After Yvonne's little "incident," Bai Ling's room in Valley Four gained a new piece of furniture: a dedicated music player for albums.
Honestly, the music Yvonne recommended was bursting with energy—perfect for working.But since Bai Ling didn't carry a communicator with him, he could only enjoy it when he came back to rest.
And right now, he was out in the field—the vein source zone.
This place had once been ravaged by three anchor points, causing catastrophic damage. Even though the erosion had faded a lot after Talulah destroyed the over-domain rift, everything beyond the quarantine line—especially the regions near the Generational Cradle—had become ruins.
Walking alone across shattered earth, retracing routes he'd once taken with others, Bai Ling felt an odd sense of dislocation.
Eventually, he followed the path and entered the Generational Cradle again.
Just like before, the interior was almost completely empty.Only at its center stood a small primordial sapling, radiating dense vitality.
"…."
Their time together had been short, but Eyjafjalla had helped him immensely.Even now, on the Dijiang, his Originium Arts were tagged as "unassessable," with a very high classification level and strict secrecy.
When you walk alone, memories come easily.
Not much time had passed, yet everything already felt strangely distant.
After a while, a few workers arrived along with an elderly woman, apparently surveying the area. Bai Ling recognized the old lady—he'd heard the story of the Generational Cradle from her before.
Her name seemed to be Jenna.
Before her story was proven, people had only treated her as a kind old grandmother whose mind had been shaken by disaster.
But what had happened inside the Generational Cradle proved it:
She hadn't "lost it."She simply hadn't forgotten history.
"You… are you the young man who saved this place before?"
"I wouldn't call it saving," Bai Ling replied. "I just traveled alongside the one who could save it."
"What's the difference?!" one of the workers blurted out, not thinking too hard.
Bai Ling smoothly changed the subject.
"The road from the camp to here is still dangerous. There are still scattered angels. What are you all doing here?"
Jenna answered slowly, her expression carrying quiet sorrow.
"…To commemorate those who suffered in the disaster—and to make sure the living remember it—we're planning a memorial service. And the site we chose is here… the Generational Cradle."
She had preserved the information, yes.But the people who were gone would never return because of it.
With the crisis resolved, the next crucial thing—besides repairing the damage—was remembering:
Those who paid the price.Those who left because of it.Those who were harmed by it.
They were all just ordinary people living on this same land.
After a short silence, Bai Ling asked softly:
"…Does the Administrator know about this?"
"The Administrator has already done so much for Valley Four," Jenna said, shaking her head. "Too many places need her. There's no need to disturb her with this."
She added that they had surveyed the route for several days and could ensure the path from camp to the Cradle wouldn't present danger—otherwise she wouldn't be here in person.
Bai Ling turned, lifting his head naturally.
Above, Originium energy held countless fragments of earth suspended in the sky like clouds. It looked dangerous…
…and in truth, it wasn't safe at all.
"You should still be careful about safety here."
He left the Generational Cradle and continued uphill, heading toward the power-supply highlands.
Even though teleport protocols existed, Bai Ling preferred the feeling of walking there himself.
Absolutely not because teleport authentication usually required a communicator.And he wasn't carrying one.
On the power-supply highlands, there were plenty of people around the communications station. Bai Ling was just about to go see what the commotion was—
when he noticed a little lamb standing quietly off to the side.
She spotted him the moment he arrived and waved.
"Senior Bai Ling."
Only then did Bai Ling remember: on his very first day in Valley Four, he'd come here to scout whether this location could support construction of Endfield's inheritance core.
The result?
That was the one thing he didn't do.Instead he did a whole pile of other things…including summoning a Dracos and getting a key building on the power-supply highlands wrecked.
But since the workers hadn't demanded compensation from Endfield Industry, it was probably fine.
"…Why did you suddenly come back here, Senior Bai Ling? And alone?"
"Talulah has already gone back," Bai Ling said. "And just like Eyjafjalla, you're busy. I can't keep you by my side all the time."
He thought about how badly understaffed the Dijiang had become after frequent disasters on Talos-II. There wasn't even time for training.
The clearest proof was Perlica herself: as the Dijiang's chief supervisor, she had personally left the station and run around everywhere with the little penguin, handling crises.
Part of it, of course, was that the penguin's condition wasn't great—she couldn't really be left without an escort.
After all, an amnesiac Administrator was just a strong, easy-to-placate kid, no match for adults with nasty ulterior motives.
"When Eyjafjalla-senpai was here before," the lamb said, "we always acted in a group of three."
She looked at Bai Ling as he suddenly wore a complicated expression, which made her blink in confusion.
"…Senior Bai Ling… your expression is… really weird…"
What Bai Ling was thinking right then was, indeed, "special."
Yes, they weren't only a three-person team.They'd also stayed together for several days in the temporary residence arranged by the hub center.
Eldera sometimes woke up half-asleep looking for something to drink—one foot wearing a sock, the other bare. When she noticed Bai Ling on the sofa calmly drinking tea and eating breakfast, her expression was… priceless.
And Eyjafjalla—because she couldn't hear clearly—sometimes didn't notice someone standing behind her at all.
More than once she failed to hear Bai Ling and turned forward, bonking her head straight into his chest…
Bai Ling remembered all of it.
They were both competent—far beyond ordinary people in Originium Arts and professional skill.
But in everyday life?
Both of them were a little careless.
And… very cute.
....
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