Chapter 133: Gamanion

Shun followed the direction of Mu’s pointing finger and looked over, only to see the short-stemmed silver cup emitting a faint, ethereal glow.

Although the cup’s body bore some damage, overall it gave off a vibrant, living sensation, much like a broken tree branch that had sprouted anew and was still stubbornly clinging to life.

In stark contrast, the Chameleon Cloth and the Cepheus Cloth he had brought with them were completely dull in luster, lifeless and dead, indistinguishable from rotted, withered wood.

The difference between the two was instantly apparent at a glance.

Mu tapped the shattered components of the Cepheus Cloth and said, "The Chameleon Cloth and the Cepheus Cloth are both dead. Even if we repair all of their individual parts, they will remain nothing more than a pile of hard armor, no longer the Cloths they once were."

"Then what must we do to bring them back to life?" Shun asked urgently.

"It must require Gammanium!" Combining Kiki's explanation with the intelligence he had gathered, Yin Shiqi slowly uttered the answer.

Mu gave him an approving look and said at a leisurely pace, "When a Cloth dies, you must infuse it with new vitality to reawaken its will."

"That means we only need to find this thing called Gammanium, right?" Shun breathed a sigh of relief.

Mu gently shook his head and replied, "Gammanium does not exist independently within the universe. It is something that cannot simply be found and extracted."

Shun was instantly dumbfounded, asking in confusion, "Since Gammanium cannot be found and extracted, how were the original Cloths manufactured in the first place?"

He had not forgotten that Gammanium was one of the primary materials used to forge a Cloth.

Mu pressed a finger to the center of Shun’s chest and said earnestly, "Gammanium exists only within living organisms, harbored within fresh blood."

"To reawaken the will of a dead Cloth, it must be bathed and nourished with fresh, warm blood brimming with vitality."

"Are you willing to shed your own blood to revive this Cloth?"

As he spoke, Mu cast a suggestive glance toward the Chameleon Cloth lying on the floor.

Looking at the damaged armor, Shun seemed to recall the scene where June had protected him from the two Specters.

"I am willing!" he replied earnestly.

"Very well!"

Mu nodded and said calmly, "Cut your wrist and nourish it with your warm blood!"

"Yes!"

Shun gave a firm acknowledgment, then picked up a fragment from the Chameleon Cloth and decisively slashed his left wrist.

In an instant, blood gushed forth, dripping continuously onto the Chameleon Cloth.

He did not know how much blood would be required to awaken the will of the Chameleon Cloth, but he felt no regret for his choice.

Senior Sister June had treated him exceptionally well, especially during the recent attack by the Specters, when she had nearly lost her life to protect him.

Now, it was time for him to repay that debt.

Glancing next to him at the Cepheus Cloth, which had been reduced to a pile of mere fragments, Shun shifted his gaze toward his right wrist.

Master Daidalos had also treated him with immense kindness, just like his own biological child.

He could not simply ignore it.

Immediately, he extended his right wrist toward the armor fragments, preparing to slice it open as well.

Just as he was about to do so, Mu grabbed his right hand, halting his further movement, and said, "Leave the Cepheus Cloth to me; I will handle it myself! You only need to focus on awakening the will of the Chameleon Cloth!"

With that, Mu released Shun’s wrist, gathered the power of his Cosmo, formed his hand into a blade, and then effortlessly slashed his own left wrist, letting his searing blood pour over the remains of the Cepheus Cloth.

"Mr. Mu, what are you doing?"

Shun was taken aback, unable to understand why Mu would do this.

Mu maintained a calm expression and said, "The Cepheus Cloth was destroyed during the recent expedition to North America. Daidalos gave his utmost to prevent the descent of an evil god from beyond the heavens, nearly costing him his own life."

"How could I possibly be stingy with just a little bit of blood?"

"Besides, reawakening the will of a Cloth consumes nearly a third of a person's blood."

"If you tried to awaken two Cloths all by yourself, it would be far too dangerous."

Shouldering the life of an innocent just to repair two Cloths did not align with his code of conduct as a Saint.

Hearing this, Shun said with gratitude, "Thank you, Mr. Mu!"

Nearby, watching the two of them nourish the Cloths with their blood, Yin Shiqi tentatively asked, "Um... Mr. Mu, should my Crater Cloth also be nourished with blood?"

Hearing this, Mu slowly turned his head and stared at him as if looking at an idiot, asking in return, "Is your vitality that abundant?"

Yin Shiqi shook his head and said seriously, "According to Sanctuary records, Cloths have the potential to grow alongside their wielders. Every time they are destroyed and subsequently repaired, they become stronger."

"And after hearing what you just said about the role of 'Gammanium,' I began to wonder if it was precisely because of blood that they underwent such growth and transformation."

The three main materials composing a Cloth—Orichalcum and Stardust Sand—are lifeless matter, incapable of change and lacking the potential for growth.

Only Gammanium is unique; it is what endows a Cloth with life.

And life possesses the characteristic of growth.

In other words, only Gammanium truly determines the growth of a Cloth.

Especially in Yin Shiqi’s memories, Pegasus Seiya’s Bronze Cloth had grown stronger through countless destructions, repairs, and baptisms of blood, ultimately transcending the Gold Cloths and evolving into the legendary Divine Cloth.

He couldn't help but suspect that blood, rich in vitality, might be the key to the evolution of Cloths.

Upon hearing this, little Kiki stopped examining the silver cup and cast a look of profound surprise in his direction.

On the other side, Shun also shot him an astonished glance.

Mu gave him a deep, penetrating look and said sternly, "You are very clever to have noticed the impact of blood on the transformation of a Cloth, but like those who blindly pursue stronger Cloths, you have fallen into a conceptual misconception."

Through those words, he had already seen through Yin Shiqi's train of thought.

"Huh?"

Yin Shiqi was puzzled.

Mu explained earnestly, "Although a Cloth possesses life, it is not a true living entity; it is merely a secondary lifeform existing somewhere between living and non-living."

"It cannot grow independently; it can only attach itself to its wielder and grow alongside them."

"This is also the origin of the legend that Cloths can evolve together with their wielders."

"As for blood, it is simply a catalyst that helps a Cloth break through its existing shackles. It does not cause the Cloth to grow on its own; it merely raises the upper limit of the Cloth's potential."

"If you want to make a Cloth stronger, you must rely on your own efforts to make your Cosmo stronger."

"If your own strength is insufficient, even if you are given a stronger Cloth, you will never be able to wield it!"

Hearing this heartfelt advice, Yin Shiqi experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment.

He had been aiming too high, too soon.

A thousand times the speed of sound was merely the threshold to use a Silver Cloth; only by approaching infinity relative to the speed of sound and reaching the limit of the Sixth Sense could one fully unleash the power of a Silver Cloth.

As for his current self, he was barely at around thirty thousand times the speed of sound. He couldn't even fully unleash the power of a Silver Cloth yet, making the pursuit of an even stronger Cloth entirely meaningless.