Yu Sheng arrived at the edge of the broken floating island, gazing somewhat lostly at the endless chaos and void outside, and the magnificent stream of light spanning the darkness, as if falling into deep thought.

Baili Qing's voice came from behind him: "What are you thinking about?"

"Random thoughts, mainly about Anka Aela," Yu Sheng didn't hide his thoughts, his tone tinged with emotion. "I know it might sound strange, but I've never had a real sense of the existence of a 'Dark Angel,' and Anka Aela is the first Dark Angel I've encountered... The things in its memory are hard for me to let go."

Footsteps approached, and Baili Qing stood by Yu Sheng's side: "What do you mean? The disaster that struck its homeland? Or the extinction of the civilization it represents?"

"Both, I guess," Yu Sheng scratched his head. "That dead ecological ball is lamentable, but the disaster in Anka Aela's memory is even more shocking—probably because of the direct experience of 'memory,' I even feel like I witnessed that disaster first-hand..."

Baili Qing pursed her lips, looking as if she had something to say but remained silent.

Yu Sheng sensed that this wasn't the first time she had shown this expression. When he mentioned certain details in Anka Aela's memory earlier, the female chief's reaction always seemed a bit concerning.

He couldn't help but frown: "...Do you know something that I don't?"

Baili Qing did not answer directly, but asked a question instead: "What exactly was the disaster in Anka Aela's memory like?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and didn't hold back: "There are some very abstract 'impressions.' I don't know how to put them into words. In terms of 'pictures,' it's like something cleaved the entire universe... It might sound exaggerated? But a rift did appear among the stars, a red rift, all celestial bodies were gradually disintegrating or burning, the Exile Arks were captured by a red light, and one by one they 'dissolved' in that light without even seeing what happened..."

Yu Sheng stopped talking, as just recalling the scenes in his mind made him feel a bit dizzy. And after hearing his words, Baili Qing weirdly remained silent for a few seconds before softly saying: "Not exaggerated."

Yu Sheng was stunned for two seconds before realizing the hidden message in Baili Qing's low response: "...Huh?!"

Then he hurriedly added: "What do you mean? Do you know what that thing is? Wasn't it said that everything about Dark Angels is a mystery..."

"Everything about Dark Angels is a mystery to us, but that red light you mentioned, and the universe-tearing scene is not," Baili Qing said calmly. "At first, I wasn't sure when you mentioned it, but now I'm somewhat certain—that thing in Anka Aela's memory has also appeared in our world. Or more strictly speaking, it appeared before this world was born."

Yu Sheng stood there as if in stasis, information flooding his mind until he blinked for a while, catching up to the amount of information in Baili Qing's words: "...You say 'before the world was born,' that rift and red light appeared in this world? Wait, that means..."

Baili Qing looked up at him, calmly and solemnly: "This world has been destroyed."

Yu Sheng: "...What?!"

"It's not really a secret, but only a few know about it, and even fewer specialize in this field," Baili Qing said unhurriedly, as if discussing a distant legend. "In literal terms, the world we live in was once destroyed—and everything you see now was born after the second 'Singularity Explosion.'

"In the ancient and obscure stories of the Bamosa people, the greatest of the ancient Holy Spirits accomplished this feat, and many legends about the old world are even recorded in the long-history academies of Terra. I'm not an expert in this area, so my knowledge of the second Singularity Explosion and the old world is limited to this, but I'm certain of one thing, what you described, what Anka Aela experienced... matches the records of 'Annihilation.'

Yu Sheng gasped after a while: "Wait a minute, this is a lot to process, I need to reorganize my world view a little..."

As he spoke, he raised his hand to tap his temple, quickly organizing the information in his mind and finally piecing it into a coherent thread.

In a way that he could understand most easily.

"Alright, I understand what you mean. You're saying our world has already been annihilated by that thing called 'Annihilation,' right? Then the ancient Holy Spirits... I remember you mentioning them, so they're like 'gods' in my understanding, the greatest among them recreated the world after the apocalypse, leading to the current Boundary Land and the entire universe outside, right?

"And now, a group of 'Dark Angels' have started to continually 'invade' this world, and the number is growing over time. The latest information shows that at least one of the Dark Angels fell into this world because its own world also encountered 'Annihilation'... Is that the entire process?

