"Great, you're finally out. I was dying of worry outside."
Stepping once again onto the barren black stone isle, Noah felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Far off in the east, the first light of dawn was already appearing. The salty, damp sea breeze gently brushed against his body.
Noah didn't respond to Aalto's words right away. Instead, he stared fixedly at the entrance leading to the Black Shores space.
Time ticked by second by second. Seeing no fluctuations at all from the Black Shores entrance, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Astral Modulator, if I'm not mistaken, you didn't just come out from the Sonoro entrance, right?"
Aalto asked impatiently:
"Was it Encore who helped you come back? How is the Black Shores now? Are the people inside okay? Is there any problem with the Tethys system? And Encore?"
"Mm…"
Noah lowered his head in thought while answering casually:
"I did indeed use Encore's Fantasy Manifestation ability to open a door back to the real world — wait!"
Noah's heart clenched. A cold sweat ran down his forehead as he suddenly remembered a critically important character he had subconsciously overlooked—
"Damn it! Encore is still inside the Black Shores!"
He stomped his foot hard. Aalto's expression also changed drastically after hearing those words:
"What happened to Encore?"
"I don't know. I never saw her."
"Huh?"
Aalto: Do you even hear what you're saying?
Noah turned his head and stared intently at the entrance to the Black Shores space.
Switch character — Jinhsi.
He checked the resonance energy inside Jinhsi's body and pressed a hand to his forehead.
The blue bar hadn't fully recovered yet. He wouldn't be able to enter the Black Shores instance today.
Using the Power of Time Sequence, he restored the black stone he had previously destroyed, completely concealing the entrance to the Black Shores once again. Then he silently switched back to the Rover.
Whatever. The Slaughterblade of Carnage had already been trapped inside for three months without escaping.
Although he didn't know Encore's exact situation, it was unlikely the Slaughterblade of Carnage would break out anytime soon.
Noah turned his head and looked at Aalto with a gloomy expression:
"Aalto, you're an information broker. Can I trust you to keep your mouth absolutely shut?"
"Of course. Confidentiality is the basic professional ethic of any information broker."
"Good. Come here. I'm going to tell you a piece of intelligence worth an entire planet of Solaris."
"No one could afford that."
Not long after, under Noah's explanation, Aalto's expression changed again and again.
"So, you're not actually the Astral Modulator — you just happen to possess his abilities."
"Correct."
"The Tethys system was corrupted by the Lament and became the source of a global Lament — the Slaughterblade of Carnage — and gained its own consciousness."
"Correct."
"It really can unleash all the Laments it has contained, including five global Laments and three hundred thousand regional Laments."
"Correct." Noah gave a thumbs-up in admiration. "You really are an incredible prophet."
That single sentence instantly broke Aalto's composure. He slapped himself hard across the face.
"I was just trying to bluff you a little and catch your attention! How did it actually come true? I deserve to die!"
"Hey, hey, stop hitting yourself. Let's think about how to deal with this Lament instead."
Although entering the Sonoro space this time hadn't allowed him to successfully rescue the Black Shores, he had gained plenty of valuable lessons.
Fortunately, with the Power of Time Sequence as a safety net, Noah still had many chances to save the Black Shores.
The two began reviewing the entire experience, searching for a way to break the deadlock.
"Right now, the Black Shores is completely under the control of the Lament · Slaughterblade of Carnage. To eliminate the Slaughterblade of Carnage, we must rescue the Shorekeeper."
Aalto picked up a pen and wrote "Slaughterblade of Carnage" on a sheet of paper, then drew an arrow pointing to "Shorekeeper":
"And to rescue the Shorekeeper, you need to locate her position inside the Death Star. That requires the help of the researchers."
Another arrow was drawn, this time from "Shorekeeper" to "researchers". Aalto continued analyzing:
"However, the researchers are currently under the control of the Slaughterblade of Carnage. They cannot possibly help you find the Shorekeeper's location under its surveillance."
An arrow from "researchers" pointed back to "Slaughterblade of Carnage".
Three names. Three arrows. A perfectly stable triangle.
Noah and Aalto looked at each other in silence, completely speechless for a long moment.
This deadlock… couldn't be broken for now!
Just the first step alone — freeing the researchers from the Slaughterblade of Carnage's control — was something they were completely incapable of accomplishing.
