The Holy Hall fell silent, so quiet that the sounds of terrified screams and roars seemed as if they had never existed, leaving only the stench of blood lingering in the air, slowly spreading throughout the entire facility via the ventilation ducts.

A tall figure quietly stood by the pillar of the "Selection Hall," the mechanical eye slowly scanning over the bodies that were gradually cooling down.

They were the "emissaries" who took the young boys and girls from the wheat fields, the missionaries who spoke on the carriages about the eternal war between the Defensive Army and the Evil Demons, and the sages and monks who had previously received everyone in the Holy Hall, some of whom were still kind faces just a few hours ago.

The real experiences, false cognitions, temporarily infused but unstable artificial memories, all mixed with each other, and as the mind awakened, they gradually became clearer and distinct.

The tall figure slowly walked out of the shadow between the pillars, heels stepping on the sticky blood, with sensors sending a series of related data. A priest in a white robe lay in front of the steps, face frozen in terror, still holding the last struggling posture, trying to climb the steps.

Perhaps it was because the old priest had been the guide on this Pasture Star for too long, some kind and gentle expressions seemed to have permanently settled on that face. She still remembered how that face looked when telling a story with a smile — just a few hours ago, he was smiling while guiding her and her friends, who had just completed the "Ascension Ritual," to press the button of the biomass recycling furnace.

Back then, she saw it as a piece of parchment with a holy vow written on it, thinking she was just pressing a fingerprint.

A wave of nausea arose from the depths of her psyche, only to be forcibly suppressed.

Heavy footsteps came from the side, and she turned her head to see a hollow and tall suit of armor walking into the hall from the gate that led to the corridor.

The face she remembered from childhood games was now just a dark shadow inside the helmet.

"Alfne," a voice came from the hollow armor, "the arsenal has been cleared."

"Mm."

"What do we do next?"

"Mm..."

She hesitated a bit, then lifted her head to look beside her.

In another perspective, pale candles lit up the prayer room in the Great Cathedral, the bright candlelight revealing the master of the Soul World, gently looking at her. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Hold out your hand," Yu Sheng said.

The gray-haired girl cooperated by reaching out her hand.

"Let me tell you, I’m not sure if this will work," Yu Sheng mumbled, raising his own hand at the same time, "Normally, those who have received my Blood Transfer can serve as coordinates for me, but your situation is a bit special. You connected with me through your soul first, and the ’Blood Transfer’ was given to that node crystal, so now I have to complete another process for you..."

Luna casually drew her sword and made a cut on Yu Sheng’s palm.

In this Soul World, he could still bleed — Yu Sheng found this quite a fascinating thing.

Given that he was always surrounded by fascinating things, he had become quite open-minded about such situations.

No matter how the process operates, as long as it works. JPG.

He pressed the blood from his hand onto the gray-haired girl’s arm.

"If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to wait until the United Fleet finalizes the Star Map, and then we’ll send a large force to find you,"

Yu Sheng said while watching his blood quickly seep into the gray-haired girl’s arm — the other seemed a bit tense but ultimately didn’t withdraw her hand.

"...There might be a bit of a delay," Yu Sheng added, lifting his eyelids to look at her eyes, "What’s your name?"

"Alfne," the girl said, raising her hand to point at a few silhouettes nearby, "Graham, Yonam, Ropu, Joshua, Fania."

"Hmm, got it. What’s the situation on your side now? Are there any other Hidden Monastery facilities or defense forces on that planet?"

"I don’t know," Alfne shook her head, "We’re in a Great Cathedral and don’t know the situation outside the Holy Hall. But all the priests inside this facility have been dealt with quickly, and they didn’t have time to send out any messages."

"Theoretically, a Recruitment Planet shouldn’t have only one stationed facility; even considering the strict standards and rarity of Artificial Saintesses and Knights, considerable manpower is needed to control the entire planet," Baili Qing spoke up at this time, "At least in the orbit of that Pasture Star, there should be Hidden Monastery’s defense forces and planetary control facilities — the communication disruption of the surface Holy Hall should soon attract their attention."

She paused after saying this, then thoughtfully added, "But the current number of defense forces on that planet should be limited — their main fleet has already set out to support the Saint Realm, and it’s definitely still in transition. If we jump over now, we can catch the remaining leave-behind forces off guard."

Yu Sheng nodded and then, as if feeling something, he turned his face towards Alfne and her companions: "Ah, I’ve found you."

