Chapter 859 - 858: The Initiative of a Professional Team

Chapter 859: Chapter 858: The Initiative of a Professional Team

With the limited information currently at hand, it was clear that Yu Sheng and Erin couldn’t reach any substantial conclusions. However, one thing was clear: the bizarre scene Yu Sheng witnessed was undoubtedly a part of the "Dark Moon Royal Court"—something that happened in the history of the entity known as the Dark Moon Royal Court at a certain time and place.

"The old history of the Boundary Land is fragmented, and this place as a whole is an archive of the history of the Endless Sea. Now there’s an old tree dozing off added to the mix—these three are pieced together, and no matter how you try to sort it out, it’s always silent," Yu Sheng muttered, arms crossed, standing amidst the town’s ruins and looking at the shadows of buildings in the distance. "It’s really coincidental how the most scattered pieces just happened to meet together..."

"Every turtle will eventually meet its destined mung bean," Erin shook her head in the same manner as Yu Sheng, arms crossed as well. However, the sentimentality in her words was a bit heavy-handed. "You’re like an accident scene that gained sentience; don’t ponder why all the cars that collide with you are accident cars—if they weren’t accidents, how would they end up in your hands?"

Yu Sheng glanced at the tall human-like puppet next to him, with its golden hair and azure eyes, looking gallant yet only standing 66.6 centimeters tall. He hesitated, then sighed, summoned his blood-colored spear, and casually swept through the air.

A twisted and trembling rift appeared in the air following the spear’s trajectory. The rift rapidly expanded and, in the blink of an eye, turned into a stable passage. On the other side of the passage, the scenery of the Soul Wilderness could be faintly seen.

Erin, at first, was curious about what Yu Sheng was doing. After seeing the scene beyond the rift, she finally reacted belatedly: "Oh right, the silly fox mentioned she wanted to come along..."

Before she finished her sentence, a swift white light shot straight out of the rift. The light landed and transformed into Hu Li, the demon fox girl, who looked delighted: "Savior, I made it over! I’ve been waiting in Valhalla for so long～"

Just as Hu Li finished speaking, another figure flashed out from the rift. This time, it was a knight girl clad in bright armor, with a longsword at her waist and long golden hair up in a bun.

Luna leapt out of the rift, standing gallantly on the open space in the ruins, her face beaming with a bright smile as she looked at Yu Sheng: "Your knight reports for duty!"

Erin’s voice came from the side the next second: "What are you doing here, C-type buckle?"

Luna turned her head and saw the Puppet Lady dressed as a female hunter. She immediately put one hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow: "This outfit does give you a bit of presence. People are taller in dreams—naturally, I’m here to help fight because the Lord needs assistance."

Erin exclaimed: "Wow—It’s the sharp-tongued C-type buckle!"

Luna looked disdainfully at Puppet Lady: "I’m not a C-type buckle anymore. Haven’t you noticed I’m in the state of the Soul World? These are human joints—joints that won’t snag hair."

"What’s the use of that? Do you believe you can’t twist past me?" Erin boasted with pride, putting her hands on her hips, looking rather smug despite not knowing why. "Look at me, my neck can turn a full circle, my arms too, my wrist can, and my waist..."

Yu Sheng heard a clear "crack" sound. The next moment, Puppet Lady, who was boasting about her joint flexibility, suddenly froze, her face changing: "Crap, I’m stuck. Yu Sheng, save me, my waist is stuck! I can’t move! Oh no, oh no, my clothes seem to have gotten stuck too, they’re about to rip..."

"What can you do, really," Yu Sheng, with a forehead full of black lines, stepped forward to help this goofy puppet straighten her upper body, then looked up at the moon in the sky. "We’re here to get things done—Red should already know we’re here, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a familiar presence suddenly appear in the night. Immediately, intersecting mirrors emerged from the shadows of a nearby ruined house, and a slender vampire girl walked out from between them, smiling.

"Yes, I’m here."

She walked over, "looking" at Yu Sheng’s group from head to toe and then slightly furrowing her brows.

"It’s truly incredible. Last time it could have been called a coincidence, but I didn’t expect you all to really manage to enter my ’nightmare’ repeatedly and stably..."

Erin immediately put her hands on her hips: "I, a dignified Alice Puppet..."

Red shook her head: "This is not the power of the Alice Puppet."

Erin quickly changed her story: "Then I, the dignified Omen Goddess..."

"Alright."

Yu Sheng coughed twice, curiously looking at Red, whose expression wasn’t much different from usual: "When did you ’arrive’?"

"When you all first began discussing that eerie dreamscape you entered."

"Ah? So you were there from the beginning," Erin exclaimed in surprise, "Then why didn’t you come out earlier? Moreover, since you heard the whole conversation from the start, do you know what exactly Yu Sheng saw...?"

Red slowly withdrew her smile.

"Yes, what indeed was that?" she said softly. "I have no recollection of that scene at all..."

Yu Sheng frowned: "You don’t know?"

"I’m sorry, but it’s the truth," Red said apologetically. "In fact, all my memories of the Hometown World are just fragmented ’impressions’. I remember being the queen of the Dark Moon Royal Court, I recall a grand castle, the empty courtyard, and the moonlight on the rooftops. But all these are like sentences written on paper, without any real sense of reality to me..."

