Chapter 289: Hub

Yu Sheng, of course, knows nothing about architecture—this is evident from the many miraculous projects he has crafted so far.

But he is not at all worried that the "wonder" he is crafting in this valley will collapse due to his craftsmanship.

Because in his "vision," those rocks rising from the ground... are not merely so-called "buildings."

They are alive.

They have flesh and blood, skeletons, and even nerves capable of transmitting signals—though the transmission is intangible, he can clearly feel the formation of every pillar, sense where they need to grow, feel the weight they bear, and perceive the most logical structure when they connect to one another.

Following this feeling, Yu Sheng let the massive stones grow wildly yet precisely; pillars supported crossbeams, overlapping like bones taking shape, various substances of varying weights—hard to say whether they were still "rocks"—filled the spaces like organs and flesh. Standing atop the highest square pillar, he watched that vibrant "embryo" gradually take the form of a pyramid before beginning to carve its intricate details.

Its base was built upon the original portal platform, extending outward by dozens of meters; a simple yet solemn corridor encircled the entire pyramid; the exterior clearly showed a seven-layer structure; on the highest layer, a small platform sat atop the roof, serving as a viewing terrace from which the entire valley floor could be seen; and on the external platforms of every layer, he had left nurseries where lush plants would eventually grow...

This was the idea Yu Sheng arrived at after carefully considering various architectural plans—if he truly couldn't craft beautiful details, then he would plant trees, plant trees everywhere, leaving everything to nature's uncanny artistry, at least ensuring the greening standards were met...

Cooking smoke rose not far away.

Hu Li took out her portable pots, pans, and gas stove from her tail; Bai Xue sent Lei Ting the Titan to the town to fetch food; the King summoned two cooks to slice the lamb; at that moment, a group of people were already boiling hotpot, eating lamb slices while enjoying the mountain breeze on the grass beside the portal platform—now to be called the Inn Hub—and watching Yu Sheng craft the house.

Rapunzel held a small bowl, mixing sesame paste while looking up at the already substantial pyramid, quite moved: "Brother, you're amazing. This thing looks quite spectacular... like those meaningless background buildings in some games..."

"The kind you can't enter even with the model, right?" Bai Xue calmly tossed vegetable leaves into the hotpot. "I've seen you play; you open over a dozen new servers a day. I don't know what the point is."

The Mermaid squatted beside the hotpot, waiting for her potato slices. She then glanced toward the pyramid, observed for a long while, and finally spoke thoughtfully: "Why does it feel like a tomb... a giant one?"

Silence fell around the hotpot for a few seconds, then this judgment instantly gained consensus: "Ah, yes, yes, yes, I was wondering." "Oh right, it's that shape!" "Damn it, the Tomb Hub is still chasing me..." "Ah, the potatoes are cooked, the potatoes are cooked!"

Hu Li sat closest to the hotpot, silent throughout, only continuously adding vegetables, meat, fish balls, crab sticks, and tofu to her bowl.

Four Eilens sat in a row nearby, four bodies unable to form a single digestive system, one of which was partially paralyzed, yet the little dolls' moods were strangely cheerful, swaying there, occasionally remarking that what Yu Sheng was crafting indeed looked like a tomb—and now the tomb had begun to grow grass (greening in progress).

"Is your body still unable to move flexibly?" Rapunzel glanced curiously at Eilen and asked casually.

"Still not flexible, but better than just now," Eilen Promax lifted her arm. "Before, this arm couldn't even rise above my head; now I can lift it."

As she spoke, she turned to look at the great pyramid again, then faced Rapunzel, whose mouth was already oily: "You're eating and drinking here; won't Yu Sheng get angry when he sees this? Once he comes down..."

Before she finished speaking, Hu Li lifted her bowl: "This bowl is saved for the Benefactor!"

Eilen blinked her eyes; although she had little experience with eating, her theoretical knowledge seemed quite rich: "Is hotpot still good after being scooped out and cooled?"

The King opposite, while picking at fish balls with his head down, mumbled indistinctly: "It must be eaten cold, it must be eaten cold."

As they spoke, a rumbling sound came from nearby.

The towering square pillar began to descend slowly; Yu Sheng jumped down from it, and behind him, the "Inn Hub" was already complete... at least the main structure was finished.

"You certainly know how to enjoy yourselves," Yu Sheng said, half-amused and half-frustrated, looking at the picnic scene before him. He immediately recognized the kitchenware from home, obviously brought out by Hu Li again. "Hey, where's my bowl and chopsticks?"

