Chapter 720: Chapter 719: Do You Still Remember Me?

When the sun rose the next day, the United Army’s landing forces entered the atmosphere and began to take control of the ground order of this "Pasture Planet".

Prior to this, the reconnaissance ship had completed a surface scan of the planet, determining the location of all the Hidden Monastery’s defense fortresses, as well as the "pasture" areas surrounded by watchtowers.

There were two missions for the landing forces entering the atmosphere: one was to occupy and control the facilities left by the Hidden Monastery, and the other was to pacify the surface residents outside the war zone, ensuring basic order before panic and chaos started to grow.

A low-altitude aircraft equipped with a broadcasting system slowly flew over the fields. In the first rays of sunshine of the morning, Marines descending from the "Iron Ship" entered villages and towns, with speakers repeatedly broadcasting carefully considered speeches to explain the current situation as concisely and clearly as possible.

This was not an easy task, as the people of this land knew nothing about the outside world—laboring, feeding themselves, and then obeying the missionary’s orders; most people’s understanding of the world was limited to this.

The only good news was that the descending Iron Ship and the soldiers who seemed to have stepped out of mythology had a huge deterrent effect on the locals. Their awe for these "Heavenly People" who suddenly appeared in the village even surpassed that of the Hidden Monastery priests who only visited the village once a year for selection.

This at least ensured the most basic order.

The morning wind blew across the fields, carrying with it the scent of soil and plants.

Waves of wheat rolled across the fields, with a small path running through the farmland. Near the village entrance, there was a tree about three people could wrap their arms around, its mottled bark carrying the marks left by young men and women practicing "swordsmanship".

Yu Sheng had seen this scene before, in Luna’s memory.

"C-type buckle," Erin lay on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, turning her head to look at the Artificial Saintess walking beside him, "Is it here?"

"There are records in the Holy Hall’s database," Luna didn’t speak, Hu Li answered instead, "all information related to the Artificial Saintess is recorded in great detail."

"You really intend to just walk in like this?" Erin spoke again, still staring directly at Luna, "Or... should we go back home and prepare? Ironclad Expression hasn’t figured out this planet’s affairs yet. She said the Boundary Land is planning to send a batch of administrative staff over later. We can then..."

Luna shook her head.

She didn’t speak, and Erin quieted down.

The little puppet rarely quieted down so quickly.

So, Yu Sheng continued to follow Luna towards the village.

They saw soldiers from the Boundary Land who had already garrisoned in the village. After passing a few checkpoints, they saw some low dilapidated houses, with narrow and bumpy paths between them.

There were hardly any people on the road, as almost everyone was hiding in their homes at this time. The meteor shower that descended from the sky last night had frightened everyone, and the Iron Ship landing with the sunrise made people even more fearful—the Iron Ship was broadcasting unbelievable things, and the world seemed to be undergoing terrible and strange changes. Hiding at home and not going out was most people’s instinctive reaction.

Occasionally, hurried and nervous figures appeared at intersections, but they would quickly flee as soon as they saw Yu Sheng and his group from a distance.

Luna walked slowly, stopping frequently on the path, occasionally turning her neck slowly, her emotionless mechanical eyeballs scanning the low wooden and stone houses over and over again.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, she stopped in front of a small house.

Beside the small house was a somewhat unkempt yard, piled with many miscellaneous items. Some wooden racks leaning against the wall had dried mushrooms and unidentifiable, dark things hanging on them. In a corner of the yard stood a wooden stake crudely tied with several crossbars, the stake bearing marks of varying depths.

Many years ago, a girl with a wooden sword had imagined the stake as the fiercest evil in the world.

Voices came from inside the small house.

"Don’t go outside now, it’s chaotic out there... we still don’t know who these people from the sky are..."

"The things are still drying in the yard, what if those two stray dogs from the village snatch them..."

"If they snatch them, then so be it, at times like these..."

"If they snatch them, what will we eat next month?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

A side wooden door of the small house opened, and a small, thin elderly woman walked out slowly, heading towards the racks in the yard.

Then she noticed the several strangers standing at the roadside.

The strange-looking Heavenly People.

The old woman’s movement suddenly froze, a trace of fear in her eyes, she seemed to want to turn back into the house, but stood there motionless.

After two seconds, sounds of someone getting up and questioning came from inside the house.

The old woman opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

And at this moment, Luna suddenly walked forward.

But she did not speak, she merely walked silently to the wooden racks, retrieved a wicker basket from a hook on the wall, and collected the dried goods into the basket.

