Chapter 235: Rebirth and Fusion

The angel fell from the earth, falling toward the sky.

Li Lin and his Special Bureau colleagues stood beneath the night sky, as if guided by an invisible hand, raising their heads to stare blankly at the light slowly rising in the heavens, watching it ascend higher and higher, gradually beginning to disintegrate from within; and in this process, more than one person suddenly saw certain "illusions" in their minds—

They felt that the ball of light suddenly transformed into a colossal silver-white metallic construct, like a "seed" swollen in the middle, with several glowing ring structures at its tail; it rose from the orphanage courtyard, yet in the next instant became incomprehensibly vast, vast enough to cover the entire sky.

They also felt that flesh and blood sprouted within that light; it became a grotesque and twisted creature, seemingly composed of countless mixed limbs; it stretched countless arms toward the sky, then gradually melted into the radiance.

Li Lin felt what he saw was a stone, huge, irregular, its surface covered with moss and tender sprouts; it flew higher and higher, singing a broken song from afar; it said it came from the starry sky, to sow seeds upon the earth, and now everything was over, the time had come for the seed to return home...

So it fell toward the starry sky.

The light split, turning into countless scorching flame streams, accelerating above the Borderlands like meteor rain flying backward; then, in the latter half of this process, they underwent further splitting: part continued to "fall" toward the sky, while another part lightly detached from the main fragments' trajectory and began descending toward the distance.

Bai Qing stood with her arms crossed, quietly watching this scene from the ground; her eyes tracked every fragment splitting in the sky, analyzing their possible landing points, then she picked up her phone.

"Xiao Song, dispatch several recovery teams, one of which you will lead personally. Yes, some fragments may crash inside the Borderlands, in the 'suburbs'; I'll send you the approximate area shortly—prepare maximum-level protection; we still cannot determine whether the angel's remains after disintegration are harmful..."

Hu Li and Erin stood not far beside Bai Qing; both also raised their heads. After a while, Hu Li murmured softly: "Truly spectacular."

"Just gone like that," Erin pouted, then turned her head toward the orphanage, "... this place is almost flattened too."

"Little Red Riding Hood and the others might have to stay in the valley for a long time," Hu Li thought for a moment, "I wonder how things are with our Benefactor over there."

"Who knows? But he must be very busy now; after handling the 'connections' of two otherworldly realms, he'll likely have to go to the valley again," Erin climbed up, hugging Hu Li's tail, "Oh, don't worry; he'll definitely come home once he's done. Let's go back first, wait for him at home..."

Hu Li lifted her tail, curling Erin up into her arms: "Great! Let's go home and make breakfast for our Benefactor!"

"Wait a minute, shouldn't we call a taxi?"

"Our Benefactor said there won't be any taxis at this hour, but it's fine; I know the way!"

"Hey, wait, there are so many Special Bureau people here; we could hitch a ride with them; they'd definitely jump at the chance to help us right now..."

"I know the way! My nose works great!"

"... At least tuck your tail in! And don't suddenly run—holy crap aaaaaah—"

A roaring sound quickly faded into the night; under the stunned gazes of a group of Special Bureau agents, a two-legged fox sprinting at seventy miles per hour, clutching a squealing doll, shot off into the distance...

Now, everything has quieted down.

Little Red Riding Hood's wolf pack has vanished; the King's knights and adventurers have also withdrawn; so have Dorothy's rebels and Bai Xue's Thunder Titans... When the invisible curtain falls, the protagonists of the story depart this devastated stage, just as every story's ending tells us—next, they will live happily ever after.

Only the stage must gradually cool down for a while in the residual heat after the smoke clears.

That colossal rift is gradually crumbling and dissipating from top to bottom.

Yu Sheng climbed to a dirt mound and sat silently beside a giant tree burned to charcoal, gazing at this unrecognizable scorched earth—the former Black Forest had been turned to ash; the Titans' power had torn apart this land; craters left by bombings had carved countless scars upon the shattered surface; and the sky... the sky was like a tattered mirror, now leaning crookedly "above" the forest; vast dark cracks made it look somewhat terrifying, while in the still-lit areas, part of the dome was covered by a indifferent twilight, and elsewhere one could see reflections of castles, farmlands, and villages.

Fragments fell from the clouds; Yu Sheng reached out and caught one, seeing it was a piece of broken blue sky; the fireplace's flames danced cheerfully along the fragment's edge, making faint crackling sounds.

He casually stuck this intersecting, shattered piece of blue sky into the ground nearby, right beside the "Wang Hou"'s head—now that skull had become a cracked stone, with a short sword bearing a cat-head emblem embedded in its forehead.

