[Real World, Site 13, Comments Section]
'Wild guess: that big tree is the final BOSS.'
'The Libra constellation? I feel like this must be some special setting.'
'For the Tendo Boss to specifically look for it, this Golden Chrysanthemum must not be ordinary.'
After watching the events Tendo experienced last night, the dimensional viewers at Site 13 gathered the current intelligence and roughly deduced the hidden setting of Longevity Island.
And in the Star Cluster World, Jing Liuli and Caroline, after hearing Tendo's experience, understood the whole story.
Jing Liuli lowered her head and curiously poked the Golden Chrysanthemum in Tendo's palm.
The petals of the Golden Chrysanthemum were soft and cool, carrying a faint, clean fragrance.
But after examining it for a long time, apart from the surging life force she could sense, she didn't feel anything particularly special; it was no different from an ordinary flower.
"So, this thing in your hand is the final link for us to break the cycle, right?"
Facing the question, Tendo smiled and said, "Mm, alright, any questions can wait until after midnight."
"After all, if I'm not mistaken, this vault must have existed on the island since Longevity Island first appeared."
"And if that's the case, there should be quite a few interesting things left inside this vault, like... the memories of some old guys."
Since Rose Knight Wilfred and Tendo were talking when they were not present, Caroline and Jing Liuli had no idea who Tendo was referring to as the 'old guys', and naturally didn't know that Doctor Dragoon and President Enite had visited here a long time ago.
But the dimensional viewers, who possessed the perspective of omniscience, immediately understood what the interesting things Tendo spoke of were.
'Memories of the old guy?! Could it be President Enite?'
'Definitely him! Wilfred mentioned that the President came to Longevity Island before!'
'Feels like a foreshadowing here.'
Revolving around the existing intelligence, the dimensional viewers' comments flew across the dimensional screen.
Many people even screenshotted the moment Tendo mentioned the 'old guy' to compare it with his earlier conversation with the Rose Knight.
After waiting for a while, the time in the episode reached the crucial midnight hour.
[Longevity County Bank, Underground Vault]
"Gong—Gong—"
The chimes of midnight rang out in the void, sounding as if from a century-old church, carrying a dense, time-penetrating weight.
The next second, the Libra totem on the vault door suddenly erupted with blinding golden light. Golden patterns spread along the door, illuminating the entire underground passage as bright as day, making even the moss on the walls clearly visible.
As the overlapping temporal phantoms dissipated like a retreating tide, the invisible barrier that had blocked the gear mechanism completely vanished.
However, Caroline did not rush to act. Instead, she threw the initial gear mechanism used for testing.
Bang!
Watching the gear hit the door and bounce half a meter high before rolling onto the ground, Caroline nodded to Tendo, signaling that everything was ready.
In response, Tendo raised his hand and removed the black blindfold from his face.
The azure-blue Stellar Eclipse Eye lit up in the darkness, its pupils reflecting the flickering golden light on the vault door in front of him.
"Caroline, let's proceed as planned."
"Understood."
Caroline took the hint. Her cybernetic hand instantly transformed, the silver-white metallic joints unfolded, and a light-blue quantum beam condensed in her palm.
"Energy cutter ready. Frequency adjusted to match the Rose pattern."
As she spoke in a cold voice, Caroline took a step forward. The anti-slip treads of her tactical boots dug into the floor beneath her, firmly supporting the impending energy impact.
The next second, a light-blue quantum beam appeared from her palm and landed on the vault door.
The moment the quantum beam hit the vault door, the Rose pattern on the door panel flared up. Deep purple energy wrapped around Caroline's quantum beam, emitting a 'sizzling' electric sound.
This was the door's defense mechanism and the 'Death Energy' trap set by the Libra Palace.
Neither Caroline nor Tendo seemed overly concerned about this situation.
Because Tendo had just told Caroline the key to cracking the vault door.
It required balancing the energies of 'Death' and 'Life'.
The door itself already contained a significant amount of 'Death' energy; what she was doing now was merely consuming it to a certain extent.
After an unknown period, fine sweat beaded on Caroline's forehead, and the energy output bar of her cybernetic module dropped rapidly.
