Chapter 237: Now, You Have a Very Long Future Ahead

Hearing Yu Sheng's jab, Little Red Riding Hood also looked a bit awkward. The girl forced a straight face: "It was sent over by the Special Affairs Bureau — we couldn't exactly pick and choose — we had actually planned to take this big round disc off, but it has a spindle running through the tabletop, and if we took it off there'd just be a huge hole, which would look even uglier, and besides, the King fell into it once by accident…"

"…Those really are practical reasons." Yu Sheng's expression nearly cracked. His mouth twitched, then he forced himself to skip the topic, sitting down beside the round table and looking up to survey the surroundings.

Little Red Riding Hood immediately began introducing things: "The door on the left we've been using as a temporary storeroom — most of the supplies the Special Affairs Bureau sent are piled in there. The corridor through the door next to it leads to the back yard; we plan to tidy that up properly later, make a little garden or something. The rooms on the right we haven't figured out what to use for yet — for now they're quarters for Teacher Su and the others…"

Yu Sheng nodded as he listened: "And the second floor?"

Then he saw the ring of boys and girls around the round table fall into an awkward silence. The ones nearest him hesitated, mouths opening and closing, until at last Rapunzel broke the silence: "Bro, you didn't leave a staircase leading to the second floor…"

Yu Sheng's expression froze on the spot: "…"

"We still haven't worked out with Engineer Sun from the construction crew where to cut the stair opening," Little Red Riding Hood added, "so whenever you have a moment…"

By now Yu Sheng's toes were nearly wearing through the soles of his shoes. Hearing this, he didn't speak, just tilted his head up at a forty-five-degree angle to look at the electric lamp on the ceiling. Then came faint clicks and creaking from the back of the hall. After a moment he blinked, forced a straight face, and nodded to Little Red Riding Hood: "There's already a stairwell at the back of the hall…"

Rapunzel immediately clapped her hands: "Bro, you're amazing!"

Yu Sheng: "…Next time there's anything inconvenient or unreasonable, let me know. A lot of this stuff was thrown together in a rush — I didn't have time to be too careful."

He really couldn't bring himself to say that this place had already been the finest work he'd managed to squeeze out at the limit of his house-squeezing ability — from now on he definitely couldn't say that.

Fortunately, the others didn't seem to pay it much mind either, and Yu Sheng quickly steered the topic back on track.

"…In short, I've already merged 'Fairy Tale' with this valley. You should have seen its two main fusion points — one is the Black Forest, the other is Gao Ta, at the two ends of the valley respectively.

"The other 'stages' have also been merged, but because of the rush, I didn't set up a 'valley connection point' for each one. Most of the subsets' connection points are inside the Black Forest and Gao Ta — I'll compile a detailed 'node map' for you later as a reference.

"You can think of it this way: the 'Fairy Tale' Other Domain has now become part of this valley, part of 66 Wutong Road. It still exists, but just like the Night Curtain Valley back then, its nature has been completely reshaped. In Director Bai Liqing's words, all the harmful entities inside have been cleared out, and it's now an 'empty shell' attached to my back yard…"

"The changes brought by the merger are enormous — the biggest change is the neutralization of all the 'stages.' Because Ankaela's nightmare has stopped, the dangerous entities on every stage will no longer appear. Yes, 'Fairy Tale' is safe from now on. Completely."

Yu Sheng paused here. He saw Little Red Riding Hood take a deep breath, saw Rapunzel swaying happily, and even the King was rumbling softly, squinting his eyes with pleasure.

Yu Sheng smiled, then continued: "Another change is that 'Fairy Tale,' as an Other Domain, has shifted from 'anomalous type' to 'wilderness type.' Its various subsets are now actual other-spaces attached 'around' this valley, so from now on you can enter them in the flesh, rather than by falling into nightmares — yes, you just walk right over, walk into the Black Forest, walk into that tower, just like you move around and explore the rest of the valley…"

He noticed that most of the people around the round table had rather odd expressions.

"I know what you're thinking — those 'stages' didn't leave you with many good memories, which is exactly why I'm suggesting you go take a look when you have time, go see the places that once scared you. It'll help clear away the psychological shadows you've accumulated over all this time. Trust me, it's necessary, after all…"

Yu Sheng paused here, then slowly swept his gaze across every face around the round table.

The next words he spoke more seriously than ever: "After all, each of you still has a very long life ahead."

Many were stunned.

Even those who had been laughing and joking a moment ago suddenly looked a bit dazed.

Yu Sheng wasn't surprised by this reaction.

After an endless nightmare ends, that warm sense of 'reality' seeps in little by little. Even if you think you already know exactly what's coming next and believe you've made every preparation, the details you've never experienced, never imagined, will always gently bump into you when you least expect it, leaving you startled, and gradually making you aware of how everything has changed.

