Chapter 204

Chapter 204: The First Gathering of Sanctuary Wasteland

At last, the sky stopped dropping princes or princesses, and no other strange things were falling anymore.

Yu Sheng quietly lowered his gaze from the sky and looked toward the Open Ground ahead. The figures there had calmed down and were now resting or talking in low voices.

All around them, the land that had been covered by roses, smoke, and blazing fire had returned to the wasteland’s original look. The things that briefly leaked in from the nightmare left no trace in this “sanctuary.”

A proud tabby cat strutted through the crowd like an inspector, chest out and head high, circling once to check everything. Several “bodyguards” in armor, robes, and leather followed it, each holding a different weapon. When it reached Yu Sheng, it nodded and rubbed its head against his leg: “Mm, I’m satisfied, meow.”

Yu Sheng glanced at the “King’s” bodyguards. Dressed like a textbook team of Adventurers, these “retainers” looked almost human at first glance, only a little stiff in the face. When he met their eyes, the “Adventurers” even nodded back at him with solemn expressions.

The warrior in plate armor suddenly declared with a full, booming voice: “We are the King’s blades!”

Irene flinched, then muttered under her breath: “They look like real people.”

The leather armored archer heard the mutter and, in the same full and slightly wooden tone, shouted: “We are the King’s blades!”

Foxy’s ear fur fluffed as she took a small step behind Yu Sheng, greeting the summoned guards: “Uh… hello.”

The robed mage bellowed: “Hello! We are the King’s blades!”

[So they only had a few lines.]

The Cat King, followed by its Adventurer bodyguards, swaggered off to continue patrolling the plain. Footsteps sounded behind Yu Sheng; when he turned, Little Red Riding Hood was walking over.

“The ‘King’ can summon different kinds of bodyguards. Adventurers are only one set. Sometimes it summons the Imperial Guards or the Knight Order, and they hit hard,” Little Red Riding Hood said, watching the tabby cat already in the distance and casually explaining to Yu Sheng, “As for how many sets there are, even it doesn’t seem sure. The most meaningless set I ever saw was it summoning a whole bunch of boss geezers who all looked ready to drop dead.”

Yu Sheng blinked: “Huh? Summoning several boss geezers? What’s the point of that?”

“They’re Sycophants. For a short time they can grant whatever the ‘King’ asks, almost like a wish machine.”

Yu Sheng stared, wide eyed: “Wow, that’s awesome.”

“But the ‘King’ only asked the Sycophants to conjure piles of fish snacks, then shooed them away.”

“…Wow, even more awesome.”

“Do you feel like our abilities are pretty interesting now?” Little Red Riding Hood showed a crooked smile as she and Yu Sheng looked at their resting companions. “Even for me, it’s the first time seeing them all drop into the same place like this. It’s kind of… a surprising mess.”

Yu Sheng stayed quiet for a few seconds, not sure what to say. [If you ignored the danger and the creeping corruption, “Fairy Tale” really did feel like a fairy tale.]

“Come on. As the ‘master’ here, it’s your turn to show up,” Little Red Riding Hood said, patting his arm, then tugged him toward the others: “They’re waiting for you.”

Yu Sheng walked over, and the teens and younger kids on the grass fell silent. One gaze after another turned to him. The members of “Fairy Tale” stood and bowed politely without a word. Even the forever-proud tabby cat had slipped into the crowd at some point and dipped its head in greeting.

“Uh, hi, everyone,” said Yu Sheng, suddenly a bit nervous. Most of them were sixteen or seventeen, some even younger, and the cat didn’t count. Yet when all those eyes focused on him, he felt himself freeze for a moment, because this time the looks on them held a heat much stronger than the last time they met. “I won’t introduce myself. You already know me. Anyway, this place is the ‘Sanctuary Wasteland’ I told you about. You’re safe here. Rest as much as you want. That’s it.”

The big kids burst into laughs and whoops, and someone clapped at the wrong time.

This was the first gathering of the Fairy Tale Organization in the Sanctuary Wasteland.

Yu Sheng stepped back and sat on the ground with Little Red Riding Hood. She grumbled: “That opening was seriously lame.”

