"summer?"
The light is too dim, Hitzfeld cried uneasily.
"it's me."
The man made a deep voice, "Your right hand...I recommend that you don't move it next."
It would have been better if she didn't say anything. As soon as Hitzfeld raised his right hand, he suddenly felt a strong pain coming.
This is at least a fracture...
But fortunately, I'm still young.
As long as you apply the special ointment of the mysterious system, you should be able to recover after a while.
Thinking of the plaster, Hitzfeld realized that he seemed to be naked under his coat.
She shivered because she was cold.
Her body temperature was not high, so she curled up her legs so that her whole body was wrapped under the coat. She turned her head to look at the surroundings, wondering where they were.
It had been a while since she woke up, and her vision had gradually adapted to the darkness. She was startled at first because she saw a black dress floating in the wind, but she quickly realized that it was her wet clothes, just hanging there to dry.
Drying in the sun… plus this biting wind, are we outside now?
The girl tilted her head again, and her eyes widened even more.
Because she actually saw the clouds.
She was sure that they were clouds... layer upon layer of misty fluff, and she would not mistake them even in the night sky.
What on earth is this——
“We are in heaven now.”
Xia Yibing said.
There was a rustling noise next to her, and it sounded like a woman sitting down next to her, then leaning over and hugging her tightly.
"Xia!" Hitzfeld screamed.
She's so hot...
It's not the normal burning sensation, it should be a fever.
Thinking about why he had a dried coat to use as a quilt, Hitzfeld quickly deduced a series of events after he fell into a coma.
Keep warm...
Drying clothes...
But she herself didn't make it...
"It's just a low-grade fever." Xia Yibing waved her hand, then realized that the girl shouldn't be able to see it in the dark, and a bitter smile appeared on her face.
It's not that she's trying to be brave, but she can hold on to this level.
"Where are we?"
"On the floating island of the palace."
"Why are you still here?"
"Technically, it's on its core fragment. I was the one who pulled you up there."
Next, Xia Yibing described to her in detail what happened after she fell into a coma.
"Two floating cities collided and shattered."
"A lot of debris fell down, it was like a rain of iron pipes... I certainly didn't want us to be stabbed to death, so I pulled you to find the biggest debris to hide."
"But I didn't expect this thing hadn't lost its steam yet."
"Its core furnace should still be usable...it was launched into space again, taking us with it."
"..."
"..."
Then both of them were silent for a while.
"that's it?"
"that's it."
"……What about the rest?"
"I found Madeleine in the water pipe... She was lying over there too. Her fever was worse than mine. I was afraid she might infect you, so I threw her over there."
"Besides Madeline...?"
"It's us." Xia Yibing sighed, and then Hitzfeld heard the sound of glass rubbing on the ground.
"Look at this." A glass tube was handed to him.
Her eyes had completely adapted to the darkness. Hitzfeld squinted and looked forward. He could vaguely catch a glimpse of the tube she was holding... and a pool of transparent liquid squirming inside.
This liquid seems to be alive...
Eh? Could it be——
"You rude guy! Let me out now!!!"
She heard a growl, a muffled sound that seemed to come from the pipe.
"Is this Alessia?"
She was really shocked. How did this thing end up in this state?
"It consumed a lot of body water to drive the floating island of the palace." Xia Yibing shook her head and said, "When I dragged Madeline over there, I found a cluster of crystal mud-like things trying to drill into her nostrils. I remembered that your...there was a test tube hidden in that hood, so I arrested this thing."
You are really good...
Hitzfeld felt a chill run down his spine.
Then she seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly said in a serious tone: "Tell me something that only we know."
"You are so slow to react. I don't know whether to belittle you or praise you..."
Xia Yibing chuckled and whispered in her ear: "I washed the sheets the first time..."
"..." Hitzfeld tried her best to stay calm, but she knew that the skin on her face must be heating up quickly.
After a pause, Xia Yibing took the initiative to continue the above topic.
"Our previous estimate was correct. Seawater is poisonous to it. Its body shrank rapidly after falling into the sea and finally became like this."
“That’s the price!”
The crystal slime angrily hit the test tube, and Alessia's face formed on the surface, making a tiny protest that was inaudible if you didn't listen carefully: "I'm good enough! I'll eat you after I finish them! I'll be back to the top soon!"
"You won't stand a chance." Xia Yibing pinched the test tube viciously, and pressed the stopper with her thumb to seal it. "Now that Aisuen is awake, tell me - where are you going to drive this damn thing?"
"You'd better behave yourself, I'm warning you, otherwise I might throw you down there!"
"There's an ocean underneath this!" Crystal Slime's expression changed drastically, "You are such a vicious woman!"
"How many people have you eaten? How dare you say I'm cruel!"
After some negotiations, the two sides reluctantly reached a consensus.