The Hunter stood aside; this hollow, void-like figure still wore their hunting gear, gazing at the Black Forest now turned to ash; they said nothing, merely remaining silent for a long time.

The Squirrel then jumped out from the nearby ashes; she shook off the dust on her body, lightly leaped onto Yu Sheng's knee, and shoved a small object into his hand: "Here! I found it in a nearby dirt mound!"

Yu Sheng opened his palm, seeing it was an acorn.

He slowly rubbed that acorn, looking at the rift nearby, nearly dissolving to the bottom, and the shadow above the rift, growing ever fainter.

"It's about time..." Yu Sheng suddenly said softly.

As if responding to these words, the instant his voice fell, the shattered, mirror-like, tilted sky above the Black Forest emitted a series of crackling, shattering sounds; then, the Black Forest began to collapse gradually from far to near.

The Squirrel nervously grabbed Yu Sheng's fingers.

She noticed those fingers were rapidly growing cold.

She looked up in surprise, seeing Yu Sheng's body gradually dissipating.

"Don't be afraid; it's just a little... 'state switch'," Yu Sheng smiled, looking at the small creature sitting on his lap, while recalling the knowledge he had felt and comprehended when that "Angel's Womb" dissipated in his hands, those deeper mysteries concerning death, "Wait for me; I'll be back soon."

This was his first attempt to actively switch himself from the "alive" state to the "dead" state without suffering any injury.

It turned out to be simpler than imagined, like flipping a light, nimble switch.

Click.

Yu Sheng then turned into fluttering, scattering ashes, then spread out like clouds and mist, slowly seeping into this rapidly crumbling "Fairyland Wasteland."

Then, the story began—

No errors, one sentence, one chapter, one content, all in one place!

Once upon a time, there was a valley; it had no name; people all called it the "backyard" of No. 66 Wutong Road.

This "backyard" had many magical features, and the most magical of all was that it led to countless unimaginable places.

To its south lay a vast forest; Little Red Riding Hood and her wolf packs were the masters of the forest; within the forest lived a cute Squirrel and a taciturn Hunter.

To its north stood a very, very tall tower; Rapunzel had a lovely little room atop the tower, with a terrace outside from which one could gaze far into the distance—looking from the terrace toward the horizon, one could see a sleeping giant dragon and a colossal beanstalk.

There were also cheerful, bustling banquet halls, a town always holding various festivals, a harbor smelling of sea breeze...

And a peculiar kingdom, whose King was a cat—people said that cat was the greatest King in history; under the King's rule, knights were brave and fearless, wise ministers served loyally, adventurers set out at dawn to battle monsters, and by evening, they would return as victorious heroes to the taverns, telling tales of distant lands...

And many, many more places, many, many more stories.

All of these led to that valley in various ways, because within that valley were countless doors—peculiar, clever, hidden, or astonishing doors; they might be a certain room in the tall tower to the valley's north, or a certain cave at the mountain's foot, or even just a tree hollow in the Black Forest, a mottled shadow...

Children could explore freely among these hidden paths, crawling through Cinderella's fireplace into the castle's banquet, or pushing open a wardrobe door within the castle to reach the mysterious flower fields deep in the Black Forest...

Countless surprises waited to fill their entire childhood.

A happy ending.

Little Red Riding Hood heard a rumbling from the valley's depths; the sound was as if the mountains had suddenly come alive, and like giants, they had taken steps, moving their heavy bodies, making room for something.

She walked out of her room; although a long, fierce battle in the "dream" earlier had left her spirit extremely weary, she still wanted to see what changes were occurring in the distance.

After all, earlier Erin had rushed in, "dragging" everyone to the Shelter Wasteland, then said some nonsensical things like "there will be a big commotion in the valley after you wake up," "don't wander around; stay in the camp," "even if the sky falls, it's just a technical adjustment," "Yu Sheng has switched to Creative Mode," and then vanished; until now, everyone remained utterly confused, unsure of the situation.

Many younger brothers and sisters also walked out from nearby houses.

Everyone's face bore the exhaustion left by the previous fierce battle; many still carried traces of unease in their expressions, but some—like the optimists Bai Xue and Long Fa—clearly showed expectation in their eyes.

Little Red Riding Hood was the first to spot the change, which was also the most striking change visible from this position.

She stood in the middle of the camp, pointing at the distance with her mouth agape: "... Long Fa! Your tower is growing out from over there!"

"What do you mean 'my tower'... Oh my god!"

(End of this chapter)