In the pitch-black Chaos, Noah walked for a long time following the guidance of the anchoring arrows.
Wherever he passed, mountains parted for him and seas split open.
A mysterious feeling in the dark told him clearly that his existence was being anchored back to reality bit by bit with every step he took.
Fragments of scenes occasionally flashed into his vision — exactly the events from reality related to him that the bird head called "the present" had mentioned.
Although they were hallucinations, they looked exceptionally real.
Mt. Firmament, Mianloong Chamber.
"Look, Sentinel!"
Jinhsi operated her Terminal to project the image, allowing the Sentinel Jué to clearly see the content of the Quick Tone live stream.
It was Noah using anchoring power to beat the war Threnodian.
In the footage, the False Sovereign was repeatedly beaten into Dark Tide form until it was finally anchored. Then Noah grabbed its head for knee strikes, punched its heart, and delivered a fierce tiger shot...
"Cry for me — Cry! Cry! Cry!"
"Sentinel, look! Noah is so handsome!"
"Cough, cough!"
Watching this, Jué couldn't help but shiver, as if dreaming back to the time on Mt. Firmament when it was forced to hand over the power of time.
"Xhi… This Sentinel actually has no interest in this type of video."
High EQ: No interest.
Low EQ: Too scary, don't show me.
Jinhsi did not take the Sentinel's words to heart. She paused the live stream and stared obsessively at the upright young man in the projection.
After a long while, she reluctantly shifted her gaze back and looked at the Sentinel again:
"Sentinel, may I ask you to make a prophecy? Do Noah and I have any destined affinity?"
Hearing this question, Jué's expression darkened.
The Resonator it had raised single-handedly held a position in its heart almost like its own daughter. Now she was not only eager to throw herself at someone but was also asking it whether she had affinity with another person.
How was it supposed to answer that? It couldn't answer shit!
Jué returned to its hibernation pod, leaving only one sentence behind.
"The will of heaven is unpredictable. Even life and death are hard to foresee, let alone romance."
"Romance is hard to foresee…"
Jinhsi lowered her gaze, carefully savoring the Sentinel's words. Finally, she let out a long breath:
"It must be because the connection between Noah and me is not close enough, which is why our romance is hard to foresee."
"Sigh… If only I had the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with Noah…"
After the short fragment ended, the next scene immediately followed.
This time the location was at the Black Shores.
In the futuristic-style hall, the Bloom Bearers dispersed one after another. Shorekeeper and other guest officials were discussing topics that were hard to understand.
In the corner, Aalto gazed at the distant sea outside the window and was talking to someone through her Terminal:
"Yes, yes, this is the Black Shores autumn recruitment. The Black Shores welcomes elites from all over the world to join…"
Behind Aalto, a pink figure crept closer stealthily.
She stood on tiptoes and reached her hand toward Aalto's wallet on the table, but halfway through, her hand was caught by a fair little hand.
"Encore, let me guess what you're doing?"
"Meh~ Sister Camellya, keep it down."
Camellya curved her lips with amusement, as if she had discovered something fun:
"Come on, tell me. Where do you want to sneak off to this time? If it's interesting, I might secretly take you there."
"Really? Okay then, Encore will tell Sister Camellya this secret."
Encore took Camellya's words seriously and spoke with full anticipation:
"Encore wants to go to Septimont to find Brother Noah."
"Oh? Why?"
"Encore also wants to be like him — a sheep hero who saves the world. That sounds very interesting, right? Sister Camellya, take me to Septimont."
Hearing this, Camellya felt it was boring and released Encore:
"What's so good about saving the world? It's better to grow flowers."
As she spoke, Camellya handed Aalto's wallet to Encore:
"Here, take it."
"Thank you, Sister Camellya!"
Encore turned and left happily, completely unaware that Camellya behind her had already taken out her Terminal, photographed her back, and quietly sent it to Aalto.
After doing all this, Camellya revealed a sly smile:
"Saving the world or whatever — how can it compare to bullying a child for fun."
...
