I! Cleaner!-Chapter 1217 - 1107: The Ruins (Chuunibyou)

How is this possible?!!!

Staring at the mermaid statue in the center of the plaza at the end of the Pearl Road, which looked exactly like Evangelin, the two stood in silence for over a minute before finally recovering from the shock.

"Let's go."

Leon, with a flash of colorful light belonging to the essence in his eyes, glanced at the position of the mermaid statue from a distance. Upon seeing a hint of familiar color, he frowned and proactively stepped forward.

"No matter what's going on, let's take a look first."

It seems there's no other choice...

Upon hearing Leon's words, the elderly mermaid also composed himself, clenched his fist, and nodded slightly.

After all, the world is vast, and it's not impossible for two people to look alike, plus a statue is not a real person. From afar it looks identical to Evangelin, but perhaps upon closer inspection, the differences will be apparent.

Holding onto the hope that it was mere coincidence, the elderly mermaid unconsciously surpassed Leon, who had started first, and raced towards the open plaza. When the two walked along Pearl Road to get closer, they discovered that what appeared to be a circular plaza was actually shaped like a droplet. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The entire plaza was paved with stone tablets that had a texture resembling bone, with originally intricate patterns now eroded beyond recognition. A circle of colossal, broken columns, slightly inward at the top like the ribs of a giant creature, enclosed the entire plaza from the edges.

Beneath the intersection points of these "ribs" was a fountain pool long dried out, its funnel-shaped interior walls depicting elaborate reliefs of waves and sea creatures. Unfortunately, these exquisite carvings had already crumbled, cracking into a pool of various-sized fragments.

In the center of this dried-up, decayed fountain pool, with the tail buried under numerous fragments, stood the sole intact statue resembling the beautiful mermaid woman almost perfectly. As for why it was "almost"...

"She shouldn't be Evangelin."

After carefully examining the mermaid statue's expression and features, the elderly mermaid let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Although she looks identical to Evangelin, the eyes are different... While the statue's smile is gentle, there's an unmistakable arrogance in her eyes, that kind of..."

At this point, the elderly mermaid paused briefly, couldn't resist glancing at Leon who was frowning beside him, and immediately continued:

"That kind of unparalleled confidence, always firmly believing she's right, even if the whole world thinks there's something wrong with her, she won't have any doubt in her arrogance...

Evangelin is certainly proud, but far from this extent. This probably isn't Evangelin's statue, just a simple resemblance."

"Indeed."

Unaware that the elderly mermaid had subtly mocked him, Leon nodded in agreement after exchanging glances with the dazzlingly smiling "Evangelin" and scrutinizing the statue's features.

"They shouldn't be the same person. Evangelin is already lively, but the owner of this statue is even more vivacious and spirited... Well... but lacks a bit of mature charm, with a fresher face and features, and the upper curves are somewhat smaller, more flattened."

Exactly!

Following Leon's observation, the elderly mermaid felt completely relieved, gratefully nodding.

Although they did look incredibly similar, compared to the real Evangelin, there was still something missing... What? Are you overly attentive in observing my daughter? Why do you know her so well? What the hell are you up to?!!!

Under the suddenly wary gaze of the elderly mermaid, Leon seemed to have discovered something on the statue, abruptly flipping over the already collapsed railing at the edge of the fountain pool, stepping into the thick layer of rubble at the pool's bottom.

After an unknown amount of weathering erosion, the pool's scattered fragments seemed hard but were actually brittle, breaking into pieces at the slightest step, kicking up a cloud of pale dust.

Braving the dust, Leon walked to the base of "Evangelin" one step at a time, and, under the elderly mermaid's tense watch, reached out to touch the statue's cyan-gray tail.

"Wow..."

The sound of waves surging arose, and the elderly mermaid was shocked to find that as Leon touched it, everything around was coated in colorful silhouettes.

The distant rows of shell palaces had their cracks visibly repaired, the faded pearls on the road to the central plaza also regained their luster in an instant.

Next, the arched columns surrounding the plaza began to "grow" back, and numerous weathered reliefs condensed and returned from their dusty states, fitting into their original positions one by one.

Intertwined snake scales and fish tails, rust-yellow anchors, simple white sails, open clamshells, and brilliant pearls... the entire ruin was "resurrecting" rapidly under the arc of colorful light, revitalized with vibrant life.

Meanwhile, the originally intact mermaid statue in the ruins was "dying" at an equivalent pace, "Evangelin"'s tail, initially lying leisurely on the reef base, tensed tightly, the end fin breaking and revealing a sinister cross-section of bone spikes.

Her previously straight back suddenly recoiled back as if struck, half-leaning on the reef base, her expression stricken with grief and despair, gazing into the distance, her hands tightly gripping something with virtual embrace on her bloodstained chest.

With the flow of colorful light, a sea-blue trident, forcibly bent by immense force, began to materialize from her virtual grip, the tip piercing through her bloody chest cavity and penetrating the reef base below, pinning "Evangelin" firmly onto it.

?!!!

Seeing Evangelin cruelly pinned onto the base, the elderly mermaid was greatly shocked, his eyes widened, tongue tied up in his mouth.

"This? This?! This?!!"

This is some kind of "message" from the past, and only those who have grasped the essence can activate it.

Leon glanced at the root color on his hand, which suddenly missed a piece after touching the mermaid statue, and couldn't help but frown, not rushing to decode it for the incessant elderly mermaid, but reached out to touch it again...

Only to be grabbed by a huge cold hand!

"What are you doing!"

Under the shocked gazes of Leon and the elderly mermaid, the "Evangelin" pinned onto the reef base abruptly opened her eyes, looked displeased at Leon reaching towards her tail.

"Touching once is fine, but haven't you had enough?"