Chapter 68 Cloud Reinhardt paused for a moment before he realized what was happening...
Reinhardt paused for a moment before realizing that the voice originated in his mind and was unnoticed by the outside world.
"Wait for me?" His expression remained calm.
"Yes." The voice spoke very slowly, uttering each word deliberately. It was only as Buster picked up Reinhardt and started walking forward that he slowly uttered the words.
"I knew you would come."
Reinhardt remained silent for a while, responding in his mind.
"Who are you?"
“An old friend of yours.”
An old friend? Reinhardt racked his brains, but couldn't recall any old friends in his limited memory. Before he could think any deeper, the distant voice spoke again.
“I’ve been waiting for you here, keeping our promise,” he said. “Reinhardt, I can bring you up here now if you want, but… only you.”
Reinhardt paused slightly, lost in thought.
If it were Reinhardt, who had just boarded the ship, he might have agreed immediately. Sending him alone would have been efficient and effortless; the Storm Lord and Celine could simply wait downstairs for him to return with news.
But now, he preferred to go with Buster and Celine. The primary reason was that he wanted to be with Buster; even if the obstacles ahead were complicated, he would still find it interesting.
The secondary reason was simple: Celine wanted access to the Cloud Library. Even if it was just to fulfill her wish, Reinhardt wanted to fight for it.
After a moment's thought, he silently replied in his heart, "I hope you can bring both of them along too."
"I'm sorry," the voice replied softly, "I don't have enough strength to support the three of them right now."
What should he do? Reinhardt pondered carefully. As he thought about it, something seemed to come to him, and a light suddenly shone in his mind.
Rather than making decisions alone, he should perhaps consult with both of them now. Just as Buster always asks for his opinion and thoughts before doing anything, he also has the right, as a partner, to speak to them.
So instead of answering the voice in his heart, he raised his head and looked at Buster.
“Storm,” he whispered.
Buster immediately buried his head under Reinhardt's hat and responded with a kiss on the tip of Reinhardt's nose.
So soft. Reinhardt is so soft all over. I wish he could be harder for a while when we're in bed.
Buster's mind was churning with thuggish thoughts, but his words were perfectly honest.
"Yes, I'm here."
Unaware that he was about to be completely manipulated, Reinhardt recounted his mental conversation with the mysterious character to Buster, and Celine, who was ahead of him, stopped in her tracks upon hearing it.
Buster pulled Reinhardt's hat back, revealing his face. Buster popped out of the hat and looked at Celine first.
Then, he turned back and looked into the eyes of the little blind man.
What do you think?
It would be natural to ask Reinhardt for his opinion.
Then, naturally, he also received the speech that Reinhardt had just rehearsed in his mind.
Buster was overjoyed and practically wanted to kiss Reinhardt.
The little potatoes have sprouted! They can clearly express their needs and thoughts now!
Even Celine was somewhat pleased, not only because Reinhardt had finally opened up a bit, but also because she was included in his choices.
Buster patted Reinhardt's backside approvingly and said, "I don't support it either. Who knows what kind of person he is and we're just going to follow him? Nine years of compulsory education emphasizes not to trust strangers. Even if we haven't been through that, we shouldn't believe everything we hear."
“Besides, we can climb up.” He swayed Reinhardt in his arms, and the latter leaned on Buster’s shoulder. The group then hurried up the mountain path.
There were indeed traps along the way, but most of the encounters were with wild animals. As Buster walked, he was even hit by monkeys throwing stones at him.
The Storm Leader was furious and retaliated by throwing a bunch of stones back at them.
The result was a massive melee in the entire forest.
Countless monkeys attacked Buster with nuts and stones, and Reinhardt and Celine were also caught in the crossfire. Unable to set the mountains ablaze, the tyrannical Storm Leader could only protect the god in his arms and race forward.
The three of them stumbled into a cave, where Buster used brute force to move a huge rock to block the entrance, thus saving them from certain death.
He first checked on Reinhardt and found that the boy only had a few clumps of grass on him and was otherwise unharmed before turning to look at Celine.
At that time, Celine wasn't as lucky as Reinhardt, but she wasn't as ridiculously lucky as Buster either. She was covered in clumps of grass and small red marks from being hit by pebbles, looking quite disheveled.
Celine couldn't help but retort, "Why did you provoke them? They almost blew my skull off."
Reinhardt didn't speak, but after a moment's hesitation, he slowly nodded in agreement with Celine's statement.
"Ha!" Buster was both angry and amused. He pinched Reinhardt's buttocks a little harder, then flicked the Black Widow's noblewoman's hat with his fingers. "Whose side are you on? You should be on my side!"
Reinhardt wanted to yell at him, but he hadn't learned the skill yet, so he could only remain silent.
The cave was poorly lit, so Celine pulled out a lamp to provide some light for the group, while Buster was busy removing the clump of grass from Reinhardt's head.
After a period of rest, they continued their journey.
The cave shows visible signs of repair, clearly indicating that it was a man-made passage. The interior is intricate and complex, with several branching paths appearing almost every five meters.
These forks in the road are almost identical in shape and size, and under the dim light, they maximize the maze effect.
This stumped Celine, who was an expert in mechanical algorithms.
When Celine took the wrong turn for the third time and ended up back at the starting point, she couldn't help but sigh.
"Without any skill, relying purely on luck and memory, if we're really that stubborn, we'll probably be stuck in the same place for ten days."
Buster stroked his chin, his mind racing with thoughts of a firepower clash.
Reinhardt, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"Left side." His voice gently tapped against the cave wall, echoing in subtle ripples, drawing the simultaneous gazes of Buster and Celine.
The beautiful woman, with her eyes tightly closed, simply smiled.
He was a frequent visitor to the darkness, which ironically became his advantage.
In the white-lined view, Reinhardt could distinguish the subtle differences between the caves, and even see the path beyond them.
Like looking through a perspective view at eye level, Reinhardt always felt that this place seemed to have been built for him.
Thanks to Reinhardt, they reached the summit in just two days.
The exit is suspended on the cliff face, offering a panoramic view of the scenery outside the cave.
The clouds that had been floating in the sky were now spreading beneath their feet. Buster smiled, grabbed Reinhardt's hand, and reached out into the cave.
“The clouds are beneath our feet.” As always, he became Reinhardt’s eyes, bringing him new picture books.
"The mountains were bathed in a golden light. It was midday, and the sunlight was strong, but because of the clouds, it became very gentle."
“The clouds here are like a series of steps, Reinhardt, our destination is above the clouds.”
Celine couldn't stand the leader's way of speaking; it gave her goosebumps.
But her attention was still uncontrollably drawn upwards, until it was brought to the end of the stairs, where it lingered on that simple white building.
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Author's Note: Celine: I can't take it anymore!! (Screams) I just want to read!! Why do I have to eat dog food?!
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