Recognition count: Two! Who was the other "Cradle"?!

The Wooly's button eyes blinked only once before going still, turning back into an ordinary doll.

Zhou Yu stared at it for two seconds. The old-fashioned digital watch on his wrist still didn't report any errors. Only a very thin blue ripple disappeared silently beneath the time numbers.

The one humming the same lighthearted tune again was Encore, who was sitting back at the bow of the boat with Wooly in her arms.

The fog followed her small boat as it receded to both sides, revealing a waterway that gradually widened.

A row of navigation lights illuminated among the black reefs in the distance.

Qiu Yuan steered the ship precisely around the reefs, the hull brushing against a layer of luminous algae, creating a faint blue glow.

Sigelica retracted the lifeline, confirmed that the dock was ahead, and then stuffed the half-eaten rice ball wrapper back into the trash bag.

"Is your navigation system on the Black Shores dependent on the guide's mood that day?"

Encore picked up the black sheep plush toy, waved its hoof at her, and answered very seriously.

"And the sheep help us find our way, so no one will abandon our belongings."

The ship docked smoothly at the main pier.

A man wearing sunglasses had somehow appeared on the shore.

The coin, which was spinning between his fingers, rolled twice along his knuckles before he caught it steadily back in his palm.

Aalto stepped precisely on the thrown cable, helping Qiu Yuan stabilize the boat.

His gaze swept over the group's luggage, finally settling on the box of hot pot base.

The corners of the man's lips curved upwards behind his sunglasses.

"Welcome to the Black Shores. Lord Changli has already informed me."

She said you guys are pretty good at handling anomalies, but the costs incurred might be more dangerous than the anomaly itself.

Zhou Yu slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and casually pulled Dania down from the side of the ship.

"That's a reasonable expense. If you provide food and lodging, the cost can be reduced even further."

Aalto flicked the game coin upwards, and the coin spun in the air before landing precisely in her pocket.

"All-inclusive (food and lodging), use the island's restaurants and spare rooms as you please."

"However, there's a small condition for Black Shores: I need your help to check the recent operation logs of the Tethys System."

As soon as Chisaki stepped onto the dock, she immediately raised her tablet, her eyes lighting up instantly behind her glasses.

Sigelica stepped in front of Zhou Yu, her face full of vigilance, as if afraid he would sign some kind of indenture on the spot.

"Let's get this straight first. Is this some kind of mental pollution? Will I be forced to stay here and work overtime after watching it?"

"You only need read-only access; you don't need to touch the core modules," Aalto Shui gestured towards the island.

"If you find any problems after you've reviewed it, we can discuss compensation separately regarding whether you continue working on it."

Smelling the steaming food wafting from the restaurant, Zhou Yu felt completely at ease.

It was he who leisurely pulled a blank schedule sheet from his canvas bag.

"I shouldn't check it for more than two hours a day."

"Do not accept tasks before breakfast, and do not handle emergency malfunctions after dinner."

"Accommodation must be arranged in adjacent rooms; any abnormalities at night will be compensated separately."

Aalto looked at the clearly written paper, took the ballpoint pen, and signed her name in the corner of the paper.

"It's rare to find someone on the Black Shores who writes down their rest time in more detail than their work schedule."

"The main problem is that the clients we've encountered in the past were unreasonable," Zhou Yu said, carefully putting away the papers and leading Dania towards the restaurant.

"Eat breakfast first; it's not suitable to access the world's underlying systems on an empty stomach."

The restaurant on Blackstone Island overlooks the sea cliff, and a thin mist still drifts outside the wooden windows.

In the center of the long table were grilled fish, seaweed omelets, and several baskets of freshly baked seashell bread. Most eye-catching of all was a pot of coral porridge with a pale purple sheen.

After sitting down, Dania first leaned closer to smell it, then carefully picked up the porcelain bowl and took her first sip.

The warm aroma of rice mixed with the savory scent of sea salt spread out, and her eyes lit up instantly. She even moved her chair half an inch closer to the pot.

"Xiao Yu, this porridge... tastes like shimmering seawater."

"You can't drink the glowing seawater directly. Wipe your mouth clean first," Zhou Yu said, pulling out a tissue to wipe the purple porridge stains from the corner of her lips and adding a large spoonful to her bowl.

Encore sat down next to Dania, holding the two sheep, and insisted on putting an empty bowl for each of them.

Sigelica sat opposite Qiu Aalto with her bowl of porridge. Seeing Zhou Yu leisurely peeling peanuts, she finally threw out the question she had been holding back all the way to him.

Why are you willing to let outsiders see the core system's operation records?

Aalto picked up his teacup but didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on Dania, and his tone was still relaxed.

"Because you have someone on your ship carrying what's called Cradle —in the Black Shores archives, this is referred to as an extremely high-density data carrier."

Zhou Yu paused for a moment while peeling peanuts, but in less than half a second she continued to precisely break open the shell of the next peanut.

"Stop beating around the bush, speak plainly."

"In plain terms, she might be closer to an existence that the Tethys System can comprehend than she realizes."

Chisa put down her chopsticks, and the bell on her sword jingled softly with her movement.

Sigelica pushed the bowl of porridge away slightly and subtly moved closer to Dania.

Encore suddenly raised her face, interrupting the serious conversation.

She asked very seriously.

"Will the Tethys System offer her more porridge?"

Aalto paused for a moment after being asked the question, then raised her hand to indicate the pot of purple coral porridge.

"If she's willing to cooperate with the examination, at least we can have unlimited refills of this porridge today."

Upon hearing this, Dania first glanced at Aalto, then looked down at her nearly empty bowl.

She didn't ask what the Cradle meant; she simply reached under the table and gently hooked her hand around Zhou Yu's little finger.

Just then, a butterfly with a pure blue body flew into the room through the half-open wooden window.

It flew over the steaming pot of porridge and quietly landed on the edge of the table in front of Dania, its wings flapping slowly twice.

Chisa didn't draw her sword, but Chisaki immediately turned the tablet around and started collecting frequency bands.

With her other hand, Zhou Yu turned on the digital watch, letting the dark green screen quietly record the energy changes around the butterfly.

Encore leaned closer to observe, her voice filled with childlike excitement, as she rested her head on the edge of the table.

"It's the Shorekeeper! She's in a good mood today; she rarely comes out like this."

Aalto picked up her teacup and took a sip, her gaze shifting between Blue Butterfly and Dania.

"She probably sensed someone's presence, but it's not convenient for her to meet them directly right now."

The blue butterfly paused for a moment, then its entire form transformed into pale blue echoing energy that dissipated layer by layer from the edge of the table.

Dania watched this scene quietly, her fingers hooked around Zhou Yu's without tightening, nor did she instinctively try to pull away as she used to.

The moment the last bit of blue light disappeared, Zhou Yu's digital watch vibrated slightly.

The previously smooth blue ripples on the screen suddenly split into two.

At the same time, the screen of the tablet that Chisaki had placed on the table lit up automatically.

The read-only logs of the Tethys System automatically scroll to the latest page.

[Unregistered high-density carrier detected.]

[Number of identifications this time: 2.]