allonlinenovel Chapter 100 The Sea of Decay and the Wasteland, Nausicaä's Expedition
Chapter 100 The Sea of Decay and the Wasteland, Nausicaä's Expedition
There are many reasons why Pejite was destroyed. Whether it was because he possessed a treasure that was a crime or because he was too ambitious, it can ultimately be explained in one sentence.
Alas! If each of the six states had cherished its own people, they would have been able to resist Qin!
The village of Wind Valley has only five hundred people, while Peget is a small country, but it's still about the size of a city. In the end, they were defeated by Kushana in a single encounter!
Whether in the present or the anime, Kushana, seeing the united strength of the Valley of the Wind, dared not act rashly. This is because Kushana is not only a military strategist but also a politician; destroying the Valley of the Wind would be easy, but it would cost her her political reputation.
At this moment, the beautiful woman lay languidly on the couch, her golden nail plates shining brightly under the lamplight.
"So, the people from Laputa have left?"
"Hehe, that's good! Maybe he really is looking for a pet?"
Crotova knew about the existence of the Secret Stone, but she pretended not to know in front of Kushana, because that would allow her to live longer.
"Hmph! That's fine too. If it really falls into his hands, it might not be a good thing. Maybe we can cooperate with Laputa instead."
Kushana ignored his feigned ignorance. Although she talked about cooperation, it was clear from her eyes that she would not hesitate to eliminate Liu Yufei should the opportunity arise.
Crotova, standing to the side, felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Kushana's icy gaze, even though he was adept at playing both sides. They were siblings, weren't they? Two kinds of fruit can't grow on the same vine; they were both ruthless!
"Your Highness, it seems our bargaining chips aren't enough! Or are you planning to...?"
As he spoke, Crotova gave Kushana a meaningful look. To be honest, with Kushana's looks, no man could remain unmoved, and Crotova himself was no exception.
Kushana also gave Crotova a cold look.
"How's it going in the Valley of the Wind?"
"They are still repairing the gunboats; it seems they haven't reached an alliance with Laputa."
Because of the new alliance, the alliance between Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Tolmekia automatically became invalid, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind no longer needed to repair its gunboats or prepare for war.
"Then everything will proceed as usual, and we'll assemble as planned. No! This place is awful; I don't want to stay here for another second."
At this time, her brothers were making great achievements and expanding their territories, while Kushana could only eat sand here. How could this not make her feel bad?
Kushana was enthusiastic about the war, but Nausicaä was passive. In the end, nothing changed. After the gunboat test flight was over, she was about to pilot the only gunboat in the Valley of the Wind into the battlefield.
Nausicaä was hiding in her small underground chamber, watching the blooming spores and the clear flowing water. Yuba arrived just then and was immediately startled by the scene before him.
"Nausicaä, what's going on? Isn't this a plant from the Sea of Decay?"
Nausicaä, who had been lost in thought, also came to her senses.
"I cultivated these from spores I collected, so don't worry, they won't emit miasma!"
"Ah! Won't it emit poison gas? The air here is so fresh!!"
Yuba looked around. As a frequent visitor to the Sea of Decay, he immediately recognized some of the plants.
"How could this be? Even the highly poisonous arsenic-infused plant has bloomed!!"
“Master, the water here is drawn up from 500 meters underground using a large windmill, and the sand is also collected from the same well. I have discovered that clean water and soil can prevent the trees in the decaying sea from emitting toxins.”
Nausicaä's tone was somewhat disappointed, or rather, forlorn. She was about to participate in a war of uncertain fate, and everything here would disappear with her departure.
More importantly, it reveals her despair and helplessness towards the world. Nausicaä has repeatedly ventured into the Sea of Decay in recent years to uncover its ultimate secret, yet upon learning it, she felt utterly helpless.
"The land is the one that has truly been polluted; even the soil in the Valley of the Wind has been contaminated. Why? Who has turned this world into this state?"
Nausicaä's eyes were filled with tears, but even more so with resentment and helplessness. She was so resentful that she wanted to shout, but her helpless shouts were powerless. It was as if she was questioning herself, but unfortunately, no one could give her an answer, because she herself could not give herself the true answer in her heart.
The filth of the Sea of Decay lies not in the Sea of Decay itself, but in the human heart. Only by seeing through the dirtiest side of the heart and deeply dissecting one's own soul can one find one's true self, just as even in a filthy underground, there still lies the last vestige of conscience and hope.
Like the Sea of Decay, it appears desolate on the surface, but at its core lies the last vestige of life. It is also like the Qilin God, which exudes destruction on the outside, but contains the power of life within.
Unfortunately, others only saw one side of his power; he wanted the power of life but feared being tainted by the power of death. To reiterate, rather than calling the Sea of Decay a curse, it's more accurate to say...
Living in this world is a curse!
This vitality is not a gift from nature, but a result of human coercion. The Sea of Decay is the best punishment for human arrogance.
