Yu Sheng's vision blurred for a while before he could make out the shadow of the squirrel—the little creature was crouched on his cheek, licking his nose with its tiny tongue.

Next to him, Erin's anxious voice rang out, "Yu Sheng! Yu Sheng, are you awake? Damn, you almost scared me to death. I thought you were dead for sure after such a high fall. Nobody could survive that..."

"Can't you say something nicer?" Yu Sheng, finally fully conscious, rolled his eyes and saw the little puppet standing next to his head, as well as Hu Li—demon fox girl—crouching beside him, staring fixedly at the squirrel's actions. She subconsciously licked her lips, and the gesture made Yu Sheng's mouth twitch as unpleasant memories flooded his mind, "...Are you planning to lick it too or what?"

Hu Li quickly wiped at the non-existent drool at the corner of her mouth and grinned at Yu Sheng, "Hehe... Seeing that you're alright puts my mind at ease..."

"I-I was scared too," the squirrel jumped down from Yu Sheng's face, rubbed its paws, and muttered, "I followed you down, then Hu Li caught me using her tail—she's amazing, she can even fly. The three of us flew down and saw you lying here, looking like you were asleep. Erin was guessing whether you had just died or were still alive..."

Yu Sheng propped himself up and sat, not paying attention to the squirrel's last comment, and began to survey their surroundings.

"What is this place?" he asked, standing up and looking around with a frown, "How long have you been down here?"

"Just a few minutes, we haven't had time to check the surroundings," Erin quickly responded, pointing above their heads, "But we noticed that there's a thick 'shell' over us. This seems to be a large structure that was 'sealed' up. There are several big holes in that shell, and you fell through the biggest one."

Yu Sheng hummed in acknowledgment, saying nothing more.

It was dim around them but not completely dark. A faint emergency-like light glowed from the dome and various points around, allowing him to see the area. He noted that this was a large space, unlike the other parts of Anka Aela, which were filled with cold metallic hues—instead, the ground here was soil.

In the farther distance, he could see many withered remnants buried in the soil, as well as suspicious substances growing and spreading from the ground like decay.

He then looked up, barely making out the 'shell' Erin mentioned—a heavy dome that had been damaged many years ago.

Gradually, he understood what this place was.

"...This is Anka Aela's 'ecological sphere'."

Erin clearly didn't understand, her blood-red eyes wide, "What?"

Yu Sheng bent down to pick up the squirrel, walking forward as he casually explained, "A scaled-down version of the home planet's ecosystem—it's the blueprint and 'seed' for restoring an ecological system on a new home for the ark. If I'm not mistaken, there should also be a gene bank here, set up using cryogenic stasis or even more advanced 'stasis' technology... But it, like this ecological sphere, has 'died' many years ago."

Erin listened, bewildered, not fully comprehending, while Hu Li showed a thoughtful expression, nodding slightly in agreement with Yu Sheng's words, "In my hometown, there are also similar constructions for developing ecological planets, all built by major developers."

Erin was astonished, "Your hometown has everything!?"

Hu Li said nothing, just squinted her eyes in a self-satisfied manner and swayed her tail proudly.

Yu Sheng continued to walk through the lifeless "ecological wasteland," his gaze sweeping over the withered remains, dried-up rivers, and the exposed pipe structures in the soil, trying to imagine what this place once looked like.

He knew very well that this place was Anka Aela's "child," an "Angel" that fell from a distant dystopian world, and this wasteland was where it had nurtured its shadow... Yu Sheng didn't know what would happen if this shadow successfully "descended" in Boundary Land, but it would surely... be a disaster for everyone.

Even for Anka Aela itself—it would only witness another nightmare emerging from its own remains. By that time, the "Dark Angel" would likely lose control.

A slight tremor came from beneath their feet, immediately followed by a low rumble.

Yu Sheng instantly stopped, and Hu Li's ears perked up.

"Did you hear that?" Erin said nervously, "It sounds like something is moving... deeper inside."

At that moment, Yu Sheng's expression changed slightly, his eyes growing serious as he seemed to be listening intently to something.

A calm and gentle whisper resonated in a dimension imperceptible to ordinary people.

Several seconds later, Yu Sheng took a sharp breath, his eyes widening instantly.

"Erin! Wake everyone in the Sanctuary Wilderness! Withdraw to the real world immediately!"

