In the drowsiness caused by sudden blood loss, Yu Sheng had a very brief dream.He dreamed of a majestic ancient castle, and beyond the castle was a wasteland that stretched endlessly.
He dreamed of many people, one after another falling into a blood-colored pond, yet the pond did not truly exist and appeared more like a red illusion cast upon the earth.
He also dreamed of a blood-red moon, initially of normal size, which, in the blink of an eye, was very close to the ground. The moon transformed into a giant celestial body covering the sky, and then gradually disintegrated, falling in fragments upon the earth.
And then he felt someone poking his nose, accompanied by a chattering and clamorous noise nearby.
His face felt cool.
Yu Sheng groggily opened his eyes and first saw a pair of golden-red eyes and a pair of furry and wonderfully crisp... fox ears.
Hu Li happily leaned closer, gently licking his face. The slight fragrance infiltrated his nostrils, the scent of a conditioner (exclusive for spirit beasts) produced by Qianfeng Ling Mountain.
At this moment, Yu Sheng's mind was still a bit unclear, so he groggily raised his hand and patted the demon fox girl's head twice, only to hear the little puppet's surprised voice nearby: "Wow, you're not dead!"
Hu Li also happily rubbed her face against Yu Sheng's chest: "Savior, you're awake! Then Luna bowed for nothing earlier... We thought you wouldn't make it."
Yu Sheng shook his dizzy head, sitting up with Hu Li's help while muttering, "What a mess... What happened earlier?"
The little puppet jumped over from the tea table: "I don't know! Just now, you were bleeding into that long spear, everything was fine, the flow was normal, then suddenly it flashed red, and your blood started gushing like a fountain, couldn't be stopped——and then you went down with a crash, the silly fox said you bled to death..."
Yu Sheng rubbed his still swollen head, and the fragmented memories in his mind finally began to reconnect: "Hiss, that's probably what happened, I remember now. I was transfusing blood to that long spear, but halfway through, I suddenly felt a huge suction force... Wait a minute, where's my long spear?!"
Yu Sheng opened his eyes wide, only to find that the blood-red long spear, tightly gripped in his hand before he fainted, had disappeared, and a scan around revealed no trace of it.
Upon his inquiry, Hu Li and Erin exchanged a peculiar look before Hu Li spoke: "It seems... it drilled into your body."
Yu Sheng: "...?"
He requested a translation, and Erin pointed at his arm: "When you collapsed, that thing somehow turned into a liquid, then split into many small blood lines and drilled into your arm..."
Yu Sheng was completely shocked, abruptly raising his hand to look at his arm: "Why didn't you mention such an important situation earlier?"
The little puppet argued confidently: "You eat whatever you catch, I thought this was your new predation method, especially since you ate the World Bridge before…"
Yu Sheng listened to the little creature's ramblings nearby but paid no attention, instead frowning and carefully sensing something. The dizziness from the previous sudden blood loss wasn't fully gone, but deep in that stupor, he seemed to still capture the new connection established during the "Blood Transfer" just now.
After focusing his perception several times, he finally successfully captured some sort of "key," then hesitantly reached his hand into the air.
In the next second, countless fine blood lines abruptly spread from his arm, the blood converged, rapidly shaped, and in almost a blink of an eye formed into the image of a blood-red long spear.
The long spear floated in the air, with a faint red glow gently wandering its surface, its edges seemingly enveloped by a constantly flowing force field, slightly distorting the light passing around its blade.
Erin beside him watched, mouth agape, then suddenly exclaimed with wide eyes: "Wow——you really lucked into something good!"
Yu Sheng was actually still a bit bewildered at this point, but looking at such a cool thing just summoned by himself floating in the air, it was hard not to feel excited——finally, his skill had an effect!
Thinking these thoughts, Yu Sheng happily raised his hand to beckon, then grasped the long spear firmly, a connection akin to bloodline and almost a part of his body emanated from the spear handle. He carefully felt this link and then casually swung it twice on the open space beside the sofa.
The blood-red long spear slashed through two sharp arcs in the air, stirring the space with its tip, and where the blade light passed, seemingly mirror-like fragmented traces appeared in the air, accompanied by a series of subtle breaking sounds.
Yu Sheng frowned, touching his chin thoughtfully, the faint blood glow spreading from his palm along the spear body to the tip, and then he understood——
Yu Sheng raised the long spear and thrust it forward.
Next second, where the spear tip reached, no longer fragmented mirror surfaces emerged, but a swiftly slicing Space Rift appeared, the rift expanded in the blink of an eye, revealing the scenery on the other side.
