Even though he had seen the "shrunken" moon, Duncan still found it unbelievable after seeing and touching this tiny ancient star with his own eyes.
It was in his hand now, glowing warmly, the flames brushing harmlessly across his fingers, with only the slightest sensation, like the brush of a feather against skin.
But Duncan knew that in the distant past, this small ball emitting brilliant light once illuminated the sky of the Sen'jin and sheltered a civilization.
"… The followers of the Black Sun want to get this thing, and one of their 'descendants' even risked his life for it. What do you think they want to do with this 'sun'?" The goat-headed man asked curiously, the sunlight emanating from Duncan's palm reflected in his eyes.
"Whether it's the descendants of the sun or the remnants of the sun known as 'remnants', their only goal is to 'revive' their 'mother', the dying Black Sun," Duncan said as he carefully turned the 'mini star' in his hand, without looking up. "This seemingly inconspicuous little ball carries 'information' from before the Great Annihilation. For the Black Sun in its poor condition... it may be some kind of 'key material' for self-repair."
He paused for a moment, then slowly spoke out some thoughts that had gradually formed in his mind since just now -
"In that golden crystal, I saw the home where they once lived. They had a huge technological entity built around a star, and their entire civilization existed on the basis of that technological entity. When the Great Annihilation occurred, this huge structure must have been 'contaminated' by other worlds, thus distorting and mutating into its current form...
"I have a bold guess. The so-called 'Black Sun' may be some kind of 'hybrid' - the entire civilization that was born around a star 'collapsed' along with their star, deformed into its current form, and this 'hybrid'... caused the Black Sun to be far more disordered and chaotic than other ancient entities, and to have more 'defects'."
He raised his hand and shook the "ancient star" in his hand.
"Those descendants of the sun may think that another ancient star can help them repair the 'defects' of the black sun. I don't understand the principle behind this, but one thing is certain - if they really succeed, it will be a big deal."
“… Fortunately, they failed.” Goat Head said sincerely.
Duncan nodded, then looked thoughtfully at the ancient star in his hand.
At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from outside the captain's room, followed by a knock on the door. Nina's voice sounded outside the door: "Uncle Duncan! Are you in there?"
Duncan raised his eyebrows and immediately responded, "Come in."
The door of the captain's room opened. Nina peeked inside and then came in with a smile: "Dinner is ready! I'm here to call you to eat!"
Duncan looked at Nina with a bright smile on her face, but his heart suddenly moved.
"You've come just in time," he waved to the girl, "Come and take a look at this."
Nina immediately walked over and noticed the "little sun" in Duncan's hand at first sight. She stared at the beautiful glowing ball with wide eyes and quickly realized, "Isn't this the 'sun' that Miss Vanna brought out from the desert?"
"Take it," Duncan handed the "little sun" to Nina, "how do you feel about it?"
Nina took the small ball, which was almost as big as her fist, with some confusion. She looked around in front of her eyes and "felt" it carefully. She looked at Duncan in confusion: "I don't have any 'feeling'... I just feel warm."
"Is that the only way?" Duncan frowned, subconsciously thinking about what kind of test he should let Nina do. Just as he was distracted, a crisp "click" sound suddenly reached his ears.
He looked up in surprise and saw Nina looking at him with a dazed expression. A tiny flame and bits of debris were dripping from the corner of her mouth. The "Ancient Star" in her hand had a small piece missing from its surface, and obvious teeth marks could be seen on the edge of the missing piece.
Duncan: “…?!”
"I... I couldn't help it!" Nina finally realized what was happening and waved her hands, almost jumping up and down. "I just thought it was the right size, and... and then... I bit it subconsciously..."
"Don't shake yet." Duncan quickly interrupted Nina's panicked behavior, and stood up and grabbed the little sun in her hand - he was worried that a bite of Nina's would destroy the stability of this "star". Although he didn't know how powerful a star compressed to this size would be after losing control, it was obviously an extremely dangerous thing.
But nothing happened.
The "star" that had a bite taken out of it neither collapsed nor exploded, but still emitted gentle, harmless heat.
And when Duncan observed its surface again, he found that the small gap had disappeared at some point.
