Chapter 76: Our Goal Is the Vast Universe
The performance was abruptly interrupted, causing Saito Shuichi's father, Saito Renzhi, to suddenly look unhappy.
"What are you saying? No one understands vortexes better than me. Don't believe me? Watch this!"
With that, he bent down. Though he was already an elderly man with gray hair, his body was unusually flexible, and his forehead could even touch his knees.
"Crack!"
No, not flexible, but determined.
Even as the sound of bones breaking could be heard crisp and clear, Saito Renzhi continued his movements without stopping. From his posture, he seemed ready to coil his body into a vortex, even if it meant breaking every bone in his body.
Uesugi Kiyoshi and Saito Shuichi quickly held him back, forcibly stopping his actions.
"Is this what you call 'word therapy'?" Saito Shuichi asked softly, his expression turning sour.
"To cure a serious illness, you need to take strong medicine!"
Uesugi Kiyoshi felt he had no choice. Even if he didn'thing, one day this old man would stretch his body and curl up into a ball.
In this case, we can only try our best even if the situation seems hopeless.
He adjusted his expression, patted Saito Renzhi's shoulder, and chuckled, saying, "Wake up, Mr. Saito, don't you find your actions ridiculous?"
"Ridiculous?" Saito Renzhi's eyes glinted with a blood-red shade.
"You are working so hard to pose like this, but the human body already has whirlpools naturally. Why bother doing this?"
Uesugi Kiyoshi pointed to his body and demonstrated, "Fingerprints, head spinning, cochlea, even the structure of DNA, in a sense, they all have whirlpool structures. If you want to see whirlpools, just stretch out your hand, right?"
Watching Saito Renzhi looking pensive, he continued, "Moreover, what you are performing is just for show, without actual substance!"
"Why do you say that?"
"Where lies the charm of a vortex? Is it simply in its concentric circular lines? No, that is just its external appearance! The most important thing is its unique attraction, the kind of irresistible charm that makes it the essence of a vortex!"
Saito Renzhi frowned thoughtfully, then suddenly understood.
"Indeed, that's right, by the way, who are you?"
"He is called Uzumaki Naruto, a visitor from another place," introduced Saito Shuichi.
"Uzumaki Naruto... No wonder you understand vortices so well!"
Saito Renzhi nodded approvingly, then took a deep breath, causing a strong wind to suddenly blow in the sealed room, swirling paper scraps and dust off the ground and desk, flying towards his mouth, forming a vortex shape in the air.
After swallowing the debris, he looked triumphant towards Uesugi Kiyoshi.
"Vortex-kun, is this what you meant?"
You really have a strong intuition...
If things continue like this, who knows, we might even create a spiral galaxy!
"No, it's not like that!"
Watching Saito Shuichi's expression turning worse, Uesugi Kiyoshi quickly changed his strategy.
"Mr. Saito, your perspective is too narrow! Look up at the sky!"
"The ceiling? There's nothing there!"
"It's the vast space beyond!" pointed Uesugi Kiyoshi corrected, "The Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, the Triangulum Galaxy, 3 million light-years away with a diameter of 50,000 light-years, the Ruby Galaxy, 12 million light-years away, the Canis Major Galaxy, 30 million light-years away, the Pisces Galaxy, 32 million light-years away..."
"These are all spiral galaxies, with centers that can attract everything like vortex black holes. Even though there are billions of stars like the Sun trapped within, unable to break free!"
"Compared to them, your vortex, no, even all the vortexes on Earth combined, are just pebbles in the ocean. You love vortexes so much, yet you turn a blind eye to these most immense, most attractive vortexes. You ponder on your insignificant body every day, can you still claim to understand vortexes?"
Saito Renzhi was drenched in cold sweat after hearing these words, and knelt down on the ground.
"Yes, I can't believe it... But what should I do?"
"It's not too late to turn back now. Forget about the past, and start spending your limited life on endless exploration from today! Charge into the swirling universe ahead!"
The passionate words filled Saito Renzhi with boundless fighting spirit. Struggling to stand up, he tightly held Uesugi Kiyoshi's hand, tears streaming down his face.
"Thank you... I can't wait any longer. Now, immediately, I'm going to dedicate myself to astronomy!"
"Oh, great timing, sir!" Uesugi Kiyoshi also tightly grasped the other's hand. "The sky is about to darken, it's a clear day today. Even as a beginner like you, you'll definitely be able to see the Andromeda Galaxy!"
Saito Renzhi's excitement turned his face red and made his hands and feet tremble.
"Really? By the way, do you need a telescope? I remember Shuichi has one..."
"It's mine now." Uesugi Kiyoshi brought out the telescope and placed it in front of him. "But don't worry, even for your determination, I won't charge a high price!"
.........…
When coming out of the Saito family, it had become the Uesugi family. Besides that, Uesugi Kiyoshi found an extra 200,000 yen in his pocket.
There was no way, Saito Renzhi had already spent a lot of money before to buy his collectibles.
Saito Shuichi's telescope was really fancy, there was only one in the whole town. Also, since the Head Balloon was currently inactive, it would take at least a week to bring one from outside.
So, he could ask for a high price, fortunately Saito Renzhi was not thinking clearly at the moment and didn't bargain at all.
"Vortex-kunn, what are you planning to do?" Saito Shuichi, following Uesugi Kiyoshi, couldn't help but ask.
His instinct told him that the other person could help them get out of this crisis.
However, reality told him that the other person had already helped them get rid of their wealth.
After thinking for a moment, Uesugi Kiyoshi decided to be honest.
"Last time you mentioned that we are both participants and observers of this game, right?"
Saito Shuichi nodded.
"You're wrong. Besides these two identities, I am also a high-level player in this game, already completed it."
"So?"
"So, I know the ending of the game."
Uesugi Kiyoshi pointed to the center of the town, where there was a round pond named Dragonfly Pond.
"Beneath Dragonfly Pond lies the reason for the curse, the mastermind behind all of this. If it doesn't absorb everyone entering Black Vortex Town, it will not stop causing trouble."
"I see, that's why..."
Uesugi Kiyoshi's words aligned with Saito Shuichi's feelings. He had long felt that something was off about the pond, but couldn't pinpoint what.
"So are you planning to save up enough money and hire people to fill up the pond?"
"Do you think this curse will be easy to solve?" Uesugi Kiyoshi looked at Saito Shuichi in surprise. "I am prepared to fulfill its wish in advance!"
