The process of boarding that starlight giant ship was far easier than Sharna had imagined.
She had originally prepared several makeshift rafts with her companions and was ready to climb aboard with her crippled body. She had even planned that if she failed and fell into the sea, Ross would take her place leading the slaves.
But it turned out she had completely overthought it.
When she drew close to the giant ship, she saw endless starlight surge toward her and the slaves following at her back.
She felt her feet briefly leave the ground, and warmth spread throughout her body.
When the starlight dissipated, the scenery before her had already changed.
She was no longer standing on a raft, but on a massively expansive continent — so vast she couldn't even make out the edge of it.
She was standing in the middle of a giant plaza.
The ground glowed with the color of starlight, like a flowing starry sky — rising and falling in slow, steady waves, as if breathing.
Or to be more precise...
Sharna even felt that the entire island seed to be breathing.
And around the plaza, she also saw sights even more unbelievable.
To the east, the terrain sloped lower, giving way to a vibrant spread of farmland and a newly built village. Judging from the massive scale of the buildings and the Giants currently walking among them, it was clearly a Giant village. Sharna could even see two Giants who looked extrely capable of fighting hacking at each other with swords and axes in the open, while a cluster of Giant warriors cheered them on with wine jugs in hand. The intensity of their sparring was clearly very high, but the massive shockwaves were dissolved into nothing by the surrounding starlight the mont they erupted.
To the south lay a massive lake — though judging by the sheer size of it, Sharna was more inclined to call it an ocean. Floating islands dotted its surface, and countless Fish-n carrying tridents were swimming and laughing among them.
Sharna had never seen anything like it.
But then, sothing else caught her attention even more.
Standing directly at the far end of the plaza was an extraordinarily magnificent building.
It looked to be an ancient temple — clearly having undergone renovation and modification at so point. After the work was done, the temple standing at the center of the plaza had been turned into a massive archway.
Starlight flowed from within the archway as well, surging and circulating.
On the door, four words were written in bold.
[Gate of the Stars]
"..."
Simply gazing at that door, Sharna felt a profound tremor pass through her soul.
A living flagship, vast as a continent.
The Giant race and the Fish-Man race living freely upon it, guarding a door that belonged to the stars.
In any corner of this sea, that was sothing unheard of.
Sharna realized — her past understanding of The Zodiac had been woefully thin.
Only standing here, in this mont, did she feel she finally understood what that na truly ant.
But just as Sharna stood there, too awestruck to breathe —
"Welco to the Aster, first challenger."
A voice accompanied the words.
From the flickering starlight below the plaza, an old man walked out toward her.
Not a Giant or a Fish-Man — just an ordinary human.
What surprised Sharna was that this old man carried no noble or imposing air whatsoever.
On the contrary, his clothes looked almost identical to those of the sea fishern she had seen before.
Even...
"Hm? You are slaves?"
If Sharna wasn't mistaken, the gaze the old man turned on them held not the slightest condescension — only respect, and a sympathy born of shared suffering, and even what seed like genuine happiness at seeing them.
Wariness rose instinctively in Sharna's heart. She couldn't make sense of what she was looking at.
"My na is Roel. You can call Old Roel — I'm a mber of the Star Guides. aning, soone who doesn't have enough strength to beco a Zodiac mber, but still follows the starlight."
The old man smiled warmly at her. "Mm — because Mr. Brogy and Mr. Dorry agreed to have a spar today, I'm the one in charge of 'guidance' today."
"Child, don't be nervous... look."
As he spoke, he raised his hand, revealing a mark on his cuff.
"!!!"
Sharna's eyes went wide.
She recognized it imdiately — the mark branded by the slave transport ships, symbolizing chattel and rchandise.
"I was also taken by a slave transport ship once, and nearly beca a slave myself. But I was too old, and no one wanted ."
The old man said softly: "Kelly and Alan once urged — they said the Lords of The Zodiac could remove this mark. But I, and everyone in the village, all refused..."
"It's an ugly mark. It holds everyone's worst mories. But no one wanted to forget."
His gaze moved over the hideous scar crossing Sharna's face and the broken angle of her leg, and through the woman in front of him, he seed to see sothing from the past — the things he had heard about his granddaughter, once.
His voice beca gentle.
"Because only by holding onto the darkness does the hope given by the stars shine all the brighter."
"Hope?"
Hearing the old man's words, Sharna felt she could almost grasp the shape of what had happened to him.
But then, exclamations broke out from behind her.
She turned — her companions were all there, equally at a loss, looking around at one another.
But soone had already noticed.
"Bori is gone!"
"And Chalco too!"
"Where is Sheila? Where did Sheila go?"
Several of their companions had vanished without a trace.
Their eyes quickly went to the old man, who was clearly responsible for receiving them.
"Rest assured."
Old Roel nodded, clearly anticipating the question.
"As Lord Uma said before — the Aster will receive all those who desire to break free from their chains and pursue freedom."
"To such people, the stars grant them the chance to reshape their fate as they will. This is the 'promise' made between the Star Lord and the world."
"The more resolute a person's heart, the greater the chance of boarding the ship, and the faster they arrive."
"As for the companions who didn't make it — they must have held hesitation sowhere deep in their hearts, or harbored ill intent toward The Zodiac. They are still on the raft you set out on. In a short while, Fish-Man warriors will see them safely back to the island you ca from."
He explained briefly, and as he did, the look he gave Sharna was full of quiet approval.
As the first person to board the ship among all the slaves, she had clearly been the most resolute of all of them.
Hearing Old Roel's explanation, the slaves fell montarily silent.
"...Now that I think about it, Chalco really was doubtful from the start about whether The Zodiac's promises were real."
