Dimensional Hotel

Chapter 743 - 742: Node...Point?

The pavilion shrouded in auspicious clouds stood upon the star sea, with the massive Dark Star hanging overhead. Now, Yu Sheng finally realized that his previous associations when facing this dark celestial body were not mere illusions—this darkness was indeed a damaged point of this Universe resulting from a "portion being gouged out."The previously perplexing results obtained from various methods of observing the Black Star now had explanations, including its parameters that defied Universe rules, the baffling space-time structure inside it, and the manner of its appearance after the collapse of the World Bridge.

According to Luo's hypothesis, the initial Black Star likely appeared three thousand seven hundred years ago, after the Omen Goddess's attempt to enter this Universe through the World Bridge failed, marking the opening of the first World Gate—hence theoretically, the Boundary Land People were most likely the first to observe the Black Star in this Universe.

However, due to "epoch transitions," the historical records of the Boundary Land from the previous "version" have dissipated, and these records no longer exist.

The initial Black Star brought the first Dark Angel, and in the following three thousand seven hundred years, the process has been repeated more than once.

Yu Sheng still felt that something crucial was missing from this deduction—the process of Dark Angels entering the Universe and the operational mechanism of that "World Gate" remained partially unexplained.

But at least at this stage, this theory might already be the closest to the truth.

"The biggest problem now is whether this thing will stay stable here?" Baili Qing broke the silence, "The Black Star has appeared and disappeared unexpectedly more than once, so it's uncertain if a 'transfer' might happen again suddenly."

Luo opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Yu Sheng proactively said beside her, "It shouldn't happen again."

Several eyes turned to him.

"If Luo's theory is correct, the Black Star moved everywhere previously because the World Gate opened by the World Bridge after its collapse lost its anchor," Yu Sheng said slowly. "But now, this anchor has been rebuilt."

Luo was taken aback for a moment, quickly understanding: "That Crystal Tree?"

Yu Sheng nodded: "Now there's a new World Bridge, and this World Bridge is rooted in a stable space-time structure—in theory, as long as my Crystal Tree doesn't wither, the Black Star won't undergo 'transfer' again."

The Red and Master Yuan Hao present hadn't seen what the Crystal Tree looked like, but evidently, such crucial information had reached their ears, so there was no confusion on their faces, just a slight seriousness in their expressions.

"This matter is of great importance, yet we can't assist," Master Yuan Hao suddenly spoke, with Yu Sheng seeing such a solemn expression on the handsome old man's face for the first time. While speaking, he solemnly got up and saluted, "Yu Sheng, make sure to look after that 'tree,' it absolutely must not go wrong."

"Of course, don't worry about that," Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand, a bit unaccustomed to the old handsome man suddenly being so serious, so he quickly changed the subject, "So about the Black Star..."

Erin, who hadn't said much, climbed onto the table, lifting her head: "Should we withdraw those probes already placed inside?"

The group fell into thought, the scene growing quiet for a few seconds, until Red was the first to break the silence, "No, we shouldn't withdraw them. Instead, we need to quickly complete the monitoring matrix within the buffer layer and launch the subsequent probes and supporting facilities as soon as possible."

Baili Qing immediately grasped Red's intent, nodding slightly, "This 'World Gate' is already open, and the 'Black Star' is merely a phenomenon revealed when the door is open. Whether we look or not, the door is here—thus, it's crucial to rapidly establish the monitoring system, so that if anything begins to emerge from the buffer layer, we'll be able to detect it immediately."

"On one hand, establish monitoring, and on the other, prevention," Red continued, "Move research facilities, including the Star Castle, back to high orbit, and transform any manned structure in low orbit into unmanned firepower platforms and armed satellite matrices. Also, surround the Black Star with gravity well generators—the more, the better."

Luo listened on the side, pondering, "Hmm... based on the experience of Algerde's army defending against the 'Beauty God,' although ordinary weapons struggle to inflict effective damage on Dark Angels, spatial disturbance mechanisms can still limit their activities, sometimes even temporarily anchoring them in the real world..."

"If a Dark Angel does emerge from the Black Star, the defenses set up in orbit and gravity traps will at least hold it temporarily," Red nodded slowly, "long enough for personnel evacuation from orbit, and until... the Angel Hunter arrives."

As she finished speaking, several gazes turned towards Yu Sheng.

Feeling the weight of responsibility, Yu Sheng then awkwardly shifted slightly in his chair, "Well, I don't mind doing the work, but this title... hearing 'Angel Hunter' so often is quite embarrassing."

The little puppet turned its head, scrutinizing Yu Sheng suspiciously, "Then what should we call you? Angel Hunter Demon Man?"

Yu Sheng smacked his forehead, "…Then Angel Hunter it is."