Hu Li, holding a bowl piled high, stepped forward: "Benefactor! This is for you!"

Yu Sheng happily patted the fox Miss's head, found a spot on the ground to sit, and began enthusiastically introducing things to the group: "My 'Hub' is basically rough-finished. Later, I'll plan the portal locations for the main hall on the first floor, then contact Engineer Sun to help with the interior decoration, and install one... two elevators. This thing has seven floors, and each floor is very high; without an elevator, climbing up would be exhausting..."

Bai Xue, hearing this, instinctively started calculating: "That must cost quite a bit, right? Back then, we had to deliberate for a long time just to replace the electric gate at our orphanage."

"Definitely not cheap, but the Inn has plenty of funds now," Yu Sheng was quite carefree. "What's the point of keeping so much money, right?"

Rapunzel's focus was clearly elsewhere: "... Brother, did you forget to build stairs again?!"

Yu Sheng's hand holding food suddenly paused, then two seconds later he looked up with a calm expression: "That's unlikely; this time I remembered to leave them." The Mermaid suddenly perked up her ears, listening carefully to the nearby sounds: "But there's movement inside that Tomb Hub; it just appeared, like something is growing inside, just like this—"

As she spoke, she emitted the sound of living rocks growing rapidly inside a vast building, even reproducing the faint noise of tiny gravel falling to the ground. Hearing this, Yu Sheng immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

But a second later, he reacted: "Wait! What does 'Tomb Hub' mean?!"

Rapunzel shrank back: "It's not our fault, brother! Salted Fish said it! She said what you built looks like a tomb..."

Thus, the valley remained filled with lively sounds today.

Special Operations Bureau, deep within the headquarters building, inside the Director's office.

Hundreds of dazzling projection windows floated in the vast space, each displaying video footage captured by Deep Divers moving through the thick fog; some were real-time transmissions, others were records sent back earlier.

Bai Liqing sat behind her desk, monitoring these images while listening to the report coming through the communicator:

"... Two teams have cleared a path between Heyang District and the Old City District, but due to obstacles in the fog zone, other teams have taken many detours. Moreover, the path cleared so far is not very stable; the barrier devices are heavily interfered with in the fog...

"We are searching for the 'Contact Point' mentioned by Yu Sheng. The general area has been roughly determined, but no abnormalities have been found yet.

!

"Signs of activity by the Artificial Saintess were discovered in Nancheng, but the entire area is wrapped in exceptionally thick fog, making deep penetration difficult for now. We are waiting for high-power barrier devices to arrive.

"Per your orders, all personnel are now operating in teams. The Artificial Saintess is very cautious; she must have noticed our people. Some team members' spiritual intuition briefly detected the Artificial Saintess's 'gaze,' but every time contact was made, she quickly moved away, making her hard to catch."

Bai Liqing listened silently, and only spoke after the report on the other end of the communicator concluded: "What about encounters with dangerous entities?"

"One team encountered the entity 'Balloon' while searching for a passage, but there were no casualties. Other teams have not yet encountered dangerous entities. Compared to the situation in Heyang District at that time, the probability of entities forming in most urban areas within the fog does not seem as high as reported then."

"Hmm, continue to remain vigilant. We have not yet summarized the rules for entity formation in the 'Fog City.' Everything observed so far may only be temporary," Bai Liqing said calmly. "Continue expanding the search range; report any situation immediately."

"Yes, Director."

The communication ended.

After a while, Bai Liqing also turned off the projection system in her office.

The hundreds of images, which would dazzle any ordinary person at a glance, quickly faded, and the office instantly returned to normal.

"Disturbing, sister," a pair of huge eyes appeared on the nearby floor-to-ceiling window. "I sense you are somewhat... irritable?"

Bai Liqing spoke calmly: "The Holy Ascetic Hidden Sect has been low-key for the past decade or so. Their current action came without warning—and bypassed all our intelligence channels."

"Is that the only reason? Or is it because the distorted scenes in certain places within that fog reminded you of... some familiar images? Like the Faded Maze we entered together... the atmosphere there was similar."

Bai Liqing turned her head, gazing silently at the pair of eyes on the floor-to-ceiling window.

In the scenery outside the window, the undulating fog flowed slowly as usual.

The pair of eyes blinked: "Alright, I won't say more; I don't like this topic either."

"Then don't keep bringing it up."

"Alright, alright, you're the boss..."

(End of Chapter)