Nobita's Time Heist

Besides Nobita and his group, several representatives from the local powers of Golden Country also arrived. Nobita only recognized Hyria, Mira, and Gendry. Since receiving the Fire Spirit's approval, Gendry's gaze towards Nobita had become much clearer, no longer filled with hostility. As for the others, having realized the current situation, they naturally dared not disrespect these "foreigners" who held the key to the nation's food supply.

"Has the priest not arrived yet?"

"Lady Hylia, my men just checked and couldn't find him among the farmers," Gendry whispered. "He's always elusive; perhaps he's gone into some corner of the library, searching ancient texts for a way to defeat the Mother of Insects?"

"When everyone else is out working in the fields?" Mira shrugged sarcastically. "He certainly knows how to pick his timing."

"Forget it, let's not wait for him. I don't know what he's thinking all day long..." Hylia sighed, rubbing her forehead, her voice full of helplessness. "Nobita, let's get started."

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.

"hiss……"

"hiss……"

"hiss……"

In Golden Land, on a street corner, giant black-armored insects, several times larger than a human, hissed incessantly, baring their venom at the human who dared to trespass into their territory. However, with a mere flick of the dark hand, all the insects calmed down on their own. Like dogs tamed by humans, they retreated to the side with a single gesture, making room for the man to speak.

A shadow flickered, and a priest wearing a bird-beak mask slowly stepped out. The gaze from behind the mask was extremely cold, but it met a smile.

That smile seemed welded to his face, and it would never fade even as time passed and the world changed.

"Jakkhun Helma..."

“It’s changed so much since the last time I came here.” Jia Kun seemed quite calm, as if this place had always been his home, and even though it was now filled with insect swarms, it made no difference to him. He temporarily took off the five-colored hada and took out a string of ornaments with nine metal rings, hung it around his neck, and smiled, “It’s strange, even though so much time has passed, the scene of giving me the nine rings seems like it was just yesterday.”

He glanced at the grand library standing in the city center and asked with a smile, "So, the plan failed?"

“Ah, that’s right,” the priest said viciously. “Thanks to those ‘foreigners.’”

“They are not ordinary foreigners. Nobita Nobi, like Narniadis in the past, is a time anchor.”

"And that's precisely why..."

Jaqen turned his head and looked at the Grand Archives with a meaningful gaze. "Our friend, Michel de Notdam, hates him to the core."

Author's message

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Today is the author's birthday~~~How about some birthday wishes?

Chapter 116: Nobita's "Lucky" Life

"Damn it, can't you see the rice is all withered? It needs rain! Quickly use water elemental magic to thicken the clouds, then let it rain!"

"There's too much water here, we don't need that much rain! Use wind magic to pump out the excess water!"

"Do you even know how to plant rice? This isn't a competition of who can plant the fastest. Can't you give me some space? If you crammed all of them together like this, they won't get enough nutrients and they'll all wither and die!"

"Phew... After being busy for so long, we've finally reaped the rewards. Look at that lush green expanse; it's a feast for the eyes."

"Idiot, are you out of your mind? Open your eyes and look again! Those are weeds! Not rice seeds! Pull them out right now! If you let them grow, the rice will all be ruined!"

"Pull it out! Pull it out quickly!"

……

Although the process was a bit chaotic, this gadget was ultimately invented to let children in the future experience the hardships of farming. Compared to real farm work, it has greatly reduced the difficulty. Even Nobita, a fourth-grader, was able to successfully grow a crop of rice with Doraemon's help. There's no reason why a group of adults couldn't do it.

Sowing, harvesting; sowing, harvesting… the cycle repeated itself. At first, everyone was a bit clumsy and unsure how to proceed. But as time went on, they realized it wasn't so difficult and became increasingly adept at it. They even made good use of the power of various elements, such as using wind to harvest rice and water to more flexibly control rainfall, simplifying the process and greatly increasing rice yield.

Most people in Huangjin Township had never been involved in agriculture before. The first day was incredibly exciting, and they worked until sunset, most of them exhausted and panting. Before they knew it, the harvested rice had piled up into a small mountain, each stalk golden and plump, looking heavy, like golden jewels embedded in the rice stalks.

