Chapter 679: Those things that have passed

Artificial Man No. 36.

The room fell silent, and Amber quietly looked at the line of letters drawn on the diary. She remained silent for two minutes.

But just when Gawain couldn't help but want to say something, Amber's fingers moved again. She pursed her lips and slowly turned the diary to the next page——

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Sari Randolph's story continues:

"...my mechanical watch broke, and after recording the date twice by relying on my pulse and intuition, I had to give up. I don't know how many days it is now, but I guess I have been in this ancient fortress for at least half a month.

"During this period, there was only Amber. 'Stay with me.

“This little guy sleeps very quietly in her 'bed' without any noise. I started trying to talk to her in the last few days, and of course she didn't respond, but I still... Do this every day - talking can maintain your will and sanity, and a sleeping little girl is at least a better listener than a stone in the corner.

"...for such a long time, those shadows. The residents appeared twice in total. To be honest, the appearance of those 'ghosts' actually gave me a little surprise - they were indeed weird and looked a bit scary, but at least they were some kind of 'living creatures'. Sometimes I even have some crazy ideas and want to try to communicate with those 'ghosts', but this is really too dangerous...

"I finally put my crazy ideas into practice Once, however, the shadow dwellers ignored me at all. They just wandered around the room for a moment, and then gradually disappeared.

"In the end, only Amber stayed with me.

"...My health is deteriorating, that is inevitable. All the supplies I can find here are moss and water, and the fact that I can survive on them to this day is already a kind of Miracle - the moss growing in the Shadow Realm can actually sustain people's survival. This is already a gift in itself, isn't it?

"I was very scared and had a low fever, maybe because of that. The floor was too cold, perhaps because I was too weak. This inconspicuous illness almost made me plan all my funeral arrangements immediately - but what's the use of planning funerals? Today I cursed the king for the first time, and my honor has left me.

"...How long has it been outside? I have long given up on recording dates, and estimating time has become impossible for me. I can only judge based on instinct, maybe I am already here After staying there for several years, the royal capital has probably listed me as a missing person, or as a 'suspected defector' according to the rules of the Royal Shadow Guard.

"I have been here all this time. Diary less often and try to keep the letters as simple as possible and make the fonts smaller because I am running out of ink and even though I have diluted them several times, there is still not enough. Tomorrow I'm going to try burning the moss to ashes and then mix it with water.Can you make some ink? If not...if you want to write something in the future, I'm afraid you will have to use your own blood.

"I made some crude ink. The color is a little weird and the smell is weird, but obviously, they can be used for writing!

"...something happened today Definitely something worth documenting! Definitely worth recording! !

"Amber moved a bit - it's true, I'm sure, she moved her little hand, she was sucking her fingers!!

"She is alive! She is indeed alive! ”

After this, there were many scattered notes written by Sally Randolph in excitement, including some of his experiences of surviving in the Shadow Fortress. Amber seemed to have become unstable. Becoming impatient, she turned the pages faster, until she stopped in front of a diary page where the handwriting was slightly trembling and the writer seemed particularly excited.

"...I don't know that I did it. What, it may have nothing to do with me, but the ancient devices in the room suddenly made some noises, and there were strange sounds of water and buzzing coming from the big pillar. I almost jumped in surprise and came to the place where Amber slept. By the gods - what do I see?

"The crystal container was opened, and Amber was crawling out of it, using his hands and feet, almost falling to the ground.

"To all the gods and ancients I know, I There are simply no words to describe my mood at that moment - I slapped myself in the mouth several times, banged my head against the wall next to me, and then yelled. I used all methods to rule out the possibility of hallucinations, and only confirmed it in the end. This was all true, and Amber was just sitting on the ground, staring at me blankly!

“Damn, I didn’t scare her, did I?

“I found myself feeding the little guy only moss – what could be more frustrating and stressful than that? And fearful? This poor child...how should she survive in this hellish place?

"There was still some light yellow thin liquid remaining in the egg-shaped container. At least they were not poisonous. I tried to use them to feed Amber, who ate some quickly, but those There’s so little fluid, I still have to figure out how to feed her

“She doesn’t drink blood.

"There was only the last bit of liquid left in the container, and I had no choice.

"I fed her the moss - I used the iron shells I collected I made a pot out of the container and made a fire with combustible garbage found in the warehouse. I boiled the moss until it turned into some kind of soup... When Kohaku drank them, I even felt I was feeding poison to this little guy.

“She ate those things and seemed fine for the time being, but I’m not sure what will happen next... I will have to stay awake for a long time to prevent her from choking due to vomiting To...

"...Thank God! She's fine! ”

This pageThe handwriting was shaking violently, and the nervous and exciting emotions of the writer seemed to have been preserved through the strokes for decades. At this moment, it was overflowing on the paper. Amber stared at the gray-black handwriting one stroke after another, and suddenly said softly: " No wonder I don’t grow taller... right, old Zongzi?”

This is the most unfunny self-deprecation Gawain has ever heard.

