Chapter 715: Ancient Saint Spirits, the Lost Home, and the Black Star

"...What do you mean you just took a nap on the outside terrace and dreamed of someone from the Lost Home, and you even felt like they were very familiar with you?"

On the bridge of the Mass Effect, Bai Liqing's facial muscles once again reached their daily exercise peak—the corners of her eyes twitched upward by at least 4 pixels, and her tone was filled with amazement.

Although she didn't say it outright, Yu Sheng could read between those four pixels the implication: "Can you, dear god, just have one day of peace?"

How to put it? Yu Sheng himself was actually a bit embarrassed, especially after seeing Bai Liqing's dazed eyes that were nearly asleep beyond the horizon... He wanted to suggest she take a vacation, but then remembered that she was indeed on vacation right now, even though taking a vacation on the front lines was somewhat questionable, he still couldn't bring himself to speak up.

Raising a hand to scratch his cheek, Yu Sheng finally spoke: "First, don't ask me about the principle—you know how reasonable the things that happen to me are. Second, don't ask me if I can reproduce it; if I could reproduce it, I wouldn't have come to you. I would have just called that bandaged woman a couple more times and asked her myself..."

He coughed dryly, rubbed his chin, and continued: "I came to you to ask if the person I described is really one of the legendary Ancient Saint Spirits? The ones who followed the Lost Home to the edge of the universe and never came back."

Bai Liqing and the red-eyed girl beside her exchanged a glance. Yuanhao Zhenren, on the other hand, seemed to have something on his mind and spoke first: "Bandages, black clothes, female, holding a lantern, appearing in a mirror-like medium... I did hear a local scholar on Terra mention such a figure during my travels years ago..."

"Agatha, Twin Stars, Mirror Protector, Messenger of Night, Cold, and Remains," Hong said slowly, continuing the thought. "Based on your description, that's the one I can think of."

Just as Hong finished speaking and Yu Sheng was about to respond, the bridge's hatch suddenly opened, and a short figure shuffled in.

Ailin caught a word or two as she opened the door, not fully understanding the situation. She looked up blankly at Yu Sheng: "Huh? Are we having guests? So many people?"

"What nonsense? I had a dream and I'm trying to interpret it," Yu Sheng said as he bent down, casually picked up the little thing, and placed her on his shoulder. "Finished touring the space battleship? Any thoughts?"

"Couldn't see anything, wasn't allowed to look at anything," the little thing grumbled. "I just wanted to see what the macro-element reactor looked like inside. As soon as I climbed onto the railing, the two United Army soldiers guiding me looked like they were about to faint. Boring. Hey, you had another weird dream? I missed it this time. What did you dream about?"

Yu Sheng was still mentally processing the long string of titles Hong had just recited, marveling at how the Ancient Saint Spirits had so many names. At Ailin's words, he was suddenly startled, then remembered something.

"Wait, something just occurred to me," he said, turning to look at the little thing on his shoulder. "You were created by the Ancient Saint Spirits of the Lost Home back in the day, weren't you? An original doll? And you even received the mission to guide the Goddess of Ill Omen directly from the Progenitor of Dolls, right?"

Ailin blinked. Though she didn't know why Yu Sheng suddenly brought this up, she immediately puffed up with pride: "That's right! I'm not bragging, but I'm a veteran Alice doll! I was awesome, you know?"

"Agatha—does that name ring any bells?" Yu Sheng reached out, lifted the little doll off his shoulder, and held her under her arms, dangling her in front of his eyes. "Wrapped in bandages, black clothes, sometimes carrying an antique lantern..."

He briefly described what he had seen in his "dream" to the little doll.

Ailin listened, stunned. At first, she showed no reaction to the name Agatha—clearly, her shattered memories held no corresponding impression—but when she heard the word "lantern," her expression unconsciously shifted, as if she mumbled involuntarily: "Those two treasured that lantern dearly. They never let me touch it."

Instantly, several pairs of eyes fell on the little doll.

"Wh-what?" Ailin snapped to attention, looking warily at the people around her. "I don't have many memories, you know that. I died together with the Goddess of Ill Omen back then. My soul was shattered to pieces."

But Yu Sheng seemed not to hear her last remark. His brows furrowed slightly as he asked casually: "Two? Two people?"

"Yeah, Agatha is two people, twins, you know," Ailin scratched her hair. Her memory, like her mind, existed in a superposition of faulty connections and missing targets. Occasionally, when the connection was made, she could naturally blurt out some bizarre information. "You only saw one?"

Yu Sheng nodded: "Only one, and even that was blurry."

