Chapter 878 - 877: Splendid Nightfall

Chapter 878: Chapter 877: Splendid Nightfall

When Yu Sheng and the others finally remembered the nephew left behind by the Angel Giant Tree and hurriedly opened a gate to pick him up, he was still leisurely photosynthesizing by the tree roots, without even realizing he’d been left behind.

As it turns out, even though Zheng Zhi’s spiritual resistance was high enough to remain unaffected by the Dark Angel’s descent, his nerve endings, useful enough to act as a brake cable for Baili Qing’s landing, facilitated his connection to the Tree Angel. Yu Sheng suspected that had he arrived half an hour later, Zheng Zhi would have dug a hole to bury himself in, because when he went to pick him up, Zheng Zhi was studying how to take root on the ground...

"From now on, you can’t just randomly connect with old trees, you’re almost turning into a plant," Erin said, hands on hips, facing the nephew who had returned to the outpost camp—who, at this moment, had returned to human form, though upper body still had some leaves that hadn’t fallen off completely, was standing, embarrassedly smiling, and brushing off leaves from his body.

After Zheng Zhi had finally cleaned off the leaves, he let out a long sigh, looked towards the direction at the center of the plain in the distance, and said thoughtfully, "Anyway, seeing the world from a plant’s perspective is quite interesting—it feels like there’s no rush for anything, a breeze and a bit of water vapor makes you happy, and if you could absorb some nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the ground while basking in the sun, it would be perfect, you know what I mean..."

Erin looked at Zheng Zhi with an odd expression, suddenly jumped onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder and whispered, "Hey hey, if we ever contact the big beauty, I want the big beauty to possess him for a try, I’m really curious..."

"Who’s the big beauty?" Yu Sheng asked in surprise.

"Beauty God," the Little Puppet continued to mutter, "I just came up with this name these past few days..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

This little thing’s habit of randomly giving people nicknames seems unchangeable, not even sparing colleagues from past lives.

Just then, Hu Li suddenly walked over and tugged on Yu Sheng’s sleeve.

"Savior, look, the sky has changed!"

Yu Sheng looked upwards in the direction Hu Li pointed, and moments later, his eyes slowly widened in amazement.

He saw the daylight gradually dimming, and the bright light arc spanning the whole world diffusing as if blurred into the clouds during this process. In just a while, daylight faded away, the blurred light arc transformed into vast, drifting auroras, like numerous layers of splendid drapes suspended atop the clouds.

Night fell, yet the world wasn’t entirely submerged in darkness. The drifting aurora curtains hung over the Floating Island above, embellishing the sky with an amazing spectacle, and below the sky, beyond the camp towards the plain, Yu Sheng saw some tiny, flowing lights appearing on the ground. These were unknown fluorescent plants, slightly swaying with the night wind towards the aurora.

Erin climbed onto Yu Sheng’s head, wobbly raising her body to look into the distance. The usually lackluster and uncultured Little Puppet was touched by the sight, holding back for a long time before suddenly blurting out, "... Damn pretty!"

"So this world actually has day-night cycles," Yu Sheng mumbled, stroking his chin, "What’s the principle behind this..."

Beside him, Lucrecia heard this and casually remarked, "I’ll ask my dad when I get back."

Yu Sheng laughed, "Do you believe your dad would say the same thing as I do?"

At this time, many in the camp stopped what they were doing, or came out of the barracks upon hearing the news.

Even the Special Service Bureau operatives couldn’t remain unaffected by the awe-inspiring night scene before them.

Baili Qing was called out of the barracks by Baili Xue, standing on the clearing beside the drone landing pad, gazing at the aurora in the sky, lost in thought.

A pair of illusory eyes floated beside her cheek, reflecting the sky’s scenes, taking moments before Baili Xue seemingly whispered to herself, "Sister, why does this feel... familiar?"

Baili Qing instantly turned her head, "You find it familiar?"

"Yes, as if I’ve seen it somewhere before," Baili Xue murmured, "Though it’s slightly different here, I always remember... a place where the sky is also filled with auroras."

Baili Qing gazed at the illusory eyes with a peculiar look, until they started to awkwardly squirm, she softly spoke, "... My only impression of the Hometown World is the auroras in the sky."

Baili Xue suddenly froze in the air, then the eyes slowly widened.

She suddenly panicked, "Why, why do I feel... but I’m not her, I’m just imagined by you..."

Baili Qing looked at the eyes caught in sudden panic, momentarily stunned.

She never expected that this "imitation" which had been trying to replace her mind for years would panic at this moment for having a bit of resemblance to the original.

She suddenly smiled.

The eyes in the air seemed a bit puzzled, "Sis? Sis, why are you smiling?"

"It’s okay, perhaps just some of my memories reflecting in your mind, hasn’t something similar happened before?" Baili Qing shook her head, eyes once again directed towards the sky, "Don’t overthink it, Little Xue. Join me in stealing a few moments of leisure... let’s enjoy the scenery together."

