Chapter 461: Running out
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Speaking till here, Sheyan suddenly raised his voice.
“Old Mourbo!”
Their earlier dialogue had touched upon the matters of their present world, therefore the nightmare realm would specially censor them. At this moment when Sheyan abruptly shouted, Old Mourbo had seemingly been startled awake from his daydream.
“What!”
Sheyan earnestly suggested.
“Although during the passage of time, many truths were omitted, misrepresented, distorted into lies, or even erased after recounts throughout generations, but with numerous earlier investigations, I came to a shocking consensus – the reason behind the Mosake clan turning corrupt, is it due to a drought?”
Old Mourbo carefully recollected his memories, hesitating slightly as he nodded and replied.
“Yes that is so.”
Sheyan then declared.
“Throughout humankind’s history, apart from human disaster, we suffer from many other catastrophes. Undisputedly, they are floods or blizzards, severe drought, locust swarms, epidemics and others. Of which many deadly calamities are related to water! A planet’s water body and continental ground isn’t mixable. The ocean and rivers occupies a large area, then obviously the continental grounds would be retrospectively smaller. Hence, the mutual contradiction between the two is absolutely irreconcilable and harmonizable! They cannot be mixed together!
Speaking till here, Sheyan paused for a while.
“Therefore, If I assume that the ensembled consciousness of Mother Nature Eywa is possibly resembling a form that of a fungus* of this entire celestial body, then the Sea Mother would probably be an ensembled consciousness that of an algae of the entire planet. Think back to the peculiar terrain of the Windstone Highland. It is obviously a volcano, yet a layer of flat crusty shell just had to grow above its peak! It is as though, it is some sort of meticulous concealment. Now that we’ve entered here today, I am finally enlightened. If my conjecture isn’t wrong, this is the miraculous product created by another divinely powerful life form of Pandora!”
(TN:*He realized this back in ch 22 of this vol, when they released that root-like object from the valkyrie shuttle)
After hearing that speech, Reef sudden exposed an enlightened expression as he interrupted.
“Could it be you mean……..yes, back on earth, there are some inactive dormant volcanoes that would naturally form crater lakes after a very long time; where some are even fairly renowned. For example, the Heaven Lake of Paektu Mountain, Lake Taupo in New Zealand, Lake Atitlán of Guatemala and others. Could it be the Sea Mother was so powerful, that she could form a layer of rocky crust over the lake, before slowly pushing this layer up with the lake’s water; before finally forming this spectacular phenomenon at the crater peak of this volcano!”
Sheyan earnestly replied.
“Why wouldn’t that be possible? Just think about the prowess of Mother Nature Eywa, and you wouldn’t find it too difficult to imagine such a phenomenon. Actually, the Sea Mother wouldn’t even need to form a crusty layer of rocks. Based on my recent observation, what supports the roof of this Windstone Highland, isn’t solely rocks. Its bottommost layer is braced with something like those tenacious sea kelps, or tangled vines. Above it would be firm and light material compositions, like shells and conches. Actually, the supporting pillars were formed in such a manner as well.”
“Moreover, the uppermost layer of soil isn’t something the Sea Mother need to worry about. The windy and dry climate here would easily cover the top with soil and dust. She only requires dozens of years, close to a century, to successfully shape out the Windstone Highland that we see today!”
Sheyan suddenly asked.
“Then where did the water here disappear to?”
Sheyan erected his finger and answered.
“Good question, this is indeed what I’m about to explain…….when the crater lake’s water surface had been totally covered with kelps and shells, the Sea Mother had dispatched a competent underling that was considered young then; presumably its status within the seas, would be analogous to the Thanator of the lands, or the Great Leonopteryx of the skies.
“This competent underling would be that gigantic Sea snail. That Sea snail probably possessed an ability like that of barnacles on earth, and commenced drilling from a nearby underground lake with its conch. Finally, it managed to drill through the bottommost layer of this dormant volcano. This was probably an excruciatingly long task, and to accomplish this task, that assiduous Sea snail probably exhausted generations of its vitality. Ultimately, it successfully penetrated into the crater lake, allowing the lake’s water to naturally drain out from the drilled opening. Oh, that drilled opening, should be the bottomless water source we can see in this tiny lake.”
(TN: Just in case, the conch is the shell of a sea snail. A sea snail can also be referred to as a conch)
“Furthermore, that Sea snail remained residing in this place without moving, and continued to grow. With the Sea Mother’s invincible prowess, she naturally supplied it with food and nourishment, allowing its body to gradually expand tremendously, Finally, it grew to this colossal extent we can see now, before it died. In this manner, it allowed its gigantuous conch to preside over and perfectly shield this remaining tiny lake and its opening. Thus, this arrangement formed into a double overlapping concealment of the Sea Mother’s spirit force, preventing it from spreading to the surroundings of the Windstone Highland. This became an exceptionally effective masquerade to camouflage from Mother Nature Eywa’s detection!”
Reef nodded and inquired.
“I roughly understand now. However, I still have one final question – What is the reason for the Sea Mother in creating such a secret space?”