After watching the Black Shores fragment, Noah secretly clicked his tongue:
"You big idiot Camellya…"
He had to admit that watching these fragments was really entertaining. It gave him the feeling of secretly eating melons, allowing him to know events related to others and himself.
He slightly quickened his pace, wanting to eat the next melon. After walking a hundred steps, another scene indeed appeared in his mind.
This time the location was a remote urban area in Rinascita. No, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a small town.
On a small hill, a violin was playing. The melody was gentle and sorrowful, and the performer's face carried an indelible trace of resentment.
"Phrolova."
A kind call stopped her. Phrolova stopped playing and turned to look at the person:
"Grandma Liya, is there not enough Shell Credit to build the town? I still have some here…"
"It's not that, child. Our home has been completely rebuilt."
Grandma Liya smiled warmly:
"We all want to meet the person who helped us revive. Everyone is very grateful to him. See when you have time and invite him over so we can treat him properly."
"..."
Phrolova gently bit her lip, her eyes lowered. The pain of being pierced in the chest seemed to resurface. She slowly shook her head:
"He is very busy. I can't invite him."
She wanted to see him too, but compared to meeting, she was more afraid of facing him with weapons again.
Perhaps, for them, mutual longing was the best outcome.
...
The short fragment ended.
Noah stroked his chin thoughtfully:
"So that's where Phrolova's base is now."
"It looks like her family has all settled down properly."
"I need to pick a time to capture her."
At this moment, Noah did not know that in the future he would go to that small town, but the purpose would not be to capture Phrolova.
...
"Where have I walked to…"
In the pitch-black Chaos, Iuno felt her body growing heavier and heavier, as if carrying a huge mountain, yet also lighter and lighter, as if something was hollowing her out from within.
She had been walking here for far too long.
Her existence was constantly being absorbed by the Chaos. Even the remaining anchoring Resonance power was as weak as a candle in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing.
"Augusta, Granny Lillibet, Noah… where are you…"
Her memories grew increasingly blurry, so blurry that she had to repeatedly murmur to remind herself not to forget.
Tired. So tired. She just wanted to collapse and sleep.
Iuno finally lost the strength to keep walking. She helplessly curled up in the Chaos. The color in her eyes gradually filled with despair and regret.
She failed to find Noah and even got herself lost.
Everything was ruined.
A person with empty hands was most likely to feel at a loss.
Cold. So cold...
"Noah… I'm sorry…"
Iuno buried her head deep between her knees. Guilt overwhelmed her as she kept apologizing:
"I'm sorry. I overestimated myself. I don't have the ability to save you. I'm sorry…"
"Iuno?"
A call reached her ears. Iuno lifted her head in a daze. She felt that this dark Chaos finally had light.
It was the faint glow emitted by the anchoring arrows.
Familiar white casual clothes came into view, along with that familiar face.
It was Noah!
Light gradually returned to her eyes. Her pupils trembled continuously as glistening tears overflowed from her eye sockets.
As if gaining strength from nowhere, she threw herself straight into his embrace and hugged Noah tightly.
So warm. In this freezing Chaos, there was actually such a warm embrace.
Iuno lost control of her emotions. The immense joy of regaining what was lost made her cry tears of happiness. She became incoherent:
"Noah, I found you. You idiot, what are you doing here…"
"Oh… right." As if remembering something, she ignored her joy and hurriedly said:
"Let's go. Come with me. I'm here to save you. Follow me this way, this…"
Halfway through her words, she suddenly stopped. Iuno looked around left and right, no longer able to recognize the direction in the dark Chaos.
Her heart beat rapidly, as if gripped tightly by something. Anxious and uneasy, she clutched her hair, her shoulders shaking. Her expression gradually became sad and broken:
"I set an anchor point outside, but… I can't remember anymore. My memories have been blurred by the Chaos… Wuwuwu, I'm sorry. I really can't remember."
In the next instant, she was enveloped by a warm embrace. A large hand gently smoothed her disheveled hair.
"Don't be afraid. You're not alone anymore."
"I will take you home."