Chapter 314: Return Voyage

Yu Sheng himself found it hard to describe how he felt at that moment.

When he fully "took over" this ship called the "Order Pillar," merging his consciousness completely with the cold metal, and began to try to experience the baptism of cosmic vacuum in a form that was not flesh and blood, a contradictory and surging mix of emotions arose—boundless vastness accompanied by ultimate solitude, yet bathed in starlight and feeling serene and peaceful. These emotions surged up together, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.

It was completely different from how he felt when he took over "Nightfall Valley."

He couldn't tell why there was a difference—was it because of the vastness of space? Or because of the peculiarity of this steel body? Perhaps both.

But he didn't resist this feeling.

He stood at the end of the control hall, gazing at the endless deep space outside, while also examining his current position and state from the ship's perspective. His consciousness wandered through this activated "giant tower," "understanding" everything in this new shell in a way only he could comprehend.

After who knows how long, his gaze settled on a certain direction, and then he raised his hand slightly forward.

Just like the first time he reshaped the dirt and stones underfoot in Nightfall Valley, he awkwardly moved his new "limbs."

A large number of hidden grilles near the base and central structure of the "Order Pillar" unfolded in space. Glimmers of dark red light gradually lit up. The conventional engine ignited, and the "giant tower" began to accelerate slowly.

Then some auxiliary engines lit up in sequence, beginning to adjust the ship's course.

After a few minutes, Yu Sheng stopped and began checking the ship's other systems.

He discovered many damaged or malfunctioning areas—some had been destroyed by Special Services Bureau firepower when the ship fled from Mist City, and others were overload damage caused by the emergency shutdown of the phase engine when the jump was disrupted.

These damages already existed when Yu Sheng "took over" the ship, and since he didn't understand the principles of these things, he naturally couldn't repair them now.

It seemed that after returning, he would have to let the experts from the Special Services Bureau study and see if they could repair them. After that, he would perform another "blood infusion" on the damaged parts to "refresh" their condition...

All sorts of thoughts ran through Yu Sheng's mind as he confirmed the ship's current state of readiness.

Fortunately, although there were some damaged spots, the ship's basic functions were intact. The part used for jumping was in the worst condition, but it had the least impact on Yu Sheng.

He could use his own methods to "compensate" for the missing key structures of the phase engine.

After testing a bunch of functions and repeatedly thinking over many ideas, Yu Sheng finally took a light breath. While focusing his spirit and syncing completely with the ship, he spread his arms and made a gesture as if pushing open a door.

The phase engine charged, and teleport parameters began to generate—

With a vibration that spread throughout the entire hull and a low rumble that echoed through the ship's interior, the "tower" floating in space suddenly became ethereal, as if multiple phantoms overlapped. Starlight from afar directly penetrated its massive, transparent structure. At the same time, a trembling crack appeared inside the tower's phantom, as if a time-space rift was gradually tearing apart within it. The entire ship began to collapse and flip toward that internal crack.

At the same time, deep in the valley.

A roaring sound came from the open space near the Black Forest, startling the squirrel that was nibbling acorns on a tree branch at the edge of the forest, the hunter who was chopping firewood, and Little Red Riding Hood, who had just come home from school after finishing four sets of test papers, one essay, and ten pages of in-class exercises, and wanted to go to the forest to find a quiet place to watch videos.

The squirrel screamed and jumped down from the tree, hopping onto a big rock at the edge of the forest clearing, looking in the direction of the roar: "Another big project? Another big project! I didn't hear about it?"

The hunter also walked out carrying an axe, and immediately saw a large area of ground undulating and wriggling at a distance from the Black Forest entrance, toward the direction of the... inn hub.

That had been a wasteland, nothing but rocks, but now it was being leveled at an astonishing speed. The soil and rocks were "melting," then transforming into a certain gray-white solid form—this was basically the "material" Yu Sheng used to shape houses. Next, the leveled ground began to change further, forming massive pits and platform structures, as if reserving a "foundation" for something huge. Hard roads extended from the edge of this rapidly changing wasteland, connecting to the path that linked the Black Forest and Child X town.

Little Red Riding Hood also came out with her wolf pack, staring wide-eyed into the distance.

The hunter's low voice came from beside her: "...Did Yu Sheng mention any big construction plans recently?"

"I haven't heard," Little Red Riding Hood said, also looking confused, her eyes wide. "Didn't he just shape that hub thing? The interior isn't even done yet, so how is he building something this big now?"

"What do you think this is for?" the hunter muttered in confusion.

