Alien Hotel.

Chapter 716: The Situation is Complex
In the wilderness of souls, a gentle breeze blew through the tall grass in front of the cathedral, and two figures instantly took shape in the wind.

One is Yu Sheng, and the other is Baili Qing.

“...No matter how many times I come here, I can’t help but marvel at how incredible this place is,” Baili Qing looked up at the towering cathedral and the huge crystal tree above it. “Especially since this place seems to undergo tremendous changes every now and then—is it just my imagination? This tree is more than twice as big as the last time I saw it.”

“It’s not your imagination, it’s grown again,” Yu Sheng said casually, “and I reckon it’ll grow again next time.”

Baili Qing turned her head: "Hmm? Why?"

Yu Sheng waved his hand: "I just messed up the Gate of Eden - for this crystal tree that has already merged with the Boundary Bridge, that thing is a great tonic."

Bai Liqing: "...Okay, I forgot about that."

As they were talking, Luna appeared at the church entrance with several bronze knights.

Upon seeing the blonde girl in a nun's habit, Baili Qing instinctively touched her nose before greeting her.

“Let’s go, take us to see her.” Yu Sheng nodded and said to Luna.

The cathedral doors opened, and led by Luna, Yu Sheng and Baili Qing walked through the cathedral's forecourt and into the depths of this enormous and somewhat astonishing building.

Yu Sheng saw many figures.

Among the benches in the preaching hall, in the shadows of the garden corridor, and on the path leading to the courtyard of the giant tree, the newly arrived artificial saints can be seen everywhere—some are resting alone, while others are gathered in small groups, seemingly discussing something in hushed tones, and hurriedly rise to pay their respects when they see Yu Sheng approaching.

Some were just spacing out, not reacting at all when people walked past them.

Luna said that most of the women who were spacing out were sisters who had served for more than a century. Their minds were severely damaged, and some of them could no longer remember what they had done as humans. Although they could actually think and communicate, they would just stay there when no one gave them instructions.

No one knows how long this situation will last—if the fleet from Yu Sheng and the border region doesn't arrive, these artificial saintesses whose souls have already been "purified" will probably soon be thrown into the spirit-infusing furnace to become raw materials for forging living saints.

And now they have survived, many of them have survived, and they have opened their eyes from a long nightmare.

Therefore, "living" and "the future" become additional things that need to be considered.

Yu Sheng also saw an even greater number of bronze knights—many knights stood on both sides of the corridor and by the doors everywhere, as if they were spontaneously guarding the cathedral.

Although this place doesn't actually need any guards.

“This is only a portion,” Luna whispered to Sheng. “The Knights are a large order, and the church can’t accommodate so many people. I’ve arranged for some of them to go to the military camp, and others to build a temporary camp by the big bonfire… There are still some saintesses and knights whose souls are most severely damaged wandering in the wilderness near the big bonfire. Setting up a camp there will also keep an eye on them.”

Yu Sheng listened silently and nodded slightly.

He could notice that many eyes were on him, most of which were filled with curiosity, while some seemed to be filled with awe and nervousness.

“There are thousands of artificial saintesses, and the number of knights is in the tens of thousands,” Luna added. “And that’s probably not all, because new souls are still appearing in the wilderness. We’ve sent out several teams to patrol the paths around the big bonfire and the church, and every now and then we hear news of new wanderers being discovered.”

"There are newcomers?" Yu Sheng turned around in astonishment. "The entire planet of the Holy Realm has disintegrated..."

“There are other planets,” Luna said. Although she wasn’t very clear about planets, universes, fleets, and the like, she was at least starting to have some basic understanding now. “The power of all the artificial saintesses and knights comes from that ‘skeleton.’ This power is like a net that binds us together… Now that the Dark Angel is gone, the net is still there.”

Yu Sheng understood the matter instantly.

For thousands of years, the "Shadowless Skeleton" has lingered in this starry sky. It arrived here before the hermits, and every planet here has long cast its shadow. Judging from the situation of Ankaella and the celestial bodies, once the power of the Dark Angel takes root in the real universe, it will not decline with the death of the angel's body.

Those forces will become an integral part of this universe permanently, including the “creations” that arise under their influence.

