Chapter 1339: Lu Yang's Former Home

In the cold, silent universe, a streaking beam of light shattered the stillness, faster than any spacecraft, space warping in its wake—this was Lu Yang piloting the black-canopied boat.

The journey home was not dull, for an immortal fairy accompanied him.

As he drew nearer to Blue Star, Lu Yang grew increasingly tense and uneasy; his prior trips to the Candle Heaven Civilization to resolve Gu Yu and to the Spirit Stone Planet to retrieve his diary had also been motivated by this.

Otherwise, Lu Yang could simply have visited Blue Star first and dealt with these loose ends later.

"Is that your hometown?" the immortal fairy's voice pulled Lu Yang back to his thoughts.

The azure planet turned slowly in the cosmos, like a dazzling jewel amidst the vast starry sky, dreamlike and illusory.

Lu Yang hastily grabbed hold of the black-canopied boat, nearly flying past Earth.

The black-canopied boat disengaged from light-speed and jump states, appearing as if out of thin air—this scene was fortuitously caught by a satellite, startling the veteran experts and old professors of the space agency so much they nearly popped their eyeballs out.

"Heavens, what have I seen?"

"Did ancient people sail small boats through the universe?"

The space agency exclaimed in disbelief, utterly thrown into chaos; only then did Lu Yang notice a satellite nearby, realizing his recklessness, he stowed the black-canopied boat and leapt alone into Earth's atmosphere.

"Quickly switch the feed, capture the movements of that humanoid creature!" the space agency's veteran expert shouted urgently, startling his young apprentice, who had never heard his master raise his voice so loudly.

But soon they lost track of Lu Yang's whereabouts, leaving them sighing in frustration.

Lu Yang threaded through the clouds, his descent accelerating like a meteor tearing across the sky, then slowing as he landed atop an airplane.

He sat cross-legged on the plane's outer fuselage, gazing down at the mountains and rivers, the beautiful rivers and plains, his thoughts myriad.

After catching a tailwind, before the plane landed, Lu Yang jumped from it, descending into the bustling city, where he cast a minor spell to exchange his ancient attire for Blue Star's style.

Gazing at the street crowds and the familiar architecture of streets and towers, Lu Yang's expression drifted for a moment, as if returned to Blue Star before the zombie outbreak.

After surviving the zombie catastrophe, with fewer than one in a hundred survivors enduring, and after decades of effort, they finally restored Blue Star to its former state.

In the Candle Heaven Civilization, only a few knew of Blue Star's existence, and given its great distance from that civilization, its lack of conquest-worthy value, plus Gu Yu's fear of Blue Star, they had sealed away most Blue Star data before retirement; thus, after the zombie crisis ended, the Candle Heaven Civilization sent no one to Blue Star.

Lu Yang strolled down the street, somewhat absent-minded.

Before coming to Blue Star, he had felt he would meet many people and do many things there, yet upon arrival, he felt utterly at a loss, momentarily unsure what to do.

This city was not his random choice; in memory, it had originally been the safe zone he established, sheltering countless survivors.

As time flowed, those familiar wasteland buildings had vanished; his parents had passed before the zombie outbreak, and here he felt instead like an outsider who did not belong.

Following his rough memory, he stopped before his former residence and softly spoke the name of the new building.

"Apocalypse History Museum?"

"Xiao Yangzi, is this your home?" the immortal fairy curiously poked her head out, since no one else could see her anyway.

Lu Yang's face wore a strange expression as he nodded slightly: "Probably."

He sneaked past the ticket booth and entered the museum.

Though it was a weekday, many still came here—great-grandparents and great-grandmothers holding their grandchildren's small hands, telling them of that arduous, perilous era.

Grandfather and grandson stood before a large sign: "See this Peace Hospital—it was from here that the zombie virus that plunged the world into chaos spread."

Peace Hospital had long been demolished, leaving only a sign and some rubble before the gate, preserved as a historical lesson to awaken posterity.

"That time was truly dangerous—grandfather's survival was all thanks to General Lu." The great-grandfather sighed deeply, recalling how, when he had nowhere to go and his stomach growled with hunger, the safe zone took him in, allowing him to live to this day.

During the apocalypse, Lu Yang had formed a zombie legion, and people came to call him General Lu.

Whenever he thought back to those scenes, he wished to thank Lu Yang face to face, to repay the debt of life-saving, but this was impossible—Lu Yang, as an officer, had fought for Blue Star among the stars, died abroad, leaving no remains.

Lu Yang stared at the old man for a moment, then gently shook his head, unable to recall who he was—too many had been rescued by the safe zone.

Again, a teacher led a group of elementary students through the history museum, recounting that history Lu Yang knew all too well.

Lu Yang found his home; now it had become a famous landmark, with tables and chairs arranged, books displayed just as before—only sadly, none were the originals.

Not far off, the crowd stirred, as if a VIP had arrived to clear the area; Lu Yang merely stood with hands behind his back before his former home, behind him guards pacing to and fro, as if they could not see him.

No mistake, no error, a single shot, a single thread, a single inner, a single containment, a single existence, a single look!

……

An old woman bent with age, her wrinkled clothes draped over her frame, leaned on a cane, trembling step by step, refusing any support; her attendants watched in heart-pounding anxiety, fearing this VIP might fall, and then how would they answer to their superiors?

This VIP's origins were astonishing—no one on Blue Star could match her legendary experiences.

In her youth, she was a doctor who ventured into the virus danger zone to investigate the zombie virus's source, then was rescued by General Lu; though she never uncovered the virus's origin, she had joined General Lu in establishing the safe zone, even taking full command of its forces, and General Lu entrusted her with the zombie army.

In Blue Star's defense war, she repeatedly achieved remarkable feats; after General Lu led several corpse kings on an extraterrestrial expedition, the zombie forces left on Blue Star went out of control, she organized troops, suppressed the zombies, unified the seven safe zones, and led the people in postwar reconstruction.

At the peak of her power and influence, she decisively stepped back to second line, yielding her position to others.

The safe zone was not her hometown, yet after retirement she did not return there, but chose to remain in the safe zone, occasionally visiting the history museum.

Her attendants saw her faltering gait and felt a pang of sorrow—her condition was worsening daily; perhaps this was her last visit to the history museum.

This VIP shuffled toward Lu Yang's former home.

The attendants saw a young man standing before Lu Yang's former residence, brows furrowed, silently cursing the guards for their negligence—if this VIP met with accident, they feared the whole world's spit could drown them, these derelict attendants.

The VIP gazed at the young man's back, her eyes hazy; she was too old, ravaged by illness, her mind no longer clear; in a daze, she overlaid the young man's image with the figure she had long yearned for, and involuntarily cried out:

"Lu Yang, is that you?"

The young man turned—his face was unfamiliar; the VIP shook her head, laughing ruefully: "Old, truly old. The Blue Star will said Lu Yang had self-destructed—how could he appear here?"

Seeing the venerable old VIP, the young man broke into a joyful smile.

"Doctor, long time no see."

(End of Chapter)