Childhood Anime Grand Tour

"Kid, stop dreaming and hurry up!!"

Seeing the increasingly intense lightning, Liu Yufei knew it was his last chance. He immediately accelerated, and the white air currents on his wings flowed like streaks of light.

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As the darkness was broken, the previously torn sky instantly calmed down, the chaotic storm became docile, and the raging thunder no longer showed its anger. What came into view was only a vast expanse of azure sky and sea!

“Hida…”

Looking at the scenery before them, Pazu was filled with longing, and Sheeta smiled and excitedly hugged Pazu.

"Baru, that's great!"

Compared to Pazu's selfless dedication to his ideals, Shida was even happier that Pazu was safe. The two immediately embraced and laughed, while Liu Yufei, who was witnessing their affection, also showed a maternal smile.

Pazu, who was holding Sheeta, stared blankly at the city gradually appearing in front of him.

"Laputa!"

Liu Yufei, of course, also saw it. Looking at the ancient city before him, he felt a surge of excitement, but then he smiled and said:

"We're about to land!!"

As he spoke, Liu Yufei's wings slowly retracted, and the aircraft glided towards Laputa. Once the three landed, Balu jumped down first, and looking at the enormous city, he felt a sense of unreality.

People are always like this: when their ideals are not yet realized, they are always pursuing them with all their might, but when their ideals are realized, they dare not admit reality.

Fortunately, Sheeta also came out. Upon seeing Sheeta, Pazu no longer felt like he was in a dream. He immediately went up and hugged Sheeta, and the two of them started spinning around happily.

"Hida, hahaha..."

"Hahaha, Balu..."

The delicate and supple Sheeta was swung around by Pazu as if dancing, and Liu Yufei, who had transformed into human form, felt so jealous!! But he immediately took out his camera from his spatial storage and started snapping pictures.

"Ah!! Mr. Liu, are you alright?!"

This wasn't the first time Liu Yufei had secretly photographed him, and Balu, being oblivious, was already used to it. He immediately put down Shida and instead became concerned about Liu Yufei's condition!

Liu Yufei immediately made the camera disappear, and said with a casual smile:

"Don't worry, Little Thunder, easy to handle! Eh!!"

Liu Yufei was about to brag a bit, but his eyes suddenly fell on Balu. When Balu saw Liu Yufei's gaze, he subconsciously took a step back.

"Ah!! You..."

Liu Yufei walked up in a few steps, looked down at Balu's head, and said:

"Your hat is glued on, isn't it?!"

After saying that, Liu Yufei pulled off Balu's hat and confirmed that it wasn't glued on. That was a bug. The wind force just now was at least level twelve, and Liu Yufei almost couldn't withstand it, but Balu's hat was still on his head without any problems.

Liu Yufei put the hat on his head, then took it off, and after confirming there was no glue left, put it back on.

"I've given it to you as a keepsake. It's a bit small though! I'll adjust it later!!"

"Eh!!"

In the end, Balu just smiled and reached out, not taking his hat back! Meanwhile, Sheeta calmed down after her initial excitement. Lapp had arrived, but what was to be done now? And what about those people in the military?

Pazu, of course, noticed Sheeta's nervousness. Once the adrenaline rush of their idealism subsided, they returned to reality!

"Mr. Liu..."

Hida cautiously called out to Liu Yufei, who, who had been admiring the beautiful scenery, turned around with a smile and said:

"Your Highness, we should..."

Liu Yufei had originally intended to tease Shida's mindset, but seeing her expression, he finally abandoned his nonchalant demeanor, looked at her, and said softly:

"Sheeta, can you call me brother?"

Her eyes held a longing, even a pleading look. He didn't even know why he was making such a request. Xida looked at Liu Yufei, her face instantly lighting up with a smile, and she called out in an extremely sweet voice:

"Onii-chan!"

"Hahaha, hahaha!!"

Liu Yufei immediately smiled happily, reaching out to stroke Xida's hair. At this moment, he felt incredibly joyful, as if his soul had been elevated. He then looked at Xida firmly and said:

"Sheeta, don't worry, your brother will protect you!!"

This was Liu Yufei's promise. As an adult, he wouldn't make promises lightly, but at this moment he knew that some things were worth protecting with all his heart.

Regardless of what happened before, Liu Yufei was ultimately just an outsider who acted entirely on his own whims. This matter had nothing to do with him; at most, he could only be considered a passerby.

Now that Xida calls him "brother," this is Liu Yufei's responsibility!

Laputa! What is Laputa? Laputa appears to be an island floating in the air, and what remains now is not Laputa in its full glory!

