Chapter 12: The Darkness of the Sky
When Beichen woke up again, she found herself soaking in a bathtub filled with warm water. Yagard was preparing some clean clothes for her, and there were some snacks and fruits beside the bathtub.
“Hmm!?”
Beichen screamed and sat up. Yagad turned around and half-knelt to her as before:
"Beichen, how do you feel?"
"Huh? ...Yeah."
Although he had a premonition that his waist and legs would ache again, he surprisingly didn't feel anything. Beichen looked at Yagard in surprise - could it be that he had been sleeping for more than three days?
"Don't worry, I've already repaired your physical discomfort with the Transformed Spirit Crystal. It will take another hour to complete the interpretation of the Holy Tomb of the Gods. You didn't oversleep."
As if understanding Beichen's thoughts, Yagard explained with a smile.
"I-I see. Wait, what is a Transformation Spirit Crystal?"
"These are spirit crystals produced by the modified war machines at the base—ah, of course, these modifications won't affect the war machines' lives."
Perhaps because he was afraid of being blamed by Beichen, Yagard hurriedly explained after he finished speaking.
"Well, Yagad just needs to know when to stop."
As Beichen spoke, he stood up from the bathtub, changed his clothes with the help of Yagard, and stretched.
"Well... although it's not very romantic to say this after spending the night, but these are extraordinary times—"
"I know." Yagad nodded, leaned over, and walked towards the laboratory with Beichen in his hand. "Within the two hours you were asleep, the informant ambushing Youyu sent news that Youyu seemed to be carrying out large-scale construction. In addition, there was a group of people heading towards the God's Cemetery where Wanzu was."
"Send someone to intercept!"
Beichen's expression immediately became serious - it seemed that since she could contact Wanzu, Su Mo must have also thought that he must not let his people reach Wanzu's location.
"They've already set off. Xifeng, Xiaoping, and Lahan went to the Cemetery of Gods, while Yaye went to Youyu to find out what was going on."
"Anything else?"
"Also, here's the information He Yang just sent me. Although Elysion hasn't appeared, there are many unidentified merchants around the world who are secretly buying up a variety of medicinal herbs and fruits. Also, just now, I had a conversation with Ragnarl."
"What was the result?"
"He still wanted to persuade them to surrender. Of course, this wasn't his own idea, but an order from his master. He said he might do many things against his will later, so he apologized in advance."
"How can I blame him?" Beichen smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Instead, it's us who put him in such a dilemma."
"Before leaving, he gave me some strange information."
"What?"
"'Even if you discover something, don't show it easily, no matter how close the person is.'"
Beichen frowned.
In fact, it has been a bit strange for a long time. In the words and deeds of Su Mo and Ragnarl, it seems that they are always wary of someone, as if they are afraid that something will be discovered by someone.
Who is the existence that makes Red Moon and the Killer so taboo?
Shaking his head, Beichen continued to ask:
"Then the unusual movements of those merchants—"
"Gu Yinyue has set out to investigate."
"Hmm. Does that mean the only ones left are Xiangying, Gemini, and Atlas?"
"After Atlas came back, he locked himself in his room and seemed to be in a recovery state. The twins are currently missing, and Xiang Ying is guarding outside the base."
"Everyone's split up."
Beichen lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then clapped his hands.
"Now is not the time to hesitate. Go and read the Holy Book of the Divine Tomb immediately."
"Yes, Beichen."
Then, forty minutes later, the card reader finally beeped, announcing that the reading was complete.
A long list of menus and buttons appeared on the photon screen in the air, which was a bit dizzying. Beichen was hesitating where to start. Yagard had considerately taken out a huge sofa and some simple drinks and snacks from the storage space, and closed the iron gates on the windows, lowered the curtains, and placed spirit crystals around the room to detect intruders.
"Well, Beichen, take your time and watch. I'll be guarding outside the door. If you need anything, call me through the telepathic communication channel."
"Hey, Agard, don't you want to watch it together?"
"I don't want my opinions to influence your decision, Beichen. Besides, I'm not interested in the truth. I'm just your sword, swing it as you wish."
As the knight spoke, he lowered his head and pecked Beichen's lips lightly, then with a firm look that Beichen could not refute, he stepped back and left the room.
The room suddenly became quiet, with only the buzzing of photons in the air and the small mechanical friction sound of the card reader.
"here we go."
Qi) He took a breath and shook his hands to get rid of the sweat on his palms that had seeped out of him at some point. Beichen frowned and moved the cursor on the photon screen to the top column of the menu.
Then, time just flew by.
(Net) Within three days, every time Yagard entered the room to deliver food, he would see Beichen sitting on the sofa, staring at the screen without blinking, and she didn't even move her posture. It seemed that apart from the basic physiological needs of eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, she couldn't even take care of sleep for the time being. Yagard wanted to persuade her to take a rest before watching, but when he saw her pale and extremely serious expression, the words of persuasion came to his throat several times, but he swallowed them back.