Nina also came over curiously, blinking her eyes as she looked at the "little sun" that had turned into a complete sphere again. After a long while, she finally said, "Is it healed?"
Duncan looked at the "little sun" in his hand with strange eyes, then raised his head to look at the "little sun" on the Lost Homeland. Even though he was used to seeing all kinds of strange anomalies and visions, he suddenly felt that his brain seemed to be inadequate.
After having countless outrageous and weird thoughts in his mind, he handed the mini "star" to Nina again: "...Take another bite."
Nina obediently took the "Little Sun" and put it to her mouth and nibbled it again. She took a bite and it made a crunching sound.
To be honest, Duncan even felt a little greedy...
The next second, the "little sun" returned to its original state under the gaze of Duncan and Nina.
Nina looked up at Duncan, then at the "little sun" in her hand, with a confused look on her face: "... Why?"
Duncan raised his hand and rubbed his forehead vigorously—how would he know?!
"I guess even the most outstanding scholars in the world can't answer your question," Duncan said while rubbing his head. He looked at the sparks from Nina's mouth with a strange look in his eyes. After holding it in for a long time, he finally couldn't help but ask, "... Is it delicious?"
"It's crunchy," Nina said honestly, "It feels good, but I don't know what it tastes like."
“… Do you still want to eat?”
Nina's eyes suddenly lit up (really bright, even the captain's room was brightened up): "Is it possible?!"
Duncan: “…”
The captain's room fell silent for a moment. Duncan tried his best to explain what was going on with everything he had learned and all his imagination. Nina curiously grabbed the "little sun" and looked at it over and over again, as if looking for the next place to bite it.
After an unknown amount of time, Duncan decided to give up trying to understand the matter.
"You don't feel any discomfort, do you?" He shook his head, and suddenly became a little worried about whether Nina would have any problems with her body after "swallowing the star".
"No, it's warm and comfortable to eat," Nina said, shaking her head. "Uncle Duncan, can I have another bite?"
"... I suggest you don't try it again today," Duncan thought for a moment, and said in a serious tone, but his expression was a little tense, "If you still feel fine tomorrow... you can do whatever you want."
He paused for a moment and added, "Originally I wanted to give it to you for safekeeping."
He was not lying. He had been thinking about the placement of this "little sun" before Nina came in. For obvious and natural reasons, it seemed natural to hand it over to Nina for safekeeping - first of all, there was an essential connection between the two, and Nina might be able to discover more secrets of the "little sun" by keeping it. Secondly, from the perspective of safety, Nina, who could heat the "little sun" to 6000℃, was capable enough to ensure that no one could take this "star" away.
But my niece thought that this "Little Sun" tasted good, which was an unexpected situation...
Nina didn't think too much about it. After hearing Duncan's arrangement, she immediately became happy and nodded vigorously: "Yes!"
It looked like a puppy that had found the bone it had been longing for.
Looking at Nina's smiling face, Duncan couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Leave it to her... Is it really okay
Although it seems that this "little sun" will immediately return to its original state after being bitten, it is unknown whether there is a limit to this recovery. If it is given to Nina for "safekeeping"... Will she eat it all one day...
"Uncle Duncan?"
The call from beside woke Duncan up from his distraction. He quickly put aside the strange thoughts in his mind and turned to look at Nina's sunny face.
"Are we going to eat?" Nina asked with a bright smile.
"… "
In the end, Duncan couldn't bear to take the "little sun" back.
At the same time, the huge academy ark had sailed to the coast of Breeze Harbor.
In the lounge on the upper floor of the Ark, Rune was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, resting.
Judging from the situation of the elves who stayed behind on the Ark, the impact of the Dream of the Nameless One on the real world has indeed completely subsided. Even those elves that once completely disappeared have now returned to the real world.
After the pressure was suddenly relieved, fatigue quietly set in. Rune had rested for a long time after returning to the Ark, and only now did he feel that his energy had been slightly restored.
After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at his hands, at the wrinkled skin that was no longer full of vitality.
"I'm really old."
He muttered something with emotion, then stood up from his chair and walked over to the nearby laboratory table.
“… Time to catch up with some old friends.”
(End of this chapter)