Inside the "Hall of Gathering" where it’s impossible to distinguish east from west or tell where up or down ends, lies a fantastically twisted space filled with dark, obscure cloud mist. There are no complete structures or facilities here, only countless fragnted and twisted corridors and floating platforms suspended in mid-air, these ancient creations of unknown age entangled like spiraling vines, running through the entire space from top to bottom. This twisted Other Space is devoid of any life and sound, with only our footsteps and the rustling of clothes being the only noise as my sister and I are on the move. After advancing a bit in such a dead silent environnt, I suddenly realized a very serious issue: Dingdang is missing!
"Could she have fallen sowhere?" My sister wore a serious expression, her gaze falling in the direction we ca from: only a winding, broken staircase was visible there, andering along an irregular curve into the depths of the darkness, with two or three connected broken platforms along the way where we had briefly stopped before to check the crumbling walls there, "Dingdang is so small, if she fell out, we wouldn’t notice at all. You used to lose your keys all the ti when you were little."
I was just about to nod in agreent when I felt sothing was off in her words, then looked at my sister with a line of sweat: "Sis, Dingdang may be a bit clumsy, but she’s not that... if she fell out halfway, she’d at least shout or sothing."
"Oh, so that’s it then." My sister nodded as if she had an epiphany, giving a rather subtle second jab at Dingdang’s clumsy traits. It was then that I rembered: my dear sister had already entered her hidden sarcastic mode.
"Maybe we got separated right from the start," I recalled every detail since entering this space, realizing I hadn’t felt Dingdang burrowing around in my pocket since then. "Miscalculation, I thought we’d all just be randomly grouped nearby. Dingdang nestled in my pocket wouldn’t be an issue, but I didn’t expect even she would be identified – we certainly shouldn’t underestimate this place."
While speaking, I already initiated the Spiritual Connection, but quickly discovered that here the connection was more restricted than imagined, not only unable to pinpoint others’ positions as before, but also having issues with communication. I could sense Dingdang in the connection, but couldn’t call out to her — not that Dingdang couldn’t be heard, but rather I couldn’t send out any information, as if blocked by sothing.
Though I couldn’t pinpoint coordinates while connecting with others, communication was at least possible, so I beca anxious in the current situation. But a few seconds later, I regained composure: by concentrating more, I could still sense the little one’s status and emotional response. She seemingly wasn’t in danger, in fact, quite happy, since I heard a repeat of sothing like "la la la, la la la," a tuneless bizarre lody—the little guy was humming in there. No sign of being lost whatsoever!
"There’s a bit of an issue with the Spiritual Connection, but Dingdang seems fine, and no fear or similar emotions seem to be coming from her, very calm, yes, extrely calm." I explained the situation within the Spiritual Connection to my sister, who slightly furrowed her brow, then tried it herself, finding a similar result. "As long as she’s safe, looks like she’s not with others," my sister showed a hint of worry, but finally sighed, "The Life Goddess is not to be hard, and that little one can take care of herself... I suppose."
Can she take care of herself? Thinking about it, I really didn’t know what expression to have, considering that apart from not needing a call for als, everything else required care, a habit of eating toothpaste instead of learning how to brush teeth, and adjusting to Otherworld ti zones takes half a month for her—that little one taking care of herself? I might as well believe Little Baobao can speak six languages!
But on second thought, maybe it’s possible since before we t, that little one was living alone in another world for several hundred years, though it was an endlessly looping fuzzy life of picking wild fruits, drinking dew, sleeping, and playing, it counts as maxing out survival skills in the wild... Anyway, better pay attention on the road and find her as soon as possible, I can already imagine that little one looking pitiful and teary-eyed after playing by herself for an hour.
My sister and I resud our journey, slowing our pace a bit this ti, spreading our spiritual power wider to search every inch along our path, since Dingdang is known to be only palm-sized and loves squeezing into every nook and cranny. In such cases where the Spiritual Connection doesn’t work, finding such a dragonfly-sized creature requires serious attention.
Of course, we also broadcast Dingdang’s disappearance on the public channel, where everyone expressed serious concern and began gathering everyone’s spiritual powers to try locating Dingdang—this action was fruitless, so we agreed to pay attention to every little spot while moving forward, giving us a seventy to eighty percent chance of finding the little one. This plan is based on everyone being in the sa space though, if indeed we were randomly sent to several parallel worlds, then the ultimate plan is: I go big, enveloping the entire space with the Void Domain. According to Sandora’s detection, this space is finite and enclosed, so opening up like this would crash the entire "Hall of Gathering" system (whatever its principle), turning it into an ordinary large room, a radius of two or three hundred ters, a height of a dozen ters, surely as ssy as a crash site inside. Dingdang’s little Douding-sized figure might end up crying in so void-eroded brick gap, and then we’d drag ourselves back, or else face off against the three hundred Spartans awakened from the Mysterious Side—everything from the third line from the end was additional chatter by Qianqian. I have no comnt on its possibility.
