Mystery: When the Fool Meets the Masked Fool

Chapter 314 The Romance of [Storage]
In a simulated universe.

Emlyn White sat on the embankment of a crystal ocean, watching enormous whales leap across the edge of the material world, only to quickly fall back into the dazzling crystalline structure.

The whale was covered in crystal-like feathers that shimmered with iridescent colors in the sunlight.

Hundreds and thousands of anglers crowded together, holding phase-shifting rods, letting their bait sink into the depths of the crystal.

Emlyn has been watching for a long time, but the fishermen below don't seem to have caught a single fish.

Seemingly noticing Emlyn's misunderstanding, a richly dressed man stepped forward to explain.

"The people of Dikana offer their prayers to the Crystal Mother by fishing. They believe that the Mother will respond to everyone's wishes and give corresponding rewards."

After saying this, the man hung a piece of gold on the fishing hook and threw it forcefully into the solid ocean.

“Simply put, as long as you offer sacrifices, you can fish for anything here,” another woman wearing a straw hat translated, showing no reverence for the “Crystal Mother.”

Emlyn nodded knowingly, expressing his understanding of the various sacrificial rituals performed by the short-lived species.

“But it seems you haven’t caught anything,” Emlyn said, glancing at the woman in the straw hat. “There aren’t any fish in your bucket either.”

The woman in the straw hat turned and glared at Emlin, who felt her face and neck growing increasingly red.

That's wonderful; a young girl's blush speaks louder than any sweet words.

That's the allure of vampires.

He proudly tossed his hair.

Turning his head, Emlyn noticed that a row of fishermen behind him were all glaring at him with red faces.

Ah, my irresistible charm.

The next second, he heard friendly greetings coming from all around him, enveloping him.

He couldn't understand these words; this "simulated universe" didn't seem to be translating what he had just heard.

Then, a fishing rod was shoved into his hand.

The Air Force fishermen were all staring at Emlyn.

Emlyn finally realized that what he had just heard, which he couldn't understand, was not praise.

But he didn't care.

Noble vampires have no need to be annoyed by rumors.

However, since they want to see it, Emlyn won't be stingy.

He swung his fishing rod and cast the line without adding any bait.

At the same time, it mobilized the extraordinary abilities of the "beast tamer".

A few seconds later, under the watchful eyes of the surrounding air force veterans, who were practically on the verge of exploding, Emlyn pulled out a crystal fish.

…………

On the other side. "I can sense the aura of [Preservation] on you; you should be considered a half-Preservation practitioner." Derrick heard the voice in his mind.

“Yes.” Derrick nodded straightforwardly, then asked, “Are you the Heartless Giant?”

“The Heartless Giant…is that referring to me? Hmm…it seems quite fitting.” Derrick sat on a rock, the voice of the “Heartless Giant” echoing in his mind. “After all, I am just a giant who has already died, one of the countless machines left behind by the Builders.”

“But you’re still alive.” Derrick turned his head, puzzled. “However, a Builder? You are a Builder!”

“Yes, I was once a city builder,” the mindless giant replied, also explaining Derrick’s question. “Sleep, that’s what organisms call the process. The interruption of coherent consciousness, to me, is essentially death.”

“But you’re not…sleeping right now.” Derrick still couldn’t understand.

"Because the children are doing well." The Heartless Giant seemed to be in a good mood, and the surrounding woods made a rustling sound, like laughter.

"To be honest, when I first regained consciousness, I even thought I had become a piece of space junk." The Heartless Giant seemed quite talkative as he chatted with Derrick about his past.

"You know what? When I first opened my eyes after being asleep for who knows how many years, starlight was projected onto my sensors. No matter where I looked, all I could see was an endless sea of ​​stars. I really thought I had become a piece of space debris."

"Why do you think that?" Derrick was a good listener.

"Oh, this story is a bit long." The Heartless Giant's voice sounded somewhat melancholy, yet also proud.

"At that time, the global locust plague had just ended. Most of the builders had evacuated the planet. You can probably understand that the end of the war did not mean the end of the disaster. Hunger and poverty were far more terrible than the claws of the insects."

Derrick imagined the situation of the Moon City's inhabitants. Indeed, without the Blackface Grass, their Silver City might not have survived for so many years.

"You know, as a war robot, I'm actually quite stupid. I don't have many options, so I can only package myself as 'preserved' 'old memories' and sell it to the company."

Derrick didn't know what "company" meant, but he listened very attentively.

"By then, my decaying legs were gone. Otherwise, I probably could have sold them for a bit more money." The Heartless Giant continued to ponder, "Screws and a giant shield bearing the Builder's imprint, sensors and armor bearing scars..."

“And of course, there’s the most popular one,” the giant said with pride. “The one I’m most proud of is the one who has gazed into the eyes of the Amber King.”

Derrick clapped with admiration in his eyes, and said, "Wow, that's amazing... Our chief of Silver City has also met the Amber King."

"Then your chief is quite an impressive fellow." The giant's tone was full of praise.

He continued, “I’ve basically sold myself off. But it’s still not enough, far from enough. Finally, for those little ones who grew up under my protection, to redeem their smiles, I made one last deal. The price was the cunning of the Domain Builders and the memories of the Amber King within them. In return, no one on this land will ever cry from hunger again.”

“I don’t know how they did it, but they woke me up again. At that moment, I felt something touching my face, but I couldn’t tell. Maybe it was a bird, or maybe it was the sound of people laughing.”

"Then I woke up and found that this planet had become a part of me."

"Do you still remember the matter of the audience with the Amber King?" Derrick asked.

“I don’t remember.” The ground beneath Derrick’s feet trembled, as if the giant was shaking his head. “But it doesn’t really matter.”

"Once, I was as big as a mountain. Now I am even more vast than a mountain range. The whole planet, all the laughter, they are in my body, becoming my heart and eyes."

“In the distant past, I gave them a heart. So, they gave me a star in return. I lost my most precious heart, but it doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter. Because I protected the people I wanted to protect, and they are protecting me.”

"Let me think, how did the little ones describe this in their history books? The mutual redemption between the guardian and the protected. Yes, that's the sentence, I especially like it, it feels so romantic. Isn't it? See, this is the romance of [Preservation]."

(End of this chapter)