Chapter 205: Chapter Welco Back, Shoreguard Rast
"Just as I thought."
Dean Silver flicked her tail and leapt lightly from the computer desk, crouching on Rast's shoulder.
"I knew from the start that the little girl you saved back then was hiding quite the secret."
"In fact, even now, she might very well be connected to the origin of the Nightworld… After all, throughout the first six eras, there was never such a thing as the ‘Nightworld’ or the ‘Black Night Travelers’. It wasn’t until after the Sixth Era that the ‘Nightworld’ ca into being."
"Well then..."
She winked at Rast. "Do you regret it now? Regret saving that little girl back in Frozenwater Town?"
"If you hadn’t gone out of your way back then, maybe none of this would’ve happened. The world might have headed down a completely different, brand-new path."
"Who knows."
Rast placed the gaming helt back onto the charging dock.
"That is a force called ‘Fate’. Perhaps, even before I entered the Historical Echo of Frozenwater Town, the trajectory of fate had already been set."
He looked at the computer monitor, which was flashing with ga news and ad pop-ups. "But—"
"I won’t regret it."
"That was a choice I made of my own will. Since it’s the path I chose, I’ll walk it to the end, no matter how absurd it is."
"Sigh, fair enough."
Dean Silver shook her head with boredom. "I almost forgot, I was talking to you."
This was soone who crawled out of hell, a guy with a heart of steel like a robot.
The word "regret" probably never existed in his dictionary—because in his eyes, wasting ti and ntal energy on sorrow and remorse was purely a waste of ti and only decreased his efficiency.
She flicked her tail, moved the mouse with her little paw, and opened the event leaderboard for Shoreguards’ Ballad.
On the leaderboard, the ID "Little Ferret Gummy" stood proudly in first place with a score of 100,000, more than triple the second place.
It seed that 100,000 was the maximum score possible for this Deep Blue Port ti-limited event. Clearly, when designing the event, the ga company hadn’t expected that anyone would actually reach this theoretical limit.
In one corner of the leaderboard, a countdown to the end of the event and finalization of the rankings was highlighted in bold. At this mont, less than two hours remained.
"The official announcent said they would reach out offline… Who knows when they’ll show up."
Dean Silver looked at that big number one on the leaderboard and the ID "Little Ferret Gummy", and the more she looked, the more delighted she beca. She strutted proudly across the computer desk:
"I wonder whether this ga company is reliable or not. Will they really help us uncover the secrets of that chanical Research Institute running the ‘Artificial Angel Project’?"
"If it’s just like a school field trip for elentary students—casually touring the chanical Research Institute, taking a quick glance, and calling it a day without access to the core secrets—then what’s the point? It’d be a waste of all our effort clearing this virtual ga."
At that, even Rast couldn’t help but glance at Dean Silver.
"What do you an, ‘a waste of all our effort clearing the ga’?"
"So tell , what does clearing this ga have to do with you, Dean Silver?"
"How could it not be related? Helping you pick your nickna—wasn’t that contributing?"
Dean Silver wiped her non-existent forehead sweat with her tiny paw. "Even though I don’t know what I did exactly, all in all, it was still hard work on my part."
Rast fell silent for a mont, then directly reached out his hand and grabbed the scruff of Dean Silver’s neck.
Ignoring her flailing and clawing, he lifted her into the air and scrutinized her carefully for a long while.
Although they had known each other for a long ti, Rast would still sotis wonder—was this dumb, cutesy act sothing Dean Silver deliberately maintained over her long life as a form of self-protection? Or was this snow ferret simply born this way?
Of course, perhaps it was a bit of both.
But such musings were destined to go unanswered.
A mont later, Rast placed the Little Snow Ferret back down.
"That Shoreguards’ Ballad ga company should be reliable."
He looked at the leaderboard page, at the countdown ticking steadily away. "They and the institute conducting the ‘Artificial Angel Project’ should both be part of the sa organization. It must be connected to Grey, and likely a continuation of the Shoreguards during the Technological Era."
"Maybe even..."
Rast’s words paused slightly: “I suspect that even this Deep Blue Port Speedrun Challenge ti-limited event was orchestrated entirely by Grey herself.”
“Orchestrated entirely by Grey?”
Dean Silver blinked in surprise. “But didn’t that little girl disappear from this era more than a decade ago?”
“She had already ascended to the Eighth Tier, an angel of the ‘Fate’ Higher Sequence Tiers.”
Rast gave a slight smile. “Little Grey, even back when she hadn’t broken through to the Legendary Realm, while she was still in the Fifth or Sixth Tier, was already capable of rewinding ti under limited conditions—even halting ti across an entire city.”
“And now, she has not only surpassed the Legendary Realm, but even achieved angelhood… Just how much control she has over ‘Fate’, no one can say for sure.”
According to the current tiline of the Historical Echo, two full centuries had passed since the Battle of the Fractured Coastline.
Over those two hundred years, Grey had led the Sixth Era’s human civilization in purging the Iron Cross Clan, the Beast Tide, and the Cultists from the entire continent… She had built a glorious and prosperous technological civilization and had long since beco a deserved leader of the Shoreguards.
Thus, the present-day her was soone even Rast found difficult to fathom, difficult to see clearly.
“Even if Grey herself disappeared for so reason, it wouldn’t be impossible for her to have observed decades into the future before vanishing and left behind so contingency.”
“Speaking of which, Dean Silver,” Rast glanced at the Little Snow Ferret beside him, “don’t you think this Shoreguards’ Ballad event feels sowhat tailor-made for ?”
“Now that you ntion it… it really does.”
Dean Silver seed to realize sothing too. She wrapped her tail around a piece of dried fish and stuffed it into her mouth, then tapped her chin with a little paw, falling into a thoughtful pose.
