Chapter 1086: NO.209: Tide Countercurrent

NO. 209: Tide Countercurrent

In the distance.

Black tide surged against the short dyke.

From within those dark clouds, the white-capped crest of the black tide quietly shattered.

Is this my heart?

Or is this Isha—mla's heart?

Silent Skadi stood before the short dyke, gripping the giant sword that had been replaced but retained its form, wondering whether the sword could restore the toughness of its real material.

Looking back, she knew she was actually not a silent person.

She had once had dear family and utterly trusted comrades, but due to the danger of her work she avoided making friends on land, and thus became taciturn, even forgetting how to communicate normally with people.

But she eventually welcomed friends who could stand beside her, and even her former comrades gradually returned.

At that time, she had already reclaimed her former self.

The past deep-sea hunter Skadi was vividly alive in the eyes of her former comrades, until the fact called Isha—mla was uncovered by the First Speaker (meaning the first creature among the Faction to speak human language), until that truth, which she had not been aware of, lay before her.

Even if she had refused it then.

Even if her action was decisive, as if she had not been swayed in the slightest.

But when she was alone, when she faced a medical check, when she looked into the mirror……

She would always feel a subtle, inescapable awkwardness.

Does she truly care about this issue?

She feels she does not.

She also does not constantly think about it; she can even divert this attention through some entertainment, making it appear as common as late-night emo, yet not worth mentioning.

But does she really not care?

She wants to say yes, but when she is quiet, such thoughts indeed increase—an alien train of thought occasionally pops up, accompanied by a tone that makes her feel somewhat unfamiliar, yet it is indeed her own voice.

He is calling.

He is waiting.

He is longing.

To this day, she occasionally hums a few lines of a song that even feels foreign to herself.

Silence comes more often, and the silent periods grow longer.

Especially when facing Aomo Lindun, she can hardly utter a word, relying the whole time on the shark beside her to explain the situation.

For she directly senses that restless heart.

She wants to invite, wants Him to draw nearer a little.

She wants to draw close, wants Him… to become her blood relative.

Discarding those formalities, together merging into the sea, to reveal the truest form.

No…

Should I speak?

No……

Should I reach out like this?

Wrong.

Why stare at me like that? Why speak to me this way? I am not Skadi? Shouldn't you be more enthusiastic, more affectionate toward me?

Wrong…!

What is this alien thing? Is it referring to Isha—mla? How glad, he thinks that is an alien, right? Invitation… ah, he says I invited him, but I have no memory. How long has this situation been going on? What length of time? Is this some special condition? I am very concerned about him… unusually concerned… Has spring arrived? Spring, what does that mean? Should I ask? I seem to have missed it.

Having missed the chance to speak, but I should say it? Say that I am actually not that concerned about him.

Understood? What has he understood? Isha—mla revives inside my body…… erosion… yeah, I am being eroded, right.

Distorted? Where is it distorted? What is this woman saying? Caught in male-female conflict? Aomo Lindun? Lover? Spouse? Approaching Him in a feminine way, will He become unified as blood kin? No way? What should I say? Should I ask him? Is it me asking him, or her asking him?

Waiting? The wait will be long, right?

What's going on……

Waiting, so boring, I should check my phone too? The shark keeps playing with its phone, but also glances at me now and then.

Why look at me with such concern? Am I that fragile? Has something bad happened? Ah, the screen, it's the screen, it's another me, Isha—mla, she has succeeded.

Should I be like that too? What should I do? Can the masses also become like that? Shut up!

He is coming back, he has come back, he says worries are unnecessary, Isha—mla needs his own acknowledgment.

Isha—mla… he has acknowledged it, that counts as getting closer…… Should I acknowledge? Should I face it?

Both the Third Captain and the Second Captain say that once one acknowledges being of the Faction, one becomes of the Faction, an irreversible process.

But they are no longer the same; they have both undergone surgery.

Why can't I undergo surgery? Is it because of Isha—mla? If I could transfer Isha—mla to another Faction member, I could continue as Skadi…… meeting, interacting, fighting? Fighting, that's good, I want to fight.

Visible, tangible, able to strike… Is He still helping me, or is He…?

Wrong… wrong…… wrong!

Don't bring that thing over, she will lose! I will win!

Don't go over, don't, don't beat her.

Raise your head, straighten your waist… really like combat training, we are this close, you truly don't want to go further? I have waited for you so long, yet you still ignore my call, why?

Put on the device, power on and you can step onto the battlefield? Just like Rhodes Island's tactical video simulation, but I don't want to simulate, I don't want to fight.

Don't put it on.

Don't put it on.

Don't put it on.

Don't come over.

You will die! It is deceiving you! Skadi will disappear!

Don't

wear

on

!

Release

open

it

!

Don't

step

into

this

here

!!!!!

Violent rain and fierce wind.

The sudden change cleared her mind.

The icy raindrops and frenzied airflow fell together on her face, hands, shoulders, and the large expanse of bare skin on her thighs, making her feel an unprecedented clarity.

There were no chaotic thoughts, no words whose importance could not be distinguished.

She stood here, lifting the pitch-black greatsword in her hand, gazing into the distance at another her standing atop the dragon-shaped Faction's head, who was singing.

That song was so frenzied, so hateful, that she could hardly believe it, feeling that the Faction ought not be capable of such emotional expression.

But what does it matter?

She tiptoed, leaned forward, leapt, and threw herself into the sea tide.

Immediately, she whipped up a tornado, breaking through the storm!

——

"Will she win?"

In reality, beside Skadi, Lauren Tina slightly bowed, looking at the helmet-wearing, calm comrade, then turned to ask the youth beside her.

This question somewhat surprised the youth, so his expression became somewhat subtle: "I think you should know her better than I do."

"If it's a whale, that's indeed the case, but you know Isamara." Lauren Tina replied bluntly.

That remark was well-founded, causing Aomo, who was still watching the instrument's direct-link screen showing the wavelength, to turn and look at her: "Do you really think Skadi and Isamara ought to fight once?"

"What do you mean? Are you deceiving her into wearing that device?"

The saw-blade close-quarters treatment did not come a second time; having come to this point, Lauren Tina's first reaction was to look at the device operating the instrument.

"There's no intention to deceive." Aomo shook his head.

"I just think that if the war remains undecided, why not end it here?"

"Whether to retaliate or to yield, whichever step is taken leaves no turning back, requiring intervention from outside to inside."

Dr. Luo Xia said so, facing the representatives of the two deep-sea hunters.

"You need a landmark, a guiding light."

"Only the choice of no longer being lost, becoming one's own salvation, is the attitude of Rhodes Island."