A laboratory, several technicians in white robes were busy bustling around, on the platform in the center of the lab lay a set of brass armor, the golden-haired elf stood before the experiment table, surrounded by a heap of mechanical arms operating various equipment.
Spiritual Intuition guided him, Luo looked up, seeing Yu Sheng on the opposite side.
Luo felt vaguely familiar with the scene before her——but her mood was evidently different now.
The golden-haired elf cheerfully greeted: "Hey, Boss? What's up?"
Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand, closing the Space Rift while saying: "Nothing, nothing, just testing new features here. You guys keep at it..."
The Space Rift closed, but Yu Sheng still looked at the blood-red spear in his hand with a hint of amazement, then lightly waved it twice more before nodding in satisfaction.
"This thing seems to conduct power very well. Although I can't figure out the principle, it aligns well with me... or maybe it's called compatibility? Anyway, it feels like a part of my body when I use it, but I can sever it at any time... Quite interesting, unlike what I got from the past."
The Little Puppet beside him immediately nodded repeatedly upon hearing this: "Oh, oh!"
Yu Sheng: "…You understood?"
"I didn't understand!"
"If you didn't understand, why are you nodding?"
Yu Sheng said with a mix of laughter and tears as he released the grip on the spear. With a thought, the blood-red spear suddenly began to tremble and shrink, its body taking on a liquid texture before decomposing into countless bloodlines, which quickly drilled into his arm.
The fox girl immediately came over, checking Yu Sheng's arm up and down, her golden-red eyes filled with amazement: "It really went back in! As expected of the Savior, refining a Lifebound Magical Treasure in just a moment..."
Even Luna noticed the situation and ran over, looking curiously: "What's the, principle, behind this?"
Yu Sheng: "..."
Clearly, this question was spreading among people quite seriously.
…
The brilliance at the top of the Sun Tower was gradually dimming, while the "Quiet Sea Barrier" that enveloped the whole sea area emitted a faint glow. The Illusion Sea, filled with starlight, gently undulated under the night, bringing the soft sound of waves.
At an "Observatory Platform" near the port area, within the World Engine's main drive sequence, a tall and burly figure stood by a complex observational device, observing the situation outside the world barrier.
"There was a flash deep within the ruin cluster; it should be the collision of two large world remnants previously observed. The impact time and intensity roughly match the predictions of Navigator No. 2 and Morris, with minor discrepancies probably due to interference from the Void Engine itself."
The Captain said while withdrawing his gaze from the observational device, watching as the silver-white obelisk made of metal and crystal gradually extinguished. The dazzling data projections and observational images above the obelisk also gradually melted into the night.
An elegant puppet with silver-white long hair stood aside, nodding slightly after hearing the Captain's words: "Oh, oh!"
The Captain raised an eyebrow: "You understood?"
"I didn't understand!"
The Captain sighed.
However, Alice didn't mind at all, simply being as happy as ever: "Captain, are you done with your work? Are you hungry now? Do you want some biscuits and cake?"
The Captain opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he caught a glimpse of a flurry of colorful paper fragments appearing in the distant night sky.
In the next second, the whirlwind of colorful paper fragments flew to the observatory platform, swirling to form the figure of Lucrecia.
The captain's fingers twitched several times, restraining the impulse to grab a paper fragment—though it would indeed be amusing to play around, considering he'd have to coax his daughter afterward, it was best to hold back.
Lucrecia had returned two days ago, bringing back much intelligence about the Old World and the state of the Boundary Land. Over those two days, she had been processing the data collected from the Old World.
"Dad, I've organized the data I recorded from the Old World," Lucrecia said, holding a pale purple crystal ball with a slightly serious expression, "There are some things... that might interest you."
The Captain, seeing her demeanor, immediately became serious as well. He reached for the crystal ball from his daughter's hand and placed it directly atop the silver-white obelisk.
The obelisk emitted a faint humming sound, and then the data stored within the crystal ball was quickly extracted and transformed, forming countless complex data and figures enveloping the entire observatory platform in an instant.
The Captain slightly furrowed his brow, examining the various parameters brought back by Lucrecia, collected from the Old World.
"...Is this Plande?"
"Yes, at least from the coordinates," Lucrecia nodded.
"The parasite of the Dark Angel has affected these sealed data... Has this part of the time-space structure unfolded?!"
"Yes, although the data I collected is limited, at least within the observational range of the crystal ball, the time-space structure of the Old World has unfolded. Moreover, it seems to have achieved a subtle... stable structure under the influence of the Tree Angel, making the entire Old World no longer just a 'data copy' sealed away, but akin to a sub-universe that can exist long-term after unfolding..."
The Captain, his expression serious, spoke softly: "Sub-universe..."