Previous examples include children in fairy tales, the crystal left behind by the deserted, the crystal tree and the boundary bridge in this wilderness, and now there are artificial saints, brass knights, and living saints...

The crystal that Yu Sheng and his group found deep inside the spirit-infused furnace was not actually the only node in this "Angel's Web," and it might not even be the largest node—after all, the Hermit Order could not have only one facility for producing saintesses and knights. But for this great web based on angelic power, any node could be considered its entirety.

Yu Sheng's influence continues to spread within this network—even without his own awareness.

The Holy Land has collapsed, and the artificial saintesses and knights scattered across other colonies under the Hermitage are still awakening one after another. Mental entities breaking through the cognitive barrier are constantly converging here, and this process seems likely to continue for a long time. "As more and more people come to report, the situation is becoming more complicated," Luna explained to Yu Sheng, "On the one hand, many brothers and sisters who have gathered in the Cathedral are only here in spirit; their bodies may still be on some distant planet. On the other hand, there are also some who are now only souls; they don't have... bodies."

Baili Qing frowned slightly: "...Was it damaged in the previous battle?"

"Some of them were defeated and killed while fighting against the priests in the Holy Land, only to find their souls here afterward, while others..."

Luna paused at this point, seemingly struggling to organize her thoughts before finally figuring out how to explain the situation.

"For the other part, the Hermitage had just extracted their souls and hadn't even had time to reassemble their bodies when the production center exploded."

Yu Sheng subconsciously hissed out a breath of cold air.

"...So they just took people off the production line," he muttered, feeling a bit of a headache. "I really didn't expect this situation."

“It’s hard to imagine this situation,” Baili Qing said, rubbing her forehead. “Moreover, given the circumstances at the time, no one had time to think things through carefully.”

“To be honest, the situation is really complicated,” Yu Sheng said with a troubled expression. “Without a body… Eileen’s techniques can’t be used on anyone else.”

“Perhaps we can find production facilities for artificial saintesses and brass knights on other planets,” Baili Qing said. She was obviously experienced in dealing with such unexpected and complicated situations, and her mind was quick. “The Hermitage’s technology has a big problem, but we may be able to find some solutions from the production facilities they left behind.”

“Let’s think of a solution slowly,” Yu Sheng said, his gaze falling on Luna again. “And what about that artificial saintess on Ranch Star…?”

Luna stopped at the end of the corridor.

This is the innermost part of the inner sanctuary—the once empty cathedral is now full of people, but here, the corridors remain quiet.

Luna placed her hand on the doorknob.

“Her situation is more special,” the blonde girl said softly, “because until three hours ago, she and her friends were still human.”

The door opened.

Inside was a small prayer room, illuminated by a few pale candles. Across from it, through a narrow window, a dim fog hung in the air. A petite girl with gray curly hair sat blankly on a cushion in the corner.

Not far away, a few people were sitting in another corner.

They wore brass-colored armor, but no helmets, and their exposed faces were all young, both men and women.

To Yu Sheng's surprise, there was another familiar figure in the room.

It was a tall figure forged from holy light—she was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest next to the girl with gray curly hair, her huge wings of light carefully folded behind her, looking reserved and a little lost.

No wonder I couldn't find her outside; it turns out she was here.

As soon as the door opened, the artificial angel stood up and quickly floated behind Yu Sheng.

A series of pleasant psionic echoes entered his ears. The artificial angel couldn't speak, but Yu Sheng seemed to "hear" its thoughts—

She wanted to comfort her new friends, but she didn't know what to do.

Not all bad things can be made better with a few candies.

“You’ve done a great job,” Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and said to the artificial angel floating behind him, “Leave this to us.”

The artificial angel nodded, and its figure gradually disappeared into the air.

The gray-haired girl sitting on the cushion stood up, and Yu Sheng couldn't quite put his finger on what emotion he saw on her face—because apart from a slight daze, her expression was far calmer than he had imagined—she greeted Luna politely, and then turned her gaze to Yu Sheng and Baili Qing.

“We’ve taken control of the Ascension Sanctuary… production facilities,” the girl said slowly. “There are very few priests left here; their ‘main force’ left in a hurry not long ago, taking with them many ‘iron ships’ that fly in the air. We haven’t suffered much damage. Besides, there are many machines here that we don’t know how to use…”

(End of this chapter)