Chapter 289

Chapter 289: The Hub

Yu Sheng clearly didn’t understand architecture—you could tell from the bizarre projects he’d cobbled together so far.

But he wasn’t worried for a second that the wonder he was building in the valley might collapse.

Because in his vision, the rock rising from the ground wasn’t just a building.

It was alive.

It had flesh and bone, and even nerves that could transmit signals—signals he couldn’t see, but could feel. Through it, he sensed each pillar taking shape, where it needed to grow, what weight it would bear, and the most reasonable structure once everything connected.

Following that feeling, Yu Sheng let the massive stones grow wildly and precisely. Pillars lifted beams. Bones interlocked. Materials of different weights—materials that were hard to even call rock anymore—filled in like organs and flesh.

Standing atop the square pillar, he watched the living embryo rapidly form into a pyramid. Only then did he begin carving the finer details.

Its base expanded outward dozens of meters beyond the original portal platform. A simple, solemn corridor wrapped around the structure, and from the outside you could clearly see the seven-tier design. At the very top, the roof held a small terrace high enough to overlook the entire valley floor.

And on the outer terraces of each tier, he left space for planters and nurseries.

This was Yu Sheng’s solution after studying countless “inspiration” images: if he couldn’t carve beautiful details, he’d plant trees. Plant them everywhere. Let nature do the delicate work and at least hit the greenery quota.

Smoke rose in the distance.

Foxy pulled out portable pots, pans, and a small gas stove from her tail. Princess Snow White sent Thunder Titan to fetch food from Little Town. The King summoned two cooks to slice lamb.

Soon, a hotpot was bubbling on the grass beside the portal platform—which, at this point, should probably be called Hotel Hub. They ate in the mountain breeze, dipped lamb and vegetables, and watched Yu Sheng build.

Princess Rapunzel mixed sesame paste in a bowl while staring up at the pyramid taking shape. She sounded impressed despite herself. “Not bad, bro. This thing looks kind of grand… like one of those meaningless background buildings in some games…”

“You mean the kind with a model but no interior you can enter,” Princess Snow White said calmly, tossing vegetables into the pot. “I’ve seen you play those. You start ten new servers a day. I don’t get what’s fun about it.”

Mermaid squatted by the hotpot, waiting for her potato slices. She studied the pyramid for a long moment, then said thoughtfully, “It kind of looks like a grave mound… just a huge one.”

The hotpot went silent.

Then everyone immediately agreed.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it.”

“Right, that shape!”

“Damn, the grave-mound Hub is still chasing me…”

“Hey, the potatoes are done! Potatoes are done!”

Foxy sat closest to the pot, silent the whole time, doing nothing but packing her bowl with meat, fish balls, crab sticks, and tofu.

The four Irenes sat nearby, watching longingly. Four bodies couldn’t form a single digestive tract, and one body was still half-paralyzed, but Little Doll’s mood was oddly good. She swayed occasionally, sighing about how Yu Sheng’s pyramid really did look like a grave mound—and now the grave mound was even growing grass.

“This body still can’t move smoothly?” Princess Rapunzel asked, glancing at ProIrene.

“Still not smooth, but it’s better than earlier,” ProIrene said, lifting an arm. “Before, I couldn’t raise this above my head at all. Now I can.”

Then she looked toward the hotpot and back at the towering pyramid. “You’re all eating and drinking here. If Yu Sheng sees this, won’t he get mad when he comes down…?”

Foxy immediately lifted her bowl. “This bowl is saved for Benefactor!”

Irene blinked. She didn’t have much eating experience, but her theory knowledge was strangely solid. “Does hotpot still taste good after it cools down?”

Across from her, the King stuffed a fish ball into his mouth and mumbled, “It’s best cold. Best cold.”

Right then, a deep rumbling sound rolled over the grass.

The tall square pillar began to descend. Yu Sheng jumped down from it, and behind him, Hotel Hub was finished—at least the main structure was.

“You people really know how to enjoy yourselves,” Yu Sheng said with a helpless laugh as he took in the picnic scene. One glance told him it was Foxy’s same familiar kitchen setup from home. “Hey, where’s my bowl and chopsticks?”

