Translator: SumTLMan
This crystal monocle was a parting gift from Angel to Nausica when she left Sky Mechanical City.
At that time, Nausica thought it was a secret weapon made by Angel out of concern for her safety.
However, Angel denied it.
Nausica still remembers what Angel said at the time——
“This is not a weapon, and it won’t be of much use when you’re in danger. But if you have something you want to notify me about, you can use this.”
“So, this is a communicator?”
“You could say that, but it only has one chance to be used, so I hope you use it wisely.”
After receiving this “communicator,” Nausica kept it in her pocket, never once using it, nor did she ever think about using it. It was more about entrusting this single-lens monocle with her thoughts for a dear friend.
Because the real situation was almost as Angel had said, it was useless in danger, and whether or not to use it when not in danger didn’t really matter, did it?
Even if her adventure ended in failure, even if she became disabled or was half-dead, she actually never thought about using the monocle to seek help from Angel.
Because she would take responsibility for any choice she made, regardless of life or death.
But now, she kind of wanted to use it.
…
On an unnamed reef island.
“What are your plans now?” Nisi looked towards Angel, who was deep in thought.
Angel: “First, find Nausica.”
“Do you have any way to do that?” Nisi asked.
Angel was silent; Nausica had been swept away by the ocean currents, and no one knew where she had gone. The only method he could think of was probably to go to the Wilderness of Dreams and wait for Totoro to appear.
But that always involved risks, and moreover, Angel didn’t want to rely on Totoro for everything.
Nisi: “I knew you had no idea.”
Angel turned his head to look at Nisi: “Are you suggesting you know how to find Nausica?”
Nisi nodded proudly: “Of course, I do.”
Under Angel’s puzzled gaze, Nisi pulled out a slender black skull-topped wand from his wide sleeves. With a wave in the air, invisible magical and soul powers burst forth, forming a complex spirit rune in the air.
The runes shimmered with brilliance, and seconds later, a humanoid spirit with a cone-shaped head emerged from the runes.
Angel noticed that this humanoid spirit looked extremely aged, with a hunched back so severe that his head nearly touched his knees, supported by a cane. He resembled a human, except for the shape of his skull, which was different, resembling a pointed hat.
“Who is he?”
Nisi proudly said, “The Cone Person’s Prophet!”
Cone Person? It was the first time Angel had heard of this race. Through Nisi’s explanation, he gradually gained some understanding of the Cone Person.
They are a rare humanoid race discovered in the Drulna plane, mostly living in a manner similar to barbarians, belonging to a primitive tribal civilization.
Within the tribes of the Cone Person, the most revered position is that of the prophet. Because the prophets are adept in astrology and climatology, they can tell their people when to hunt, when to sow, and when to offer sacrifices to the heavens…
In terms of status and function, they are somewhat similar to the shamans of barbarian tribes. However, the shamans of barbarian tribes possess some supernatural powers to a greater or lesser extent, while the prophets of the Cone Person tribes are mostly ordinary people.
Nisi said, “But Diya and other Cone Person prophets are different; he possesses abilities similar to those of a prophecy wizard!”
Diya is the name of this Cone Person prophet.
Angel was somewhat skeptical, questioning, “If he can use prophecy magic, then why did you need Totoro’s help with the stone slab issue before?”
Nisi looked a bit sheepish, “It’s not the same. I only said he has abilities similar to those of a prophecy wizard, not that he is actually a prophecy wizard.”
“Diya’s ability, to be precise, is a kind of divination.”
He can divine a vague outcome, such as the divination of the heavens, which might result in an answer like “It is likely to rain in the short term.”
So compared to the abilities of a prophecy wizard, it’s quite a bit lacking. However, it still touches on the edge of fate.
Angel asked, “Then how can we rely on Diya to find Nausica?”
“Person-seeking divination. This is Diya’s most proficient type of divination. As long as he is given something used by the person to be divined, he can use his short staff in a person-seeking manner. By the direction in which the staff tilts, he can roughly determine the current direction of Nausica’s location.” Nisi said, “How about it, at least it’s much more useful than your aimless searching, right?”
