With vigilance, Noah traversed the electromagnetic mist distorted by Tacetite reverberation energy with extre caution, finally erging from the deep mist rock cave.
The view suddenly opened up. The main island of the Black Shores, [Tethys Hub], appeared in his vision like a sleeping garden.
Pale blue tides repeatedly washed the shore. In the center of the island, a cluster of buildings with an extrely futuristic design rose from the ground, like a scene that would only appear in a sci-fi movie.
"Strange..."
Noah frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the surrounding environnt, feeling puzzled and anxious.
Everything here was exactly the sa as the Black Shores environnt presented in the ga, but the current atmosphere made him faintly uneasy.
It was too quiet.
No wind, no insect chirps—only the monotonous and repetitive sound of tides, constantly amplifying in the empty space.
"Didn't the Tethys System issue a global Lant warning? Why is there no change in the environnt inside the Black Shores at all?"
Even the generation of just one Tacet Field would cause enormous damage to the surrounding environnt.
By common sense, the Black Shores where a Lant occurred should have long fallen into chaos, with the environnt undergoing earth-shaking changes.
No matter what, let's find clues first. After all, it's a global Lant—it's normal for it to be different from regular Lant.
Noah took a deep breath, calming down, and walked toward the cluster of buildings he had entered countless tis in the ga.
Buzz—
As he approached step by step, the surrounding Sonoro Sphere energy suddenly vibrated. Noah drew Erald of Genesis, his gaze becoming vigilant again.
The Sonoro Sphere continuously gathered, forming a blurry tall figure of a man in black clothes and black hair—his facial contours unclear.
It was a Reverberation, recording the past Reverberation.
Noah sheathed Erald of Genesis and quietly watched the actions of "Rover" in the Reverberation.
"Rover" reached out, touching a crystal of unknown purpose, triggering resonance with frequency. The crystal deconstructed, energy matter inside surging out like a butterfly breaking from its cocoon.
The continuously surging energy weave finally manifested in the form of a girl, responding.
"I am the Shorekeeper, a tool created because of you."
The pale blue girl's words had no fluctuation at all.
"I will bear your needs and fulfill your commands. I will help you and Tethys deduce the origin of the Lant."
"Shorekeeper... keeping secrets, guarding the unshaken shore base. It sounds simple and clear, but it doesn't sound like a na at all."
The blurry black-haired figure frowned. The Shorekeeper only calmly replied.
"A tool doesn't need a na—it's just a designation; it doesn't affect my completion of commands."
"...Fine. We still have plenty of ti to discuss this."
The Reverberation ended here. The Sonoro Sphere energy dissipated. Noah, left confused, waited in place for a long ti but couldn't find other clues.
Helpless, he could only continue forward.
The Black Shores' building cluster used minimalist panel structures spliced with triangular motifs, tal outer walls etched with chip-like patterns.
Even without anyone tending them, all the buildings still glowed on their own.
Along the long staircase, Noah climbed all the way to the top, finally reaching the pinnacle of the main island [Tethys Hub]—the greenhouse.
The instant he stepped into the greenhouse, the Sonoro Sphere energy vibrated again, forming a pale blue figure that slowly climbed to the top of the greenhouse stairs.
The real Shorekeeper had already rged with Tethys, so what appeared here was only a Reverberation.
"Twenty years, two months, and seventeen days... Whether in Jinzhou, Rinascita, the New Federation, or the ends of Solaris's skies and seas—I couldn't find you."
In front of the piano, the Shorekeeper sat silently. On that exquisitely crafted face like a divine creation, an emotion called sadness erged.
"Where did you go after losing your mories... Why do even the Sentinels in various places no longer rember you... Why can't I recall your appearance..."
"I am the central hub of the Tethys System, bearing the pain, unwillingness, and resentnt of people under the Lant... Your disappearance is a Lant more turbulent than the Lant itself..."
"I was born into this world because of you; my life originates from your mission... I miss you so much... so, so much..."
