Noah grimaced as he woke up from the medical pod. The first thing he did was immediately switch his Encore character back to Verina.
While he was unconscious, the pain from the character's overclocking wasn't particularly obvious. But the moment he woke up, the lingering torment from prolonged overclocking felt worse than stepping on a toothpick with his little toe and then unexpectedly kicking the bed frame hard.
"Bro, you're finally awake. I was so worried about you."
Aalto took one big step forward and immediately opened the medical pod's barrier for Noah attentively:
"Not long after you went in, Doctor Mo noticed you suddenly started overclocking. We wanted to enter Encore's consciousness together to bring you back, but we still couldn't get in."
"The Wooly's, you guys are really so Wooly reliable meow~"
Noah covered his mouth halfway through speaking, calmed himself down, reorganized his language ability, and then spoke again:
"How long was I asleep? How is Encore?"
"Just four hours, not too long. Encore, she..."
A small figure with pink twin-tails pushed Aalto aside and waved enthusiastically at Noah:
"Big Brother Noah, Encore is here! Encore woke up ten minutes ago."
"Good, good! Encore Warrior is really amazing."
Noah ignored Aalto beside him, walked out of the medical pod, and smiled as he lifted Encore high up:
"Encore, do you still remember what you dreamed about while you were sleeping?"
"I forgot a lot right after waking up, but Encore seems to have dreamed about Mommy, and a Wooly Warrior who looks a lot like Big Brother Noah."
Encore spoke excitedly yet puzzled:
"Big Brother Noah, Encore heard you are a great hero who saved the world."
"Stop joking, you little rascal. How could I possibly be a savior? I'm the most timid and afraid of trouble."
Noah teased her, put Encore down, and stretched comfortably.
Sensing a gaze, he turned his head and met Doctor Mo's eyes. She was holding a small stack of paper reports.
"This is?" Noah asked, confused.
Doctor Mo gave Aalto a look. The latter understood and led Encore away, leaving only Noah and Doctor Mo in the medical room.
"Sorry, Mister Noah. Out of concern for your safety, I performed a health check on you without your permission."
Doctor Mo handed over a paper report full of professional terms and complex charts, her expression serious:
"After examination, I found that your overclocking condition is very serious. With your current state, you will need to rest in the treatment pod for a full month to recover."
"Uh..."
For a moment, Noah didn't know how to explain to Doctor Mo.
It was the Encore character that was overclocked. What did that have to do with him?
"How about you check again?"
"Let's try then."
Two minutes later, Doctor Mo stared blankly at the brand new examination report in her hand.
The result showed: Extremely healthy!
"Science no longer exists." Doctor Mo muttered to herself.
"My ability is special and cannot be judged by common sense." Noah gave a brief explanation and waved goodbye:
"Alright, see you later."
Doctor Mo nodded, watching Noah leave the treatment room.
She lowered her gaze again, repeatedly comparing the two completely different examination reports.
One showed severe overclocking. The other showed perfect stability.
"Strange. How can two completely different Resonance abilities appear in the same person? This is absolutely impossible. No one in Solaris should be able to be compatible with multiple Resonance powers."
Doctor Mo repeatedly studied the Resonance frequency data on the report, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. She muttered uncertainly:
"Unless... Mister Noah's Resonance ability is originally higher than these two Resonance powers. By compressing and down-tuning the frequency bands of the original Resonance powers, he can switch between various different Resonance abilities."
"It seems the Black Shores once published a paper describing this situation."
Doctor Mo opened her computer and pulled up various professional documents, quickly finding the result:
"Oh... So this kind of ability has appeared before, but that person could only switch between six different attribute powers at most."
"Let me see who this person is— Huh? Why is there no record? Which rookie wrote this paper? So unrigorous and still dared to publish it—"
"Hiss~ It's the Shorekeeper. Never mind then."
...
The setting sun was infinitely beautiful, yet it was nearing dusk.
Large numbers of Black Shores personnel boarded the ships one after another, returning to enjoy the short holiday given by the Shorekeeper.
Noah stood at a high place, leaning against the railing as he watched everyone leave by boat. While waiting for the Shorekeeper, he opened his Resonator panel.
5-star Characters: 6-chain Jinhsi, 6-chain Carlotta, 6-chain Cartethyia, Rover (6-chain Spectro, 6-chain Havoc).
2-chain Camellya, 2-chain Shorekeeper, 1-chain Verina, 1-chain Encore.
0-chain Zhezhi, 0-chain Cantarella, 0-chain Ciaccona, 0-chain Lingyang, 0-chain Xiangli Yao.
5-star Weapons: Ages of Harvest, The Last Dance, Crown of Valor, Red Spring, Rime-Draped Sprouts, Bloodpact's Pledge (Refined 5), Emerald of Genesis, Static Mist.
4-star Characters: All 6-chain.
4-star Weapons: Countless.
Inventory: Radiant Tide0, Lustrous Tide5, Astrite*7080.
"How many pulls does a character need before it's considered enough?"
Checking each character's fully built panels one by one, Noah felt like he was counting the money in his little treasury. A satisfied smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
Light footsteps sounded behind him.
"I am truly sorry. Due to some trivial matters in the Black Shores, I delayed your timely return to Jinzhou again."
The Shorekeeper spoke apologetically first:
"Thank you once again for waking Encore."
"It was just a casual thing. I quite like that kid Encore." Noah smiled. "Next, I'll have to trouble you to send me back to Jinzhou."
"Understood."
A butterfly formed from Sonoro Sphere energy flew out from the Shorekeeper's hand and landed at Noah's feet, forming a circular white light ring.
"Wait a moment." Noah suddenly stopped the Shorekeeper's action and asked hesitantly: "Using time sequence authority, can it revive dead people?"
"No."
The Shorekeeper shook their head:
"Once dead, the frequency dissipates. Dissipated frequencies cannot be reassembled. This is an iron law of Solaris."
"Just like how seeds will sprout and flowers will wither, every person only has one life. It's very fair. Unless a Lament occurs, the iron law cannot be violated."
"Even Encore's fantasy manifestation cannot create life's frequency from nothing. The deceased cannot return. All we can do is cherish the people before us."
"...I've learned my lesson."
Noah gave a bitter smile.
He was too naive. Even with the ability to pull characters, there were still things he couldn't do.
If there was a way to revive the deceased, the Rover in the original Wuthering Waves plot wouldn't need to restart civilization again and again.
However... was the iron law really that unbreakable? He didn't believe it. Once he got Encore to 6-chain, he would definitely challenge this iron law.
"Send me back, thank you."
The Shorekeeper's sincere whisper served as the final farewell:
"The Black Shores will always welcome you."
...