Nobita's Time Heist

Da Xiong felt a faint stinging pain at the back of his head. He turned around abruptly, but saw nothing but leaves fluttering in the air. He looked around in confusion, but all he saw were friendly faces.

"What's wrong, Nobita?" Shizuka always noticed his unusual behavior immediately. "Is someone calling you?"

"No, I suddenly have this feeling of being watched. It must be my imagination." Nobita shook his head, his hands already in his pockets. Luckily, the object he was looking for was quite large, and even though it hadn't been used in a while, he found it quickly after a quick search. "【What-If Phone Booth】—!!"

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.

Even if you've never watched an episode of Doraemon, or even if you've only vaguely heard of it, you'd most likely know about this gadget. No matter how you rank all gadgets by their abilities, it will always be in the top three. Its principle is to retrieve and transport spacecraft to the multiverse. The void is so vast that it's not surprising there are all sorts of universes; its mission is to match the user's needs to those universes and transport them there.

A world without mirrors, a world where afternoon naps are the standard for judging social status, a world where people compete by playing cat's cradle, a world where things are free, a world where Nobita's family is about to move to America, a world where Suneo's family is about to go bankrupt (all of these worlds are featured in the Mizuta version of the new anime)...

And a world where magic flourishes.

The grand adventure in the demon world initially stemmed from Nobita's idea, a whimsical one. What started as a simple desire to learn a couple of minor spells like "levitation" gradually evolved into a massive adventure to slay the Demon King. Creating dramatic and exciting moments has always been one of his strengths.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to them?"

Shizuka looked at the crowd in the distance—this was the first time in over half a month that they had stepped out of the Great Archives and run into the streets to celebrate. Although they hadn't contributed anything from beginning to end, the mere fact that this long, man-made disaster had ended was enough to make it a cause for celebration. Hylia was organizing the sorcerers to maintain order, but judging from the crowd's enthusiasm, it probably wouldn't be effective anytime soon.

"No matter what, it's a kind of fate... right?"

“No need.” Narniadis looked at them from afar, shaking his head with mixed feelings. “This is nothing worth remembering.”

"Never seeing each other again is the best outcome for both of us."

She grasped Shizuka's hands, almost touching her forehead, and said with utmost sincerity, "I don't know how to express my gratitude, but..."

"In the future, if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know. No matter how difficult the matter, I will gladly go to your aid!"

Chapter 142: The Rise of the Empire

"What if...this world became a magical world..."

"Dingle, ring, ring!"

"Dingle, ring, ring!"

"Dingle, ring, ring!"

……

It had been a long time since he'd heard that kind of ringtone. Every time he used this gadget, especially the moment it rang, Nobita always felt a strange sense of solemnity. Just by making a phone call, any wish imaginable could be so easily fulfilled, inevitably making Nobita's mind wander—who was listening to his woes on the other end of the line, and what terrifying power did they possess to accomplish such incredible things with a mere wave of their hand?

The moment Nobita stepped out of the phone booth, he instinctively sensed something was wrong. Based on his previous experience with this gadget, the rules of the universe would change after use, but the location would remain the same. Last time, when Nobita wished to see the magical world, he was still in his room after leaving the phone booth, and Doraemon hadn't been affected by the world shift. If everything had gone smoothly, they should have appeared in the sacred land of the Golden City.

However, the surroundings were completely dark, and it was clearly indoors. Moreover, the pitch-black interior, the tightly constructed brickwork, and the candles wafting in the cold wind felt strangely familiar, as if I had seen it somewhere before.

"How could this be...? It failed to send us to the magical world?" For the first time, he began to doubt the What If Phone Booth gadget. He checked the dials and muttered to himself, "Could it be that it's been unused for too long and is malfunctioning? Come to think of it, Doraemon does seem to have a habit of regularly inspecting his gadgets."

"No, Nobita, we did it."

The moment Narniadis stepped out of the phone booth, he knew it. Looking around, a familiar feeling washed over him, as if he were back home.

