’When did it change position?’

Mo Ling was certain he had been following the moonlight the entire time.

The blinding light couldn’t have been an illusion, yet the moment his concentration wavered, the moonlight had shifted to a completely different direction.

Refusing to accept this, Mo Ling turned around and headed back the way he came.

This time, he paid even closer attention to the path ahead.

To ensure he was on the right course, Mo Ling even pulled up his armor’s map and consulted it meticulously.

Whenever he encountered terrain that required a turn, Mo Ling used his armor’s flight function to fly straight over it, ensuring he wouldn’t deviate from his course.

However, the more one tried to focus, the easier it was to get distracted.

Just as Mo Ling was intently studying the map, he looked up, and the Moon Altar was gone again.

His Shadow on the ground suddenly transformed.

He followed the light with his eyes and saw the Moon Altar hanging high in a different part of the sky.

’It’s still moving?’

This time, however, Mo Ling was finally sure that the problem wasn’t with him.

After tinkering for a moment, a component resembling a camera flew out from Mo Ling’s armor, its lens fixed on the distant Moon Altar.

Simultaneously, an image appeared inside his armor: the feed captured by the camera.

Seeing the crystal-clear image of the Moon Altar on the screen, Mo Ling nodded in satisfaction.

’There’s no way I’ll lose it this time, right?’

But Mo Ling’s satisfaction didn’t last long before the screen suddenly went blank.

The component that had been locked onto the Moon Altar spun a few times in the air before aiming in a new direction.

’It moved again?’

This time, Mo Ling didn’t dare to make a rash move. He stood still and began to observe.

Soon, he discovered a pattern in the Moon Altar’s movements.

It wasn’t moving and changing directions randomly. Instead, it was appearing in a few specific locations—one moment here, the next over there. After completing a full cycle, it would return to its starting position.

It was as though there were several fixed points, and the Moon Altar was simply appearing at these locations.

Once he understood this, Mo Ling began to think about what to do next.

’As long as I go to one of those fixed points, the Moon Altar is bound to appear there eventually.’

Mo Ling decided to head to one of the locations first and lie in wait.

However, what happened next was once again beyond Mo Ling’s expectations.

Multiple Moon Altars began appearing in the sky at those fixed locations.

At first, only two appeared simultaneously. Then, Moon Altars began to appear constantly at all the locations, like strobe lights in the sky—flickering on and off—forming a circle.

The moonlight now came from every direction.

The moment one lit up in front of him, another’s light would beam down from behind.

Mo Ling felt as if he were in a ballroom filled with lights, constantly blinded by piercing spotlights shining from all sides.

The flickering grew faster and faster, until the circle of Moon Altars froze in the sky, no longer moving.

On the ground, Mo Ling’s Shadow transformed into the shape of a flower, blooming faintly with him at its center.

The pale moonlight illuminated the fog, making it exceptionally bright. Motes of light, like tiny flying insects—it was impossible to tell if they were dust or water droplets—seemed to come alive, beginning to circle Mo Ling.

The motes of light flowed with the fog, colliding with his armor before sharply pulling away, circling him once and then spiraling through the air.

Countless motes of light surged forward, one after another. Mo Ling stood motionless, surrounded by them. In the hazy fog in the distance, more motes of light gathered like a river, rushing toward him.

In that instant, Mo Ling felt as though he were under a spotlight, subject to the scrutiny of countless gazes.

At that very same moment, Mo Ling suddenly felt his skin crawl.

It felt as though countless pairs of eyes were staring at him from within the fog.

The motes of light spun faster and faster, then, to Mo Ling’s astonishment, they suddenly stopped, frozen in mid-air.

The air instantly solidified.

’Time has stopped?’

Mo Ling immediately recalled the scene that had occurred when he was dotting the eyes of the Little Fish on the Moon Altar. To his surprise, it was happening again.

And this time, the affected area seemed to be much larger.

Before he had time to process it, a faint "CRACKLE... CRACKLE..." sound came from inside his armor.

It sounded like someone talking.

Mo Ling immediately stopped all movement and began to listen intently.

The sound was extremely faint, as if coming from a great distance, but in the absolute silence, it was still distinct.

Soon, Mo Ling could make it out clearly. It seemed to be some kind of conversation.

’It’s the Fishman language!’

Gradually, the voices grew clearer, and Mo Ling started to make out the content of their conversation:

"How long has it been?" a voice asked.

"Two hundred years, General. It’s not far from the projected time."

’General?’

’Is that Jeff?’

As the voices grew louder, Mo Ling finally confirmed that it was Jeff’s. He couldn’t yet understand the full content of their conversation, so he could only continue to listen.

"Who holds the highest authority?" Jeff asked.

"We don’t know. It was lost two hundred years ago," another, unfamiliar voice replied.

’Lost two hundred years ago?’

’But didn’t the highest authority just get transferred to me?’

Mo Ling instantly realized that time itself might have shifted again.

’Is this two hundred years in the future?’

’The time for the next appearance of the Moon Altar?’

Looking at the frozen fog and motes of light around him, Mo Ling was utterly shocked. Just what kind of place had he come to?

’Or could it be that this is all an illusion?’

’Like a mirage, are these all just phantoms of the past?’

Just as he was pondering this, the voices started talking again, so Mo Ling could only continue to eavesdrop cautiously.

"Eternal life is still active. It seems two hundred years wasn’t enough time."

"Yes, General. Our physical bodies have a very poor learning capacity. The newborn souls are still in a nascent stage, and their civilization is extremely primitive."

"What about the legacy we gave them?" Jeff asked. "Did they not study it diligently?"

"They have, General. They have followed the contents of the legacy to the letter, holding the Sea-Moon Rite. The Moon Altar is also functioning perfectly; otherwise, we would not have awakened on schedule. It’s just that time was limited, so the legacy we created could only record the most basic content."

"What sort of basic content?" Jeff pressed.

"The island’s various ecosystems, climate... also simple tools and techniques... Technology cannot be built overnight, so we had to start from the very bottom. They’ve only had two hundred years. If the information were too advanced, they wouldn’t be able to grasp it."

"Well done. This time, make the most of the time we have and leave them a bit more of the legacy. The format should be the same as before. Just tell them what to do, not why."

"Yes, General."

"You’ve worked hard. Go ahead and awaken the rest of our people. Let them experience this world again, and then they can return to their slumber."

"Yes, General. See you again in two hundred years."

"Goodbye..."