Chapter 233: Fairy Tale

That was a dead embryo.

Yu Sheng did not know how to explain this judgment—because he had no corresponding knowledge or experience to judge whether the oddly shaped "flesh mass" before him was dead or alive, and no one knew what physiological characteristics an "Angel Embryo" should possess; if forced to say, the moment he saw that mass of flesh, the answer had already appeared in his mind.

He knew this thing was dead: no breath, no blood flow, no thought, no soul; from the very beginning, there had been no possibility of it being "born and growing up as a living being."

But this thing was growing bit by bit; it was hard to see with the naked eye, but it was indeed growing. Yu Sheng even felt he could hear the faint "sound of growth" inside it, like tiny bubbles bursting. This dead Angel Embryo was getting a little bigger every second, preparing for birth.

Yu Sheng simultaneously observed this eerie individual's state of death and its process of growth. He felt incredibly contradictory and confused, unable to understand whether the information flooding his mind was the "truth" he had perceived himself, or "knowledge" forcibly implanted by Ankaela. He stood there dazed for a long time, trying to process those conflicting pieces of information in his consciousness, until Ankaela's voice broke into his mind again—

"I can't see ta's appearance very clearly. This situation has been going on for a very long time."

Yu Sheng raised his head, looking at the severed umbilical cord extending from the dead fetus, floating in mid-air.

He heard the voice in his mind continue, calm and gentle, without a trace of violence or malice: "The connection between us... is very weak. This is an ancient glitch. A long time ago, during those wandering days, this glitch already occurred. I am not sure of ta's current state, but I have been doing my best to supply nutrients to ta—my Creator said this is my most important task.

"You are there. You have your eyes. You can see ta, right?

"Can you tell me, is my child okay? Has ta... grown?"

Yu Sheng opened his mouth. He took two steps forward, approaching the lifeless "fetus," then cautiously closed his mouth again.

He did not know what impact his answer would have, but he knew that gentle, friendly voice... was a Dark Angel.

So he remained cautiously silent and tried to perceive the other party in reverse through the connection between himself and Ankaela, hoping to gain a little initiative.

However, that calm, low voice abruptly broke the silence.

"... ta is already dead, isn't ta?"

Yu Sheng felt his heart suddenly skip half a beat. He instinctively drew in a breath, standing rigidly in place.

And after that, Ankaela remained silent for a long time.

No one knew what this ancient, strange mind, already beyond the understanding of reason, was thinking.

After an unknown amount of time, Yu Sheng suddenly made a move—he reached out his hand toward the dead Angel Embryo.

A dead Angel Embryo, was it not also a "dead one"?

But what could a "dead one" who had never lived, never thought, and died before birth convey to him? This hollow shell contained no mind or soul; what could ta reveal in "conversation"?

Yu Sheng did not know either, but he wanted to talk to this "child"—if that were truly possible.

Darkness descended.

Unlike any previous conversation with the dead, Yu Sheng saw no movement from the oddly shaped mass of flesh before him; ta did not open eyes or mouth—only darkness and void rushed toward him.

But in the center of this endless dark void, something faintly seemed to be emitting a dim light.

Yu Sheng walked toward that dim light and saw clearly what it was.

His expression changed slightly, yet he felt no great surprise—it was a book.

An old, tattered fairy tale book, as if many children had flipped through it countless times—《The Squirrel Knight Takes You to Read Stories》.

Yu Sheng raised his head and looked around; in this extreme void of darkness, this fairy tale book was the only thing.

After a slight hesitation, Yu Sheng bent down, carefully picked up that fairy tale book, and opened it.

The pages were filled densely.

Indeed, just as the squirrel had said, this book was filled with children's whimsical stories. Those paragraphs missing due to poor printing quality, the blank pages—all were covered with various childish handwriting, Pinyin, and doodles, even some abstract lines. Many so-called "stories" consisted of only two or three sentences, unreadable and incomprehensible; even the person who originally wrote them would likely not understand their own strange thoughts when looking back.

Yu Sheng slowly turned the pages in his hand, and then felt something.

He raised his head, only to find that the surroundings were still nothing but darkness; in this void space, apart from himself, there was only this fairy tale book in his hands.

Yet Yu Sheng frowned. That vague "feeling" still lingered around him. He carefully discerned this faint "presence" and looked forward thoughtfully.

There was an "audience" here.

He could not see ta, could not hear ta; he knew ta had not even been born into this world yet. Theoretically, there should truly be nothing in this darkness—but there was an audience here.

The little audience is ready. Now is the time to read stories.

