Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 267 Placer Gold (3)

"ladies and gentlemen-"

Kiana raised an eyebrow and looked at everyone, her expression as if to say, "Am I right?"

"Pinocchio's most amazing and grandest show ever is about to begin!" Sand Gold's voice still blared from the loudspeakers on the advertising screen, "Interstellar Peace Company cordially invites you to the live event—Krawk Film Park!"

"What are you planning to do?" Kiana asked, knowing the answer already.

“If neither the actors nor the audience can make it, wouldn’t all that gold dust decorations be wasted?” Himeko said.

Finally, Walter issued the command.

"Let's set off; it's time for us to embark on our pioneering journey."

So the group set off, and soon they arrived at the gate of the Kroc Film Park.

"Back here again. Sand Gold actually chose such an eye-catching location..." March 7th exclaimed. "That guy is really overdoing it, does he really think he's a big star?"

"No one here?" Himeko looked around in confusion. "The hounds chased away the tourists earlier, but now they've disappeared... Everyone, keep your eyes peeled, the other side is clearly prepared."

If there's any suitable place for performances at Crocker Park, it's only the large stage in the center.

So, led by Himeko, the group carefully made their way to the center of the Crook Film Park, with Sand Gold delivering passionate speeches over the loudspeaker along the way.

This overly emotional performance immediately reminded Kiana of Otto back then. After becoming a false god, Otto had also provoked Kiana and Durandal in the same way, trying to arouse their will to complete the final step of his plan.

Clearly, Sand Gold is in the same boat now, determined to die in order to complete his plan. After all, based on the information he has gathered, as the messenger of the Star God who has no messenger, Huang Quan's power can definitely help him break through the words of Tong Xie, but the price is that he will almost certainly die.

But if his death could be used as a bargaining chip to open the door to Pinocchio for the company, that would be enough. It's not that Sandkin himself was so loyal to the company; on the contrary, he was a victim of the company. His experiences before joining the company were all tragedies caused by the company.

It can be said that Sajin himself actually hated the company, or rather, the head of the company's marketing department—Oswaldo Schneider.

The only reason he's still alive is because of a promise he made to his sister: to live on. In reality, he's exhausted. As the last remaining Tzeganne, he's long been weary of living, constantly yearning to die and reunite with his family in the afterlife.

But because of a promise he made to his sister, he chose to live, and so he often gambled his life in attempts to end it. Unfortunately, to this day, he has never lost a single one of those life-risking gambles, and now he can only place his hopes on the power of nothingness.

But now he finds himself afraid, as if a voice deep inside him is telling him he doesn't want to die. It seems that even a gambler who is called crazy by others can be afraid of death one day!

Sand Gold chuckled to himself, then turned his gaze to the entrance, where the Star Train and the person he was waiting for were already in place. Sand Gold took a deep breath and began his final performance.

"We're really late, everyone on the Starry Sky Train, and these two 'uninvited guests' over here."

The giant screen above the stage displayed the pattern on Sand Gold's favorite dice, and Sand Gold's voice also came from the speakers on the stage.

“We’ve come to keep our appointment, Mr. Sand Gold. According to etiquette, you should also show yourself,” Himeko said, looking up at the screen.

"Of course I will. But before that, I'd like to properly introduce tonight's star... Please welcome... Miss Starcore!"

Upon hearing the introduction of the gold dust, Xing excitedly shouted, "Mom, I'm on TV!"

“…” March 7th looked at the star speechlessly.

"Let me remind you, this stage and Xing's identity should have nothing to do with catching the real culprit," Walter said, arms crossed.

"No, it's relevant, of course it's relevant. Otherwise, why would I have gone to such lengths to gain your trust and invite you all here? Because she's the only eyewitness who witnessed three murders, capable of proving that death doesn't exist in dreams, making her the perfect candidate for this nonsense!"

"Three murders?" Himeko asked, puzzled.

“Yes, madam, the third murder is about to happen. Right here, at Crocker Park… a truly grand death. You, you, you, and you… everyone will die—and all of this is because of you, Miss Starcore… you will personally become death here.”

“I don’t have that much energy,” Xing retorted.

