Even more wondrously, beside the base of the Golden Bell Tower, the fragments of the Sacred Treasury that had shattered during the rewriting process just moments ago were now floating and assembling themselves under the starlight.
Finally, they condensed into a smooth white stone tablet, its edges inlaid with the runes of the golden bell.
On the tablet was the very text recorded on the title page of the Heavenly {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Book.
"It seems," Bai Cheng said, the corners of her mouth curling upward, "our story is not only being written by someone, but also has a place where it is remembered."
"Then let's not keep history and the readers waiting too long." Zi Yuan turned and walked toward the platform where the dawn was docked.
"Blue Bird, Leng Ningxue, come help me check the specific damage to the engines.
Lu Duo, Yu Nian, prepare the emergency protocols for the life support system.
Garel, contact the Shandora Workshop to replenish basic supplies."
The instructions were clear, and everyone took to their roles.
High Priestess Aurora walked deep into the Golden Bell Tower to stabilize the connection between the Shandora sun core and the new star chart network.
Elune's wings of light cast a soft halo, enveloping the entire bell tower and accelerating the recovery of everyone's physical strength and spirit.
Abraham pushed his wheelchair to the newly condensed white stone tablet.
He extended a withered finger, gently tracing the line of text about 'retrieving the historical truth from the shattered mirrors.' After a long while, he whispered to himself:
"...The truth..."
He looked up at the young successors preparing for departure. Deep within his grey eyes, that faint spark of starlight seemed to brighten a fraction more.
Six standard sky island hours later.
The cracks on the hull of the dawn had mostly been repaired under the radiance of the Shandora sun core and the divine nourishment of Elune.
Although the core engine had not fully recovered, it was sufficient to support this voyage.
Inside the bridge, everyone was in their positions.
Bai Cheng stood before the main console, her silver eyes reflecting the clear starlight navigation route on the screen.
Zi Yuan stood by her side. Though her long blade was unsheathed, her Tide-Breaking Blade Intent silently permeated the air, enveloping the bow.
Blue Bird rubbed his hands together in the pilot's seat, looking excited: "Finally opening a new map!"
Leng Ningxue monitored all system data, while Lu Duo and Yu Nian's Emerald Network and pure heart halo intertwined to form a stable life field within the ship.
Garel completed the final communication with Thunder God Island, and the divine power of Aurora and Elune added a final layer of blessing and protection to the vessel.
Abraham's wheelchair stopped by the bridge's observation window. He quietly watched the Golden City of Shandora gradually recede in the distance,
watching the bell tower that had just rung with new life, now slowly sinking behind the sea of clouds as if seeing them off.
"Navigation route stable. Space-time wrinkle coefficient is within the safety threshold," Leng Ningxue reported.
"All systems ready," Zi Yuan summarized.
Bai Cheng took a deep breath.
"dawn, set sail."
"Destination—Mirror Abyss."
Azure flames erupted from the stern. The dawn followed the starlight navigation route, cutting through the quiet starry sky and sailing toward the first landmark of the story's new chapter.
Behind them, on Shandora's white stone record tablet, the line of ink quietly gained a faint, moist luster under the starlight, as if it had just been written.
The title page of the Wordless Heavenly Book gently closed, waiting for the next moment it would be flipped open.
The sea of stars is boundless; the ink has been dipped.
The next page of the story was slowly taking shape in the winds of the voyage.
The dawn sailed steadily along the starlight navigation route.
Outside the window, the sea of stars presented a sight completely different from before.
It was no longer the orderly star chart planned by the Observer Council, but was full of a natural sense of irregularity:
Nebulae bloomed as freely as spilled paint, asteroid belts meandered like rivers, and in the distance, one could even see several young planets slowly giving birth to new moons.
"Is this the starry sky that hasn't been preset..." Lu Duo leaned against the observation window, her emerald eyes reflecting the shifting light and shadow. "Every part of it feels like it's breathing."
"Because the variables are truly free now," Abraham's voice came from the direction of his wheelchair.
Before him floated a mirror composed of a grey halo, in which broken data fragments were rapidly flashing by.
"After the experimental system's shielding was lifted, these natural celestial phenomena, which were originally judged as interference or redundant data, can finally manifest."
The data stream in Leng Ningxue's icy eyes was also analyzing simultaneously: "Detecting subtle ripples of fluctuation in spatial curvature, consistent with the theory of chaotic fluctuations in natural evolution models.
This is completely different from the absolute smoothness in the previous golden bell navigation routes."
"In other words," Blue Bird grinned as he adjusted the engine output power to adapt to the new spatial environment, "we're taking the true wild path now?"
"You could understand it that way." Bai Cheng stood before the main console, her silver eyes fixed on the navigation screen.
That starlight navigation route was not a straight line, but rose and fell slightly with the natural changes in spatial curvature, like a river following the pulse of the sea of stars.
"This reminds us that in the new story, the journey itself is part of the narrative.
We need to learn to listen to the starry sky's own rhythm."
After sailing for about three standard sky island hours, the scenery of the star sector ahead began to change.
The originally scattered starlight was gradually replaced by a cold, silver-grey tone with multiple refractive qualities.
More and more floating mirror fragments appeared in space.
Some were as large as islands, others as small as dust. They floated silently, and what the mirrors reflected was not the scene before them, but various shattered images and shadows that seemed to come from different timelines.
"We've entered the outskirts of the Mirror Abyss." Zi Yuan gripped her sword hilt, her Tide-Breaking Blade Intent spreading out like an invisible net to sense potential dangers in the surroundings.
"These fragments... the remnants of Silent Observer's power are still influencing this area."
A massive mirror fragment, dozens of meters in diameter, slowly drifted past the ship's flank.
What was reflected in the mirror was not the reflection of the dawn, but a pale hall.
It was the scene of the core sanctuary of the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors.
In the image, Silent Observer had his back to the camera, looking up at himself reflected in countless mirrors, his shoulders trembling slightly.
"That was the final moment before he decided to betray," Abraham said softly, his grey eyes gazing at the image in the mirror.
"He saw all possible future branches in the mirrors, and in only one of those branches could the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors survive the upcoming Federation civil war...
And that branch required him to take the initiative to join the Observer Council's camp."
The Mirror Pupil in the image slowly turned around, the mirror reflecting half of his face.
That face was filled with pain and struggle, but deep in his eyes, there was a hint of twisted determination.
The mirror fragment drifted away, and the image dissipated.
"Every fragment is a sealed memory or possibility," High Priestess Aurora whispered.
"Silent Observer used mirrors as his power core. His fall caused these mirrors to lose control, randomly projecting space-time fragments related to him."
"Then where exactly is the place of his fall that we're looking for?" Yu Nian's pure heart vine gently touched the outer hull of the ship, sensing the emotional fluctuations lingering in the surrounding environment.
"This area is too vast, and all the fragments are in motion..."
"Follow the resonance." Bai Cheng raised her hand, and the oath of starlight earring at her ear glowed faintly.
She closed her eyes, and the speed of the starlight river flowing backward in her silver eyes slowed down, as if she were listening to something.
"The oath of starlight carries the oaths of all civilizations in the Sky Federation, including the True Oath of the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors. The Mirror Clan once swore never to let the mirrors reflect a false future."
She opened her eyes and pointed to a seemingly empty area to the left of the starlight navigation route: "There, the final echo of the oath remains."
The dawn adjusted its course.
