Chapter 1255 - 1254: Reunion on the Home Planet

Chapter 1255: Chapter 1254: Reunion on the Home Planet

Amber’s speed was remarkable.

It was a speed that even the dynamic vision of a legendary powerhouse found hard to capture, a flash that crossed the boundaries of shadows and reality. Gawain and Victoria only heard the wind whistling past their ears, and the next moment, Victoria felt a heavy weight hanging on her thigh, accompanied by a voice saying, "Keep observing!"

Gawain’s head was buzzing. Even though he had witnessed Amber’s shenanigans over the years, he was clearly struggling to bear it at this moment. He stepped forward, grabbed her by the belt, and lifted her up: "Alright, stop embarrassing us—Modir, what happened?"

Victoria finally came to her senses. The Northern Duchess, usually calm and steady, with an expression that remained composed under any circumstance, widened her eyes, as if it was the first time in her life she had been so shocked. She was even a bit at a loss until Gawain took Amber away when she belatedly took a half step back... In a way, Amber’s sliding kneel was quite effective; even a legendary powerhouse couldn’t have predicted such a scene, and it interrupted the duchess’s train of thought.

"I... I’m fine," Modir finally blinked, as if suddenly awakened from a short yet immersive dream. With a bit of confusion remaining, his gaze swept over the few figures in the cabin, finally landing on Gawain. "I think... I seemed to have seen something... No, it wasn’t seen; it was felt..."

"What did you feel?" Gawain quickly put Amber down, asking with an unusually serious expression.

After landing, Amber swayed, first glancing at Modir, then at the serious expressions of Gawain and Victoria, seemingly judging that the Great Adventurer was indeed fine. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, retreating to a corner and trying to reduce her presence while listening attentively to the developments—as for Modir, he seemed entirely unaware of everything, gently shaking his head, as if dispelling certain things occupying his mind while slowly saying, "In that direction... what I’m looking for is in that direction. I remembered; I’ve been to that place! I also saw a hole broken there, which nobody knows about. It’s terrible, a hole broke there... and there’s another place, I went to another ’entrance’... they’re connected together..."

Modir’s gaze gradually became chaotic, his words incoherent, but just as Gawain and Victoria were about to help, the old mage suddenly paused. He shook his head vigorously, his gaze gradually regaining clarity.

"Are you alright?" Victoria saw the ancestor’s state recover and instinctively asked, "Just now, you..."

"I’m fine, no need to worry," the old mage nodded and said, then showed a pondering look as if slowly sorting through what had just happened to him, and after a few seconds, he slowly spoke, "I felt several different layers of consciousness simultaneously surfacing. Those consciousnesses were all me, memories from different periods and states... My mind was filled with my own voices and things I’d seen. Goddess of Magic, I’ve never heard of such a thing..."

"Different periods and states of memory occupying your mind simultaneously?" Victoria looked astonished, as a mage, she noticed this unusual phenomenon first, "Are you saying your memory has recovered?!"

"No, far from it, but I think Amber’s treatment had some effect... I feel like something that once faded has returned a bit," Modir rubbed his forehead, his tone low and slow, "What did I just say?"

He looked at Gawain, seemingly noticing the unusually serious expression on the latter’s face.

Gawain did not immediately answer Modir. Instead, he looked in the direction of the old mage’s gaze, contemplating for a few seconds before breaking the silence in a low voice, "You said what you’re looking for is in that direction, and you mentioned a place ’a hole broke in it’."

"What I’m looking for..." Modir repeated softly, seemingly having completely forgotten what he had just said. He also followed Gawain’s gaze in that direction, but all he could see was a wall of the cabin, and a window embedded in it. "That direction is... where?"

"The Tower of the Inversion Tide." Gawain said softly.

"It seems things are finally pointing in that direction," Amber glanced at Gawain, then at Modir, who had returned to normal, her pointed ears twitching slightly, muttering, "Looks like we’ll have to set off early."