Foxy ran up with an overflowing bowl. “Benefactor! This is yours!”

Yu Sheng smiled, rubbed the fox girl’s head, found a spot, and sat down. Then, between bites, he happily explained, “My hub is basically finished as a rough shell. Next I’ll plan the door positions for the first-floor teleportation hall, then contact Engineer Sun to handle the interior.”

He counted on his fingers. “And we’ll need one… no, two elevators. It’s seven floors, and each floor is tall. Without elevators, climbing once would kill you.”

Princess Snow White immediately started doing the math. “That’ll cost a lot, won’t it? Back then, even replacing an electric door at the orphanage took us ages to budget.”

“It won’t be cheap,” Yu Sheng said easily, “but Hotel is well-funded now. What else are we saving all that money for?”

Princess Rapunzel’s attention had drifted elsewhere. Her eyes widened. “…Bro, did you forget stairs again?!”

Yu Sheng froze mid-bite.

Two seconds later, he lifted his head with total composure. “No way. This time I remembered.”

Mermaid suddenly perked her ears, listening. “But there’s movement inside that grave-mound hub. It just started. It sounds like something’s growing inside, like this—”

She even imitated the sound of living stone forming in an empty building, down to grit pattering to the floor.

Yu Sheng broke out in cold sweat.

Then he reacted. “Wait! What do you mean, grave-mound hub?!”

Princess Rapunzel leaned back defensively. “Not our fault, bro! Saltfish said it! She said your building looks like a grave mound…”

So today, once again, the valley filled with lively noise.

—

Special Operations Bureau.

Deep inside the headquarters building, in the director’s office, hundreds of dazzling projection windows floated through the wide room. Each one played footage shot by Deep Divers moving through thick fog—some live, some older recordings sent back earlier.

Bai Li Qing sat behind her desk, watching the screens while listening to a report through her communicator.

“…Two squads have opened a route between Heyang District and the Old Quarter, but the fog zone forced the other squads to take long detours. And the route we opened isn’t stable yet. The barrier device is being heavily interfered with in the fog.

“We’re searching for the ‘contact point’ Yu Sheng mentioned. We’ve roughly narrowed down the area, but we haven’t found anything abnormal yet.

“In South City, we found traces that may have been left by Artificial Saintess activity, but the whole area is wrapped in unusually thick fog. We can’t go deep for now, and we’re waiting for a high-powered barrier device to enter.

“Following your orders, everyone is operating in squads now. Artificial Saintess is very cautious. She should have already noticed our people. Some team members with strong spiritual intuition briefly sensed Artificial Saintess’s ‘gaze,’ but each time we made contact, she immediately moved away. She’s hard to catch.”

Bai Li Qing listened quietly. When the report paused, she asked, “What about encounters with dangerous entities?”

“One squad encountered the Balloon Entity while searching for a route, but there were no casualties. The other squads haven’t encountered any dangerous entities yet. Compared to what happened in Heyang District, it seems the probability of entities forming across most parts of the city in the fog isn’t as high as the earlier reports suggested.”

“I see. Stay alert,” Bai Li Qing said evenly. “We still haven’t summarized the rules behind entities forming in the Mistbound City. Everything we observe could be temporary. Keep expanding the search area, and report immediately if anything changes.”

“Yes, Director.”

The call ended.

A while later, Bai Li Qing shut down the projection system. Hundreds of screens vanished at once, and the office returned to normal.

“Unsettling, Sister,” a pair of enormous eyes appeared on the floor-to-ceiling window nearby. “I sense that you are… irritated?”

Bai Li Qing’s voice stayed calm. “Holy Revere Hermitage has kept a very low profile for the past decade. This operation came without warning—and it bypassed all our intelligence channels.”

“Is that really the only reason?” the eyes asked softly. “Could it be that the distorted sights in certain parts of the fog remind you of… familiar scenes? Like the Faded Labyrinth, where we went together. The atmosphere feels similar.”

Bai Li Qing turned her head and stared at the eyes.

Outside the glass, the rolling fog drifted as usual.

The eyes blinked. “Fine. I won’t say more. I don’t like that topic either.”

“Then stop bringing it up,” Bai Li Qing said.

“Okay, okay. Whatever you say…”