Chapter 141: All Schemes Exhausted
The news of Shandora’s return quickly spread back to the Cloud Village, and the Shandia people, regardless of gender or age, all put down their work upon hearing it.
Women stopped washing clothes, children stopped playing around, elders stopped chatting… Everyone looked at the person nearest to them, confirming if they had heard correctly.
And after receiving the answer “no,” they finally cautiously accepted this fact.
Immediately after, the entire tribe erupted in wild joy, with people embracing and weeping.
“Chie, Chieftain Uncle!”
“Hoo~ Cough cough!”
“Chieftain Uncle! Did, did you hear? We took back Shandora!”
Yuta, who was forced to stay in the village because he hadn’t come of age, excitedly rushed to the chieftain’s tent. Although he was out of breath from running too fast, he still shouted excitedly.
“Yeah, it’s back.”
“It’s back.”
Inside the tent, the chieftain’s voice was very calm, but his usual chuckling tone was somewhat distorted at this moment.
“Chieftain Uncle?”
“Ah?”
“You’re crying.”
“Haha~ No way? I’m laughing~”
“I’m laughing, you know~ Yuta.”
……
“By the way, this island is even bigger than I imagined~ But why haven’t we seen the gold anywhere yet?”
Having resolved the issue with the Sky people, Aoxi and her group began searching for the true purpose of their trip—gold.
However, the process was not as smooth as they had imagined.
Due to the island’s vast area, combined with the Sky people’s overprotection of the environment, the island was basically covered everywhere with towering giant trees and dense forest vines, making it hard to discern directions.
“We’re not entirely sure either, but according to the legends passed down through generations in our tribe, Shandora does indeed have a massive amount of gold.”
Zannick and several warrior captains were also following beside them, searching for the legendary ancient Shandia people’s metropolis.
As for the other warriors, after coming back to their senses, they had mostly returned to the village to help the chieftain handle the relocation matters.
“Wandering around aimlessly like this isn’t a solution, Obei. How about I fly up to take a look first?” Aoxi suggested.
“If you want to go, then go! No need to report to me.”
Obei replied in an impatient tone, but anyone could hear the displeasure in her voice.
“Hm? What’s wrong? I didn’t say anything.”
Aoxi touched her ahoge, feeling somewhat baffled by Obei’s sudden change in attitude.
But she didn’t think much of it. Maybe it’s her shedding period~ Oh, but this body doesn’t seem to have a shedding period anymore.
With Aoxi spreading her wings and leaving, without this mediator, the atmosphere on site became even more oppressive.
The Shandia warriors, including Zannick, didn’t dare speak loudly, and even their movements became somewhat cautious.
Everyone present could tell that this girl who had just punched through the Sky Island with one fist was not in a good mood.
『Failed.』
『Why?』
『Impossible~』
『Clearly just like Aoxi, both fulfilling others’ wishes, why can’t I awaken?』
『Exactly where did I go wrong?』
Obei couldn’t figure it out. Why had she done everything Aoxi had done before, yet still showed no signs of awakening?
It was the same—fulfilling others’ wishes. Aoxi had responded to the pirates on the ground’s longing for the Sky Island, while she had resolved the Shandia people’s thirst for land from the sky.
Sky Dragon corresponds to the sky, Obelisk corresponds to the earth.
Aoxi had continued a dead dream, while she had ended a long war.
Aoxi had smashed a huge hole in the Sky Island from below upward, and she had pounded a huge hole in the Sky Island from above downward.
In theory, there shouldn’t be any problem!
Obei’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Originally, according to her plan, she should have awakened right after throwing that punch, entering a state of “partial Illusion God Transformation.”
But in the end, nothing happened—not even the slightest feeling of awakening!
『Aaaah! So annoying!』
『What exactly do I need to do!』
『My authority is destruction—do I really need to punch and blow up this Sky Island?』
『Can’t it be as straightforward and clear as a physics formula! Or did I not control my variables properly?』
『Why did that idiot awaken so easily!』
The usually aloof Miss Obei was now pacing back and forth, running, and rolling around uncontrollably in her mind~
……
“Isn’t it a bit too rushed?”
Burufaruto, who had just returned to Fenrir Island, looked at the invitation in his hand and said.
“It is indeed a bit early.”
Ra, sitting across from him, was constantly flipping through a thick handwritten booklet.
“But Captain Kaido said the other side is impatient, so doing it a bit early isn’t strange.”
“But this is too early, right? Who sends an invitation half a year in advance?”
Even knowing the other party was a whimsical and arbitrary guy, Burufaruto was still somewhat speechless about this invitation sent nearly seven months early.
“By the way, where did Boss Kaido go? I haven’t seen him around.”
Burufaruto had been leading his subordinate pirates on sea patrols these past few days, while conveniently raiding some black ships that intruded privately.
With Aoxi and the others away, his greatest pleasure now was taking the garrison pirates from those subordinate islands out to the outer sea for a spin, to see if they could catch a few rule-breaking unfortunates.
After all, Ra had only forbidden garrison pirates from privately going out to sea to raid, so now with a core executive leading, it certainly didn’t count as private.
Moreover, this kind of “extra income” gig was something the island garrison executives fought over fiercely, even leading to armed clashes before.
As the Battle Division Minister, Burufaruto was now a hot commodity; wherever he went on any island, it was a scene full of vitality and thriving activity.
“Captain Kaido left last night.”
“At night? Forget it then. I was going to tell him about this interesting guy I found on this patrol.”
The Beasts Pirates were a typical captain-offline pirate crew; Kaido disappearing for seven or eight days was completely normal~
……
Shandora.
“Haha! You definitely won’t guess what I found up in the sky?”
Aoxi returned to the ground with an excited face.
“Mm.”
Obei still answered irrelevantly, nodding absentmindedly.
Aoxi didn’t mind and continued excitedly:
“I found a massive Golden Bell! It’s fully—”
“Golden Bell?!”
Hearing this term, Zannick and the other Shandia captains all spoke up in unison.
“Yeah, and super big! Want me to bring it down for you to see?”
“Please do let us see it! That might be the sacred relic from our Shandia legends!”
Legend has it that in ancient Shandora, the Shandia people would ring the Golden Bell every day as per custom.
The Golden Bell’s chime was clear, long, and could travel very far; whenever ships were lost at sea, that bell sound would always guide their direction and pacify their minds.
As for the reason for ringing the bell, no one remembered anymore—perhaps hoping that friends separated across the vast sea would also hear this beautiful “island’s song”…
No sooner said than done; before long, Aoxi flew down from the sky holding a Golden Bell Tower hundreds of times larger than her own body with both hands.
Thud!
This was the dull sound of a heavy object landing.
The complete Golden Bell Tower included four massive and thick golden pillars and a resplendent base, with a dark blue Poneglyph embedded on that base.
“Phew~ Pretty heavy, this thing.”
Wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead, Aoxi glanced at Obei and saw she still had that furrowed brow and absentminded look.
『What’s wrong with this girl exactly?』
