Chapter 415 - 353: Lin Xin Bamboo, the Celestial Court, God

Lin Xin Bamboo did not respond right away.

Chu Bamboo frowned but didn’t dwell on it. He cut straight to the chase, "What should we do next?"

’I know nothing about the outside world right now, so I’d better stick with this group that came from the outside.’

"Logically, we should search the area!" Lin Xin Bamboo took a deep look at the ground, then shook her head. "But from the looks of it, we’ve been played... Come with us!"

Without a second glance, Lin Xin Bamboo turned and walked away.

"What do you mean?" Chu Bamboo followed, confused.

"Originally, I thought this was a supply depot. A place where we could seize enough resources to survive," Lin Xin Bamboo said calmly. "But after breaking through the entrance... and sensing what was inside, it turns out to be a base full of sleep pods! Hmm, perhaps ’That One’ intentionally leaked some intel to lead us here."

Thoughts churned in Chu Bamboo’s mind. His gaze swept over... Eleven, whose expression had turned ugly, looking as if he wanted to say something but ultimately held his tongue... and the others—

Among the crowd, there were many familiar faces... Of course, they quickly covered their faces again, wrapping themselves up tightly from head to toe—even Eleven was completely covered!

The only one who remained completely uncovered was Lin Xin Bamboo!

Chu Bamboo recognized them. Most were from the All-Powerful Lineage of the initial timeline. ’Wait, why are people from the All-Powerful Lineage following Lin Xin Bamboo now?’

"You guys... What organization is this?" Chu Bamboo’s expression grew complicated. Countless pieces of information swirled in his mind, fitting together to form a possible theory—

’It’s common knowledge that the All-Powerful believe in the Master of All-Powerful and Omniscience, who is essentially the God from the God Worship Sect... Is it possible?’

’But Lin Xia isn’t from the Northeast... Could it be that the wife he finds in the future is from the Northeast?’

"..." Lin Xin Bamboo gave Chu Bamboo a deep look and uttered two words: "...Celestial Court!"

At that moment, there was dead silence.

’You’ve got to be kidding me... No, it’s also possible this Celestial Court is the one inherited from the pre-civilization era, the one founded by my good brother! Unrelated to God’s Celestial Court.’

’After all, the more I look at her, the more Lin Xin Bamboo seems like God. But if she really is God, that raises even bigger questions—’

’For starters, why... why wasn’t Big Orange Cat erased because of what my good brother said?’

’Besides...’

Chu Bamboo had too much faith in Lin Xin Bamboo’s abilities. He was certain that if this ruler from the end of human civilization were to design a new one... it definitely wouldn’t have turned out like that!

Chu Bamboo said no more, quietly following Lin Xin Bamboo.

Outside this base, it didn’t open directly to the world... but to a tunnel!

A man completely wrapped in black cloth walked forward and constructed a new underground passage for them to walk through—

’Even though he’s covered in black cloth now, based on the face I saw earlier, I can deduce he’s the disciple from the Moisture Teaching from a previous timeline. The one who helped me dig out the Hive Base. It looks like he’s joined the Celestial Court this time, too.’

"...What’s the situation up there?" Chu Bamboo asked again. He glanced behind him. The section of the tunnel they had just walked through was being refilled with earth! This was clearly the work of an Earth Controller—

’But from these security measures, which are so tight they’re almost paranoid... it’s obvious that it must be dangerous outside.’

"It’s a battlefield!" Lin Xin Bamboo’s tone was unchanged, and she didn’t slow her pace, but a faint shadow fell over her eyes. "A battlefield between ’That One’ and the Ten Thousand Races!"

"!!!" The instant Chu Bamboo wondered about the Ten Thousand Races, he realized the answer—

’They must be the Alien Races fought during God’s three Celestial Court wars. Or more accurately, they must be Extraordinary Races?’

’Is Z in a war of attrition with the Ten Thousand Races?’

’But in this timeline, it hasn’t been destroyed? Strange...’

