resentment in her heart.

Perhaps, after watching that movie, she had come to empathize with the captain.

"Are you okay? Did those motes of light hurt you in any way?"

Li Luo patted Block. Her only concern was whether the motes of light had injured it.

When she was swept into the Sea of Consciousness, she too had seen the massive, block-shaped black hole and felt the all-consuming terror it exuded.

But even now, she couldn’t connect that black hole with the metal cube before her.

’This metal cube is so cute,’ she thought. ’How could it become such a terrifying black hole?’

The familiar electronic screen materialized on top of Block. Two large, blocky words were written on it: "I’m fine."

Next to the words was a drawing of a smiley face, and next to the smiley face was a can of cola.

Seeing this, Li Luo immediately understood what Block wanted. She pulled a can of cola from her backpack and placed it on top of the cube.

"You’ve worked hard."

A moment later, the cola disappeared along with the electronic screen.

Li Luo stared at the spot where the cola had vanished. She wanted to say something but hesitated. After a moment, she finally spoke again.

"I know you’re a relic, but I still have to remind you to have a balanced diet. You can’t just drink cola all the time..."

But as the words left her mouth, Li Luo felt she was being a busybody.

’What am I even saying...?’ She shook her head, mocking herself.

’It’s a relic; what does it need with a balanced diet? That metal cube could probably even eat a Rift Bomb.’

At this thought, Li Luo’s gaze fell upon the unexploded Rift Bomb.

Meanwhile, inside Block, Mo Ling was gulping down the cola, completely oblivious to Li Luo’s rambling.

A strange question occurred to him:

’Why does a freshly teleported cola taste better than one that’s been sitting inside Block for a while?’

’Could it be that cola has some kind of "vitality" that gets killed off by Block’s teleportation? Maybe that’s why it tastes best right after being teleported, before the "vitality" has completely faded?’

Mo Ling walked over, picked up the jade-like Little Grass from the ground, and examined it for a few moments.

"Can you re-vitalize this cola for me?"

He picked up the Little Grass and tapped it against the half-empty cola can.

The green-glowing Little Grass flashed, and bubbles surged to the top of the can.

Mo Ling took a curious sip, and then...

Nothing happened.

"Useless relic." Mo Ling defined the artifact on the spot.

He had no idea how to use this relic—the very one that had caused the vivifying contamination on the Sky Island—nor did he know the price of its use. And so, the jade-like Little Grass, glowing with green light, was tossed into a corner by Mo Ling to serve as a decoration.

’It’s actually quite nice to look at.’

The Little Grass’s green light was full of vitality. A fresh, grassy fragrance emanated from it, adding a touch of life to the otherwise dead, metallic space.

’Now I’ve got a plant. What else am I missing?’

Staring at the empty metal space, Mo Ling began to imagine all the ways he could arrange furniture within it.

Not far away, as the starlight rippled, the members of the Sky Island Investigation Team, who had been frozen in place, collapsed to the ground one by one, unconscious.

Zhou Dynasty turned each of them over so they were lying flat on their backs.

Before long, the team members lying on the ground began to open their eyes.

But they all seemed to be reeling from the shock of returning memories, staring blankly at the sky.

After a while longer, they slowly sat up.

The newly returned team members all turned to look at their captain’s body. It lay motionless on the ground, seemingly sleeping peacefully, utterly unresponsive.

A few members, having slowly regained control of their bodies, began to crawl shakily toward the captain, but others grabbed their clothes and shook their heads, stopping them.

And so, without a word, the team members sat silently on the ground, gazing at their captain’s still form, unable to accept it for a long, long time.

"Are you... all okay?"

Zhou Dynasty was the only one left standing. He looked at his teammates with concern.

At last, the members of the Sky Island Investigation Team broke their silence.

"Zhou Dynasty, thank you."

"You’ve worked hard."

They expressed their gratitude to Zhou Dynasty with an awkward stiffness. Having returned to their bodies, their chaotic consciousnesses had cleared, and they were gradually piecing everything together. This, however, only made them feel more guilty.

"We couldn’t help at all. Instead, we just held you back." The team members sat on the ground, dejected, their bodies feeling numb.

Their morale was at rock bottom.

Seeing his teammates so despondent, Zhou Dynasty quickly patted a few of them on the shoulder.

"Pull yourselves together! Our mission isn’t over yet!"

"What mission?"

"We still have to bring the Eye of the Stars and the captain’s body back to the monitoring station. And this..." Zhou Dynasty held up the film canister in his hand.

"The captain never gave up on saving us, so we can’t give up on saving him! There are so many capable people back at the monitoring station, so many powerful relics. Maybe they can bring the captain back!"

"And even if the monitoring station can’t help, there’s still hope! We’re the Sky Island Investigation Team! There are so many more Sky Islands left for us to explore. Who’s to say we won’t find a way to wake the captain on one of them?"

"And once we’re done with the Sky Islands, there’s still the entire Abyss. An Abyss that vast... I refuse to believe there isn’t a way to save the captain somewhere in it!"

"The captain was able to find you all among countless stars, so we can find him in the endless Abyss! If you give up now, would you be doing right by him?"

"If the captain had given up at the start, you’d all still be nothing but lost motes of light!"

As Zhou Dynasty spoke, he suddenly trailed off, stunned.

He suddenly realized that he was acting just like the captain once did...

Shouting himself hoarse to encourage his teammates, perhaps a bit too forcefully, spouting all kinds of grand principles, binding everyone together with responsibility and shared bonds. He had once scoffed at this, thinking the captain was just making empty promises.

But in this moment, Zhou Dynasty empathized with the captain completely.

’If the captain were here, he would have done the same thing, wouldn’t he...?’

The spark the captain had ignited within the Sky Island Investigation Team was still burning in Zhou Dynasty’s heart, and he refused to let that flame die out.

The Sky Island Investigation Team would not burn out here.

A familiar voice seemed to drift on the wind once more...

...

"Zhou Dynasty, have you ever heard the story of the Sword in the Stone?"

"No."

"Then let me tell it to you... A long time ago, the British Isles were in a state of chaos and strife. The people longed for a great king to lead them to peace. It was then that a prophecy spread throughout the land."

"That a warrior who could pull the Sword from the Stone would become the king of Britain and lead the people into a new era."

"In the end, the young King Arthur pulled out the Sword in the Stone. His purity and courage moved the Holy Sword, its light piercing through the darkness and chaos of the isles. He ultimately became the king who brought peace..."

Zhou Dynasty looked at the stone sword in his hand and said dejectedly, "Captain, are you saying that I lack purity and courage?"

Hearing this, the captain burst out laughing and gently patted his shoulder.

"No. I want to ask you a question..."

"Did he become King Arthur because he pulled out the Holy Sword..."

"Or was he able to pull out the Holy Sword because he was King Arthur?"