Yu Sheng, naturally, knew nothing about architecture—a fact easily seen in the strange marvels he’d built so far.

But he had no fear that his latest wonder in the Valley might collapse due to his lack of craftsmanship.

For in his “vision,” those rising stones were not mere buildings.

They were alive.

They possessed flesh, bones, and even nerves capable of conducting signals—though these signals were intangible, he could clearly feel them. He sensed how every pillar should form, exactly where each should grow, the weight each would bear, and how they should connect in the most rational structure.

Yu Sheng followed these instincts, guiding the immense rocks to grow both wildly and precisely. Pillars rose to support beams, interlocking like a skeleton taking shape. Diverse substances, which could hardly still be called “stone,” filled the gaps like organs and flesh. Standing atop the highest square pillar, he gazed upon the vibrant embryo gradually forming into the shape of a Pyramid, and only then did he begin carving out its finer details.

Its base expanded dozens of meters outward from the original Portal Platform; around it wrapped a simple yet solemn colonnade. The Pyramid clearly had seven distinct layers. At the highest tier, a small viewing platform was set, providing an unobstructed view across the entire Valley Floor. Each external platform of the Pyramid featured planters, which would eventually bloom into lush greenery.

This design came after careful consideration of various architectural plans—since Yu Sheng doubted his ability to create elaborate details, he decided that wherever he failed, he would simply plant trees. Let nature’s brilliance hide any imperfections, and at least achieve sufficient greenery.

In the distance, smoke rose from cooking fires.

Foxy had retrieved her ever-present cookware from within her tails, and Snow White dispatched Thunder Titan to Town to collect food supplies. King summoned two Cooks to handle slicing lamb meat, and soon, they had a lively hot pot feast underway on the grass near the Portal Platform—now known as the Hotel Nexus. The group enjoyed the cool mountain breeze, leisurely dipping meat into bubbling broth while watching Yu Sheng sculpt his massive structure.

Long Haired Girl held a small bowl, stirring her sesame sauce thoughtfully, and gazed upward at the already-impressive Pyramid, remarking with admiration, “Old Brother’s got skills… this thing looks pretty epic—like those meaningless yet majestic buildings you see in game backgrounds.”

“The kind of structure you can see but can’t enter?” Snow White replied lazily, tossing leafy vegetables into the pot. “I’ve seen you playing those games, opening a dozen new servers daily—never understood what you got out of it.”

Little Mermaid, squatting patiently beside the hot pot awaiting her potato slices, glanced thoughtfully at the Pyramid, studying it closely before murmuring, “Why does it remind me of a grave… just a really giant one?”

A brief silence followed, quickly broken by enthusiastic agreement:

“Yeah, that’s exactly it!”

“Oh right! It totally looks like that!”

“Good grief, the giant grave Nexus is chasing me even here…”

“Hey, the potatoes are done! Potatoes ready!”

Sitting closest to the hot pot, Foxy remained silent, intently focused on adding vegetables, meat, fish balls, crab sticks, and tofu to her bowl.

Nearby, the four Irenes sat in a line, eyes wide in envy. Despite having four bodies, they couldn’t muster a complete digestive tract among them, and one body was still partly immobile. Yet, little doll seemed oddly cheerful, swaying slightly, occasionally agreeing that Yu Sheng’s project truly resembled a grave—especially now that grass had begun sprouting atop it (as part of the greenery initiative).

“Still can’t move this body freely yet?” Long Haired Girl curiously glanced at Irene, casually inquiring.

“It’s still stiff, but it’s better now,” Irene Pro Max replied, raising her arm slightly. “Earlier I couldn’t even lift this arm above my head, now I can manage.”

She then turned to glance at the great Pyramid again, before turning back to the greasy-faced princess, asking mischievously, “You guys sure Yu Sheng won’t be annoyed when he sees you just chilling here? When he comes down—”

Before she could finish, Foxy raised her bowl solemnly: “I saved this bowl specially for Benefactor!”

Irene blinked skeptically. Though inexperienced in actual eating, her theoretical knowledge seemed oddly robust. “Hot pot tastes okay after it cools down?”

Across from her, King mumbled through a mouthful of fish balls, “Best eaten cold, best eaten cold.”

At that moment, a deep rumble sounded nearby.

The towering pillar began to descend slowly, and Yu Sheng jumped from its top, landing smoothly. Behind him, the main structure of the Hotel Nexus stood complete.

“You all seem to be enjoying yourselves,” Yu Sheng shook his head helplessly at the impromptu picnic. He immediately recognized his kitchenware, undoubtedly smuggled out by Foxy once again. “Hey, didn’t anyone think to bring my bowl and chopsticks?”

Foxy carefully carried a heaping bowl, stepping up eagerly. “Benefactor! This is for you!”

