Nobita's Time Heist

As if afraid of missing the deadline, Shizuka stood up abruptly, took out her [Item Retrieval Handbag], took a deep breath, and imagined what it would be like to retrieve the "item" in her mind, even though her companions were still confused.

"Come on, Narniadis—!!"

Chapter 302: Human Foolishness

"Asshole..."

Da Xiong rarely swore at people, but this time, seeing Jia Kun's ambiguous smile, he couldn't suppress his anger any longer and stepped forward to question him, "Was all of this caused by you? What did you do to us?"

"Pay attention to the pronoun, Nobita." Jia Kun, like a substitute teacher for Nobita, leisurely corrected him, "It should be 'What did you do to them'. You and I, humans who are born with high spiritual awareness, will not be affected by the 'spiritual tide'."

Like a sudden jolt in his brain, Nobita immediately understood the essence of the phenomena around him.

The apocalypse he had always sought was the [Descent of the Spirit Tide]!

"The only lesson that humanity can learn from history is that 'humanity can learn nothing from history.'" He put his hands behind his back, stepped into Nobita's small courtyard without permission, looked up at the countless golden fragments flying into the air, and murmured, "War, hunger, oppression, persecution... these will never disappear, but will only be passed on to those who cannot resist in other forms."

"In the end, the human race was born from sin."

"I'm really sorry to interrupt you when you're giving me such a long-winded speech." Nobita didn't give him a friendly look at all and took the initiative to retort, "You know that you're one of the targets of your sarcasm, right?"

“Of course, I am the same.” Jia Kun remained unmoved and readily admitted it, opening his arms and smiling as he said, “No one longs to embrace the spiritual tide more than I do, but unfortunately… I cannot do it due to my physical condition. I can only summon the spiritual tide to purify more people and free them from their daily numbness and pain.”

"Specifically?" Nobita couldn't contain his anger. He raised his arm and gestured to the crumbling world. "Specifically, it means everyone should die?"

What do you think is the most potent poison in the world?

"..." For the first time, Da Xiong truly understood the significance of the idiom "talking past each other like chickens and ducks." It seemed that the two people were never talking about the same thing. He had no patience to play guessing games with Jia Kun, so he snorted coldly and rolled his eyes at him.

"The answer is money, or more specifically, various resources that can be exchanged using the means of 'currency.' These resources generate desires, and once desires are born, they expand infinitely. When they expand to a certain extent, they will descend upon the world in various extreme ways, forcing everyone to pay for them. As long as the material conditions created by humankind exist, desire itself will never die."

"This long journey through time should have given you a deep understanding of this principle, right? Most of the disasters that humanity faces stem from its own greed and insatiable desires. They want more power, the authority to arbitrarily decide the life and death of others, the privilege of not being judged, and enough wealth to squander for a lifetime... and even more so, they want to pass all of the above down to future generations in the form of an inheritance."

"When conflicts escalate to their extreme, people will not hesitate to shed blood to overturn the situation. As a result, the world falls into chaos and war breaks out everywhere... Once things settle down again, the same story will repeat itself, and this will continue indefinitely."

"But for me, this ultimate question that has troubled humanity has finally been answered."

He reached out towards the golden tree on the back hill and said with immense pride, "As long as I destroy the source of desire, everything will be alright."

"After the spiritual tide descends, it will devour all the 'compositional matter' created by this civilization and transform it into spirit. In the form of spirit, all consciousness will merge, and there will be no more barriers of language, status, circumstances, or positions, allowing people to truly understand each other. This collective consciousness born from this will be both myriad and one, transcending the mundane world composed of matter and no longer needing to be troubled by any barriers!"

"After stripping away the material shell, the truth of the world will be revealed equally to everyone!"

……

The resounding tone, the devout expression, coupled with a grand wish—it has to be said, it really does have a certain something.

Da Xiong just stared at him coldly, and only after his excitement subsided did he ask, "Do you like green peppers?"

