Chapter 204: The First Gathering of the Sanctuary Wasteland

The sky finally stopped dropping princes or princesses, and it no longer dropped any other strange oddities.

Yu Sheng silently withdrew his gaze from the sky, looking at the figures in the clearing ahead who had calmed down, now resting quietly or speaking in low voices.

And around them, the ground once covered by rose bushes, gunpowder smoke, roaring flames, and other such things had fully returned to the original appearance of the wasteland; those things that had briefly spread from the nightmare left no trace in this "sanctuary."

A spirited tabby cat strode proudly through the crowd, inspecting the surroundings as if on patrol, followed by several "guards" clad in armor, robes, or leather, wielding various weapons; when it reached Yu Sheng's side, it nodded, rubbing its head against his leg: "Mm, I am satisfied, meow."

Yu Sheng couldn't help but glance at the few guards accompanying the "King"; seeing these "attendants," dressed like a standard adventurer party from stories, initially appeared no different from humans, except their expressions were slightly stiff; when he cast his gaze upon them, these "adventurers" even nodded back at him with serious faces.

"We are the King's blades!" the "warrior" in medieval plate armor suddenly declared with full vigor.

Erin was startled, then muttered softly: "... They look just like living people."

"We are the King's blades!" the "female archer" in leather armor, hearing Erin's mutter, suddenly shouted with full vigor and a slightly stiff tone.

Hu Li's ear fluff bristled slightly; he stepped back behind Yu Sheng, greeting these "guards" summoned by the King: "Uh... hello."

"Hello!" the "mage" in a long robe shouted loudly, "We are the King's blades!"

So their lines were just these few sentences.

The Cat King, leading its "adventurer guards" with great pride, departed, continuing to patrol this place across the wilderness; Yu Sheng then heard footsteps behind him, turned around, and saw it was Little Red Riding Hood approaching.

"'The King' summons different guards; adventurers are just one combination; sometimes it summons the Imperial Guard or the Royal Knights, all very capable," Little Red Riding Hood said casually to Yu Sheng while watching the tabby cat walk away, "As for exactly how many combinations exist, even it seems unable to explain clearly—I've seen the most meaningless combination where it could summon several old men who looked on the verge of death all at once..."

Yu Sheng was stunned upon hearing this: "Huh? Summoning several old men? What's the use of that?"

"They are 'flatterers'; they can satisfy any request made by 'The King' within a certain time frame, functioning like an all-powerful wish-granting machine."

Yu Sheng stood with his mouth agape: "... Damn, awesome."

"But 'The King' only makes the flatterers conjure up a huge pile of dried fish snacks for it, then sends them away."

"... Damn, even more awesome."

"Don't you feel now that our abilities are actually quite interesting?" Little Red Riding Hood showed a strange smile, looking together with Yu Sheng at the resting companions, and said slowly, "Even I am seeing them all land in the same place at once for the first time in this manner; it really is a bit... unexpectedly chaotic."

Yu Sheng fell silent for a few seconds, momentarily not knowing what to say.

If one disregards the dangers and corrupting forces behind all this, "Fairy Tales"... indeed are quite fairy-tale-like.

"Come on, as the 'master' here, it's time for you to show yourself," Little Red Riding Hood smiled, patted Yu Sheng's arm, then pulled him toward the others, "Everyone is waiting for you."

Yu Sheng walked over, and immediately the boys and girls gathered on the grass fell silent; gazes turned one by one; the members of "Fairy Tales" rose, bowing politely and silently in thanks; even that perpetually proud tabby cat, at some unknown moment, had quietly come among the people, bowing its head in greeting.

"Uh, hello everyone," Yu Sheng suddenly felt a bit nervous, though those before him were all a group of ten-year-olds. That's it, nothing more.

The circle of older children laughed and giggled, and someone clapped in a messy fashion.

This was the first gathering of the "Fairy Tales" organization in this sanctuary wasteland.

Yu Sheng stepped back and sat on the ground with Little Red Riding Hood; the latter couldn't help but mutter: "Your opening speech was truly lame."

"I'm not good at this," Yu Sheng said casually, while his gaze swept around, "Not everyone is here, right?"

Little Red Riding Hood nodded: "Mm, excluding 'The King', there are currently sixteen heads of household in 'Fairy Tales'; only nine people are here now." "The others..."

