Chapter 425 Return to Dust
Many clues were finally connected together, and many things were finally explained.
Although there are still some unsolved mysteries, Yu Sheng can now finally piece together more than 80% of the truth of the whole incident -
A thousand years ago, an unknown dark angel appeared in the Feiyu star field in the form of a "crystal meteorite" and fell on the border Garrison-3, and tried to parasitize Garrison-3, but this was discovered by Yun Qingzi who was in the border area at the time. The latter tried to stop it, but he did not expect that his enemy was an "angel" who could not be defeated by "common sense" at all, resulting in his death;
When he fell, Yun Qingzi refined the last of his soul and forcibly merged it with a part of the Dark Angel, trying to suppress it deep underground in Garrison-3. However, this started a "cycle-iteration" process that lasted for thousands of years. Everyone thought that Yun Qingzi had fallen thousands of years ago, but they never thought that the last remnant of this ancient mighty had been entangled with the Dark Angel deep underground, iterating and resurrecting again and again, and the stalemate continued. Then, the seal left by Yun Qingzi was broken, and the Dark Angel successfully iterated a "Yun Qingzi copy" under its control, and escaped from the cage of Garrison-3, leaving only an "empty shell" and a large number of "Yun Qingzi" in a state of chaos on this planet. The "Yun Qingzi copy" that was taken away was influenced by the angel and essentially became a "dependent" of the Dark Angel. Whether he was aware of this or not, his actions began to deviate in a direction that was beneficial to the Dark Angel. And his current action was to find something called "The Relics of the Emperor"...
Considering the various characteristics that the unknown angel has shown, its purpose of action is most likely to find a new valuable planet to parasitize. It is easy to infer that the relic of the emperor that "Yun Qingzi" is looking for is probably not an "object" at all, but a planet! Taixu Lingshu is the biggest possibility! "Damn it, Xuan Che and the others are in big trouble this time!" After this series of logic was figured out, Irene exclaimed, "If that's the case, that 'bad Yun Qingzi' has already sent people to the side of Taixu Lingshu in advance... So they have actually completed the 'positioning'! Doesn't that mean they will start soon?!"
Yu Sheng took out his cell phone and said quickly: "I will tell Xuan Che and Yuan Ling about this and ask Taixu Lingshu to be prepared."
"But even if they are well prepared, they can only delay it for a while. The Dark Angel is impossible to kill under normal circumstances. The Algrad people took the initiative and sent in several legions but still failed to defeat the 'Goddess of Beauty'." Although Xu Jiali was not very clear about the situation in the Feiyu Star Region, she understood most of it at this time. "We have to find a way to stop it in advance, or do it like we did with Ankaela... At least we have to find "Him" first, right?"
Yu Sheng had already turned his head to the "Yun Qingzi" that had merged with the Crystal Heart: "Do you know where that 'thing' and the 'Yun Qingzi' it took away are hiding now?"
The old man melted in the crystal had once again fallen into a daze and muttered to himself. Yu Sheng asked him twice before he slowly came to his senses. He then raised his head and looked straight into Yu Sheng's eyes.
"Your question is strange..." Yun Qingzi suddenly grinned, "Haven't you seen it? This 'empty shell' that I am possessed by...its remaining instincts make it keep looking towards Shuji."
"Of course, I also guessed that it was Shuji, but we went to that planet and failed to find 'Yun Qingzi', let alone any traces of parasites," Yu Sheng said frankly, "They seemed to have used some method to hide themselves. We accidentally broke through their 'barrier' and found a suspected crack on the edge of Mo City, but then we went back to look for it, but we couldn't find the crack anymore."
Yun Qingzi frowned.
"I don't know what's going on here... The strangeness of that evil creature is really hard to describe, especially after it evolved into a 'Yun Qingzi' under its control, it actually has the help of 'wisdom'. Many things that were originally based on instinct have now become conscious 'magic powers'... You said that you didn't find any traces of the 'parasite' in Shuji?"
"Yes, absolutely not," Yu Sheng nodded confidently. "Of course, we haven't been active in Shuji for a long time, and we haven't searched the entire planet, but now Shuji is already a highly developed colony. Even sparsely populated areas are at least looked after and monitored by people, and there are special 'star guards' who patrol the entire area regularly. If there really is a parasite on that planet, and it has been parasitic and developing for many years, theoretically there should be some traces... unless even these 'traces' are hidden."
"...hiding from every eye on the planet?" Irene muttered into his shoulder.
For a moment no one could answer the little doll's mumbling.
Until another burst of cracking sounds coming from the "Crystal Heart" broke the silence.