...

Under the starlight of the polar night, the barrier shielding the city blocked the cold winds from the depths of the wasteland. This makeshift protection was clearly not as warm and comfortable as the once perpetually springlike ecological dome, but on this land where everything was waiting to be restored, a barrier keeping out the wind and rain was already a precious assurance of stability. Inside the barrier, the glow of the magic crystal lamps dispelled the city’s darkness, and the plaza at the edge of the settlement seemed a bit lively.

A dozen young dragons were playing around in the plaza. Under the bright lights cast by the lamp posts, these hatchlings, just out of their shells, were practicing flying, running and frolicking on the ground, and some were firing various light balls and flames into the sky with their immature breaths. These ignorant fledglings did not understand the term "glory of the past" nor realized how profound and special the city’s rebirth from ruins was. They took everything they saw for granted, unleashing their endless energy in a childhood unique to them—also learning the various skills necessary to survive on this land.

The guardians watched over the playful hatchlings from the edges of the plaza.

"The two of them are quite adapted here," Melita withdrew her gaze from the plaza and looked at her friend standing beside her, "I was worried they would be frightened by the unfamiliar environment and so many of their kind."

"Their adaptability might be even stronger than ours," Nuoletta said with a smile, "After all, they were born and raised in this era, with a most unique ’foster mother’ guiding them."

Melita nodded lightly, as footsteps approached from the side, and she heard a vaguely familiar voice: "Hi... haven’t we met before?"

Melita turned her head in surprise, seeing a short figure with long red hair standing not far behind her. This young Red Dragon at first didn’t stir any memory, but soon images swirled in her mind—she remembered, this was the mechanic who helped her dismantle a failed implant when she first arrived at the refuge camp.

"Hello, I remember you, you’re the Mechanic, we’ve met before—you helped me dismantle a failed implant back then," Melita laughed, greeting the young Red Dragon, "Sorry, I didn’t realize it at first..."

"I wasn’t sure either initially," the young Mechanic also laughed. In such difficult times, seeing familiar faces appear safely before you again is undoubtedly a joyful thing, "It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages, what are you doing here?"

"I’m mostly on missions in the Loren Continent now, and I’m back for a report," Melita casually said, "And I’m bringing the young dragons back to familiarize themselves with their home planet—they were hatched on the Loren Continent."

"The Loren Continent... you actually went all the way to that place?" The Red Dragon Mechanic first expressed amazement, then noticed the two unfamiliar young creatures appearing in the square, showing some surprise, "You adopted young dragons? And both of them?"

"I adopted them with friends," Melita smiled, pointing to Nuoletta standing next to her with a smile, "How about you? Are you watching over your young dragons here too? Are you still working as a Mechanic?"

"... I’m no longer a Mechanic," the young Red Dragon softly said, then cast her eyes towards the square, "I haven’t claimed any dragon egg of my own, but I am here to watch over the young dragons—the little ones playing on this square."

"Not working as a Mechanic anymore?" Melita seemed a bit surprised, "Why? Didn’t you say it’s something handed down from your grandfather..."

"My organs survived the backlash of the Enhancer, but my nervous system didn’t make it entirely," the young Red Dragon shook her head with a wistful tone, raising her hands. Under the starry light and the magic crystal lamps, Melita clearly saw the slight tremor at the fingertips, "Most mechanical maintenance now relies on manual work, but my hands can’t handle such intricate tasks anymore, neither in human form nor dragon form. Luckily, the situation nowadays is much better than before, and losing a Mechanic doesn’t impact the entire city greatly."

"... Sorry."

"Why should you apologize?" the young Red Dragon said with a smile, "Actually, it’s good this way—I’m responsible for caring for the young dragons of those dragons on missions. Playing around with these little ones is quite fun, and I still get to interact with my favorite mechanical devices—helping a bit in the recycling department. I just can’t be a professional Mechanic anymore."

