Chapter 977: 613, Whale Island has been taken in?!
Chapter 977: 613, Whale Island has been taken in?!
Jinguji Maki was running in the long labyrinthine corridors.
She ran barefoot on the soft brown carpet, the hem of her nightgown fluttering in the dim light, like a lamp floating in the long river of time.
The little girl’s hair, smooth and shiny, bounced behind her.
It was already midnight, even those students who just left their parents and gained freedom were sound asleep.
A soft warm wind blew through the corridor, as if a giant’s arm wanted to take the little girl into its embrace.
Powerful, yet careful and affectionate.
Seemingly afraid of startling the little girl.
The call in the corridor was like the nursery rhyme under the cherry blossom tree of her hometown, the cheerful laughter echoed in her ears, as if there were adults wielding hammers, pounding rice cakes in mortars.
People shouted with rhythmic chants, the rice cakes being pounded into white rice balls in the mortar.
An old man sat on the wooden steps, leaning on his cane watching the young people, with a knowing smile on his face.
Jinguji Maki felt the call, almost bursting into tears.
She didn’t even know why she wanted to cry.
Li Tongyun followed behind, but she didn’t disturb Jinguji Maki, merely following the little girl silently through the corridor, through time.
Xiao Zhenji came outside the dormitory, crossing the expansive plaza with stone slabs.
Xiao Zhenji continued to walk outwards, towards the cliff of the island, stepping barefoot on the midnight black stones.
Yet the stones, although clearly jagged, didn’t harm her at all.
The originally eroded jagged rocks smoothed into a path where Xiao Zhenji walked.
Finally, she reached the edge of the cliff, standing firm in the billowing sea breeze, gazing at the crescent moon on the horizon.
The person suddenly became unspeakably entranced.
The mist before her condensed into an extraordinary scene.
She saw a magnificent three-masted wooden sailing ship traveling on the waves, a middle-aged man in a pristine white hunting suit standing at the bow.
Impeccably elegant.
Around this three-masted sailing ship, there were dozens of large sailing ships escorting it.
A little boy played with a ball on the deck, while a little girl silently watched, holding her face in her hands.
Carelessly, the little boy kicked the ball into the sea and quickly shouted, “Father, help me fetch the ball!”
The middle-aged man at the bow laughed, with a wave of his hand a Shikigami walked on water, gently lifting the ball from the sea surface.
The young Shikigami stood on the high waves, smiling, with eyes filled with fondness for the little boy.
However, at that moment, there was a sudden muffled sound from the bottom of the cabin, and thick smoke billowed out.
The middle-aged man turned back, only to see that eight surrounding sailing ships were simultaneously on fire, accompanied by explosions in their holds.
He said sternly, “Someone has tampered with the ships! Quickly order the ships of the divine attendants to come for rescue, first save and evacuate the elderly, children, and women on board!”
But, no matter how the signal flags waved or the horns blared loudly, the surrounding ships showed no inclination to approach, instead they swiftly sailed away, stopping only two or three kilometers away.
On these ships, the snow mountain flag of the Jindai Consortium was visibly flying.
The middle-aged man calmly watched the scene, seemingly already understanding what had happened.
Just as he was about to summon the Shikigami to step on the waves for a chase, there was another loud boom.
The three-masted sailing ship he was on suddenly broke in half, the enormous flames and explosion sound instantly engulfing everything.
The middle-aged man was injured by the explosion, with limbs and bones nearly fractured inch by inch.
From his severed arm, countless blood was spilled into the sea, attracting a gigantic whale.
The blue whale swallowed the middle-aged man whole, diving to the deepest part of the sea.
But gradually, one of the whale’s eyes turned into a human pupil.
Filled with sadness and despair.
It swam back towards the sea surface, until it met a little boy, gently keeping him in its mouth as protection.
It wanted to find the little girl again, but could not find her no matter how hard it tried.
Ships on the sea began attacking it, and it could only leave.
The giant whale swam out an uncertain distance, until it saw a coast and released the little boy from its mouth.
At this moment, the human pupils of the giant whale were filled with tenderness and reluctance, but it didn’t look back, returning to the depths of the sea.
That was a father’s final obsession.
Two sections of the ship slowly sank into the sea, and those ships that initially sailed away circled back, hundreds of Shikigami standing at the bow, holding their breath in wait.
Until there was no movement on the sea, they continued their journey.
The little boy was sheltered by fishermen on the shore, recovering from a fever that lasted more than thirty days.
He changed his name, settled down to be a fisherman, and even forgot the legacy he once had.
Until one day hundreds of years later, a young man suddenly arrived at the fishing village and picked up the baby girl still in swaddling clothes.
The baby girl’s parents had died from the plague, and the young man opened a space passage and placed her in front of a wooden cabin beneath a snow mountain.
The young man’s brows were like swords, his eyes like stars. He calmly said, “Wait patiently for a new era.”
…
…
Seeing this, tears were already streaming down the small face of Jinguji Maki.
For some reason, she already knew that was her ancestor’s experience.
Xiao Tongyun stood not far behind her, also witnessing the entire scene. She didn’t know why this image appeared on Whale Island, but she knew it must be related to Xiao Zhenji.
At this moment, under the moonlight of the crescent moon, a middle-aged Onmyoji slowly walked up from the sea, stepping into the air as if there was an invisible narrow heavenly ladder.
The middle-aged man arrived in front of Jinguji Maki and touched the little girl’s brow with his index finger.
The middle-aged man transformed into a white light flying in the air, but that white light didn’t dissipate, eventually forming the shape of The Giant Whale flying in the sky.
