Chapter 692: Penetrate
Ailin actually had no idea what Yu Sheng meant, but she was already used to it.
Hu Li, however, was clearly more curious than the little doll. She had shrunk from a fox the size of two cars back into a little fox over a meter long, and as she trotted alongside Yu Sheng, she looked up and asked, "Benefactor, do you mean we can directly affect the main body of the Eden Gate within this 'time barrier'?"
Yu Sheng looked down at the little fox demon trotting beside his feet and said, "Yes, Luo gave me an idea. She said that the World Bridge originally needed to take root in precise spacetime structures. The failure of the descent three thousand seven hundred years ago was due to this loophole, and now the heretics of the Hermit Order have found a way to plug that hole—no matter how they did it, one thing is obvious: the obstacle we face here is related to this 'time anchor.'"
He raised his head and looked at the open area at the foot of the mountains. "The Eden Gate sent us here, which means its power has already extended to this time and place—don't treat it simply as a door, but imagine it as a tree. The 'soil' this tree takes root in is the dual structure of time and space. Spatially, it roots in the planet Holy Land, and temporally, its roots stretch into the year 11XX of the Holy Calendar... We are now standing on one of its 'roots.'"
Hu Li tilted her head and mumbled thoughtfully, "So that's why the defense mechanism of the Eden Gate is also part of the Eden Gate..."
Yu Sheng suddenly stopped. "This should be the area." He narrowed his eyes, sensed for a moment, and said softly.
Ailin craned her neck to look around, but only saw a barren plain covered with rubble stretching from the foot of the mountain to the horizon, with thick, dirty clouds pressing low overhead. Besides that, there was nothing. But she had more or less understood that what Yu Sheng was looking for was invisible to the naked eye—at least at this point in time.
"That 'Angel Catalyst' is roughly in this area," Yu Sheng raised his hand and pointed vaguely at a region. "It's still sealed in a force field box, isolated outside the Eden Gate. Those heretics are cautious; they might use a whole set of rigorous testing procedures and rituals to determine the catalyst's safety. That will take a long time, and during that process, the Eden Gate will continue to grow, its 'roots' will dig deeper and deeper, until it becomes a kind of 'permanent structure' in real spacetime. By then, things will get very troublesome."
Yu Sheng said softly, then took out his phone and glanced at it.
The phone couldn't get a signal in this "time well," but Yu Sheng had plenty of ways to contact the outside world. The simplest way was to open a passage to the real universe. Moreover, Ailin could also contact her mass-produced bodies here—though it was unclear whether this ability of the little doll came from the Omen Goddess or the Alice Doll, it was obvious that her "soul structure" could also transcend time and space to some extent.
The "spacetime defense" of the Eden Gate was gradually revealing more and more loopholes in front of the Travel Agency, and next, Yu Sheng was going to tear the biggest gap in this barrier.
"The Borderlands fleet has launched an attack. News of the Star Gate's fall will soon reach the Holy Land." He looked at the message log on his phone, estimating the passage of time outside and the progress of Bai Liqing's attack, and murmured to himself, "Here... just wait here."
The connection established by blood sketched a hazy illusion deep in his mind. He looked up, and under the turbid sky, it seemed he saw a ring-shaped gate that reached to the heavens, standing on the earth. He saw the gate growing in spacetime, saw its roots piercing deep into the barren planet's depths, and also piercing into its history and future. He saw many swaying figures gathered before the gate, waiting with reverence, fervor, joy, and anticipation. Yu Sheng waited with them. They waited for the ritual to formally begin, for the Angel Catalyst to complete its final inspection, for the command of the Holy See. Yu Sheng waited for the news from the border to reach the Holy Land.
Hu Li also came over. The little fox crouched by Yu Sheng's feet and waited quietly.
---
The holy radiance gradually calmed down. Colondel, under the combined effect of neural inhibitors and psychic drugs, once again fell into a half-awake "channeling" state. A satisfied smile hung on his face, and the flames dancing in his eye sockets burned quietly. The Holy See slowly stepped back half a step, a smile on his lips. Everything seemed to be developing according to plan. Next, they only needed to wait patiently for a while until the Angel Catalyst finished testing and was adjusted to its optimal state.
But just then, a strong sense of unease inexplicably appeared in many people's spiritual intuition.
A small shuttle cut through the sky, descending from the clouds over the mountains, and landed hastily on the docking platform near the Eden Gate. A priest in a white short robe scrambled almost tumbling out of the vehicle, his voice completely distorted: "The border star gate has fallen—the Borderlands! The main fleet of the Borderlands! They've broken in!"