She did this with practiced ease.

At first, the old woman instinctively took half a step back, then stared wide-eyed at the somewhat frightening steel figure in front of her. She stared for a long time, but her eyes still only showed tension and confusion.

After a while, she finally spoke, her voice tinged with fear: "This, this is just worthless countryside stuff, if you, if you want..."

She even seemed about to bend down.

Another figure hurriedly came out from the small house, a dark-skinned, small elderly man rushed out to shield the old woman, staring intently at the steel puppet in front of them.

Luna just turned around and slowly handed over the basket in her hand.

"Make porridge." She stuttered slightly as she spoke.

"Porridge?" The old woman was taken aback, repeating it somewhat puzzled, seemingly not quite understanding what it meant for a moment.

Yu Sheng finally spoke up at this moment: "Can we come in and rest for a bit? We’ve traveled a long way."

The low-flying aircraft of the United Army slowly flew over from the end of the village, with the massive iron-gray body of the aircraft radiating the glow of the anti-gravity engine underneath, buzzing softly.

The dark-skinned old man looked up at the sky, a hint of nervousness on his face, hesitated for a moment, then nodded lightly.

Yu Sheng then led Hu Li and the others into the house.

Even during the daytime, the house remained dimly lit; the walls, blackened from smoke, had clearly stood the test of many years. Moreover, due to external disturbances, the doors and windows were tightly shut, making the interior even more gloomy.

The dark-skinned old man went to open the window, making the room a bit brighter.

The old woman took the dried goods she had collected to the kitchen, and the sound of fire-making and cooking came from the thin wooden wall opposite.

The buzzing sound of the aircraft grew closer, and the broadcast continued to repeat its proclamations.

The lies woven by the priests, the intentions of the United Army, promises about safety and order, and many, many other things.

How much the locals could understand was not important, nor was how much they believed; the existence of these broadcasting ships was itself one of the meanings.

Yu Sheng told the old man before him that he was just a passing traveler, not a professional soldier coming on the Iron Ship. He told the old man about the vast world outside, filled with many strange and curious people, so there was no need to mind their odd appearances.

The old man then told Yu Sheng he had two sons, both working in town, already established in families, and had joined the town’s militia.

He also said he had a daughter, an important figure, skilled in swordsmanship and combat, but had gone far away and hadn’t been home for a long time.

How long exactly, he couldn’t say for sure, but it had certainly been over a decade.

Outside the window was the sound of the broadcast, and the buzz of the anti-gravity engine seemed to be right overhead.

The old woman came in with a pot of steaming porridge, placing it on the cracked wooden table, signaling with her eyes for the old man not to speak so much in front of strangers.

She then took down several rough earthenware bowls from the nearby shelves.

Luna naturally got up, took the bowls, and picked up a wooden spoon.

The house was silent for two seconds; Luna’s movements seemed to pause for a moment, but then she continued as if nothing had happened.

"Let me."

The old woman suddenly raised her hand, somewhat anxiously snatching the wooden spoon from Luna.

Then she served each a bowl of porridge.

When it was Erin’s turn, the old woman noticeably hesitated, then specially took a small cup from the shelf and served a little food in it.

Erin sat on the table, raising her palm-sized face: "Thank you! But I don’t eat."

Hu Li quickly moved the cup before the little puppet to her own front: "It’s okay, I’ll eat."

The dark porridge wasn’t necessarily bad but definitely wasn’t good either, with a rather coarse texture.

Yet the fox girl ate happily—she was happy as long as she had food.

In fact, if it weren’t for knowing it wasn’t the time for a feast, she would eat the entire pot even if she wasn’t hungry.

"It’s all countryside stuff, nothing worth presenting," the old woman said somewhat awkwardly, "You, you came from the sky, should be unused to this."

"My daughter loved eating this when she was home," the old man murmured, "but now she’s out fighting wars, and each year... every year she sends money back."

Luna sat by the table in a daze, her mechanical face seemingly devoid of expression.

The old woman looked at the rough earthenware bowl in front of Luna, hesitated for several seconds before finally speaking: "You... you don’t eat either?"

Luna finally looked up, opened her mouth: "I..."

The old woman finally began to cry.

"You loved this the most," she stood up, looking at Luna’s pale face composed of living metal, "back then, you alone could eat three bowls..."

Luna froze in place.

Yu Sheng sighed softly.

"I think we better wait outside for a bit." He gently tugged the fox girl’s tail.

The fox girl then stood up, holding her bowl: "Oh, okay..."