The vast hall, seemingly paved with obsidian, remains virtually unchanged from memory despite the passage of centuries. While the outside world is now filled with luminous brooms and imported flying carpets, this place alone remains shrouded in the dust of history, bearing enduring marks.

"This is where I used to study. We visited it together. Do you remember?"

……

“You’re back, Narniadis.”

A voice rang out without warning, like an echo of wind blowing through a stalactite cave, making Da Xiong swallow hard. Turning around, he saw only faintly rising pale white mist and black walls in the distance, similarly like the seabed or the underworld; he couldn't see the speaker at all.

"Of course, you are welcome to visit the Eternal Temple again, [Ping Tianqi]."

This time, looking down towards the source of the sound, Da Xiong realized that there was an unusually short shadow standing in front of him. Da Xiong considered himself not particularly tall, at most about 1.76 meters, but the person only reached about knee-high, and he subconsciously ignored him at first glance.

A robe as black as night draped over his body, covering his dwarf-sized frame from head to toe. However, his exposed blue skin, the pointed ears protruding from his hood, and his head, which was much larger than a human's, all seemed to suggest that the newcomer was a different race from humans.

In a world where magic exists, this isn't surprising. Nobita has already seen subterranean people, deep-sea people, and sky people; it's just another race besides humans on another Earth in another universe. This small matter isn't enough to surprise him. What truly baffles him is the name uttered by that deep voice.

Narniadis clearly knew something; her expression changed from astonishment to awe, and the way she looked at Nobita was different, but more of a sense of "I knew it."

"Um, sorry, I don't quite understand..." In such a somewhat oppressive setting, facing a different race he was interacting with for the first time, Da Xiong was unsure how to begin. He smiled and pointed to himself, "Are you talking about me? My name isn't that, I am..."

“Nobita Nobi,” he interrupted Nobita, and said in a deep voice, “there were prophecies about you hundreds or thousands of years before you were born.”

"The name in the prophecy is almost impossible to pronounce with the structure of human vocal cords. It originally meant 'extended warrior.' After removing some syllables, it is very similar to 'Ping Tianqi' in human language, so this name was chosen when it was passed down."

"Ping Tianqi will throw a silver dart into Daimao's heart..."

The moment he tilted his head back, beneath that enormous, wide-brimmed hood, Nobita saw a pair of bright, intelligent eyes. Although their appearance differed from humans, and it was impossible to say whether they were beautiful or ugly, wisdom had already settled in those eyes.

"Ha... Well, this wasn't all my doing." Nobita waved his hand with a smile. "It was the combined strength of all my friends—Gian, Shizuka, Suneo, Dorami, Doraemon, and Miyako—that helped us defeat the Demon King."

"I just happened to have a dart in my hand, and I just happened to throw it, that's all."

"This is also mentioned in the prophecy."

"Really?" Nobita was surprised by the accuracy of the so-called "prophecy." "It even includes how we defeated the Demon King?"

“As mentioned above, friendship is the source of Ping Tianqi’s power; he is omnipotent because of friendship.” The dwarf nodded slightly to Da Xiong and said, “You have eliminated an ambitious conqueror for this planet and this universe. I hope you know that I, and we, are very grateful for this.”

"It's okay, this is also helping ourselves."

As he spoke, Da Xiong naturally knelt down, lowering himself to the same height as the newcomer. A smile remained on his face; it was as if he hadn't even considered the dusty, cold floor tiles, let alone whether he disliked them.

"You may already know me from prophecies or something, but I don't know you at all. Let's take this opportunity to get to know each other again."

"I am Nobita Nobi."

He extended his right hand toward the short figure.

"Please give me your advice."

……

The shadowy figure in the robe seemed to glance at him.

"It seems that not only did fate choose you, but you also chose fate... Nobita Nobi." A slight fluctuation appeared in his calm tone, and a thin, bony hand emerged from his wide sleeves. His skin was dark blue, full of wrinkles and spots, and he looked quite old, as if a layer of skin covered his bones.

However, when you actually hold it, the feel is stronger than you imagined, and it doesn't feel like it's about to die at all.

