Terra on a Tightrope

Normally, unless the other half is also Sankta, the offspring of Sankta will show non- Sankta characteristics, just like the child of Exusiai and Mizuki will be more like Mizuki in terms of racial traits.

However, Mizuki is an extremely special being, as even her child was conceived in the Sea of Life. Exusiai can't say for sure whether her future daughter will resemble her, but judging from the appearance of the Sea Siren, it's not hard to tell that she certainly won't be ugly.

"... I think this is great."

Mizuki didn't dare to deny it, because Rosemary was still in his arms. If the kitten wasn't here, he would definitely shake his head immediately.

What a joke! Rosemary is already bad enough; what if he had a daughter too? The worst part is, he doesn't even want to think about what it would be like if his daughter looked too much like this kitten. He'd rather not have that kind of relationship.

"Right? Seriously though, I heard from Kal'tsit that this kitten doesn't have a real guardian. Why don't we adopt her?"

Mizuki swore that she said it on purpose, based on the time she had spent with her and the several times they had spent in bed together. This girl must be jealous, but she couldn't say it directly, so she was retaliating indirectly.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Exusiai had said so, Rosemary's eyes widened, and she wrapped her tail around Mizuki's wrist, pondering whether this was feasible.

If Mizuki and Exusiai adopt her, wouldn't she be able to legitimately follow Mizuki everywhere without worrying about not being able to find him, and even openly go to his dormitory?!

"Daddy~"

The kitten snuggled against Mizuki's chest, its meow coming without any hesitation. Rosemary had no memories of her parents or other relatives. According to Kal'tsit's investigation, she was sold to Loken Water Tank by her parents for research. Later, Loken Williams' experiment went wrong, causing Rosemary to lose even more of her memories.

It has to be said that most people would be unable to resist getting a nosebleed from seeing such a soft and adorable cat girl nestled in their arms and sweetly calling them "Daddy." But Mizuki only felt a chill down his spine, because even if he was willing to raise her, Rosemary really didn't intend to simply be his daughter. This little cat was planning to eat him up.

Liz, who happened to be passing by, overheard these words, as did Shining beside her. Liz blinked her pure eyes and tilted her head.

"Mizuki, if you like this way of playing, then I can too."

"..."

Mizuki didn't answer, but just stared at Exusiai, her eyes clearly saying, "You better not run away tonight." Her girlfriend's ability to cause trouble was top-notch; it seemed she'd gotten a bit too naughty after a while.

"Hehe~"

Exusiai playfully stuck out her tongue and made a very cute expression. She was jealous, but not of Rosemary. Instead, she was jealous of Golding, who had been walking with Mizuki earlier. Seeing Golding with Mizuki beside her, holding Rosemary in his arms, looking like a family of three, she, as the empress, was somewhat unhappy.

But I probably can't escape it tonight. Maybe I should take this opportunity to bring my older sister along. Exusiai thinks her older sister definitely likes Mizuki and shouldn't be against this. As for Mostima? Who knows how many times she's already cheated on him.

Of course, Exusiai would never admit that a large part of her thoughts were that she wanted to see her older sister Lemuen lose her composure after being tormented by Mizuki. She had already planned to borrow the Doctor's high-definition camera later and record her sister's appearance.

"So who was that person just now?"

"An old friend of Kal'tsit, he came to Rhodes Island to see how tall Amiya has grown, and also to catch up with a few old friends."

Mizuki pointed to Logos and Golding over there. They maintained a proper distance, but it wasn't just a matter of gender; it seemed more like mutual wariness. After seeing Golding and learning that he was Shapeshifter, if the Doctor hadn't gossiped about the relationship between Kal'tsit and Mizuki to everyone, he probably would have wondered if Mizuki had betrayed Rhodes Island.

"I thought it was one of your old flames showing up again."

"Um..." Mizuki thought for a moment. Felia and Cecilia weren't in that kind of relationship with her. Only Raffaella had said she wanted to travel with her, but she didn't seem to have told her where they were going, so she probably hadn't come looking for her.

"Looks like there really are some. Tell me, how many are there?"

Exusiai pinched Mizuki's ear, making no attempt to conceal the presence of Liz and Shining, the two Sarkaz. Ever since the Doctor told her about the existence of the Sankta, Exusiai was already not so resistant to the Sarkaz, was even less likely to have any estrangement from Liz and the others.

"No!"

Mizuki quickly shook his head. He might have had a lot of female friends, but in reality, apart from Muelsyse, he had never had a relationship with any other woman before. Although he got along well with everyone, he had always maintained a certain distance from everyone due to the mission he was carrying out at the time.

