Chapter 598: Turning from Darkness to Light

The Guard soldiers showed great caution and tension when faced with the blood droplets floating in the air and the eerie blood granting ceremony. After all, researching the occult in theory and actively becoming occult practitioners were clearly not the same thing. But what surprised Yu Sheng was that although these people were resistant, not a single one actually showed any sign of backing down.

In the end, they even actively cooperated to complete the "blood granting."

Feeling the rapid establishment of the blood connection, Yu Sheng thoughtfully turned his head to glance at the golden-haired elf standing beside him.

No wonder these people could stay clear-headed and charge out of the Fissure Lab under those circumstances—they were all deathsworn, the kind with nothing but loyalty in their heads.

At this moment, Yu Sheng had no doubt that even if Lo suddenly went crazy and declared she wanted to become an Angel cultist, this guard squad would probably immediately find a bunch of candles, set them on the floor, then start dancing around in a ritual circle while cutting themselves with small knives...

But regardless, the blood granting ceremony was successfully completed—Yu Sheng had successfully used the safest "contract" to recruit Lo and her subordinates wholesale.

"Congratulations, you've regained your freedom," Yu Sheng clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the Guard soldiers who were still studying whether they had been cursed after the "blood granting." "You're now peripheral members of the Traveler's Lodge, but what you'll be doing isn't much different from before. Lo will explain the specifics to you. For now, let me take you somewhere first."

As he spoke, he casually pulled open a large door beside him.

On the other side of the door was exactly the scene inside the Fissure Lab of Blackstone Station.

A small commotion arose among the Guard soldiers, and then several gazes fell on Lo.

Lo let out a light sigh, didn't explain anything, and instead stepped toward the door. "Come on, let's go home and take a look."

Stepping through the illusory portal, instantly arriving across distant space-time as easily as walking from a bedroom to a living room, Lo returned from the Special Services Bureau headquarters to her familiar space station.

It was mostly the same as she remembered, except the device that used to house the "Zorda Blackstone" in the center of the lab was gone, along with the several Fissure Generators directly connected to it. The lab's ceiling had originally had a large hole that let her see the stars directly, but now that hole had been patched up in an emergency. However, the ceiling covering hadn't been restored yet; looking up, she could still see the slowly healing skeletal structure and the cables and pipes that hadn't been fully connected.

...Healing?

Lo had just taken a breath upon entering the space station and was about to sigh at the sight, when she saw the living, writhing alloy skeleton and the cables and pipes slithering everywhere looking for connections. She nearly choked on that breath, then turned to stare at Yu Sheng as if she'd seen a ghost. "What the... what's going on over there?"

Yu Sheng had expected this reaction and waved a hand before she could finish. "Don't make such a big deal out of everything. I've taken over your space station, haven't I? This is all normal."

Lo was instantly silenced. Then she heard footsteps from the direction of the lab's main entrance. She looked up and saw several figures in traditional Algread scholar robes walking in together, chatting about topics like system resets, removing security locks, and database cracking.

The next second, the Stellar Scholars led by Master Alvin suddenly stopped in their tracks.

On one side were the Stellar Scholars led by the master, on the other was the Black Spot warlord with her personal guard. The two groups of space long-ears ran right into each other in the Fissure Lab and both stood there stunned.

The Stellar Scholars didn't recognize that these people were members of the Black Spot Group; they just thought that the dozens of Guard soldiers didn't look like "scholars" there to help—they looked more like they'd just been released from prison. Lo, on the other hand, reacted instantly and suddenly shouted, "Who are you?! Why are you in my space station?"

Her shout made the other side react too. The leader Alvin's expression changed instantly: "Your space station... Black Spot Group people?!"

The atmosphere suddenly shifted. As for Yu Sheng, he pulled out a handful of melon seeds from his pocket...

But he had only cracked two when Lo interrupted: "Hey! Aren't you my new boss?—Explain the situation!"

Only then did Yu Sheng step forward, positioning himself between the two groups of space long-ears.

"These are the experts and scholars that Mo Ran brought over from Algread, the ones I mentioned to you," he explained briefly to Lo, then turned to the Stellar Scholars. "Mo Ran should have told you that I would find an 'expert' most familiar with this space station to take over—the one most familiar with it is naturally the original owner of this station. Any problem with that?"

Angel Hunter...

The elf scholar named Alvin's eyes shifted slightly. The moment Yu Sheng stepped forward, he actually figured out what was going on, but after all, the other side was a high-ranking member of the Black Spot Group—this rebel faction that had split off from their parent society held a particularly special dangerous significance for the people of Algread. So his gaze still involuntarily fell on Lo, and his expression remained tense.