If the first step couldn't be achieved, then even if Noah pulled Rover (Havoc), he still wouldn't be able to rescue the Shorekeeper.
"Maybe… there isn't absolutely no way to break it. I just need a little time."
Noah's brows furrowed slightly. With a thought, he opened the panel and tapped into the quest list.
The main quest [Journey to the End of the Coast] was temporarily unable to progress.
But there was still another main quest he could advance!
[Main Quest: [Through the Sea Thou Break] has been activated.]
[Quest Description: Omitted.]
[Complete the main quest [Through the Sea Thou Break] to receive rewards: Radiant Tide ×20, Lustrous Tide ×10, Astrite ×1600, Shell Credit ×100000.]
"Aalto, I need you to guard this black stone isle. Do not let anyone break the seal on the entrance to the Black Shores space."
Noah let out a long breath and turned to gaze at the rising sun in the distant east. He had already made his decision:
"I'm going to Rinascita. I'm going to find Imperator and borrow its power for a bit!"
Hearing those words, Aalto was momentarily stunned, then overjoyed—
Wait, bro, your face is that big? You can just casually borrow the power of Sentinel Imperator?
Although they hadn't found the real Astral Modulator, somehow this person felt even more reliable than the Astral Modulator!
Sentinel Imperator held authority over separation and space. Using that power to sever the connection between the Black Shores personnel and the Slaughterblade of Carnage would be more than sufficient.
Noah wasn't sure whether he could successfully borrow His power, but as long as there was even a sliver of hope, he had to try.
"Before that, though, our Speed boat's fuel is running low, and it's rented anyway. We need to return it to Jinzhou."
"Hey, hey!"
Aalto hurriedly stopped Noah:
"Leave small things like this to me. You go straight to Rinascita. I'll handle returning the Speed boat for you."
Noah looked at Aalto in surprise, then glanced at the Speed boat, confusion appearing on his face.
It was just one Speed boat. If Aalto took it, what was Noah supposed to ride? Was he supposed to swim to Rinascita?
"Look behind you."
Following Aalto's advice, Noah turned around.
A massive shadow fell into his field of vision.
He looked up. And up. And up again. His eyes suddenly widened—
"Holy sh*t! The Troupe of Fools' flower ship! How the hell did you get this thing?!"
Noah recognized it at a glance. This enormous Echo flower ship was the exclusive property of the Troupe of Fools from Rinascita.
"Picked it up."
Aalto scratched his cheek awkwardly:
"After you left last night, this giant Echo ship just… crashed into this black stone isle. I studied it a bit. It's quite docile, and since it's from Rinascita, it should know the way."
"Holy… it's even bigger than I imagined."
Noah reached out and stroked the outer shell of the Echo flower ship, his eyes gleaming.
Crossing the sea on a Speed boat was still too dangerous. Who knew if some Cetus the Tidebreaker might flip it over halfway. But if they crossed on this…
Safe! Absolutely safe!
"Then it's settled. You return the Speed boat to Jinzhou, then guard this black stone isle. Whether it takes a few days or one or two months, I'll come back and try again to rescue the Black Shores!"
"Got it!"
No more words were needed between men when trust and promises were involved. Under the setting sun, two hands clasped firmly — then separated instantly.
…
Inside the Sonoro Sphere space, Black Shores, Bottom of Tethys.
In the center of an underground room filled with cutting-edge technology, through the transparent wall of a medical bio-pod, one could see a delicate face with flushed cheeks.
She slept peacefully, breathing steadily, holding two plush dolls — one black, one white — in her arms.
A virtual screen suddenly lit up. Several lines of text appeared one after another, accompanied by blinking cursors.
Target: Encore.
Status: Vegetative state (pseudo).
Resonance Ability: Fantasy Manifestation.
Cause: Brain nerves damaged by the Shorekeeper using Sonoro energy. External injuries have healed, but consciousness remains trapped in a deep dream state and is unwilling to awaken.
The lines of text vanished in an instant, replaced by information laced with scarlet code—
[31270th attempt to invade target brain domain: Failed!]
[Reason for failure: "Adults who don't believe the Sheep Warrior really exists cannot enter the Sheep Kingdom~"]
[Failure summary: Unable to comprehend.]