On the other side, Golding, the Shapeshifter, gazed at the wasteland covered with grass and flowers. She knew it was most likely the work of Mizuki. Although she didn't know why Rhodes Island could associate with such a terrifying being as Mizuki, things were indeed not going well for the Sarkaz right now.

"Rhodes Island is indeed not the encampment of the exiled Demon King, but I did not expect that you would tolerate Sankta being here."

"As you yourself said, Rhodes Island is a medical enterprise, not the Demon King's headquarters. What we inherited from Princess Theresa is not the wish to revive any ancient kingdom or race."

Logos is cool, but he has a cold demeanor and doesn't interact much with Mizuki. Of course, he has to be wary of Shapeshifter to prevent them from destroying Rhodes Island. This oldest ruler of the royal court undoubtedly has such abilities. Of course, with Mizuki around, he can avoid this worry.

"But you still can't deny that the journey to Kazimierz was in order to reach Victoria."

This is something Logos can't refute; Rhodes Island's purpose is obvious to anyone.

Under the guise of heading to Nearl and Kazimierz, they secretly launched a series of probes into Victoria. All of Rhodes Island's spies and outposts within Victoria were put into operation. Rhodes Island's plans were now out in the open, and it wouldn't be easy to hide them from the Sarkaz's intelligence network.

This undisguised confidence largely stems from the strength that Mizuki provides to Rhodes Island. According to the Doctor, Mizuki has already reached a level beyond expectations and has no need to fear Theresis. Even without using its Sea Siren and Seaborn, or even taking action itself, those terrifying tentacles alone are enough to sweep away any obstacles in Rhodes Island's path.

Of course, Rhodes Island cannot directly participate in Victoria's internal affairs. After all, it is nominally a medical company, and many of its operators have only signed cooperation agreements with Rhodes Island and are not trustworthy senior operators like Rosemary and Logos.

There are also special cases, such as Exusiai. Although they can be trusted, it is impossible to involve Sankta in the Victoria incident. The Victoria and Sarkaz issues cannot be entangled in other forms of disputes.

"War... right now, how many more wars are brewing on Terra, how many more conspiracies are being plotted in the shadows? Are you suggesting that Theresis really only wants to govern the Victoria country well?"

"It seems I shouldn't have brought this up first, but don't forget that Kazdel once represented the entirety of Terra."

Aside from certain ancient individuals and families with established traditions, even the Sarkaz themselves have almost forgotten that the Sarkaz race never existed in this world. Bloodfiend were Bloodfiend, Wendigo were Wendigo, Banshee were Banshee.

The Sarkaz at that time called themselves the Teekaz. Later, as history changed, strange species appeared on this land. Over thousands of years, Originium propelled the evolution of life on Terra, resulting in its current form. Only the Shapeshifter were overlooked by it.

The Sarkaz's hatred runs deep, flowing in their blood. Just as the Doctor told Mizuki, all of Terra's conflicts are essentially a messy, unresolved issue. Either Terra will be consumed by this mess, or people will only understand the importance of prioritizing things after a catastrophe.

Mizuki understood, of course. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Terra's problems were already so numerous and somewhat oppressive, then the Doctor's plan should have been to make Mizuki the point of conflict in everything. He would become Terra's biggest threat, and people would inevitably have to come together under such a threat.

Of course, the cost would be enormous; Mizuki would undoubtedly push most of the Terra to their deaths, so it could only be considered a final contingency plan.

"But what we're inheriting is her last wish..."

Logos and Golding, the Shapeshifter, both fell silent. It was not a smooth reunion of old friends. Mizuki noticed this, so he gave the Rosemary to Exusiai and then walked over to the two of them.

"It seems there's been some conflict between you. I understand. Even friends who have been separated for a long time, despite understanding each other, will inevitably have times when they have to stand on opposite sides. You're here to reminisce, not to have a heart-to-heart talk."

The arrival of Mizuki perfectly eased the awkward atmosphere between the two. Golding subconsciously looked up at the top of his head; the White Crown had disappeared, and the person before him was not the ruler of Sarkaz, but he... he might truly have the ability to save all of Sarkaz.

As beings of the same kind in a certain sense, the Shapeshifter could sense that Mizuki's attention was not entirely focused on this, because she herself often had her attention scattered while doing many things at the same time.

As if suddenly remembering something, Mizuki's expression turned slightly serious, then relaxed again.

"Sorry, I have some urgent things to take care of. See you later."

The Mizuki before their eyes turned into a puddle of clear water, splashing onto Logos and Golding, but the water evaporated quickly along with the water on the ground, leaving no trace.

It's clear that Mizuki is in a real hurry. Accidents always happen so suddenly; it won't wait for you to finish eating, take a nap, and prepare all your equipment before it comes to knock on your door politely.

