Chapter 235

Chapter 235: Regeneration and Fusion

The angel fell from the earth—falling toward the sky.

Li Lin and his colleagues from the Special Operations Bureau stood under the night sky. As if an invisible hand had grabbed their chins, they all tipped their heads back and stared at the beam of light rising slowly into the heavens. It climbed higher and higher, and as it went, something inside it began to split apart. In that moment, more than one person suddenly saw strange “illusions” unfold in their mind.

They felt the light turn into a massive silvery metal construct—like a swollen seed, with several glowing ring structures at its tail. It rose from the orphanage courtyard, and in the very next instant it became unimaginably vast, vast enough to cover the entire sky.

They also felt flesh and blood grow inside the light. It became a twisted creature, as if countless limbs had been crushed together. It reached innumerable arms toward the heavens, then melted back into brilliance.

Li Lin felt like he was looking at a stone—huge and irregular, its surface covered in moss and tender sprouts. It flew higher and higher, singing a broken ballad from far away. It said it had come from the stars to sow seeds upon the earth, but now everything was over, and the seed had to go home…

And so it fell toward the stars.

The light split, becoming countless streams of searing flame. Like a meteor shower running backward, they accelerated across the sky above the Borderland. Then, in the latter half of that flight, they split again—part of them kept “falling” toward the sky, while the rest drifted off the main fragments’ path and began to sink toward the distance.

Bai Li Qing stood with her arms folded, watching in silence. Her eyes tracked every fragment as it broke apart, calculating where each might land. Then she picked up her phone.

“Little Song, send a few recovery squads. Lead one yourself. Some fragments may fall inside the Borderland, in the outer suburbs. I’ll send you the rough area in a bit—use the highest level of protection. We still can’t be sure whether the debris after the angel breaks apart is harmful…”

Foxy and Irene stood not far from Bai Li Qing. They tilted their heads up too. Only after a long while did Foxy finally whisper, “Magnificent.”

“Just like that, it’s gone,” Irene curled her lip and looked toward the orphanage. “…This place is basically flattened.”

“Little Red Riding Hood will probably be living in the valley for a long time,” Foxy murmured. “I wonder how Benefactor is doing.”

“Who knows, but he must be swamped right now. After he sorts out the two otherworld connections, he’ll probably have to go back to the valley again,” Irene said as she climbed up Foxy’s tail. “Come on. Don’t worry. Once he’s done, he’ll come home for sure. Let’s head back and wait for him…”

Foxy flicked up her tail, wrapped Irene up, and hugged her close. “Okay! Let’s go home and make breakfast for Benefactor!”

“Hold on. Aren’t we taking a taxi?”

“Benefactor said there won’t be any taxis at this hour, but it’s fine. I know the way!”

“Hey, there are so many people from the Special Operations Bureau here. We could totally hitch a ride—they’d be falling over themselves to help us right now…”

“I know the way! My nose is really good!”

“…At least put your tail away! And don’t just start running—holy crap, aaaaah—”

The roar quickly faded into the night. Under the dumbstruck stares of a bunch of Special Operations Bureau agents, a street-racing fox with two legs churning like it was doing seventy miles an hour carried a shrieking doll and vanished into the distance…

…

Now, everything had grown quiet.

Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf pack had faded away. The King’s knights and the adventurers had withdrawn as well, along with Dorothy’s resistance army and Princess Snow White’s Thunder Titan. When the unseen curtain fell, the masters of the story left this wrecked stage, just as every ending promised. Next, they would live happily ever after.

Only the stage needed time to cool once the smoke cleared.

The huge rift was breaking apart from top to bottom, dissolving into nothing.

Yu Sheng climbed onto a dirt slope and sat beside a giant tree burned down to charcoal, staring at a scorched land that no longer looked like itself. The black forest had been reduced to ash. A titan’s power had torn the ground open. Bomb craters had left countless scars across the shattered surface.

And the sky…

The sky hung above the forest like a cracked, ragged mirror. Vast dark rifts split it into jagged pieces. In the areas still lit, part of the dome was coated in pale dusk. In other places, he could see reflections of a castle, farmland, and villages.

A fragment fell from the clouds. Yu Sheng reached out and caught it. It was a shard of broken blue sky. Firelight from a hearth danced along its edge with a soft crackle.