Rapunzel rubbed her eyes, muttering: "Bro, I'm done for, I'm about to cry…"

And as everyone's big sister, Little Red Riding Hood remained the calmest and most clear-headed one here. Though she too was clearly stunned for a moment, she quickly came back: "So that means there won't be any more children from the Borderland being swallowed by the nightmares 'Fairy Tale' brought… and from now on there won't be any new 'Little Red Riding Hoods' or new 'Bai Xue's either, right?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, looking at Little Red Riding Hood: "Is your wolf still around?"

"Still here," Little Red Riding Hood said, and a shadow wolf emerged from the shadows beside her. She rubbed the wolf's head as she spoke casually, "Bai Xue's Lei Ting and the King's subordinates are all still here too — none of our abilities have disappeared."

"And honestly, if these abilities did disappear we really wouldn't be used to it," muttered the short-haired, slightly wavy-haired Miss sitting across from Yu Sheng — she was Dorothy. "I haven't charged my phone in two months…" "Oh my god, the machine-spirit really drew the short straw with you," Bai Xue immediately muttered.

Yu Sheng paid no attention to the muttering from across the table and analyzed very seriously: "In theory, as 'Fairy Tale' transforms from a 'nightmare aggregate' into a harmless other-space, it will no longer actively 'pull people' from the Borderland to create new 'characters,' but your abilities remain, which shows that part of 'Fairy Tale' is still running normally — so still in theory, you should still be able to 'raise' the next generation of Little Red Riding Hoods and Bai Xue's…"

Little Red Riding Hood listened, a bit stunned — she seemed never to have thought in that direction.

Every member of Fairy Tale had only ever thought about making the 'character' they represented stop this endless nightmare cycle. Actively 'raising' the next one… that simply could never occur to them on its own.

Yu Sheng clearly wasn't surprised by their reaction either.

"This is what I mentioned before — the future of the 'Fairy Tale' organization," he said seriously, his gaze sweeping across every face here. "It's time to think about what comes next. All along, 'Fairy Tale' has been an organization formed by a group of orphans huddling together for warmth, but now that the nightmare is over? What plans do you have for your own futures? For the 'organization's' future? Should 'Fairy Tale' continue to be 'run' as a Spirit Realm detective agency, for how long, whether to take on new members… every question needs to be thought through carefully."

"We…" Rapunzel started, but hesitation quickly showed on her face. "Alright, we really haven't thought about any of this seriously. I haven't even thought about anything past next year. I…"

"I don't know how to do anything else either," Bai Xue said, arms crossed, rocking back and forth in her chair. After a long pause she squeezed out: "My grades aren't good, and although everyone's supposed to go to school and take exams like a 'normal' person, I've never imagined myself graduating, let alone what I'd do after — probably keep being a Spirit Realm detective, since the pay's pretty good."

"The orphanage definitely has to keep running — there are so many little brothers and sisters," Little Red Riding Hood spoke up too, though she clearly wasn't as confident and fluent as usual. "At the very least we have to raise them all up, but after that…"

She tilted her head up, thought seriously, and laughed a little awkwardly: "I don't seem to know how to do anything else either. I'll probably be a Spirit Realm detective for life."

"M-me, I-I, I can sing!" a petite, lively-looking Miss raised her hand, face alight with excitement. "I'm already a big V now — gained tens of thousands of followers this week…"

No errors, no duplicates, one post, one content, all in one read!

Rapunzel immediately glared at this Miss: "Shut up! You're the worst at fighting!"

"Ahem, so it's pretty obvious — the 'Fairy Tale' organization still has to keep running as always, and probably for the long haul," Yu Sheng coughed twice, redirecting everyone's attention. "Anyway, remember — the 'nightmare' is over. From now on, 'Fairy Tale' will be a truly sound, stable, safely controllable organization, which means we have to think about fresh blood and succession. But I'm just giving you a heads-up now — after all, this is all in the future.

"But you can also start studying your own 'powers' carefully, study the subtle changes in the Fairy Tale Other Domain now and how it affects you. After all, I just merged two Other Domains together — the ones who really understand the 'Fairy Tale' Other Domain best are still you yourselves…"

Yu Sheng went on and on, and as he spoke he noticed that the round table had gone quiet at some point. A pair of bright eyes after another were all looking at him very seriously — those gazes even made him feel a little pressure.

He stopped awkwardly: "Am I being a bit naggy?"

"Not as naggy as Red," Rapunzel said offhandedly. "She can really talk when she's in a meeting."

Little Red Riding Hood reached over and patted Rapunzel on the back, then looked at Yu Sheng very seriously.

The girl smiled.

"Not at all," she said very seriously. "After all, you're 'Fairy Tale's' parent now — the biggest one."

Rapunzel, freshly smacked, saw the moment had arrived and immediately jumped up to start a ruckus: "Come on, everyone call him Bro together — I'll go first — Bro~"

Yu Sheng didn't even have time to react before he saw everyone around the table stand up.

The boys and girls were smiling, calling out in unison that was deliberately messy, even intentionally chaotic —

"Bro!"

"Bro~"

"Uncle Yu!"

"Grandpa Yu!"

Yu Sheng: "…Who was the last one — who called me 'Grandpa Yu'?!"

(End of Chapter)