I, the final BOSS of the beta test server!

Luster's indifferent voice interrupted Hiltina's words: "The long stage of the sequence is 'Abundance', and the Night Blade is 'Plant Dialogue'."

"She was also part of the reconnaissance team that was initially dispatched to this area to conduct preliminary reconnaissance work. They are now confirmed to have been wiped out, correct?"

"That's right." Hiltina was slightly stunned. "But now it seems that there might be something wrong with the obelisk's soul imprint... The reconnaissance team hasn't been completely wiped out, but is trapped in this reverberation of the disaster."

"No, the Starry Obelisk is not at fault."

Rast shook his head and looked at the end of the street, where a figure identical to Fran disappeared.

"It would be pointless to question Fran any further if we catch up now."

"Because she no longer recognizes you, one of the twelve seats at the Round Table... Or to be more precise, she is just an empty shell with the appearance of Fran."

"Her body wasn't filled with the memories of that second-year student at Star University, so she ignored your reaction, Hiltina. She didn't even know that the name Fran was addressing her."

"But I know very well..."

Last looked at the silent Hiltina and smiled slightly. "Given your personality, I'm afraid a few empty speculations like these won't be enough to convince you."

"As long as there's even a sliver of hope, the Ranger won't abandon his companions."

"If not for this, you wouldn't have risked your life to come back and save me at Deep Blue Harbor even though you had already planned an evacuation route."

He removed a coat of arms from his collar.

The next moment, the emblem engraved with the Iron Moon turned into a flowing silver light and gathered into the shape of a heavy-hitting revolver in Last's hand.

Then, he slowly pointed the muzzle of the revolver at himself in front of Hiltina.

"Look into my eyes, relax your mind, and don't be defensive."

"What do you want to do?" asked Hiltina.

She had seen Rast use this mental suggestion of self-headshot to activate the "Shining Lantern" ability to intimidate the enemy.

But at this moment, there were no enemies around them that needed to be intimidated.

However, despite saying this, Hiltina still forced herself to adjust her mindset and looked directly into Rast's ink-black eyes.

She believed that Rast would not harm her.

"Since you have read my Obelisk file, you should know that my Night Blade is the 'Copy Eye.'" said Rast.

"While you were away, I used my copy eye to replicate Ishtar's Night Blade, the Eye of Prying Mysteries. This is an ability that allows one to ascend directly into the spirit world, overlooking the ocean of the subconscious from a spiritual perspective."

"But Ishtar's understanding of her own spirit and consciousness is too shallow. She clearly possesses the power to enter the spirit world, but she simply uses it to satisfy her voyeurism..."

He couldn't help but shake his head. "Actually, the Eye of Secrets has far more uses than just peeping."

“For example, connecting your spirituality and mine to each other.”

"It allows you to see everything in the spiritual field through the perspective of the 'eyes of the mysteries'."

As he spoke, he pulled the trigger of his revolver.

boom--

An ice-blue light suddenly lit up in Last's eyes.

Three hundred years in Deep Blue Harbor had allowed Last to gain unimaginable control over his own spirit and consciousness...far surpassing those students at Star University who were no more than in their early twenties.

Because of this, the other travelers' poor use of their own psychic night blades seemed to Last to be a complete waste of resources.

Gazing at the eyes that were emitting an ice-blue light, Hiltina also realized that her consciousness was constantly rising and ascending into the spiritual world.

The scene of Frozen Water Town beside him disappeared, replaced by a world outlined by spiritual strokes.

Then, her gaze fixed on the direction where Fran should have been.

There was no spiritual symbol of Fran as Hiltina had expected.

Yes, there is only an hourglass in the firelight.

As time went by, the flames dimmed and the sand in the hourglass flowed away.

At this rate, the hourglass will completely run out at midnight.

No, it's not just Fran.

Within the reach of Hiltina's spiritual world...

The residents of the entire Dongshui Town are like hourglasses slowly ticking away in the increasingly dim firelight.

Chapter 59 Brother Luster, do you think I can become a shore guard? (Two in one)

"Hourglass in fire?"

Through her spiritual connection with Rast, Hiltina gazed at the world before her, which was outlined by spiritual strokes.

"Ah."

Rust nodded. "I'm not sure what form it takes. Perhaps it's a ghost, a phantom, or some kind of doll or puppet..."

"But I know very well that if she were still the normal Fran, her spiritual manifestation would never be what it is now."

"There's no doubt that Fran's true soul has vanished... What you see is nothing more than an empty shell."

Hiltina stood there, watching the hourglass symbolizing Fran gradually disappear in the firelight until it completely disappeared from her spiritual vision.

She closed her eyes gently.

After a long time, when Hiltina opened her eyes again.

All the confusion, reluctance, and complexity in those beautiful light brown eyes faded away, returning to calmness, like the bright stars sinking at the bottom of a lake.

"I understand."

Through the spiritual connection, Rast heard Hiltina's voice, a clear voice without a trace of haze.

"Where do we go next?"

"Go to the mayor's mansion in the center of town... Follow the guidance of the 'Eye of Secrets'. Clues to Frozen Water Town may be there."

……

When Rast and Hiltina found the small building belonging to the mayor, they were immediately warmly received.

"It's actually His Excellency the Shore Guardian!"

The old mayor, with a white beard, opened the door and greeted them warmly. "I'm sure you two are the shore keepers at the lighthouse outside Frozen Water Town. It's my honor to receive you."

"I never thought that I would be able to see Mr. Guardian again in my lifetime."

See you again?

Laster captured the meaning of the old mayor's words.

He thought of the shore keeper named Foden who left a diary on the lighthouse.