"Some are still on night watch duty in the real world, some may not have 'entered the dream' today, and others... probably won today," Little Red Riding Hood explained in a low voice, "Specific details can only be confirmed by asking face-to-face at tomorrow's morning meeting, but there should be no need to worry."

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully; Erin suddenly floated up from mid-air and blurted out: "You can actually win?"

"Of course we can!" Little Red Riding Hood immediately replied, "We aren't always chased and beaten every time we enter a nightmare; there are times when we hold the upper hand; although usually in the later stages the nightmare's power becomes overwhelmingly strong—but even at my current stage, I occasionally win!"

Erin thought for a moment, the picture frame swaying in mid-air: "Oh... I've never seen you win."

The veins on Little Red Riding Hood's forehead instantly started throbbing.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng quickly advised: "Don't pay attention to her; she's quite skilled at annoying people."

Then, before another puppet started babbling nonsense again, he immediately changed the subject: "Alright, now that we've confirmed the sanctuary plan is effective, it's time to discuss some serious matters—I need to tell you about some situations regarding that squirrel, and that so-called 'Ankaira', the Dark Angel."

Upon hearing this, Little Red Riding Hood's expression instantly became serious—even Erin, who was brewing another instance of True Damage, immediately landed obediently on the ground, standing stiffly between Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood like a memorial portrait, with a serious face.

Yu Sheng didn't beat around the bush, directly laying out all the intelligence he had received from the squirrel.

Please... you... collect... 6... 9... Book... Bar...!

Halfway through speaking, Bai Xue was drawn over and sat nearby to listen; then "The King" also came over, crouching on the grass with a solemn cat face.

Little Red Riding Hood frowned tightly.

Here, only she and that "squirrel" had known each other the longest and were most familiar.

The squirrel is the guide for every Little Red Riding Hood, and the only "friend" every Little Red Riding Hood has in the Black Forest—she had once been curious about this and asked, but only today did she finally learn... why there is a mysterious "squirrel" in the Black Forest.

At the same time, she also learned how the paths, streetlamps, hearth fires, and candlelight in the Black Forest came to be.

"Do other 'subsets' have this kind of gradual growth situation?" Yu Sheng asked with some curiosity.

"Every subset experiences gradual change and gradual perfection; this is indeed not unique to the Black Forest; moreover, the 'strength' of each subset, like the evil wolves in the Black Forest, will gradually increase as we 'characters' grow—the madwoman in the Bloodstained Court wasn't that strong from the start either," Bai Xue nodded, then immediately shifted the topic, "But the 'squirrel' is indeed unique to the Black Forest; on 'stages' like the Bloodstained Court or the Eternal Ball, there are no similar individuals."

Yu Sheng nodded gently, his expression thoughtful.

As more intelligence and clues gathered, he now felt even more the uniqueness of the "Black Forest" among all fairy tale subsets.

The "squirrel" is trapped in the Black Forest; seventy years ago, the deep-diving team that pierced the fairy tale shell transformed into "hunters," and their "landing point" was also in the Black Forest; and judging from the other "fairy tale" members he has contacted so far, the "mutation" method of the Black Forest also appears quite special; the combination of forest and evil wolves obviously isn't as absurd as other "subsets," but rather subtly presents a kind of stability...

This made Yu Sheng couldn't help but wonder—what caused these "special characteristics" of the Black Forest?

... Could it be related to that "Fairy Tale Book" the squirrel handed to Ankaira back then? In that Fairy Tale Book, was "Little Red Riding Hood" a special chapter?

After a moment of thought, he broke the silence again: "After you return, search that orphanage carefully, especially places like the basement, and the oldest building structures within the compound."

Little Red Riding Hood instantly understood Yu Sheng's intention: "... You suspect the traces left by 'Ankaira' in the real world are still in the orphanage?"

"We cannot rule out this possibility; although time has indeed passed for a long while, and many buildings in the orphanage have been renovated, the traces left by a Dark Angel may not fade with time; some things... might just be 'imprinted' onto this world," Yu Sheng said while pondering, "The squirrel recalled that the glowing object once 'merged' into the open space in the middle of the courtyard; Little Red Riding Hood, didn't you previously see strange thorn shadows on a wall near that open space? Perhaps there is a connection between these two events."

Little Red Riding Hood immediately recalled those suspicious shadows she had seen earlier in the corner of the orphanage wall; her expression grew solemn.

"I understand," she nodded seriously, "Upon returning, we will organize people to inspect."

(End of Chapter)