"The world once called us 'the immortals,' but now, everything outside is developing far too fast. Our names have long since become legends told by parents to soothe their children in the long, dark night." His weathered tone was imbued with a powerful strength, sustained by the passage of time and history. The profound meaning behind this was self-evident; even Da Xiong could clearly sense it.

"Before becoming immortal, my name was 'Moludika,' you can call me that if you prefer."

"Molu...Dika..." Nobita tried to pronounce it, almost biting his tongue, "Are you an elf?"

“If this identity helps you understand the current situation, then so be it.” He turned around, his wide black robe making him look like a weightless shadow, moving on the ground. “Follow me, to pacify Tianqi.”

"There's something I hope you can help us with."

Chapter 143: Moludika: Three wishes. Nobita: Speak.

When he first heard this, Da Xiong thought he had misheard. It wasn't until they walked through the maze-like, dark passageway, twisting and turning, and went down the spiral stone steps, and pushed open the old wooden door that he suddenly realized what was going on.

In Narniadis's memory, he had seen this dark spring before, and now that he saw the real thing, it was exactly the same!

What is "eternity"? It means that after a hundred years, it remains exactly the same as before, as if even after thousands of years, when everything else has decayed into dust, it will still remain unchanged.

"Judging from your eyes, you already know what this is, don't you?" Morudika stopped beside the Fountain of Death, slowly turned around, and spoke a cold voice from beneath his robes. "Since ancient times, people have fabricated the names of many gods, but they are either false or just powerful magicians with unique secret arts. Only the god we serve is real, and he is constantly performing miracles."

His face was reflected in the spring water, without a ripple, like a mirror embedded in the ground.

"By extracting the concept of death and adding an illogical incantation that is hard for ordinary people to imagine, we have obtained this spring. So far, it has bestowed the gift of death upon 207,563 people."

"But... what exactly is death? What is the afterlife like? No one knows. As times progress, fewer and fewer people come to us seeking death. We immerse ourselves in ancient books, studying the secrets of eternity, almost to the point of rotting in the gloomy underground like them."

"This was the mystery I longed to solve day and night, and it was the research direction of my graduation thesis." He seemed to sigh. It was hard to imagine that an immortal would ever feel the passage of time.

"Storms come and go, leaves turn green and yellow, and countless years have passed since we created the Fountain of Death. And then, countless years have passed since we waited for you... Ping Tianqi."

The conversation shifted to Da Xiong, but he suddenly had a bad feeling.

What was about to happen was more like "suicide" than "adventure" in a literal sense.

“I deliberately reversed your predetermined landing point when you traveled through the multiverse, so that this container landed in the Temple of Eternity, precisely to hold you accountable for this matter.”

Moludika paused, then said something startling: "I hope you can leap into the Fountain of Death and help us explore what lies at the end of death. If my theoretical research is correct, then at the deepest part of the concept of 'death,' there should indeed be a place that contains the consciousness of intelligent life."

"Find it, study it, and unravel it, and that is the true secret of immortality."

……

enthusiasm.

From this small, thin individual, Nobita saw an almost fanatical passion. It was hard to imagine that, after enduring the ravages of countless years, one could still harbor such enthusiasm for something. With such a deep love, it was clear he would never joke about something like this.

That is to say...

Was he genuinely begging himself to jump into this spring where even a drop would be fatal?

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.

"What are you talking about?" Narniadis showed the same astonishment, which reassured Nobita somewhat—at least it meant that his common sense wasn't flawed. "Even a tiny bit on the lips is enough to kill, and you're telling a living person to jump in..."

Moludika didn't explain. With a wave of his hand, a loosening sound came from a corner of the room, and a scroll that was almost gnawed to pieces by rats flew over and was caught in his hand with a snap. Taking this opportunity, Nobita saw his "hand" clearly. It was very different from a human's, with almost no palm and only four thin fingers.

They used their telekinetic powers to hold the scroll in place, and it slowly unfurled before them.

"The Biography of Emperor Tianqi?"

Before even reading any further, just seeing the name made Da Xiong frown. "Um, let me confirm, this Ping Tianqi... is just a title like a hero's name, it might not be me, right?"