Melita, Nuoletta, and the young Red Dragon stood together at the edge of the square, watching those seemingly ever-energetic young dragons freely unleash their passion in the square. The two newcomers appeared to have won the approval of the young dragons; they played together, currently vying for a large, battered metal hoop, which clanged and rolled on the ground, producing a crisp sound. Under the lights, the hoop’s surface occasionally flashed several severely worn-out letters. Melita couldn’t see clearly and could only make out words like "Arena" and "Champion."

"That’s the most popular toy here," the young Red Dragon said beside them, "I don’t know where the little ones unearthed it—it looks like something from the old Extreme Arena. I wasn’t familiar with it; I wasn’t interested in the arena back then."

Nuoletta watched the young ones playing on the square and suddenly said softly, "These young dragons truly are carefree."

"Of course, what worries would they have? The world is still beautiful to them," the young Red Dragon laughed, her voice softening as she gazed at the scene on the ground, "I heard Calador calling these young dragons the ’Post-Talronde Generation,’ meaning dragons born after the war in Talronde. Compared to us, the survivors in this wasteland, these young dragons view the world with a completely different perspective—Omega, implants, Enhancer, enormous cities and factories—all this is untouchable history for them. What they can access is this continent scarred by war, and the vast ’Alliance’ beyond...

"They were born on this scorched earth and will grow up on it. Their lives are devoid of implants and Enhancer, and they never understood what the Omega System was. They won’t nostalgize the past’s grandeur and technological convenience, nor bear extra fears and burdens for the future—unlike us, even the strongest among us will feel melancholic looking at the Red Zone and Black Zone, and involuntarily recall some things seeing the items in the recycling yard. But these young dragons... did you notice their gaze? They only have curiosity and anticipation for the future.

"Speaker Andar once said, what we need now are these eyes that hold anticipation for the future—these eyes themselves are the future.

"That’s why I like to stay with these young dragons—they make me feel that my existence is meaningful. I am nurturing a future worth looking forward to, and compared to this, damage to my nervous system is just a trivial matter."

"A generation without burdens..." Melita said softly, "Nuoletta and I never thought so much when we were digging out dragon eggs in the hatchery ruins."

At this moment, two figures suddenly leaped out from the direction of the square, accompanied by joyful "Gaao" cries. Melita and Nuoletta effortlessly reached out with a force beyond ordinary humans’ grasp, stopping the two young dragons in mid-air. They placed the little ones on the ground, stroking the smooth scales near their heads, causing the two young dragons to purr contentedly, rubbing their heads against Melita and Nuoletta’s thighs while squinting their eyes leisurely.

"Finally played enough?" Nuoletta couldn’t help but laugh, "You seem to have made many new friends."

"Gaao!!" the young dragons exclaimed happily, flapping their necks and wings. Meanwhile, some scales near their neck and back slowly exuded a bright blue light flow, which interplayed with the starry sky above.

"What’s this..." the young Red Dragon beside them watched in amazement as the strange phenomenon appeared simultaneously on the two young dragons, evidently never having seen such a scene, "What is that on them?"

"It’s the influence of deep blue magic," Melita said casually while stroking the little one’s head, "It seems that a few dragon eggs were affected by the Deep Blue Webway, being born with this special magic imprint—you haven’t seen it here? I heard that a small part of the young dragons born in Talronde also exhibited similar phenomena."

"An imprint left by deep blue magic?" the young Red Dragon said in surprise, then became thoughtful, "I seem to have indeed heard about it but never seen it myself—the young dragons I look after don’t have this..."

Just then, the two young dragons rubbing against Melita and Nuoletta suddenly extended their necks and looked intently towards a certain direction in the night sky. The magic light flow behind them instantly grew several times brighter than before, even releasing faint heat. Melita and Nuoletta hadn’t yet realized what was happening when they heard the two young dragons crying out anxiously, "Gaao!! Gaao!!"