Sheyan smiled gently.
“That is an amazing question, but let me ask you a question in reply. What was the reason for Great Britain in possessing so many colonies?”
Reef was abruptly stunned, as he stammered blankly.
“This…….”
He obviously knew Great Britain colonized all parts of the world for wealth and dominion. His personal principles prevented him from lying, but his patriotic spirit made it hard for him to blatantly declare the truth.”
Sheyan smiled and continued.
“Constructing such a secret realm, would be akin to harshly hammering a nail into Mother Nature Eywa’s sphere of power! With this realm as her heart, she would proceed to gradually entice believers of Mother Nature Eywa; peeling away the strength of Eywa, and slowly devouring Eywa’s forces. To the extent of using Eywa’s own forces to build internal friction within Eywa’s faction! Just recall the brother of dragon’s daughter Mo`at; he was most likely a figure of peerless talent, yet was still murdered by Cherokee!”
“There’s a splendid saying from my hometown – a task meticulously undertaken, is a task with long preparations. The Sea Mother’s style of execution resembles an unbroken current of water; immersively churning as it erodes one bit at a time. It is a stark contrast to the extravagance of Mother Nature Eywa. Moreover, her actions evidently yielded results – just notice the na'vi corrupted clans multiplying with each passing day. Yet Mother Nature Eywa wasn’t able to locate the root cause of the problem, credited to the slow eroding scheme of the Sea Mother. Furthermore, how mighty was Cherokee, but he still rather safeguard the secrets of the Sea Mother, willingly giving his life in battle here! One could reckon how potent that alluring enticement was!”
Speaking till here, Sheyan no longer needed to explain further. Everyone understood if this information could be delivered to Mother Nature Eywa, obviously, producing a branch of the ‘Tree of Souls in the water’ as sufficient compelling evidence; then, one would surely reap an excessively immense fortune. So much so, that the affairs of colluding with the Blackthorn tribe earlier in defiance against Mother Nature Eywa, could be written off in one stroke! Because no matter what, the Blackthorn tribe would not be able to threaten the basic existence of Mother Nature Eywa. However, the Sea Mother could turn the tides, and flood the continents!
The current old Mourbo had eyes flashing with lustful greed. Greater strength was naturally what this old man yearned for even in his dreams. To gain the favour of Mother Nature Eywa, he could even at best, replace Mo`at’s status as the best of this era! The rest of his Takji clansmen could not resist the allurement of the Tree of Souls in the water, but his identity as a Tsahik of Mother Nature Eywa, ensured that he could for a short duration.
In the past, though Cherokee was an exceedingly valiant Tsahik of Mother Nature Eywa; but due to the severe drought, and personally witnessing his clansmen perishing one by one, misgivings towards Mother Nature Eywa was borned in his heart. Then, in his search for a water source, he arrived at this place. Due to internal fissures being sown within him, his rate of corruption had amplified rapidly.
The contestants watched as old Mourbo gritted his teeth, and bit the braids behind his head, before diving into the water. Mourbo proceeded to pull out his bone-blade and forcefully carve out a glittering violet branch! With a deathly pale face, he scrambled wildly as he fled from the area. He couldn’t even be bothered about his Takji clansmen, that were still starstruck in their reverential fantasy.
Instead, at the instance that gentle drifting branch was carved out! That magnificent and bewitchingly violet Tree of Souls in the water suddenly trivialized, and dissolved; vanishing into the water!!! Following the departure of the violet Tree of Souls, all the Takji clansmen recovered their sense, as their faces flushed with confusion.
As Sheyan witnessed this scene, he couldn’t help sighing in his heart, as he realized his cleverness had made him the victim of his ingenuity.
The reason Sheyan had revealed all these, was primarily due to his nefarious scheming desires; seeking for his own dependable motives in allowing old Mourbo to fight for forefront supremacy. However, this was still the frightful completion location of the Golden Side Mission. It would be strange to say there wasn’t a single danger anymore, and every step should still be proceeded with utmost caution. He had never expected letting old Mourbo to gain a benefit, had inadvertently alerted the enemy as a result.
At present, the 4 humans suddenly felt an incomparably violent tremor from beneath the ground; why would Sheyan and the rest dare to stay on? They instantly broke into a frenzied charge for the exit! When they had finally escaped out of the gigantuous conch, visible and unbelievably large crevices could be seen encompassing the entire ceiling surface. Bright rays beamed out from these crevices, as rocks crumbled down in incessant successions. Naturally, the mystical force of the Sea Mother supporting and protecting the entire Windstone Highland, had faded away!
Old Mourbo roared fanatically, as his enormous black Great Banshee risked the danger, and swooped down through a massive crevice on the ceiling surface. It carried Mourbo away, and soared towards the sky’s horizon. This selfish old bastard had actually disregarded his clansmen at this very moment.
Furthermore, Sheyan and the rest could feel a searing heat emitting from beneath the rocky ground. They could sense immense waves of life-threatening pulses transmitting from beneath their feet, causing their hearts to palpitate with fear. This diabolical volcano that had been dormant for millenniums, was actually erupting!