Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 626: A Poisonous Omen That Clings Like Bone

The air was filled with a strange, complex stench, a mix of ionized particles pierced by beams, combined with the smell of gunpowder and toxic fumes. The "Exoticization" led to a special space phenomenon that isolated most of the combat impacts, but also transmitted a minor "aftershock" to this side of the real dimension. The anti-theft alarms of several cars were triggered, and the hollow monotonous alarm sounds echoed in the underground parking lot.

The Space Rift has already collapsed, and all the Hidden Monastery sect members who invaded here perished completely. The Great Sage at the center of the explosion left no remains—their final self-detonation seemed not to be an attempt to perish together with Yu Sheng and his group, but purely to erase traces of their existence, and to… prematurely close the space rift.

Hu Li was the first to think of this layer. She had already reverted to human form and was frowning tightly: "We should've captured one alive earlier… Now there's no battlefield loot."

"I didn't expect the old man to be so decisive either, all his teammates were around him!" Erin scratched her messy blonde hair—messed up from rolling and scuttling around on the ground earlier, "Just blew up at the slightest disagreement, I didn't provoke him much, why did he have such a big temper…"

Then Luna and Hu Li both stared at her together.

"… Alright, maybe it has something to do with me," Erin raised a hand to gesture surrender (still clutching her precious frying pan with one hand), "but I think the main problem is his poor mental resilience…"

As she was muttering this, Yu Sheng suddenly sounded from the side, somewhat dead: "I'm still lying here, isn't anyone going to check on me…"

Hu Li was the first to rush over, sitting on the ground and cradling Yu Sheng's upper body, resting his head on her lap, covering Yu Sheng's body with her big tail, and holding one of his cold arms in her embrace to warm him.

Yu Sheng sighed with contentment: "… That's much warmer."

Erin and Luna also walked over, the former bending down with her hands on her hips: "You don't look like you can be saved, you've lost too much blood."

"How about you guess where all my blood went?" Yu Sheng's face pale, he grimaced and looked at the tall puppet girl in front of him—not actually very tall, 167 cm, the shortest among those in the travel agency group—but clearly much taller compared to 66.6 cm—after a long time, a faint smile appeared on his face, "You've grown taller."

"Yeah, I said earlier I've grown taller," Erin also smiled, slowly squatting next to Yu Sheng's head, "See, now I have to squat to talk to you."

"Now I finally kind of guess what 'energy source' your body needs, no wonder it couldn't charge before," Yu Sheng blinked difficultly, a sense of irresistible "fatigue" seemed to be forcing him to close his eyes, "When we get back… we'll need to study closely how you're functioning."

"Alright, we'll study well when we get back," Erin nodded, then looked at Yu Sheng's barely hanging on state, "How much longer do you have?"

"I'm already overdrawn, I should have 'gone' ten minutes ago," Yu Sheng slowly breathed out, "just couldn't bear to die seeing you there fixing the giant's foot…"

Erin blinked, suddenly cheerfully extended her hand, softly brushing Yu Sheng's eyes: "Alright, now rest in peace, we've won."

The puppet lady's palm brushed past, and Yu Sheng still had his eyes open.

Erin froze: "… No wait, that's not how it goes in TV dramas. After I brush my hand over you, you should close your eyes with a peaceful expression, no worries left behind, then your hand should drop from Hu Li's embrace. Why are you staring at me like this?"

Yu Sheng: "I just wanted to remind you all to send a message to the Special Service Bureau before heading back, letting them know the situation here, and also don't forget to take the 'Artificial Saintess' remains back to the spaceship. Plus, check on the nephew back at the valley, just give him a safety report. Also, Erin, pay attention to your body's forthcoming changes, if there's another shrinkage, jot down the time, and during the shrinkage process, any sense of…"

"Oh, noted, noted, you're just nagging like Little Red Riding Hood," Erin's head felt big, irritated she pressed Yu Sheng's eyes, "Hurry up and rest now, we'll talk more later."

Yu Sheng did not respond again.

Erin removed her hand and looked down.

"Oh, closed this time."

Hu Li also felt the arm she held suddenly sink down. She tilted her head to think, then bent down, gently licking Yu Sheng's face.

Erin watched this from the side, raising her hand to poke Hu Li's head: "Hey, that's not the right way, you gotta lick while he's still got his eyes open, otherwise he won't know."

Hu Li raised her head, staring blankly at the puppet, seriously contemplating: "Savior smells good now—"

Erin: "… Eating him would be pointless now, in thirty minutes he'll revive, it's like you didn't eat anything."

Hu Li continued pondering down this line: "So can Savior be considered a kind of enoki mushroom?"

This time even Luna couldn't bear to watch anymore: "You guys, that's enough, really."

Hu Li finally sighed, slowly laying Yu Sheng's body onto the ground, gently patting him with her tail, then stood up looking around the place.

The unnamed Artificial Saintess lay not far away. During the prior battles, no matter the situation, Hu Li always kept a fox tail guarding by that pillar, while Luna did her best to contain the Brass Knights, preventing battle aftershock from reaching that place.

