NABC Page 635
Page 635
The voice that sounded so much like Misha's kept coming. Sora Mei glanced thoughtfully at the subtitles as she moved forward.
"The clocks and ticking sounds throughout the space... Could it be that we've stumbled upon a clue related to that mysterious clockmaker?"
Qiong Mei's purple eyes lit up instantly.
She wasn't particularly interested in the watchmaker's legacy, but she did find something with 180 crystals.
I currently have 1301 crystals, which means I'm not far from getting a 10-pull.
What started as an investigation was instantly replaced by the excitement of a treasure hunter.
Qiong Mei is excitedly preparing to begin her treasure hunt.
But as she turned a corner, she suddenly stopped and stared blankly at the distance in front of her.
There, another figure stood quietly.
The same hip-length purple hair, and a stunningly beautiful face like a reflection in a mirror.
Awe-inspiring, carrying a sense of loneliness detached from the world.
The mirror image was now slightly bowing its head, intently munching on a plump peach, its cheeks bulging, chewing slowly and carefully.
Almost at the same time, Huang Quan also noticed the newcomers.
She paused in her act of eating the peach, and in her raised eyes, astonishment spread clearly, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water.
"..."
"..."
The air seemed to freeze.
Their eyes met, and violet pupils reflected each other.
In the silent space, only the ticking of the clock and the strange, unspoken silence flowing between the two remained.
In the end, it was Huang Quan who broke the increasingly delicate atmosphere.
Hello, it's nice to see you again.
Huang Quan's expression returned to its usual calm, as if his earlier astonishment was just an illusion.
She silently took another peach from her bag and offered it to Mei across from her:
"Want it?"
"……Thanks."
Mei paused briefly, then naturally reached out and took the slightly cool peach, handing over a bag of snacks:
"This is a return gift."
"Ah."
Huang Quan nodded slightly and accepted the bag of brightly colored snacks.
Two purple-haired beauties, who looked like twins with completely different temperaments, sat in the desolate ruins of a dream, one munching on a peach and the other eating snacks, creating a scene that was both eerie and harmonious.
"Miss Huang Quan, do you know where this place is?"
Mei glanced at the peach, then put it in her mouth and started munching on it.
It tastes pretty good!
"I don't know, but it feels like a deeper dream."
Huang Quan glanced at Mei and opened the snacks.
"Then why are you here?"
Mei tilted her head.
"...I'm lost."
Huang Quan crossed his arms, pondered for a moment, and then answered in a tone that was both matter-of-fact and somewhat inexplicably empty.
"...6."
I'm totally lost!
This reason... I have to say, as expected of Jun.
After a brief silence, Huang Quan's gaze returned to Mei's face, and in the depths of her calm purple eyes, there seemed to be extremely subtle ripples.
She spoke in a softer, more elusive tone than before:
Kiana, isn't she with you?
The tone seemed to suppress, concealing some complex underlying meaning.
Nostalgia? Or loneliness?
"She went to play at the Golden Hour."
"Is that so?"
Huang Quan lowered his head slightly.
Mei's lips twitched slightly; being sensitive to emotions, she clearly sensed the awkwardness between the two, as well as a strange tacit understanding.
But she wasn't embarrassed at all; her mind was racing, and she even seemed a little pleased.
Whether I remain silent or not, it's all Mei's business, what does it have to do with me, Sora?
As the saying goes, putting on a mask is the same as taking it off.
The sense of freedom that comes from this role-playing is one of the main sources of fun for Qiong.
"You and Qiong..."
Huang Quan was somewhat concerned about the relationship between the three, but when he was about to speak, he felt it was inappropriate to ask such a question given his identity, and in the end, he simply shook his head slightly.
"never mind."
Wandering through the starry sea, Huang Quan encounters for the first time a flower that resembles 'herself', especially since they seem to have achieved a perfect ending.
Even with Huang Quan's world-weary mindset, a faint yet real ripple inevitably stirred within him—envy for Mei before him.
Of course, this was also interwoven with feelings of relief and blessings.
This was an extremely complex and indescribable torrent of emotions, which she skillfully concealed beneath a calm exterior.
"what happened?"
Qiong Mei asked a question she already knew the answer to.
"nothing."
Huang Quan suppressed all emotions.
Mei chuckled lightly, not revealing Huang Quan's existence, and casually extended the invitation:
"Shall we investigate this place together?"
Free five-star workers!
Helping yourself can't be considered a trap, right?
"it is good."
Huang Quan nodded almost without hesitation.
This was a good opportunity for her to talk to this similar flower about her past.
Are you also a member of the Star Train?
Yomi and Mei walked side by side amidst the floating rubble and frozen time, their footsteps echoing in the empty space.
"Do not."
Qiong Mei answered crisply and decisively, her purple eyes staring straight ahead.
"I am a sea patrol knight."
Huang Quan: "..."
"What about you?"
Mei asked with a smile.
"Me too."
"Eh, really? But I've never heard of the name Huang Quan in the organization. Do you know Potio? That guy who always talks about treasures?"
Mei feigned surprise.
Huang Quan: "..."
No, sis, are you really a sea patrol ranger?
There's still an organization?
Mei's words were too certain and natural to be discerned as true or false, so Yomi wisely chose to change the subject, her gaze falling on the katana at Mei's waist that exuded an aura of annihilation:
"Your knife... is very special."
"Your knife is quite good too."
Mei and Mei are engaging in mutual flattery.
Would you mind telling me the story behind that knife?
Huang Quan felt that Mei's past was likely related to that special knife.
Her own birth was closely related to the knife.
She could clearly sense a similar yet different power emanating from the ancient and rustic katana at Mei's waist.
The power that stirred within her, this ordinary, ethereal traveler on her path of destiny.
"That's a long story."
Mei sighed softly, her beautiful face instantly clouded with the heaviness of reminiscing about the past, as if she had fallen into some kind of unbearable abyss of memories.
He begins to ramble on with a straight face:
“My hometown once suffered a catastrophe. It was a terrifying god, not a known star god, a terrifying being that cannot be judged by common sense and cannot be described in words.”
"Its power is probably... no less than that of the Star God."
Huang Quan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She had never heard of such a thing.
But the universe is so vast that anything is possible.
"Under the influence of His indescribable [fear], the laws of our world collapsed, and the way of heaven changed because of fear."
Sora Mei's voice carried a chilling quality, as if she were sinking into a nightmare.
"Under the influence of those fourteen distorted and mutated Heavenly Dao, our entire world has undergone earth-shattering and bizarre changes."
"..."
Huang Quan's expression turned somewhat serious.
This sounds like it's filled with a certain... madness.
"The rules are reversed, common sense collapses, and life is devastated... That is a true apocalyptic scene. Some people self-mutilate to seek pain and gain power. Skinning, pulling out tendons and fingers are commonplace. Some people even kill their closest relatives to seek pain and hope for divine favor."
"Proceed to the dung beetle ascent."
"..."
A hint of horror flashed across Huang Quan's expression.
It's so cruel!
"You...won in the end?"
Huang Quan couldn't help but ask, his purple eyes filled with disbelief.
"win?"
Qiong Mei shook her head bitterly, her face showing profound helplessness and sorrow.
"Faced with such an existence, our insignificant world has no right to confront it head-on. All we can do is... hide."