As promised, Nobita threw the entire mountain of rice stalks into the [Mochi Making Machine]. This was probably the most satiated the machine had ever been; after a series of rumbling sounds, it began frantically spitting out mochi.

……

"Fifty-nine thousand and one!"

"Fifty-nine thousand and two!"

"Fifty-nine thousand and three!"

……

"Fifty-nine thousand and four!!"

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!!!"

The crowd, which had been holding their breath, erupted in a huge cheer, followed by a tidal wave of applause. Regardless of race or class, they were simply a group of fleeing humans who, through an entire afternoon of labor, had earned far more food than they had expected.

People living in "civilization" have long lost their reverence for food; only natural disasters and man-made calamities can remind them of its preciousness. They embraced each other, their iron rings clanging together. The sparks that initially arose from the difference in elemental affinity seemed to be briefly extinguished in that instant.

"Wow, that's amazing. These two groups that were originally at odds have actually..." Shizuka stared in disbelief. "They just spent an afternoon planting together. This is just too incredible!"

“It’s not that exaggerated, Shizuka.” Dekisugi murmured as he looked at Nobita’s back. “However, Nobita’s methods in handling this matter are indeed beyond my imagination.”

"What method... farming?" Fat Tiger scratched his head. "He's never let us play with something this interesting."

"Gonda-kun, this is not as simple as farming. It was only when agricultural culture began to take shape 12,000 years ago that humanity officially transitioned from a hunting and gathering civilization to an agricultural civilization. We were born by the earth, facing the yellow soil, and at the same time, human culture, technology, and population all had the opportunity to develop rapidly. It can be said that the vast framework of the world today was initially built on fields—I don't know if Nobita-kun knows this, but in any case, the entry point he chose is just right."

"Ten thousand years ago, all of our ancestors were farmers."

Looking down at the people embracing and weeping below the platform, Dekisugi continued, "Do you know about the 'positive feedback' mechanism of the human brain?"

"Ah, that! I've heard of it, it's something like..."

Xiaofu picked up the thread, "I often hear this term in online games. It's like setting a small goal for you, and when you overcome some difficulties and finally achieve that goal, as a reward, your brain will give you a very strong emotional stimulus—excitement and pleasure. That's the positive feedback mechanism. Computer games often use this mechanism to make players addicted. The most classic example is Civilization VI, right?"

“Exactly!” Dekisugi nodded. “The people of Golden Village are at odds with each other, and whatever the reason, it’s a negative emotion. If Nobita wants them to unite, the first thing he needs to do is to use positive emotions to dilute this negative emotion of antagonism. So, he chose this tool.”

"Fast-growing rice varieties, appropriate difficulties, and abundant harvests. Moreover, in the current environment, this is people's only hope for survival."

"Imagine them harvesting rice crop after crop under high pressure. When the golden rice ears pile up into small mountains, the brain's positive feedback mechanism is activated to the maximum extent. The sense of security, satisfaction, and accomplishment, all the positive emotions mixed together, dilute the original barriers."

"At the same time, in the process of empathetic cooperation, people also begin to understand and learn from each other. They begin to realize that the other person is not as repulsive as they have in their stereotypes. Working together is the fastest way to build friendships, especially in the end times, when people realize that they can rely on each other and can quickly rebuild trust."

"And this is the result of everything."

The crowd was still cheering, and Nobita didn't stop them. Instead, he gestured to the band in the shadows who were creating the atmosphere, signaling them to start playing an exciting tune.

Did he really make every move correctly unintentionally, relying on his incredibly advanced understanding of the props' essence? Just like how he inadvertently chose all the wrong answers on the exam paper?

No one knows.

As everyone knows, tonight, and for a long time to come, we won't have to worry about food anymore.

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.

"Everyone, everyone! Congratulations! After a whole day of hard work, we have produced 59,004 steaming hot rice cakes. Although our conditions are still harsh, and although eating rice cakes all the time might make us choke, at least we can breathe a sigh of relief. Even if the Mother of Insects besieges us for another hundred years, we will not eat each other out of hunger, and we will not abandon human dignity!"

"In addition, today's rice is just for you to try out. It is the easiest grain to grow among the grains I have. Besides it, I also have quick-growing seeds for wheat, green peppers, corn, and sweet potatoes. Starting tomorrow, everyone should continue to plant the crops assigned to you according to today's group assignments."

