A small boat cut through the sea fog. Rover and Changli sat gracefully and properly at the bow, brows slightly furrowed as they gazed at the mountain range hidden in the mist.
The Doctor sat inside the cabin, thinking about the effects that different entry and exit times to Mt. Firmament might cause.
As for Zane and Stelle…
The two of them were currently wrestling over how to split the spoils.
Given that one day in Mt. Firmament equals ten days in Jinzhou, then wouldn't that mean if they brought a boat full of chicks and a boat full of piglets into Mt. Firmament, stayed there for a month and then returned to Jinzhou, those livestock would have effectively grown for a year?
Wouldn't they be able to eat meat right away?
If that's the case, the production cycle would keep shortening, and they could make a huge profit from it.
Hearing the sounds of fighting coming from the stern, Rover and the Doctor let out helpless sighs.
Rover/Doctor: This household would fall apart without me.
Their expressions fell into Changli's eyes, and a trace of a smile flashed through her phoenix-like gaze.
Just then, a sharp, piercing frequency suddenly rang in Rover's ears, making her let out a soft grunt.
Zane, who had been messing around with Stelle at the stern, changed expression. Seeing that Stelle was still full of energy, he knew the time-flow barrier wouldn't have much effect on her.
He immediately gave up on the still chattering Stelle and walked toward the bow.
"Are you alright?"
Hearing that, the Doctor raised her head and immediately saw those slightly concerned emerald eyes. She then gently shook her head at Zane, indicating she was fine.
After that, she turned her head, her gaze landing on Rover and Changli sitting at the bow.
Zane understood and walked over, sitting right next to Rover. At the same time, he reached out and gently wrapped his arm around her slender waist, letting her lean against him.
"Master…"
At some point, Changli had already turned her head away. Zane knew that his master was also feeling uncomfortable.
After all, if even Rover could feel the effects of the chaotic time flow, then as an ordinary person, wouldn't Changli be affected even more?
As if responding to Zane's concern, and also as if maintaining her dignity as a master, Changli parted her lips slightly, and a soft, melodious song flowed from her mouth.
Seagulls flew into the sky against the sunlight, and the chaotic time flow at the border between Mt. Firmament and Jinzhou seemed to be soothed as well.
Feeling the warmth beside her, Rover's body gradually relaxed. She leaned her head against that not-so-broad but incredibly reassuring shoulder, and a faint smile curved her lips.
At the stern, Stelle lost her opponent and immediately felt bored, so she moved closer to the Doctor.
After thinking for a moment, under the Doctor's astonished gaze, she imitated what she saw and pulled the Doctor into her arms.
"What are you doing?"
The Doctor revealed a pair of dead fish eyes and stared straight at Stelle.
"Hehe, if I hug you for one day in Mt. Firmament, wouldn't that be the same as hugging you for ten days?"
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean I've surpassed Zane? He definitely hasn't hugged you continuously for ten days."
"Get lost!"
The small boat cut across the water, creating layer upon layer of ripples.
In an instant, sunlight pierced through the layers of sea fog, lighting up the front of the boat.
When Rover opened her eyes, she saw the mountains already right in front of them.
The entire Mt. Firmament coiled above the sea like a long dragon, its head raised high, unyielding.
Where the forest ended and the water source ran out, there stood a mountain.
Perhaps because of the time-flow barrier, even though Jinzhou was lush green, Mt. Firmament was covered in red leaves hanging from branches.
Looking into the distance, faint patches of snow could still be seen.
Although Stelle had been sitting in the cabin, the moment they reached shore, she was the first to jump down.
It gave off a feeling like a rich city girl entering a village for the first time…
"Look, butterflies!"
"Wow, a frog I've never seen before!"
"What a strange flower… can you eat it?"
Zane led Changli, Rover, and the Doctor off the boat, only to see that the excited Stelle had already run far away. He let out a sigh.
It felt like a helpless father watching his own daughter run wild and mischievous but unable to stop her.
"She's already so grown up, and she still likes all these weird things, seriously."
While complaining about Stelle, Zane didn't even look as he grabbed a butterfly flying past him and instantly stuffed it into the system.
[1 glowing blue feather butterfly exchanged for 1 Star Sound]
"?"
'Since when do blue feather butterflies glow?'
Of course, whether blue feather butterflies could glow wasn't the point, the point was that a glowing blue feather butterfly only exchanged for 1 Star Sound?
'Such a rare species should at least be worth a few hundred Star Sounds, right?'
'The damn system must have taken a cut!'
Of course, Zane didn't know that the fact the glowing blue feather butterfly could only be exchanged for 1 Star Sound was actually to protect a certain someone.
Unable to figure it out, Zane simply stopped thinking about it. He casually picked a small flower nearby and stuffed it into the system…
Who wouldn't scrape the ground clean when entering a new map?
Watching Zane chase after butterflies right after Stelle, Rover sighed.
It felt like watching her husband and daughter run wild like crazy in a scenic area.
Doctor: Should I also sigh?
Soon, the three of them followed the path up the mountain and saw Zane and Stelle.
"The bridge going up the mountain… is broken?"
Changli narrowed her eyes dangerously, knowing it must have been the Remnant Star Society's doing.
Just then, a mechanism that looked like a sphere split in half rose up from a small puddle nearby.
Zane and Stelle clicked their tongues in amazement. The two exchanged a glance and, as if on the same wavelength, stood on either side of the mechanism, immediately planning to dismantle it and take it back for research.
Then both of them got a knock on the head from Rover.
"What is this?"
Seeing Zane once again enter his unreliable mode, Rover could only turn to Changli with heavy confusion.
Changli walked up to the mechanism and carefully examined it.
"It's a Reflow Instrument."
"I know, I know!"
Zane suddenly volunteered, jumping in front of Rover and the Doctor, angrily saying, "It's a conspiracy by the map designers! To increase playability, they deliberately added it for players… ow!"
As Zane crouched down clutching his head, Rover calmly sheathed her swift blade.
If this guy isn't beaten for a day, he dares to climb onto the roof and dismantle the Reflow Instrument.
"This is a device modeled after the temporal abilities of the Sui Lord. It's said that it can restore objects through small-scale time reversal."
Changli pondered for a moment, looking at this creation that seemed to belong to the people of Jiting, and gave her answer.
"Time reversal? Then can we use time reversal to fix this bridge?"
As expected of Rover, with just one sentence from Changli, she immediately understood the purpose of placing this mechanism here.
No time wasted, she decisively activated the device. After a series of operations, accompanied by the rumbling of massive stones, the broken pieces of the bridge that had fallen into the cliff gradually floated up and finally reassembled into a complete stone bridge.
Rover and Changli stepped onto the bridge one after another, followed closely by the Doctor and Stelle.
Only Zane lagged far behind, observing the Reflow Instrument.
"Zane, hurry up, we're going to leave you behind."
Hearing Stelle's voice, Zane quickly responded and hurried to catch up with them.
'It can already control time, yet it's only being used for construction work… what a complete waste...'