Chapter 780 - 779: Straight to the Edge of the World

Chapter 780: Chapter 779: Straight to the Edge of the World

It was a journey both near and far.

Careless Erin just wanted to scout the way for everyone. She boldly stepped across the vortex, and for that instant, she didn’t even realize that she had traveled 3700 years on this way home.

Then she arrived—first traversing the immeasurable endless star sea, then the Cosmic Border, which defied conventional spatial order. She felt like she heard a whistle, crossed a barrier, and the mass-produced puppet’s limited senses conveyed little information in this process. When her tiny, cheap body finally set foot on solid ground again, she found herself standing on a deck.

This was a large ship, with a deck so spacious it resembled a plaza, classic masts towering overhead, sails hanging above like some kind of spiritual body, appearing semi-transparent—now the sails were furled, and the ship was docked somewhere.

The Little Puppet slowly turned her head and saw a tower a bit distant from the ship’s side, much like a lighthouse near the port, standing tall in a sky without stars, its style ancient yet solemn.

At the top of the tower hung a small Constant Star, whose light and heat illuminated the entire sky.

There seemed to be other things in the distance, but before the Little Puppet could look over, a pair of somewhat cold hands suddenly lifted her up.

"Oh, you came over first?"

The mass-produced puppet dazedly withdrew her gaze from afar. She saw silver-white long hair and a pair of beautiful gem-like purple eyes. She saw a lovely and elegant Puppet Lady in a deep-colored royal court dress standing on the deck, holding her up by her armpits with a happy smile on her face.

The mass-produced puppet sluggishly looked at Puppet Progenitor for two seconds, and her gaze fell on a dignified figure beside them—a tall and sturdy figure with dense black hair and a big beard, deep-set eyes, a prominent nose bridge, and clad in a classical black coat.

This dignified person was also smiling. Although his features always had an intimidating aura, and somewhat gloomy temperament, the smile made him look considerably more approachable.

"Captain, why do I feel this child is foolish? Last time we met, she didn’t seem this sluggish..."

"It seems... this is just a Clone," the tall, dignified figure spoke, finding the matter before him rather amusing. "Interesting, learned things on your own outside?"

The Little Puppet stared blankly at the figure before her, and after several seconds, finally smiled hesitantly and clumsily.

"Hey, hehe... I’m home..."

"Yu Sheng! This gate is open!!" Small blonde Erin instantly jumped onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder, vigorously ruffling the latter’s head, exclaiming, "I’m on the ship! I’m on the ship! I’ve even seen Puppet Progenitor and the Captain! Hurry over—"

Yu Sheng quickly steadied the Little Puppet flailing wildly, seemingly ready to fall at any moment, while glancing aside at the distance. A fat pigeon perched on a small house’s rooftop tilted its head, its small bean-like eyes glinting with indecipherable intent.

"Go inside, there’s a grand seat! Walk Chenghua Avenue~ to Erxian Bridge..."

Yu Sheng waved his hand: "Let’s go, we’re heading over."

Hu Li, Luna, and Freyia immediately followed, without hesitation, stepping into that vortex with Yu Sheng.

Hu Li followed Yu Sheng everywhere he went, Luna was loyal as a Knight to her Lord, and Freyia didn’t think at all, simply drawn to the dazzling red light emanating from the flaming gate.

The next second, Yu Sheng led the group onto the deck of Lost Home.

Hu Li widened her eyes, amazed by the place: "Wow..."

Yu Sheng immediately noticed the gaze fixed upon him.

He turned, seeing the silver-haired Puppet Lady smiling while holding a mass-produced Erin, and the tall figure standing beside her.

Yu Sheng had never seen the "creator’s" portrait, and since the Ancient Saints themselves rejected forming a system of worship, there were no standard images of the Ancient Saints circulating around the world’s Civilization Circles. At most, some small groups created fan art-level images of the Ancient Saints—thus Yu Sheng didn’t know what the legendary Captain who ignited the second Singularity Explosion looked like.

But at this moment, just from the first glance, he could be sure that the tall figure beside Puppet Lady was the "Captain" he was seeking.

And almost simultaneously as Yu Sheng thought this, the tall figure was already walking toward him, opening his arms with a smile: "Welcome aboard Lost Home—it’s not easy getting in touch. Real-time synchronization of universe internal and external environments without disrupting engine operations turned out to be more complex than I imagined."

Yu Sheng keenly noticed that the other person’s gaze was constantly fixed on him, and it seemed to carry a hint of curiosity and doubt.

Yu Sheng didn’t know where this curiosity and doubt came from, he only heard the other person continue to speak—

"I am the captain of this Lost Home, you can call me Duncan, or simply call me by another name, Zhou Ming."