──Now is not the time to pity her. For the sake of final victory, it is better to know the truth a second earlier.
Although he thought so, Yagard, who regarded Beichen as everything to him, still felt distressed every time he entered and saw her increasingly worse complexion and dark circles under her eyes. He even had the urge to destroy the card reader - of course he couldn't do that, so he could only pace back and forth outside the room in annoyance. Later, even Yinsha couldn't stand his mechanical and annoying pacing back and forth, and carefully spoke a few words to persuade him.
In such torment, Agard welcomed the morning of the fourth day.
The door that had been tightly closed for four days finally opened slowly. Beichen walked out weakly, but before he had taken a few steps, his legs gave way and Yagad quickly caught him.
"Beichen──"
"It's okay. I've finished reading it. ... Basically... I know everything that happened ten thousand years ago."
Although he looked dismal, Beichen's eyes were exceptionally bright, even gleaming with a strange light. He looked like a scientist who had been up all night and had finally discovered the theory he had been searching for.
"So, what's next?"
"I need to rest. Wake me up in ten hours. Oh, and call Atlas too."
"Yes, no problem, Beichen."
Hearing Yagard's answer, Beichen smiled at him weakly, then fell into his arms with peace of mind and fell asleep directly - it seemed that he had really reached his limit.
Yagard took her to his room and settled her down. After hesitating for a while, he decided to call Xiang Ying, Atlas and Glenshe to come and guard her - after all, Beichen, who already knew the truth, might be the person the enemy least wanted to see.
Thus, another tense ten hours passed. Yagard woke up the sleeping Beichen on time and handed her the precious meal that had been kept warm with spirit crystals to relieve fatigue. Xiang Ying also helped her sit up, stuffed a few cushions behind her, and set up a small table for dining on the bed.
Beichen didn't care about being coquettish or polite at this time. He just picked up the knife and fork and stuffed the food into his mouth. He ate for a long time and stopped only after making sure that his physical strength had recovered.
"Everyone has worked hard to protect me. I will wait until all this is over before repaying you. Now, as the Queen, I must issue a few orders of the highest priority. Please obey."
The expressions of the four men beside the bed also became more serious.
"Atlas, I would like you to take me to Poison Moon. I have something I want to confirm."
"Sure." Atlas' tail lifted up happily. "Beichen, do you want to spend your honeymoon with me?"
Beichen's mouth twitched: "No, but this time it's indeed Atlas and I who are going alone."
"Well, that's the honeymoon for sure."
The possessed Moon Envoy nodded without any sense of crisis, while the others were in the awkward position of wanting to complain but unable to due to the seriousness of the situation.
"But, Master, wouldn't it be dangerous for the two of you to go alone?"
Xiang Ying asked worriedly, but Beichen just shook his head.
"Xiang Ying, you've mentioned this before, right? There are no signs of human life on the Poison Moon, only many workshops for possessed Moon Envoys. So the two of us should be enough. Now we need to confirm whether there's oxygen on the Poison Moon and what the air pressure is like—don't go there and get blood gushing out of your body or suffocate to death because of the air pressure."
"Don't worry, Beichen. There is oxygen on the Poison Moon, and the air pressure is fine. The possessed Moon Envoy also needs an oxygen environment to survive."
Hearing Atlas say this, Beichen nodded with relief.
"That's good. Please ask Atlas to make some preparations for this."
"Okay, I can warm up the teleportation field function right away."
"Yeah. As for Xiangying, Yagad, and my brother──"
Beichen took a breath as he spoke:
"I'd like to ask Yagad and my brother to go to the Tree Sea God's Tomb where Wanzu is and catch up with Xifeng and the others as soon as possible. That's the last stronghold and it must not be breached. Is that okay?"
"Yes, I will do my best, Beichen."
"Don't worry."
Glenshe and Yagad gave assurances at the same time with confident expressions.
Beichen was not so optimistic. She took out paper and pen from Xiangying's storage space, and started writing and drawing quickly.
"Here, this is the location of the control device under Wanzu. You must guard the entrance. If Wanzu is harmed—"
"Yeah, I understand." Glen She reached out to take the map, then touched Beichen's head with his other hand, "Don't worry, leave it to us. Just do what you have to do."
Beichen smiled gratefully at Glenshe, then turned to look at Xiangying:
"The remaining garrison of Elysion will be handed over to Xiang Ying. I will ask He Yang and Arcadia for assistance later. Xiang Ying will cooperate with them to protect our homeland."
"Yes, Master!" Xiang Ying nodded seriously, but after a few seconds he tilted his head in confusion, "But, if Master wasn't in Elysien, there shouldn't be any reason for the other party to do anything to Elysien, right?"