Hitzfeld, Xia Yibing, and Madeline - currently, only these three people are known to have landed on this floating island fragment, and were carried into the air by the driving core underneath it, drifting towards an unknown direction.
They were trapped. Xia Yibing's reaction was quite quick. The first thing she thought of was to jump down. However, the wreckage of the mechanical fortress was right below her. She was afraid that she would die if she fell down. By the time the floating island fragments passed the wreckage, they had risen too high. It was no longer wise to jump.
They had no idea about the outside world, how many crew members survived, how Leon was doing in the mechanical fortress, how the people from the Mechanical Kingdom would contact Ethan and the others, and what their fate would be.
What's outrageous is that Alessia doesn't know either.
"The floating city is the legacy of the Kingdom of God!"
He screamed softly in the bottle.
"Although I knew in advance that there was this thing under the palace, I'm not sure what secrets are inside it!"
"You turned this thing on, but you don't know where it's going to go next?"
"That's right!"
Such a righteous tone... Xia Yibing almost threw it away in anger.
"But it should probably be the east..."
As if knowing that her life was in the hands of this woman, Alessia gave in and became polite.
"Can't you look at the moon?"
"To determine the direction... I should be flying towards Aisha..."
Aisha...
Hitzfeld was startled, remembering the floating island he saw in Madeline's dream.
She felt that was the real floating city. Compared with the huge building on the abyss, the floating island of the palace and the mechanical fortress were just fragments of it.
It was speculated at the beginning that the origin of Ivenria was related to that place. If this conclusion is correct, and the floating island of the palace was originally part of that sacred city, then would it want to return after it is activated?
...It's possible, but not very likely.
Because there is a logical conflict - if it is so easy to find the big whirlpool, then Alessia would not have to go to Iverria to look for the Neons.
"So we can't get down... and we don't know where we're going, right..."
Hitzfeld said softly.
"Roughly... that's probably it."
After Xia Yibing finished speaking, she also fell silent.
This is truly an unexpected development.
Even if they can find a way to keep warm, how can they get food, another necessary condition for survival, at an altitude of thousands of meters?
Plus the fever...
She looked towards the opposite corner unconsciously.
Madeline, I don’t know if she can hold on until the sun comes out.
Chapter 5: Afterglow and Hope 5k
After enduring the night, when the sun finally rose, Hitzfeld felt it was his turn to take care of the woman.
Xia must have been greatly frightened as well...but she knew that if she fell down, everything would be over, so she had to hold on. She was actually a little woman at heart...
Xia Yibing didn't know that her attachment to the girl was misunderstood by her as a little woman's mentality - although strictly speaking there was a point, but if she really knew that Hitzfeld thought so, she would definitely come up with ten thousand excuses to make excuses.
She just... lacked love a little because of her miserable childhood. Everyone who lacks love will be madly devoted to the love of their life. She just did what everyone would do, and she was right.
However, this kind of plot did not happen because of Hitzfeld's concealment. Xia Yibing's low fever had not subsided, and the girl was still sleeping soundly when she woke up.
Hitzfeld first confirmed that the test tube containing Alessia was tightly wrapped in a ball of black cloth, then he opened his coat and stood up, shivering in the warm sea breeze.
It's not cold, but the feeling of being naked and enjoying the wind is too dangerous. There is no sense of security at all.
It was definitely too embarrassing... It was no less embarrassing than walking naked on the street. Although she knew that no one would see her on the street even if she used that metaphor, it didn't stop her from feeling embarrassed...
Staggering and enduring the severe pain caused by his right arm hanging down, he quickly ran to the front and took down all the clothes that were hanging out to dry.
First of all, the underwear... They had been soaked in sea water. Although the woman squeezed out the water carefully, there was still some crystalline dust on them after drying.
Hitzfeld took them off and shook them to get rid of the salt on the surface, then lifted one leg to put on the underwear and hurriedly fastened the belt around himself.
Because she only had one hand to operate, this process took her a lot of effort. Finally, she put one side of the buckle in the right position, leaned against the pipe to help fix it, and then grabbed the left buckle to connect it.
After that, only the skirt is left.
The long black skirt has a slightly thin base. Although it is a long skirt, it can be seen that it is designed for summer. The most obvious thing is the fluffy cuffs that spread outwards from the upper part of the wrist. They are very wide and swell up like a trumpet when waving.
After putting on the skirt, the sense of shame was finally alleviated. Hitzfeld saw his sandals nearby, and he also put his feet in through the extended pipe, bending down to fasten the buckle.
This is when the benefits of sandals come into play.
It is not afraid of moisture or heat, and is extremely suitable for hot weather.
The pantyhose were not found. It was estimated that either Xia Yibing felt that there were too many salt crystals after drying and they were not suitable for wearing so she threw them away, or they were blown away during the drying process.