Finally, when the purple energy on the vault door was weakened by Caroline to just a thin film, Tendo took a step forward, extending his hand to reveal the Golden Chrysanthemum in his palm.
The Golden Chrysanthemum suddenly burst into a warm light, transforming into a golden stream that embedded itself into the center of the Rose pattern like a key.
Click!
With a crisp, distinct sound, the gears inside the lock mechanism re-engaged, and the heavy vault door slowly opened inward.
The moment the vault door opened, an aura mixed with the fragrance of life and the dust of memory rushed out.
Without worrying about any potential dangers inside, Tendo was the first to step into the vault.
His eyes swept the surroundings. The unique azure-blue light of the Stellar Eclipse Eye instantly covered every corner of the vault.
The vault interior was more spacious than Caroline and Jing Liuli had imagined. A translucent golden scale, the Libra, floated in the center. Two huge trays hung from the left and right ends of the beam.
On the two balanced trays, dozens of glass containers were conspicuously placed.
The containers on the left held viscous, pale-green liquid, with tiny light points floating on the surface—concentrated life energy, emitting a refreshing scent similar to morning dew.
The containers on the right were filled with shimmering golden light points, like fireflies trapped in bottles—precious 'Memory Fragments' used to sustain the time loop.
Looking at this sacred yet bizarre sight, Jing Liuli pointed to the containers on the left, closed her eyes, and asked curiously, "Tendo, so those things on the left are the life force used to maintain the 'citizens' daily activities?"
The current Jing Liuli had entered the 'Daydream' state, allowing her to clearly capture the 'living beings' dreams' within a certain range.
In her 'dream,' she clearly saw a blurry face reflected in every drop of the green liquid.
"Mm."
Tendo nodded, then looked at the 'silver-white pipes' connecting the green jars on the left tray.
These pipes ran along the vault ceiling and extended into the depths of the vault, seemingly transporting something.
"The life force on these scales is transported through these 'blood vessels' to every corner of Longevity County, used to maintain the 'citizens'' daily activities, much like... a giant heart pumping precious blood to all parts of the body."
"That is one of the truths of Longevity County. As for the other truth... it's in those memory crystals."
As he spoke, Tendo turned to look at the right side of the scale.
In that position, one after another, crystals emitting a special energy were neatly arranged.
"The memory crystals on the right are the main energy source for the time loop on Longevity Island."
"The clearer the memory within the crystal and the stronger the emotions contained, the more temporal power it possesses. The Libra Palace relies on this to turn Longevity Island into a non-stop 'clock'."
Just as Tendo was speaking, the suspended Libra suddenly shook violently.
Subsequently, the memory fragments on the right side became agitated like a startled flock of birds, releasing countless golden light points.
A moment later, these light points converged into a golden pillar of light, which fiercely descended onto the open space in front of the trio.
When the light pillar dissipated, a figure wearing a black trench coat slowly materialized.
His short black hair was neatly combed, and his sharp eyes held a subtle, faint smile.
With just one look, Caroline and Jing Liuli recognized his identity.
"President?"
Caroline's body instantly tensed, and her expression became serious.
As the saying goes, a man's name is the shadow of his reputation.
Even though Enite hadn't been active outside for a long time, a living legend was still a legend.
Even though the one who appeared before them was only a transparent phantom condensed from memory energy, it was enough to keep her vigilant.
After all, she couldn't determine at this moment whether this version of Enite was friend or foe.
Perhaps sensing Caroline's thoughts, Enite's memory clone slowly spoke.
"Don't be nervous. I am just a residual consciousness, not an enemy."
The middle-aged Enite's voice was very steady, carrying the characteristic ethereal quality of memory energy.
After saying this, his gaze settled on Tendo, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"You must be Tendo, right? This seems to be our... second meeting?"
Second time?
Jing Liuli looked at Tendo in surprise. Only Caroline reacted immediately.
It was clear that this memory phantom of Enite was referring to the time Tendo had met him in the 'Fallen Zone Simulation: Quicksand Star'.