Worry as I might, I’m actually not too concerned about Dingdang’s safety. Although this twisted space is quite strange, I haven’t discovered any threatening factors here yet. The Misfortune Reversal Aura of Big Sister hasn’t increased in activity, so maybe this is just an ordinary special space. Besides— even in the worst-case scenario, Dingdang is the most survival-capable among us (without activating the Void Form, I might not even match her). In fact, within the Dingdang Team, that Little Thing is not just a healer but also a tanky T. Yes, in the team, aside from Monina who is an assassin, the other four line up as main T, second T, third T, fourth T... even though they call themselves a Holy Knight (Yelsen), a warrior (Lin), a priest (Uncle Kenser), and a Druid (Dingdang)... Of course, I have a more accurate set of roles: their line-up should be punching bag, servant, babysitter, and pet, and finally add a cook...
Traveling is boring, especially in a bizarre place like this where everywhere is just white, nothing but fantastical structures, and terribly repetitive terrain. So, aside from chatting on and off with Big Sister, my mind was left to ramble, with thoughts straying faster and faster, leading to believe sothing must be missing in my head— probably brakes or sothing. That’s why Qianqian and I are truly a pair made in heaven. That girl lacks steering... this kind of pairing should be together for sure, otherwise there’s no justice, as structurally, only in fusion could we hope to get past the North Third Ring without being caught by traffic cops...
"Ah Jun, you definitely lack brakes," Big Sister suddenly turned to glance at and said softly, "I know you’re very worried about Dingdang, but there’s no need to strain your brain with a ss of things to alleviate that concern."
: "...Sis, let’s talk about sothing else."
"Alright, let’s discuss why this place is like this," Big Sister said directly in the public channel. Except for Dingdang, who went offline for unknown reasons, everyone else was still connected to the public channel, ready to share their findings anyti. "The Hall of Gathering here is such a vast Other Space, and we can’t see any ancient Imperial Commander in hibernation, not even a hibernation chamber, Sandora, what do you think?"
"There must be sothing imnsely suspicious here—" Sandora’s voice had a calming aura that put my chaotic thoughts to rest, which had been running wild with worry for Dingdang’s whereabouts. "I’ve already asked Alaya and Pandora, and the Hall of Gathering on the Mother Star’s Section One is also a huge Other Space but much more normal than here."
"More normal?" I finally rembered sothing I had missed, "Speaking of which, what’s the Section One of the Hall of Gathering on the Mother Star like? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the place— nor heard Gaia ntion it."
"Because it’s a one-ti use thing." Pandora just said this much and fell silent, in her usual concise manner. Then Alaya’s gentle voice continued explaining, "The Hall of Gathering Section One has now dissolved itself, becoming part of the material cycle of the Mother Star. The dissolution process began after Lord Brother first successfully connected using the Emperor’s authority with Sister Gaia, and also the 300 commanders in Section One awoke at that ti. The interior of Section One was similarly an expanded Other Space, used for preserving the commanders’ hibernation facilities and large backup databases, which now form the New Empire’s central database. So I’m thinking that Hall Two should share sothing in common with Hall One. It should have hibernating Old Empire commanders and backup data, or knowledge... but the situation isn’t right. Everything here seems to have been damaged, the shattered corridors and architectural remnants look like a complex was torn apart, this Hall of Gathering is already obsolete. Strangely, there’s no sign of any hibernation facilities."
This ans, if nothing unexpected has happened, that the Hall of Gathering here is actually the aftermath of being destroyed... Initially, I thought these floating broken corridors and platforms were originally designed this way— after all, they do look quite fantastical. I looked up at the sky, where floating staircases spiraled endlessly, asking, "Without any hibernation facilities, does that an those Mysterious Side commanders aren’t here at all?"
"Anything is possible," Sandora replied, "but this is definitely not functioning normally. It’s a ss in here, having suffered severe damage. Also, we don’t know where that kite sucked in earlier has gone— maybe she was teleported to a branch entrance like us, but I wonder if she too is moving upwards towards the top level."
I shook my head; right now, with everything unclear, anything said is just speculation. It’s better to focus on progressing. A few leaps later, Big Sister and I arrived at another white platform, where we paused.