“Never underestimate yourself. I’ve said it before, you have the power to overturn the entire table… Let me put it more clearly, I will detonate the star core within you, son of Pinocchio, and create a small accident… Bang! The entire park will be reduced to a shattered dream. Then, before the family can react, I will become the navigator of the company fleet.”

"Bluster won't work on us. If you could really do it, you would have had plenty of opportunities before," Huang Quan retorted.

Yes, the person standing here now is Yomi, not Mei. For Kiana, swapping people without anyone noticing is incredibly easy; she just needs to open a portal in the time-stopped area and pull the person over.

Moreover, this is a dream, which is even simpler for Kiana, who has already mastered the power of dreams. As the saying goes, anything is possible in a dream. Kiana can replace someone on the spot without making a sound, so fast that the original person wouldn't even have a chance to react.

"You're betting with me? Okay, I'll bet with you. I bet I'll win big and prove with an unprecedented explosion that the experiment on harmony is a complete joke."

“…You can’t.”

"Of course I could do it, it's just another gamble. I came from the deserts of Tsigania, branded myself, shackled me, sent me to the gallows, buried me in the sand for sixty copper coins… But the sun couldn't kill me, the shifting sands carried me to the embrace of the Society and the Company. Remember, I didn't win by chance, I've never lost. Let me share a proverb with you: Sleep is a rehearsal for death. Why does life sleep? Because we are not yet ready to face death."

Every night, entering a dream is akin to facing death, just as you and I are right now, resigned to our fate, retreating into sleep. And death… will come in response to our murmurs in our dreams. Friends, the game has begun. You cannot refuse… there is no reason, no room for maneuver.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the surrounding lights dimmed, and everyone instinctively grabbed their weapons. A flash of light appeared in the darkness—a lance born of the indomitable will of a city buried in snow and wind, a testament to the friendship between Xing and that city.

"The dice have been rolled—ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the opening ceremony?"

Sand Gold's figure appeared fully on the central screen. He lowered his head and pulled his hat down, then looked up at the crowd before focusing his gaze on the lance in Star's hand.

“The builder’s inferior stone…” Sand Gold laughed loudly, then threw three dice toward the star, saying, “Worthless.”

"I'll place the bets, I'll gamble."

Gold dust fell from the sky, and in his hand was the very foundation stone he had smashed earlier. The foundation stone was now covered with cracks, but even so, it still radiated a brilliant light.

"I let fate spin the roulette wheel, gamble everything, and survive after experiencing death."

Suddenly, Sand Gold gripped the foundation stone tightly in his hand. The foundation stone then transformed into streams of light that flowed into Sand Gold's body, and a powerful aura erupted from Sand Gold's body.

Sand Gold gently touched the mask on his face with his left hand, then shook his hands and shouted loudly.

"All is dedicated to—the King of Amber!"

The battle began, and it must be said that the gold dust, now possessing power comparable to that of the Commander, was indeed difficult to deal with.

Before Huang Quan and Kiana made their move, everyone could only manage to hold their own against them. But who said that Sand Gold had used its full strength?

He is simply limiting his power to a level slightly higher than that of the Starry Sky Train members, all in order to get Huang Quan to make a move.

But Huang Quan seemed to have seen through his purpose, and avoided making a move unless the attacks affected her.

She seemed more interested in chatting with Kiana than fighting. She stood still, talking to Kiana, while attacks aimed at them vanished within a few meters of them.

Without a doubt, this was either the work of Yomi or Kiana. Sand Gold has a vague recollection of the name Kiana Kaslana.

Or rather, it would be problematic if there were no recollection of her, since Kiana, as the messenger of an unknown star god who appeared out of nowhere, had long been the focus of attention for various forces.

Kiana first appeared during an attack on the Black Tower space station by the Destroyer Legion. It was during that attack that the star core stored in the Black Tower was sealed into the body of the star using an unknown method.

He then began to act alongside the Star Train, and later shone brightly on the Immortal Ship, single-handedly defeating the projection of the Annihilation Monarch who came to provide support, allowing General Jingyuan of Luofu to resolve the Star Core crisis, which was beset by internal and external troubles, without any real danger.

As for why Sand Gold knew about the internal and external troubles during that Star Core Crisis, it was purely based on the fact that the annihilating army that attacked the Immortal Ship was Huanlong's deduction.

