He didn’t know what kind of hijinks was happening with his Darkwood farms, but he was not comfortable with it at all.
Now he was sure that it wasn’t because he added too much water or fertilizer to the seed to make it grow that fast. It’s because of something else, something supernatural—maybe even apocalyptic.
He quickly left the Control Room and entered into the main Pocket Dimension, finding himself in a lustrous green forest with a mountain as its backdrop.
He flew towards the wooden cabin, his speed becoming more careful and wary as he got closer.
He opened the wooden door, its creaks giving him the heebie jeebies.
The two boxes remained as he left it.
On the right was the ’Internet Cube’, still mysterious and ever powerful as it was before, but not as dangerous as he first thought it was.
On the left was the unassuming iridescent spherical pearl, whose size was just a little bit smaller than a bowling ball.
Given how ChatJK5 almost perished from it, he thought that he’d have the most trouble with the ’Internet Cube’, while the pearl was as harmless as any other tabletop decoration.
But now, the situation has completely reversed.
Approaching the apocalyptic object closer, all of his defenses were up and running.
Thankfully, the foreboding object didn’t change a single speck. It remained as beautiful and ethereal from the moment he received it.
In hindsight, the fact that it came from a Leviathan monster should have alerted him of its possible dangerous effects.
What should I do with this?
He wanted to put it far away from the Darkwood farm, afraid that there was a special connection between the two.
There must be something that linked them. After all, the forest around the cabin remained unchanged. If it experienced the same growth as the Darkwood, then this whole place should have been overrun with greenery, moss, and vines. And its close proximity to the pearl should have strengthened its effects even more.
So, he could only conclude that only Darkwood was affected by the hastened growth.
His first thought was to take the pearl as far away from the farm as possible.
But where?
Taking it out into the real world was a no go. That could really trigger the apocalypse.
Should I just move the cabin farther away?
That seemed pointless. If the pearl’s effects could breach through the different dimensions separating this and the [Isolated Room], then no amount of distance could block it.
All in all, it seemed as if there wasn’t anything he could do.
ChatJK5, any solutions?
[...do you need to move it?]
Of course! What if it could trigger the end of the world?
[What if it didn’t? The nature of Mariana’s Jewel has not been properly determined. Only one person said it was dangerous.]
Serena told him that Mariana’s Jewel triggered the apocalypse. However, when Octavia and professor Lichtenstein talked about the object, they never mentioned it had dangerous side-effects.
And the professor’s words held more weight, given his extensive knowledge about history.
He wasn’t saying that Serena was lying, only that her interpretation of it was inaccurate. Perhaps its apocalyptic nature was merely a horrific myth told to children so that they wouldn’t risk their lives searching for something that maybe didn’t even exist in the first place.
Am I just overthinking things?
[I have not sensed any negative side-effects from the pearl or the Darkwood.]
After ruminating on it for a little bit, perhaps he really was just being paranoid.
He breathed a sigh. It’s as if a huge weight was released from his shoulders.
So there’s no need to move the pearl.
Just like the famous saying: ’If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
He stood there for a few seconds, before he relented and pushed the two boxes a few meters away from each other.
Just in case.
...
...
...
Michael exited the Drone’s Pocket Dimension, burying all those grim and somber thoughts far away into the recesses of his mind. Thankfully, he had many different compartments in his mind now.
Immediately, he felt jolly and refreshed, as if he had just taken a warm bath in a hot spring.
I need to buy more Soo drops, he thought to himself.
Why? To buy Mini Drones of course.
Having hundreds of Mini Drones at his side would make him extremely happy; that was the only reason. It definitely wasn’t because he was worried about an apocalypse and wanted to arm himself to the teeth—no, definitely not.
Teleporting himself to New Sparta, he found himself arriving at the outskirts of the Mermen Lake, near the bulwark separating the boundary and the quadrant itself.
He would have teleported himself to the lake itself, but his shadow informed that it wasn’t safe to do so.
There were other people there.
He wrapped himself in his own shadow, lowering his presence to the point where no one would notice him if they weren’t directly looking at him.
Then, he glided forwards, zipping through the shadows of trees until he saw the wooden pier in the distance.
There, he saw a group of people talking with Mermen submerged in the water.
Correction: they were confronting, not talking.
Lots of aggressive pointing were thrown around at the Mermen, as if they were berating them for something.
It’s your time to shine, he said as he unleashed his Drone.
In an instant, it turned invisible and flew towards the confrontation.
Once it got close enough, he finally understood why they were arguing with each other.
"What do you mean you’re backing out?! That’s not what we agreed upon!"
The one shouting was a young man in his twenties, long green hair almost up to his shoulders, and wearing a scowl on his face.
"Princess Octavia owes you nothing. There was no contract between us," replied a squid Merman quietly. But no matter how much he tried to hide it, his pale red skin gave away his anger.
"Does she not value honor?! We had a verbal agreement! Be honest, she chose someone else, right?! I’ve been hearing what you Mermen are saying! Who are they?!"
The Mermen pursed their lips. They were just about to express their anger in a not-so respectful way, when their gaze moved away from them, and towards the golden-haired youth approaching.