This platform seed quite intact and larger than the previous ones, roughly the size of a basketball court. In the center, on a small pedestal sticking out about a ter from the ground, sothing caught our attention: a small shield about thirty centiters in diater, within which a small bouquet lay quietly.
It was a cluster of pale blue wildflowers, with slender petals tinged with faint golden edges, looking eerily different from any plant on Earth, clearly a species from the Mother Star. The small flower’s leaves curled slightly, with a blue-black crystalline texture. Apart from this slight curl, the flower showed no signs of decay and appeared as fresh as if it had just been picked—this must be due to the protective shield surrounding it.
This was the only thing besides rocks and tal we had seen here, and it turned out to be a flower!
"I can’t believe sothing like this would appear in the ruins of the Xyrin Apostle," Big Sister’s face lit up with delight as she cautiously reached out to touch the protective shield, "It seems to be carefully preserved. A shield just for a flower?"
I also found it unbelievable, yet it seed there was no need to be overly surprised: the Xyrin Apostle rely adhered to an iron-blooded policy, but they also had an appreciation for aesthetics and hobbies. Even though these would take a back seat to war, it didn’t an they erased them altogether.
However, as I and Big Sister curiously examined the small plant within the shield, I suddenly felt sothing unusual around us and couldn’t help but look up in the direction of the sensation, exclaiming in surprise, "Oh, Alaya? Did you catch up from behind?"
The pure white figure slowly descending the stairs before us was none other than my Angel Sister!
"Alaya?" Big Sister also looked up in surprise, but after taking a careful look she imdiately frowned, "Wait, no! This is just a shadow!"
With Big Sister’s reminder, I noticed that the "Angel Sister" slowly walking towards us was unlike the usual Alaya. Her body had faintly transparent traces, and she walked straight ahead as if she couldn’t see us at all. Although the visage and figure were identical, this figure carried an aura I had never sensed from Alaya—an aura of sadness and gravity, inexplicably present in this figure identical to Alaya!
"Alaya? Or who?" Even though I knew it might just be a shadow from who-knows-where, I still tried to speak in hopes of communication, but to no avail. The shadow did not see us, walked through Big Sister’s body, and then stood before the pedestal with the shield. I suddenly noticed a detail: she was holding a bundle of small blue flowers identical to those inside the tower’s shield!
"This is the reenactnt of past images," Big Sister suddenly whispered.
The phantom stood silently before the pedestal, then seed to hear a call from behind and glanced back. We only saw a dim, nearly invisible blue figure where she looked. The white image of what seed to be Alaya’s past then lightly kissed the small flower in her hand before placing it on the pedestal and activating the shield: the image on the pedestal now overlapped completely with reality, and we could only discern what she was doing through her actions.
"You will remain here in my place, whether it’s or you, I hope we can awaken one day."
Alaya’s past phantom spoke softly. Although the voice was almost indistinct, inexplicably, I could hear it clearly—not through "listening," but her words appeared directly in my mind! Was it a direct read of information?
Subsequently, the image beca completely still, contrary to our expectations of it disappearing. On the contrary, Alaya’s past phantom stood before the pedestal frozen in the final gesture: just as her fingers left the small flower.
"Is this the flower’s mory?" Big Sister whispered softly.
"Perhaps..." I nodded slightly, but then the phantom abruptly began to tremble, emitting the "zzz-gah" sound akin to TV signal interference. Just then, I heard Sandora’s voice from behind: "Ah Jun?! Fantastic! We’re indeed in the sa space! We et before reaching the top floor!"
Turning back in surprise, I saw Sandora standing with a floating Alaya about ten ters away, smiling towards us. A little farther behind them stood Monina with her wings spread wide. The three of them were together.
With joy, I called out, "Yo! Are you all okay?"
Monina waved from afar, "We’re fine, except your Angel Sister wants to hurry on and got stuck in the stairs a few tis from flying too high."
I chuckled speechlessly, this was completely expected.
"Ah Jun, what’s this?"
Sandora saw the mysterious image beside Big Sister and , and imdiately asked.
"It might be an image left from the Old Empire era, not sure what recorded it," I pointed back at the projection, "doesn’t it look like Alay... huh?"
I stumbled over my words because, at so point, the once-clear projection had beco a blur. Although it hadn’t dimd, the visage and entire figure had severely distorted, the unevenly flickering edges resembling a TV screen with a soon-to-fail signal—there was no longer any way to make out Alaya’s features. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welco to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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