Chapter 723: Chapter 722: Go Home and Take a Look

In the following period, the engines of the United Fleet illuminated this star region, enclosed by gravitational faults, as the massive silhouettes of ships swept past the stars, gradually uprooting the influence of the Venerate Saints Monastery in this area.

On one hand, the technical experts of the United Fleet successfully deciphered the star map data recorded in the Star Gate, finding the exact coordinates of all colonized planets owned by the Monastery. On the other hand, Luna contacted more and more Artificial Saintesses and Knight Orders through the gathering points of the Soul Wilderness, and they were mostly stationed on various colonized planets — Yu Sheng repeated the operations he had carried out on the Pasture Star several times...

To be honest, using the Star Gate to cover the face was truly astonishing in power, and somewhat addictive. However, overusing it could lead to significant mental exhaustion, leaving one’s head buzzing and slightly affecting one’s senses.

During this period, every time Yu Sheng closed his eyes, he felt as if he was still drifting naked in the universe, with a fleet of spaceships flying out from his stomach. Once, he suddenly sat up from his bed while asleep, pointed at the ceiling, and shouted, "Move the Eternity ten kilometers to the left" — only to be kicked in the face by a puppet leaping up.

Except for running around to open doors for the Borderland Fleet, Yu Sheng actually had a fairly leisurely time during these days.

After all, he didn’t understand space warfare, wasn’t skilled at ground suppression, and administrative work wasn’t his responsibility. After the battle with the Dark Angel, there was nothing much in this star region that required his attention, and his days could finally calm down.

Of course, considering there was a noisy little munchkin beside him, these days hardly aligned with tranquility... but at least he didn’t have to go out and fight bizarre apocalyptic things anymore.

Pasture Star, at the edge of the Barrier of the Watchtower.

The breeze passed over the distant wheat fields, carrying a faint earthly fresh smell. It rained a little yesterday here, and today the air was still slightly damp, but the sky had cleared, with only a few wispy clouds in the vast and clear blue sky. The atmosphere was so transparent that even some hazy shadows in orbit could be seen.

The blazing Fox Fire ignited in the air in an instant, quickly dissipating. This flame, containing spiritual power, instantly evaporated the moisture on the ground. The fox girl looked at her drying results with satisfaction, then found a flat piece of ground, spread a few of her tails on it, and lay down to take a nap.

"Silly fox, aren’t you a bit too lazy usually?" Erin ran over from a distance, and seeing Hu Li nestling in a spot to sunbathe and nap again, couldn’t help but grumble, "These days, all you’ve been doing is eating and sleeping. Aren’t you afraid of becoming fat?"

The fox girl’s ears perked up with a "ding" sound. She got up, looked down at herself vigilantly, while Yu Sheng, who was next to her, hadn’t figured out what was happening yet. Then saw the demon fox roll on the spot, transforming into a large, snow-white fox, and dashed towards the sky.

In the blink of an eye, the white shadow darted back and forth several times in the distant fields, then thunderously returned, leaping and bounding around the empty ground near Yu Sheng for countless circles. Just when Yu Sheng started to suspect if this big fox had secretly eaten chocolate again, she suddenly stopped, wandered back to her dry nap spot, shook her body, rolled her big tail, and lay down to continue sleeping.

"...Is she nuts!" The puppet, now dusty from the demon fox’s dozen or so thundering sandstorms (mainly because it was too stunned to dodge, and having short legs made it take the full ground-level damage), wiped its face, glaring with open eyes. "I’ve heard cats being so neurotic, but now even foxes do this crazy act..."

Yu Sheng, holding a stick of grass in his mouth, lay back on Hu Li’s tail and looked up at the puppet. "Careful, if the King hears you say that, it’ll scratch your face again."

"If it dares to scratch me, I’ll station 800 puppets on its cat condo," The little one waved confidently, then curiously looked at the stick of grass in Yu Sheng’s mouth, "What are you eating?"

"Sweet grass, recommended by Luna," Yu Sheng took the grass stick from his mouth and shook it, "It’s a local wild grass that, when you first put it in your mouth, tastes bitter, but after a while, it turns sweet. Kids in the village would pick it to eat while grazing sheep. You’ve been saying lately that Hu Li’s always eating grass by the roadside; it’s actually this."

Erin stared curiously at the stick in Yu Sheng’s hand for a while, then, belatedly understanding, exclaimed with an "oh," and suddenly ran over, flopping onto the middle of Hu Li’s big tail, lying beside Yu Sheng in a sprawl.

"...What’s that in the sky?" She raised her hand again, pointing to a small shadow on the distant horizon, "I saw it a few days ago, it seems bigger now."

"That’s a Star Gate being built by Boundary Land."

"Another Star Gate?" Erin widened her eyes, "Isn’t there one already? Why are they building another?"

"Well, that Star Gate belongs to me now," Yu Sheng replied offhandedly, "And it’s a movable one at that, which means I might transfer it elsewhere at some point. Boundary Land plans to bring these planets left by the Monastery under their management, so they certainly need to build a stable Star Gate they control."