After all, everyone knows that Huanlong is skilled in mental destruction. Her favorite thing is to destroy civilizations through internal strife. When Shajin learned that the Extinction Lord who appeared on the Immortal Ship was Huanlong, he roughly knew what was going on.

Whether the internal and external troubles were the result of Huanlong's instigation or a long-standing hidden problem was something that Shajin could not know.

After repelling the approaching star again, which was being covered by March 7 and others, Sand Gold finally became impatient. In particular, a satellite cannon shot from Himeko made Sand Gold, who was already short of patience, completely lose his patience.

With a wave of his hand, Sand Gold dispersed the smoke and pointed to Yomi to the side. If he could, Sand Gold actually wanted to involve Kiana as well, but considering that it was still unclear which star god Kiana belonged to, and that Yomi's power was sufficient, Sand Gold gave up on provoking Kiana.

"Strong hands, slow play, posturing... You guys are making me a little anxious."

As he spoke, Sand Gold laughed loudly and flew into the sky, his aura rising to its peak.

"To have some fun, I'll bet everything. Only by abandoning reason can we truly gamble..."

The next second, the stage was covered in gold, and then huge chips slowly emerged from the golden light screen, before crashing down with astonishing force.

"Commander—you'll definitely call, right?"

Gazing at the countless chips scattered across the sky, Huang Quan's expression turned solemn as she drifted into memories. Those were her recollections from before she called herself the Sea Patrol Knight, and also the reason she had come to Pinocchio this time.

"Are you... about to set off?" the man asked.

“Hmm. Maybe… we’ll pass by that place you mentioned,” Huang Quan replied. The rain fell sharply, and Huang Quan stood quietly in front of the man, holding a red umbrella.

"Pinocone?"

"Ah."

What do you seek in your dreams?

"They are not in dreams."

"..."

The man fell silent, then said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid the family will not open the door for you. Because the path you walk... is not tolerated by your kind."

Even if... this is not what I wanted?

"Even if this is not what you wish for. Because He is different from other star gods. He never glances at anyone, nor does He need to glance at anyone. He leaves behind the threads of destiny, allowing people to walk and weave together a huge shadow... and this shadow silently envelops them. Most of them become part of that shadow."

"Am I the same in your eyes?"

"...but not many."

"...That's enough. I will reach the end of nothingness."

Pulling himself out of his memories, Huang Quan looked at the attack above and made up his mind.

"clatter!"

As the sound of Huang Quan's shoes hitting the ground filled the air, everything slowed down and eventually stopped.

During this slowed-down time, it can be seen that Welt and Himeko have deployed their strongest defensive measures to resist this wave of attacks, and some raindrops can be vaguely seen around these chips.

But none of that matters. A dark shadow rose from Huang Quan's feet and spread out like ink in water. Huang Quan slowly placed her right hand on the hilt of the knife. In that instant, the gauntlet on her right hand shattered into pieces, and blood instantly covered her right hand. Blood-red flowers bloomed on her arm.

"May we weep for the departed, our tears falling like rain, filling the river..."

As Huang Quan raised the knife high above her head and slowly pulled it out, her hair turned snow-white at that moment, and a line of bloody tears appeared at the corner of her eye.

After drawing his sword, a series of memories flashed through Huang Quan's mind, finally settling on a purple-haired girl with red horns of varying lengths standing alone in the rain.

"...like a surging tide, leading you home."

After the sword was drawn, everything around it lost its original color and turned into black and white, except for Huang Quan's sword, which still emitted a dazzling red light.

The sword instantly unleashed a massive red beam of light from below, completely blocking Sand Gold's attack. Then came another incredibly fast strike, the beam of light momentarily merging with the first one before breaking through the barrier and shattering Sand Gold's fully unleashed enchantment.

The gold dust vanished without a trace under this powerful attack, and the enormous impact knocked everyone present, except for Huang Quan and Kiana, unconscious.

After doing all this, Huang Quan sheathed his sword again. The paused time began to flow again, and the rain started to pour down. Standing in the heavy rain, Huang Quan showed no reaction, as if he were mourning for the gold dust.