The vast storm lingered in the darkness, appearing almost stagnant to the naked eye. The structure of the storm seemed frozen like bubbles in a block of ice, motionless, but only with prolonged observation could one see its edges slowly expanding, and its interior subtly changing."We initially attempted to find a path through the rift leading to the deep layers of the storm, but soon after entering, we discovered the chaotic space-time structure beneath," Kant stood at the edge of the fractured ground speaking to Yu Sheng, each breath carrying a scorching sulfurous scent, "Things are constantly spilling out from those rifts, some from the collapsed history of Boundary Land, and some even the chairman and I cannot identify the sources."
"We suspect that the 'Kingdom' fragments behind the Lodaxim High Wall might also be mixed in," the chairman said from the other side, "but now everything is mixed together."
Yu Sheng frowned deeply as he gazed at the darkness, pondering for a long time before speaking: "Is there another path? If we can't go down from here, is there another way to reach the bottom of the Fault?"
The old man holding a giant sword thought for a moment and slowly said: "I have a hypothesis."
Yu Sheng: "What hypothesis?"
"Those invading 'Kingdom' fragments are essentially projections of the storm below the Fault right now, so the way to the bottom might also be hidden among those fragments..."
As the chairman spoke, he thrust the giant sword into the ground, countless stone-like substances rapidly covering the surface of the sword, sealing it into a massive cane once more, and the old man's body shriveled and hunched in the process.
He transformed back into that aged figure seemingly ready to dissipate at any moment, with the valor and reckless demeanor bursting forth from the storm now retracted.
Yu Sheng then pondered upon hearing the words: "You mean there might be some 'Space-Time Fragments' currently invading various Exotic Realms that lead directly to the 'source'?"
"If my judgment of the space-time mapping relationship is correct," the chairman nodded slightly, "space is not easily severed. It may appear as fragmented loose structures now, but in higher dimensions, this storm should still maintain some degree of completeness and retain paths leading to the storm's source. If you can't access it from the Fault, perhaps it can be reached from an Exotic Realm."
"The key is how to find them," Baili Qing said with a touch of gravity, "Currently, the Special Service Bureau's troops are engaged in combat across various Exotic Realms and those invading entities. However, due to the sudden events, many of our space radar equipment and outpost scanning stations suffered damage during the initial invasion, making it challenging to conduct reverse detection of those fragments in a short time..."
Yu Sheng listened beside them, a thoughtful expression on his face.
...
The sky unknowingly turned gloomy, dark clouds gradually gathered over the city, and a chilling wind swept between the streets of the old city.
Erin climbed onto the window sill in the living room, looking up at the gloomy sky outside.
From the news sent by the Special Service Bureau, this "invasion" currently remains confined to various Exotic Realms, but the abruptly worsening weather in the real world seems like an ominous sign, causing everyone to feel a bit tense.
Zheng Zhi and Li Lin had just been sent into the valley to temporarily avoid the storm—this was Hu Li's decision, mainly to prevent Zheng Zhi's breakthrough spiritual vision from wreaking havoc, further worsening the already precarious situation.
"Feels like it's going to pour any moment," the little puppet grumbled, "Why isn't Yu Sheng back yet... Hope he's not following that Ironclad Expression to jump the Fault and end up dead below?"
As soon as the little creature spoke, Luna shook her head: "If that's the case, they should be back now."
"The Savior has his arrangements," Hu Li said, sitting by the window holding a fluffy big tail, "He'll come back for help if he needs it..."
Hu Li's words were cut short as she seemed to sense something, her ears twitching as she looked to the empty ground beside the sofa, where a phantom door appeared simultaneously, and Yu Sheng walked through into the living room.
Hu Li launched herself forward, accompanied by a sound breaking the air: "Savior, you're back!"
This leap by the demon fox girl would have fractured Yu Sheng's bones in the past, but after spending so much time together, he has drastically changed. Hearing the wind whistling by his ears, he preemptively steps back and settles himself into an impact-resistant stance, catching the fox girl with only a gentle sway of his body, a few soft cracking sounds emanating from him.
——He still gets hurt, but looks graceful doing it.
Yu Sheng grinned as he removed the excited fox girl from his arm, feeling his ribs quickly recover while waving to Erin and Luna by the window.
"Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng, what's the situation over there?" Several Erin climbed out from various corners of the living room, running toward Yu Sheng while chirping, "Can the Fault be descended? Have you found a way to intercept the invasion?"
"The situation at the Fault is complex, so we need to find another route," Yu Sheng quickly replied, "Luna, Erin—pick personnel, we need a large-scale operation."