"I’ll go back and arrange the attack fleet with Red," Baili Qing immediately said.

Yu Sheng nodded: "Alright, you get ready first, I’ll go over with some people — I’ll move the Star Gate to the orbit of the Pasture Star shortly."

Baili Qing’s expression clearly twitched, and this time it definitely exceeded five pixels.

"Do you know this is actually a very outrageous thing?" The humanoid giant dragon finally couldn’t help but speak.

"I know," Yu Sheng said confidently, but finally showed a bit of self-awareness, "Don’t worry, I generally won’t use this trick outside, it won’t scare people..."

Baili Qing: "..."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, her words turned into a tired sigh, and the sleepy humanoid giant dragon waved her hand, her figure gradually disappearing from the air.

Yu Sheng also rose beside Alfne.

"Luna, tell the others this news," he turned to look at the blonde girl next to him, "Just tell them... today is the day we go home."

"Okay."

...

The warm wind blew across the plain, but for some reason, it felt a bit chilly. The sky was vast and clear, yet the fine weather could not seem to dispel the unease in the air—Spiritual Intuition was warning of something about to happen.

Or perhaps it had already happened.

Fourteen light shuttles skimmed low over the plain, a Defensive Army Commander looked through the shuttle’s porthole at the situation in the distance.

Towers for monitoring and isolating those "flocks" stood on the distant hill, the high-energy gratings formed by the interconnected towers established the "Kingdom Border" for those "flocks." On the other side was the primitive and pure "Pasture," while this side belonged to the "Holy Hall."

All communication channels connected to the Holy Hall were eerily quiet at the moment, no calls to the Holy Hall from either orbital defense stations or ground bases received any response.

The Defensive Army Commander’s sense of unease grew heavier.

He took this elite force from the nearest ground base to check on the Holy Hall; at departure, he pondered whether this was making a mountain out of a molehill, but now he began to worry about whether something uncontrollable had already happened and if his troops were enough.

Because unsettling events were happening one after another.

Communication with the Saint Realm had completely broken down, the fleet dispatched to support the Saint Realm set sail from the Orbital Star Port hours ago, yet no news had been received. A brief emergency signal was earlier captured by the orbital antenna system carrying the star gate emergency code from beyond the border, but in an instant, the signal source vanished from the communication network.

As of now, no one knew what had really happened back on the home planet, and no one knew the situation at the border. Large gaps appeared in the communication network within the Star Region, and increasingly powerful interference sources were obstructing communication between planets, breaking the connections of one planet after another, while the Pasture Star seemed to be gradually becoming an isolated island.

And amidst such disconcerting circumstances, the "Holy Hall" also abruptly lost all external communications.

Rumor had it that today a batch of new Knights and an Artificial Saintess were meant to undergo conversion... at this very moment...

The shuttle began to decelerate, outside the porthole appeared the silhouette of the large building complex standing on the hill.

At the sight of the Holy Hall, the Defensive Army Commander instinctively sighed in relief.

The buildings were still intact, no smoke, no explosions, no signs of enemy breach.

Yet the communication channels remained strangely silent.

"Still can’t reach the Great Sage inside the Holy Hall," the voice of a pilot from another shuttle came over the communicator, "Their communication antenna is on, but no one answers."

"Something’s not right," the Commander said, "Numbers 1 to 6 maintain aerial vigilance, fire control systems lock onto the Holy Hall’s main building, everyone else land, switch to Power Armor."

Some shuttles lowered altitude on the plain in front of the Holy Hall, soldiers from the Hidden Monastery and Combat Priests in heavy Power Armor jumped out of the transport cabins, slowly approaching the Holy Hall’s main entrance.

Other shuttles hovered in the air, wary of the activity within that building complex.

Just then, the Holy Hall’s doors suddenly opened.

The ground troops’ commander instantly tensed, instinctively gripping his weapon tightly.

Yet he immediately relaxed.

Because emerging from the doorway was not an enemy, but an Artificial Saintess and several Brass Knights.

He exhaled lightly and stepped forward, speaking through his Power Armor’s speaker to the opposite side: "What’s happening inside? Why are the communicators..."

The tall figure standing at the entrance vanished.

The commander merely dazed for a moment, then felt his body slowly tilting to one side.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a broad pillar of light suddenly erupt from within the Great Cathedral, the light swept across, and two shuttles exploded into two massive fireballs in the sky...