Published: March 2, 2025
Walking past the city wall and entering the Main City, what greeted them was the enormous statue of Wen Yu.
The statue stood nearly thirty meters tall, crafted from silvery metal, surrounded by smaller carvings of Victor, Faceless, and Star.
On the base of the statue, it was inscribed: "Eternal Sequence One, King of the World, City Lord of Zone One Main City, His Highness Wen Yu, you are with us."
This statue was exquisite and magnificent, clearly made with great care.
Faceless and Ibira hid among the crowd, staring intently at the statue. After a moment, Faceless took a deep breath.
Even though they had returned with so much resentment, at the moment they saw this statue, perhaps all those feelings disappeared…
Although they had expelled the soul puppets, they had also given them a larger territory. Even though they occupied Zone One Main City, it was not like they were intruders; instead, they acted like caretakers, diligently managing everything in the absence of their master.
However, Faceless had other considerations.
He glanced at the statue and pulled Ibira toward the Inner City.
He had to see how Wen Yu's residence was now.
…
The black walls and clean gates.
The streets were empty—after all, this was a forbidden zone.
Looking at the mottled walls, Faceless reached out and gently touched them. After a moment, a sigh flashed in his eyes.
Everything was even better than expected.
The walls and gates certainly couldn’t withstand the ravages of over five thousand years, and now it seemed that someone in Beijing had been regularly repairing Wen Yu's residence.
He quietly leapt into the wall with Ibira, and with just one glance, he saw the former scenery.
The lounge chair that Wen Yu loved, the garden that Victor adored, the swing that Faceless and Star liked, the rockery that Lolo preferred, his own swimming pool…
Clean and spotless.
At this moment, Faceless reminisced, seemingly returning to the past.
Until Ibira gently nudged him.
“Brother Dog, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing… Hey, although I don’t know what kind of nonsense Beijing is up to, it seems they’re doing quite well now…”
Faceless curled his lips, but deep down, he felt a sense of recognition for the current regime in Beijing.
Even without Wen Yu, they still maintained their respect for him, and Faceless felt that this was enough.
At least, after over five thousand years, the name Wen Yu was still being passed down…
…
Lying in a bedroom that looked exactly the same as before, Faceless reclined like a salted fish, inhaling the familiar scent— that feeling of home made him unable to resist being entranced.
After lying there for a while, Faceless finally took out his communicator and dialed Victor.
“I’ve checked the house; it’s very good, or rather, it’s exceptionally good. You’ll understand when you come back and take a look.”
As soon as Faceless finished speaking, a voice came from Victor.
“That’s good. I’m now in Zone Six, looking for the positions of the Mountain Puppets. By the way, let’s not contact Beijing for now; you hide well.”
“Hide? Hide what? I think it would be quite good to contact them.”
Hearing this, Victor, who was in Zone Six, squinted his eyes, looking towards the distant, sandy area.
“I just feel that something is off.”
Victor didn’t elaborate on what exactly felt off, and Faceless didn’t press further. In fact, returning to Earth, everything they discovered didn’t seem off at all.
It was just too good… everything was too good, perfect to the point of being unreal.
Everyone had the feeling that “something seems off,” but they just couldn’t find the reason for that feeling.
Seeing that Faceless unusually didn’t argue back but instead agreed to his suggestion, Victor then ended the call and looked up at the sky.
Perhaps it wasn’t just him; even Faceless sensed the undercurrents hidden beneath the calm…
…
Under the swirling yellow sand, Victor and Star walked for a long time.
But soon, Victor realized a problem…