The Giant Whale flapped its enormous fins… no, to be precise, those extraordinarily large fins were more like a pair of wings.
Xiao Tongyun was already stunned watching this scene as if she saw the legendary Kunpeng.
The next moment, Jinguji Maki seemed to understand something. She bit her finger, letting the blood flow freely from it.
The Giant Whale in the sky came crashing down, continuously shrinking, and drilled into Jinguji Maki’s finger.
This Giant Whale was larger than any shikigami recorded in the Jindai family.
It was Genji’s Ancestors’ gift to future generations.
Moreover, Jinguji Maki suddenly felt as if she was also in mind communication with this sea island.
Li Tongyun slowly walked to her side.
Xiao Zhenji turned her head and tearfully said, “Sister.”
This was the third word Li Tongyun taught Xiao Zhenji.
Li Tongyun gently held her in her arms, “Don’t cry.”
But Jinguji Maki couldn’t stop crying; she nestled in Li Tongyun’s arms, feeling deeply saddened.
Above Whale Island, the sky suddenly began to rain heavily.
Outside was all clear skies; only Whale Island had a downpour.
Li Tongyun whispered, “Sister will avenge you, don’t worry.”
…
…
At this moment, Zheng Yuandong was browsing through documents in the office, saying to Lu Yuan, “The branch affairs need to be initiated, and students must be categorized to ensure tailored education so they can survive well in the Inner World.”
Ni Ergou nodded, “My investigation data shows that 73% of the students are not doing well in the Inner World, relying on gold bars given by their parents to survive. Some who brought gold bars were also robbed by their Inner World parents and siblings or by outsiders. They don’t know how to protect themselves or how to acquire useful items to bring back to the Outer World. These people have been hovering on the edge of survival within a few months, but luckily we started the school in time.”
Lu Yuan said, “Half of the kids have been stained by the Inner World’s hostility, but that’s okay; we are confident we can get them back on track. My current idea is to distinguish between students with and without cultivation aptitude and also to separate the ones with good grades from the bad ones. Surprisingly, 11% of the university students this time are top students from prestigious universities, perhaps they can assist us in some research.”
Ni Ergou added, “These university students in the Inner World are workers or community members, without the qualification to access Inner World technology knowledge. We can help with this, so it’s appropriate to allocate a separate school for such talents for research and study.”
Ni Ergou continued, “Then for those without cultivation aptitude, segregate them into a separate school, teach them self-preservation and how to transport resources from the Inner World, with Kunlun responsible for turning them into value to maintain the institution’s operation.”
Ni Ergou: “Those with cultivation aptitude, also segregate a separate school, teach combat skills, wild survival skills, etc., to give them more options. Oh by the way, boss, is Mr. He still unwilling to take out Hu’s cultivation methods?”
Zheng Yuandong shook his head, “Hu’s Heart Sword Technique is one of the orthodox cultivation legacies; it is inherently precious and doesn’t belong to him, so it’s understandable he doesn’t want to offer it.”
Ni Ergou whispered, “But Kyushu members are all practicing it. He wants to establish a place belonging to Time Traveler; then the 60,000 students on Whale Island are the ones he should be considering the most.”
Zheng Yuandong shook his head, “I cannot persuade him now, because in his eyes, Kunlun might also be one of the hypothetical enemies. After all, what he’s trying to do goes against Kunlun’s principles, so he wouldn’t add more obstacles to himself. This time nearly a thousand students from the Kyushu members didn’t report. My idea is to first use the Eye of Truth to identify students suitable for cultivation, and then discuss with Qing Chen.”
“You want Qing Chen’s Zhunti Method?” Lu Yuan asked curiously.
Ni Ergou mumbled, “Luo Wanya, that old fellow, is very capable. Even our people can’t infiltrate the Parents’ Meeting, and currently, not everyone can learn the Zhunti Method there; it takes a certain contribution level. To wait until the contribution is earned, in less than two months’ time, our people might become family members. This organization is quite spooky.”
Zheng Yuandong calmly said, “I’m not trying to grab Qing Chen’s Zhunti Method, rather I want to exchange the Wizard legacy and Eye of Truth for it.”
“That’s not good, the Wizard legacy is evidently more functional,” Lu Yuan said.
“No,” Zheng Yuandong shook his head, “The crucial part of the Wizard legacy is the Eye of Truth. We have only 72 Eyes of Truth, which means the Observer organization can have at most 72 Wizards. However, the academy has tens of thousands of students; the Wizard legacy isn’t suitable for us; exchanging it aligns with our stance.”
“He wouldn’t agree, right?” Ni Ergou hesitated, “My view differs from Lu Yuan; I observed the Parents’ Meeting, and this Zhunti Method is like a rapidly spreading virus, capable of quickly enhancing group strength. The Parents’ Meeting has this thing, as if they’re cheating.”
Zheng Yuandong smiled, “We’re not banning the Parents’ Meeting from continuing to use Zhunti Method… Moreover, Qing Chen now desperately wants the Wizard legacy, because the Keep Secret Technique is crucial for the Parents’ Meeting. All rapidly expanding organizations will understand the importance of the Keep Secret Technique. Of course, whether he will agree to exchange in the end depends on his willingness and cannot be forced.”
Just then, a torrential rain suddenly began pouring outside the window.
Zheng Yuandong was surprised as he looked out the window and at the bright moon outside Whale Island.
This heavy rain occurred only on the island!
The extremely wise Kunlun Leader immediately realized: “Has Whale Island been contained by others?!”
…
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