Luna walked over, silently gazing at the fallen compatriot.

"Don't know, where your home is," she murmured softly, "I'll take you, back to my place."

She bent down, gently picking up the cold steel, feeling it was surprisingly lighter than expected.

Hu Li searched through her tail and pulled out a rune card emblazoned with the travel agency's mark, casually activating it—the blood-red patterns on the talisman card instantly came alive, and thin, wispy red lines spread and extended in the air like spontaneously growing blood vessels and nerves, forming the shape of an illusory door in the blink of an eye.

She pushed open that door, and what lay ahead was the scene within the Teleportation Hub hall.

"Let's go home."

...

At the same time, deep within the far-off Dark Meteor Domain, inside the "Micro Light Belt" near the Great Triangle Nebula, a prosperous garden planet was basking in the sunlight.

The entire planet had been thoroughly developed, but the advanced artificial ecosystems had reshaped all the mountains, jungles, and rivers. Everything on this planet was precisely designed and modified, with every river and tree placed in the most optimal locations, presenting the most perfect state. Beneath the forests, factories and recycling systems operated day and night, while between the towering mountains stood lofty divine temples and city structures.

No one would have thought that such a paradise existed deep within the chaotic, violent, and warlord-ridden Dark Meteor Domain.

Capital Planet of the Hidden Monastery, "Saint Realm."

Atop a high mountain, deep within the resplendent Holy Temple.

The corridors echoed with faint saintly chants, and the long hall adorned with portraits of Saints and decorated with statues of heroes was brightly lit. At the end of the hall stood a massive "Rebirth Device," bathed in pure light from above, making the entire apparatus appear as though it was being showered by Holy Light.

That device consisted of a large Mind Transmission Device and several biomass cultivation tanks surrounding it. The solemn black main body was adorned with countless golden ornate lines, and script-laden cloths draped over parts of its exterior—these cloths and lines were not mere decorations but were meant to ward off spiritual bodies wandering in the starry depths, preventing fatal contamination or interference during mind transmission and soul reshaping.

No one was moving in the silent long hall, only a few servants wearing Mind Shackles stood in the shadows near the door of the Rebirth Device, ready to attend to the call. Suddenly, these servants seemed to have received a certain command, and they all simultaneously looked up towards the direction of the Rebirth Device.

The lights in the long hall flickered a few times, and then a series of indicator lights and holographic projections illuminated the surface of the Mind Transmission Device. Soon after, the whole apparatus began to operate automatically, and faint sounds came from one of the cultivation tanks on its side.

The script-laden cloth covering the outside of the cultivation tank suddenly ignited and transformed into ashes in the blink of an eye.

One of the servants witnessed this scene and wanted to raise an alarm, but as the cloths ignited, it simultaneously burnt away his memory from just a moment ago—as the ashes of the script-laden cloth dispersed in the wind, the poor man's expression reverted to its previous numb and devout state.

In the next second, the cultivation tank opened, and a figure with a stern face, graying hair, and a burly physique emerged.

Great Sage Colander—his expression now filled with fury.

He had returned here from the throes of painful failure, reborn from death.

The servants quickly advanced, devoutly attending to their master by wiping off the biomass solution and dressing him in a robe adorned with golden runes.

The remolding of flesh signifies a disgraceful retreat; every activation of the Rebirth Device leaves a stain on the Saints' perfect "Path of Venerate Saint," hence this long hall forbids any lower-ranking believers from witnessing, only servants bearing Mind Shackles are permitted to attend.

"The Holy is waiting for your report…" a servant said with bowed head.

Colander took a deep breath, calming himself, and then nodded lightly, "I understand."

The confusion in his mind still entangled him, the superluminal transmission of consciousness across the star sea had caused a certain degree of perception shift in this body, illusions occasionally appeared before his eyes—that bizarre spider-like alien form, that hateful puppet crawling across the ground, and that frying pan… that frying pan!!

Unstable spiritual energy resonated in the air, and the two nearest servants instantly knelt on the ground, trembling with uncontrollable painful groans.

"Desecrating Alien Form… Inferior creature…" Colander cursed under his breath but ultimately forced himself to suppress his wrath. He knew he must leave this hall with the best demeanor—failure itself was disgrace, losing composure further diminishes his honor; he couldn't show excessive distress before the Living Saint and the Holy; it would be of no advantage to him.

The Great Sage stepped towards the stairs.

Then, he heard a faint cracking sound.

As if something snapped. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

In the next second, before Colander realized what happened, a horrifying pain and a sensation of spinning earth and sky suddenly swept over him—he only took one step towards the stair, then felt as if his legs were crushed by an irresistible force, the newly reborn body which was supposed to be flawless instantly lost its support, and he clumsily rolled down the steps, sprawling on the ground.

Colander fearfully propped himself up, looking towards his legs, only to see a twisted mass of broken flesh and bone.

Powdered fractures below the knee, this scene was so familiar.

The immense shock slowly gave rise to a cold dread within his heart, the bewilderment in Colander's mind finally began to turn into terror.

Why… is this happening?!