After the five-gear electric fan came down from his arm, Yu Sheng didn't hide the illusion he saw in the chaos of the "Death Border." As soon as he sat down in his place, he laid out what he had just seen.

Halfway through listening, Erin climbed over from her chair, sitting cross-legged on the console in front of Yu Sheng, listening with a serious look on her face.

When this little thing started crawling over, Yu Sheng immediately blocked the console's signal—mainly fearing Erin might accidentally disable the ship's concealing force field with a slip of her foot.

Those who have cats at home might have this kind of experience—raising human toddlers under four is almost the same.

"Sounds... it really could be an illusion of the Gate of Eden," the little puppet on the console shook its head, "That thing was modified with World Bridge technology. You swallowed the original World Bridge, so it's not surprising to see that thing. The key is that Light-cast Giant..."

Erin suddenly paused here, eyes gleaming as she looked at Yu Sheng: "Hey, hey, was it male or female?"

Yu Sheng was contemplating seriously when he almost lost his composure upon hearing the little puppet's question: "Why are you concerned about that?"

"Just curious!" Erin scooted forward, "We met quite a few Dark Angels—none of them looked human, and finally, there's one that does..."

Yu Sheng looked at the little puppet before him with a subtle expression. He was about to remind her that she still held the title of Omen Goddess, but then the image of the Omen Goddess's eight long legs flashed in his mind, and what he wanted to say got stuck in his bronchus. Well, she wasn't wrong; indeed, all the Dark Angels they encountered didn't look human...

That is, unless you exclude the special "Otherworldly Visitor" Hu Li.

"Couldn't tell the gender, just a blob of light, even the face was pixelated and low in resolution, much like the Living Saint I met before," Yu Sheng said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, then, due to his cautious nature, he added, "Actually, it's uncertain what the Light-cast Giant is..."

"Do you even need to think? There's a ninety percent chance that's the true form of the 'Shadowless Skeleton', at least it's the form in its spiritual body state," Erin waved her hand, "It's been tied to the Gate of Eden for blood extraction, unless those fanatics can pull out a second Dark Angel from the paper bag next to the Gate of Eden... then they'd really be incredible."

Yu Sheng pondered briefly and nodded: "That's true."

At this time, Luo, who had been on hold on the communicator for a long time, looked up at Yu Sheng, then at Erin, and finally couldn't help but speak: "Um, boss, although I don't really understand what this 'Death Border' you mentioned is, but you just mentioned... the 'Living Saint' guarding the Star Gate resembles the giant you saw in the illusion?"

"Yeah," Yu Sheng nodded, "The features are very obvious. I now suspect the Hidden Monastery's 'Living Saint' might have been 'manufactured' in the image of that giant... I already had doubts when I first encountered that 'Living Saint.' That look doesn't seem like something a normal creature could evolve into, and it also carried that stiffness and pseudo-human vibe similar to an Artificial Saintess, the more I see it, the more it looks fabricated..."

Saying this, he quickly raised his head, waving his hand to Luna beside him: "I wasn't talking about you."

"Hmm, I know," Luna said with a smile—though it was still the 'Saintess smile,' her expression was now as gentle as a living person's, "I am different now."

"The Hidden Monastery has always been keen to create 'ideal creatures,' Knights and Saintesses are products of this thought, but at least those two still transform from 'humans,'" Luo said, frowning with a serious expression, "But to replicate a 'Living Saint' with a 'Dark Angel' as a blueprint... is this really something a mortal church group can achieve?"

Hearing this, Yu Sheng gradually came to his senses, his eyebrows slightly furrowing: "You're saying..."

"I don't mean to underestimate their technology—though those fanatics are insane, I still acknowledge their 'synthetic human' technology," Luo turned sideways in the projection, seemingly operating some equipment off-screen, "But to use a 'corpse' of a Dark Angel to create such stable, controllable 'warriors' is a completely different concept from ordinary synthetic human technology. The first major issue is—how do they ensure they don't go mad while trying to understand the 'knowledge' carried by a Dark Angel?"

Yu Sheng said nothing, only furrowing his brows tighter.

Luo continued, speaking slowly and calmly: "The essence of the fanatics in the Hidden Monastery is still human. They too can be polluted by Angels, their sanity also damaged, leading to madness, and someone insane cannot conduct precise research—the 'overloaded knowledge' won't transform into controllable technology; it will only tear a person's mind apart through cognitive dissonance between two worlds until it's destroyed, and from what we currently grasp, they haven't made more breakthroughs than I have in this respect.

