Within the Ruins, the Azure Sea Sky Dome

"Zhu Ming! Zhu Ming!"

"Sister Zhu Ming, hehehehe!"

On the Sea Moth, Lin Yu came to his senses, looked at the "Fishing Man" Chen Le and the "Master Thief" Li Nian in front of him, and laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, I was a little distracted. What's wrong?"

Lin Yu said with a smile.

Although remotely controlling the "Paper Kite" using the "Mental Power Seed" and "Soul Fragment" was not a difficult task for Lin Yu, he was able to do it while multitasking.

However, using the [Guest Appearance Invitation] to communicate directly with the "Deity" would temporarily occupy all of Lin Yu's "computing power," leaving him no time to perform dual operations.

But now...

The communication section regarding the "Guest Appearance Invitation" has concluded, and Lin Yu can now resume his normal performance as "Zhu Ming," who is also the person he is in.

"That wasn't just ordinary daydreaming, Sister Zhu Ming," Li Nian relief as she looked at Lin Yu had recovered, but still worried. "Just now you seemed to be completely sleepwalking; you weren't reacting to any external stimuli except for still piloting the Sea Moth!"

Faced with Li Nian's question, Lin Yu had anticipated it and had already prepared his answer.

"It wasn't just a normal lapse in concentration; I was just preparing [Item]... Entering [Azure Sea Sky Dome] will definitely be quite dangerous, so I need to prepare the [Item] in advance."

"And I have some [Item] that happen to need to be fed with 'souls'."

Lin Yu said with a smile.

He wasn't entirely lying... after all, the [Repaired Mist Pocket Watch] was indeed lying in his [Item Space].

Upon hearing this, Chen Le said, "Oh, isn't it because I'm here... just leave the security to me!"

Lin Yu glanced at Chen Le and shook his head slightly. "Brother Le, although you are indeed very strong, we can't rely on you alone... I also need to contribute—more preparation always means more certainty, right?"

"Then you just need to be a little careful, there's no need to 'feed your soul'," Chen Le scratched his head, "It sounds like the price is too high, it's really not worth it."

Lin Yu chuckled, "Brother Le is overthinking it. Although it sounds scary, for me... it's about the same as sacrificing a fingernail or a strand of hair—it's just that during the feeding process, I sometimes get a little 'dazed' like I did just now."

"But I always did these things when I was alone, I never realized they would be so obvious."

Lin Yu said with a smile.

His explanation... was indeed enough to fool the two members of the "Freedom Alliance".

Seeing that Li Nian and Chen Le no longer suspected him, Lin Yu continued to press for answers.

"By the way, why did you two call me?"

As Lin Yu spoke, Li Nian came to her senses.

"Oh... Sister Zhu Ming, we called you that because—we've arrived at the ruins of the Mu Continent!"

Li Nian pointed, and Lin Yu Li Nian her gaze out the window.

Then, Lin Yu showed a surprised expression.

"Huh... we've arrived!"

He had noticed the scene outside the window out of the corner of his eye, but he was still pretending that he had just seen it.

Of course... the shock on his face wasn't entirely feigned.

After all, the view outside the porthole of the Sea Moth at this moment was truly breathtaking.

In the deep sea, not far ahead, the seawater seemed to be suddenly stopped flowing by some transparent glass, neatly outlining an arc-shaped boundary, like frosted glass inverted on the seabed.

Through the blurry water, Lin Yu could vaguely make out what appeared to be an entire... massive city.

It's like a somewhat old and blurry snow globe.

Although this is a long-sunken ruin, Lin Yu could almost see a vibrant and advanced city through the blurred boundaries.

Those blurry outlines contain skyscrapers still lit up, neat road layouts and green belts, and you can even vaguely see vehicles moving on the ground.

This is not only a silhouette of a modern city, but also a silhouette of a modern city that seems to still be functioning.

This was completely different from the "ruins" Lin Yu had seen in Other Worlds, and from his expectations and assumptions.

Even Chen Le, the "Fishing Man," couldn't help but sigh.

No matter how many times I come here... looking from the outside in, this place doesn't look like the 'ruins' of Lost Civilization at all...

"No wonder there are all sorts of wondrous legends surrounding the Mu Continent and these Three Ruins in this world..."

At this point, Chen Le paused and looked at Li Nian.

"Hey, by the way... A Nian, didn't you go inside before? What's it like inside?"

"Could there really still be people living inside?"

Li Nian shrugged. "How could that be... You'll see when you go in."

