Chapter 848 – Research Base

Mo Lan transferred the sleeping White Crystal Person onto the flying carpet, then brought it back to the Witch’s home in mirror space.

The flying carpet had just settled on the clearing in front of the Witch’s home when Zhizhi, who had been sitting by the pond carefully grooming herself with a small comb, perked up her ears at the sound of their arrival.

A few spatial teleportations later, she was crouching beside the flying carpet, tilting her head as her round, glistening eyes curiously studied the unfamiliar visitor.

When she got a clear look at the stranger’s smooth, semi-transparent skin — without a single strand of fur — Zhizhi’s movements froze.

She silently hid her little comb behind her back, her eyes betraying a hint of genuine pity.

“What a pitiful creature,” she muttered softly in monkey-speak that only she could understand. “Not a single hair to comb.”

The little skeleton Clack also set down the bone it had been polishing and trotted over with light, brisk steps, the soul fire in its skull flickering with curiosity.

Sentai extended several supple roots as well, cautiously peeking over from the side.

“Its name is Xinhen, and I’ve placed a sleeping curse on it,” Mo Lan said, then explained her plan to her companions.

The ecological environment of White Crystal Star differed too greatly from mirror space — keeping Xinhen here long-term was not a good strategy.

She planned to find a remote, uninhabited location on White Crystal Star and establish a dedicated secret research base.

When the time came, she would set up a stable portal inside the base, connecting directly to the Witch’s home.

This way, Xinhen could attempt cultivation in a relatively familiar environment, while she herself could return to the Witch’s home at any time to focus on developing cultivation methods better suited for the White Crystal People.

“Until I find a suitable location and finish building the base, Xinhen will need to remain here in slumber,” Mo Lan told her three companions. “I’ll need you to keep an eye on things during this time. If there are any signs of it waking up, notify me immediately.”

The sleeping curse she had cast wouldn’t harm Xinhen’s body, but she didn’t know whether the White Crystal People possessed any innate resistance to curses, and couldn’t be certain it wouldn’t wake up on its own.

Upon hearing this, Clack patted its own ribcage with a clatter, then dragged a large coffin out of the spatial ring on its finger bone.

This was the longest and largest of the coffins it used for sleeping — more than big enough to fit Xinhen.

It knocked on the coffin lid, indicating that the new friend could be placed inside for a peaceful slumber.

Just then, one of Sentai’s roots gently nudged Zhizhi.

The little monkey understood instantly. Her form rapidly swelled, transforming into a nearly three-meter-tall giant ape.

She effortlessly lifted the sleeping Xinhen and placed it into Clack’s coffin, then hoisted the coffin onto her shoulder and strode over to stand beneath Sentai’s enormous canopy, which spread like a great ceremonial parasol.

Several of Sentai’s emerald-green roots extended like gentle arms, slowly reaching into the coffin and settling softly over Xinhen’s chest. In this way, Sentai began monitoring its condition, taking on the primary caretaking duty.

Reassured by this, Mo Lan sat on the flying carpet and departed for White Crystal Star once more.

This time, she began surveying the world’s environment on a much larger scale.

She deliberately avoided the towering crystal cluster forests that bore obvious signs of habitation — those were cities the White Crystal People had built from white crystal tree materials — and headed exclusively toward uninhabited areas.

The research base had to be remote enough to ensure it would never be discovered by any White Crystal Person.

At the same time, the environment should ideally be suitable for White Crystal People to inhabit, and if there happened to be some existing structures that could be converted for use with minimal modification, that would be even better.

The search continued for several days. During this time, she encountered several more White Crystal People who had wandered into the Wilds alone, intent on ending their lives. The light within their bodies was either so dim it was nearly invisible, or a heavy, murky grayish-black. Mo Lan read their memories as well, then followed the same procedure — placing them under the sleeping curse and bringing them back to the Witch’s home one by one.

After careful surveying and screening, she finally settled on a deep valley on the shaded side of a massive mountain range.

This had once been a sizable white crystal tree farm. The orderly rows of supplemental lighting equipment bases and the remains of irrigation channels still hinted at its former prosperity.

The farm had once cultivated a fashionable new variety of white crystal tree, one capable of steadily producing premium light essence.

Light essence was the primary food source of the White Crystal People, and premium light essence was of the highest quality — the best in both taste and nutrition.

However, the white crystal trees that produced premium light essence also demanded far more light, requiring the highest-powered supplemental lighting equipment to run almost nonstop.

In an era of sharply declining population and extreme emotional energy shortages, remote, energy-intensive farms like this were naturally the first to be ruthlessly abandoned.

By now, the nearby cities had all fallen silent, and this farm had long since been forgotten.

The white crystal trees, deprived of light for so long, had lost their former crystalline luster. They had turned gray and lifeless, no longer capable of producing light essence.

But this was no problem at all for Mo Lan — the most basic of foundational Magic, the Light spell, was more than up to the task.

What pleased her even more were the round crystal-stone buildings constructed along the mountainside within the farm. Their main structures were still intact and could be put to use with just a bit of tidying up.

“This is the place.” Mo Lan hesitated no longer and deployed a composite magic circle that combined concealment, early warning, and protective functions into one.

An invisible energy field slowly rose, enveloping the entire farm.

Even if a White Crystal Person happened to wander nearby, the magic circle’s influence would cause them to unconsciously take a detour, ensuring the location’s absolute secrecy and safety.

She then selected a circular crystal building at the highest point, overlooking the entire farm, cleaned it out, and furnished it simply. From now on, this would serve as her official research laboratory.

All that remained was to open a mirror space portal leading here.

As always, Mo Lan set the portal in a doorway.

She channeled her Mana and opened the door. Beyond it appeared the mossy grass and pond of mirror space.

“Zhizhi, Clack, Sentai, you can come out now! Bring all the White Crystal People with you!” Mo Lan called out toward mirror space using the Amplification Spell.

Before long, Zhizhi, who had been playing beneath the tree, and Clack, who had been in the control room, both hurried over at the sound of her voice.

Sentai’s tree deftly curled its roots around the coffins containing the sleeping White Crystal People beneath it and placed them steadily on the grass by the doorway.

Then its body rapidly shrank down, rooting itself into the spatial planting pot. It used a slender root to gently poke Clack’s ribcage, urging the skeleton to hurry up and carry it — it wanted to go outside too.

Meanwhile, Zhizhi enlarged herself slightly, easily hoisting the coffins from the grass one by one. Nimbly going back and forth several times, she transported all the sleeping White Crystal People to White Crystal Star.

Clack hastily scooped up Sentai’s planting pot and followed along, joining the party touring White Crystal Star.