The entire port area was shrouded in a cloud of rising smoke and a thunderous rumble of collapsing buildings.
The blue dragon soared into the air, charging into the sky with all her might amidst a cloud of dust. The crown of the Tree of Reincarnation crumbled behind her, the massive wooden structure that had held on for thousands of years breaking apart like a city in a dream. Branches as thick as clock towers, withered leaves, and vines that had just died broke apart amidst a series of resounding booms, falling to the ground of the Motherport. Each fall would cause the steel ground to tremble, kicking up more and more plumes of dust and debris.
Gwen and the rest stood on the edge of Melita's broad back as they looked down at the ground. The scene was so spectacular that everyone was stunned.
It was as if an entire city had collapsed from the sky in front of them, and thousands of years of history had been reduced to pieces in a few minutes. The entire port area was shrouded in the thick cloud of dust, and even the lights left behind by the voyagers were covered.
It was a grand funeral.
"Everyone, stand still!" Melita's voice came from the front as if she was trying to muster a force. "The dust below is rising too fast. We have to speed up!"
As soon as the blue dragon's voice trailed off, Gwen and the rest felt a tremor under their feet. They could not care less about the spectacular scene below as they immediately stabilized themselves. At the same time, the rising and spreading dust began to accelerate behind Melita. She rushed out of the most severely collapsed area as the spaceship docked in the port finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
At the place where the spaceship was connected to the port, the spreading dust had shrouded all kinds of indicator lights, and the remains of the giant tree and the shrubs and flowers in the wreckage had been reduced to pieces. But fortunately, the size of the spaceship was huge, and the area covered by the dust only occupied a small area on the edge of the deck. Melita directly crossed the deck, skimmed over a pile of ship buildings, and finally landed on an open alloy platform.
Gwen was the first to jump onto the deck. He stood on a high ground and looked in the direction of the mother port. Under the hazy lights and the background sunlight brought by the energy barrier, the towering canopy of the Reincarnation Tree disappeared from sight. Only a 'sea of clouds' rose in place like a continuous, rapidly growing mountain range, covering the port where the giant tree once stood.
"… In this case, the next investigation team we send here may not be so easy," Kamel said in a low voice as he floated up from the side. "The collapsed Reincarnation Tree seems to have completely sealed off the entire port area. If the investigation team wants to explore the mother port, I'm afraid they will have to open a path in the ruins first."
Amber, who jumped down next to him, let out a long sigh. "That's a lot bigger than the Saurin Tree … Even if we send the engineering team, it will take them forever to dig it out …"
Listening to Amber and Kamel, Gwen just quietly looked into the distance and did not say a word.
It was not until some time later that a low mechanical hum suddenly came from the depths of the deck of the spaceship beneath their feet. The mechanical locks between the spaceship and the port were unlocked one by one as the massive, ancient engine roared to life, and the protective shield of the spaceship rose automatically. The distant port area gradually disappeared from their sight as the spaceship once again embarked on its journey of cruising among the many divine kingdoms. As if waking up from his thoughts, Gao Wencai said faintly, "The spaceship has set sail. Everyone, take a break. Eat something and recover your strength."
Since the ship left the divine kingdom of the God of War, and the team embarked on this unprecedented exploration journey, everyone's nerves were highly strung. Even the extraordinaries with powerful physiques would feel tired in such a tense situation. Now that they had finally left the Sentinel Mother Port, even if they still had to spend the rest of their journey on the ship, at least the most uncontrollable and risky part of the journey was over, and everyone could more or less relax.
The exploration team found a suitable place to rest near the entrance to the ship's interior. They took out the food and water they had brought and began to eat and recover their strength. And to prevent any accidents in the last part of the journey, Melita did not revert to her human form. Instead, she remained in her Giant Dragon form and rested on the nearby deck. The Giant Dragon's body was like a bulging wall, bringing a convincing sense of security out of thin air.
Melita was lying on the deck. Her tail, which was covered in scales, was slightly bent. Like a barrier, it surrounded the exploration team that had temporarily set up camp. Her head, however, was on the other side of the team. Her huge head was resting on the edge of an alloy platform. One of her eyes was watching the movements on the deck, while the other was watching Hu Po and the others who were resting. She looked a little bored.
At that moment, Amber came over with a sweet biscuit and waved it in front of Melita. "Hey, don't you want to eat something?"
"Are you talking about my dragon form or my human form?" Melita raised her eyelids, a low rumbling voice came from her throat. "In dragon form, this biscuit is not enough to fill the gap between my teeth. But dragon form doesn't need to eat frequently. I've already eaten before we set off yesterday. The next meal can be next week."
"… You Dragons are powerful." Amber was stunned. She stuffed the biscuit into her mouth and said vaguely as she chewed. "But I can't. I'm most afraid of being hungry."
Melita immediately closed her eyes that were facing the amber. At the same time, she moved her gigantic head to the side. The friction between her scales and steel produced a metallic sound. "Hey, eat further away. The crumbs are getting into my eyes!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry." Amber quickly took half a step back, swallowed the biscuit in her mouth and clapped her hands. Melita opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the rest of the team. "Hey, have you seen Gwen? I don't think I've seen him since just now … "
"He just went into that passage and said he wanted to check out the situation inside the ship." Amber clapped her hands and rubbed them on her clothes. She then turned to look at the door that led to the passage inside the ship. "He didn't let me follow him, but I still decided to sneak in after eating. He obviously has something on his mind, and he's acting alone. I'm worried."
