I'm in Mota, and they all want me to confess my feelings!

Do not……

Rather than describing it as an open space, it was as if they had suddenly found themselves in a bottomless abyss at the bottom of the sea.

This area was separated from the sea by some inexplicable force.

Above them was a dome of towering, surging waves, while all around them was a desolate world of shipwrecks and dark reefs.

"The space here has been separated?" Duanmu Yan looked around at the world in a daze, with the illusion that his worldview was collapsing.

The scene before me was beyond reason; it seemed more like some fantastical otherworld.

"Look over there!"

Phoebe suddenly pointed into the distance.

The two looked in that direction and saw that on the high platform ahead, space seemed to have been torn open by an invisible force. Deep within the rift, an eye was silently gazing upon this world—a gaze originating from the abyss.

Just feeling that gaze, an unprecedented chill gripped them.

There was no anger, no hatred, not even any emotion in his eyes.

Only pure indifference, unknowability... and near-eternal patience.

That is precisely why it is all the more terrifying.

“…It’s the Ming Shiki.” Floro said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

"That's the Ming Style?!" Duanmu Yan's pupils shrank suddenly.

"No, it is not the original body, but only a wisp of its residual power."

boom--!

A mournful cry tore through the sky.

Before anyone could react, a giant shadow crashed down from the high-hanging waves above the sky!

As the dust settled, they could finally see that the enormous creature was a whale that had sailed upstream—it was covered in wounds and barely breathing, as if it had just gone through a fierce battle.

"That's a whale that travels upstream?! How could it be so badly injured!"

Immediately afterwards, a figure descended from above and blocked the way for the three.

“Lorelei? No… this appearance…” Phoebe rubbed her eyes and looked at the suddenly appearing voice.

Although it resembles the Lorelei that inhabits the Misty Water Realm, it has been completely corrupted and twisted into a creation of the Kuroshio, perhaps due to the pollution of the Narushiki.

"What kind of monster is this?"

"I don't know. But it's clear that they don't welcome us."

Floro frowned slightly, and an invisible frequency flowed through her fingertips, eventually condensing into the phantom of a red spider lily.

The situation was more complicated than she had anticipated.

The residual power of the Ming Shi has found a new vessel.

She had originally planned to control this force at minimal cost, but now it seems that without a fierce battle, she will likely fail.

"So... this battle is unavoidable?"

Duanmu Yan stepped forward, and his swift blade was drawn in response.

"Well, go ahead."

Before he finished speaking, Duanmu Yan shot out like an arrow, his long sword pointing directly at the distorted creation.

Violence may not be a panacea, but at this moment—it is the most direct language.

Volume 1: Chapter 68 Floro's Only Support

The battle is about to break out.

Without any unnecessary words or hesitation, the moment Duanmu Yan drew his sword, the outcome was already predetermined.

Rather than wasting words, let's settle things with swords.

He moved like the wind, instantly closing in on the Black Tide Creation. However, the opponent was no ordinary being; with a wave of his hand, he summoned a surging wave, which transformed into a thick water curtain, forcefully blocking Duanmu Yan's attack.

But this is never a battle fought alone.

Several scarlet thorns suddenly pierced out of the shadows, sharply tearing through the water curtain and creating a rift for Duanmu Yan.

He seized the fleeting opportunity, broke through the obstacles, leaped forward, and swung his sword down fiercely at the twisted body!

The blade tore through the creature's shell, and the creature let out a painful howl.

What gushed from the wound was not fresh blood, but a thick, writhing black tide that dripped onto the ground and crawled slowly like a living thing.

Almost simultaneously, the heavily wounded whale behind them let out an even more mournful cry.

Phoebe, who was about to cast a spell to coordinate the attack, suddenly froze. She stared incredulously at the giant whale, her lips trembling as she called out to Duanmu Yan:

"Mr. Duanmu!"

Hearing the panic in Phoebe's voice, Duanmu Yan immediately stopped and turned around: "What's wrong?"

“The Whale of the Sea says…that child has become a vessel for the Black Tide!” Phoebe’s voice trembled with anxiety. “If we kill it, the Black Tide sealed within it…will engulf the entire Rijoli Islands!”

"what?!"

Duanmu Yan's pupils contracted sharply, and he turned his head to re-examine the distorted black tide creation—no, it was not a creation of the black tide, but a container of the black tide!

"The whale that traces the ocean told me that it was originally an echoing creature from the seabed. But the Kuroshio Current erupted twenty years ago, causing irreversible erosion around Laguna. In order to stop the remaining Kuroshio Current from spreading further, it chose to use itself as a container, sealing it inside its body."