The Erin climbed onto the back of the nearby sofa, each of their eyes beginning to shine.
At the same time, inside the castle of Fairy Tale Town nestled in the valley, the long-haired princess was chattering endlessly at Cinderella.
"Sigh, I tell you, I was just about to fix that thing, the reward was eighty thousand! Eighty thousand! And then a Deep Dive Team suddenly dropped right in front of me, announcing a blockade order..."
Cinderella was irritated to no end: "You've been ranting about this for half an hour now... What's going on now, the Special Service Bureau is in chaos, at least you managed to retreat safely. I heard some unfortunate Spirit Realm detectives and investigators are still trapped in the Exotic Realm—saying the environment changed and they couldn't withdraw in time, they're still waiting for the rescue team..."
"I wonder if my brother needs manpower over there," the long-haired princess said, swaying with her arms crossed, "I was all fired up for fighting..."
"Why not think about next year's college entrance exam instead?"
"...You're right, my enthusiasm just cooled instantly."
Cinderella pursed her lips, and then suddenly seemed to hear something, slightly tilting her head: "Hmm? Long-hair, did you hear any commotion outside?"
The long-haired princess was startled for a moment, before she could speak, Dorothy hurriedly ran in from outside the hall.
"Big commotion, big commotion! Little Aileen outside is..."
The next second, the long-haired princess saw Dorothy who was rushing in, accidentally kick the leg of the table beside her—while wearing open-toed sandals.
Both the long-haired princess and Cinderella drew a cold gasp, their toes simultaneously twitched phantom pain: "Ah..."
Then, they saw Dorothy slap the table, the table immediately bounced up, the legs twisted like pretzels, hopping around the castle hall...
The long-haired princess was dumbfounded by the scene, and after coming to herself, she stared, "The Mechanical Soul can be used this way?! It will definitely rebel sooner or later, mark my words..."
"That's better than an ingrown toenail," Dorothy gently exhaled, raising her thumb, pointing towards the hall door, "Come see what's happening."
The long-haired princess and Cinderella exchanged a glance and immediately got up to run outside.
Upon seeing the situation outside, Cinderella's eyes widened slowly: "Wow..."
In the entire Fairy Tale Town, everywhere the eye could see, countless Erins were gathering, those vacant-eyed black-skirted puppets swayed down the streets, arrived at the square, and quickly formed into teams, then vanished in batches into the twisted rifts that appeared out of thin air.
Many children living in town and staff from the Special Service Bureau and Council also heard the commotion on the streets, and curiously ran out, watching the assembly of the mass-produced puppet army.
To be honest, this wasn't the first time Aileen's Army had been dispatched, people had seen the puppet swarm suddenly gathering and teleporting out of the valley in previous actions, but this time the scale was clearly more outrageous—aside from dolls left at key facilities like generators or pump stations, almost all mass-produced Erins were assembling to teleport.
Even large numbers of reserve troops that remained dormant in Puppet City and the Pyramid Warehouse, as well as the "worker bees" typically not deployed on the front lines, started gathering.
The long-haired princess wore an expression of amazement, for so long, the children living in the valley (including herself) had already adapted to these ever-increasing numbers of mass-produced puppets running around everywhere, but it was clear none had realized how absurd their numbers had become, today all the usually hidden mass-produced Erins came out, the scene was literally overflowing...
"...Why did I associate them with cockroaches?" Dorothy suddenly muttered quietly beside her.
"Come now," the long-haired princess lowered her voice too, "I've thought the same."
Cinderella, listening beside them, was suddenly horrified: "Oh no, you mustn't let Erin hear that, she'd fly up and bite."
The long-haired princess thought for a moment: "...That sounds even more fitting!"
And at the same time, deep within the Soul Wilderness, in the majestic and splendid city of Valhalla built by Saintess and Knights, a radiant light fell upon the highest Crystal Tree within the city.
The chime-like spiritual energy ringing echoed throughout the entire city, and then carried by the invisible wind to resonate over the wilderness, the Knight Order patrolling outside paused for it, the souls just awakened by the bonfire instinctively raised their heads, and the Saintess gathered in the Great Cathedral immediately went to the long hall where they usually met.
Moments later, the voice of "Legion Leader" Luna carried by the resonating spiritual energy power reached everyone's ears—
"Attention all Saintess Squads and Guard Knight Orders... Report to the portals in each garrison, prepare personnel for mind downloading... Inventory the stock of bodies at all production facilities, transport them to the hangar to stand by..."