"..." Jia Kun was stunned for a moment. He suddenly realized that he and the boy in front of him were so similar, even in their shared habit of "suddenly inserting irrelevant content into conversations." He already sensed that there must be a trap behind this question, so he just looked at him silently without answering.

"You might like it, but many people hate green peppers. For example, I absolutely hate them. Doraemon even tried to get me to grow green peppers in the attic, but even the ones I grew myself didn't taste any different. My mom went to great lengths to get me to eat them..."

He stared into Jia Kun's eyes, raised his voice, and asked, word by word, "Your current behavior is like forcing the whole world to eat the green peppers you make."

"Green peppers are good for your health, aren't they?" Jia Kun asked with a smile.

“There are plenty of fruits and vegetables that are good for your health; it doesn’t have to be green peppers. In other words, everyone should have the right to choose.” Da Xiong’s tone became very firm, especially on this issue. He wasn’t going to back down an inch. “If you want, you can eat green peppers with every meal, three times a day, and I won’t care. But if you insist on stuffing that stuff into the mouths of everyone in the world… don’t blame someone for spitting in your face!”

"How foolish!" Jia Kun showed a pained expression to Da Xiong for the first time. "You know perfectly well that I have always been right."

"You just made your own choice—choosing to stand with those pedantic, backward, and hopeless people."

"Among those 'hopeless' people are my parents, relatives, friends, and many others who have helped me," Da Xiong said, maintaining a level gaze and speaking with neither arrogance nor servility. "If we were to abandon all of that, what would we have left?"

……

Jia Kun was initially taken aback by the question, then stood frozen for a few seconds before letting out a bitter smile. Perhaps it was at this moment that he realized that there could be an insurmountable distance between two seemingly similar people. He and the boy before him shared similar spiritual perceptions, yet they had almost completely opposite interpretations of the world they inhabited.

“You care too much about humans, Nobita. In the end, even people who are related by blood are still just ‘others.’ Different people can never understand each other.” Jia Kun crushed an innocent blade of grass with the thick sole of his shoe, burying it in the soil. “Next time we meet, I’ll prove it to you.”

"Next time we meet..."

"That's when we'll put an end to everything."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

……

"...Nobita..."

"Nobita..."

"Nobita!"

The sound drifted closer, lingering in Nobita's ears, and his long-dormant senses seemed to reconnect with his body. Because he often fell asleep and dreamed, Nobita had an extraordinary premonition about the arising and shattering of dreams. He forcibly maintained the dream with his willpower, turned his head, and glanced towards the direction of the back mountain.

The golden tree is still there, blooming on its own.

Chapter 303: You Are Reborn in the Land of Salt and Fire

The wrinkled, gray hand with only four fingers made Da Xiong feel somewhat dazed. He felt a sharp pain deep in his head, and everything he saw was double-image. He especially couldn't think; trying to think felt like someone was sawing the back of his head. Like someone who had just undergone surgery and hadn't yet recovered from the anesthesia, he thought for a long time but still couldn't understand what was going on with this hand that only had four fingers.

"Nobita—!!"

The next moment, Fat Tiger's voice almost shook the roof beams. He rushed over and, without a second thought, gave the still-dazed Nobita a bear hug. Shaking his shoulders repeatedly, he was overjoyed, almost crying, "You dared to make us worry so much! You...you're finally...finally alive!"

"Gian..." Although his memory was a little hazy, Nobita still remembered his friend's name. He turned his gaze and found Shizuka standing beside him the whole time. Seeing that he was awake, the girl didn't seem to have any particular reaction. She leaned against the edge of the stove, biting her lip slightly, and looked at him with a hint of resentment.

"Shizuka has been watching over you the whole time, without stopping for a single minute. You've really gotten yourself into trouble!" Fat Tiger shoved his shoulder, half-jokingly complaining.