If possible, Mizuki was thinking of inviting Golding to dinner. He hadn't cooked in a long time, and he wondered if the Shapeshifter would appreciate his cooking skills, even though he always thought he made very good dishes. But Exusiai and the others said that anyone trying it for the first time would have to bear some psychological pressure.

However, now is definitely not the time to eat. The senses and consciousness sharing from the Sea Siren allow him to keep abreast of the situation in Sami, which is why he needs to personally go to the Sami front.

North of the Sami, every Sami person can see that enormous object in the night sky, a colossal structure composed of countless rings that obscures the stars. It doesn't look very big, only about the size of a disc, but anyone with a little intelligence can tell that at this distance, it is larger than the mountains of the Sami region.

"... What is that?"

Typhon, who hadn't even graduated from elementary school, couldn't comprehend what that thing suspended in the starry sky was. Ealchi taught her many things, but these were clearly outside Ealchi's knowledge.

Magellan, a researcher by training, tried his best to figure out the distance between that thing and Terra, but his worldview was also overturned.

Since thousands of years ago, the Barrier Layer has obscured the starry sky, and the true appearance of the stars has been blurred and forgotten in the passing down of generations. How far away is that thing from Terra, ten thousand meters or one hundred thousand meters?

The crux of the matter isn't even there, but rather that the countless rings are rotating, then stopping starting from the innermost small circle, with layer upon layer of circular rings wrapping around each other, finally aligning the central hole in this direction, towards Terra.

Something was about to happen; everyone's intuition warned them, but they could do nothing about it, not even touch it.

[Target locked, charging]

Chapter 208 Terra on the Tightrope

[Target locked, charging]

[Test results: First ring band normal, second ring band normal, third ring band 93% integrity, fourth and fifth ring bands have damaged functional channels]

[Anomaly, target disappeared, system enters hibernation mode]

A glimpse of the brilliant starry sky peeked out from the central void hundreds of kilometers away, like an eye staring intently in the direction of Terra. But whether viewed from the perspective of reality or from any other point of view, there was nothing there. Yet, something had indeed existed before: a continent.

Could it be a rift in the Warp that was repaired by the real dimension itself?

Such a possibility cannot be ruled out. The Warp is constantly devouring the real world, and it is not uncommon for some unfortunate planets to be captured by the Warp. Moreover, there are indeed fluctuations in the Warp rifts.

Thinking this, the will hidden behind the stars withdrew its gaze, and the colossal structure composed of several rings gradually became transparent and then disappeared.

In Terra, everyone felt a momentary disconnect between themselves and the surrounding space, as if the gravity beneath their feet had suddenly disappeared and then reappeared, making them suddenly realize that it was time for dinner.

What just happened?

Magellan scratched his head, feeling like he'd forgotten something important. Had he forgotten to eat dinner?

"I don't know. I feel like I've forgotten something. Oh right, I need to go find Ealchi and ask her to check when Mizuki will be back!"

Typhon suddenly remembered that he had originally planned to do this, and hurriedly ran to find Ealchi. Little did he know that Mizuki was actually standing right next to the two of them. But more than catching up, Mizuki was relieved, as she had almost failed at the last minute.

Unexpectedly, due to the contamination of the Sami land by the Warp, the megastructure left behind by the Old Civilization activated itself after detecting that the level of contamination exceeded a certain threshold. It almost turned the entire Terra into interstellar dust with a single shot. Fortunately, Mizuki shielded the entire Terra in time and pulled it into her own dimension. Otherwise, this book could have been declared over today.

"This is really troublesome. Fortunately, the cognitive contamination isn't too deep. If it were to spread as a source of meme contamination, Terra would truly be beyond saving."

Mizuki gently patted his chest, intending to greet Typhon and Magellan, but suddenly realized that they couldn't see him. The dimensions they existed in were parallel; he could observe Magellan and the others, but he couldn't be observed by Magellan, which meant he existed in a dead end of space and time.

Fortunately, although many people in Terra had a brief exchange of glances with the stars, the other party did not notice their gaze. They only sensed the presence of the Warp. It is most appropriate to blame the Warp. If it weren't for their influence on Sami, this land and the entire Terra would not have experienced a spatial displacement, which would have been discovered by the Observers and the colossal structures of the Old Civilization.

Whether being observed or observing the other, cognition becomes a channel for the spread of pollution. From the moment Magellan and Typhon, and even all the Sami, looked up at the starry sky, they were all polluted by it. Add to that the colossal structure that could probably wipe out the Terra with a single shot, Mizuki felt that her future might be even busier.

As for Magellan and the others not remembering what just happened, that's because he erased everyone's memories of what happened; memory itself is also a means of spreading contamination.

"Let's wait until next time to catch up properly."

