"There's someone?" Coppelia was slightly surprised. "Only one person?"
"There is a group of large machines following behind him," Columbina replied.
"Is he running for his life?"
"Those big machines aren't attacking him."
"Put up a shield," Coppelia decided to be cautious. "Let's go over and take a look."
Columbina temporarily shifted her attention away from the moonstones in front of her, allowing the glowing stones to float behind her back. Taking Coppelia with her, she drifted forward along the underground river.
Rounding a gentle bend, they saw a man dressed in dark green scholar's robes trotting toward them through knee-deep stream water. He had grey hair combed unusually neatly and wore an ordinary monocle over his right eye. Behind him, a squad of heavy mechanical dragon-beasts was wading forward in synchronized steps, following him.
An underground river, a human, leading a group of Khaenri'ah-style machines... How suspicious. Coppelia whispered to Columbina:
"Stop here for now."
The green-robed man spotted them at the same time. His footsteps paused, a trace of surprise flashing across his face. Upon seeing the transparent aqua-blue light barrier in front of them, he immediately halted, raising his hands high and waving them vigorously while shouting:
"Don't attack!"
With his shout, the squad of mechanical dragon-beasts behind him simultaneously ceased their movements, standing tall in the flowing stream.
Coppelia remained on guard and spoke up:
"Hello. We are adventurers passing through this place."
The green-robed man lowered his hands, regaining his composure:
"My name is Kelvin. I am a scholar of the rainforest; my research focus is primarily mechanical engineering."
"Mechanical research?" Coppelia's gaze swept over the silent metal behemoths behind him. "Did you build these dragon-beasts? But they look like they have nothing to do with the rainforest, nor do they resemble the technology of the Scarlet King. They look rather like relics of Khaenri'ah."
Kelvin was slightly stunned, then immediately raised his hand to adjust the monocle on his right eye:
"Of course I didn't build them. I've heard the legends of Khaenri'ah as well; there are many such machines in that underground kingdom. It's not strange for some to be left behind. I just had good luck; I happened to find some damaged ones and simply repaired them."
"Really?" Coppelia remained skeptical. "I don't believe it."
A slightly helpless smile appeared on Kelvin's face.
He fished a slender mechanical device gleaming with a silvery-white metallic luster from his pocket, his fingers flicking rapidly over it a few times.
The squad of mechanical dragon-beasts behind him immediately began to move: turning left, turning right, turning around... Their movements were uniform, like an army undergoing inspection.
"Well?" Kelvin asked.
Columbina, cradling the disabled Moon Spirit's body, unconsciously floated backward a short distance and asked in a low voice:
"Those... are all your things?"
"I suppose so. Why?"
"Um..." Columbina's voice became even fainter. "I just... broke eight of them..."
Kelvin's expression relaxed somewhat:
"Breaking them a little doesn't matter. The structure of these things isn't complex; they are quite convenient to repair—"
Coppelia scratched the back of her head somewhat awkwardly, interrupting him:
"They... are already shattered all over the place. The kind that can't even be pieced back together."
"Huh?" Kelvin opened his mouth, the ease on his face vanishing instantly. He flusteredly stuffed the silvery-white control device back into his pocket.
"This... can you take me to see the situation?"
Columbina put away the aqua-blue shield and pulled Coppelia along, floating toward the direction they had come from.
Kelvin followed behind, wading through the water with uneven steps. Naturally, he saw the pile of stones emitting a soft white light suspended behind Columbina.
"You came down here to find these glowing white stones?" He asked from behind.
Coppelia turned her head to look back:
"Correct." She then asked in return, "Oh, I haven't asked yet—you appeared in this underground river because of these stones too?"
"That's right." Kelvin nodded, his tone becoming a bit more serious. "These stones fell into the rainforest, causing a significant range of elemental pollution, which impacts the local ecology. So I used these repaired machines to collect them and bring them all deep underground for burial and disposal."
As they talked, they had already returned to the "battlefield" scattered with a large amount of metal fragments and parts.
Kelvin had the squad of mechanical dragon-beasts following him stop downstream to wait, while he stepped forward alone. By the faint blue light emitted by the algae on the rock walls, he looked around.
On the ground, in the stream, everywhere there were twisted metal plates, snapped drive shafts, shattered energy core casings... Indeed, not a single piece looked like it could be put directly back together.
Columbina raised her hand gently, and brighter moonlight radiated from around her body, illuminating the area clearly.
Kelvin walked a small circle slowly around the ruins, finally stopping in front of Columbina. He lowered his head, looking at a pile of near-powdery metal debris at the foot of the rock wall near his feet, his brows locking together tightly, not speaking for a long time.
"These..." Columbina spoke up. "How should I compensate?"
Kelvin, however, slowly shook his head. He lifted his face, though his brows did not unfurrow: "There is no need for compensation. There are still quite a few of these machines; if they are broken, they are broken."
"But you look," Coppelia observed his expression, "you look like you care very much."
"I do not care about these machines." Kelvin's gaze swept over the wreckage on the ground once more, finally landing back on Columbina. "I was just thinking about those stones. I collected a significant number of white stones, but I see that those floating behind this lady are not many... and no other stones can be found here—"
"That is because..." Columbina interrupted him.
She moved all the moonstones floating behind her to the front. Right in front of Kelvin, the stones turned into pure flowing light one by one, sinking into her body and disappearing.
"These stones were originally fragments of my power scattered across the world." Columbina explained, "I just took them back."
The moment the moonstones vanished, Kelvin first froze, as if he hadn't understood what had happened. Subsequently, he slowly raised his head, his gaze falling upon Columbina's face, and began to examine her carefully with a research-like look.
Coppelia immediately took a half-step forward, turning sideways to block Columbina: "What is it?"
Kelvin seemed to realize his staring was somewhat rude. He smiled, turned his head to the side, and used his fingers to gently adjust the position of his monocle. When he turned his gaze back, his expression had returned to its previous gentleness: "Nothing. Actually, I should thank you for helping to solve these troublesome pollution sources."
____
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