"Huh... what? Right!" Erin, confused, quickly responded, seeing the look on Yu Sheng's face, and swiftly acted while rapidly asking, "What's happening? Why all of a sudden..."

Yu Sheng spun around, his face exceptionally grim, "Anka Aela is shutting down."

Erin froze for a moment, then jumped up the next second: "What the f***!?"

"We've got to get out of here, this place is done for!" Yu Sheng grabbed the little puppet and threw it over his shoulder, while preparing to open a door back to the real world. But then he remembered something else and stopped abruptly, "No, wait, there's still the Hunter... Hurry, we still have time!"

"No! Anka Aela has 'shut down', what about the Black Forest? The Fairy Tales? The Squirrels?" Erin, carried on Yu Sheng's shoulder, no longer had to use her legs and her mind began to clear, "Is the entire 'Fairy Tale' collapsing?! Then the 'Hunter' will have nowhere to go either!"

Yu Sheng stood there momentarily stunned.

The low rumbling gradually turned into a clear, piercing noise, the slight tremor underfoot became more violent shaking. The massive, ancient, and mutated ark was collapsing from the inside out, and at this moment, Yu Sheng suddenly thought of something.

"... Connect it to the valley."

Erin raised her head, shock evident on her face.

"Both are Exotic Realms, both have been 'parasitized' by the Dark Angel, both are places I've drenched with my blood and sweat numerous times, if it succeeded once, there's no reason it wouldn't succeed a second time," Yu Sheng took a light breath and spoke each word deliberately, "I want to merge the Fairy Tale with the valley."

"What do we need to do?" Erin asked immediately.

"... This step I need to do myself, but it might take some time," Yu Sheng said, reaching out to open an illusory door, "You and Hu Li go out first, explain the situation to the people 'outside', Anka Aela has always been 'submerged' in the Boundary Land these years, it will disconnect and disintegrate after it shuts down. You need to inform the Special Service Bureau of these developments.

"As for me, I'll send the squirrels and the Hunter back to the Black Forest first, and then start the 'fusion'. Erin, split yourself up and remind the children in the valley, there might be some 'big movements' coming, tell them to stay calm and remain in the camp, especially stay away from areas undergoing 'changes'—understand?"

"Got it, got it, another solo mission for me, right?" Erin nodded repeatedly, then climbed onto Hu Li while waving her hand, "You just take care of your end!"

Hu Li showed a bit of worry, standing by the door and looking back at Yu Sheng: "Savior, are you going to..."

Yu Sheng gave a thumbs up and grinned: "Don't worry, I've got this."

Hu Li helplessly swatted Yu Sheng's arm with her big tail, then held onto Erin and jumped through the door back to the real world just before the next violent shake.

...

When all the monitoring devices went haywire with errors and the alarms blared, Li Lin clearly heard the sound of a 'barrier' shattering. It was as if a mirror, which had been isolating reality from nightmares within that dark wall, shattered under the critical impact.

Then, everyone present heard the rumbling from underground.

The rumbling grew from weak to strong, an astonishing, immeasurable energy reaction appeared in the signals from the far-end sensors. In the blink of an eye, Li Lin saw the wall around the orphanage silently break apart, followed by half of the sixteen temporary protective barriers disappearing, with the rest on the verge of collapse. Then he saw a beam of light rise into the night sky—

The beam shot out from the center of the orphanage. In the light, two entwined 'umbilical cords' growing and drifting toward the sky were silently disintegrating.

A glowing object slowly ascended within the wall.

Baili Qing watched the scene coldly, then picked up her phone: "Prepare to execute 'Dome Shattering', our signal might disappear shortly, but before that..."

However, she only managed to say half of her sentence.

A door suddenly appeared less than three meters away from her, and moments later, Hu Li and Erin jumped out of it.

The little puppet shouted loudly as it passed through the door: "Hold up! Whatever this 'shattering' thing is, stop it first!"

Baili Qing stared in bewilderment at the two figures who had suddenly jumped out of the door.

...

A moment later, Li Lin, still in shock, received new orders.

He turned his head, looking over the ruined orphanage wall at the light mass rising in the night sky.

He slowly raised the walkie-talkie, took a light breath.

"All, all units, stay alert and keep monitoring. Check all recording equipment, we might be witnessing the first ever... Angel Fall."

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