While saying this, the captain’s gaze was still carefully examining Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng was slightly taken aback by the other person’s words.

—Why two names, and such different styles?

But he looked at the other person, who was smiling merrily, with no intention of explaining.

There came a crackling sound of flames from behind, Yu Sheng turned his head, and saw a swirling green flame door standing on the deck, from which a skeleton bird covered in flames flew out, transforming halfway into a fluffy white pigeon and landing with a thud on the captain’s shoulder, flapping its wings excitedly while squawking: "Mission accomplished! Mission accomplished!"

At that moment, Yu Sheng saw the "captain" in front of him turn green, unsure whether from the light of the teleportation gate’s flames or from the pigeon’s impact.

To be honest, he felt quite peculiar at that moment, considering that he had started hearing about this world’s miraculous rebirth, knowing about the creator "captain," although the stories of Lost Home and the Ancient Saints had long been mere background symbols to him, despite the fact that since planting the Alice Tree, he had been planning to contact Lost Home. However, until last night, he didn’t anticipate things progressing this far.

Now, he was standing on this legendary large ship, at the end of the world, facing the legendary captain.

They exchanged a few pleasantries, but the atmosphere showed no signs of the "folk lively society visiting the creator’s divine country" vibe (mainly because Yu Sheng couldn’t imagine what such an atmosphere would be like), while the little Erin kept circling the silver-haired puppet, who by now had simply squatted on the deck, smiling as she listened to the Little Puppet endlessly chatter, like a patient mother.

Erin chattered on about many happenings at No. 66 Wutong Road, then spoke much about the valley and Boundary City, only later realizing something, looking around in confusion.

"On the ship, if I remember correctly, wasn’t there a lot of people?" the Little Puppet scratched its head, "Where did everyone go? Where are they, the old man?"

"Nina went to overhaul the Sun Tower, Fan Na is patrolling the edge of the Quiet Sea Barrier, the others are mostly in the main drive sequence area," replied the "captain" beside her, "Now the entire engine array operates autonomously most of the time, and we usually stay ashore."

The Little Puppet listened, completely confused, blinking its pristine eyes: "Main drive sequence? Engine array? What are those? Ashore, where is the ashore... isn’t Lost Home cruising at the world’s border, where did it stop?"

Not only did Erin look dumbfounded, but Yu Sheng immediately didn’t understand the situation either, and then he saw the "captain" smile, raise his hand and point to the edge of the deck: "Come, I’ll show you."

Only then did Yu Sheng notice the distant tower, notice the fireball burning like a small Constant Star atop the tower, and also discover that there was a vast artificial sky covering Lost Home—these things had been present from the start, so much so that he hadn’t given them much thought.

Now, he, along with Hu Li and Luna, quickly came to the edge of the deck, looking beyond the guardrail, witnessing the breathtaking scenery outside the Creation Ark.

He saw a shimmering "sea," not composed of water but of some luminous thin gas, every sparkling wave on the "sea surface" seemed to reflect the stars of the universe;

At the center of the star sea was a massive star-shaped structure, forged from unknown silver-white material, its center holding the tower bearing the artificial Constant Star, beneath the tower extending silvery "ridges," between which lay vast forests and valleys;

He also saw radiating "gangways" extend from the star structure’s edge, each long bridge suspended over the faintly glowing star sea waves, with Lost Home positioned at the end of one such bridge, while at the ends of other distant bridges, Yu Sheng saw the silhouettes of other ships—grand ironclad battleships, mystical Magic Arks, and steam vessels seemingly from an ancient era...

The vessels were in varied shapes, their styles could be described as hodgepodge, impossible to discern whether they were advanced or retro, or whether they belonged to science fiction or magical realms—especially when anchored around a silver-white star-shaped giant structure floating in the star sea, the stylistic discordance was even more pronounced.

Yu Sheng couldn’t help but quip: "Why the styles are so all over the place..."

"It is a bit chaotic," Erin rapidly climbed atop the ship’s rail, peered out, "But why do I find this mixed style somewhat familiar...?"

Then they both looked up skyward in deep thought, reflecting halfway through when Hu Li spoke up calmly: "Next to Fairy Tale Town is the Teleportation Hub, beside Black Forest is the Star Port, the Demon Tower’s beside towering bean stalks, with the Omen Goddess’s divine temple floating in the clouds, the bean sprout stretches into the ruins plaza of the temple—now there’s an inflatable castle placed in that temple plaza, by the long-haired princess."

Yu Sheng and Erin clapped their palms together, both saying in unison: "Oh, right, that’s why it feels familiar..."