Chapter 141
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Time Stone
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“Wow, it’s packed.”
Park Sungwon let out a sigh and sat in his seat.
Today was the opening day for *Assemble 2*, and since it was the first screening, every single seat was taken, from the very front to the very back.
All around, excited audience members were chatting with their friends. The main topic of conversation was ‘Evan Block’s Korean.’
Park Sungwon looked at his phone. In the days following the *Assemble 2* event, the internet and the movie sites Park Sungwon frequented were filled with the same topic.
“Lee Seojun’s influence really is incredible.”
People wondered if there were actually foreigners learning Korean because of Lee Seojun. Reporters who had looked into it began publishing articles. With the constant stream of articles, it seemed there were so many foreigners learning Korean that he wondered how he hadn't known sooner.
[Surge in Foreigners Learning Korean Over the Past 5 Years!]
[Many Foreigners Using ‘Naeuiwon’ as a Textbook!]
[Children’s Play ‘Spring’ Becomes a Korean Language Tool for Kids!]
[Children’s Play ‘Spring’ to be Published as a Picture Book!]
-I've seen a lot of foreigners who learned Korean from *Naeuiwon* and have weird sentence endings.
-Good thing it's a fusion historical drama. If it were a traditional one, lol.
=Your Majesty's grace is boundless!
-There are kids learning Korean because of the play ‘Spring’ too.
=Yeah, their parents told them the Blue Dragon only knows Korean, so they used a translator to make a wish, lol.
-Since they're exposed to Korean at a young age, some of them start mimicking it.
-Wow, media really does have a huge impact.
“‘Spring’ is coming out as a picture book. I should buy it.”
While Park Sungwon was bookmarking it, the showtime approached.
The theater darkened, and the Marine Company logo appeared as the *Assemble* OST flowed from the speakers.
Shadowman caught Redbone as he fell toward the sea. He was rushed to the Assemble base for treatment, but after examining Redbone's condition, Dr. Letter shook his head.
“It's too late. There's nothing we can do.”
The heroes stifled their groans. The cause was poisoning.
“This is very strange.”
Dr. Letter frowned as he looked over the data.
“This is the data from Redbone's regular check-up last month. And this is from the test we just ran. It's only been a month, but for the symptoms to worsen this much…”
“Worsen? You mean he was already sick?”
Dr. Letter nodded at Greenwing's question.
“We were planning to start treatment as soon as he returned. There were signs of poisoning. It was probably…”
Dr. Letter lowered his voice.
“the work of the spy inside the base.”
“Then why didn't you tell us?”
Shadowman's voice was sharp. If he knew, then why?
Dr. Letter shrugged.
“He was fine back then. This poison needs to incubate in the body for about a year to take full effect. That makes it hard to detect, but I found it.”
“Alright, alright, enough bragging. So, what's the solution?”
“There is none. The solution was to treat it in the early stages, but for some reason, Redbone's body seems to have aged by about a year. Even a genius like me can't turn back time.”
At Dr. Letter's words, the heroes fell silent. If the genius Dr. Letter had no solution, then no one would.
It was then.
The Assemble base was bathed in red light as emergency bells blared loudly.
[Code Red! Code Red! It's a Natra spaceship!]
Natra!
Shadowman and the heroes turned their eyes to the monitor.
[Incoming transmission from the Natra spaceship!]
Everyone’s gaze turned to Shadowman. He nodded. When they accepted the transmission, the person who appeared on the monitor was…
-Hello!
It was Bell Natra, greeting them cheerfully.
They couldn’t let the Natra spaceship land, so Shadowman headed to Bell Natra’s vessel.
“Hello, Shadowman.”
“Why are you here?”
At Shadowman’s sharp tone, Bell Natra shrugged.
“I came to ask something. Have you seen anyone around you suddenly get older or younger?”
“…!”
Suddenly older—wasn't that what happened to Redbone? Dr. Letter, watching via video feed, told her about Redbone. Bell Natra nodded.
“I was wondering if I'd have to search the entire planet, but this is a relief. What did that to the man named Redbone was a ‘Time Stone’.”
“A Time Stone?”
Shadowman and the heroes on the monitor listened intently. Dr. Letter’s eyes gleamed.
“Twenty years ago in Earth time. One hundred years ago in Natra time. It's a stone with power that was stolen by royal kidnappers. It looks like this.”
Bell Natra held out her hand, and a hologram emerged from a device on her wrist. A deep blue jewel.
“This is a Blue Time Stone. It has the power to pull a body's time forward. If he'd been left alone, Redbone would have collapsed like this a year from now.”
Dr. Letter looked surprised.
-That's right. If left untreated, that's what would have happened. I see. The Time Stone made Redbone's body age a full year. Pulling time forward… Then there really is no cure.
“There is a way.”
At Bell Natra’s words, all eyes were on her.
“Among the Time Stones, there's a red one. It's called a Red Stone, and it turns back time. You just need to find it and use it on Redbone. The amount of time reversed depends on its size, though…”
“Then we just need to find the biggest one.”
“The biggest one is mine. And that's why I'm helping you.”
“Helping us?”
The heroes frowned at Bell Natra's words. Seeing their expressions, Bell Natra crossed her arms.