"But as time went by, the black tide continuously corroded its mind, gradually driving it into madness... that's why..."

"What should we do now?"

Duanmu Yan stood there, stunned, caught in a dilemma.

"I...I don't know either."

Just then, Floro silently stepped forward and walked towards the container of the black tide.

“Let me try.” Her voice was soft. “Everything is made up of frequencies. It is the disordered melodies that distort their original rhythms, and external forces alone cannot truly correct them. Only… can they be readjusted to their essence.”

"What do you mean?"

Duanmu Yan looked at Floro, who had walked up to him, with a puzzled look in his eyes.

He could never see through this woman.

Human behavior always has a motive, but her motive... remains a mystery.

Whether it was agreeing to lend him a hand at the concert or taking the initiative to ask his colleagues to investigate Kuroshio, there seems to be an unspoken intention behind it all.

“Literal meaning.” Floro gently shook the spider lily in his hand, his wine-red eyes sweeping lightly over Duanmu Yan. “I will try to separate its frequency from the Black Tide.”

As she finished speaking, she took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

The surrounding world instantly fell into absolute silence.

The only thing that remained clear was the rhythm of her own heartbeat.

"If we can successfully separate the Black Tide from its frequency and then control this power of the Roaring Style... the 'Lost Shore' plan will take a crucial step forward."

"That perfect new world, free from pain... may really be within reach."

"I promised them that I would make that kind of world a reality."

"……call."

She lightly twirled her fingertips, causing the spider lilies to sway gently. A chaotic frequency instantly flooded her consciousness—interspersed with cold and indescribable whispers, the seductive allure of Ming.

Floro ignored this.

With complete concentration, she meticulously separated the pure frequencies of the echoing creatures from the pollution of the Black Tide, like unraveling a cocoon.

Then, in the next instant, the weight of silence pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe. Everything seemed to blur, as if a thick fog had suddenly risen around her, blocking out all her senses.

She could no longer sense any frequencies.

Floro opened his eyes and found himself standing in the deepest abyss at the bottom of the sea, looking up—

A huge eye was staring back at her, unblinking.

In just a fleeting moment of eye contact, her soul trembled under that gaze.

It is not an inanimate object.

That gaze contained life, and a vast, incomprehensible wisdom.

It transcends dimensions and time, sensing her modulation, and is now staring intently at her, as if observing, or perhaps...

To manipulate her.

Floro didn't know how to describe the feeling; it was like some indescribable whisper slowly eroding her rhythm.

"Is this the Ming Shiki?"

"What is it doing? Trying to communicate with me?"

"No...it's reversing my frequency..."

"Leviathan—you want to corrupt me!"

"I must, I must..."

until--

A warmth enveloped the girl in his arms.

Like the embers burning alone in the eternal night, it radiates the last and most authentic warmth for her.

"Floro? Floro!"

The shouts, growing louder as they approached, pulled her back from the void.

She felt as if she had been drowning for a long time, every inch of her senses swollen and sore from being soaked in the cold.

A mix of dizziness and weightlessness jolted her awake, leaving her unable to distinguish the boundary between reality and illusion.

All sensations were blurred and sluggish, consciousness was light and about to dissipate, only the sound in my ear became clearer and clearer.

"That voice...it sounds so familiar."

"It's as if, long ago, someone called out to me with such concern."

She struggled to open her eyes—the past and the present overlapped in this moment.

"So, he can make that kind of expression for me too?"

"I feel so tired, I can't muster any energy."

"...Then let me rely on you for a while."

"What's wrong with you? Wake up, Floro!"

Duanmu Yan anxiously called out to the girl in his arms. She had been focused on tuning the instrument when she suddenly lost consciousness. If he hadn't reached out in time, she would probably have fallen heavily to the ground.

Worse still, the black tide ahead began to surge violently out of control.

Duanmu Yan held the unconscious Floro tightly, his teeth clenched, staring at the approaching dark wave.

Now we're in big trouble.

"Phoebe, run!"

Before the words were even finished, the black tide surged towards them like a roaring beast.

The wind whistled in my ears.

Time seemed to have lost its measure, and everything was swallowed up in the darkness of despair.

until--

A ray of golden light suddenly pierced through the black tide.

No, it wasn't a puncture.

It is devouring.

Duanmu Yan opened his eyes again and saw a figure that had appeared at some unknown time, silently devouring the surging darkness.

"Wait, what is that creature?"