As the cracking sound rang out, Yu Sheng noticed that even "Yun Qingzi's" body suddenly began to have cracks, and the vitality in the eyes of this crystal old man began to fade at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Irene was anxious all of a sudden: "Hey, old man, why are you so quick..."
"Not fast, not fast, it has lasted longer than I thought," Yun Qingzi laughed slowly. After another round of cracking sounds, his decay speed accelerated again. Even with every passing second, his expression became more rigid, closer to a lifeless mineral. "You girl, you look so sinister, but you care about people."
Normally, if Irene heard someone teasing her, she would immediately make a list of the other person's family tree and start attacking. But this time, she seemed to have not heard Yun Qingzi's words at all. Instead, she immediately turned around and shook Yu Sheng's head: "Hey, think of a solution quickly! Aren't you very powerful..."
Yu Sheng didn't say anything, but just reached out and pressed Irene's arm, and then came to Yun Qingzi.
"Fellow Daoist, is there anything else you want to ask?" Yun Qingzi slowly raised his head. Now all the vitality in the entire crystal cave has been gathered on the "heart". However, even so, the crystallized old man can only move the part above the chest. His voice has become more and more stiff and slow. "My mind can still be clear for a while, and I can say a few words."
Yu Sheng thought about it and slowly shook his head.
"I have asked everything I wanted to ask," he said. "If there is anything you want me to do, you can tell me. Although I may not be able to do it, I will try my best."
"You have thrown a difficult problem to me," Yun Qingzi thought for a moment and then laughed, "The real Yun Qingzi died a thousand years ago. Everyone who stayed here is just an empty shell transformed by the reincarnation of obsession. The same is true for the body in front of you - what is your wish? Even if there is anything that can be called a wish, as the past thousand years have passed, it should have lost its meaning long ago... Never mind, I am not such a fussy person.
"However, if you really have a chance to turn the tide, and really have a chance to meet Yun Qingzi who has become a minion of the evil creature..."
His voice became increasingly low and slow. The cracking sound from the heart of the crystal had gradually spread to its surface. The faint light in the crystal began to flicker chaotically like a candle that was about to go out. When the first piece of crystal debris fell from the "heart", Yu Sheng heard the entrustment of this old man, who he didn't know if he could still be considered "Yun Qingzi":
"...Don't hold back."
The last glimmer of light representing vitality faded from the eyes of this crystalline body, and the grayness of death spread from the crystal heart, quickly covering his body surface, spreading along with countless cracks of varying sizes.
At the very end, "Yun Qingzi" turned around and looked at Hu Li with a smile on his face.
"It's great that I can still have a moment of humanity in my last moments..."
The next second, the smile shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
The Crystal Heart collapsed.
The faint light in the crystal faded, and the power that maintained its integrity also disappeared with the complete termination of the "cycle". With a series of crisp sounds, the huge crystal turned into countless broken fragments and collapsed from between the pillars and crystal branches. Then, the whole cave, and even the entire underground cave structure, began to hear dense collapse sounds.
This entire underground space is supported by the ubiquitous "crystal branches". Now with the disappearance of all life, the cave system that has lost its support will of course no longer be able to sustain itself.
"Boss! This place is going to collapse, meow!"
Ling Ling screamed in surprise, and then ran behind Xu Jiali. The mechanical ball in her hand quickly lit up, and in the blink of an eye, a layer of psychic barrier was erected. However, in addition to a hint of nervousness, there was more inexplicable excitement in her vertical pupils.
"A thrilling cave escape? Like the last time we blew up the Katosh Hive? Let's run now? Run, run, run?"
As a result, just as the "Jipro Girl" was getting excited, she saw Yu Sheng opposite her casually open an illusory door, and on the other side of the door was the scenery on the surface.
Hu Li and Luna immediately ran through the gate to call for Engineer Sun, who was still digging on the surface, to lead the people to retreat to a safe area. Yu Sheng turned around and glanced at Xu Jiali and Ling Dang: "What are you two still doing? Hurry up and retreat. Go up and call Engineer Sun and the others. I will open a door directly to the Secret Service Bureau for you. Send the collected samples back first."
Xu Jiali finally reacted and hurried to the door. Lingling looked at her from behind with her eyes wide open: "...Ah, no, this is not the time...Hey! Boss! Wait for me, meow!"
Everyone returned to the surface through the gate, leaving only Yu Sheng and Irene standing in the collapsing cave. Before passing through the gate, Yu Sheng turned back for the last time and looked behind him.
Yun Qingzi - In the past thousand years, hundreds of Yun Qingzi have returned to dust.
"Let's go," he exhaled softly, turned around and walked through the door, "there are still many things to do."
(End of this chapter)
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