Chapter 427: Silent Garrison
After returning to the surface, Yu Sheng immediately sent Sun Gong and the sample retrieval team dispatched by the Special Affairs Bureau back to , and then evacuated with Hu Li and the others to a safe area before the entire crater region completely collapsed.
Not long after that, the entire area collapsed into a shocking deep pit before their eyes.
The underground structure of the crater had long been completely hollowed out by the parasitic bodies of the Gloomy Angel. After the Crystal Heart in those caves had fully died, the unsupported strata continuously collapsed downward, dragging a substantial area around the crater into this terrifying chain collapse. The collapse lasted for tens of minutes, ultimately leaving everything beyond recognition.
Residual heat lingered at the bottom of the pit. Lifeless gray crystals mixed with rock and soil; hollowed stone 'tunnels' and compressed, deformed layers of rock lay shattered and strewn about like the bones of some primordial beast that had died a millennium ago. This 'giant pit' was clearly visible from space, and for the foreseeable future, it would likely become a permanent scar on Garrison-3 that time could not erase.
Xu Jiali did not evacuate with the others. Instead, she and her psychic retainer stayed behind to witness this earth-shattering great collapse together with Yu Sheng.
"Boss, that's spectacular, meow," Lingdang said, her eyes wide as she gazed at the giant pit still shrouded in dust. She pressed a button on her protective suit, and a thin tube rose from her helmet visor, emitting a calming smoke extracted from catnip. She took a deep breath, then squinted her eyes. "Strong stuff..."
"Does this count as another 'Angel Fall' I've witnessed?" Xu Jiali turned to look at Yu Sheng and remarked casually.
Yu Sheng shook his head. "No, this is just an empty shell shed by the Gloomy Angel. We don't even know if it can be considered Its corpse."
"Tch," Xu Jiali clicked her tongue, then shook her head. "I've finished collecting the image data. I need to go back to the bureau to report. Captain Song and the Director are waiting for news."
Yu Sheng nodded and casually pulled open a door leading to the Special Affairs Bureau employee passage. On the other side, two agents passing by were startled and stared in shock, but they quickly recovered, bowed to Yu Sheng, and hurried away.
Lingdang looked up at Xu Jiali in surprise. "Boss, aren't you staying to help your friend fight?"
"Help? Me help Yu Sheng? Fight the Gloomy Angel?" Xu Jiali raised an eyebrow and tapped Lingdang's helmet with moderate force. "You've had too much catnip. Come back with me. You haven't reported to the Special Affairs Bureau in ages. You should show your face once in a while..."
"Oh, okay, meow..."
The two muttered as they passed through the door. Yu Sheng let go of the handle, leaving only him, Eileen, Hu Li, and Luna on this desolate alien planet.
"We should return to Silent Garrison." Yu Sheng exhaled, took out his phone to check the time, and prepared to open another door to Huixian Continent.
But at that moment, a sudden ringing from his phone interrupted his actions.
The phone was in his hand, and the incoming call screen showed "Wretched Disciple 4000."
A sudden vague premonition of unease flashed in his heart. Yu Sheng answered the phone immediately, but before he could speak, he heard Yuanling Zhenren's urgent voice from the other end:
"Where are you? Still on Garrison-3? Go to Silent Garrison immediately and check the situation. Xuan Che and the others have lost contact!"
"What?" Yu Sheng was immediately startled, and at the same time, he quickly reached into the air, forming a phantom door in his hand. "I was just about to go—Xuan Che lost contact? I received a message from him just over ten minutes ago?"
"It was just now that contact was lost. My senior brother has also lost contact," Yuanling Zhenren said urgently. "We don't know what happened yet, but just now a disciple reported an urgent message—I'm afraid all communications between Taixu Spiritual Pivot and Silent Garrison have been cut off! Even several secret lines have no response!"
All communications between Taixu Spiritual Pivot and Silent Garrison have been cut off?!
Hearing what Yuanling Zhenren said, Yu Sheng subconsciously took a breath of toxic atmosphere, then quickly replied, "Okay, I'll go right now. I'll contact you as soon as I find anything."
Before his words had faded, he pulled open the door to the Huixian Continent guest room, stepping through with Eileen, Hu Li, and Luna.
The next second, the group passed through the door and returned to their lodging in Silent Garrison.
The hotel room still looked as it did when they left: the furniture was neatly arranged, the view outside the window was still a continuous curtain of rain, neon lights flickered in the distance, and faint music could be heard from somewhere unknown.
The sound of rain mixed with the distant music, making the room seem especially quiet through the window.
The living room was empty.