"Xiao Wu, don't use so much force." Jingxiang frowned and said softly, "He's not fully recovered yet."

"Physically speaking, there shouldn't be any problems. What that demon king was aiming for wasn't the physical body." A somewhat familiar deep male voice came from behind. Looking in the direction of the voice, Da Xiong noticed a figure that was about the same height as the stove, hidden in a black robe. His right hand was exposed, unusually thin, and the skin looked very different from human skin, like the dry, cracked bark of an old tree.

Just like a specialist clinic, this kind of voice is incredibly convincing as soon as it opens its mouth, which puts people at ease.

"You may experience dizziness, tinnitus, or short-term memory loss, all of which are normal. Ping Tianqi's soul and body have been separated for a considerable period of time. During this time, his physical body was only one step away from death, while his spirit was in a completely free environment. Just like when you stay in a swimming pool for a long time, your body will feel particularly heavy after you get out of the water because your muscles have adapted to the buoyancy of the environment."

“Ping Tianqi…” This strange title helped Da Xiong awaken a memory. He finally remembered the identity of the person in front of him, and the incredible things he had witnessed in the temple named “Eternity.” He exclaimed, “Halgunda?”

"Welcome back, Ping Tianqi." Hargunda lifted the hem of his robe, revealing his unusual appearance, unlike any human's, with his long, semi-circular ears. In Da Xiong's eyes at that moment, everything about him was incredibly handsome and captivating.

"As prophesied, you have been reborn in the land of salt and fire."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"So... 'the land of salt and fire' is the kitchen, right? Ha... haha... I didn't know ancient people had such a sense of humor." Nobita laughed nonchalantly, but an uncontrollable sense of dread rose within him. He had felt this way many years ago—Doraemon and Seiya suddenly jumped out of a drawer, holding a photo album, showing his nine-year-old self a bleak future. To be honest, Nobita's willpower was remarkably strong; such a combination of punches would probably have made any slightly more sensitive child jump on the spot.

It really came true.

Their future, like a pre-written story, had been casually flipped through and penned many years ago. They even predicted their resurrection in the kitchen of a small temple in the demon realm—the precision was so terrifying.

"That sullen old man is really something. Narniadis pulled him over, and the guy just slapped his hand on your forehead, snap snap snap, and broke the spell in no time." Fat Tiger described it vividly, his eyes gleaming with excitement like an inextinguishable flame. "By the way, it was Shizuka who came up with the idea of ​​approaching Narniadis in the first place."

“Do you remember, Ping Tianqi? We made an agreement. Because of your heroic act of leaping into the Fountain of Death, the Eternal Temple will grant you three wishes.” Hargunda held up three fingers, then pulled one back, and laughed. “In times of emergency, we must act expediently. Miss Shizuka is bound to you by fate, so she made a wish on your behalf—to break the spell and save your life.”

"That's too much, Mr. Hargunda. 'A community of shared destiny' and all that..." Shizuka's ears flushed red as she shyly twirled a strand of hair around her head. "At most, we're just best friends, best friends!"

"I see, it's Narniadis..." Nobita also remembered the girl with beautiful silver hair, as pure as a diamond. "Where is she?"

“She’s helping Lingyin break free from the spell,” Hargunda said in an extremely calm tone. “I spent a little time analyzing the basic formula of that spell through reverse engineering. With a few minor modifications, it’s enough to reverse the hidden injuries on the victim.”

"Simply put, from this moment on, the 'killing with eyes' technique will no longer pose a lethal threat. Simply apply the appropriate protective spells to the human body to simultaneously neutralize its power. I have already taught Narniadis the magic of reversal, and she is helping your companion remove the spell damage—she is more seriously injured, so it may take longer."

……

At that moment, Da Xiong truly understood what it meant to "let professionals do professional things".