"Come on, Sister Zhu Ming, let's get started—the outer perimeter isn't too dangerous."

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu nodded and drew the [Limit Breaking Jade Cleaver].

Then...

Lin Yu left the Sea Moth and swam in the seawater, pressing the tip of his Kitchen Knife against the invisible barrier and gently slicing it downwards.

Soon, Lin Yu cut a gap large enough for one person to pass through, revealing a path within the ruins.

But...

Because Lin Yu only temporarily removed the barrier created by [Azure Sea Sky Dome] from the restriction that "humans" could not pass through when he broke the seal, the seawater was still kept out by the breach.

"Let's go!"

Li Nian and Chen Le also left the Sea Moth, and Hannah leaned on Lin Yu's shoulder again.

Lin Yu tucked the Sea Moth back into its "keychain" size into his pocket and then entered the interior of [Azure Sea Sky Dome].

The [Azure Sea Sky Dome] that blocked almost all Living Beings and the vast majority of "Player" in the Nether Void Realm was easily crossed and traversed by Lin Yu.

"Quack! This is my first time inside these ruins too!"

Hannah leaned on Lin Yu's shoulder and said excitedly.

There aren't many places in the Nether Void Realm that Hannah hasn't been to or can't go, but these ruins are definitely one of them.

And once inside...

Lin Yu and Chen Le were even more surprised.

Because the city inside doesn't really seem to be worthy of being called a "ruin".

That vibrant energy became even more intense!

Rows of streamlined high-rise buildings stand in staggered rows, with large screens and billboards flashing and scrolling on their exteriors, displaying advertisements for various clothing, food, and even job postings.

The plants in the green belt are growing lushly and vigorously, and many of the landscape plants are even in bloom and blooming very profusely.

The road layout is also very characteristic of Pure Ruins: both the sidewalks and the vehicle lanes are exceptionally wide and spacious.

The reason for its spaciousness is that all roads consist of both waterways and land routes.

The road has shuttle-shaped Vehicles running on the land, as well as boats and motorboat-like vehicles traveling on the waterways.

The pedestrian walkway is also a land route for Human Race and a flowing waterway through which many Tail Race swim.

This is also the most vibrant part of the entire city at first glance.

Because...

Lin Yu could clearly see that there were indeed "pedestrians" walking or strolling on these roads, and that there were indeed drivers and passengers inside the vehicles!

Some were looking down at their newspapers, some were hurrying along, and some were chatting side by side.

This lost ruin, a city belonging to Previous Civilization... seems to still have inhabitants today!

But... the reason it's described as "as if" is because Lin Yu could soon clearly sense it...

Although the people he saw were very vibrant, but...

None of the "Living Beings" he saw had a soul or any spiritual fluctuations.

They are just a bunch of Empty Shell —they don't even have the Life Force to exist.

This applies not only to pedestrians and passengers on the street, but also to the plants and vegetation in the green belts!

These wandering, seemingly living beings are neither ghosts nor spirits, much less "obsessions" left over from the city back then.

Because they have no "life force" and "soul fluctuations"... absolutely none at all.

In other words, they are not remnants of life forms, nor are they illusions of souls preserved for some special reason.

But they are not illusory Projection, but actual, existing Entities.

"These things... are they machines or what?"

Chen Le also saw through the true nature of these things and expressed some confusion.

"They're not machines, they're Puppet," Li Nian said calmly, hands in her pockets, clearly not a first-timer. "They're not actually made of wood... mainly, they're literal 'Puppet shows,' or rather, individual 'puppets.'"

Li Nian spoke, she pointed to the sky.

"You can carefully sense the energy flow above this ruin."

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu and Chen Le did as she was told.

Soon...

The two then discovered even more clues.

Above the ruins of this lost city...

Numerous extremely fine, almost imperceptible energy threads, so fine that the two of them would easily miss them if they didn't pay close attention, were floating in the air.

And these intricate, tiny energy threads are located near the ground at one end...

It connects all the pedestrians on a street, or the drivers and passengers in a vehicle.

Conversely...

These seemingly active "Human Race" or "Tail Race" also have densely packed "threads" extending upwards.

However, Lin Yu and Chen Le had no idea where the other end of the thread led.

These threads seemed to disappear suddenly once they reached a certain height.

"These puppets... have you figured out who's controlling them?"

Lin Yu looked at Li Nian and asked.

Li Nian shook her head. "I tried to investigate... but I still can't figure it out at all."