Her tears connected into lines. The Reverberation slowly dissipated.
Unlike the last ti, after this Reverberation dissipated, it left behind a Blake Bloom attached with the crystallization of the Shorekeeper's longing.
Noah picked up this Blake Bloom containing the highest modification authority for the Tethys System, suddenly gaining enlightennt.
These Reverberations and the welco voice he heard when first entering the Black Shores were all left by the Shorekeeper.
When he appeared carrying Rover's frequency, it would trigger the Reverberations.
The Shorekeeper—as an Echo lifeform that didn't understand emotions yet was sensitive and delicate—before rging with Tethys, still hoped to et Rover again, even if only through Reverberations.
The first Reverberation introduced their relationship to the amnesiac Rover. The second Reverberation expressed the Shorekeeper's longing while transferring the highest authority of the Tethys System to "Rover."
So, what next? What else did the Shorekeeper want to tell Rover?
This was very likely an important clue to solving the Lant at the Black Shores!
Noah turned and quickly ran out of the greenhouse.
Passing through Haven of Sprouts, passing through TD Observatory—though there were no traces of people wherever he went, Reverberations triggered everywhere.
He heard the gentle and emotional words of the blue figure.
"Shorekeeper—this title is fine. It represents a certain determination and aning because of you."
"It doesn't matter if you don't rember, because... I'll introduce myself to you again. I am the Shorekeeper. Just like before, I'll always be by your side."
"After you left, I imagined our reunion more than once, but when this mont truly ca, what I most want to say to you is... Welco back. Welco... back to my side again."
"Next ti you leave... can you take with you? I won't just watch you from afar anymore, but be by your side... is that okay?"
"It doesn't matter... For you to co to these shores, I am already... very, very happy... No matter how far, I will be on these shores, watching over the wandering you..."
"Can this kind of emotion... be called... love?"
No one knew that this Echo lifeform who had developed emotions, in unmanned corners, cautiously expressed her love that grew wildly like weeds.
She endured lovesickness bitterly, joyful or sad, worried or infatuated in one-sided performances, her heart twisting a hundred tis.
Noah traversed the upper layer of the Black Shores, visiting all the traces of love left by the Shorekeeper, finally stopping at the central star gate leading to the lower layer.
Here was the last Reverberation constructed from Sonoro Sphere—one person and one machine, conversing here.
"Welco, highest administrator—Shorekeeper."
A steady, monotonous cold chanical voice emitted from the Tethys System.
"This unit's malfunction is continuously expanding. Black Shores functions are basically paralyzed, and the Rover you ntioned, not recorded in the database, has not appeared."
"A paralyzed Black Shores cannot perform Lant observation and warning functions. Without this unit's deduction, the probability of large-scale civilization extinction will reach 100%."
"Suggestion: Activate highest authority strategy, implant core, restore data center computing power. Please make a decision quickly."
Facing Tethys's objective and rational statent, the Shorekeeper fell silent, finally shaking her head slowly.
"I haven't found him yet..."
"Emotion is a burden to continuation."
"I just want to see him again..."
"Unable to comprehend."
Tethys consecutively popped up several red program alarm windows, speaking again.
"Repeat: On world lines without this unit's existence, civilization will be unable to resist the Lant. This is definitely not sothing the Rover you speak of would wish to see."
One sentence seed to hit the Shorekeeper's weak spot. She finally lowered her head, her expression unreadable—whether lonely or subdued.
"...Okay."
Having developed emotions, she would forever beco the core of the tool observing the Lant, bearing the pain, unwillingness, and resentnt of all who died in the Lant.
She did not hesitate in her choice, nor need to make further decisions—simply because it was what he needed.
The black-red Death Star unsealed. The pale blue butterfly figure leaped up, slowly falling into that inescapable black hole.
In her hand, she clearly held a small Blake Bloom, yet it was as if separated by the farthest distance in the world.
"I give up... the right to survive..."
"My life is already enough for ..."
"To bitterly miss you from afar..."
"My eternal, only—hero."
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