Eileen jumped down from Yu Sheng's shoulder, quickly ran to the next room, and then pattered back. "There's no one in the rooms!"
"Kitchen and bathroom are empty too," Hu Li said after searching, sniffing. "But there's a lingering smell in the living room. Zheng Zhi and Yuan Hao were probably here earlier. Also, there's a bit of moisture near the windowsill."
Yu Sheng frowned and said nothing, just picked up his phone to look.
"No signal?"
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The next second, he felt his phone vibrate. Then the edges of the screen dimmed, and a red warning box suddenly popped up, with prominent text flashing inside:
"Environmental monitoring anomaly. Possible deep critical state."
Hu Li happened to see this from the side. The fox girl's ears instantly perked up. "Benefactor, this is..."
"...Otherworld," Yu Sheng said gravely. "And it's a special alert triggered only by a recent depth change..."
Eileen, who had been scurrying around the living room doing who-knows-what in 'investigation,' suddenly stopped, slowly looked up, and reacted after a moment: "Holy shit?"
"Boom!" A sudden crash of thunder exploded in the distance, rolling across the city like a beast's roar, but no lightning was seen. Only the wind and rain grew heavier than before.
The phone had no signal. They couldn't contact Yuan Hao, Xuan Che, or Zheng Zhi. There was no trace of them in the hotel room.
The last message he had received was from Xuan Che, saying that he had detected signs of a cognitive anomaly that might be widespread among the population on this planet, including Mo Ran, the city lord of Ink City.
Yu Sheng frowned deeply, quickly pondering the connection between Xuan Che's last message and the current strange situation. Hu Li's voice sounded from the side. "Benefactor, what do we do now?"
"Check every corner of the room again," Yu Sheng said after a brief thought, suddenly having an idea. "Yuan Hao Zhenren is an experienced adventurer with great strength. If something really happened, he would definitely find a way to leave information to warn us. It's just that this information might be hidden by the current anomaly... Search again!"
It sounded like a hopeless measure, but Eileen, Hu Li, and Luna immediately sprang into action, beginning to search for any suspicious traces in the not-so-large hotel suite. Just as they were rummaging around, a jade screen ornament on a low table in the living room suddenly began to emit a hazy glow.
Yu Sheng approached curiously. Then he saw a clear projection appear within the hazy glow—an ornately decorated immortal boat slowly flying through the city's buildings. Nearby, floating lanterns and celebration banners drifted in the air. On the front deck platform of the immortal boat, a man in purple robes stood at the bow, a long sword hanging at his waist, his posture upright. The man's face seemed obscured by a veil of mist, indistinct.
A voiceover came from the jade screen: "...The new 'Star Guardian,' Elder Daoheng, arrived in Ink City today. The celebration will continue until..."
Eileen came over from the side. "What's this? Local news broadcast?"
"...That must be a 'news' from over a hundred years ago," Yu Sheng frowned. "Elder Daoheng, the Pacifying Star Elder, took office in Silent Garrison over a hundred years ago."
As soon as he finished speaking, the projected image on the jade screen suddenly flickered violently. The celebration scene just now turned into a construction site under gloomy skies. An enormous, unfinished building stood in the wilderness, with many obscure mechanical devices bustling around the giant tower. Someone was narrating in the corner of the image: "...Refinery Tower No. 12 is being built by the Yaolan Sect... Once completed, Ink City will become the largest spirit ore refining center in Silent Garrison..."
The images projected by the jade screen kept changing—sometimes 'news broadcasts,' sometimes entertainment shows, and sometimes seemingly just pure landscape documentaries. But without a doubt, all the images it displayed were from a long time ago.
The time span ranged from hundreds of years ago, when Silent Garrison's mining industry was still thriving, to just a few decades ago.
After switching through who knows how much chaotic content, the image on the jade screen suddenly darkened. Then, accompanied by a mess of noise and color blocks, the image became clear and stable again, but it was no longer any 'show.' It was just a dim, hazy curtain of rain.
The rain fell endlessly. In the distance were blurred neon street scenes.
Yu Sheng stared blankly at the projected image for two seconds, then suddenly realized and whipped his head around to look at the window.
What the jade screen was projecting was exactly the view outside this room's window at that moment!
And the next second, Yu Sheng noticed that the rainwater streaks on the window were curving, forming what seemed like characters. He focused on them, and the distorted writing suddenly became neat:
"Knowledge Barrier."
Yu Sheng frowned. Before he could think more, the line of writing was washed away by the rain, and then new characters appeared on the window:
"We are inside a vast dream."
(End of chapter)