He casually stabbed the jagged shard into the ground beside him, letting it lean against the head of “the queen.” That head was now cracked stone, with a short sword bearing Kitty’s crest embedded in its forehead.

Hunter stood nearby. This hollow, empty figure still wore the hunter’s garb, staring at the forest that had turned to ash. They didn’t speak. They only kept the silence.

Squirrel hopped out of the ash. She shook the dust off, leapt lightly onto Yu Sheng’s knee, and stuffed something small into his hand. “Here! I found it in a dirt mound nearby!”

Yu Sheng opened his palm.

An acorn.

He rubbed it slowly, watching the rift not far away. Its base was already close to fading, and the shadow above it grew paler and paler.

“It’s about time…”

Yu Sheng murmured.

As if answering him, the slanted, mirror-like broken sky above the black forest let out a string of sharp cracks. Then the black forest began to collapse, from far to near.

Squirrel clutched Yu Sheng’s finger in panic.

She realized that finger was rapidly turning cold.

She looked up in shock and saw Yu Sheng’s body beginning to disperse.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s just a little… state switching,” Yu Sheng said with a smile, looking at the little thing sitting on his leg. At the same time, he recalled the knowledge he had felt and grasped when the angel’s fetus dispersed in his hand—a deeper layer of secrets about death. “Wait for me. I’ll be back soon.”

This was his first attempt to actively switch himself from “alive” to “dead” without taking any damage.

It was even simpler than he had imagined—like flicking a light switch.

Click.

Yu Sheng turned into a flurry of drifting ash. It spread like cloud and mist, seeping little by little into the rapidly collapsing fairy tale wasteland.

And then the story began—

A long, long time ago, there was a valley. It had no name. People said it was the “backyard” of Wu Tong Road 66.

This backyard had many magical traits, and the most magical of all was that it led to countless unbelievable places.

To its south, there was a great forest. Little Red Riding Hood and her wolf pack were masters of the forest. In the forest there was also a cute Squirrel, as well as a quiet, taciturn Hunter.

To its north, there was a very, very tall tower. Princess Rapunzel had a lovely little room in the tower, and outside the room was a balcony that could see very far. From that balcony, you could see a sleeping dragon and a giant beanstalk.

There was also a banquet hall, lively and noisy; a little town that was always holding one festival or another; a harbor that smelled of sea breeze…

And there was a strange kingdom. Its King was a cat. People said that cat was the greatest King in history. Under the King’s rule, knights were brave and fearless, ministers were loyal and dutiful, and adventurers set out at dawn to hunt demonic creatures. By evening, they returned as victorious heroes, back to the tavern, telling tales from far away…

There were many, many places, and many, many stories.

And all of them, in one way or another, led to the valley—because in the valley there were countless doors. Odd doors, clever doors, hidden doors, astonishing doors. They might be a room in the high tower to the north, or a cave at the foot of a mountain, or nothing more than a hollow in a tree in the black forest, a mottled shadow…

Children could explore freely along these hidden paths, crawling from Cinderella’s fireplace into the castle’s banquet hall, or pushing open a wardrobe door in the castle and arriving in a mysterious field of flowers deep within the black forest…

Countless surprises, enough to fill an entire childhood.

A happy ending.

…

Little Red Riding Hood heard a rumble deep within the valley. It sounded like the mountains had suddenly come alive—like giants shifting their heavy bodies to make room for something.

She walked out of the room. Even though the long, brutal fight in the “dream” had left her exhausted, she still wanted to see what was changing in the distance.

After all, Irene had rushed in earlier and “dragged” everyone into the sanctuary wasteland. She’d babbled things like: “When you wake up, there’ll be a big movement in the valley,” “Don’t run around, stay in camp,” “Even if the sky falls, it’s just a technical adjustment,” “Yu Sheng went to turn on creative mode.” Then she vanished. Everyone was still confused, with no idea what she’d been talking about.

Brothers and sisters poured out of nearby houses.

Their faces still carried battle fatigue, and many still had a lingering unease. But some—the optimists like Princess Snow White and Rapunzel—had clear anticipation in their eyes.

Little Red Riding Hood saw it first. It was also the most obvious change from here.

She stood in the middle of camp, pointing into the distance, stunned. “…Rapunzel! Your tower grew out over there!”

“What do you mean, my tower… holy crap!”