Childhood Anime Grand Tour

Chapter 65 Dora's scolding wakes him up, Balu becomes an air pirate.

So let's not say that our dream is to make money. Our dream is to spend money. Spending money brings happiness, and spending money is the dream itself. Making money is just a means to achieve our dream! What's wrong with sacrificing a little for our dream? See? Doesn't that sound much more respectable?

In this world, everything comes at a price. When you gain something, you lose something else. For example, when you gain money and wealth, you are destined to lose the pain of poverty!

Haha, that's nonsense! Actually, our ancestors said long ago, "A kind heart cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage wealth." When you want to control wealth, you're destined to lose your sense of righteousness. That's why it's said you shouldn't do business with friends.

And it's because of this human "weakness" that we can't get rich! We're not good at managing money either! Hahaha! Everyone's a Wang Haohao (a famous Chinese comedian).

Even the most idealistic individuals eventually succumb to this law. Take Studio Ghibli, for example; Hayao Miyazaki has expressed his dissatisfaction with Toshio Suzuki on more than one occasion. Of course, it's also thanks to the fact that these big names were idealists back then; otherwise, they wouldn't have persevered to this day.

In our lives, most of us are not idealists, so we do everything with the goal of making money!

Dora is clearly not someone who can manage money, because as a sky pirate, she violates the principles of sky pirates! But so-called professional principles are worthless in the face of life's beliefs.

How did Dora know the secret of the Levitation Stone? It all started a month ago. There was a poor family in the Kentia Valley, and every winter, Dora would bring them coal to help them get through the winter! This time, she was also going to help them, but she overheard the family talking about a group of strange people who came to the Kentia Valley and kidnapped Sheeta, which led to the scene at the beginning where they hijacked the military airship.

Back to the point, when Dora saw that Pazu was really anxious, she knew he didn't abandon Sheeta on purpose, and then she retorted:

"These guys are really strange! Sneaky and dishonest."

After saying that, he picked up the large steak with a knife and fork, tore off a piece with his mouth, and said:

"Heh, kid, do you think they'll let that little girl live?"

"Ah! It was him saying goodbye to me..."

"Baka! Of course, she was forced to make that choice to save you!"

Baru immediately fell silent. Indeed, he had thought about this problem along the way, but Dora had simply brought it to his senses. Charles and the others looked at Dora and said:

"How did you know, Mom!"

"Hmph! You've been a woman for fifty years, and it wasn't for nothing. You've all been single for so long, so it seems it wasn't for nothing either?"

While speaking, she didn't forget to mock her sons. These old sons did indeed cause her a lot of worry, but since they were all sky pirates, she didn't intend to let them prey on innocent women. It's clear that Dora's upbringing of her sons was not a problem.

Seeing Baluna's somewhat regretful and reluctant expression, Dora continued to add insult to injury:

"Didn't she cry? She put on such a heartless act to save her man, just like me when I was young!!"

Sure enough, Sheeta was Dora as a child. When Charles saw that his mother had such a thrilling past, his gossip instincts kicked in. But Dora immediately glared at him, and Charles instantly pretended not to hear anything and continued eating his steak. The two brothers next to him also put away their expectant expressions.

Did Pazu not resent Sheeta? He certainly did at first, but now he only felt regret, regret for not having the power to bring Sheeta out. From sadness to resentment, from resentment to regret, from regret to confusion.

This is Balu's psychological journey, but Dora's words at this moment woke him up, made him no longer confused, and helped him find himself again!

Dora was still drinking heavily, while scolding her sons who were watching the scene:

"If you're going to marry, you should marry someone like that girl, someone who would risk everything for her lover?"

"Ah! Like Mom, like that girl?"

"Haha, of course! Your dead father was a sky pirate back then. I admired his talent and became a sky pirate myself. The first thing I did was rob the old man's pirate crew!"

This is quite a bombshell; Dora was no pushover in her youth! She actually led a raid on her own family's home. Of course, she's not wrong; Dora's late husband was indeed a brilliant genius.

The Tiger Moon and the Ornithopter of the Dora Sky Pirates were both invented by her deceased husband, who indeed conquered the skies with these two devices. Unfortunately, he ultimately failed to find Laputa!

Does this person's background look familiar? Isn't this a perfect example of Balu?

Just as Dora was lost in thought, an alarm bell rang beside her. It was a military monitoring device, and Dora immediately swept the food off the table, startling her sons!

"Ugh! What a waste!!"

Dora immediately picked up her headset to listen to the telegram, while Charles and Louis cleaned up the mess below.

Didi didi...

