Tribios and Melly had been waiting for a long time. As soon as the Magic Ship came to a halt, Evernight gracefully leaped from the deck, landing on the ground. Melly immediately asked, "Did you find a way to defeat the Mother of Flesh? So quickly?!"
Though Evernight and Heinrich had journeyed to another world and explored memories from a millennium ago, experiencing countless trials, their actual journey had only taken two or three months—a remarkably short time.
When they first set out, Melly had braced herself for six or seven years without seeing them. Yet here they were, having achieved a breakthrough in such a short span.
"What's the method?!" Melly asked, her curiosity palpable.
Evernight slowly approached Melly, raised her right hand, and extended her index finger. Melly's expression turned puzzled until Evernight gently touched her forehead with the tip of her finger. Instantly, a series of vivid images flashed through Melly's mind.
This wasn't "imparting memories" in the traditional sense, but rather "showing one's memories to another."
After Evernight touched her forehead, Melly fell into a trance-like state, her eyes losing their usual spark. She stood motionless, as if under some kind of mind-control magic. In reality, Melly was currently 'watching a movie' in her mind.
Since this was a purely mental exchange, Melly snapped out of her daze after only three or four seconds, exclaiming, "What a brilliant concept! Such a daring design! This Ding Lang must be a genius! Theoretically, this positioning device could actually work!"
Tribios waved her hand, opening another Century Gate. The four of them stepped through in turn, arriving at her office. Without a backward glance, Melly hurried off to her laboratory.
Tribios settled into her seat and gave Heinrich a warm smile. "Thank you for your hard work on this mission."
Heinrich quickly waved his hands. "No trouble at all! Besides, I didn't really do much. Miss Evernight handled most of the work."
Thinking about it, she realized it was true. Apart from the initial all-night voyage, Heinrich hadn't really done much. Still, gratitude was due. "Regardless, I still want to thank you for your help," Tribios said.
"There's nothing urgent left now. Whether you return to the Arcane Federation or stay in Okhema is entirely up to you."
It was only now that Heinrich realized Tribios had been addressing him the entire time. He turned to look beside him, but Evernight, who should have been standing there, had vanished without him noticing. Considering her absurd Authority over memory, disappearing into thin air seemed hardly surprising.
After all, Evernight and Tribios were essentially the same person. Since she saw no point in thanking herself, Evernight had slipped away at the start of their conversation. Evernight was now strolling through Okhema's streets, pondering what she should do next.
In the Main World, the Sun God's exhaustion had transformed "daylight" into perpetual twilight over the past three months. But apart from this, there were no other anomalies.
Within the Main World, peace and tranquility reigned supreme. There were no conspiracies, disasters, cult rituals, or anything of the sort. Even the All Nations Alliance and the Dragon Ember Empire had ceased hostilities long ago. Outside the world, neither the Moon nor the Child of Flesh stirred. The entire world seemed to be basking in perfect harmony.
Yet Evernight knew this was likely just the deceptive calm before the storm. Both the All Nations Alliance and the Dragon Ember Empire had entered states of martial law, focusing entirely on internal affairs to prevent any Outer God rituals from erupting within their borders—a truly terrifying prospect.
Fortunately, the shift from day to twilight had made it easier for both the Empire's Emperor and the Alliance's Council to issue directives under this pretext.
As for the Arcane Federation, Heinrich wielded immense power within his nation. Moreover, every resident of the Floating City had personally experienced the war, so they naturally offered no resistance to orders regarding defense against the Outer Gods.
The newly established Northern Territory Empire, under Cerydra's rule, needed no further urging. Thus, the only nation whose specific situation remained unclear was the Eastern Ancient Kingdom.
In a sense, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the entire world had entered a state of martial law.
Okhema's next task was to mass-produce Dr. Ding Lang's research results: the 'compass' to detect the invaded Main World, the 'spikes' to restrain the Child of Flesh, and the 'badge' that concealed its wearer in darkness, preventing the Child of Flesh's derivatives from detecting them.
However, these matters had little to do with Evernight. She wandered aimlessly, then suddenly remembered something and made a decisive right turn at the next intersection.
After walking a bit further, the figures of a four-person team led by Aria came into view. With the situation in the Northern Territory Empire gradually stabilizing, Aria and her team had completed their mission and returned to Okhema.
Half and Little Owlbear, however, remained in the Northern Territory. Thanks to Cerydra's tireless efforts, the correct Power of Faith had begun to nourish the former Wolf God, showing signs of gradual recovery. As for Little Owlbear, having lived alongside Half for so long, the two had become inseparable friends and chose to stay together.
Getting back to the main point, after returning to Okhema, Aria and her companions found themselves once again in a state of idleness. Their instructors, who had previously been teaching Aria, Feidric, and Douglas, had been reassigned to other urgent duties due to the tense situation, leaving them with no time to continue their lessons.
Resuming their training wasn't an option, and Tribios hadn't assigned them any new tasks, so the group naturally had nothing to do.
Feidric, as a Wizard, could at least pass the time by reading books. Douglas, on the other hand, had recently become obsessed with movies and was frequently visiting the cinema. But this left Cipher utterly miserable. With the other two absent, Aria clung to Cipher day after day, chatting incessantly and playing time-killing games.
Today, at Cipher's suggestion, the four of them were heading out together for a nice meal.
Evernight silently watched Aria from afar, gently stroking her smooth chin with her fingers as she pondered whether to tease them a bit.