Familiar rooms, familiar furniture, familiar small living room, familiar single apartment.
Everything remains the same as it was when I left, as if it were a piece of amber frozen in the shell of time. No matter how much time passes, nothing will change here.
Zhou Ming walked into the small living room of the bachelor apartment. Standing in this room where he had lived for many years, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He hadn't been back here for a long time - sometimes, he even felt that he had forgotten this bachelor apartment and the "other world" that it represented.
But in the end, this self-deceiving "forgetfulness" is meaningless.
He smiled and shook his head, then walked straight towards the desk - he did not check the closed window as he did before, because the sundries and flour sprinkled on the windowsill had been cleaned up last time. In this last small house deep in the fog, he no longer expected any more guests to visit.
There was a faint green flame on the desk that was slowly fading away. In the fading flame, he saw that the new "collection" was gradually taking shape.
Zhou Ming walked over, sat down on the chair, placed his hands on the table, and looked at the vibrant-looking... "sapling" with calm and gentle eyes.
She floated above the desk. The diameter of her crown was about as long as an adult's forearm. She was lush and leafy. The bottom of her trunk was connected to a large piece of soil. Her roots were deeply rooted in the soil, and a few roots extended from under the soil and were exposed to the air.
She just floated like that, about ten centimeters above the desk, maintaining her suspension in an... incredible way, showing a completely different style from the other "collections".
Zhou Ming raised his head and glanced at the large storage rack not far away—the other collections on the rack were all quietly staying in their respective grids, firmly placed on the partitions.
This "sapling" floating above the table is currently the only "collection" that exhibits obvious supernatural properties.
…Is it because her essence comes from "dreams", so even if she becomes a collection here, she still retains some characteristics that are unique to dream creations
Zhou Ming was making random associations in his mind, and he reached out his hand and gently touched the crown of the Silandis tree - this "World Tree" that seemed like a "floating bonsai" was floating in the air and was pushed away a little by him, and then floated back to its original position.
But other than that, the sapling showed no other active characteristics—she could neither speak nor respond to Zhou Ming's touch in any other way.
"Now, you have really turned into a sapling again..." After quietly gazing at this small "World Tree" for a long time, Zhou Ming finally spoke softly, "I don't know if you can still hear me... In fact, I myself don't understand the exact principle of how you became the 'collection' here after being burned by the spiritual fire, but..."
He paused, glanced at the shelf not far away, and his eyes swept over the models of the Lost Homeland, the White Oak, and the two city-states.
"But no matter what, this will be your new home from now on." He said softly.
The model wouldn't answer his questions, which made him feel like he was mumbling to the air. If there were outsiders present, it would probably be an awkward scene - but fortunately, there hadn't been any "outsiders" here for a long time.
He reached out his hand, carefully picked up the piece of soil where Silandis was rooted, and carried her to the shelf in the corner - he was very careful, for fear of breaking up the seemingly fragile "soil", because once the soil was scattered, it might not be so easy to gather them together again, and some of the soil might fall into the cracks in the floor and become "loss".
In this cabin, "mud" is a precious resource.
But to his surprise, the seemingly loose soil was actually very "stable", as if there was some invisible force maintaining its shape. As he scooped it up, not a single grain of soil fell off.
He placed Silantis on the empty space on the shelf, next to the model of the Lost Homeland.
The "sapling" still remains floating in the grid, like a quiet bonsai.
Zhou Ming stood in front of his new "collection" and looked at it for a while, but this time his mood was no longer the same as before. All kinds of complicated thoughts were rising and falling in his mind. After a long time, he sighed softly with relief.
At least, when he goes back, he can tell Goat Head that his "sapling" is indeed still there.
"You don't need to water it..." Zhou Ming suddenly thought of something and couldn't help muttering, "Theoretically, you don't need to... I hope you don't grow up anymore, I don't have that much space here..."
Of course, the "World Tree" in the grid would not respond to his mumbling. Silandis just floated quietly in it, turning slowly.
Zhou Ming shook his head, turned around and sat down on the sofa in the small living room. He rested there for a while, then picked up a book from the small round table next to him and flipped through two pages aimlessly.
