Monica sighed: "This must be your first time visiting the Black Shores, right? I should've shown you around, but we're a bit short-handed at the moment. My apologies..."
Changli smiled slightly, showing understanding: "No need for formalities. Since the Black Shores currently has urgent matters to attend to, let's skip the pleasantries."
"Besides, I've seen footage of the Black Shores several times before. From what I can see now, it's no different from my impressions."
"By the way, what exactly is happening at the Black Shores?"
"Earlier, Jinzhou received a warning from the Black Shores regarding the Port City of Guixu. We've already dispatched the Midnight Rangers to enforce a lockdown there."
Rover explained the events they had encountered earlier at the Port City of Guixu.
Changli pondered: "A member of the Black Shores who called themselves a Bloom Bearer, huh..."
Monica said: "The data Rover brought back has indeed been transmitted to the Tethys System, but the system is currently operating unstably."
Lucian mused: "So, to resolve the issue, we must first stabilize the Tethys System?"
Monica nodded slightly: "Exactly. As you can see, the island has already mobilized to maintain the Tethys System..."
"If it weren't for the Bloom Bearers who sacrificed themselves to send the coordinates to Nia, and if Rover hadn't retrieved the data from those coordinates, things might've been even worse."
"By the way, that Bloom Bearer you mentioned earlier—Hoda? I don't recall hearing that name before."
Hearing this, Lucian frowned: "Rover, could you repeat everything that Bloom Bearer named Hoda said at the time?"
Rover glanced at the thoughtful Lucian and nodded, then recalled the cryptic words Hoda had spoken.
"At the time, it seemed like there were many different voices inside her, as if she was being controlled by something. I remember her saying..."
"'They are the gravitational sources I've been searching for...'"
"'—Not just them. There are many others. Men, women, the elderly, children.'"
"'Can you hear our lament?'"
"'Remember. Remember everything.'"
"'Your past, the past you cast away... your past as a member of the Black Shores.'"
"'Fulfill your promise... move toward the future.'"
"'The duty of salvation... is that no one needs saving.'"
Rover paused here, deep in thought: "Then Hoda's voice changed again. She told me to leave quickly, that they wanted to make me a part of them..."
"She also said that what I was looking for was on Youhu... that artifact..."
"After that, we encountered an earthquake and a Tacet Discord, and then we were brought to the Black Shores."
Lucian fell into thought. He remembered that Youhu had once handed that 'memory stick' over to the Huaxu Academy for research. They said it contained strange frequencies...
If that Hoda was a Bloom Bearer who had already passed away... clearly, she was now being controlled by something. Yet, for some reason, her lingering consciousness was still warning Rover...
What they were looking for was inside that 'memory stick'...
Realizing this, Lucian's pupils shrank: "This is bad..."
Before he could finish speaking, the ground suddenly shook violently.
Lucian quickly steadied Rover and Changli beside him.
Changli frowned in confusion: "What in the world is going on? Lucian, what did you just think of?"
Lucian spoke rapidly: "Perhaps, in addition to the information about the Port City of Guixu, that memory stick also contained anomalous frequencies. And just now, KU-Money transmitted those frequencies back to the Tethys System..."
Monica panicked: "I'll go find KU-Money and check the underground situation. We must ensure the Tethys System remains intact."
"Everyone, I'd like to ask you to go to the flower room and find the KU-Water robots."
"The tuning device in the flower room must also be protected."
"I'm truly sorry that you've encountered such a situation so soon after arriving at the Black Shores..."
Rover waved her hand: "Don't worry. There's still a lot I want to understand. For now, let's help you resolve this first."
On the way, Lucian asked in confusion: "How exactly does the Tethys System work?"
"Can't it distinguish and isolate anomalous frequencies on its own after receiving them?"
Changli frowned slightly as she recalled: "From what I know, the Tethys System collects lament frequency data from the Black Shores' worldwide collaborations and operations, feeding it into the system for predictive analysis through both manual collection and beacon integration."
Hearing this, Lucian remembered: "I recall Aalto and the others retrieved a beacon at Whining Aix's Mire. That must've been to feed lament data into the Tethys System too?"
"But laments... logically, laments should be the result of disasters. The Tethys System relies on this for calculations?"
"Using laments to predict laments... That sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?"
Changli pondered: "Now that you mention it, it does seem odd. But I'm not too familiar with the system's logic. Perhaps we should ask the Shorekeeper..."
Camellya, walking beside them, laughed carelessly: "Are you heroes preparing to save the world again?"
Lucian chuckled: "Didn't you say you weren't interested in saving the world?"
Camellya clasped her hands behind her back and gazed into the distance: "Saving the world isn't interesting to me, but if I'm with you all, then it's different..."
Lucian found this strange: "Doesn't the Black Shores assign you missions normally? Do you find those boring too?"
Camellya smiled faintly, a hint of melancholy in her expression: "For over a decade, I've always felt bored."
"Though the Black Shores' work does have its thrilling moments, that excitement fades quickly—like tide marks on the shore, soon fading and disappearing."
Lucian nodded in understanding: "So you're the type who craves excitement. No wonder you like whipping people..."
Camellya: "?"
Rover: "?"
"Why does that sound so weird coming from you?"
Camellya giggled: "Not weird at all. Not long ago, Lucian and I did something very exciting in the flower room..."
Rover: "???"
Lucian flew into a rage: "My love for Rover is as steadfast as the sun and moon! How dare you slander me like this!"
Rover said darkly: "Now I remember—it was your voice on the call saying Lucian was already asleep, wasn't it?"
"Good, Lucian. So you really did have something going on with Camellya behind my back!"
Lucian looked heartbroken: "Rover, you'd rather believe someone you've only met a few times than trust me?"
Rover mused: "I believe in your feelings for me, but I also think you're perfectly capable of doing something like this!"
Lucian clutched his chest in pain: "All these months of love and time together... were they all for nothing?"
Hearing this, Changli wrapped her arm around Lucian's and kissed his neck: "Lucian, losing one tree doesn't matter. You still have an entire forest..."
Rover: "?"
Camellya smirked: "Tsk tsk, seems your relationship isn't so solid after all. All it took was Lucian seeking revenge on me in the flower room for Rover to grow suspicious... Hah, maybe you two should just break up already..."
Rover: "Revenge?"
A cold smile played on Rover's lips as she pulled Lucian toward her: "In that case, I'll also take revenge on Lucian for abandoning me and coming to the Black Shores alone!"
With that, Rover pressed her softness against Lucian's chest and leaned in, her fragrant lips puckered.
Camellya: "?"