“I’m not good at this,” said Yu Sheng, letting his eyes sweep the area. “We’re missing people, right?”

Little Red Riding Hood nodded: “Yeah. Not counting the ‘King,’ there are sixteen guardians in ‘Fairy Tale.’ Only nine are here. Some are on night patrol in the real world, some probably didn’t ‘dream’ today, and some… likely won their fight today. We’ll confirm the details at the morning briefing tomorrow, but there’s no need to worry.”

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully. Irene floated in and blurted: “You can win?”

“Of course we can,” Little Red Riding Hood answered at once. “We aren’t chased and beaten every time we enter a nightmare. Sometimes we take the upper hand. It’s just that the power usually becomes overwhelming later on. Even at my level, I still win sometimes.”

Irene’s frame wobbled as she mused: “Oh… never seen you win.”

A vein jumped on Little Red Riding Hood’s forehead.

Seeing that, Yu Sheng quickly soothed: “Don’t mind her. She’s got a talent for getting under your skin.”

Before the doll could start running her mouth again, he changed the subject: “All right. Now that the shelter plan works, we should talk business. I have some things to tell you about that Squirrel, and about the Dark Angels called ‘Anka Aila.’”

At that, Little Red Riding Hood’s face turned serious. Even Irene, who had been winding up for another “true damage” hit, landed on the ground and stood between Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood like a solemn memorial photo.

Yu Sheng didn’t hold back. He laid out everything he had learned from the Squirrel.

Halfway through, Snow White wandered over, sat down, and listened. Then the “King” also came, crouching on the grass with a grave cat face.

Little Red Riding Hood frowned, brows tight.

Of all of them, only she had known that Squirrel the longest and spent the most time with it. The Squirrel was the guide for every Little Red Riding Hood and the only “friend” for each one inside the Black Forest. She had wondered about it and asked before, but only today did she finally learn why there was a mysterious “Squirrel” in the Black Forest.

She also learned how the little paths, the lamp posts, the hearth fire, and the candlelight appeared there.

“Do the other ‘subsets’ grow like this too?” Yu Sheng asked, curious.

“Every subset changes and becomes more complete over time. That isn’t unique to the Black Forest. The overall ‘strength’ of a subset also rises with our growth, just like the Evil Wolf in the Black Forest,” Snow White said, nodding, then added, “The madwoman of the Bloodstained Court wasn’t that strong at the beginning either. But the ‘Squirrel’ is unique to the Black Forest. In the Bloodstained Court or the Eternal Ball, there’s no similar being.”

Yu Sheng nodded lightly, his expression thoughtful. As clues piled up, the Black Forest felt more and more special among all the Fairy Tale subsets.

The Squirrel was trapped in the Black Forest. Seventy years ago, when the Deep Dive Squad broke through the shell of Fairy Tale and became “Hunters,” their drop point was also inside the Black Forest. From the other Fairy Tale members he had met, the Black Forest’s way of “mutating” seemed different too. Forest and Evil Wolf, as a pair, felt less absurd than other subsets and showed a hint of stability.

[What caused the Black Forest’s special traits? Could it be tied to that Fairy Tale book the Squirrel gave Anka Aila back then? In that book, was “Little Red Riding Hood” a special chapter?]

After a moment, he spoke again: “When you get back, search the orphanage carefully. Focus on places like the basement and the oldest parts of the buildings.”

Little Red Riding Hood understood at once: “You suspect the traces Anka Aila left in the real world are still somewhere in the orphanage?”

“We can’t rule it out. It’s been a long time, and much of the orphanage has been renovated. But marks left by the Dark Angels might not fade with time. Some things can imprint on the world,” Yu Sheng said, thinking aloud. “The Squirrel remembered that a glowing object once fused into the Open Ground in the middle of the yard. And didn’t you see a weird Briar Shadow on a wall near the Open Ground? Maybe those two are connected.”

Little Red Riding Hood recalled the suspicious shadows at the corner wall of the orphanage. Her face grew solemn.

“I got it,” she said with a serious nod. “When we’re back, we’ll send Organization members to check.”