The movie doesn't explain it, but the comics do: the Sea of Decay wasn't formed naturally, but rather is the work of humans. Of course, not modern humans; you could call them ancient humans, or an ancient civilization.
These people were unwilling to let their civilization perish, and tried every means to prolong their lives, but that was all they could do. They naively believed that the Sea of Decay would purify everything, so they created the swift-growing, mortal insectoid race.
But they underestimated the greatness of nature, the insects, and even more so, humankind.
The continuation of life lies in evolution. As time goes by, there will be more and more people like Nausicaä, and Nausicaä's descendants will continue to evolve until they are completely adapted to this new environment.
And that's how those insects evolved. At first, the insect race didn't have intelligence, but life is good at creating miracles. Those insects, by chance, gained higher intelligence, which is called the hive mind.
Looking at the pained and helpless Nausicaä before him, Yuba felt deeply ashamed. As a pioneer, he was unable to provide Nausicaä with better guidance.
"You discovered all of these yourself?"
"Yes! Because I want to cure my father's and everyone else's illnesses! But... this place has to close down too!!"
It's certain that Nausicaä's level of understanding is not as high as Sheeta's. The so-called "taking the world as one's own responsibility" is actually just empty talk from a scholar. Precisely because of this, Nausicaä has to face real-world problems.
The Nausicaä in the manga is extremely decisive and ruthless, and she doesn't have an extreme sense of compassion. Everything she does has a clear goal, and she is down-to-earth!
The movie portrays it in a rather unrealistic way, where he reconciles with Kushana, his father's killer, which is rather absurd.
In the manga, Kushana did not kill Gil, which is why the story continues. This is because people can act against humanity and it's okay to be a bit unconventional, but they won't act against human nature.
"I just turned off the water here too. It won't be long before this place withers away!"
At this point, even the usually strong Nausicaä couldn't hold back any longer and threw herself into Yuba's arms.
As the daughter of the clan chief, Gil was more enlightened than the leaders of other factions, but to be honest, she didn't show Nausicaä enough love from a young age. This was compounded by her mother's coldness.
So Nausicaä learned to be self-reliant from a young age, and only dared to show her vulnerable side in front of her teacher.
Nausicaä sobbed in Yuba's arms. Yuba knew, of course, that Nausicaä was in pain. Their relationship was complicated. Although they were master and disciple, Yuba always treated Nausicaä like a daughter. However, Nausicaä was often very mature, so much so that sometimes they were friends.
"Nausicaä..."
Yuba gently patted Nausicaä's back, his tone not so much of a comfort as of guilt for his own inadequacy.
"Teacher, I'm so afraid of war!"
"Nausicaä, your power is a power of good; it will guide you to find the light!!"
Yuba didn't know how to comfort her, because Nausicaä's abilities were too special. She was a natural leader, and if used for good, she would definitely be an unparalleled leader. But if this ability was used to pursue power, countless people would suffer as a result.
Like Conqueror's Haki in One Piece, anyone who possesses this ability is a born king, destined to be either a hero who pacifies the chaotic world or a tyrant who stirs up trouble.
Unfortunately, whether you become a hero or a tyrant is mostly not up to you. Just like Nausicaä at this moment, even if she is very unwilling, she is still inevitably drawn into the war.
In the end, Nausicaä sailed the gunboat of the Valley of the Wind to the border of the Land of the Earth Demons in place of her father.
"Grandpa Mitt, I'm counting on you from now on!!"
"Your Highness, rest assured! I accompanied your father on his campaigns and never made a mistake!!"
As he spoke, he gave Nausicaä a thumbs-up, and Nausicaä smiled knowingly. Although her heart was still unsettled, she knew that this was the time to keep it from showing.
"Your Highness, we're about to take off!!"
Sizzle... Boom...
With the roar of the engine, the yellow gunboat slowly rose, its tow rope dragging on the ground and sparks flying. As the gunboat ascended, the transport ship behind it also began to slowly rise.
The Kingdom of Wind Valley was not the only one that came to the alliance meeting. Soon, a formation of gunboats appeared in the sky, but these gunboats were all different in color and direction.
"Grandpa Mitt, can you hear that? That gunboat from the Salt Kingdom over there?"
"Ah!! Hahaha, I see it! That's an antique from two hundred years ago! We'd better not touch it and let that old bastard try to scam us! Hahaha!!"
Judging from Grandpa Mitt's tone, the two countries clearly had a good relationship. Sure enough, upon seeing the yellow gunboat from the Valley of the Wind, a head popped out of the cockpit, holding a megaphone and shouting:
"Is that Kiel? Old man, you're still as nimble as ever with your gunboat!"
Nausicaä was not intimidated at all. She opened the cockpit door and gave the other side a provocative smile.
"Ah! It's a girl, isn't it Gil?"
The person behind immediately said:
"Kier's old and has no son, this must be his daughter! She's really beautiful, we can't let a little girl outshine us! Come on, old buddies!"