This doesn't make any sense. He has read the book countless times and the content is boring and no longer brings pleasure to reading.
But he had gotten used to doing such "meaningless" things when he returned to this bachelor apartment - either sitting down to read a few pages of a book, or writing a few lines in a diary, or tidying up the clutter and cleaning the room which was almost spotless.
For Zhou Ming, these things are like opening a small shop in a city-state or being a guard in a cemetery. They are not necessary in themselves, but they are like anchors of humanity, allowing him to feel that he is still a human being and still living in "order" and "civilization."
After a moment, Zhou Ming put down the book in his hand and prepared to get up and return to the Lost Hometown.
But just as he raised his head, his movements stopped - he maintained the posture of just standing up, his eyes fixed on the desk not far away.
Silantis was floating quietly a few centimeters above the desk, as if he had not moved from the beginning to the end.
Zhou Ming blinked, and for a moment he even suspected that there was something wrong with his memory. Then he frowned, walked to the desk, looked around at Silandis floating in the air, and looked up at the empty grid on the shelf.
After a slight hesitation, he picked up Silandis and carefully placed her on the shelf.
He stared at the grid for several seconds, confirmed it, and then slowly backed away. Then he turned around and walked away a few steps, then suddenly turned back.
Silandis still stayed obediently in the compartment of the shelf.
Zhou Ming frowned, exhaled, and walked towards the apartment door - but just as he was about to reach the door, he suddenly stopped and turned back without warning.
Silantis was floating quietly above his desk, as if he had not moved from beginning to end.
Zhou Ming: “…”
He walked over with a stern face, staring at the "sapling" floating in the air without blinking.
"Did you do this on purpose? You can move freely?"
Of course Silantis didn't respond, she was like a real tree, staying there quietly.
Zhou Ming stared at the "World Tree" for a while, raised his hand to pick it up, and placed it on the grid of the shelf. Then he turned around and stood in front of her for a while. After more than ten seconds, he turned around and saw that Silandis was floating above the desk next to him.
Zhou Ming's mouth twitched involuntarily. He walked a few steps to the desk and pointed at it: "This is my desk. It's where I work. If there are any new 'collections' coming in, they will also appear on this desk."
Then he raised his other hand and pointed at the large shelf in the corner: "Over there, that's the place for you. The second compartment below is for you. You should go to your compartment instead of occupying my table here!"
Silantis did not respond at all, but just floated quietly in the air, turning slowly in circles.
Zhou Ming's eyes twitched, and he raised his hand without hesitation and put the "sapling" back on the shelf.
Then he stared at it for a long time, then turned around and stared at his desk.
Silantis did not appear on the desk this time.
But there were "bang bang bang" sounds behind Zhou Ming.
He turned his head and saw that Silantis had appeared in another compartment at some point - that was the storage compartment where the "model" of the White Oak was placed.
Silandis was using the large clod of earth from her roots to hit the hull of the White Oak again and again, making a loud bang, and the latter was almost knocked to the ground by her.
"Stop!" Zhou Ming stretched out his hand and pressed down the crown of Silandis, "Don't hit your 'roommate'!"
Silandis trembled under his hand, and then quickly swayed to the side. Zhou Ming only felt his eyes blurred, and then he looked in the direction of the sapling's last sway.
This small "World Tree" is floating quietly above his desk.
Zhou Ming: “…”
A moment later, Duncan opened the door of the captain's room, walked to the navigation table with a tired look on his face and sat down.
The goat's head on the edge of the table immediately turned its neck with a creaking sound and fixed its eyes on the captain.
"Duncan Abnomer." Before the goat-headed man could speak, Duncan waved his hand and spoke.
"Ah, Captain! You're back. I thought you would come here right away, but I didn't expect..." The goat head immediately became active. It seemed that because the mythical form had dissipated, the familiar noisy feeling once again returned to the chattering woodcarving. But soon, it noticed the subtle expression on Duncan's face. "Um, you look tired?"
Duncan waved his hand again, and this time he sighed.
After several seconds, he raised his head and looked into the eyes of the goat-headed creature: "Your little sapling has taken over my desk."
(End of this chapter)