Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1291: Chapter 1290: Evacuation

Melita didn’t quite catch what Gawain was mumbling about; she just circled one last time around the "central area" with its towering spires, then began adjusting her direction to head back the way she came.

"Our time is limited," she said with some regret, "The scale of this ’Mother Harbor’ is truly staggering; even if everyone could fly like me, it would be hard to survey the entire sky above the harbor within twelve hours—let alone mention the complex underground structures below, and the many sealed-off facilities and hazardous areas."

"Let’s head back first," Gawain said in a deep voice, "Since the flying ship follows a fixed patrol program, we can send more investigation teams here later. But honestly, this makes me feel uneasy..."

"Uneasy?" Melita slightly tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"The ’Sentinel System’—this Mother Harbor and that flying ship are essentially part of the Sentinel System as well. We can’t control it, and can only act along with the regularly patrolling ship. But who knows when this system might change, for example, the ship might alter its patrol route or something... I don’t like this uncontrolled situation, especially when it’s all orchestrated by an out-of-control ’Sentinel’."

"I think I understand your concern," Melita said in a low voice, "But this is a problem we have to face. Our world truly holds too many things beyond mortal imagination, and the legacy of the Voyagers is one of them. This advanced civilization... they once saved this planet, but the colossal machines they left behind are becoming more frightening and dangerous for us now, especially as these machines are now beginning to fail... You know? It reminds me of a very old holographic story from Talronde long ago..."

"A holographic story?"

"Sort of like your Magic Shadow Drama, but with more immersion," Melita casually explained, "The story tells of mice after the apocalypse—the world ends, and a group of mice living deep within an industrial district become the new rulers of the world. They live in a gigantic, old factory, regarding the machines running automatically within it as gods. But as time passes, the equipment constantly ages, and the small, weak mice live in daily fear of those increasingly malfunctioning giant machines, trying various ways to appease them or ’repair’ them, even lighting incense to attempt to commune with the ’Machine Spirit’—yet the machines continue to age and collapse, and in the mice’s view, the factory, their entire ’world,’ is on the brink of another apocalypse, a post-apocalyptic apocalypse..."

She turned her neck, looking back: "It’s actually a very clichéd horror-comedy story, but I like collecting these outdated old holograms. Unfortunately, all my hologram collections are gone, otherwise, I’d definitely drag you to watch... In those ancient times, Talronde created quite a few good things."

Listening to Melita’s casual chatter, Gawain remained silently pondering for a long time until the horizon of Steel Ground appeared in the distance, the canopy of the Reincarnation Giant Tree towering like a mountain at the edge of his vision. Only then did he slowly murmur to himself: "We are not mice."

Melita was silent for a moment before speaking again, her tone carrying a faint smile: "Yes, we are not mice, nor will we be mice."

Gawain and Melita returned to the wreckage zone of the Reincarnation Giant Tree and successfully rendezvoused with Amber, Victoria, and the others waiting there. They also met Daniel and Mary, who had just returned from exploring deep within the wreckage. Once everyone had gathered, he told detailed accounts of what he and Melita had seen in the sky and shared their speculations.

"... That’s the situation Melita and I saw," Gawain said slowly, looking at Amber and the others gathered in front of him in front of the small cabin left by the Fyrna Sisters. "Now we can confirm that this Mother Harbor originally had six ships... or warships, and now five of them and their corresponding port maintenance facilities have been destroyed, most likely due to system conflicts caused by Inversion Tide contamination."

Melita nodded in agreement: "I guess the Inversion Tide contamination of this Mother Harbor didn’t happen instantly; the Sentinel System did fiercely resist and likely made a self-destructive decision when the resistance failed—but by then it was too late, the out-of-control intellect had already seized too much control, so much so that the main structure of the harbor and one ship remained intact... Now all the ’normal parts’ of the Sentinel System have been completely destroyed by the out-of-control intellect."

Gawain silently nodded, acknowledging Melita’s assessment, but he couldn’t help feeling some regret.

