Chapter 816: Backroom: ?

Heimu glanced back.

The green sea of light was slowly receding, sinking deeper into the cylindrical space.

It seemed the Task was completed.

Heimu turned her head again, watching the light points draw nearer.

She did not slow down.

The Magic Staff carried her and Ying straight into the white light.

The white light was dazzling.

Heimu squinted, the shadow from her hat brim covering half her face.

The surrounding airflow changed instantly, no longer the stagnant, rust‑smelling air between the ducts, but a salty sea breeze.

The sound of breaking through the void shifted from the echoing ducts to a dissipating tone in the open space, vanishing cleanly as soon as it emerged.

The Magic Staff hovered in midair.

Heimu opened her eyes.

She saw an ocean.

An ocean with no visible horizon.

The sea surface was as flat as pressed silk, its color not the usual blue or green but a pale, almost transparent milky white, as if someone had poured a whole bucket of milk into the water.

Far beneath the surface, in the abyssal depths, a vague massive shadow drifted slowly—a colossal object so huge that only a blurry outline was visible from above, its shape indistinguishable.

Several white cubes stood on the sea surface.

Each cube towered several stories high, its surface smooth as polished ceramic, bearing no texture, markings, or seams.

They were arranged on the sea at completely irregular intervals; some showed only their upper halves, the lower parts submerged as if sprouting from the seabed.

A few hovered in midair, their bases a few meters above the water, with no supporting structure, silently floating.

The most conspicuous was a gigantic Ailixiya chibi statue.

Its whole body bore Ailixiya's signature pink palette—pink hair, pink dress, pink boots.

The statue consisted only of the upper body; below the waist it was broken.

The jagged break exposed an inner glowing crystal material.

The upper body rose about twenty stories high, tilting its head slightly, standing beside the largest white cube; half its face was bathed in the cube's shadow, the other half faced an unknown soft light.

The sky's color looked brush‑stroked, as if someone had casually dabbed varying shades of blue and white onto a canvas without blending them.

There was no sun.

The source of light in the whole space was unknown, bathing the sea uniformly, illuminating everything clearly yet leaving its origin impossible to locate.

Heimu looked at the half‑finished Ailixiya statue, her mouth twitching.

She glanced down at the pink‑stained Crystal Flower in her hand, then lifted her head to stare at the statue.

Half.

Not particularly surprising.

After all, the entire Past World Paradise was being alternately ruled by joy, and a half‑size Ailixiya oversized figurine could only rank in the first half of the absurd events she'd encountered today.

Ying peered half‑out from behind her, her gray‑purple eyes scanning the sea before settling on the chibi face of the statue.

She fell silent for a moment.

"Is this… Ailixiya?"

"Half," Heimu said.

Ying was silent again. "…Why is it half?"

"Good question."

Heimu tilted the Magic Staff forward a few degrees, its shaft descending slowly as it flew toward the nearest white cube.

The sea breeze lifted her gray‑white hair beneath the hat brim, a few strands shimmering with a faint silvery sheen in the light.

"I want to know too."

The Magic Staff lowered gradually; a dark‑purple glow flickered softly when it was half a meter from the cube's surface, then vanished.

Heimu's boot tip touched the cube first.

The heel of her high‑heeled boot made no sound against the implausibly smooth white material, as if stepping on ceramic polished tens of thousands of times.

She straightened, her dark‑purple eyes beneath the brim scanning the surroundings.

Ying descended lightly from behind, her Foot‑long dagger sheathed at her waist, though her right hand still rested on the hilt.

Those gray‑purple eyes scanned the area at lightning speed, then the brows knit slightly.

"Here…"

Ying spoke, a hint of confusion in her tone, "It's too quiet."

The quiet was indeed excessive.

No gulls, no water lapping the cubes, no wind sound, yet the sea breeze still blew, gently swaying their hair.

In the distance, the half‑size Ailixiya statue stood calmly, its chibi face turned toward them, half‑closed eyes appearing especially profound in the white soft light.

The sea was as flat as a gigantic mirror, reflecting the white cubes and the brush‑stroked sky.

That milky water showed not a single ripple, as if it were something between liquid and solid.

Heimu raised her left hand, her fingertip tracing a line in the air.

The System Panel unfolded before her, and on its translucent screen the light point where Xi Lian was located drifted slightly.

She closed the panel and reopened her perception.

"The signal is a bit fickle, but the distance is already very close."

She paused, turned her head slightly toward Ying, "There may be an interference source nearby."

Ying nodded, and asked nothing further.

The two walked forward along the surface of the cube.

The white floor was so clean it could almost serve as a mirror; Heimu lowered her head for a glance and could see the vague outlines of herself and Ying reflected beneath their feet.

She noticed that the Fox Ears in Ying's reflection were clearer than the ones on her own.

At that moment, a sound came from the direction of the cube's edge.

It sounded as if something were rising from beneath the sea surface; the pop of bubbles was half muffled by the heavy water, and when it reached their ears it was only a vague "gudu".

Heimu stopped in her tracks.

Ying's reaction was faster than hers; the Foot-long dagger had already been drawn from her waist, the blade held horizontally before her, and her gray‑purple eyes Lock onto the direction of the sound.

Heimu raised her hand, signaling Ying not to move first.

She took two steps forward and stood at the cube's edge, looking down.

A huge yellow object was rising from the milky sea water.

First its head, round and orange‑yellow.

Then two smooth black plastic eyes, and a mouth formed by a flat orange plastic arc.

Its whole body was bright yellow with an inflatable texture; the seawater's soak left countless milky droplets on its surface, which reflected a dense spray of tiny light points in an unknown soft glow.

Finally it broke completely through the surface.

An inflatable Big Yellow Duck.

Its size was about that of a car; the round yellow body swayed gently on the Calm, mirror‑like sea, and the black plastic eyes stared blankly toward the sky.

Heimu stared at the huge inflatable Big Yellow Duck for a moment.

Ying walked to her side, looked down at the Yellow Duck, then turned her head to look at Heimu, and moved her lips.

"What is this…?"

"Yellow Duck."