As she said, she shook her head and looked rather helpless. "Everyone looks like they have something on their minds. Modir too, Victoria too, even Kamel doesn't look right. I can't quite understand your expression … But I think you must have something on your mind too. Looking at it now, only Daniel and his female apprentice haven't changed. The former's expression is as if the sky will never fall, and the latter's expression is as if the sky is always falling … "
Melita lifted her eyelids and looked at her. Being stared at by such a huge eye, even the thick-skinned Amber suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body. She could not help but ask, "Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have scum on my face? "
"You look like the most careless person around Gwen, but in fact, you're one of the most sensitive and attentive people I know …" Melita's tone seemed to have a smile. "You're always observing everyone and every detail around you, but most of the time, you're pretending to do nothing, making yourself look like the most useless one."
Amber was stunned for a moment before she waved her hand indifferently. As she turned and walked towards the door, she muttered casually, "It's the slum survival rule, it's called the survival rule …"
Melita looked at Amber with the side of her eye as she walked away. Finally, she slowly looked away. Near her tail, Modir had walked to a secluded place and was looking at the chaotic dark blobs outside the ship's shield in a daze. He looked like he was in a daze.
Victoria came to Modir's side. She looked at the old man in front of her worriedly. After hesitating for a while, she finally said, "Ancestor, are you worried about your remaining time?"
"… I've experienced an unprecedented adventure," Modir suddenly said. "On this ship, what I've seen is beyond anything I've seen before. These mysteries unknown to our predecessors, these things almost forgotten … I think I should be satisfied, Victoria. I've come so far, and even lived for six hundred years — I can't be too greedy."
"… You can't give up yet," Victoria immediately said. "Amber has a way to stabilize your situation temporarily. During this time, we can slowly find a solution. We can search for the Mistress of the Night's divine kingdom and find the other half of your body and soul. This is not unimaginable. We have even defeated the God of War, reached the deep sea, and found the legacy left behind by the Voyager. Ancestor, even without relying on the gods, mortals can also create miracles …"
"I've always believed in miracles." Modir smiled, and there was a calmness on his face that surprised Victoria. "I haven't given up, Victoria. Don't get me wrong. I just have no regrets about any ending. But if there's a chance to survive, of course I'm very happy. Under normal circumstances, who would actively seek death?"
Victoria was a little embarrassed. "Err … That's good. I thought …"
Modir just smiled and looked at the lady in front of him who was theoretically his descendant but was actually a stranger not long ago. He suddenly asked curiously, "Do you care a lot about me? Victoria, I may be a little blunt, but until recently, you and I didn't know each other. We were originally strangers. The only thing that connected you and me was a very thin bloodline that spanned across six centuries … You have people closer to you, and people who are more familiar with you. And I … I don't think I'm that close to you. "
Victoria looked at the old man in front of her with some surprise. She did not seem to expect him to take the initiative to talk about this somewhat delicate topic. But after a moment of silence, she softly opened her mouth to break the silence. "You're right. In theory … there's actually no deep kinship between you and me. For a long time, you were just a story passed down in the family records to me. Now that you've come out of the story, and you're … very different from what I imagined. Indeed, I can't see you as a kind and familiar elder, although I know I should do so … "
"Then how do you see me?" Modir asked curiously.
Victoria thought carefully for a long time before she finally said, "A great person. This great person was once very far away, but now he's right beside me. I'm trying to understand you, perhaps just like Heti and Rebecca back then."
After that, she looked at Modir who seemed to be in deep thought and asked, "Do you have any plans after you return?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. Now that Miss Amber has helped me stabilize the situation for the time being, but if nothing unexpected happens, I should only have about a year or so to make arrangements for the rest of my life. I've been thinking about whether I should use this year to complete the last adventure of my life, to go as far away as possible and witness something even more bizarre. But just now, when I looked at you … I had another idea."
"Another idea?" Victoria asked curiously.
"… I've traveled around the world, maybe even more than once. Although some things have dissipated in my memory, I still have a vague impression of many places in the world. But there's only one place … I'm very unfamiliar with it, so unfamiliar that I can't even remember where it is." Modir suddenly looked into Victoria's eyes and said very seriously, "I want to go there and see it."
"What place are you talking about?"
"Take me home," Modir said slowly. "Perhaps the last 'adventure' of my life is to go back to the hometown that I've completely forgotten — Victoria. It's in the mountains, isn't it?"
"Yes." Victoria's face, which rarely changed expressions, seemed to come alive. She met Modir's gaze and recalled the place where she was born and raised. "There's a very beautiful castle there, on the highest mountain in the Northern Region. It's cold most of the time, and only the room with a burning fireplace has some warmth. But the scenery there is very good. You can see the snow-covered mountains in the north, the white courtyard and the prosperous town at the foot of the mountain. It's not as advanced and new as the North Harbor, but in the streets and alleys, you can see the rise and fall of the Wilde family for six hundred years after you left."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful." Modir Wilde laughed. "I should go and see it."
…
In the vast desert covered by grayish-white fine sand, a majestic throne stood in the middle of the ruins of a collapsed altar. The mountainous figure on the throne lowered her head slightly, staring at a tiny stone pillar at her feet and the ancient book at the top of the stone pillar.
"Oh, you're awake, great adventurer." The majestic voice of the Mistress of the Night rang between heaven and earth. "Did you have a good dream?"
"Sort of." The voice of the old man came from the big black book at the top of the stone pillar. There was a hint of confusion in the voice as if he had just woken up from a dream. "I haven't had such a dream for a long time …"
"What did you dream of?"
"I dreamt that I was packing my luggage and embarking on the road back to my hometown." Wilde's voice was low and slow. In this barren and empty sea of sand, his voice was telling the story to his only audience. "It seems that I haven't been home for many years …"
"… Yes, great adventurer. Home is a very distant concept. Do you want to go back?"
"Probably. I think I should have such thoughts, but I'm not sure if it's my thoughts …"
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