When he first learned the truth about the "Sentinel," he actually had some lingering hope in his heart. He hoped that there was still room to salvage this ancient Voyager legacy, that the Sentinel System might still have some useful fragments left, like subsystems cut off during critical moments. However, the startling wreckage at the other ports forced him to abandon all such fantasies... The Sentinel System was finished; the out-of-control intellect had destroyed all the uninfected parts of the system, leaving only the ’toxic shell’ thoroughly corroded by the Inversion Tide.

The new truth was too shocking, leaving everyone present speechless for a while. After a few seconds, Amber couldn’t help but break the silence: "Actually, this is kind of a good thing, right? The Sentinel, during its initial out-of-control phase, wiped out five out of its six ships and even blew up the corresponding ports and maintenance equipment. It’s like it punched itself half to death—so even if it ever reactivates that one ship, at least we wouldn’t be dealing with an entire fleet..."

Amber’s thought process was always so optimistic, and her carefree demeanor did indeed lighten the mood a bit. However, the ever-stoic-faced Victoria extinguished the half-elf’s enthusiasm with cold reality: "Has the situation really changed? To the mortal nations now, whether this kind of main warship left by a civilization at the level of the Voyagers is one or six doesn’t seem to make much difference. Moreover, compared to that ship, this ’Mother Harbor’ might be the Sentinels’ most threatening power, and with our current technology, even if the Mother Harbor was here unresisted, slowly dismantling it would likely take us thousands of years."

Amber immediately fell silent, mouth agape, while Modir sighed after seriously contemplating how many technological gaps there were between this endless-looking "Mother Harbor" and the current mortal civilization: "Essentially, it means we can’t beat it... Even if we leave it alone, we still can’t beat it."

Upon hearing this, Gawain and Amber both looked at the Great Adventurer with unusual expressions, leaving Modir a bit baffled: "Er... did I say something wrong?"

"...Not really," Gawain awkwardly scratched his chin, "It’s just that hearing you say that suddenly reminded me of something else, don’t mind it."

Even Victoria showed a rare hint of embarrassment on her face. As a descendant of the Wilder Clan, she had also diligently studied her ancestor’s "Modir’s Travelogue" and naturally thought of some disrespectful things about her forebear. So she quickly cleared her throat, turned her head and changed the subject: "Your Majesty, what should we do next? Continue to search deep within the Reincarnation Giant Tree, or start exploring the Voyager facilities near the Mother Harbor?"

"... We’re heading back," Gawain glanced towards the port’s direction. After a moment’s hesitation, he had no choice but to order a retreat—despite the secrets buried within the Mother Harbor making him eager to investigate further, the rigorously programmed ship wouldn’t account for a group of ’stowaways,’ not to mention their limited supply of provisions on this trip. "We can send people back here for further exploration later, discuss the Sentinel issues back home at length, since that ship won’t be waiting around."

Victoria bowed her head to acknowledge: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then... what about here?" Amber glanced around, her gaze finally landing on the small cabin before them. Her eyes moved past the open door, looking at the vine inside and the small pink-and-white flowers upon it. "I mean... what about ’them’? Are we just going to leave them here?"

It wasn’t really necessary for Amber to remind him, Gawain hadn’t forgotten the matter in the cabin. He looked into the cabin at the twinned flowers, as if seeing across hundreds of years towards the two pioneers standing opposite him—the pioneers of mortals defying their fate: "We shouldn’t leave them here."

"But how should we take them?" Mary, who usually didn’t speak much and had been quietly following the group, couldn’t help but break the silence at this point, her voice sounding somewhat anxious. Earlier, she had learned about the Elven Twins from Kamel, and now her gaze carried a hint of sorrow as she looked at the cottage. "I mean... if we pick the flowers or pull out the vines, won’t we end up harming them instead?"

"...This is truly a gap in my knowledge," Gawain sighed helplessly, "if only Amon were here, he’d definitely know about this."

He shook his head, and just as his words fell, it seemed as if an invisible breeze suddenly swept through the area. The shrubs and flowers clinging to the ruins of the Reincarnation Giant Tree began to sway gently, and a faint rustling sound came from all around.

Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to this change, and as those rustling sounds echoed from the surroundings, Gawain heard a voice echo faintly in the depths of his mind—distant yet clear, a deep, unfamiliar voice: "Take them away..."

"Did any of you hear something?" Gawain immediately looked around, speaking in a low voice.

"Sound? Didn’t hear anything," Amber perked up her ears, the sharp elf ears twitching twice in the air, "...heard nothing at all."

Gawain remained silent, only frowning slightly as he glanced towards the small cabin. The voice that had suddenly emerged in his mind had vanished as if it had never appeared, but Gawain did not think his judgment was wrong.

He stepped towards the cabin, with Amber hurrying to catch up: "Hey, what are you going to do?"

"Take them along," Gawain crossed the threshold, looking at the two small flowers blooming quietly on the vine, "and hand them over to Amon as soon as we return."

"Ah... but how do we take them?" Amber instinctively drew out her two precious daggers, but hesitated upon reaching the vine, "Do we just pull them down or..."

"Try to take the vine intact... Peel it off from the root," Gawain glanced at the vine that seemed fused with the cabin’s pillar, "Shouldn’t be too difficult for you."

"Alright, it’s not too hard... okay." Amber muttered offhandedly, yet she steadied herself and raised her dagger, beginning to swiftly and delicately peel the vine winding around the pillar. The two small pink and white flowers dangling at the vine’s end trembled slightly with her movements, silent yet seemingly responsive—Amber looked up during this, pursed her lips, "Bear with it, I’ll try not to hurt you... tch, how silly of me to talk to flowers..."

Muttering aside, Amber’s actions were incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, she had peeled the vine from the pillar. Meanwhile, Victoria had entered the cabin, noting Amber’s "achievement" and promptly collected the detached vine and flowers together, carefully avoiding damage. Lastly, she quickly sketched a few magic symbols above the coiled vine, and heavy ice spontaneously formed, encasing the two flowers and vine altogether.

"This will ensure vitality—without any harm," Victoria nodded to Gawain, "I often use this method to preserve various organisms, from plants to nephews, with great success."

Modir, who had entered the cabin behind them, witnessed this scene and mumbled to himself, "I seemed to have known this technique once..."

Gawain nodded to Victoria, then turned to leave the cabin: "Let’s get going—there’s not much time left."

The group exited the cabin, just about to head toward the harbor and the ship, when Amber seemed to detect something, widening her eyes as she pointed not far away: "Hey! Look!"

Gawain immediately lifted his head to see a clump of bushes wilting rapidly right before his eyes.

The rustling sound spread from the surroundings.

Everyone looked around, and wherever they looked, all the vegetation, clustered berries, and shrubs growing from the remnants of the Reincarnation Giant Tree were withering and decaying at an astonishing speed. Centered around the Fyrna Sisters’ cabin, the remnant vitality within this massive tree was rapidly dissipating.

It was as if a garden, stagnated for hundreds of years, was swiftly fading away within mere minutes.

The nursery once meticulously tended by the Fyrna Sisters was also withering. The vines entwining the nursery broke and fell, and the rustling sound of withering plants quickly merged into one, while at the center of it all, Amber finally blinked: "All the vitality here was just for..."

A massive sound of dry wooden structures splitting came from not far away, thunderous as a storm, cutting off Amber’s words.

"The canopy is collapsing!" Gawain reacted quickly, "Evacuate immediately!"

Even before he finished speaking, Melita had already transformed into her dragon form amidst a dazzling curtain of light, her deep and commanding voice resonating across the clearing: "Get on! We will fly out directly!"

The booming sounds of wooden structures breaking echoed continuously from the surroundings, filling the entire harbor area like increasingly concentrated thunder, causing the entire ground to tremble slightly. In the distance, smoke and dust began to rise from the edges of the Reincarnation Giant Tree’s canopy, and fragile branch structures collapsed within everyone’s line of sight!

The dragon took flight.