With each Morse code uttered, Dora's face revealed a cunning expression as she coldly flipped through the codebook, saying:

"Hehehe, the password changed? A mere trick! Hmm! They're calling for a flying warship! They're taking that girl away. Stop eating, hurry up and get going, or it'll be too late!"

As he spoke, he slammed his hands on the table again, and his two sons immediately rushed to prepare.

"Are you going to capture Sheeta?"

Henry instantly grabbed his gun, put on his mask, and, showing a less-than-honest side, laughed as he answered Balu's question:

"We're not here to rescue your girlfriend, we need the levitation stone!"

He then went to prepare other things, and Balu, upon seeing this, immediately said:

"Having the Levitation Stone alone is useless; it's only useful in Sheeta's hands!!"

Meanwhile, Dora and her group were fully armed and completely ignored him. Seeing this, Balu had no choice but to say:

"Grandma, can I join them? I need to go save Sheeta!"

"Don't be naive, handle this yourself!"

Dora naturally refused, as it would be inconvenient to have Pazu as a burden. Of course, she was also worried about something happening to him. Since the Sky Pirates' goal was the Flying Stone, they wouldn't harm Sheeta. Therefore, after Dora and her group rescued Sheeta, they would not be as heartless as the military.

"Grandma, I'm not a helpless fool. As long as I have a breath left, I will protect her! I don't care about the treasures of Laputa, please!!"

Balu's tone was unusually resolute, and his eyes were incredibly firm. At this moment, he finally swept away the gloom in his heart, and his soul crawled out of the abyss.

Dora just looked at him with an appreciative smile on her face, while Louis's head rose up from behind her.

"Haha, this kid's got some talent! Haha, Mom, I'm so touched I'm crying!"

"Shut up!!"

"Hi..."

These sky pirates are so adorable! Even in this emergency, they're thinking about gossip and shipping couples!

Dora immediately withdrew her admiring gaze and put on a sinister expression, saying:

"Hehe! Maybe that girl will listen to you, kid! Kid, we're not coming back here, you understand!"

"Hi!"

"Be mentally prepared!!"

Actually, Dora's claim that Sheeta listens to Pazu is just her way of convincing herself. Louis's words just now clearly demonstrated the Dora family's attitude towards Pazu.

What followed wasn't anything nice. The one who wouldn't come back to say it wasn't Dora's family, but Pazu. Pazu had just said "join," not "have Dora take him along."

This is a completely different matter, because being a sky pirate is a one-way street, so even if Balu agrees, Dora still hopes he can reconsider.

As mentioned before, even if Sheeta is caught by Dora, Dora won't make things difficult for her, so Pazu doesn't need to follow!

But is that really the case? Does Dora really not want Balu to join? Maybe not! She probably really wants to hear the boy's choice, otherwise she wouldn't have talked to him so much just now!

Pazu also said that he was not a fool. Even if Sheeta was not in danger in Dora's hands, he would still go, because his soul had awakened and he knew what he had to do. It was also to atone for his previous small resentment!

The key was Dora's words: "Solve your own problems!" Pazu was resolute precisely because he knew this was his own business.

At this moment, Dora's gaze drew closer, but Balu's eyes showed no sign of giving up!

"Um!!"

With just a single word and a heavy nod, Balu displayed unparalleled determination. Seeing this, Dora immediately drew her knife and cut Balu's ropes.

"You only have forty seconds to prepare. If you can't keep up, you'll have to stay!"

Balu rushed into the house and the first thing he did was put on the flight goggles passed down from his father! Beneath the lenses, Balu's eyes became even more resolute; at this moment, Balu's soul had finally completed its transformation!

Then Balu quickly ran up to the roof and released all the pigeons from their cages. He wouldn't be coming back; this time, he was setting them free! At the same time, he was setting himself free as well.

This small house, this mine, is no longer his constraint, or rather, it never was ever his shackle. The reason people are willing to stay is simply because they have ties to them!

Take good care of yourselves!

Even in farewell, Balu still wore a smile. Looking at the lights of the town, he longed to say a proper goodbye to his master, but time was clearly running out!

Years later, the Sky Pirate King, Pazu, flew through the clouds ten thousand meters high, passing by the town of Zhagu, but still didn't land! It was dusk, the sun like an egg yolk stranded on the mountaintop, the sunlight still serene as it bathed the town—that was our lost youth!

The sound of the ornithopter once again disturbed the sleeping town.

Master Balu was repairing these parts in the backyard, watching the ornithopter fly past the moon, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Balu, well done!! Are you finally going to conquer the sky?"

"Dad!! This is a little gift I made. Can you give it to Brother Balu tomorrow?"

"Haha, little Maggie, you have to do things yourself! Go back to sleep now! Otherwise, Mommy will get angry again!"