In another universe, on another Earth, magic reigns supreme, and people's daily lives are all intertwined with it. The Eternal Temple is inhabited by "immortals" like Hargunda, who have dedicated their long lives to magic. To the demon realm, the art of killing with one's eyes is something unseen and miraculous, but in his eyes, it is merely a spell that can be analyzed.

"You saved my life, there is no greater favor than this," Da Xiong said with utmost sincerity. "From now on, we are even."

"That won't do. An agreement is an agreement. This is a contract between all of us immortals and you. I don't have the right to make decisions unilaterally." The old man waved his hand and pulled out a long scroll from the void. When he unfolded it, it was full of dense text. "Look, here... here... and here, the rights and obligations of the contract are clearly written. If you don't fulfill them, the consequences will be very serious."

Out of curiosity, Fat Tiger, who always disliked documents and contracts, also came over. He glanced at the contents and saw something even more shocking.

"Hey, hey, hey... It even says here that you can help Ping Tianqi kill someone! You guys even take on this kind of job?"

“Ping Tianqi rescued Narniadis, who had been separated from us for many years, and brought her back to the temple. From then on, we owed him a life. Death is above, and life can only be repaid with life. We must also give him a life in return for this matter to be completely settled.”

Hargunda spoke slowly about the agreement made months ago. To be honest, if Hargunda hadn't brought it up, Nobita would have completely forgotten about it. Because deep down, he had no intention of killing anyone.

But at this moment, things seem to be different.

"This agreement remains in effect. Ping Tianqi, think it over carefully."

Is there anyone in this world you desperately want to get rid of?

Chapter 304: I'll confess my feelings after this battle is over!

"Is it okay if I don't know your names? Your magic can be used to kill people?"

The moment the question left his lips, Da Xiong was startled. Subconsciously, he wanted to kill the tall, strong Indian man with captivating long hair he'd seen twice in his dreams. He felt himself becoming a stranger to him; how could such a thought of killing have surfaced so easily? Had dreaming of him twice really escalated to the point where he absolutely had to kill him?

But on the other hand, deep down, Nobita knew he wasn't wrong. He was always good at using intuition to handle events with a lot of information. Perhaps his mind had already sensed the danger emanating from that man, to the point where he had to be eliminated, but his mind was too slow to react.

Shizuka looked at him with a slight surprise, but at this moment she had been guarding Nobita for half the night, her mind was scattered, she couldn't keep up, and she didn't think too deeply about it.

“What Ping Tianqi said is quite interesting.” Hargunda smiled slightly, lifted his wide black sleeves, and said casually, “As far as I know, in your world, that thing called ‘science’ is also very lethal. Scientific progress means weapon progress, and the more advanced the weapon, the more lives it can take in an instant.”

"Magic isn't as profound as you think. Long ago, it was just a tool we used to fight. Curses, stealth, poison, assassination... or even the most honorable magical duels, few people know them now. Times are constantly progressing, and the world is generally becoming more stable. Only we old bones still remember these ancient magics that were created specifically for killing."

Fat Tiger turned to the side, utterly admiring Hargunda's nonchalant and leisurely demeanor. If it weren't for his lack of intelligence, he would have wanted to become his apprentice on the spot. Who wouldn't want to be a strategist who could take lives with ease?

"Have you made up your mind, Ping Tianqi?"

His voice was very deep, yet possessed a certain inexplicable magnetism, arousing Nobita's desire.

"Who do you want me to kill?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Aren't you going to rest?"

Under the dim moonlight, Narniadis silently approached Nobita from behind, looked past him to Shizuka, who was curled up in her sleeping bag and fast asleep, and complained, "We agreed to only sleep for five hours before leaving. Do you have to exhaust yourself to be happy?"

"I don't know why, but I'm not sleepy at all. Maybe I slept a lot on the way here?" Da Xiong chuckled helplessly. "Speaking of which, you saved my life, and I haven't even thanked you yet."