He stretched out his hand and pressed Amber's hair. When the big hand covered the top of her head, the half-elf's body shook slightly, and then she took a deep breath and continued to turn back.

“…When I think about this little guy having to eat these mosses with me, I feel full of guilt, but compared to the worst situation, being able to survive is already a huge blessing. I I think I should stop complaining, at least now I am not alone...

"Amber can't speak, she can only make a weird hoarse voice, which sounds like the deepest voice of the shadow residents. It was just a whisper, but she obviously wanted to communicate with me. I talk to her most of the day now, and even though she can't make the same sounds, I always feel like she understands at least some of it.

“Amber learned to make ink for me! She poured the ashes from burning moss into the water and stirred it, but I had to keep an eye on it because she would eat it secretly...

At the end of the diary, Sally Randolph finally discovered something unusual about the little guy he "adopted"

"...I saw Amber talking with him. Talk to those shadow dwellers!

"No, strictly speaking, it shouldn't be a conversation, because Amber doesn't have complete expression ability, but they are at least communicating - Amber is gesticulating to the 'ghosts' who suddenly appeared, And those 'ghosts' were actually responding!

"I attacked the shadow residents almost subconsciously, and after realizing their closeness to Amber, I was beyond shocked...

"...Amber has some kind of shadow talent that I can't understand. I can finally confirm this.

" She has chatted with those shadow residents more than once, and even got involved last time I - she seemed to be trying to introduce me to those scary 'ghosts'. I was so nervous that I didn't know how to react, and the 'ghosts' didn't respond as usual, which made Amber angry for a while.

“I also saw her moving back and forth in the room with my own eyes. A shadow power enveloped her, making her run from one end of the room to the other end. Even a shadow super like me , and could barely catch up with her speed.

“She even entered a completely sealed room and passed through some high-level shadow jump...

“I think I did. You can probably guess why the people of Gondor in ancient times put this little girl in a container... With such outstanding shadow power, thisMaybe it's the 'achievement' of those ancient Gondor people?

“I am really curious about the secret behind the amber and what those Gondorians are doing here...

“Curiosity makes me recall the world outside. I pulled Amber and talked about it a lot, describing to her the flowers, plants and trees in the outside world and the bright colors. She was very confused and probably couldn't imagine those scenes at all, but she seemed very curious and seemed to care very much about what I described. thing.

"I felt guilty. I shouldn't have told her that... She really wanted to go out and see the outside world. Although she couldn't say it, I could feel it. Her emotions and thoughts, but I can’t help it, I can’t get out myself!

“Amber has been very impatient these days, and she started to create some vortexes and cracks covered in shadows in the room, I told her. This is a very dangerous behavior on her part, but she doesn't listen at all - I don't know what she wants to do, but this is really, really dangerous!

"...This may be the last diary I leave in the Shadow Fortress.

"After being trapped for so long, after being abandoned by the gods for so long, even After I gave up hope myself...I didn't expect that this day would actually come——

"Amber opened a rift to the outside world!

"Although it is still It is growing slowly and is not big enough for one person to pass, but it is indeed right in front of me - bright sunshine and bright colors, just across the gap!

"Goodbye, this cursed place!!"

The diary ends here, and the next few pages are all blank paper.

The room fell into dead silence. After even the sound of turning the pages of the book disappeared, the place was as quiet as a faded oil painting.

After several minutes of unbearable silence, it was Pittman who was the first to break the silence: "...When I first saw Surrey Randolph, he fell weakly in the wilderness, covered in blood. His clothes were in tatters, his hair and beard were very long, as if he had been living in the wild for several years, and you were sitting next to him blankly, with a rag wrapped around you, neither crying nor making a fuss, so quiet that it was scary. .

"At that time, I was avoiding the pursuit of some people. I was a guy who could hardly save my own life. After meeting you on the way to escape, my first reaction was to leave quickly and let it go. You are left to fend for yourself in the wilderness...

"But just when I was about to leave, you suddenly moved and grabbed my robe - did you know? You looked only human at that time You were four or five years old, but you were incredibly strong. You pulled me, as if you wanted me to save the dying person next to you. You couldn't even speak at that time and could only make some hoarse noises. , It was completely unlike a human voice.

“I was very nervous and scared, and I tried my best to shake you off, but you got up again and hugged me in a panic. I something. ”

HuPo finally raised his head slightly and looked at Pittman: "What is it?"

"It's a pile of gray-black 'moss'," Pittman grinned and smiled, with wrinkles on his face. Stacked, as if this thing is really funny, "It took me a while to understand what you meant. You want to use moss as a reward for letting me save the person next to you.

"I I will always remember your expression at that time. You were holding a handful of moss, as if you were handing me a handful of gold——

“I was amused by you, and then...I softened my heart. I will never be able to get rid of you two in my life."

Amber's eyes were blank: "I... don't remember at all"

"Of course you don't remember. Your memory ability didn't stabilize until six years later, and before that, it took you four and a half years to learn to say your first word," Pittman shook his head and sighed, "because your soul is synthetic - You are an artificial person!"