"We are facing a protracted war, and the more food we have, the more confident we will be."

Nobita looked at the crowd below and smiled. "Now, please line up and collect your dinner in an 'orderly' manner."

A thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd once again, which lingered for a long time.

Chapter 117: A Classic Heart-to-Heart Talk Under the Moon

"Ah...the toilet, the toilet..."

Over the years, I've never been able to break the habit of getting up at night.

The wallpaper houses assigned to everyone are all three-bedroom, one-living room units with their own toilets. However, Nobita and his friends do not live in the wallpaper houses. Instead, they choose to live in one of the rooms closest to the temporary command center. If they want to use the toilet, they have to go to the special wallpaper public toilet outside (that's right, the wallpaper series props are that complete, they even come with public toilets).

After feeling refreshed, he rinsed his hands with running water, the chill seeping into his skin and slightly sobering him up. Realizing he was in a foreign land, experiencing the predicament of being trapped in a siege, he couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

Although the army's morale was stabilized by the quick-produced food, the fundamental problem remained unresolved. The Mother Insect was still there, occupying the cities where people lived. Every minute she occupied the city increased the damage she caused. The Mother Insect had to be dealt with before the insect swarm completely destroyed the Golden City.

However, at this moment, the morale of the group had only been barely restored, and they had just managed to solve their basic needs for food and clothing. If they were actually asked to lead an attack, most of them would probably remain silent. With a safe and secure fortress inside, where they had no worries about food or clothing, why would they want to go out and die?

Lost in thought, yet unsure of his next move, Da Xiong shook the water off his hands, sighed, and even considered taking advantage of the night to go out alone and kill the Mother Insect. This wasn't the first time he'd done something like this; as long as he could win, he felt there was nothing wrong with it.

As he was struggling with his own thoughts, a stunning sea-blue hue appeared in his peripheral vision under the bright moonlight.

……

The girl sat beneath the semi-circular, stained-glass window, her outstretched hands forming butterfly wings of lightning and fire elements that danced gracefully in her delicate palms. Her expression no longer held the composure of their first meeting; instead, it held a hint of bewilderment.

"Helia?"

"?!" The girl seemed to only then realize that someone was standing behind her. Startled, the butterfly formed from lightning and fire elements in her palm merged with it, exploding into a dazzling small firework with a "bang." Black smoke rushed over, blackening her profile.

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.

"Sorry, I showed you my silly side." Hylia tilted her head back, her eyes slightly closed, and let Nobita wipe the black stains off her face with a towel. She muttered, "I'm not usually like this. How could I not even control such a simple element..."

"You're not feeling well, that's normal, everyone experiences that." Da Xiong wiped her face while secretly marveling at how slender the girl's neck was, even more so than he had imagined. He didn't dare use too much force, afraid that he might accidentally break that delicate, fair neck.

"For example, when I was in school, I was in a bad mood almost every day, and I always got zero on exams, hahaha..."

"Zero points?" Hylia looked at him incredulously. "Nobita?"

“Yeah, out of six exams, I probably got zero once, and the rest were hard to get past 50.” Da Xiong gently lifted her sea-blue hair with his hand, and a pleasant scent of lilacs wafted from the ends of her hair, making him even more awake in the middle of the night. “You can ask Xiao Shan, he gets 100 every day, but I just can’t concentrate on studying.”

"That shouldn't be the case." Hylia looked puzzled. "I knew Ying's grades were good. But with Nobita's intelligence, he shouldn't be unable to handle those rigid exams, right?"

"I don't know where you got that misconception from." Nobita was almost amused by her. "I don't have any 'intelligence,' at most I'm just a little clever. Doraemon always says that my brain only works really fast when I'm thinking up a crooked idea."

“That’s a talent too. Wanting to save effort, wanting to take shortcuts, is one of the driving forces behind many inventions in the human world. Who knows, you might even become an inventor someday.” As she spoke, Hylia’s mood darkened, her brows furrowed, and she sighed softly, “Unlike me…”

"Such a big thing happened, but I couldn't come up with a single idea. I could only stand there blankly and watch everything happen."