Baili Qing slowly nodded: "I think that's correct."

Yu Sheng pressed his forehead with his fist.

He felt things were getting big, very big.

"So, could the meaning behind the phenomenon of Dark Angels continually invading our world be understood in one sentence from our perspective—it is like the annihilation of XX that is still chasing me?"

Baili Qing's eye twitched noticeably, but her expression quickly returned to its Ironclad Expression.

"This is the worst possible scenario, but it is unlikely," after a moment of deliberation, the female director carefully shook her head, "because at least from the guidance transmitted by the ancient Holy Spirits, 'Annihilation' has indeed ended. Even the destruction of the old world happened a long time ago, and Anka Aela's memories confirm this: it wandered for a very long time until the red light that swallowed all other arks disappeared from its detectors. So personally, I don't think we need to worry about Annihilation coming again."

"But more and more Dark Angels are indeed 'invading' this world," Yu Sheng said in a deep voice, "Previously, we could say they were surging fiercely, but now it seems to me they are being... 'driven' here by something, and that something driving them is getting closer."

Baili Qing's expression clearly became more serious, this was the most significant change in her expression that Yu Sheng had seen in the long time he had known this Ironclad Expression sister.

After a long silence, Yu Sheng suddenly asked, "Those 'ancient Holy Spirits' you mentioned, have they always been in contact with the mortal world? It sounds like they still send us 'guidance'... Is there any way to contact them now and ask about the situation?"

"It's not easy," Baili Qing slowly shook her head, "A long time ago, the ancient Holy Spirits frequently contacted the mortal world, but ever since the second Singularity Explosion, the entire universe has gradually stabilized, and their contact with the mortal world has been decreasing. The Bamosa people say it is because the activity range of the ancient Holy Spirits gradually extends to the edge of the observable universe—they have more important missions, they patrol the border of the star curtain to maintain the stability of the real universe.

"Only occasionally, one of them returns from there to have limited communication with the 'selected ones', but even such communication, the last time it happened was over ten years ago."

Yu Sheng frowned, digesting this information while thinking, moments later he asked again, "This 'Bamosa people' you keep mentioning, what exactly do they do? Are they closely connected to the ancient Holy Spirits?"

"They are also mortals, but an ancient race in the universe, and the entire race is keen on excavating history and seeking 'truth', so they know many ancient secrets. This race is best known for their 'prophets', Bamosa people produce many prophets, it is said they can keenly perceive the direction of things, and even briefly foresee the future and see the essence of everything. Their highest leader is the greatest and oldest among all the prophets," Baili Qing patiently explained, "as for their close connection with the ancient Holy Spirits... In fact, Bamosa people are not much different from other races, they just know more things."

"Oh," Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, but his eyebrows were still tightly knit, "The last communication was over ten years ago... when Dark Angels invade normally, they don't show up?"

Baili Qing didn't speak, merely spread her hands.

Yu Sheng didn't press the issue further.

He just had thoughts swirling in his mind.

Those referred to as "ancient Holy Spirits" must exist, and since they truly exist and have established communication with mortal beings, their actions must be rational and reasoned.

The Dark Angels invade reality, yet the ancient Holy Spirits do not come back directly to help. There must be a reason.

What could the reason be?

Yu Sheng pondered for a long time and could only come up with two answers—either the "Holy Spirits" who have always protected the world do not actually care about the fate of mortals, or...

The matters at the border of the observable universe are far more serious than the invasion happening here.

Bad news, and even worse news.

Yu Sheng shook his head, he felt Baili Qing must have thought of this long ago—and many like her must have thought of it too.

"...Life goes on," he sighed softly.

"Yes, life goes on," Baili Qing said, with a faint hint of a smile at the corner of her eye.

However, at this moment, a pleasant ringtone from her phone suddenly interrupted her actions.

Baili Qing glanced at her phone, and casually answered it, putting it to her ear.

Yu Sheng blinked, unsure if he was mistaken—he couldn't shake the feeling that after Baili Qing said a few words on the phone, an expression of "life really can't go on after all" appeared on her face...

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