After that, the group discussed a bit more, roughly determining the subsequent monitoring and defense measures for the Black Star.

Just then, Yu Sheng remembered something.

"Right, we still need to inform Marin," he clapped his hands, "our previous plan to 'establish contact with the Lost Home via the Black Star' can no longer be used, so she doesn't need to prepare the Garden Network terminal to interface with the Star Castle anymore."

Upon Yu Sheng's mention, Erin promptly wiped her forehead (unfortunately, the little thing didn't have the function to sweat), "Oh man, it's a good thing I followed you in this time and contacted the Puppet Progenitor, otherwise, if Marin really set up a large antenna over here, even with network isolation from the Garden's main network, it could have led to big trouble... This thing is incredibly dangerous."

With that, she crossed her arms, proudly raising her chin: "Wow, I'm really awesome."

Yu Sheng looked at the highly spirited little thing, both amused and helpless, "Okay, okay, you're amazing. Now think about that network node issue—we still need to contact the Lost Home quickly in the end. Do you have any ideas?"

This time, all eyes again fell on Erin.

The little thing hugged her arms, sat cross-legged right on the table, with a serious face.

She hadn't forgotten what the Puppet Progenitor Alice had told her before.

And after two minutes of thought, the little puppet's response didn't disappoint: "Absolutely no clue!"

Luo stared: "You had no clue, so why were you acting all serious just now?"

Erin tilted her face defiantly: "So if I can't figure it out, I'm not allowed to think about it?"

"Alright, alright, I knew it," Yu Sheng lifted this embarrassing little thing off the table, "I wasn't expecting you to understand it anyway. Let's get Marin to help later. Since it's said that this new node can connect with the garden network, maybe she has a way to find it."

...

After finishing up matters at Black Star, Yu Sheng didn't linger at Master Yuan Hao's place but went straight back to No. 66 Wutong Road.

At the same time, Erin sent a message to Marin, roughly explaining the current situation.

The news from the Puppet Progenitor was clearly of extraordinary significance to any Alice Puppet — an hour later, a familiar black luxury car hurriedly arrived at the open space of the old alley where No. 66 Wutong Road was located.

In a matter of moments, Puppet Marin and her spring-loaded maid Maris were seated on the sofa in the living room of No. 66 Wutong Road.

Erin (blonde) sat on the coffee table in front of them, propped up on two books.

The remaining four Erins (with black hair) lay on each corner of the coffee table, sat on the TV cabinet, lay on top of Yu Sheng's head, and hung on the backrest of the sofa next to Marin.

Even though they had met offline more than once, Marin still felt a bit uneasy facing the sight of so many Erins fluttering in front of her. Especially when speaking, she never knew which one to address, so she had to first direct her attention to the most conspicuous original Erin on the coffee table:

"Over the years, this is the first time an Alice Puppet has successfully contacted the Puppet Progenitor again. Everyone's excited after hearing the news—about the 'node,' just say what you need. Whether it's hardware equipment or independent permissions in the garden network, you can have it if needed..."

"The key point is, we don't even know what that node is," the Erin hanging on the sofa backrest spoke up, "Lady Alice said that the node points to me, but I don't feel anything."

"Have you come into contact with anything special recently? Or done anything special?" Marin turned her head again to look at the small puppet on the sofa backrest next to her, "What have you been busy with lately?"

Erin found the question somewhat familiar.

So she repeated what she had previously told the Puppet Progenitor Alice to Marin.

"Quite..." Marin opened her mouth, then gracefully added, "...colorful and diverse."

Yu Sheng was sitting on the sofa opposite Marin, listening to the puppets talk. He hadn't planned on interjecting, but then suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.

"Wait a minute, Erin, did you forget something?"

Erin: "What thing?"

Yu Sheng: "You also built a Puppet City!"

Erin: "…Oh, crap, right!"

Yu Sheng got up immediately, pulled open a door without saying a word, and the door led directly to the Puppet City next to the Black Forest.

A moment later, Marin and Maris were standing on the high ground near the Black Forest, staring in amazement at the big little city before them.

Erin was puzzled by their reaction: "Is it really that surprising? I already posted pictures on the garden network before..."

"Those few images you posted can't showcase such a high level of realism!" Marin turned her head, a subtle expression of amazement on her face, "Are you really good at civil engineering?"

The little puppet proudly raised her neck, almost tipping her whole body over Yu Sheng's shoulder: "Of course, in the whole travel agency, Yu Sheng only knows how to build toilets and tombs, the silly fox only knows how to dig holes, the C-type buckle barely has any architectural taste, and even then is a cheat hunter in the Soul World with creative skills, so I am the true holy puppet of civil engineering here in the travel agency～"

Yu Sheng thought for two minutes and couldn't find any reason to refute her.