"...Oh," The puppet seemed to understand, then rolled over amidst the fluffy big tails, finding a comfortable position, "By the way, Yu Sheng, where’s that ghost wandering off to again? It’s always popping in and out..."

"In the Soul Wilderness, helping Luna build houses, though it seems like it’s just messing around."

"Its building skills are as terrible as yours?"

"What’s terrible about my building skills? It’s a blend of classical and practical styles..."

"Classical style doesn’t start from the Neolithic era."

Yu Sheng: "...You know about the Neolithic era?"

And he didn’t hear a response; just the even, soft sound of snoring beside him.

Turning his head, he saw the puppet had fallen asleep, hugging one of the fox’s big tails.

Above was just the right amount of sky, and the air after the rain was particularly fresh. The ground warmed by the Fox Fire felt pleasantly warm, soft and safe under the cloak of the big tail.

In such an environment, the puppet easily drifted off to sleep — no matter how much she fussed in daily life, she was quite like a little kid in many ways.

In fact, speaking of it, she is indeed a child—whether as an Alice Puppet leaving home to help adults for the first time, or as an Omen Goddess who lost her home shortly after birth.

Yu Sheng was half-heartedly thinking about it, when suddenly he saw Erin leaning towards him, the little puppet mumbling in a daze, "Where did that second-hand scientist go... haven’t seen them these past few days..."

Yu Sheng was taken aback for a moment, then he laughed, raising his hand to tousle the little puppet’s hair.

"Not long ago, she asked me for a leave... Luna went home, she wanted to go home too."

...

The silver "Silver Star" shuttle glided through the somewhat murky atmosphere, leaving a striking bright line beneath the clouds, its engine flashes illuminating the sky above the small town in the morning. Then, this beautiful "high-end flying machine" circled twice above the city, seemingly having difficulty recognizing the position, before finally slowly landing on an old platform in the west of the city.

A blond Algredian elf emerged from the cockpit, followed by Guard Captain Laine, and two Boundary Land marine corps soldiers in standard-issue power armor.

The old and towering buildings stood in the faint glow of the morning, and in the distant mist, the outline of old antenna towers was traced. Mineral transport barges were taking off from the edge of the city’s spaceport, the large engines shimmering with somewhat unstable light in the slightly dim sky, gradually ascending and dimming.

Luo’s gaze slowly swept across the surroundings, carrying a bit of nostalgia mixed with a bit of unfamiliarity.

"Boss," Guard Captain Laine’s voice came from beside him, "is this your hometown?"

"Hmm..." Luo nodded gently, "I haven’t been back for many years."

"... The wanted notice shouldn’t have reached here, right?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

Luo, feeling a bit irritated, waved his hand and led the group off the unattended automatic docking platform. Not long after walking, she noticed eyes falling on her.

The gaze quickly disappeared, but after a while, a new one came.

A few shift-changing miners passed by an intersection, two of them craning their necks to look at the distant docking platform.

They were looking at the "Silver Star" shuttle.

On such a remote and poor border planet, a top-spec Silver Star shuttle is a luxury that many people have never seen in their lifetime.

Guard Captain Laine instinctively took out his data terminal, confirming once again that the shuttle’s anti-theft feature was activated.

After walking on for a while longer, Luo finally stopped.

She saw a figure approaching from the roadside, and after a while, the middle-aged Algredian in miner’s uniform finally hesitantly stood before her.

"Luo?"

Luo squinted, seriously trying to recognize him, and finally realized: "Uncle Barn?"

"Luo, it really is you?!" The middle-aged elf’s eyes gradually widened, and his face slowly showed signs of surprise, but right after, he noticed the three heavily armed tall figures following Luo, his expression changed several times, as if he thought of something, and his gaze suddenly became somewhat... seemed sad? Regretful? Or maybe worried.

"Luo, are the rumors true?"

Luo: "Huh?"

"There were young people who went out to work, and when they came back they told us that the outstanding student who left our place years ago had gotten into trouble outside, and was on a wanted list, wanted by civilization circles across seventeen or eighteen universes..." the middle-aged elf said, his eyes reddening, "You send money home every year, and you send such a lot every time, but you never come back to visit. Someone reminded me to ask around more often, afraid that you had gone down a dark path. I didn’t know where to inquire, and couldn’t find you when I went out looking... you... you..."

By this time, Luo was already completely at a loss. Before she could open her mouth, the middle-aged elf across from her reached out a hand: "It’s okay, it’s okay, as long as everything’s settled now. If you’re caught, then just work towards reform. You see, the government allows us to visit relatives; with good behavior, you might still have a chance to fight for something. We haven’t spent all the money you’ve sent back over the years, I can talk to the villagers, see how much we can return, even if it’s just to reduce your sentence by two years..."

Luo: "..."

Guard Captain Laine quietly shut the power armor mask.

Luo: "...Your damn shoulder is shaking with laughter, covering it with a mask does nothing!"