The Dragon's Nest.
The name of this barrier.
A thousand years ago, the most intelligent royalty of the Children of the Wind Clan created it to hide their treasure house. After long ages of change, this city in the sky still followed its Master's arrangements, floating indifferently under the firmament, waiting to be opened by their descendants once more.
Laputa.
Now, the legend of legends finally appeared before the little Boy.
"I knew it... everything Dad said must be true..."
Mori Tsukisa wasn't that excited. She leaned out and looked for a long time but didn't see a single trace of a dragon.
Not even a slightly larger bird.
"Lady Isis, after three thousand years, the dragons must have long since vanished." Imhotep felt like laughing at Mori Tsukisa's disappointed look. "Once we successfully pass through the barrier and reach the city..."
Actually, when it came to dragons, Imhotep didn't know everything in detail. He had only occasionally learned some stories about the Children of the Wind Clan and the dragons they raised during later exchanges; he hadn't even caught a glimpse of a dragon's shadow.
In that long war, the arrogant enemies had never sent those precious dragon species into battle.
What greeted them were overwhelming numbers of robots.
"Even if these overlords of the sky possessed technology and wisdom far beyond that of humans on the ground, the candidates for bonding with dragons were still one in a thousand."
"This just proves that their understanding of dragons was still at a very preliminary stage."
"I once heard that prince mention that only the bravest and most intelligent Children of the Wind would have the chance to win the favor of the dragon race."
The reason Imhotep remembered this so clearly was that this group of people, who looked down on everything and always upheld wisdom above all else, showed a savage side for the first time in a certain aspect.
Taming—the Children of the Wind disliked this word very much. They usually used 'cooperation' to describe the relationship between dragons and their clansmen.
"Setting dragons aside for now..." Imhotep stopped smiling and looked at the excited girl. "Are you prepared to face Him?"
"Him?"
"Who?"
"Anubis, Guardian of the Duat." After the man laboriously uttered this name, he thought those fears and resentments would fill his heart again.
But there was nothing.
The rising sunlight felt warm on his body.
Anck-Su-Namun was behind him, like a lazy little beast, squinting her eyes in a nap. The aircraft vibrated slightly and steadily, as clouds and flocks of birds moved backward at the same time.
Perhaps it was the morning breeze on his face that felt so comfortable, or perhaps it was Mori Tsukisa's smiling eyes that gave him firm confidence—Imhotep suddenly realized that he no longer seemed to worry about the unknown road ahead.
He would hold his lover's hand tightly, no matter who was waiting ahead.
"Oh... that dog-headed freak." Mori Tsukisa realized. "Don't worry, I—"
"Sister! We're ready to enter!" Baru shouted from afar, "I know this path, it's the one my father once took!"
"You must follow me closely!"
...Dragons Nest, the gathering place of storms.
Thunder and lightning were common here. Thick, lead-gray clouds formed a barrier, slowly rotating clockwise, enveloping and concealing the city within.
Three airships drilled in the same direction.
In an instant, the peaceful and stable airflow abruptly changed: the wind cut at their faces like a sharp blade, making them ache; the surroundings, which should have been bright, suddenly dimmed, becoming incredibly obscure; countless noises rang out, crackling and the sound of debris hitting them incessantly.
It was like accidentally crashing into a tornado full of scrap metal and rocks.
Here, shouting was useless. The three airships, only a few meters apart, couldn't hear what the others were saying. They could only stare intently at the wings and tail in front, praying they wouldn't be hit by the erratic lightning, praying that the humming propellers wouldn't break off and disappear into the sea of clouds.
Baru gripped the rudder, his right hand on the joystick, leaning forward. As the leader, he was the first to plunge into the lightning's nest, and now, everything around him offered no guidance:
His father's brief diary entries and the half-concealed photo of Laputa hidden behind the clouds couldn't help the Boy find a way out in this chaotic ocean of lightning.
His sister was following him closely from behind. Unconsciously, the Boy had taken on the safety of everyone.
"I can do it!"
"The path my father walked, I can pass through too!"
"If Laputa truly exists, please! Let me see your true face!"
The young man roared loudly, pushing the joystick. The airship accelerated forward with a whoosh, soaring past the lightning, through the clouds, and plunged straight into the center of the nest!
He piloted the tiny machine, with the natural power of thunder and storms above him; amidst the wildly dancing, fierce wind blades, the young man was like Icarus, whose wings were ablaze yet he had no regrets, launching a desperate assault towards the sky!
Lightning split the path, and golden hues quietly bloomed on both sides.
In countless arc-shaped, twisted, and intertwined passages... Baru vaguely saw a figure.
—The figure was piloting an airship similar to his own, staring intently ahead, breaking through the barrier.
That was... Father.
It was Father!
The Boy opened his mouth, loudly calling out to his father ahead, pushing the accelerator harder with his right hand... He couldn't catch up to that figure.
Or rather, he knew his father had passed away long ago.
That figure merely appeared as an illusion in the young man's vision, like the soul of his deceased father, finally awakening at this moment to guide his son through the bewildering maze of thunder and lightning.
Just as he had done all those years ago.
—Follow me closely, son.
—This is the path I walked back then, everything I saw back then.
—It's real, right?
—Find it, see it, record it.
—Do what I never could, son.
—You are the witness to the legend.
—And you will become a legend.
"Father!!"
Tears were scattered by the howling wind, forming strings of small droplets that quickly disappeared into the lightning-filled passage.
Baru cried out, trying to reach out and grasp the figure in his sight—yet the figure meticulously guided the Child, leading him safely through the dangerous gas mass.
The airship beneath him cut through the gray mist like a sharp sword, passing through the clouds. As the sunlight hit his body, the man's form gradually became transparent... Baru stared at him, tears streaming down his face.
"Dad..."
It seemed the Boy's whispered murmur was heard. The transparent figure ahead slowly turned... He looked at Baru.
Baru looked at his father.
"Dad..."
The man smiled with relief, wanting to wave at him, but then remembered something and merely nodded. Then, his entire being, along with the airship, was scattered by the sunlight... Before Baru was a magnificent city.
But the person who guided him here had disappeared forever.
"Goodbye... Dad."
The notorious con artist father, years later, in the legendary land of legends.
The little Boy bid him his final farewell.
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