Chapter 1229: Earthquake

When Chen Ling calmly said the words "double-skin milk," Sun Bumian's mouth began to hang open. He looked at the double-skin milk and Chen Ling in shock, standing there like a statue...

Chen Ling didn't think this was strange. Just as Sun Bumian in the save file had said, this was something Chen Ling owed him.

If Sun Bumian hadn't consumed his reincarnation power to save him from the Turbid Disaster, it was likely that all the people of Wushan, as well as Lu Xun and the others, would have died. Everyone owed Sun Bumian a massive favor.

So, after Chen Ling ended the era save file, he went straight to the cafeteria and asked the kitchen staff to make a portion of double-skin milk... This dish wasn't originally on the Fusion Faction's menu, but Chen Ling had enough influence in the Fusion Faction. When he personally requested it, the head chefs took out various books to study for a good while before they managed to make it.

In the era save file, Sun Bumian had died without ever eating a bite of the double-skin milk he had longed for. Chen Ling was determined to make up for this regret in this era, no matter what.

"Where did you get this double-skin milk???" Sun Bumian finally came back to his senses after a good while.

"I asked the kitchen to make it."

Sun Bumian couldn't hear Chen Ling's explanation anymore. He kept swallowing his saliva, picked up the double-skin milk, and began to eat it in small bites.

He didn't dare to take big bites because he couldn't bear to—this stuff was too rare in this era. The last time he had eaten it was almost a year ago... He could only sip it little by little, smacking his lips to savor the taste, with only one word left on his face: "bliss."

After finishing half of it, Sun Bumian put it down silently.

"Why aren't you eating anymore?" Chen Ling asked.

"Saving some for tomorrow," Sun Bumian said, restraining his greed and trying to look away. "If I finish it today, there won't be any tomorrow..."

Chen Ling: ...

There is no harm without comparison. Seeing Sun Bumian being so cautious, Chen Ling felt that his life in this era was too miserable.

No convenient high-speed trains or planes, no dazzling array of gourmet food, no respected "senior" status, few traditional festivals, not to mention the lively and bustling atmosphere he loved most—which probably didn't happen more than a few times a year... Even the gold he had accumulated over who knows how many lifetimes had been stolen.

For Sun Bumian, this era might truly be called "the worst of times."

Chen Ling looked at him with pity. "Don't worry, I've told the kitchen. They'll make you a portion of double-skin milk every day from now on."

“！”

Sun Bumian stood up from his seat in a flash, grabbed Chen Ling's shoulders with both hands, and his eyes turned red with emotion. "Heart, forgive me for not realizing it before... You're such a good person.

Don't worry, I, Sun Bumian, will support you forever!!! We are brothers for a lifetime... no, forever!"

"...Alright, alright, I get it. Hurry up and eat."

Sun Bumian sat back in his chair, picked up the remaining half of the double-skin milk, and devoured it. After licking it until not a drop remained, he let out a satisfied burp.

Chen Ling looked around:

"It's been so long, haven't Spade and Plum Blossom returned yet?"

"It's been over half a year, right..." Sun Bumian counted on his fingers. "When he said he wanted to go to the depths of the Gray Realm to train, I thought he wouldn't last ten days... I didn't expect it to have been half a year already. It seems that after losing to you that time, he got serious."

"With Plum Blossom there, as long as they don't face a World-Ender head-on, they shouldn't be in too much danger. But what about food?" Chen Ling realized something as he said this.

"Almost forgot... Plum Blossom doesn't need to eat, and Spade won't starve to death..."

Jiang Xiaohua's ability could perfectly mask Jian Changsheng's aura in the Gray Realm, acting as a mobile safe house. With him by his side, Jian Changsheng could challenge any disaster at will. As long as he didn't get too close to a World-Ender, there was basically no danger to his life. So even if the two hadn't returned for half a year, Chen Ling and Sun Bumian weren't too worried.

However, the time they had been out was much longer than Chen Ling had imagined...

In Chen Ling's mind, the unwillingness and ruthlessness in Jian Changsheng's eyes after he lost to him at the Jiangtian Sect branch surfaced again. Just as he had said, his purpose for coming to the Fusion Faction was only one... to control the ancient killing intent within him and become stronger than Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was also curious: after half a year of tempering in the Gray Realm, what would Jian Changsheng look like when they met again?

*Hum, hum, hum—*

Just as Chen Ling finished eating and was about to leave, a slight trembling sound echoed through the cafeteria.

The tables and chairs began to squeak. All the members of the Fusion Faction stopped what they were doing and looked around in a daze. Chen Ling frowned and looked outside the tree hole, only to realize that it wasn't just this cafeteria trembling, but the entire earth...

This vibration didn't feel like an earthquake; it felt more like the rumbling tremor caused by a large number of animals migrating and trampling the earth. Fortunately, it wasn't violent, and the tree only swayed slightly, causing no damage.

"...An earthquake?" Sun Bumian asked in confusion. "Does the Gray Realm have earthquakes too?"

"It's not an earthquake. It should be caused by large-scale activity in some disaster territory."

"But there shouldn't be any disaster territories around the Fusion Faction..."

The vibration lasted for about a minute before finally disappearing. The children of the Fusion Faction relaxed and continued chatting and eating, though they occasionally looked outside the tree hole with a hint of worry in their eyes.

Chen Ling looked at the gray world outside, his gaze gradually becoming solemn.

"Just because there wasn't one before doesn't mean there won't be now," Chen Ling said in a deep voice. "Haven't you noticed? Recently, the activity of these disasters has become more and more frequent..."

"After all, there are less than five months left until the Red Star descends... These disasters must be panicking, right?"

Chen Ling glanced at the earth not far away, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly stood up:

"I'm going out to take a look."

……

Beneath the Mother Tree.

Intricate tree roots coiled around the underground laboratory, where various petri dishes and instruments were neatly arranged, clean and tidy.

At this moment, Teacher Ye had taken off his shirt, put on a white lab coat, and was wearing goggles. He was focused on dripping a drop of blood into a beaker, stirring it with various unknown liquids. On the experimental table in front of him, more than a dozen shadow centipedes the size of arms were being kept in different devices, as if in a deep sleep.

*Hum, hum, hum—*

As the low rumbling sounded, the underground laboratory was also affected by the earthquake. All the equipment on the table trembled slightly, and the shadow centipedes that had been sleeping were seemingly awakened, crawling back and forth in their containers uneasily.

Teacher Ye frowned, stopped what he was doing, and looked up...