Chapter 242

Chapter 242: Oblivion and History

Yu Sheng walked to the edge of the broken isle and stared into the endless Chaos Void, watching the magnificent river of light curve through the darkness.

Behind him, Bai Li Qing asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Random thoughts,” Yu Sheng said. He didn’t bother hiding it. “Mostly about Anka Aila. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve never really felt much about dark angels as a concept. Anka Aila was the first one I ever spoke with… and what I saw in its memories is hard to shake.”

Footsteps approached. Bai Li Qing came to stand beside him. “What do you mean? The disaster its hometown suffered? Or the extinction of the civilization it represented?”

“Both,” Yu Sheng said, scratching his hair. “That dead biosphere was heartbreaking, but the disaster in its memories was worse. Maybe because I experienced those ‘memories’ directly. It felt like I saw the end with my own eyes.”

Bai Li Qing pressed her lips together, like she wanted to speak but couldn’t decide how.

Yu Sheng had seen that expression more than once today. Even earlier, when he mentioned certain details, her reaction had felt… off.

He frowned. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Bai Li Qing didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, “What exactly did the disaster in Anka Aila’s memories look like?”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then spoke carefully. “Some of it was an abstract impression. I don’t know how to put it into words. But in the images… it looked like something split the universe in half.”

He let out a breath. Even saying it sounded ridiculous.

“But there really was a rift between the stars. A red rift. Everything—every celestial body—was breaking apart or burning. The exiled arks were caught by that red light. You couldn’t see what was happening inside it. One after another, they… melted into it.”

He stopped. Just recalling the scene made his head spin.

Bai Li Qing was silent for a moment, then said softly, “It’s not exaggerated.”

Yu Sheng froze. “…Huh?”

He turned to her, a chill sliding down his spine. “What do you mean? You know what that was? I thought everything about dark angels was a mystery.”

“Everything about dark angels is a mystery to us,” Bai Li Qing said evenly. “But the red light you described, and that universe-splitting scene, isn’t.

“When you first mentioned it, I wasn’t sure. Now I’m fairly confident. What Anka Aila experienced in its memories has appeared in our world, too.”

Yu Sheng’s throat went dry. “It appeared here?”

Bai Li Qing’s gaze stayed steady. “More precisely, it appeared before this world was born.”

Yu Sheng stood there as if he’d been frozen in place.

Bai Li Qing continued, her voice calm, almost distant. “This world has been destroyed before.”

Yu Sheng’s mind went blank. “…What?”

“It isn’t really a secret,” Bai Li Qing said slowly, “but only a few people know it. And even fewer study it. Literally. The world we live in has been destroyed once. Everything you see now was born after the second Singularity Outburst.

“In some ancient Bamosian stories, the greatest among the ancient holy spirits accomplished that feat. And in the long-established academies on Terra, there are records—legends—about the Old World. I’m not an expert, so my understanding is limited. But one thing I’m sure of: what you described is what the records call Oblivion.”

Yu Sheng stared at her, mouth hanging open. He had to force air into his lungs.

“Hold on,” he said hoarsely. “That’s a lot. I need a second to… rebuild my worldview.”

He pressed his fingers to his temple, sorting the information into something he could actually hold.

Then he said, slowly, “Okay. So you’re saying our world got wrecked once by something called Oblivion. The ancient holy spirits—basically gods, from what you’ve told me—rebuilt everything after the apocalypse. That’s how we got the Borderland, and everything beyond it.

“And now dark angels keep invading, more and more over time. The newest intel says at least one dark angel ended up here because its own world suffered Oblivion, so it ‘fell’ into ours. That’s the flow, right?”

Bai Li Qing listened, then nodded. “I think so.”

Yu Sheng rubbed his forehead hard. The weight of it all made his teeth ache.

“So if we sum up what nonstop dark angel invasions might mean for our world… does that come down to one sentence?” He looked at her. “Oblivion is still chasing us.”

Bai Li Qing’s eye twitched, just once, before she forced her expression back into control.

“That’s the worst possibility,” she said carefully. “But it’s very unlikely. According to the guidance passed down from the ancient holy spirits, Oblivion truly ended. Even the destruction of the Old World was a long time ago.

“And Anka Aila’s memories support that. It wandered for a very long time until the red light that devoured the other arks disappeared from its sensors. So, in my view, we likely don’t need to worry about Oblivion returning.”

“But more and more dark angels are still invading,” Yu Sheng said. His voice was heavier now. “Before, we could assume they came aggressively. But after what I’ve seen… the more I think about it, the more it feels like something is driving them here. And whatever is driving them is getting closer.”

Bai Li Qing’s expression darkened. It was the clearest shift Yu Sheng had ever seen on the face of the Iron Poker-Face Sister.

After a long silence, Yu Sheng asked, “These ancient holy spirits… do they still stay in contact with the mortal world? You said they pass down guidance. Is there any way to contact them now and ask what’s going on?”

“Not easily,” Bai Li Qing said. “Long ago, contact was fairly frequent. But after the second Singularity Outburst, as the universe stabilized, their contact kept decreasing.

“The Bamosians say the ancient holy spirits’ range of activity has been shifting toward the edge of the observable universe. They have a more important mission there. They patrol the border of the stellar veil to maintain the stability of reality itself.

“Only occasionally will one return to conduct limited exchanges with the ‘chosen.’ Even then… the last occurrence was more than ten years ago.”

Yu Sheng frowned. “These Bamosians you keep mentioning—what exactly are they? They sound connected to the holy spirits.”

“They’re mortals,” Bai Li Qing said patiently. “Just an older race in the universe. Their whole people are obsessed with digging up history and seeking truth, so they know many ancient secrets.

“Their most famous figures are their prophets. They produce prophets in abundance. Supposedly they can sense the direction of events, foresee the near future in short bursts, and glimpse the essence of things. Their supreme leader is the greatest and oldest of all prophets.” She paused. “As for being close to the ancient holy spirits… they’re not much different from other races. They just know more.”

Yu Sheng nodded slowly, still thinking. “So the last exchange was over ten years ago… And when dark angels invade, the holy spirits don’t show up?”

Bai Li Qing didn’t answer. She only spread her hands.

Yu Sheng didn’t press.

Those beings were real. If they could communicate with mortals at all, their choices had to be rational. There had to be reasons behind what they did.

Dark angels invaded reality, and the ancient holy spirits didn’t come back to help directly. That had to have a reason, too.

Yu Sheng could only imagine two answers: either they didn’t care whether mortals lived or died, or whatever was happening at the edge of the observable universe was even more urgent than angel invasions here.

Bad news, and worse news.

Yu Sheng exhaled. “…Life goes on.”

“Yes,” Bai Li Qing said, and the corner of her eyes lifted faintly. “Life goes on.”

Then a pleasant ringtone cut through the quiet.

Bai Li Qing glanced at her phone and answered. Yu Sheng wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but after only a couple of lines, her face shifted into the look of someone realizing life absolutely did not go on.