“This is a prophetic biography, written long before you were born. The author was a master of divination. She secluded herself in a cave, without food or drink, for three whole years to write this famous book of prophecy. At that time, even the name Demao was unknown to people.” Moludika pointed to the first line on the gray scroll. “Look here.”

Unfortunately, because of his translation of konjac, Nobita was able to understand even ancient script word for word.

"The one who kills the demon king Demaio, the leader of the demon race, in the starry sky 1,600 years after the human calendar is called the [Ping Tianqi].

Da Xiong swallowed hard.

Sixteen hundred years later.

In other words, this book was written at least 1,600 years ago. Did someone foresee one's destiny before one's great-great-great-grandfather was even born?

The feeling that everything was pre-written left him both shocked and apprehensive.

"The term 'Ping Tianqi' does indeed imply a hero, but that is an extended meaning of the prophecy of defeating the Demon King. Tracing back to the very beginning, only the person who kills Daimao would be given this title."

What bothered Nobita even more was that the scene of killing Daimao only took up about half the page, with a considerable amount of dense text and images following it. Those contents were somewhat distant, making it impossible to discern their specifics, but the thought was unsettling.

"And then, here..."

Moludika had clearly memorized the biography perfectly, pointing to a line of elegantly written tadpole-like characters.

"Ping Tianqi accomplished an unprecedented feat all by himself. He crossed the boundary of death, came to the garden, and successfully brought back forbidden knowledge."

"He will be reborn in the land of salt and fire, and from then on serve our 'one true God' until all is swallowed by light, and there is no distinction between black and white."

……

"What does 'Land of Salt and Fire' mean?" Nobita was completely confused. "Ham? Am I a piece of ham?"

“If it could be so precise as to be about specific matters, it wouldn’t be called a ‘prophecy’,” Moludika shook his head. “This is an ancient scroll of considerable value, the entire text is coherent, and it is still being analyzed. But all the immortals have no objection to this particular section.”

"Nobita, your constitution is different from ordinary people. For some reason, the Spring of Death cannot kill you. Instead, it takes you to a place called 'The Garden.' You will return safely from there, bringing forbidden knowledge, and that knowledge... is what we have been pursuing all our lives!"

"Prometheus of the Western world stole fire, bringing civilization to mankind; Xia Gun of the Eastern world stole the Breath of Soil, saving the human world from natural disasters. Although they are both legendary figures, this is not the first time such an event has occurred in the relatively short history of humankind."

"Please, Ping Tianqi... no..."

"Nobi Nobita."

The immortal's eyes were fixed on him, filled with an urgent, almost desperate, thirst for unknown knowledge. "Only you can do it!"

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.

"...Of course, we don't intend to make you work for free. According to human rules, we barter, and we will also offer terms."

He slowly held up three fingers, "Three wishes."

"Hmm." Nobita nodded, completely misunderstanding his meaning. "Go ahead and say it."

“Wrong, Ping Tianqi. You made three wishes to ‘us.’ Anything is fine; I can grant them for you. Also…”

He raised another finger. "You saved Narniadis's life, and in return, we will 'gift' you a life, which means we'll help you kill someone."

"Anyone is fine."

Chapter 144: A Major Event—[The Scarlet Goddess Invades]!

"Putting aside these strange conditions, Morudica, I only want to know one thing!" As they got closer to the core of the problem, Nobita's tone became serious. Even when facing an ancient relic of who-knows-how-many years, he still held his own.

"You want me to go to some garden and retrieve forbidden knowledge? I need to know what you intend to do with this knowledge; that's very important! If it's just to satisfy your curiosity, then please forgive me for refusing. What's written in the prophecy is one thing, but actually doing it is another." Nobita sighed, somewhat helplessly. "From a young age, I've never been a lucky person. All my luck has been exchanged for meeting Doraemon. In everyday life, even well-planned things will inevitably fall apart due to various circumstances, let alone something as big as this."

"I have witnessed the power of the Fountain of Death firsthand, and I do not want to take that risk unless absolutely necessary."