“When it cos to Deep Blue Port’s speedrun challenge, who could possibly compare with you—the very person who once cleared it in the first place?”
“This is clearly a custom-tailored event, a custom-tailored version—”
Dean Silver slapped her paw down. “So, this was just Little Grey ordering the ga company to create a special event just so you could win first place?”
“So you’re actually a custom-made champion?”
“Not sure.”
Rast shook his head. “But there’s no need for us to dwell on it.”
“After all, if this was sothing Grey had arranged specifically for —”
“Then once we reach the chanical Research Institute, everything should co to light.”
He looked out the window at the bustling lights and bustling traffic of the prosperous science-fiction tropolis. “If I’m not wrong—”
“Then the contact information summoning us to the chanical Research Institute should be arriving soon.”
...
As it turned out, Rast’s guess was not wrong.
At the exact mont the countdown for the ti-limited event on the webpage ended, a ssage with official credentials was sent to the email inbox.
【Dear player “Little Ferret Gummy”:】
【Congratulations on achieving first place in the final rankings of the ti-limited challenge event in Shoreguards’ Ballad.】
【The leaderboard reward has been issued. First place is awarded with the qualification to visit the Third chanical Research Institute.】
【Based on the real-world address and iris identification information you provided during account registration, our company’s unmanned hover vehicle is now waiting downstairs at your residence. If you wish to claim the first-place leaderboard reward, you may board the vehicle at any ti.】
【Reply TD to unsubscribe】
“Whoa, that was fast?”
“So they had already sent the black high-class vehicle ahead of ti, just waiting for the event to end and the rankings to lock in!”
Dean Silver turned her head and glanced at Rast, her expression becoming subtly odd. “And you still claim you’re not a custom champion.”
“Sigh, capitalism, you win… trapped by capital once again.”
“Enough chatter. Let’s go.”
Rast picked up the Little Snow Ferret in one hand. Then, he donned the mask he had prepared back when he entered the Nightworld.
At the sa ti, he placed a mini mask, custom-made for a snow ferret, onto Dean Silver.
“When the ti cos, if the people at the chanical Research Institute won’t let you enter with , you do know what to do, right?”
“Um… what do I do?”
Dean Silver froze.
“I’ll say I’m a ntally ill patient with bipolar disorder, and you’re my emotional support ferret. You have to stay by my side at all tis. If we’re separated, my bipolar disorder will imdiately flare up.”
“Uh…” Dean Silver blinked, then suddenly reacted. “Wait, doesn’t that make your pet?”
“Hasn’t it always been?”
“You son of a—!”
...
When Rast arrived downstairs in the residential area, a black high-class vehicle with a streamlined exterior was already waiting for him quietly.
But unlike the black high-class vehicle from when won sang and n died, this particular sci-fi styled vehicle hovered silently in mid-air.
The main driver’s seat was also completely empty.
The mont Rast’s right hand touched the car door, he felt an invisible ripple silently scan over his body before vanishing without a trace.
The car door opened without a sound. After Rast sat inside with Dean Silver in his arms and closed the door, the futuristic vehicle began to rise and carried them off into the distance.
“Ah, this light, ah, this water...”
“It really embodies every aspect of a science-fiction world.”
Dean Silver leaned against the car window, gazing out at the dazzling, kaleidoscopic scenery of the science-fiction tropolis, occasionally letting out a sigh of admiration.
That fluffy snow-white tail swayed wildly beside the window, making Rast increasingly suspicious that this creature wasn’t really a snow ferret, but perhaps so sort of alternate-world husky.
Ti ticked by slowly.
Outside the window, the towering skyscrapers and floating vehicles that had once filled the sky gradually disappeared from view.
The flourishing sights of the science-fiction tropolis faded away, replaced by a towering, cloud-piercing structure.
The entire tower appeared to be made of so sort of alloy, reflecting a silvery-white brilliance under the sunlight.
The unmanned vehicle slowly descended at a certain section of the tower.
In the next mont, a chanism within the tower seed to activate, silently opening a gap that allowed the unmanned vehicle to glide directly into the alloy-built entrance of the tower.
“It does resemble the present-world Arcane Tower.”
Dean Silver stopped wagging her tail and joined Rast in gazing at the grand, resplendent alloy tower.
Only, it was obvious that compared to the present-world Arcane Tower, the chanical spire before them was far more magnificent and steeped in the atmosphere of science fiction and the future.
Throughout, Rast remained silent.
He had already recognized this location and the structure in front of him.
This was none other than the “Watchtower,” the forr base of the Shoreguards from two hundred years ago.
Before the betrayal that occurred on that rainy night, he and Grey had spent around half a year of peace here under the shelter of the Watchtower and Leader Sisel. Those were the best days of Grey’s life.
Now, more than two centuries had passed.
The old tower, once built from scorched bricks and li made of stone paint, had undergone a complete transformation. It was now entirely forged from high-strength alloy, many tis more magnificent, brimming with a science-fictional aura.
Yet, from the tower’s structure, one could still faintly discern the shape of the Watchtower of old—its glory not faded even after centuries.
The flying vehicle entered the alloy tower.
After passing through several winding corridors, the unmanned vehicle slowly ca to a stop in a spacious and brightly lit chamber.
It appeared to be an enormous library, with rows upon rows of bookshelves extending deep into the structure. But at a glance, Rast saw no sign of any other staff.
However, the mont Rast opened the car door and stepped down from the flying vehicle—
He heard a light chanical voice echo throughout the entire tower.
“Welco to the Watchtower-affiliated Third chanical Research Institute, Player ID ‘Little Ferret Gummy’.”
“And—”
The chanical voice paused slightly.
“Welco back.”
“Shoreguard Rast.”
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