"Their technology to build the Gate of Eden was even stolen from me—and now that gate is about to lose control, other than stealing the 'Angel Catalyst' from Boundary Land, they have no other methods, what does this imply?

"It implies they have no ability to truly control the 'Angel's Legacy'—even if it's a 'corpse' like the Shadowless Skeleton, they are merely using the most primitive method to extract energy from it to maintain the gate."

Luo turned around, his upper body leaning slightly in the direction of the projection.

"There's something very suspicious about the origins of that 'Living Saint,'" she said with an especially serious expression. "Based on the scenes you saw in the 'Illusion,' the Living Saint is clearly related to the 'Shadowless Skeleton,' and they are also one of the top-tier forces of the Hidden Monastery... I sense something off within this, and you must be careful when you reach the Saint Realm, especially be wary of that 'Shadowless Skeleton.' I suspect..."

Erin stood up from the console, "Don't leave us hanging, what do you suspect?"

"...I suspect that the 'Shadowless Skeleton' is not only alive, but maybe has been 'awake' in some form since the very beginning," Luo said slowly. "The Hidden Monastery members think that lying motionless in the Adar Crater means it's dead, but what if... 'death' is actually this Angel's normal operating mode?

"In a more conspiratorial light, perhaps those 'Living Saints' are the results of the continuous operation of the Shadowless Skeleton. The Hidden Monastery believes they found those giant bones in the Adar Crater, but what if the reality is the opposite? Maybe it was the Shadowless Skeleton that found them—if that's the case, the Hidden Monastery might have already made contact with the skeleton's power long before they thought, and may be thoroughly contaminated by the Dark Angel's pollution.

"After all, every Dark Angel is different—they may have all sorts of characteristics and abilities."

The hall became rather quiet, Yu Sheng and the others looked at each other, then Hu Li suddenly twitched her ear: "Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense. If that's the case, how could the Shadowless Skeleton still be used by the Hidden Monastery as fuel at the gate? Isn't it supposed to be the true ruler here..."

She stopped abruptly, as if she suddenly thought of something.

Yu Sheng and Luo, speaking through the communicator, said in unison: "What if that's exactly what it wants?"

Even Erin was starting to understand, and the little puppet gradually widened her eyes: "Oh my Puppet Progenitor..."

"Anyway, things have gotten complicated," Yu Sheng said as he operated the Otherworld Inn, slowly turning it. He activated the Microbend Engine within the Concealing Force Field, accelerating towards the distant dark space, "Let's get out of here first. I'll notify the fleet on the Boundary Land side to be ready. Once the Dark Star Cruiser arrives at the Saint Realm, we'll start the next phase of operation—and also remind Baili Qing to be wary of that 'Living Saint'.

...

The mother planet of the Hidden Monastery, Saint Realm.

In the chamber of the "Holy Furnace," a sacred light surged, resembling a giant well that seemed capable of piercing the planet's core. Its depths were unfathomable, with only hints of dark red lava slowly flowing in the darkness, while above was a massive dome supported by interwoven structures, countless tiny "Light Spirits" flying around the dome like vibrant stars.

In the center of the giant well, a vast anti-gravity field formed a glowing "cage," and a mysterious skeleton, hundreds of meters high, hung upside down within the force field cage, its body continuously emitting faint light that spread outward like smoke. Numerous huge chains entwined around the skeleton were connected to one hundred and twenty "Power Nodes" surrounding the well.

Light flowed around the skeleton, and religious-like chants occasionally emerged out of thin air. In the faint light, shadows seemed to form and slowly drift toward the well walls, only to be blocked by the light wall formed between the Power Nodes, slowly decomposing into aimless Light Spirits that floated up to the dome, wandering before dissipating.

Colander sat in his wheelchair, driving with a mix of nervousness and reverence along the transit ramp at the edge of the well, deliberately avoiding direct gaze at the skeleton suspended in the center.

But his reverence was not directed at the suspended Angel, but because of the Holy walking ahead.

"Colander, look at this magnificent scene," the Holy stopped and turned slightly to speak to the person behind him, "Such a powerful existence will become the kindling for us to open Eden's Gate—the glory belongs to each of us."

Colander hastily bowed his head, filled with joy and conviction: "As you say."

The Holy burst into laughter, seemingly just casually chatting with the followers behind him, then focused his gaze on the suspended Angel among the well.

He stared at the skeleton, his face radiating warmth like the surrounding glow.

Meanwhile, the two energy-filled "Living Saints" stood silently behind him as usual, the sacred wings gently moving in the air, echoing the light emitted by the suspended Angel.