Chapter 94: 5322, Unknown Disaster
Yu Xian looked at Xiao Cheng in shock. In his perception, all the bubbles he had placed on the Blue Planet had become incomparably distant. Although he could still teleport to them instantly, that sense of distance refused to fade.
"Deputy Director, what exactly is this place?" he asked.
Xiao Cheng proudly replied, "Welcome to the Supernatural Containment Facility, located on Kepler, a planet in the Cygnus Constellation more than six hundred light-years from the Blue Planet. Shocking, isn't it?"
Yu Xian nodded instinctively. This is more than shocking. It's absolutely freaking shocking.
Xiao Cheng smiled. "I'm only telling you this because you're a spatial ability user, so remember to keep it confidential."
Although Elite-tier members were also qualified to enter the Supernatural Containment Facility, the vast majority of them did not know its actual location. Even if they came here, they would, at most, only feel a slight change in gravity and think the place was a little strange. Only spatial ability users like Yu Xian would be sensitive enough to notice the changes and probably even discover the secret of the facility through spatial coordinates.
Xiao Cheng had anticipated all of this when he brought Yu Xian here. The main reason was that Yu Xian was already qualified to know more classified information.
Xiao Cheng continued walking forward. "After you mastered Appraisal, you should have noticed it, right? The year 5322."
Yu Xian quickly emerged from the bubble and followed after him. Naturally, he was familiar with that number. He had already seen many creatures with lifespans of 5,322. Apart from the Extreme Dragon, whose lifespan had appeared as question marks, 5,322 seemed to be the upper limit for all living beings.
Xiao Cheng said, "That number may be the limit of our world."
Yu Xian was surprised. "What happens after the year 5322?"
Xiao Cheng sighed. "We don't know. Perhaps our world will be destroyed. Or perhaps the Abyss would devour it. Every year, large numbers of talented people enter the Abyss in search of a way to save the world. Do you know how many talents Qilin loses each year?"
Yu Xian shook his head. Xiao Cheng continued, "Every year, Qilin sends more than ten Eagle-rank elites into the Abyss. We can't keep them here, and we don't want to. They leave with the conviction of saving the world and go searching for hope. But in the end, most of them never return. We don't know whether they have already died or are still fighting. Many people at headquarters are also searching for other paths forward, such as this vast sea of stars beyond Blue Planet. Kepler is the result of one such attempt."
Qilin had always treated "5322" as the ultimate hypothetical enemy, with an unknown threat level. Compared to the unknown-level threat of "5322," the Aberrant Parasite incidents were nothing more than a small side dish.
The two of them arrived in front of a glass room. Inside the glass room stood the ancient Bronze Divine Tree. Xiao Cheng took out his ID card and pressed it against the glass. Lines of light gathered within the glass, swiftly converging on the card. After confirming his identity, the glass automatically disintegrated.
Xiao Cheng turned to Yu Xian. "Go on. You may take only one Golden Crow."
Yu Xian nodded and walked forward excitedly. He instantly condensed a silver thread and cut open his finger, dripping his blood onto one of the Golden Crows. The Golden Crow, which was made of bronze, quickly turned blood-red. Then gold swallowed the blood-red color, and its body radiated light.
The Golden Crow flapped its wings and affectionately circled above Yu Xian's head. Yu Xian immediately felt as if he were standing beneath the midday sun, feeling increasingly hot and dry. However, he found it very comfortable at the same time. His Light Feeder ability was taking effect. The abilities that were originally supposed to awaken over the weekend would probably awaken in just a few more hours.
Yu Xian walked out of the glass room. Xiao Cheng removed his ID card from the circuit of light, and the glass instantly reappeared, once again protecting the Bronze Divine Tree.
Xiao Cheng glanced at the Golden Crow above Yu Xian's head, then said to him, "Come with me."
The Golden Crow would not affect anyone else. It shone on Yu Xian alone. Others would simply see Yu Xian having a small golden bird above his head.
The two of them arrived in an empty room. Xiao Cheng turned to Yu Xian. "Place a few bubbles here as backup. If the other teleportation method ever has a problem in the future, at least we'll still have you as insurance."
Yu Xian nodded. "Alright."
He created a large number of tiny bubbles, attaching them all around the room. Since each bubble was extremely small, he specifically placed several hundred of them. He could replenish this small amount of Spatial Blood Energy consumption in an hour.
After he was finished, the two of them did not return to Qilin's headquarters through the same route as before. Instead, they teleported back through the spatial bubble.
When they stepped out of the spatial bubble, they realized that the Golden Crow was gone. They both looked up almost at the same time.
Yu Xian asked in surprise, "Where's my Golden Crow?"
Xiao Cheng also frowned, but before he could speak, Yu Xian continued with a strange expression, "It seems to have been left behind on Kepler."
Yu Xian controlled the spatial bubble on Kepler and teleported the Golden Crow over. After exiting the spatial bubble, the Golden Crow happily flapped its wings, flew above Yu Xian's head, and circled him.
Fixing his gaze on Xiao Cheng with utmost seriousness, Yu Xian said, "Deputy Director, it seems to be alive."
Just now, he had mistakenly thought that the Golden Crow was an inanimate object. Because of that, when he teleported, he had thought of teleporting only himself and Xiao Cheng. As an independent lifeform, the Golden Crow had been left behind in its original location.
Xiao Cheng stared at the Golden Crow, and his expression shifted. "Are you sure?"
It was not as if Qilin had never studied the Golden Crows of the Bronze Divine Tree. To find a way to remove the side effects, they had researched every one of these Golden Crows. The conclusion they had reached was that these crows were simply masses of light. There was no evidence whatsoever proving that the Golden Crows were living creatures.
At that moment, Yu Xian created a spatial bubble and enveloped the Golden Crow with it. The Golden Crow immediately became like a bird trapped in a cage.
Although Xiao Cheng had already overestimated Yu Xian's ability again and again, when he saw Yu Xian trap the Golden Crow this easily, he still froze on the spot. His spatial bubble can imprison the Golden Crow! The side effect of the Golden Crow that Qilin failed to deal with after centuries of research was resolved just like that?
Qilin had actually tried using spatial abilities to imprison the Golden Crows in the past, but they had never been able to contain them. What exactly is going on with Yu Xian's spatial bubbles?
Yu Xian said, "I can trap only living things in it."
Xiao Cheng frowned and thought about many things. In the end, he realized that whether the Golden Crow was a living creature did not matter much. Aside from Yu Xian, no one else could do anything about it.
He tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose, then turned and walked toward his office. "Go play by yourself. I have things to do!"
Seeing Xiao Cheng's exhausted expression, Yu Xian assumed he had not rested well last night. "Then goodbye, Deputy Director."
He simply teleported away to his villa in Silver City. There, he directly imprisoned the Golden Crow with a spatial bubble. Holding the bubble in his hand, he looked at the Golden Crow constantly ramming into it and smiled. "Little thing, behave. Stop crashing into it."
The Golden Crow could not understand him at all and didn't stop.
Fine. This thing is an idiot.
Most likely, it had mistaken Yu Xian for its mother, which was why it had kept perching above his head. But the moment Yu Xian thought about all those "mothers" who these Golden Crows had burned to death, he made up his mind. This Golden Crow's name would be Dummy or Little Dummy.