Zane couldn't understand how that sentence came out of a girl who looked so cold and distant. Or maybe some pervert forced her to say it…
A light, questioning breeze brushed her skirt, and she noticed it. "Is it not right?" The mysterious girl tilted her head cutely, her cool, pretty face full of confusion.
"You said this would create a feeling of embarrassment. And before, it seemed like you really wanted Rover to say this to you, but back then Rover didn't get the chance to say these words to you before you died… what is embarrassment?"
'Oh, so that pervert was me…'
'No, no, no.'
The current Zane doesn't have the memories of the past Zane, so the current Zane ≠ the past Zane.
Rounding it off, he, Zane, is definitely not a pervert.
At most, just… gradually becoming one.
Seeing that Zane wasn't speaking, the girl finally remembered that aside from when she transformed into a butterfly, Zane had never seen her in this form. Her long eyelashes fluttered like light butterflies.
Her lips parted slightly, and a gentle voice flowed out, "I am the Shorekeeper. This is the name you and Rover gave me together."
The moment he heard the name "Shorekeeper," Zane instantly remembered the blue butterfly he saw after being revived during the battle at Beiluo Yeming.
"You're that butterfly from back then!? The butterfly turned into a spirit?" Facing Zane's shock, if the Shorekeeper weren't so soft by nature, she might have already hit him.
"That blue butterfly was just something I created. I cannot leave the Black Shores, so I had to use that method to protect you."
'Could this be what they call… a stalker?'
'But this stalker is kind of cute. Please, more of this.'
'Still, "Shorekeeper"… isn't that name a bit too serious?'
'It doesn't sound as nice as something like Little Butterfly.'
Standing beside him, the Shorekeeper observed Zane's expression the whole time. At that moment, it was as if she could read minds.
Just from his expression, she knew what he was thinking, and softly explained, "Strictly speaking, this name was chosen by Rover. All the names you suggested were rejected by Rover."
Hearing this, Zane awkwardly scratched his cheek. So he was… maybe… disliked?
But compared to that, what he was more curious about was why all his suggested names got vetoed.
"Then… can I ask what names I gave you back then?"
Under Zane's intense gaze, the Shorekeeper's usually cool face rarely showed a hint of warmth.
"Butterfly spirit, Ayanami Rei, cold butterfly person, Rover's daughter…"
That faint smile fell into Zane's eyes, and somehow it looked a bit unsettling.
Just like Rover, every time she smiled at him, within half an hour he would definitely get beaten.
When Rover smiles, life or death is uncertain.
Though the Shorekeeper's smile wasn't as terrifying as Rover's.
The next moment, that faint floral scent appeared beside him again.
"…A very long time ago, when Rover established the Black Shores on this island, I was only her assistant, helping her manage this place."
Seeing Zane still in a daze, the Shorekeeper walked beside him and gently began telling him the history of the Black Shores.
"But later, using your death as the trigger, Rover left behind her authority and left alone, wandering everywhere."
Zane's mouth opened in shock. Although he had expected it somewhat, he still underestimated Rover's status.
On the surface, she was traveling across nations, but in reality, it was more like a secret inspection tour.
Besides that, he didn't expect that her journey had something to do with him.
"But why hasn't Rover told me any of this?"
The Shorekeeper shook her head gently, a faint sadness passing over her face like flowing water.
"The things Rover lost are more than just her memories… and you, at that time, lost your life."
During that period, in lonely corners, the Shorekeeper had regretted more than once that she could do nothing.
Fortunately, in the end, both of them were safe.
The quiet night breeze brushed gently across their faces. Tonight's sky seemed more distant than ever.
But within that breeze, something unusual was quietly spreading across the stars, gradually covering the entire Black Shores.
Zane wanted to ask more, but the violent shaking under his feet forced him to swallow the words back down.
"Do you also get earthquakes here in the Black Shores?"
In the rush, Zane didn't think much and grabbed the Shorekeeper's hand. A cold sensation spread from her palm, but he had no mind to dwell on it.
"No." The Shorekeeper shook her head lightly. She closed her eyes for a moment, and a trace of seriousness crossed her doll-like precise face.
"The Tethys System is currently unstable. The vibration just now was caused by a sudden increase in the stabilizing anchor frequency of the computational array that forms the Tethys System.
"And this has caused the other frequencies originally contained underground to begin escaping outward at an accelerated rate."
Following the direction she pointed, Zane immediately saw several pillar-like towers around the Black Shores.
They were now covered in red anomalous data, and waves of strange red light, like thick blood, were spilling out from the towers.
"Zane, you…"
The Shorekeeper turned around, about to tell Zane to regroup with Rover, only to find that the figure who had been behind her was already gone.
As expected, Zane had gone missing again.
The Shorekeeper helplessly parted her lips slightly. Her long eyelashes trembled as she searched through her database, but there was no record of what to do when Zane ran off like this.
Moreover, from her observations, this version of Zane seemed especially good at… running away.
To catch up with him, she would have to mobilize the algorithms within her body to track his movements, and even then she would need to transform into a butterfly just to barely keep up.
After all, it wasn't the first time the butterfly she transformed into had been caught by Zane.
After thinking for a moment, the Shorekeeper could only decide to go find Rover first, then assist her in clearing out the escaping data.
As for Zane's whereabouts…
After all, the Black Shores could be considered half of Zane's hometown. He probably wouldn't cause trouble in his own home.
Probably…
Meanwhile, Zane, who had regained his freedom once again, turned his head and, seeing no blue butterfly chasing after him, finally let out a long breath.
If Rover found out that the Shorekeeper immediately asked him whether he wanted to bathe, eat, or eat her…
He didn't even dare imagine how he would die.
At that moment, a strange aura swept across his skin with the wind.
"…Zane."
That mechanical, genderless synthesized voice appeared again. Zane was already prepared for it.
But this time, when he turned his head, what he saw was no longer the hat-wearing woman from before, but someone else entirely, someone he never expected.