Nobita didn't interrupt. At this moment, he chose to be a quiet and attentive listener, carefully listening to the girl's troubles, just as he had comforted many different people on many nights.

"Actually, I never knew exactly how many people were in Golden City. Mira was usually in charge of coordinating these specific affairs. It wasn't until the Mother of Insects broke the seal and everyone in the city was crammed into the Great Archives that I had a real sense of the number of people under my rule... So many, so many, huddled together like crows, chattering incessantly."

"The scene was terrifying. It was as if everyone was speaking at the same time, and before they could say more than a few words, it turned into an argument."

"They all looked at me and asked me what to do next... I had no clue what to do, my mind was completely blank, or maybe that's not quite accurate."

Hylia shook her head and smiled bitterly, "Many thoughts came to mind at the same time. Should I do it this way? But what would be the result if I did? I thought of many possibilities, but I found that no matter how I reasoned, I couldn't overcome hunger and panic with elemental power."

"At that moment, you stepped forward and so easily came up with a solution, as if you had rehearsed it countless times."

“I noticed that you are a leader even within your own team, where you don’t even need to give orders; your companions know what to do. And now, in a different setting, in front of 9,300 hungry people from Golden Country, you are still a leader, providing them with a strong shelter, helping them put aside their differences, unite, and harvest food through labor.”

"Perhaps... you are more suited to be a leader than I am."

……

Her temporary lack of confidence made the girl's slightly annoyed face all the more pitiful and captivating. Looking at her flawless, pearl-like profile, Da Xiong was somewhat dazed; only now did he realize the problem.

"Helia, how old are you?"

"Huh?" Hylia's eyes widened in astonishment, as if she couldn't believe that Nobita would ask such a question.

“I mean, you don’t really look like an East Asian. Based on my very limited understanding of Westerners, you’re probably much younger than you look, so…” Nobita tried his best to fill in the gaps in his words, “I thought you were at least sixteen years old, right?”

"Nobita, are you serious?" Hylia pouted slightly, looking like an innocent and cute little animal. "Sixteen years old? I'm not that old, I'm twelve this year."

Now it was Nobita's turn to be drenched in sweat.

Twelve years old, roughly the age of sixth grade or first year of junior high school, much younger than he had expected! In such a vast Golden Township, with over nine thousand people, they actually appointed a little girl who was still in the first year of junior high school as her leader, simply because she possessed the strongest elemental affinity... The absurdity of this system is evident from this.

"However, if we're talking about bloodlines, I'm really not that sure. It seems I have Arab ancestry. One of my ancestors lived in the desert, and many people thought he was a mythical figure, but he was a real person."

“'Sinbad the Sailor'…”

The girl's smile, pure and flawless in the moonlight, carried a hint of pride in her ancestor.

"Nobita, have you heard of this person?"

Chapter 118: The Bloodline of an Old Friend

"Sinbad's child?!" Fat Tiger's eyes widened in shock. "Are you sure? How could such a burly, bearded man have such a beautiful child?"

Several days passed, and everyone gradually adapted to this rhythm of life. By making better use of their elemental powers, they transformed into more efficient farmers. Da Xiong also provided them with more suitable fast-growing seeds, and with each successive harvest, the food on their tables became increasingly abundant. The food quality in the Great Archives gradually improved; aside from the lack of meat, it could now basically meet people's daily needs. Morale was boosted, and people's voices unconsciously became more forceful.

It was noon, and at the dinner table, Nobita occasionally recalled an amusing anecdote he had heard from Hylia a few days earlier, and he recounted it to his companions. It was quite interesting how different people could focus on such drastically different things.

“I’m pretty sure she meant ‘ancestor,’ not her father, Gian.” Nobita couldn’t help but marvel at how someone could be even more straightforward than him. “Besides, Sinbad’s era is so far removed from hers. She might have Sinbad’s blood, but after so many generations, how could she possibly look that much like him?”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Xiao Fu clicked his tongue. “I have portraits left by my ancestors at home, and they look just like me and my dad.”

"Hahahaha! Suneo, that's for sure! Your pointed beak is probably etched into your genes!" Fat Tiger laughed, patting his shoulder twice. "My ancestors didn't leave behind any portraits or anything, but if they had, they would definitely be as big and strong as me!"

"They should all be about the same size as gorillas..."