"...Maybe the two of them have overlapped again," Ailin said thoughtfully. "Sometimes they act as each other's shadows."

With that, the little doll fell silent again, as if her memory had disconnected once more.

"This particular Ancient Saint Spirit is one of the more low-key among them," Hong continued. "In the early days after the second singularity, when the world was still unstable, she was responsible for maintaining the boundary between reality and illusion, and for protecting psychics suffering from 'Old World Nightmare Syndrome' due to overly sensitive souls. After the world stabilized, she almost never appeared in public again."

"There's another claim that mentions this Mirror Protector was once the 'Death's Messenger' in the old world," Bai Liqing added. "She was responsible for guiding souls and guarding graveyards—but there isn't much data on that part, so I don't know the details."

Yu Sheng frowned slightly, his gaze flickering as if he were lost in thought.

Then he recalled the last words the figure had transmitted before departing.

"She also mentioned that the Lost Home is now sailing to some kind of void boundary," Yu Sheng said, still frowning. "She mentioned something about an engine... Do any of you have any ideas?"

This time, everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

"Looks like no," Yu Sheng said thoughtfully. After a moment, he muttered again: "I have a feeling this isn't ordinary... The Ancient Saint Spirits have been out of contact with this world for too many years. You all say they're patrolling the edge of the universe, maintaining the world's operation, but from what that Agatha said, the more I think about it, the less it sounds like simple patrolling."

Yuanhao Zhenren had been quiet for a while, but now he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then turned to look out the observation window.

The Black Star hung high, still moving quietly along the original orbital path of the Sacred Ground.

It was truly incredible that this elusive "celestial shadow" remained stable in the material world.

"Regardless, this matter occurred after the Black Star appeared," Old Handsome suddenly broke the silence. "Brother Yu has also often seen the Black Star in his visions. The key to breaking through likely lies here."

Luo Yiyang raised an eyebrow beside him: "Any suggestions?"

Old Handsome produced a fan from who-knows-where and waved it in front of him: "I suggest that when the new probe is ready, we have Brother Yu perform some spells to imbue it with spirit, then send it into the Black Star. It might yield results."

"Huh? My boss knows spells?"

"...I meant smear some blood on it. Just put it more elegantly."

"Oh, oh."

Yu Sheng watched this scene and felt a strange sense of irony.

How to put it... Here was a master of artifact refinement from the Feiyu Star Domain and a tech warlord from the Black Spot Group, pooling their wisdom together, and the final suggestion they came up with was whether he should smear some blood on the probe. It felt like a server had crashed, and the company had called in a bunch of experts for an engineering consultation, but the only idea on the table was, "Have you tried restarting?"—only to turn around and find the chief engineer already wearing a Daoist robe.

In contrast, Bai Liqing and Hong beside him seemed much calmer.

They weren't calm because one had a flat expression and the other kept her eyes closed, but because, in the Borderland, when a machine spirit was displeased, you really did need to burn incense—from the perspective of "when machines don't work, you might as well try some superstition," Yu Sheng's blood was at least potent.

But regardless, the next stage of design for the Black Star probe was indeed settled in this haphazard manner.

Still, Yu Sheng seemed a bit preoccupied.

A fluffy tail curled around from beside him, gently brushing against his back.

"Benefactor," Hu Li said softly, though her face still bore the drowsiness of a hangover, her expression was unusually serious. "If you go to that Lost Home, take me with you."

"...Okay."

"I'll be your guide!" Ailin said happily. "Let me tell you, I know that ship inside out. Before I lost my memory, I knew everyone on board. Even though I don't know the way anymore now..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

As always, he truly envied this little thing's carefree attitude.

Just then, the door to the bridge connecting to the corridor opened again, and a tall figure appeared at the entrance, interrupting their discussion.

It was Luna, who had returned. Earlier, a large number of artificial saints and brass knights had been urgently evacuated from the Sacred Ground along with the United Fleet's transport ships, so Yu Sheng had sent her to assist with settlement and communication. She must have just finished.

Luna walked straight toward Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng was about to raise his hand to greet her, but he sensed something from the android's demeanor—although Luna usually didn't show much expression, her face was now much more lively than before.

"What happened?"

Luna looked at Yu Sheng, then slowly spoke one word at a time: "We may have found the Pasture Star."

Yu Sheng: "?!"

"Damn, how did you find the C-type buckle?!" Ailin exclaimed. "The experts in the Borderland still haven't figured out that star chart array, have they?"

"A sister's body is on the Pasture Star," Luna said slowly. "Her soul has entered the Cathedral."