Yu Sheng chuckled, reached out, and rubbed the young Fox Girl’s head affectionately. Finding a spot on the ground, he sat down and cheerfully explained his latest project to the circle gathered around him. “My ‘Hub’ is basically finished—at least, the structure is done. Next, I’ll plan the teleportation door layout on the first floor. Then I’ll get in touch with Sun Gong so he can handle the interior decoration. We’ll need an elevator—no, two elevators. It’s seven stories tall, each floor very high. Without elevators, we’d tire ourselves to death.”

Snow White instinctively began calculating. “That’s going to be expensive, isn’t it? Back when our orphanage wanted a new electric door, we had to pinch pennies for months.”

“It won’t be cheap,” Yu Sheng agreed readily, “but the Hotel has plenty of funds right now. What’s the point in saving up all that money, right?”

Long Haired Girl Princess, however, had her attention fixed on another matter entirely. “…Brother, don’t tell me—you forgot stairs again, didn’t you?!”

Yu Sheng froze mid-bite, his chopsticks hovering awkwardly. A heartbeat passed before he calmly lifted his head. “No, no—not this time. I definitely remembered.”

But Little Mermaid suddenly raised her ears attentively, listening closely to something nearby. “There’s movement in that ‘Gravestone Hub.’ It just started a moment ago. Sounds like something growing inside, going like this—” She perfectly mimicked the sound of living rock rapidly growing inside a hollow building, even including the soft patter of gravel falling onto stone. Hearing this, Yu Sheng broke into a cold sweat on the spot.

Yet, he quickly realized another problem. “Wait—what did you mean by ‘Gravestone Hub’?!”

Long Haired Girl Princess shifted backward, innocently deflecting blame. “Don’t look at us, Brother! Salty Fish said it! She said this thing you built looks like a gravestone…”

And so, once again, the Valley echoed cheerfully with lively chaos.

…

In the depths of the Special Affairs Bureau headquarters, within the Director’s office.

Hundreds of dazzling projection windows hovered in the expansive space, each displaying scenes captured by Deep Divers navigating the heavy mist. Some were real-time transmissions, while others were earlier recordings.

Bai Li Qing sat behind her desk, attentively watching the multitude of images, calmly listening to reports crackling through the communicator.

“…Two teams have successfully opened a route from He Yang District to the Old City District. But due to interference from dense fog zones, the other groups have encountered significant delays. The current path isn’t entirely stable—the Barrier Devices are being heavily disrupted by the fog.”

“We’re currently searching for the ‘Contact Point’ Yu Sheng mentioned. We’ve narrowed down the area, but nothing abnormal has appeared yet.”

“Traces of the Artificial Saintess have been found in the Southern City, but the area is enveloped by particularly thick fog. We’re awaiting the arrival of a High Powered Barrier Device before proceeding.”

“Following your orders, all units are moving strictly in groups. The Artificial Saintess is cautious—likely already aware of our presence. Several agents briefly sensed her ‘attention’ through Spiritual Intuition, but she always quickly withdrew. She’s difficult to track.”

Bai Li Qing listened silently, waiting for a pause before asking, “Have there been any Dangerous Entity encounters?”

“One team ran into Entity ‘Balloon’ while opening a pathway, but there were no injuries. Other groups have had no encounters yet. Compared to the initial situation in He Yang District, the rate of Entity generation in most fog-affected districts seems lower.”

“Hmm. Remain vigilant,” Bai Li Qing instructed calmly. “We still don’t fully understand the Entity-generation patterns in the Mistbound City. Current observations might only be temporary. Continue expanding the search radius, and immediately report any new developments.”

“Understood, Director.”

Communication ended. Moments later, Bai Li Qing switched off the projection system in her office.

Hundreds of dizzying images vanished instantly, returning the room to its original, ordinary state.

“It’s unsettling, Big Sister,” whispered a giant pair of eyes, appearing faintly reflected in the wide floor-to-ceiling window. “I sense you’re… troubled?”

“Holy Revere Hermitage has been extremely quiet over the past decade,” Bai Li Qing replied steadily. “This recent activity was entirely unanticipated—they bypassed every single intelligence channel we have.”

“Is it really just that?” The enormous eyes narrowed slightly, the voice growing softer. “Or is it because something in that mist has brought back memories? Certain distorted images reminiscent of… that Faded Labyrinth we explored together once. The atmosphere is strikingly similar.”

Bai Li Qing turned her head sharply, fixing a cold, unwavering gaze onto those large, floating eyes.

Beyond the window, the shifting fog continued its slow, restless drift.

The eyes blinked gently. “Alright, I’ll stop mentioning it. It’s not exactly my favorite subject either.”

“Then don’t bring it up so often.”

“Yes, yes, whatever you say…”