At the end of his diary, Foden said that he was going to Frozen Water Town to investigate potential pollution incidents.

"As far as I know, our organization doesn't really like to show up in public... Have you ever seen anyone wearing this kind of badge before?"

Rust pointed to the wing emblem on his chest.

"Hmm... I can't be wrong, it's this kind of badge."

The old mayor adjusted his reading glasses and stared at the wing emblem for a long time, his expression becoming a little excited.

But what he said was completely different from what Last had expected: "When I was young, I served as a sailor on the ocean routes between the surviving nations of mankind."

"Once, I fell into the water during a huge storm and was rescued by several people wearing these badges. I later learned that they were called Shore Watchers, responsible for protecting the Broken Coast and maintaining the last remaining route."

"When the lighthouse was built outside this town, I knew there would be shore watchmen stationed there, but I was worried it might interfere with your mission, so I never visited... I never expected you two would actually come to visit. Your humble abode is truly a great honor."

As he spoke, he enthusiastically pulled Hiltina and Rast into the mansion.

Rast and Hiltina exchanged glances.

Undoubtedly, the old mayor had no memory of ever meeting the diary's owner, Forden, or the other shore-keepers played by the traveler.

If the records in Foden's diary are true, then the old mayor in front of him should have lost some of his memory due to some kind of confusion in time and space.

The moment the old mayor led him into the living room, Rast felt like he was being watched.

He followed his gaze and saw a little gray-haired girl, timidly sticking half of her head out from the backyard of the mansion, secretly looking at Rast and Hiltina who walked into the mansion.

Or to be more precise, he was looking at the winged emblem of the shore guardian worn on his and Hiltina's chests.

"Xiao Hui, stop standing there like an idiot. Go call your friends for dinner."

The old mayor greeted her, and the gray-haired girl bowed politely and retreated to the backyard.

Her footsteps gradually faded away, and a few childish cheers could be heard faintly from the direction of the backyard.

After saying all this, the old mayor finally apologized to Last and Hiltina, saying, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you both."

"Has the mayor adopted many children at home?" Hiltina glanced in the direction of the laughter coming from the backyard.

"Yes." The old mayor nodded. "You two are well aware of the current situation. A town that was safe yesterday could be overrun by the Iron Cross the next day, turning it into a disaster. Many children have lost their parents at the tender age of just a few years."

"Most of the children I adopted were orphans from the town, but there were also street kids like Xiao Hui who came from outside the town."

"Because I was saved by the shore guards when I was young, I wanted to do what I could. After getting off the boat, I returned to Frozen Water Town to help develop it. I was elected mayor by the townspeople and adopted orphans. I did everything with this in mind."

"Of course, these little things I did seem insignificant compared to the heavy mission that the Shore Guardian shoulders."

The old mayor looked at the children playing in the backyard and said, "I'm ashamed to say this, because I often tell the children the story of the shore guard. Although most of them just listen to it as a bedtime story, Xiao Hui is the only one who takes it seriously and often pesters me to ask about the shore guard."

"I only had a brief encounter with your organization when I was young, so I don't know that much about the Shore Guardians... So I could only rely on my vague memories combined with some rumors I'd heard, half-guessing and half-speculating, to tell her. Xiao Hui always listened very attentively."

"If Xiao Hui says something offensive later, please don't be offended."

……

Dinner time came very early. The old mayor wanted to set up a separate table for Hiltina and Rast, but Hiltina declined and pulled Rast to sit at the table with the children.

Although the dinner was not very sumptuous, the atmosphere was very lively and everyone enjoyed the meal very much.

"Sister Hiltina, Brother Rast."

"Can you take me back and make me one of the shore keepers?"

"I'm very hardworking and obedient. I will definitely not cause any trouble for you."

When dinner was almost over, the little gray-haired girl suddenly stood up and asked Hiltina and Rast in a playful tone.

Hiltina was stunned. Before she could figure out how to refuse politely without hurting the little girl's self-esteem, Last had already spoken.

"I'm sorry, we are just ordinary junior members of the organization and do not have the authority to recommend new members."

"And from what I know, the selection criteria for shore guards is quite strict. Not even one out of ten thousand people will be chosen."

"Is that so?" A trace of regret appeared on the face of the gray-haired little girl.

But she still stood up obediently and bowed to Last and Hiltina to apologize: "I'm sorry to bother Brother Last and Sister Hiltina."

After dinner, Hiltina took out a silver coin, crushed it into small pieces, and distributed them to the children present.

After receiving the change, the other children ran away happily.

Only the gray-haired girl, after receiving the change from Hiltina, politely thanked her, "Thank you, Sister Hiltina! I will definitely use this money to study hard, learn knowledge, and strive to become someone like you."

"No need to say that."

Hiltyna patted the little girl's head. "You can use this money to buy candy, new clothes, or treat your friends to toys or eat delicious food at a restaurant. As long as you think it's worth it, it's fine."

"In this world—"

"No matter if you are rich or poor, weak or strong, everyone has the right to enjoy life."

In the dim candlelight, her eyes flickered.

Next to Hiltina, Rast took in everything that happened, and the ice-blue light in his eyes flashed and disappeared.

Rast picked up the wine glass, and as the bright red liquid surged, he drank a glass of homemade wine from the mayor's family.

……

Night always falls early in rural areas.

This is true for Canaan and also for Frozen Water Town.

Just after nine o'clock, most of the lights in the town were turned off.

Hiltina and Rast did not choose to return to the lighthouse for the night, even though according to the description in the diary on the lighthouse, it should be a safe zone that would not be affected by the "time and space disorder".