"No need to thank me." The girl walked over to Nobita, sat down cross-legged in a carefree manner, gathered her long silver hair that almost dragged on the ground, and focused her gaze on Shizuka as well. She deliberately lowered her voice, "This girl invited me here. Although 'invited' isn't quite the right word... To be precise, I was researching a new astrology system when her hand suddenly appeared, grabbed my hair, and forcibly dragged me here."

"Really?" Nobita imagined Shizuka grabbing Narniadis's hair and screaming in surprise, and suddenly found it a little funny. He then recalled how he and Doraemon had teased Shizuka over the phone when they helped Dekisugi deal with the harassing phone calls, eventually grabbing her skirt in the process. He couldn't help but marvel at the value of childhood friends; even after all that, she only sulked for a few days before returning to normal.

The more beautiful the memories, the stronger the sense of guilt feels when seeing the girl's haggard appearance.

"This child is really frantic, grabbing my arm, she's practically kneeling down..." Narniadis appears to be a beautiful and delicate young girl, but her actual age is unknown. The way she looks at Shizuka is full of the concern of an elder. She even reaches out to help Shizuka brush away a stray strand of hair that was pressed under the pillow. "She's holding my arm as if if she loosens her grip even slightly, I'll turn into smoke and disappear."

"This child really cares about you, Nobita, do you know that?"

……

Nobita looked at Shizuka's sleeping face, his expression somewhat complicated, unsure how to respond to her words.

Through the lens of his childhood, Shizuka has always been the most beautiful white moonlight in Nobita's heart, to the point that he would rather die than live without her. Surprisingly, even as a young man, Nobita still sees Shizuka as that thoughtful and gentle little girl. Just being able to go to and from school with her and talk to her is enough to make him incredibly happy.

Actually, given Nobita's empathy, it wouldn't be difficult for him to realize Shizuka's feelings for him.

For various reasons, and out of the tacit understanding between the two of them, they always maintained a close friendship like childhood sweethearts in public, without taking it any further and breaking the ice. Although neither of them said anything, their parents seemed to understand each other implicitly. Nobita had heard his mother and Shizuka's mother jokingly say things like, "I'm entrusting my Nobita to you two," more than once.

But... truly experiencing a brush with death is enough to change many things. From a more worldly perspective, when facing imminent death, the human instinct to leave offspring becomes incredibly strong. Genes are inherently self-replicating, and leaving offspring is the only way to perpetuate their genes.

Perhaps influenced by a physiological response, at this moment, in Nobita's eyes, Shizuka's sleeping face appeared so perfect. Her fair face, closed eyes, long eyelashes, smooth black hair, flawless cheeks… and those lips that seemed almost rosy in the dim light. Even her even breathing made his heart beat faster involuntarily.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that he and Shizuka were both 18 years old.

"I want to marry her in the future."

"Huh?" Narniadis was startled by the bombshell he suddenly dropped, looking at him as if he were a monster. After checking Nobita's expression several times, he realized that Nobita was serious and couldn't help but complain, "Do you really have to set this kind of flag before the final battle?"

"..." Nobita chuckled to himself, only then realizing that only he and Doraemon knew that he would marry Shizuka in the future.

"So, what I mean is... once everything is back to normal, I might..."

Just imagining that scene made Nobita's heart pound, and he subconsciously swallowed.

"Confess your feelings to Shizuka!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

……

For a fleeting moment, Narniadis's gaze towards him became complex, as if she wanted to speak but hesitated, abruptly halting her urge to confide.

"To be honest, I can't quite imagine... what would happen if Shizuka and I really became a couple? What are ordinary couples in this world doing?"

For Nobita, who has never been in a relationship, this was a question beyond his comprehension. He couldn't help but daydream and said with a silly smile, "We ate lunch together at school, walked home together after school, went out together on weekends, went to temple fairs and watched fireworks together, and experienced thrilling adventures together... It seems like we've already done everything that couples should do."

"...Ping Tianqi."