"No, I just want to lure them to attack." Beichen's mouth curled up slightly, "Xiang Ying, after Atlas and I leave, you immediately send someone to spread a message -"
Beichen lowered his voice and told Xiangying the content of the message. Although Xiangying didn't quite understand why he did this, he still agreed unconditionally. At the end of the conversation, Beichen suddenly frowned and shook Xiangying's hand tightly.
"One last thing. No matter what happens, do not go to Chita and use your one and only 'World Warcraft Command Authority.'"
"Eh? Why, Master? This is our most important thing—"
"No, this is a trap. Fortunately, we haven't used it yet. If we had..."
As if he had imagined the consequence, Beichen couldn't help but shudder.
"No matter what, please don't use it, Xiangying. I absolutely cannot tolerate losing you again. If you have any difficulties, please do your best to solve them with your own strength, okay?"
"Okay, Master." Xiang Ying smiled and shook Beichen's hand. "I am the number one combat weapon. Even without that, I can definitely complete the tasks assigned by the Master brilliantly. I was born for the Master's wishes, wasn't I?"
"Um!!"
Beichen smiled and nodded to Xiangying, then turned to look at Yagard, Atlas and Glenshe.
"This is a long, final battle. Everyone must hold on. ...You must return to me unscathed at the end. This is the most important order! Do you hear me?!"
"—Understood! My King, Yashu Tuling!"
In the Queen's room, a warm and heavy vow was made.
Thirty minutes later, Beichen, who was ready, was already in Atlas' arms and was successfully transferred to the land of Poison Moon through the teleportation field.
Looking up at the blue-purple light at the end of the horizon, and then turning back to look at Atlas who was happily wagging his tail, Beichen smiled slightly, but for some reason, he sighed softly.
"Atlas, do you remember which possessed moon factory you were born in?"
"Remember. Beichen is going there?"
"Um."
"Okay." Atlas picked up Beichen, then spread his star wings and flew quickly in a certain direction.
Beichen leaned in Atlas' arms, his cheek against his warm chest, his eyes fixed on the white star above his head.
...That must be Senagard.
Looking from the poisonous moon, it really is a planet as bright and beautiful as a pearl. Why would anyone want to destroy such a beautiful place?
"Atlas." Beichen spoke softly.
"What?"
"Atlas, do you like us?"
"I like Beichen. The others... I like the others too, but they're less than three-eighths as much as I like Beichen. Well, Xifeng is less than half."
"...Why is it accurate to such a strange ratio of three-eighths?" Beichen twitched his mouth helplessly, then raised his head again and stared fixedly at Atlas's red mechanical eyes.
"Well, if Atlas likes us, we must strive to survive."
"?"
Atlas' eyes flashed with confusion, as if he couldn't understand Beichen's words.
"You must try your best to live. No matter how deep your sleep is, if I call you, please wake up and answer me, okay?"
"Oh, okay." Atlas was still a little confused, but nodded obediently.
"I don't kick the quilt or grind my teeth when I sleep. If Beichen calls me, I will definitely get up immediately."
"Well, that's good."
Beichen lowered his head, concealed the sadness in his eyes, and gently put his arms around Atlas' neck.
"I'm sorry, Atlas. The reason I didn't agree to be intimate with you was because I was still afraid and worried. Your body structure is not human after all. I was too selfish and didn't consider your feelings at all."
"Beichen, you don't have to apologize. As long as Beichen agrees to let me get horny later, that'll be fine."
"...Also, at first, I treated Atlas like a child. Now that I think about it, it was quite rude. ...Although Atlas's way of thinking is different from ours, you actually have your own thoughts, right? You're not a child, but an extremely pure adult. I like you that way."
"Do you like it? Does Beichen like it?"
Atlas' tail wagged happily, and his arms around Beichen tightened.
"Yeah, so I hope Atlas can keep it up."
“…”
Perhaps it was because Beichen's tone was too sad. Although Atlas vaguely sensed something, he didn't know how to express it or ask, so he just tilted his head, and a look of worry flashed in his red mechanical eyes.
"Beichen... Beichen, don't be sad. Your emotions fluctuate greatly. If there's anything, I can help you solve it. Don't be afraid, Beichen, I'm here."
Seeing Atlas expressing his anxiety in a very fast voice, Beichen burst out laughing.
"Yes, Atlas is very reliable, I believe him. But there are some things I can only handle myself. Don't worry, Atlas, I will protect you too."
“……?”
"Don't think about it, let's get to our destination quickly."
"oh."
Two hours later, they arrived at their destination.
It was a huge black iron tower. After Beichen and the others walked in, they followed Atlas's lead and walked around for more than an hour before reaching the center - a laboratory with a huge culture tank and countless computers and equipment around it.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, I was born here."
“…Well, then.”
Beichen gave a bitter smile, and then, the next second, the bitter smile turned into a provocative smile filled with murderous intent and determination.
"...Please change, Great Consciousness, Senagade, the old Atlas."
As she spoke, her expression became increasingly stern, emitting bursts of coldness.
"Or should I just call you the ultimate mastermind?"
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