Chapter 236: Rising to the Moon, Fist of the North Star

【Forever Seventeen: Every time I try to show you respect, you open your mouth.】

【Xia Na: I understand completely.】

【Yinyang Eye Jianzi: I understand +1】

【Big Dream God: Beep-beep, I've exited the capsule, feeling great.】

【Forever Seventeen: You used the capsule? Didn't you rely on me?】

【Big Dream God: I'll scout ahead. You handle the rest.】

……

"Is this the lunar surface?"

After a dizzying spin, Jia Ji saw an unfamiliar ceiling—no, it was the sky.

Above hung Earth, radiating red mist, alongside countless glittering stars and a black starry expanse.

Even with Jia Ji's shallow astronomical knowledge, he knew this was the side of the Moon facing Earth—the only visible face.

Behind the Moon, the dark side untouched by humans, filled with endless fantasy and legend, was where he was headed—the location of the Lunar Capital.

"From the lunar surface to the dark side, I just need to keep walking…" Jia Ji took his first steps, as the second visitor on Earth to tread this silent surface; gravity, weakened to one-sixth its terrestrial strength, made his body lighter, as if running could easily break free from gravity's grasp.

Who was the first?

That was Shuijiang Pudaozi, who once rode a five-colored turtle, mistaking the Moon's surface for the Dragon Palace.

In normal timelines, she was known as Urashima Taro, a fisherman who returned to find three years in the Dragon Palace had become two centuries on Earth.

But in this world of shocking lunar technology, he became a woman—and time flowed differently because the treacherous Lunar Capital had frozen him into hibernation.

So Jia Ji couldn't pull off the "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" gag.

The path he now walked, Shuijiang Pudaozi had trod three hundred years ago!

"I'll walk from south to north, from white to black—I want everyone to see me, but not know who I am~"

Ever since arriving on the Moon, Jia Ji had been ecstatic, already snapping photos everywhere.

Swish-swish… swish-swish…

A strange chill passed through his skin to his central nervous system—the sensation of moving through the 【Moon Sea】.

Normally, the Moon's surface has dark and bright regions: bright areas are highlands, dark areas are plains or basins, called Lunar Highlands and Lunar Seas, formed when dark basaltic lava filled massive impact craters, creating vast plains known as "Lunar Seas."

But in the Eastern world, the 【Moon Sea】 truly is a sea.

Yet this sea before him held no life—no trace of vitality, no marine creature could survive here.

Something was missing… something the Lunar people called impurity. Without impurity, there was no struggle; without struggle, there was no existence.

Too clear water holds no fish.

Too clean…

Nothing lived in this sea beneath his feet.

The Sea of Tranquility beneath him added a touch of romance to the gray Moon, shimmering, pure—even microscopic life forms too small for the eye could not exist.

"I can't brea… oh, I can breathe."

Even the air here was unnaturally pure; the wind blowing against him carried no trace of pollution—it wasn't just air, but actual wind.

Wind, free of all impurities, silently rippled the sea's surface; nothing else disturbed the water.

Such a Moon—rare indeed among worlds that treat it as a battlefield or backdrop to be blown apart.

Too bad, this purity would soon be defiled by demons from Earth.

Jia Ji suddenly crouched down; a mountain-crushing force gathered beneath his feet, brewing.

Then he leapt with all his might, launching himself into a gale toward the dark side; behind him, thunderous sonic booms and massive ripples echoed across the Moon's Sea of Tranquility, easily surpassing several times the speed of sound.

"Sprint! Sprint!"

After flying several kilometers, his figure finally began to descend.

He could go faster—but then he'd escape the Moon's gravity, drift into space, and join Kazu in losing his mind.

……

The Lunar Capital, using planetary power, had erected a vast barrier over the dark side, completely separating the inner and outer worlds—the Surface Moon and the Hidden Moon.

Thus, even if Earth's technology advanced to the point of reaching the Moon, the layered barriers surrounding the Lunar Capital would prevent those on Earth from seeing its existence.

Within the Lunar Capital's barrier stood a cold, massive metallic metropolis, with towers so tall they defied belief, yet in some districts, wooden architecture retained its original, unspoiled style.

In a room brimming with sci-fi aesthetics, numerous giant screens displayed real-time lunar data; in the lower-right corner, smooth green lines crept steadily across each screen.

Before the holographic displays, a petite figure with long rabbit ears lounged comfortably in her chair, too lazy to even lift her eyelids.

Such peaceful days were wonderful—if only they could last forever, she thought.

The next second, a shrill alarm she hadn't heard in ages blared suddenly.

"Anomaly in Sea of Tranquility data! Sea of Tranquility data…!"

As if a switch had been flipped, every instrument in the room began alarming; red warning lights flooded the walls.

"High-energy signature detected! High-energy signature detected!"

"Lunar surface anomaly! Lunar surface anomaly!"

The rabbit-eared girl stiffened, lifting her head to see a red dot on the screen—a deep crimson dot, like fresh blood, approaching the Lunar Capital at visible speed.

Then, thousands, tens of thousands of red dots of varying sizes appeared across the Sea of Tranquility region, relentlessly closing in on her position.

She pinched her soft pink ears hard, confirming this wasn't a hallucination, then scrambled wildly, nearly hitting the ceiling, grabbing the communicator on the desk.

Dialing a number, the Moon Rabbit stared with bloodshot eyes at the screen, and in a trembling, terrified voice, reported directly to her highest superior: "Lady Fengji, emergency situation!"

"A barbaric alliance of earthly demons is approaching the Lunar Capital!"

(End of Chapter)