After that, Chu Bamboo followed along in silence. He felt like he had walked for a good ten kilometers or more... before finally climbing up to the surface!

"...This is really something!" Chu Bamboo took a deep breath. The air was unprecedentedly fresh. ’The Dream World is heavily polluted due to its steam industry... and the Real World, even with its environmental protection measures, is ultimately different from a purely natural world.’

’But this also means...’

"Are there no industrial zones nearby?" Chu Bamboo mused. This was different from what he had imagined. ’I thought I’d emerge to a future world ruled by the Celestial Net, like in *Terminator*... with giant steel structures everywhere!’

Afterward, Lin Xin Bamboo turned her head and gave Chu Bamboo another deep look. Her eyes seemed to hold a thousand emotions, but they ultimately resolved into confusion. Without a word, she continued walking.

Chu Bamboo: "..."

A moment later, Chu Bamboo’s ears twitched. He stared sharply at the sky, a little puzzled as to why the people around him remained so nonchalant, with no intention of hiding.

One after another, drone carriers sped across the sky.

So many of them!

A single glance revealed more than twenty of them... Moreover, compared to the one in the Hive from the previous timeline, these were clearly much larger. Their entire bodies radiated the sense of power and advancement that comes only from superior technology.

However...

They hadn’t traveled far!

With a sharp, long cry, a giant bird, no smaller than one of the drone carriers, charged forward. It beat its wings, and a crimson Divine Light swept across the land. Following behind it was a dense... black cloud?

No, they were small, crimson sparrows. There were just so many of them that they merged together, resembling a cloud...

The drone carriers launched a massive swarm of drones. Their bellies released terrifying missiles... which detonated in the void, creating illusory black Light of Annihilation! Destroying everything—

Chu Bamboo recognized them. The missiles must be armed with Antimatter annihilation warheads. ’But... isn’t this number a little too terrifying?!’

This one volley launched twenty or thirty of them!

Huge swaths of Fire Sparrows were annihilated, and even half of the giant bird’s body was wiped away, forcing it to flee in a fury of hatred and terror.

The remaining drones precisely sniped the surviving Fire Sparrows.

Then, having dealt with the enemy, the drone carriers continued flying toward their destination.

Chu Bamboo: "..."

’Brilliant!’

However, everyone else besides him continued to walk calmly... They were clearly used to this!

"...So, you guys are just walking around on the surface, out in the open?" Chu Bamboo stared at Lin Xin Bamboo with a strange expression. ’Then what was the point of traveling underground before?’

"That’s where you’re wrong!" Eleven suddenly spoke up, his voice filled with pride. "Big Sis’s Divine Techniques are incredibly powerful... She can interfere with sight to a certain degree! Unless we’re in... ’That One’s’ lair, or its sphere of influence... otherwise, running into things in the wild isn’t a big deal."

Chu Bamboo frowned. ’Why can’t they even say the name?’ Being so close to Eleven also felt a bit strange to him; after all, they had been enemies before. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "...Where exactly are we going?"

"We’re almost there!" Lin Xin Bamboo spoke again. Eleven immediately fell silent!

Chu Bamboo’s gaze swept over the group. There were eight people in total—

Aside from Eleven, none of the others had spoken up when he was talking, nor had they shown any anger or other emotions in response to his questions... They were as silent as the dead.

Even though Chu Bamboo knew them from previous timelines... for a moment, he still suspected that these quiet people might actually be dead, and were just corpses being controlled by Eleven using his Divine Techniques...

Finally...

Chu Bamboo watched with a peculiar expression as Lin Xin Bamboo came to a stop. He glanced at the Sun’s direction to roughly calculate their position, and a terrible suspicion rose in his heart.

He watched as the Mo Family disciple, Mo Tu, went forward and dug open a passageway. Then, after some sort of verification, Lin Xin Bamboo opened a metal door—

The moment Chu Bamboo followed Lin Xin Bamboo inside, the last of his suspense died. He wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t...

Yes, this was the Hive Base!