"He was always timid."
"And Sheila — didn't she say sothing like, if she could sell intelligence about this ship to the Governnt and the local kingdom, she might be able to buy her freedom faster?"
Those who hadn't made it aboard — it seed they really had wavered from the very beginning.
"To be precise, the Zodiac mbers don't mind news about the Aster spreading," Old Roel said. "But they don't welco guests who arrive with malice."
"Now then — bring your companions and follow ."
He turned on his own and started toward the massive door behind him.
"..."
Sharna stood still a mont, then nodded to Ross at her back.
He quickly moved to support her, and together they caught up with Old Roel's unhurried pace.
"Mr... Old Roel."
Sharna glanced at him and spoke quietly: "When you ntioned a village just now — you weren't talking about the Giant village over there, were you?"
She was perceptive.
Not only had she deduced his likely background from the few words he'd shared — a survivor taken by slave traders, saved by The Zodiac — she had also sensed that the situation aboard this ship was more layered than she'd estimated.
"Of course not."
Old Roel didn't hide anything.
"Our village didn't have a na at first, but Mandy decided to call it 'Star Village' — Mandy is the village chief."
"Village chief? You're not the village chief?"
Sharna was mildly surprised. As the 'guide' welcoming arrivals to the Aster, she had assud this old man held a fairly prominent position.
"? I lost my mind for a while and only recovered thanks to the Zodiac mbers. Mandy did ask if I wanted to be chief, but he does a fine job of it..."
"My grandson and granddaughter originally wanted to co live inside the Star Garden with them — they even arranged a place for , just south of the Giant race's 'New West Village', very close to the Fish-n's 'New Ryugu Palace'."
"But I've received so much from the stars already. I felt I owed sothing in return — and everyone in the village felt the sa way about wanting to stay on the Aster..."
"You ask about Kelly and Alan? They are my pride. They are now mbers of the 'Sheep Division' and 'Rooster Division' respectively..."
The old man was clearly very fond of talking.
Through his words, Sharna quickly pieced together a picture.
In short: the Giants and Fish-n living aboard the Aster were only a portion of their respective peoples — generally warriors of the Giant race and warriors of the Fish-Man race, along with people who had received favors from The Zodiac and chosen to stay and guard the ship on their behalf. They were, in essence, the Aster's crew.
The 'Star Village' where Old Roel lived was similar. Its people were all ordinary humans — fishern, by the look of them, who had been attacked by slave transport ships and saved by the Zodiac Rooster. Their loyalty to The Zodiac ran deep. Even as ordinary humans with no exceptional strength, they wanted to contribute, which was why they served as Star Guides.
As for the vast majority of the Giant race, the Fish-Man race, and the others under The Zodiac's protection — they had all entered the 'Star Garden' to live.
Sharna found it difficult to picture what that place must look like.
From the old man's description, it was a larger, better, and more equal world.
"All lives should live equally. Those in power cannot act without restraint; the wealthy and highborn cannot tyrannize. Any race — so long as they carry kindness in their hearts — has the right to exist there."
For the slaves, it sounded less like a real place and more like a paradise that had no business existing in the world they knew.
Before long, they followed the old man to the foot of that massive, magnificent door.
Only standing this close did Sharna notice — the patterns carved into the door were constantly shifting.
"You ca here to take part in the trials, I assu?"
Old Roel looked at Sharna: "This is the 'Gate of the Starry Do', which leads to the 'Star Garden' — Starosia."
"Everyone participating in the trials, upon touching this door, will be sent to their place of trial."
"Sharna, you were the first to board the ship, so you will be the first to begin."
Sharna's expression grew serious.
The slaves behind her couldn't help asking: "Grandpa Old Roel, what exactly are the trials?"
"The trials are not simple to explain."
Old Roel said with a small smile: "To put it briefly — inside the Star Garden, there are twelve 'Places of Trial' in total, each one tied to the origin of a Zodiac mber's power."
"Once you enter, you will naturally understand what needs to be done. Perhaps it will be a battle; perhaps sothing else entirely. In any case, each trial is divided into stages. For every stage completed, you receive a corresponding amount of starlight, which can be exchanged with the Zodiac mbers for whatever 'miracle' you desire."
"And no matter which Place of Trial you enter — as long as you clear it completely — you may enter the 'Starry Sky Throne' and et the great Star Lord in person."
His words were vague — or perhaps even he himself didn't know the specifics of what each trial held.
The slaves remained uneasy: "But you've seen Big Sis Sharna's condition..."
Their worry was obvious.
They knew Sharna's body better than anyone. Even walking on her own was a struggle for her, let alone fighting.
"Rest assured."
Old Roel's answer was unhesitating: "The starlight will give her a satisfactory answer."
"No, what we an is—"
"Ross."
Ross had barely opened his mouth before Sharna cut him off.
The slaves' leader drew a slow breath, the way she always did.
Air thick with earth, flowers, and fruit filled her lungs.
She looked at the great door ahead of her, at the starry sky flickering across its face, and felt an unfamiliar power rising in her chest — sothing she had never felt before.
She had no way of knowing yet whether what Old Roel had told them was true.
But she knew at least this much.
"If it's a lie, I wish it were real."
"If it's real... then I want to beco part of it."
She tightened her grip on the rough crutch in her hand. Her eyes blazed like a lit grassland.
Without another word, she stepped forward — and pressed both hands to the door.
VMMM!
Starlight surged in silence.
The next mont, she was gone.
And by her ear, a calm and quiet voice spoke.
[Entering the Place of Trial]
[Duel City — Pyramid of Illusion Gods]
(End of Chapter)
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