"A big water pit!" The squirrel hopped onto the hunter's shoulder. "Such a big pit, with diving platforms around it—it must be a swimming pool! Maybe it's for the mermaid—"

"Mermaids can't swim," Little Red Riding Hood retorted seriously.

"Then she can sink in it," the squirrel said cheerfully—though no one knew why it was so cheerful. "And you guys can cast rods from the high platform..."

Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth, but before she could speak, another roar came from the sky, interrupting everything she was about to say.

She looked up in shock, and the squirrel and hunter also looked up in shock (though the hunter had no face).

A twisted crack was rapidly expanding in the sky. Then, around the crack, many huge phantoms began to appear. Almost in the blink of an eye, those phantoms "flipped" over in a dizzying manner, forming an illusory giant tower floating in the air—the tower was hundreds of meters tall, solemn and majestic. Around its top floated many sub-tower structures like "floating pods," connected to the main tower, looking eerie and magnificent.

Even the wolves beside Little Red Riding Hood stared in shock.

Then, the tower's form transitioned from illusory to solid. After adjusting its posture, it slowly descended toward the newly completed "foundation pit" beside the Black Forest.

It landed precisely in the giant pit, as skillfully coordinated as a pair of human hands. The "rock" structures around the pit immediately deformed, firmly securing the towering "building."

The squirrel finally screamed: "...What is this!! Hunter, do you know what this is? Little Red Riding Hood, do you know what this is?"

The hunter didn't say anything. Little Red Riding Hood shook her head after barely coming back to her senses: "I don't know, but it must be something Yu Sheng made... Maybe to create symmetry with Rapunzel's tower to the north?"

Squirrel: "Rapunzel's tower can't fly either! This thing can fly!"

Just then, Little Red Riding Hood suddenly saw an illusory door appear near the tower.

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief—finally something she recognized appeared.

The door opened, and Yu Sheng staggered out from inside.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately rode her wolf over, reaching Yu Sheng in an instant. She stepped forward and supported the seemingly weak and dizzy Yu Sheng. "Hey! Are you okay? What happened?"

Yu Sheng, looking pale, waved his hand. "Don't talk yet, feeling dizzy, dizzy... ugh—"

Before he finished speaking, he started dry heaving to the side. But after heaving for a while, nothing came out, making him feel even worse.

Little Red Riding Hood felt a bit nauseous from his dry heaving, but she firmly held onto Yu Sheng's arm without letting go. After nearly a minute, he finally got a little better and raised his head with difficulty, saying: "Gosh... being kicked out of a dream by Ai Lin is nothing compared to this... Is this how dizzy a remote jump makes you?"

Little Red Riding Hood was dumbfounded. "Huh? What jump?"

Yu Sheng took a long breath, forced a smile on his face, and pointed at the ship sticking up beside them: "This. I brought it back from outer space. A local specialty."

Little Red Riding Hood's expression became even more blank. Her senior-year student brain quickly understood the meaning of his words, but couldn't grasp the logic of it: "Ah... ah? You said what specialty?!"

"I'll explain later," Yu Sheng said. He had mostly recovered from the weakness and dizziness caused by the remote jump. Although still a bit dazed, at least his head was no longer buzzing. He pulled his arm away from Little Red Riding Hood. "I'll bring Ai Lin and Hu Li and the others in first..."

With that, he fumbled in the air beside him and casually pulled open an illusory door.

On the other side of the door was the living room of 66 Wutong Road—Hu Li, Ai Lin, and Xuan Che had gone home shortly after teleporting away from that tower, and had been waiting at home all this time.

After a moment, a few more dumbfounded figures appeared beside the Black Forest.

The little puppet stood on the ground, straining to look up as if trying to break its neck, staring at the towering spire before it. After a long pause, it blurted out: "...You really fucking brought this whole tower back?!"

Yu Sheng: "What do you mean 'brought back'? It's a trophy—and didn't I say I'd bring a local specialty?"

Ai Lin was shocked: "...The hell kind of local specialty from outer space is a spaceship?!"

Yu Sheng: "Just tell me if it makes sense or not."

Ai Lin was speechless.

Just then, Xuan Che also turned around, cupped his hands in a salute, and said in an especially sincere tone: "The master's methods truly have the power of thunder."

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng subconsciously scratched his hair, feeling a bit embarrassed by the flattery. But before he could be modest, Hu Li also came over, her tail shaking like a third-speed electric fan, eyes sparkling: "Benefactor alone entered the enemy ship, killed the general and seized the vessel—you can be called the Boarding Immortal!"

Yu Sheng: "..."

(End of Chapter)