Holding that fairy tale book, after a moment, Yu Sheng gently exhaled and sat cross-legged in the darkness.

He knew what to do. Yu Sheng carefully turned the already very tattered book to the first page, then cleared his throat—

"Once upon a time..."

The dark spire in the distance, constantly spewing demons, crashed down with a boom—it fell for the third time tonight. The demons surging from the spire were almost instantly burned to ashes by the Lei Ting summoned by the Titans.

Little Red Riding Hood panted heavily, one hand leaning on the wreckage of an armored vehicle beside her, the other covering a wound on her arm, watching the battlefield through the gaps in her bangs.

The Red Dragon descended for the fourth time, plummeting straight toward the Prince's anti-aircraft positions, while on a position further away, the Royal Guard Knights were repeatedly fighting the Red Queen's soldiers for a high ground.

And wolf packs were darting through the smoke, slipping from one shadow to another, constantly assassinating those witches who had infiltrated the positions and trenches, or carrying intelligence from afar back to the command post hastily established by Dorothy.

The Black Forest had been completely burned to scorched earth; every inch of land had been burned at least twice.

The Mermaid was still playing BGM.

Perhaps the dream distorted everyone's perception of time; Little Red Riding Hood now almost suspected this war had lasted for months, or even years.

No mistake! One sentence, one release, one content, all inside, all visible!

But at this moment, she suddenly noticed something: the fallen dark spire was not regenerating as it had the previous times.

On the distant positions, the eliminated witches were not reappearing from the air.

As time passed, everyone on the battlefield noticed these obvious changes.

The King was the first to rush over. It agilely leaped onto the destroyed armored vehicle of Dorothy's legion, stood upright, and gazed into the distance. After a long while, it looked down at Little Red Riding Hood with some uncertainty: "The enemies seem to really be decreasing—my knights are eliminating the last batch of soldiers."

Little Red Riding Hood blinked her eyes. She did not know what had happened, but a moment later, as if distant memories suddenly returned to the current timeline, she abruptly raised her head and looked at the huge rift standing silently in the center of the Black Forest, now visible to everyone.

Above the Black Forest, the massive shadow cast by Ankaela was slowly retracting into the rift.

"... Later, they all lived happily ever after."

Yu Sheng slowly finished the last story from his memory and gently closed the book.

There was no response in the darkness.

Was there really a listener here? Did "it" truly exist? Did these stories really make an impact?

Yu Sheng was actually not sure at all; he just wanted to try, and now he had finished trying.

So he stood up again, standing quietly in the darkness, waiting for some change to occur here.

He waited for a long time, until he had almost lost patience, when he finally faintly heard a sound bordering on hallucination—a very weak laugh, like an infant laughing, a soft giggle.

Yu Sheng was not even sure if he had truly heard it, and there was no time to verify, because almost the instant that laughter appeared, the surrounding darkness collapsed silently.

In merely the blink of an eye, he found himself back in that "illusion" filled with thin mist and stripped of all color; that grotesque and lifeless "Angel's Womb" still lay quietly before his eyes, while his hand remained in the posture of resting upon the surface of the "Angel's Womb."

The next second, he saw countless tiny patterns emerge on the surface of the Angel's Womb; the patterns spread and split continuously, covering it entirely within the blink of an eye, and then instantly collapsed.

Without making any sound, it silently turned into fragments right before Yu Sheng's eyes, then rapidly transformed from fragments into gravel, into dust, into something even finer than dust, until it vanished into the air.

Yu Sheng widened his eyes; he did not know what was happening and felt somewhat at a loss for a moment, until he heard a voice in his mind—the calm voice of Ankaera emitting a sigh—

"... So, my mission is over."

Yu Sheng frowned, about to say something, when he noticed the pale thin mist suddenly churn violently!

Color returned; the mist vanished like a dream in the blink of an eye. Great swathes of chaotic colors and lights appeared before Yu Sheng's eyes, and then he felt as though he were falling rapidly through a corridor. He kept falling downward, even feeling as though he had been falling for years, until he momentarily lost consciousness again and felt himself land somewhere—this should have been an impact violent enough to be fatal, yet he felt as though something was supporting him, allowing him to finally touch the ground lightly.

The dizziness and chaos in his mind prevented him from opening his eyes for a time; it was only after a while that he heard tinnitus-like static beside his ears, heard someone calling his name, and immediately after, a furry sensation appeared on his face, accompanied by a slightly damp feeling.

Yu Sheng opened his eyes and saw a large reddish-brown tail appear in his field of vision.

(End of Chapter)