Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Chapter 296: "The Faith Revelation," contains chilling speculations upon closer examination.

Mie Mie~

The next day, Yu Yuan woke to the sound of Mie Mie's bleating.

"Morning, Mie Mie! Morning, Zhi Zhi!"

Yu Yuan greeted Mie Mie, and also Zhi Zhi who was perched on its head.

Leaving the Rest Area, faint, light music began to play within the shelter.

It completely roused Yu Yuan's body.

Because Fang was injured, Masier was in the Kitchen, preparing today's breakfast to the music.

Seeing Yu Yuan come out, she greeted him warmly.

"Good morning, Mr. Investor!"

As she spoke, she placed a plate of pre-cut vegetables into Mie Mie's food bowl."Mie Mie, chow time!"

Yu Yuan went to Fang's room, where the Doctor was checking her by lifting her eyelids.

"Not bad at all. The medication from yesterday worked very well. The congestion in the eyeball has already subsided. As long as she gets plenty of rest these next two days, she'll recover quickly."

Fang's complexion was indeed much better than it had been last night.

Yu Yuan was completely reassured.

Afterwards, he went to the fourth floor to check on the planting and breeding situation. Dale was currently in the Hydroponics Room, observing the plant growth.

With the special growth buff from the 【Hydroponics Room】, the previously planted carrots and rosemary were growing rapidly.

The carrots had already passed the germination and seedling stages and entered the leaf-flourishing stage. At this point, the carrot leaves had grown large, forming "feather-like" leaf clusters.

The fleshy root was also clearly visible, though still very slender. This stage was still primarily focused on vertical growth, far from being ready for consumption.

Dale was adding a nutrient solution containing nitrogen fertilizer to help them quickly pass through the leaf-flourishing stage and strengthen their roots and stems.

The rosemary had grown to a height of about ten centimeters. According to Dale, the rosemary was almost past the seedling stage and about to enter the vegetative growth period.

The vegetative growth period was when rosemary had its most intense flavor and was the most suitable time for use in cooking.

On the other Planting Racks within the 【Hydroponics Room】, many other plants had already been planted. Some were seeds recovered from sheep manure during this period, while others were seeds obtained from the fruits and vegetables refreshed by the 【Bountiful Vegetable Basket】.

Some seeds had already sprouted, while others were still germinating. All of these required daily observation by Dale, making the work quite demanding.

The batch of wild chives in the 【Crazy Planting Trough】, after being hand-pollinated by Dale earlier, had now reached the seed-setting stage. According to Dale's estimate, it would happen within the next few days.

As for that batch of adult mealworms, they were now laying a large number of eggs every day. According to Dale's prediction, once all these eggs hatched, the number of mealworms would increase explosively.

He even reminded Yu Yuan that it might be time to really reconsider the plan.

Yu Yuan's previous plan was to keep all the hatched larvae for another round of breeding.

But the facility effect of the 【Insect Breeding Room】 was truly terrifying. Originally, it was already quite good if each Female Mealworm laid hundreds of eggs during its laying period.

Now, based on Dale's observations, the egg-laying number of this batch of mealworms might double again. After hatching, the quantity would be quite substantial.

After thinking it over, Yu Yuan decided to wait until this batch of mealworm eggs hatched before making a decision.

The seven Cree Mountain sheep were now also stable. After observing the condition of the five ewes, Dale confirmed they were pregnant.

Yu Yuan felt greatly relieved.

Because Fang was injured, the materials recycled by the sorting trash can today were still sitting there.

Yu Yuan went over to check.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy today, just some basic supplies. After storing these items, Yu Yuan returned to the underground third floor and went back to his own Rest Area.

He walked over to the Magazine Display Stand to check today's newspaper.

However, he discovered that besides the 《Greenwood City Daily》, there was a new newspaper, which caught his eye.

He immediately picked it up to look.

——《Faith Revelation News》

Yu Yuan frowned slightly.

"Is this... a newspaper related to religion?"

Unfolding the newspaper, a picture first entered Yu Yuan's field of view.

It was a photo of the interior of a church, likely during a mass ceremony with a large number of people.

Everyone present could be seen with solemn, dignified expressions, all bowing their heads in prayer.

But in one corner of the photo, one man was looking with a horrified expression towards the center of the church, which was the upper left part of the photo.

Yu Yuan followed the man's gaze and his eyes suddenly narrowed.

"This is..."

In the center of the church stood a massive statue of a deity. However, at this moment, a crack had climbed from the statue's waist all the way to its face.

It looked like it was about to break and fall.

But everyone below seemed completely unaware.

They were still immersed in prayer.

The moment captured by the photographer was profoundly shocking.

The almost-broken statue and the devout believers below formed an absolute contrast. Especially the horrified man in the crowd, who was like the finishing touch, forming a perfect contrast with the quietly praying people around him.

Even though Yu Yuan didn't understand art, he felt the timing and angle of this photo were absolutely masterful.

Below the photo, a headline appeared.

——【Statue Shatters at St. Paul's Cathedral in North Greenwood City. Has God Abandoned Us?】

"St. Paul's Cathedral... isn't that the church I went to a couple of days ago?"

Yu Yuan was taken aback. Looking at the photo again, he indeed saw a familiar holy emblem below the statue—the very one he had scraped off the powder of Faith Gold from two days ago.

"So that's why there was no statue in the church... Turns out the statue broke earlier..."

Yu Yuan continued reading.

——Yesterday, during the annual grand mass ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral, the statue of the Lord of Dawn suddenly shattered at a critical moment. Fortunately, it was discovered in time. Aside from Bishop Enais, who was presiding over the ceremony, being injured, there were no other casualties.

Furthermore, after investigation, it wasn't just the statue of the Lord of Dawn in St. Paul's Cathedral that suddenly shattered. Statues of the Lord of Dawn in other cities also shattered simultaneously at the same time yesterday...

————————

Looking at the news content in this newspaper, Yu Yuan found it quite interesting.

All the church statues shattered at the same time.

Calling it a coincidence? Not even a dog would believe that.

But Yu Yuan was thinking even further.

The first thing Yu Yuan thought of was whether this so-called Lord of Dawn was also one of those incredibly powerful, terrifying existences.

The characteristic of these terrifying existences is their exceptionally powerful spiritual radiation. Even if they themselves do nothing.

The spiritual radiation they naturally emit can affect countless lives in the worlds around them.

The world he was in was very likely one of the worlds within the spiritual radiation range of this 【Lord of Dawn】.

That's why so many people believed in him and built so many churches for him.

But by the same token, if such a terrifying existence were to suddenly fall, it would inevitably affect these worlds that believe in him.

In other words, the reason these statues shattered simultaneously was very likely because something happened to this 【Lord of Dawn】. In all probability, he had fallen.

This thought flashed through Yu Yuan's mind, but it seemed to touch upon a deeply unsettling question.

That was...

If all his speculations were true.

Then, did the transformation of this world into a wasteland have a direct connection to the fall of the Lord of Dawn?