She paused, gently shook her head, and then looked at Yu Sheng again.

"I don’t know how to describe this feeling—do you understand what I mean?"

Yu Sheng nodded: "I sort of understand—it’s like reading another person’s life in your memory, and it’s incomplete. You know these things once existed, but from your own feelings, it’s as if you never experienced them."

"Your understanding moves me," Red smiled again, "But regardless, I’m very grateful for the information you’ve brought. It should indeed be something that happened a long time ago. Now, I know that I once ran through the empty palace corridors like that, and perhaps one day, I can figure out what else happened there."

The fox girl blinked her eyes, looking back and forth between Red, Erin, and Yu Sheng, clearly unsure of what they were discussing.

Luna beside her was in the same state.

Yu Sheng reached out and rubbed the fur behind Hu Li’s ears.

"I’ll explain when we get back. Things are a bit complicated, let’s head towards the church first."

"Okay, sure~"

From here, they could already see the abandoned church at the edge of town, the massive, jagged structure quietly lurking in the night, with moonlight draping over the giant beast like silk, creating an atmosphere interwoven with tranquility and the eerie.

Luna walked ahead holding a sharp sword, her expression serious, while Hu Li followed behind Yu Sheng, a few tails floating around her in Fox Travel Cannon formation, and clusters of Fox Fire flickering with a ghostly blue light in the dark.

Yu Sheng turned his head to glance at Hong walking beside him, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "How are you holding up?"

"Hm?"

"I mean your injuries..." Yu Sheng felt awkward, "You looked kind of scary back then, I’m apologizing on behalf of Freyia..."

Then he watched as the vampire girl in front of him visibly shivered, clearly recalling something unpleasant, and her elegant aura almost fell apart.

Hong looked cautiously around, seemingly checking whether a beam of Holy Light might suddenly burst out next to Yu Sheng.

"Don’t worry, she’s not here," Yu Sheng quickly reassured, "Generally, if there’s nothing interesting ’outside’ or no one calls her, she sleeps hung on a tree in Valhalla. And even if she comes out again, you needn’t worry. I’ve already taught her, she won’t pounce around randomly next time."

Hong’s expression was subtle: "...But my most serious injury came from when she exploded upon crashing into the Rift."

Yu Sheng: "..."

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere didn’t last too long.

"It’s nothing, I’ve already recovered," Hong smiled, saying, "It’s not as severe as you think, it just looked a bit embarrassing. Let’s just say... it balances out my previous recklessness."

Then Yu Sheng remembered a few days ago when he did the Blood Transfer for the lance, and almost got sucked dry when Hong pulled a storm from afar.

So this indeed balances out.

The group arrived at the church square at the town’s edge.

The night was quiet, the moonlight was at its peak.

The dilapidated Moonlight Church looked lifeless, and the dirt monsters were nowhere to be seen around.

"Did we come too early?" Erin drew her thin sword from her waist, cautiously scanning her surroundings, muttering, "I remember last time when Yu Sheng and I had just arrived at this square, the creatures began to spawn."

"This Dream Realm has a strict cyclic rhythm, and there’s still some time before the moonlight’s power strengthens," Hong glanced up at the sky, feeling a bit sentimental, "Actually, just looking at it, this moon... is quite beautiful."

"By the way, how do you usually deal with those monsters and the church that comes to life?" Erin asked curiously, "Or do you just hide in the safe house and do nothing?"

"...Yes, I haven’t been active in these ruins like this for a long time, because no matter what is done, this place will revert to its original state in the next cycle. So, long ago, I began hiding in the safe house once the Dream Realm started... Yes, as you said, just hiding, doing nothing."

Hong said this, shaking her head with a self-deprecating smile.

"But you are different from me; you have accomplished so many incredible things, perhaps this time you really can find some clues here."

"Of course, our travel agency is a professional team!" Erin proudly waved her hand, "Just watch us!"

The Puppet Lady said this, and the others already started taking action—

Hu Li raised her hand, and wave after wave of fox tails flew up from behind her into the air, taking advantage of the darkness to enter the church’s dark windows and doors. Then, sheets of Fox Fire spread out, delving into the abandoned buildings around the square.

Then Yu Sheng lifted the Blood-colored Spear, slashing it through the air beside him, instantly opening a gateway to ↑↓←→, where groups of youths emerged, some carrying sapper shovels, some with sledge axes, and others with backpacks from which they poured bundles of detonators and explosives onto the square.

Next, Yu Sheng raised the Blood-colored Spear again, slashing another direction, causing a newly opened Space Rift to rapidly widen, from which came the dignified sounds of engines and tracks—

Heavy tanks rolled out one after another, Dorothy perched atop one tank’s engine cover with a command knife, her face glowing.

"Brother Yu! I’m here! Don’t close the portal yet, I still have three more demolition teams..."

Hong watched this scene with a stunned expression beside her, although she was indeed full of trust and expectation for Yu Sheng’s team a moment before, what she saw now as "possibilities" was evidently a bit too abundant.

The vampire girl was a bit dumbstruck.

"What are you..."

"Professional team," Erin said matter-of-factly, "For huge bosses like this with obvious targets and activation only after a countdown, of course, we need to rely on pre-deployments to deal with it. Since it’s just sitting there waiting for a cooldown, how can we not exert some subjective initiative?"