“Do you know how to use a Red Stone? How to tell them apart? What if you use one that's too big and Redbone gets younger? What if he becomes a baby? Can you handle this on your own?”
The thought of Redbone as a baby left them all speechless. Greenwing spoke up.
-Then how was the Blue Stone used on Redbone?
“There must be people who know about the Time Stones. People who've studied them long enough to harness their power.”
-He must have been hit with its power during the last battle.
Dr. Letter’s words made the heroes nod in agreement.
-But how do you know so much about the Time Stones?
Bell Natra smiled.
“How do you think Natrans can live for over 100 years?”
Ah.
The heroes nodded. Shadowman also nodded with a displeased look. Bell Natra smiled and extended her hand.
“Alright. Then we have a temporary alliance.”
“You get what you want, and I get what I want.”
Shadowman took her hand. The heroes and Bell Natra set out.
“Time Stone.”
Park Sungwon felt that it was an item that gave him a good feeling. Reversing a user's biological clock… it seemed like an object that existed for a very specific someone. His heart pounded with anticipation.
Using Assemble's intelligence network, the heroes tracked down the ‘Time Stones’ disguised as jewels and raided a terrorist organization that had discovered their true power and was studying them.
The heroes, who had infiltrated the terrorist base to secure the Time Stones, gasped at the sight in the deepest part of the underground facility.
[1 Month-Blue] [2 Months-Blue]… [1 Year 2 Months-Blue] [1 Year 3 Months-Blue]…
Numerous capsules were carefully stored in small boxes.
The shortest was a few days, the longest was one year and three months.
In the innermost part of the terrorist base, the Time Stones were being processed into capsules.
A blue liquid inside a hard glass capsule. Greenwing picked up a one-month blue capsule.
“Looks like they were selling them like this. The enemy we fought last time must have bought one.”
-Judging by the capsule's material, it's not for oral ingestion. It seems you have to break the capsule and come into contact with the liquid inside.
“So Redbone must have touched it by mistake and aged.”
“But there are no red capsules.”
“They make you younger, so they were probably sold off everywhere. Let's find the Time Stones first.”
The heroes moved to find the Time Stones, and their movements were detected by the enemy. As foes swarmed them, Shadowman and the heroes fought fiercely to save Redbone.
“But why would anyone want to get older? I get wanting to be younger.”
Greenwing asked as he moved swiftly toward an enemy.
-It could be to shorten the healing period for surgery. Congenital diseases would remain even if you got younger.
“Aha.”
After all the fighting was over, Greenwing, who was collecting the Time Stones, tilted his head as he looked at Bell Natra’s feet.
“Bell. Your shadow is pretty well-behaved, huh?”
“Bell?”
“What? Your full name's too long.”
Ignoring Shadowman's disapproving look, Greenwing continued.
“Shadowman's shadow is always causing all sorts of trouble, so he has a hard time.”
“That damn shadow of his tripped me again today.”
Bell Natra stared intently at Shadowman's shadow. Under her piercing gaze, the wiggling shadow slowly flattened itself against the floor, pretending to be a normal shadow.
“Too late now, you dummy.”
Greenwing chuckled.
Seeing Bell Natra silently observing his partner, his shadow, Shadowman spoke up.
“What about the one for Redbone?”
“Here. This one is for exactly one year and one month.”
Bell Natra, averting her gaze from the shadow, showed them an unprocessed Red Time Stone. At the sight of its brilliant red light, Shadowman and the heroes breathed a sigh of relief. They boarded the airship and headed for the Assemble base.
A night where the hum of the airship's engine could be heard faintly.
“The king of Natra is chosen from the strongest of the candidates.”
Shadowman, Mac, who had been gazing at the night sky, turned around. Bell Natra was looking up at the sky.
“That's my father, Tul Natra.”
“Tul Natra…”
“And your father, too.”
Mac's head snapped up. Bell Natra continued to stare at the sky.
“Once a king is chosen, the other candidates infuse a portion of their power into the planet's core and become Natran nobles. Well, some candidates, having been raised as potential kings since childhood, can't adjust to a normal life, but with their powers weakened, most just accept it. Though there were some who didn't.”
“…”
“There were two candidates who fled without infusing their power into the planet's core. To threaten the king, Tul Natra, who was pursuing them, they kidnapped his newborn child.”
Mac's eyes deepened.
“Tul Natra could only sit on his throne. He couldn't give chase. A knife was held to his child's throat. No one, not a single person, could move. So we didn't even know where the kidnappers went. The only thing Tul Natra could trust was the pendant hanging around the child's neck.”
Mac unknowingly gripped the pendant around his own neck. Bell Natra smiled gently. Yes. That was the necklace.
“We waited for the child's hand to touch the pendant. His foot would have been fine, too. As long as any part of his body touched it, the necklace would send a signal. Then one day, the signal went off. It took 100 years.”
“That place was…”
“Yes. Here, on Earth.”
The Natran fleet that filled the sky.
They had simply come to find their son, but the clear difference in scientific prowess plunged the people of Earth into fear.
Fired upon from all sides, the Natrans had no choice but to retaliate bit by bit. They should have been more careful, but with the first clue in 100 years, Tul Natra's reason was very, very faint.
“That's when a man who used shadows appeared.”
Mac knew who that was. It was him. It was Shadowman.