“It’s very similar to the prophecy apprentice’s short staff method.” Angel remembered that White Bear was very good at the short staff method.
“The appearance is similar, but the core is different. Their ways of interpreting fate are two different concepts.”
Angel could understand, after all, the Cone Person’s prophets view the world in a way and with a perspective vastly different from humans.
“It does seem promising, but unfortunately, I can’t use it.” Angel said, “Because I don’t have anything used by Nausica.”
“You mean to say, you and Nausica never exchanged tokens of love?”
Angel cast a cold glance at Nisi, his silence speaking volumes, though Nisi understood what Angel was trying to convey.
“How come you’re becoming more and more like Sanders…” Nisi murmured, “Even if it’s not about trading, isn’t it normal to exchange things with each other?”
Angel replied, “I don’t care either way. Can he divine the future if it’s not about that?”
Nisi shook his head.
“Then it’s useless.” With that, Angel, uninterested in further discussion, bypassed Nisi, planning to converse with Reynolds again to see if he had any knowledge about the nearby islands.
Since other methods were not viable, Angel decided to use basic logic to deduce where Nausica might be. If Nausica was still alive, she would likely do everything possible to escape the sea, at least finding a place to land and rest.
Just like Cindy and her group, they could drift at sea, but the human pursuit of solid ground eventually led them to land on a reef island.
Nausica probably did the same; perhaps she drifted to a nearby island, boarded a ghost ship wandering in the mist, or, like them, rested on a reef to recuperate.
However, Reynolds’ answer slightly disappointed Angel.
There were indeed many islands around the laboratory, but they were difficult to find because the area was enveloped in mist, making it hard to discern directions. Even though Reynolds knew the positions of those islands relative to the laboratory, he would lose his way shortly after leaving.
Taking the seabed route wouldn’t worry about getting lost, but Reynolds didn’t have the strength to qualify for the seabed route.
Moreover, Reynolds was not in the laboratory at the moment, making it virtually impossible to determine the direction of other islands from this reef island.
“So, no matter what, we still have to go to the laboratory,” Nisi said with a smile. His goal was the laboratory, as it involved matters of the soul; Angel’s goal was to find Nausica, which might not align with heading to the laboratory.
But now, to search for nearby islands, Angel figured he might as well join him in venturing into the laboratory.
“Since Firo is also going, let’s support him. I’ll go for the soul data, and you look for nearby islands,” Nisi suggested.
Angel pondered for a moment. If there wasn’t a better option, that might be the only course of action.
“Do you have a way to find Nausica?” Angel couldn’t help but ask Reynolds again.
Reynolds still shook his head: “I don’t know where Nausica is, but she’s likely not dead. She’s just been swept away by the ocean currents… Even if the laboratory’s people captured her, Nausica won’t die soon because they need a lot of experimental subjects and living sacrifices. Unless…”
Nisi interjected, “Unless what?”
Reynolds said, “Unless Nausica encounters the worst scenario, being swept away by the ocean currents and encountering the sea’s… magical creatures.”
“You better not jinx it,” Nisi couldn’t help but tap Reynolds on the head with her wand, “Say something positive, don’t always expect the worst.”
Reynolds felt somewhat wronged, “Isn’t this what you asked?”
“Then shall I say something positive?” Reynolds pondered what good news he could share: “Nausica must still be alive, maybe we’ll see her soon?”
“How soon is soon?” Nisi asked.
Reynolds hesitated, then said, “An hour?”
Nisi couldn’t help but burst out again: “What are you thinking? You’ve been here for several days and haven’t encountered Nausica. Now you expect to see her in an hour, how is that possible?”
Reynolds said with a sense of grievance, “I was just trying to be positive.”
Nisi turned his head away, looking towards Angel, “Let’s not think too much about it, let’s go find Firo. I don’t even know if Firo has found the laboratory, I hope he hasn’t. Even if he has, he better not cause a big fuss and destroy the lab’s data.”
After Nisi finished speaking, he thought to himself: Maybe those documents contain the chance for me to step into true knowledge. Totoro, I really trust you.
Angel thought for a moment and nodded: “Okay.”