Laputa has three levels. The top level is the royal palace, and in the middle is the Kingdom Tree that governs Laputa. The entire Laputa rests beneath this giant tree, representing the dignity of the royal family, or rather, the highest ideal in the human spirit—this is what makes Laputa so captivating, and what Pazu and Shiida aspire to pursue.

The second layer is the ancient city wall. Although these walls have experienced hundreds of years of vicissitudes, they still show a majestic and imposing posture. Laputa was once a country with a strict hierarchy, and the second layer was where non-royal people lived.

This represents human ambition and desire, the pursuit of fame and fortune, and the craving for money. Therefore, it is located below, but the whole structure is much larger than it appears from above. Laputa was certainly more glorious in the past.

Only the second layer expanded continuously, not the first. This unrestrained expansion brought Laputa endless wealth, but also sowed the seeds of countless hidden dangers, ultimately leading to Laputa's demise.

The second pursuit of wealth was what General Muro sought. Having already enjoyed power, he only wanted to use wealth to chase even greater power.

The third layer is much more monotonous, consisting of the giant sphere beneath Laputa, only half of which is visible at this point. Of course, only half of it will be visible.

Because it represents war and destruction, as can be seen from the final Skyfire weapon, it is the ultimate symbol of Laputa's military power, which is what Muska pursues.

The first level is the palace, the second level is the fortress. Whatever they symbolize, they ultimately depend on the existence of the third level. Of course, these are just appearances!

Most people only care about the surface appearance. In the end, everyone knows that the so-called sky city of Laputa is neither based on the big tree above nor on the technological weapons below.

The only things that can truly float in the air are the levitation stone crystals; the vast Laputa is ultimately just a burden attached to these crystals!

So-called desires, ambitions, power, and wealth—they all package themselves as ideals, including the highest palace, which is their final disguise.

Unfortunately, a disguise is still a disguise, and the so-called ideal is just materialism taken to its extreme! When Laputa was shattered, the crystals were still crystals.

Its freedom is unbound by anything—not the earth, not Laputa. Even after countless ages, it will still drift in the sky, watching the endless cycle of reincarnation below.

The greatest pain for mankind is not getting what they want, and the greater sorrow is getting something but not realizing it. Often, our souls are most excited at the moment when our ideals are realized, but when our ideals are realized, or our current desires are satisfied, we feel empty inside.

Human nature is to crave novelty and tire of the old. Driven by insatiable desires, we instinctively pursue other things, toiling our entire lives until we die of exhaustion.

Laputa was modeled after the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but this miraculous garden eventually disappeared into the annals of history.

Like the Hanging Gardens, Laputa is surrounded by green hills and clear waters, with birds singing and flowers blooming. Laputa is not an extremely industrialized country, and its people live in harmony with nature.

Pazu and Shiita are teenagers who, a century later, boarded a rudimentary flying machine to reach Laputa. Liu Yufei, too, relied on wings. Both were filled with lofty ideals as they gazed upon the magnificent sight of Laputa.

The inventors of flying machines must have initially harbored lofty ideals, wanting their bodies to soar into the sky and their souls to sing with the birds. But nature is stable, and so is industry.

The most unstable thing is the human heart. Industry was born in the hands of mankind, but mankind cannot control the power of technology, just as it cannot control its own heart.

After the dream of flying to the sky was realized, humanity's next goal was to conquer the skies, and that's how airplanes came about! And all of humanity's cutting-edge technologies were primarily intended to serve warfare, so fighter jets naturally followed.

These things change with the changes in people's hearts. Ironically, humans cannot control their own hearts. Strip away the cloak of civilization, and the essence of humans is no different from that of animals.

So-called civilization is also a disguise, just like Laputa, which ultimately perished because of human nature.

Laputa never belonged to the sky, yet it eventually occupied and even conquered it. But in the end, it still had to return to Mother Earth's embrace.

Because everything except the levitation stone in the center of Laputa belongs to the earth, and in fact, the levitation stone originally belonged to the earth as well. A joke by the wind goddess caused the people of Laputa to lose themselves, ultimately leading them into the agony of struggling with their own hearts.

Fortunately, the king of Laputa eventually led his people back to the earth, because they belonged to the earth, as can be seen from the large tree in the middle of the royal family, which cannot be separated from the land.

The dream is to simplify and return to the pure beauty, so Pazu and Shida's destination is the rooftop garden of Laputa, which is also the purest sanctuary in the depths of the old man's soul.

Only those with a pure passion for their dreams, like Pazu and Sheeta, who are not distorted by the materialism of modern society, can reach the highest realm of humanity.

Therefore, what people see is determined by their own hearts. What Balu and his companions saw was an incredibly beautiful landscape, so Laputa naturally showed them kindness.