The sky was pitch-black, without moon or stars, only a faint, ominous red glow. The base was brightly lit, with patrols of Superpower People and soldiers coming and going.
Occasionally, ordinary people working night shifts walked along the roads, their expressions relaxed and peaceful.
If they didn't look outside, no one would have thought this was Doomsday.
Yet protecting that peace required countless sacrifices-the urns placed one by one in their compartments, the battles they fought again and again.
Sheng An took a deep breath and looked up, her gaze calm. "Collect them first. Don't assemble them."
The silence on the rooftop broke.
Song Linwei nodded. "All right."
The others nodded too, staring intently at the box.
-Having entrusted this momentous decision to Sheng An, they would never question any decision she made.
-Giving her the authority to decide didn't mean shifting the responsibility onto her. Sheng An's decision was their collective decision.
Starting today, starting this very moment, they would devote everything they had to collecting the Fragments.
Just then.
A rustling sounded nearby.
Everyone instantly went on alert, whipping their heads toward the sound.
A leaf trembled and poked out from the side. Then roots hooked over the eaves, slowly, laboriously climbing up...
It was the Mutant Fish Mint, Academician Zhou's "treasure."
Li Xin exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Everyone else looked over too, astonished. They all knew how severely depleted it was this time, and how worried Academician Zhou had been about it. None had expected it to find its way here.
The Mutant Fish Mint hauled its entire body up from below.
Heaven only knew how a little fish mint plant with its energy exhausted had managed to struggle onto such a high rooftop.
Once it reached the top, it shuffled over furiously.