However, the Enite in that simulation was also a fragment of memory, and from his younger days.
How could two different and independent memory fragments be familiar with each other?
This discovery quickly plunged Caroline into contemplation.
Just as Enite finished speaking, his figure suddenly dematerialized, turning into a golden afterimage that instantly appeared in front of Tendo.
"Watch out!"
Jing Liuli's cry of alarm had just left her mouth when Tendo, as if knowing in advance, sidestepped to evade.
Under the protection of the Vector Field, Enite's fist grazed the afterimage Tendo left behind and smashed into the ground.
Boom!
The hard cement floor instantly cracked into a web-like pattern. Amidst the flying rubble, Tendo's figure was affected by the shockwave, flying backward like a meteor and heavily crashing into the back wall of the vault.
This sudden turn of events left Jing Liuli stunned in place. Only Caroline reacted immediately.
But just as she raised her hand, President Enite casually waved his hand: "This doesn't concern you two for now. Take a break."
As his words fell, dozens of golden chains surged from the ground, tightly restraining Caroline and Jing Liuli.
These chains were inscribed with special and complex patterns. The moment they touched the two, they released the power of 'Time Stasis', causing their bodies to suddenly stiffen. They couldn't even blink, though their consciousness remained active.
Crack!
Accompanied by a falling piece of wall debris, Tendo walked out of the smoke and dust in the distance.
He brushed the dust off his shoulders, looked up at Enite, and, rarely for him... showed a serious expression.
Because he knew that although the clone before him was only formed from Enite's memory, he absolutely could not let down his guard.
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the supposed dust on Tendo's shoulders stopped about one centimeter away from him.
It was clear that not only the dust, but even the residual force of Enite's punch just now, was completely isolated by Tendo's 'Vector Control: All-Nature Repulsion', leaving him completely unharmed.
At the same time, in Tendo's vision, besides its inherent consciousness, Enite's memory clone still retained the influence of the Libra Palace's Laws.
This allowed him to utilize the 'Laws' of this place to a certain extent.
But all this was just a pretense by the old cunning Enite, because if it wasn't for this, the old guy wouldn't have any suitable 'reason' to strike.
Seeing the unharmed Tendo, Enite immediately smiled and said, "Tendo, if you want to know anything, wait until you can beat me."
As if to answer Enite's words, Tendo pushed off the ground with the tip of his toe. His body turned into a silver-white afterimage, leaving a shallow footprint on the ground as he charged towards Enite's clone.
Enite's clone raised a hand and waved. Golden energy transformed into chains, wrapping towards Tendo.
These chains carried the Law of 'Equivalent Exchange'. Once tangled, life energy would be extracted as a 'price'.
Under the observation of the Stellar Eclipse Eye, the attack trajectory of these chains was thoroughly seen through by Tendo.
He sidestepped the first chain and bent down to evade the second.
Then, Tendo condensed a large Vector Field on his right hand, using his hand as a blade to cut towards the chains' connection point.
Cling!
The sound of metal clashing echoed in the spacious vault. The golden chain snapped in response, and the energy at the broken point dissipated like fireworks.
Tendo used the reactionary force to flip in the air. Twisting his ankle, his body spun to avoid the subsequent chain attacks, and his fingertip was aimed at the Enite below.
Star Energy Technique: Black Azure!
A black vector sphere of light carried a sound barrier-breaking roar, heading straight for Enite's face.
Facing the devastatingly powerful Black Azure, Enite's eyes narrowed. He stomped his feet on the ground and crossed his arms in front of him.
Boom!
The moment Black Azure touched Enite's arms, a deafening roar instantly erupted inside the vault.
Immediately afterward, his body slid backward a distance, leaving two deep gouges in the ground.
The destructive power of Tendo's Black Azure was evident.
After all, not just anyone could make Enite retreat.
Even if... it was just a memory clone of Enite.
Having regained his footing, Enite looked up at the now-landed Tendo, his eyes filled with excitement and approval.
"You are indeed much more interesting than I thought."
Tendo said nothing in response to Enite's words.
Because he knew the game for the two of them had just begun.