New recording equipment was soon put into use, with two reconnaissance drones buzzing their way into the night sky.

This world held so many mysteries yet to be unraveled, even its day-night cycle had become a subject worthy of research.

At a corner of the outpost camp, a pale, slender figure climbed onto a high platform.

Under the brilliant northern lights, Red clutched her knees, gazing upwards at the sky.

Her eyes open now, crystal-clear pupils faintly reflecting the color red.

The blood moon illusion engraved in those eyes was no longer, now whatever was seen only belonged to this moment’s scenery.

So beautiful—Red thought.

No distorted dying sun, no blood-stained moonlight, the sky clean and clear, the land lush and thriving, despite being known as the "Old World," everything she saw brimmed with vitality and hope, just as... she and her people once dreamed.

Red gently closed her eyes.

The memories that have become vivid quietly flow through her mind.

Once like words written in books, once like the lives of others, memories that were once fragmented and lacked reality for her, are now gradually being pieced together.

In the gentle night breeze, she recalled the home world, her mother planet gradually cooling down, recalled the sun slowly tearing apart and the land falling into desolation. When she closed her eyes, she seemed to hear the sound of mountains and rivers writhing, and the roar of gates collapsing after expedition teams disappeared into the teleportation gate one by one.

She seemed to become the Queen of Dark Moon standing before the Watcher Crystal once again, with voices from long-lost memories echoing across time beside her ears—

"...We are going to close the gate.

"Are you... okay over there?

Red seemed to see a small shadow appearing in her vision, it was a child about to enter the Sanctuary, but it also seemed like just her own figure. She heard the person speak, the voice identical to her own—

"Queen, will we ever come out again? You will come to get us, right?

"Will it get bright outside again? Will the land warm up again?

"Will there be sunshine again... shining on the plains where the breeze blows..."

A familiar presence approached, and Red suddenly woke up from her immersion, opening her eyes to look in the direction of the presence.

Yu Sheng climbed up along the ladder.

"You’re here— I followed the Blood Trace to find you," Yu Sheng raised his hand to greet Red, "enjoying the breeze?"

"Just came here for some peace and quiet; if Ah Qing catches me, I’ll be dragged off to work overtime again," Red said casually, then glanced behind Yu Sheng, "Where are those companions of yours who are usually inseparable?"

"There’s a barbecue at the camp tonight; Hu Li went over to join in, Erin is busy at home watching TV and playing games, no time to stroll with me; Luna heard that a group of Boundary Land researchers arrived this afternoon, among them several botanical experts, so she went to ask questions—she wants to cultivate a piece of land on this Floating Island."

As Yu Sheng spoke, he came to stand beside Red, in the night seeing those eyes glowing with a fresh red color.

"You can open your eyes now?"

"Actually, most of the time I still subconsciously keep them closed, after all these years it’s become a habit," Red said with a smile on her face. "But now... I want to open my eyes and see this place."

Yu Sheng sat down beside Red.

"What do you think of this place?"

He suddenly asked.

"This place? The scenery is great, the environment is great, everything is great," although not knowing why Yu Sheng suddenly asked this, Red still answered seriously, "Overall, it’s a very livable place."

Yu Sheng looked into her eyes, and after a few seconds of thought, he suddenly asked again, "...Do you think they can adapt to the environment here?"

"I don’t understand."

"I mean your people."

Red froze for a moment, slowly widening her eyes, "What... what do you mean by this?!"

Yu Sheng reached out his hand to the vampire girl before him.

"Do not resist, release your soul—come with me to Valhalla."

The scenery of the real world instantly collapsed, the dazzling aurora replaced by a gray chaotic sky, and under the radiance of the Crystal Holy Tree stood the magnificent Heroic Spirit City in the endless Soul Wilderness.

Red felt herself in a daze, and when she opened her eyes again, she was already standing on a terrace under the Crystal Holy Tree, with branches exuding a faint Holy Light swaying at the edge of the terrace, emitting a pleasing spiritual energy hum.

Red looked at this place somewhat dumbfounded.

This was not her first time coming to Valhalla, but every time she came here, she went and left in a hurry, never seriously observing this Heroic Spirit City in the Soul World.

The ultimate, grand yet somewhat bizarre urban landscape in front of her left her a bit at a loss for a while.

"...May I ask what that is?"

"That’s the third phase of the Brynhild Tower construction, by the way, the one lying horizontally next to it is the second phase—the first phase is a well, you can’t see it from here."

"And, what about that one over there?"

"It’s my statue; I’ll dismantle it later. Don’t ask why they carved me like a double-door refrigerator; the last version even had six asymmetrical wings behind me, it collapsed before I could take it down."

Red blinked straightly, finally discovering a large phantom swaying in the distance outside the city, a vaguely familiar outline that finally startled her, "What’s that?!"

"It’s a Tree Angel," Yu Sheng replied with a blank expression, "It’s taking a stroll."

Red: "...?"