"We can't rush into a destructive examination of this mass until we know more – especially after confirming that it has a living heart in it."

Ted Lear said as he opened his heavy book and retracted the "stethoscope" into the pages, a complicated expression on his tired face.

"Frankly, this is the weirdest 'thing' I've ever seen in my life. I've seen quite a few unspeakable things invading the real world, but a heartbeat mass of metal isn't so common, and it's still ...... Be quiet. ”

"Quiet?" Lucrecia frowned subconsciously when she heard this.

"Yes, quiet, almost harmless," Ted Lear nodded, "As you can see, its 'shell' is almost solidified, and according to the field team, it had a brief period of intense activity when it first entered the real world, but it quickly changed towards this 'solid' state, and it did not exhibit 'active characteristics' such as attempting to escape containment, contaminating the guards, resisting outside prying eyes......"

The keeper said, slowly shaking his head, "Among the 'living' 'foreign bodies', this is very unusual - attempting to breach containment is the greatest characteristic of all 'living foreign bodies'. ”

Lucretia didn't speak again for a while, but Nina on the side gradually showed a thoughtful expression, and she didn't know what she was thinking of, she suddenly said: "It feels like 'born without love'?" ”

"It's kind of interesting...... Opinion, although I don't think this mass of living metal will have this kind of human reaction," Ted Lear raised his eyelids and glanced at Nina, but obviously didn't really take the whimsical idea to heart, "I prefer that it can't adapt to our real-world living environment, but over time, it may gradually get used to it, and then it may have a process of activity increase." ”

"Tell me about the situation in the bazaar at that time," Duncan suddenly broke the silence at this time, his eyes fell on Nina and Shirley, "Nina, you said when you contacted me, when you and Shirley sensed an inexplicable prying eye and were about to report the matter to the roadside guards, this 'thing' suddenly appeared?" ”

"Uh-huh," Nina nodded again and again, recalling the situation as she spoke, "Shirley and I felt it several times, there was a gaze falling on us from time to time, and there was an aura that kept approaching, I think it should be this thing - it couldn't help but pounce when Shirley and I were about to go to report it, and ......"

Speaking of this, she suddenly stopped, with a very hesitant look on her face, and hesitated for a few seconds before she frowned and said uncertainly: "And there is a very wrong detail, I don't know if I was wrong, when this thing first appeared, the moment I saw it in the corner of my eye, I felt ...... I think that's a person. ”

Nina's tone was very hesitant, and what she said instantly quieted the room, and even Ted Lear, who had always been tired and lazy, immediately widened his eyes, but before he could speak, Shirley, who was closest to Nina, was the first to cry: "Huh? What are you talking about? Did you see this thing TM like a person at first? You didn't tell me either? ”

"There's no mention of this in the field team's report," Ted Learle began, his expression unusually serious, "Miss Nina, are you sure?" ”

"So I don't know if I'm wrong," Nina said a little nervously, "and the market was chaotic and full of people running around, so maybe I was wrong...... Or maybe the guards on the scene missed it? After all, it's only the first moment......"

"Unlikely, there is a strict 'standard for recording the process of contact' in the Guardians' working guidelines. Because many 'foreign bodies' do have the ability to quickly alter themselves or avoid cognition, we will ask the personnel performing the 'first contact' to report the situation by strictly describing the 'start time of contact' and whether each person's gaze has shifted during the course of the action to confirm that the entire group has had a 'window of observation' on the subject......"

Ted Learle briefly explained the working principles of the "Knowledge Guards", and then shook his head: "According to the report of the field team, they performed the contact at the first moment the target entered the real world, and at least two guards were able to observe the location of the target before it appeared, and at least one person was always watching it throughout the contact, and there was no possibility of creating a 'window'. ”

As soon as his words fell, Duncan on the side suddenly broke the silence: "But I believe what Nina said." ”

Ted Lear was stunned and seemed to react: "...... What do you mean? ”

"At least from Nina's point of view, this 'intruder' looks like a person at some point in the first moment," Duncan said lightly, then glanced at Shirley again, "You've been with Nina all along, and you didn't see that, did you?" ”

"No," Shirley shook her head immediately, "I didn't see it 'human.'" ”

"Because of the different observers, different 'shapes' are observed on the same target?" Ted Lear's eyes changed visibly, and he looked at Nina with surprise and thought, "And only Miss Nina is different from what the people around her see...... Why is that? ”

He seemed to be very curious, and his eyes quickly fell on Duncan: "Is there anything special about Miss Nina?" ”

This "secret keeper" looks quite puzzled, he doesn't know the details of Nina, after all, without actively urging the "spiritual vision" to observe, Nina is completely an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl in the eyes of outsiders - but there is no doubt that this "ordinary girl" must have something special.