Mizuki had no intention of going to the Sami Icefield yet. His intuition told him that if he went to the Sami Icefield now, many uncontrollable accidents would occur. He was always prepared, but the Terra were not ready to face the truth of this world.

If possible, it would be best to let civilization develop naturally like this, and Mizuki also hopes to avoid unnecessary trouble as much as possible.

His body turned into a pool of clear water and flowed into the earth. At the same time, in a dormitory on Rhodes Island, Goldenglow, who was taking a shower, watched as the water in front of him began to gurgle and surge as if it were being boiled. Then, a person emerged from the water out of thin air.

"Phew... I almost went to the wrong place."

Mizuki rubbed her eyes. Choosing a location when she revived was difficult; she almost ended up in the underground river. Luckily, she remembered where her dormitory was... but something seemed off. Did Muelsyse or Exusiai forget to flush after their bath?

But that's fine, at least he doesn't have to climb out of Rhodes Island's reservoir anymore. Speaking of which, the water's still warm... wait a minute!

Mizuki's hand seemed to touch a foot. From the feel of that moment, it wasn't hard to tell that the other person was probably a girl. He was slightly taken aback, thinking that he couldn't possibly have gotten the dormitory wrong, and then he heard that familiar, weak voice.

"Um... brother, what's wrong with you...?"

It was Susie's voice, sounding like she was about to cry. Mizuki quickly stepped back against the edge of the bathtub, her eyes accidentally glancing at something she shouldn't have seen for a moment.

"I was just looking for a place to set up a teleportation point, wait, this is my dorm room."

Mizuki turned his head to the side, opened his eyes, and glanced at his surroundings. He confirmed that this was indeed his dormitory, and the bathroom layout was exactly the same. He hadn't gone to the wrong place!

"I... my bathroom water is out, and I was thinking of coming to talk to my brother about something, so I thought I'd borrow your bathroom, but only Miss Lemuen is here."

Completely unexpectedly, Goldenglow almost burst into tears, but she held it back, feeling that there was no need to cry. When she lived with Shui Yue in Victoria before, she often accidentally exposed herself in front of Mizuki because of her absentmindedness. On the first night, she had to ask Mizuki for help because she didn't know how to use the water heater.

"I was wondering why there was water in the bathroom. Um... you can continue showering, I won't bother you."

How embarrassing! One second she was running to Sami to save Terra, and the next second she was back home when this happened. Mizuki felt she needed to be more careful next time she teleported, even if her destination was her own home.

"No need, I... Brother, can you wash my hair for me?"

Goldenglow finally suppressed her shame and the urge to cry. She thought that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. The last time she cried, Mizuki took two whole hours to comfort her.

"That's fine, but I'd better go out first."

Mizuki climbed out of the bathtub; just because she had seen it before doesn't mean she can look at it freely.

To be honest, if it were anyone else in this bathtub, whether it was Muelsyse, Lemuen, or even Fiammetta, he could openly look at them. If it were Exusiai or Sora, he could even comment on their nutritional intake during this period. But Goldenglow is special.

From the past until now, Mizuki has always treated her as his own younger sister, and the time he spent taking care of Goldenglow was an extremely warm period in his memory.

"Um... brother, have I grown up yet?"

"Yes, of course, you've grown a lot taller than you did a year ago,"

Mizuki gestured slightly. He still remembered what it was like when he first met Goldenglow. The girl was lying on a park bench, crying and murmuring her father and mother's names, but she could only confide her grievances in her dreams.

For Mizuki at that time, he felt a sense of familiarity from Goldenglow. It was the same loneliness of being a wanderer in a foreign land, coupled with some similarities. He chose to help this girl and save her from freezing to death on that winter night.

Goldenglow was much younger and shorter back then, probably because he lacked nutrition as a child.

"Have dinner here. Just let me know when you're getting your hair washed."

Mizuki quickly opened the bathroom door and went out, just in time to see Lemuen lying on her bed, in the spot where Exusiai was, reading a book.

Hearing the bathroom door close, Goldenglow felt a sense of relief, but she couldn't help feeling a pang of loss, so she hugged her legs and curled up in the bathtub.

"You silly brother, you know perfectly well that's not what I meant. I'm a grown woman too."

Knowing this, she deliberately changed the subject by saying something else. Mizuki pretended not to hear and walked to the bedside. Lemuen seemed completely unsurprised that he came out of the bathroom.

"So fast?"

"Nothing happened. I treat her like a younger sister."

"But she didn't just see you as a brother." Lemuen closed the book and placed it under her pillow, then reached out and gently kissed Mizuki's neck. "I heard everything she said; you're a thief and a liar."

The kiss was a little sour, perhaps because Lemuen was somewhat jealous, but she would never show that feeling on her face.