Like a blast of cold wind sweeping across the land, a suddenly turbulent surge of powerful psychic energy almost forced the priests near the Eden Gate to their knees. The expression on the Holy See's face changed drastically for the first time. He spun his head to look at the messenger priest, his gaze burning in the air. "Say that again. Was it an attack, or a fall?"
"A f-fall!" the messenger priest prostrated himself. "The enemy suddenly jumped out from inside the star gate. The defense forces had no time to resist. The star fortress was completely destroyed, and the stationed at the gate has vanished... There's no news from the border now. That fleet may have already begun to spread into the interior of the Holy Kingdom..."
The terrible news exploded like doomsday thunder among the high-ranking priests. After a brief shock, most of them simultaneously thought of the same thing—the Eden Gate, the Angel Catalyst!
The light in the Holy See's eyes flickered rapidly several times, many clues instantly linking together. Then, as if he had made a decision, he spun around: "Connect the catalyst!"
An Archsage closest to the gate spoke instinctively: "Your Holiness, the catalyst is still undergoing final tests and adjustments. What if it..."
Before he finished, another voice rang out from the side: "The Borderlands already have their army at the border!"
"But..."
"Connect the catalyst." The Holy See's voice came again from the platform, gentle but carrying an unquestionable authority.
"...Yes! As you will!"
The priests immediately obeyed. Moments later, a "reliquary" next to the Eden Gate was opened, and technicians carefully retrieved the "holy relic" tightly protected by the force field box. Two priests stepped forward to take over, slowly pushing a floating platform that hovered in midair before the Holy See. On the platform lay a black "stone" of unknown material, emitting a mysterious faint glow. The stone was protected by a pale blue energy barrier.
"Close the force field box."
"Yes!"
---
Yu Sheng suddenly raised his head, his gaze falling on a nearby spot. He walked toward it, raising his hand as he went. "Lu..."
A flash of blade light, and a long cut appeared on his palm. Yu Sheng looked back and saw the mechanical girl in a nun's robe standing on a boulder nearby, elegantly lifting her skirt.
"Thanks."
Yu Sheng smiled and shook his head, then looked at the empty space before him and slowly reached out his hand...
The force field box closed. The black "Angel Catalyst" was exposed to the air, and the suppressed pollution power almost instantly began to spread outward, while unstable spatial cracks rapidly grew along the catalyst's surface.
The two priests supporting the floating platform were visibly trembling, but they dared not let go.
"Relax," the Holy See's gentle voice calmed their fear. "This is the normal power of the angel."
Then he personally reached out and pressed his hand faintly above the catalyst, temporarily suppressing the restless energy inside, and together with the two priests, pushed the "holy relic" toward the Eden Gate.
On the ground beneath the gate, faint golden grooves were lighting up one after another, and a low, pleasant hum emanated from within the magnificent ring structure.
Yu Sheng gently closed his eyes, allowing his senses to guide him forward. The wind of the desolate alien planet seemed to carry a low hum, and light from the distant future shone on his face. He extended his hand forward, palm loosely cupped, as if stroking something invisible. Blood slowly flowed from his palm but did not fall to the ground. A crimson outline flickered in and out of the air, tracing the shape of the other side of the spacetime curtain.
He walked slowly forward, toward the Eden Gate that stood hundreds of years in the future.
The two trembling Hermit Order priests slowly walked forward toward the new world gate standing at the end of the platform.
The Holy See placed his hand on the Angel Catalyst. For a moment, he seemed to feel a suspicious "heat" and tilted his head to the side in confusion. He saw his subordinate priest with his face lowered, and further away, only the outline of mountains and clouds.
Yu Sheng tilted his head, looking at the illusion created by the blood connection. He slowly grinned and whispered, "Hello..."
They walked forward together, both supporting the same Angel Catalyst, approaching the same goal from different timelines.
When they reached the end of the platform, the Holy See heard a strange sound. He looked down and saw that Colondel, who had been sleeping under the influence of drugs, was struggling. The Archsage, embedded in the psychic observation device, let out "heh-heh" breaths, the flames in his hollow eye sockets crackling. He seemed to see something, his lips twitching violently as he desperately tried to speak.
But suddenly—
Yu Sheng reached out, and in the gap of the spacetime curtain, he raised an index finger before Colondel.
"Shh, don't tell him."
Colondel quieted down.
"What did you see?" the Holy See asked.
But Colondel seemed to have fallen asleep again, his consciousness lost in another time dimension, showing no response to the Holy See's question.
The Holy See frowned slightly, then his expression suddenly changed. Something was wrong—the catalyst was...
But at that very moment, he watched helplessly as the irregular "black stone" suddenly detached from the floating platform, as if pulled by an invisible force, and plunged straight into the unstable light screen of the Eden Gate.
(End of chapter)