Zoe had a faint smile on her face: "I thought of my father's notes, and then those words said earlier. Suddenly, I feel very..."
Her voice trailed off, perhaps realizing that Li Ang didn't want her to say she was "not good," she rephrased her sentence.
"I think I've been thinking wrong.
"What my father wrote, even though I don't quite understand it, I feel, he cares about me a lot, right?"
Li Ang nodded at her.
"But I said I hated them..."
The young girl pouted.
"But, thinking that they won't return, I really feel very sad inside. Is this wrong? I really don't understand."
"It's not your fault," Li Ang said softly. "No matter what the relationship was before, emotions between people need maintenance. It's not your fault that you and they have been apart for so long. Even if they had reasons, it's not your fault."
The young girl gave Li Ang a soft smile: "I knew Li Ang would say that. I felt sad and upset, but after hearing your words, I feel very warm and relaxed."
"Ah, right, what about the notebook?" she suddenly realized.
"When facing that monster, things got too chaotic, and it got buried in the collapse. We were going to clean it up tomorrow anyway, so we'll search for it then."
The young girl nodded with a hint of worry: "I need to rethink the situation with my mom and dad, and then—"
As she spoke to "then," it seemed she hadn't made up her mind, and she didn't voice out the specific part.
As if she thought of something, her lowered eyelids quickly lifted, her clear ruby eyes seriously looked at Li Ang.
"Saying these words doesn't mean that what I said yesterday about liking Li Ang doesn't count."
Before Li Ang could react, she stretched and regained her lively smile.
"Tell me about the aerial realm adventures. Why do people leave the Sky Island to fly to the skies?"
Li Ang thought for a moment and said: "I'll start with the appearance of this world."
The origins of the Nebis World are untraceable. It's ancient and distant. Over countless millennia, countless civilizations rose and fell, nature underwent upheavals... Even the earth sank under a crimson horizon, and the seas evaporated, leaving no trace.
All existing civilizations reside on Sky Islands in the sea of clouds. People can only travel between islands using flying airships.
With only one means of transportation, traveling became a threshold. When accidents happen, islands might fall into an isolated state.
Before the invention of flying airships, most civilizations were isolated.
Therefore, among the many aerial realms, there wasn't a particularly powerful unified state or force.
The long isolation life wore down the will of many people. Many stopped dreaming of the outside world's brilliance and merely repeated farming the land in front of them.
Occasionally, there would be people yearning for the unknown. They were adventurers, but over a long time were marginalized. In the eyes of those prosperous Sky Island residents, they were seen as marginal and drifters.
Until the Sky Knight Guild appeared.
Sky Knights generally refer to those who have traveled via flying airships for years, essentially meaning the same as adventurers.
But three hundred years ago, after the most powerful Sky Knight groups spearheaded the creation of a giant guild organization, spanning almost all aerial realms, a Sky Knight specifically referred to adventurers registered with the Sky Knight Guild.
The guild took over some of the functions of the island nations, and all aerial inhabitants wishing to achieve their desires no longer needed to rely on equally powerless family, friends, and local forces. They only needed to prepare the reward and publish a commission through the guild for the adventurers to complete.
In just three hundred years, Sky Knights quickly became a significant presence in the sky.
Countless people rushed to the blue heavens, whether their pursuit was for fame and glory, heavy riches, or simply a free life, they could achieve this identity.
"Did Li Ang gain glory and wealth?" Zoe asked.
The young girl nestled under the covers, clutching the edge, only revealing half of her small face.
The two talked from the yard until they went indoors to sleep.
"Did I gain it...?"
Li Ang smiled, a complex look on his face.
"I initially thought I did, but in the end, it was only to the benefit of others."
He looked at his palm, then slowly clenched it into a fist.
"From now on, I want to hold on to what's truly mine."
Zoe looked at him, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.
"... So, is adventure just for these?"
Li Ang turned his face, meeting the gaze of the young girl peering down from the bed; her eyes lacked any concept of glory or wealth.
If she ventured outside, would she assimilate, or would she retain her current purity?
Li Ang shook his head: "The pursuit of these things is one reason. However, although people don't say it themselves, I feel that most people's true thoughts are about mastering their lives."
Li Ang laid on the floor bedding, gazing at the ceiling, seemingly looking beyond.
"Every one of our lives has places that we consider imperfect.
"In the past, whether due to a lack of courage or anticipation, we were hurt by this imperfection.
"These pains can sometimes turn into scars, occasionally aching, or into a thorn in the heart that needs careful handling to be removed.
"Because we've been hurt, we don't want to be hurt again, and because we've been down, we want to lift our lives up.
"We carry hope as we rush into the blue sky. We wish to truly decide what we're living for. But the sky is vast, and perhaps we don't know where we're heading, so the first step is probably to gain fame and wealth, right? With these, everything else becomes negotiable."
"What kind of life does Li Ang want to control now?"
Zoe snuggled into the covers, her voice buzzing through it, and after asking, she popped her head out again.
"I want to rebuild the Adventurer's Guild, find partners, and reach the pinnacle of the Sky Knights. The specific life I want may become clear on the journey or perhaps after success. Anyway, by that day, what I want to do won't be constrained, right?"
Zoe listened intently, the warm light of the Adventure Lantern making her ruby eyes exceptionally radiant.
Li Ang smiled at her: "Get some sleep; tomorrow will be tough."
"Um, I hope I can also control my life. Goodnight~"
The young girl's smile was as bright as a flower.
Early the next morning, it was also the fifth day of Li Ang's return to Satus Island. The two donned their equipment and, carrying as many casting materials as possible, headed to the basement.
With their physique, clearing rubble was not difficult. Very soon, the wellhead was found, and after some effort, Zoe's father's notebook was also found.
Li Ang brushed the dust off the notebook: "Let's look at this later when resting on the road."
"Okay."
Storing the notebook properly, the two descended into what seemed like an endless darkness via the basement's wellhead.