Just because she could stay on Duncan Abnomar's ship.

"Ever heard of Purland's 'Black Sun Descending' event? If you've heard of it, you know that the Lost Country took some of the fragments of the Ancient Sun with them when it left that city," Duncan said, pointing up at Nina, "she is." ”

Then he didn't care about Ted Lille's momentary expression, but refocused on Nina: "Do you remember what the 'person' you saw at the beginning was like? ”

Nina immediately struggled to remember, and after a while finally spoke: "It looks like a person wearing strange ancient armor, the kind of armor that appears in the history books like a tin can...... Oh, and a tattered scarf, or a short cape? Because I just saw it for a moment, and I wasn't sure of too many details......"

She paused for a moment, and then added, "Because I was wearing a helmet, and the armor looked very heavy, I didn't know what the person in the armor looked like, or even whether it was a man or a woman, but I could feel that the armor was in tatters, as if it had been through a lot of battles." ”

"A warrior in ancient armor ......," Lucretia muttered as she thought quickly and asked the question, "And how did this 'man' become a mass of living metal?" Did you see the process? ”

"No," Nina shook her head, "and in an instant, it became like this, as if there was no gradual change...... Or maybe I'm blinking? I'm sorry I can't remember ......."

"It's good to remember that, and you've provided very critical and important information." Duncan said, comforting Nina, who seemed a little lost, before turning around and striding over to the platform where the "sample" was housed.

He looked at the solidified "living metal" with a serious face, sorting out the information he had so far.

At some point in the first moment, "Ta" appears to be a warrior in heavy ancient armor, and the armor is worn out and battle-hardened.

Nina felt the gaze falling on her several times and felt like she was being followed, which indicated that it was most likely aimed at her, or rather...... Probably for the "Ancient Sun".

The market was bustling with people, but no one noticed anything unusual when Nina first felt the sight and tracking, suggesting that "ta" either had some kind of cognitive distraction or had "sneaked" into reality from a deep world like the spirit world......

Duncan slowly reached out and pressed it against the surface of the "metal".

A cold, hard touch came from your fingertips.

He could feel the heart buried deep in the metal, the slow beat, and the low heartbeat.

It is alive, "alive" in a way that humans cannot understand.

It seemed to have some kind of purpose, but it had an accident at the last step of its action - it emerged from its invisibility and pounced on Nina and Shirley, probably not to turn into such a solidified mass of metal at the last step.

Ted Lear watched Duncan's actions a little nervously, and then he subconsciously turned his gaze to the "witch" on the side.

Lucretia just shook her head, motioning not to interfere.

A little bit of green spark appeared on Duncan's fingertips.

He carefully controlled the flame so that it would not ignite the metal in front of him, which at first glance belonged to the category of "transcendental", and he controlled the flame to seep into the metal, sensing its life flow, sensing its heartbeat, and what might be ...... Thoughts.

However, in response to him, there was only a huge emptiness and a hazy and chaotic "touch".

There does not appear to be any information within the mass of metal that can be "deciphered".

But for some reason, Duncan always felt that there was something else in the depths of that empty and hazy and chaotic touch—it wasn't that he couldn't find it, he just couldn't "understand" it for the time being.

“…… Who are you? He couldn't help but whisper in his heart, "Where are you from?" ”

After an unknown period of time, the vast emptiness remained, but in the faint information transmitted by the flames, a ripple seemed to suddenly appear.

Duncan seemed to hear a voice, or an "idea", that came to his mind—

"We're trekking toward the end of the world."

(End of chapter)