Lo helplessly spread her hands. "Don't be so tense, 'fellow countryman.' I'm just a scientist, and I've already jumped ship from the Black Spot Group."

But Alvin was still staring at her intently, only... at some point his gaze had become somewhat strange.

Lo noticed the change in her compatriot's expression. She also frowned, puzzled, and looked him up and down several times, her own expression suddenly shifting a bit.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng promptly pulled out his melon seeds again, then after a moment's hesitation, he pulled open another door and dragged Luna over.

He thought the Saintess might enjoy watching this—although he had no idea what was about to happen, his spiritual intuition was telling him so.

Both Alvin and Lo noticed Yu Sheng's odd behavior, but neither had time to worry about it. Just as Luna was still confused, Alvin finally broke the silence. "...Are you called Lo?"

Lo frowned: "I also think you look familiar."

"...We both studied abroad on Terra! Over two hundred years ago, at Light Wind Harbor University, majoring in Psychic Energy and Artifacts, and also Astronomy—you were a year ahead of me!" Alvin's expression had changed, his eyes a mix of shock and complex emotion at the vicissitudes of life. "Our mentor was Master Ted Leer. You were my senior, and you even helped review my thesis..."

Lo slowly widened her eyes.

Some distant memories suddenly revived in her mind. The simple, happy days of her studies rose like shimmering fragments from the deep sea, interspersed with the smell of psychic mushrooms.

Because the last time she recalled these things, she had been munching on psychic mushrooms, and Ank Aiera's power had directly engraved the impression of that stuff into her memory—another facet of angelic power.

Lo's lips trembled a few times; actually, she still couldn't remember what her junior brother's name was—but she did recall this face and the things he mentioned.

Alvin had a complicated expression: "Why did you..."

Lo didn't answer.

Alvin suddenly sighed. "I only happened to hear from classmates that when you graduated, you signed with some scam company and were lured to the Dark Meteor Sector to mine. Then there was talk that you were tricked into a pyramid scheme. All of us in the dorm said it was impossible—you were the most capable in that year, there's no way you'd fall for something like that. Now I see you really did go do big things, but I didn't expect you'd become a terrorist..."

Lo finally had to speak up: "Hey, can't you just say it nicely..."

After that, she turned to look at Yu Sheng, her expression somewhat helpless: "And boss, can you stop snacking?"

Only then did Yu Sheng clap his hands and look happily at the two of them.

"This counts as a win-win ending, doesn't it? Old classmates, years apart, with mistaken paths and turning over a new leaf all settled—this saves a lot of introductions, and you can get to work quickly. Anyway, my request is simple: restore the space station's condition as quickly as possible. Nothing else matters."

Lo frowned. Although she still felt something was off, she had to admit that after this little interlude, at least the tense, confrontational atmosphere had dissipated.

Then came a fairly smooth handover, along with brief introductions and mutual acquaintance between the two teams.

Master Alvin also confirmed a suspicion in his mind—

Those dozens of Algread people in front of him, who didn't look like scholars at all, were indeed all just released from prison...

They were a clone army brought back by the senior who had thrown herself into a terrorist career—very hardcore.

As for Lo, she finally learned the situation of how the space station had briefly left this world and recorded the terrifying scene of "angels circling" outside the world.

Her emotions were a bit complicated.

Blackstone Station had been beset by disasters; she was almost numb to that point. But what numbed her more was that this "pit" called the Traveler's Lodge... really didn't seem any shallower than the one at the Special Services Bureau.

"Let me confirm," she turned to look at her new boss. "You mean, next I need to figure out the process of this space station shuttling between worlds, and find out whether Blackstone Station still has traces of angelic distortion or information contamination from outside the world. If found, study them... is that right?"

Yu Sheng nodded. "Yes. There might also be other projects—the World Bridge, the Mal Omen, or other Dark Angels, invading alien gods, and so on. The specifics depend on what I bring back from 'hunting.'"

Lo swallowed.

"Before, at most I dealt in some antique artifacts from lawless star sectors, and occasionally researching dark psychic energy would get me wanted across all major civilizations. They all called me a tech terrorist..." She couldn't hold it together as she looked Yu Sheng in the eye. "Now you're telling me my main task next is to study Dark Angels and world contamination, and maybe even mess with some evil gods as needed?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment. "You can think of it that way."

"...Can I go back to prison?"

"No can do. You've turned from darkness to light."

Lo: "..."