“Then let’s set off now, oh, and take Reynolds with us, it can save a lot of time.” Nisi said, “I’m not as foolish as Firo to go there alone.”
After saying this, Nisi picked up Reynolds, his figure soared, ready to take flight.
However, as Nisi was about to depart, he looked down and saw Angel still standing still, with a strange expression on his face.
“Hey, let’s go.” Nisi shot a soul bullet over.
Angel casually blocked it but still didn’t move.
“What’s wrong?” Nisi asked, puzzled, “Don’t you want to find Nausica? Let’s hurry, I still need to go back and study the tablet, I’m almost done.”
Angel was silent for a while, then looked up at Nisi in mid-air: “Nausica, came to find me.”
“What?” Nisi didn’t understand what he meant.
Angel said, “I mean, Nausica came to find me, in… the Wilderness of Dreams.”
Nisi was stunned, then fell from mid-air: “What? The Wilderness of Dreams, when did you give her the login device? She hasn’t come back since the Novastar Competition, has she?”
Angel remarked, “At the conclusion of the Novastar Competition, I provided her with a disposable login device to facilitate contact with me if needed.”
Subsequently, Nausica maintained continuous contact with Angel, to the extent that Angel himself nearly forgot about this arrangement. Unexpectedly, just a few seconds ago, a notification from the power of the Gate of Dreams indicated that the marked individual had logged in.
The login device given to Nausica had been specially marked by Angel, fearing that she might enter the Wilderness of Dreams and miss connecting with him.
Therefore, upon receiving this notification, Angel immediately delved into the Gate of Dreams to observe for a while.
Indeed, the person who had entered was Nausica.
“You provided her with a login device back then? And you claim you two don’t share a special relationship?” It’s worth noting that even individuals like Rhine only became aware of the existence of the Wilderness of Dreams much later.
Nisi muttered to himself before adding, “She could have come earlier or later, but it’s such a coincidence that she appears right when we were about to search for her.”
Angel pondered, “Perhaps this is a form of luck?”
“Luck?” Nisi squinted, as if a thought struck him, and then turned to look at Reynolds, whom he was still holding.
What had Reynolds said earlier?
“Nausica is still alive, and you’ll see her soon.”
Nisi: ? ? ?
Nisi internally cursed, astonished that Reynolds’ words had come true.
Could it be that Reynolds truly possessed an innate talent for luck?
Nisi had never believed in the existence of a “luck” talent before, but after the incident involving the “descendant of Ziz” and Reynolds’ prophetic statement, he began to entertain the possibility.
Nisi’s gaze towards Reynolds suddenly radiated brilliance: “Why don’t you stop searching for a physical body and just follow me in your soul form? I’ll find you a beautiful female soul by then!”
“I have all sorts of souls, those for fighting, divination, healing, and purely for delight… Now, all I’m missing is your lucky one!”
Nisi’s eyes blazed with fervor, a thought rising in his heart: Could this be my chance?
“Totoro sent me here not to search for soul data but to meet you!”
Nisi’s gaze made Reynolds continuously back away, but unfortunately, as Nisi kept holding onto him, he couldn’t escape from Nisi’s increasingly intrusive lecherous old face.
Just as Nisi’s face was about to press against Reynolds, a hand suddenly intervened.
“Stop fooling around,” said Angel: “I still need to take Reynolds to the Wilderness of Dreams to meet Nausica.”
With that, Angel rescued Reynolds from Nisi’s clutches.
Nisi said, “I’m not fooling around. I’m serious. I’m just missing such a Lucky Soul.”
Angel replied, “He’s still alive.”
Nisi said, “No problem. By the time I find him, he’ll be dead.”
Angel raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”
Seeing Angel narrow his eyes, his tone threatening, Nisi swallowed his saliva: “I was just saying. If it comes to it, I’ll just wait for Reynolds to die naturally. Given his condition, he doesn’t seem like someone who will live a long life anyway.”
Angel, not wanting to waste more words with Nisi, was eager to head to the Wilderness of Dreams. After all, the login device for Nausica was one-time use, and missing this chance would truly be like finding a needle in the ocean.