"You, which Little Red Riding Hood are you?"

Yu Sheng stared tightly at the squirrel's eyes, his tone more serious than ever.

The squirrel began to shake uneasily, alternately supporting its weight on its hind legs, then quickly scratching the fur on its face: "I... I'm a squirrel..."

Yu Sheng remained unmoved: "Alright, then which squirrel is Little Red Riding Hood?"

The squirrel: "..."

"Answer my question," Yu Sheng remained calm and determined, "You should have noticed that I am bringing 'changes' to this Black Forest—if you truly want to help Little Red Riding Hood, this might be your closest chance to success."

The palm-sized "little animal" finally stopped shaking, staring directly at Yu Sheng. After a long while, it seemed to finally come to a decision, or perhaps reached a point where there was no retreat, lowering its head as if accepting its fate: "The zeroth one."

Yu Sheng immediately furrowed his brows: "... What does that mean?"

"You have already seen it, the first Little Red Riding Hood brought the initial furnace flames and candlelight to the Black Forest—this Black Forest gradually evolved and filled out to its current form," the squirrel clawed at its paws vigorously, keeping its head low, "Have you ever thought about an earlier time? Before the 'Black Forest' existed? Maybe... it all started somewhere."

Yu Sheng didn't speak, only used his gaze to prompt the squirrel to continue.

"I... am the original error, everything... started with me," the squirrel said slowly, its attitude still resistant, seemingly each word bringing immense struggle and pain, "I am the squirrel in the Black Forest, the first living creature on the stage, the... bad child who handed out the fairy tale book... I, I didn't know it would turn out like this..."

Yu Sheng's eyes widened sharply, as if a lightning bolt had struck his heart. Realizing the information the squirrel had revealed, he immediately asked: "Handed out the fairy tale book? To whom?"

"I don't know what ta is, nor where ta came from, I... I can't remember the situation clearly," the squirrel was startled by Yu Sheng's sudden increase in volume, but this time it finally didn't flee, as if it had made some decision, "I only remember seeing something fall from the sky, it was after the orphanage lights went out, everyone was sleeping, I should have been asleep too, but I wasn't, ta... ta fell into the yard without making a sound, as if merging into the ground…

"I was very scared, didn't dare make a sound, so I hid in bed, then something glowing floated over from the windowsill, swaying before my eyes, ta said ta came for help, ta's child was in bad condition, needed soothing, ta came to this place with many children seeking help... I was terrified, didn't know what to do, so I handed ta the fairy tale book from the bedside...

I told ta, read a story, when the children in the orphanage couldn't sleep, the teacher would read us stories...

I should have been sleeping, I shouldn't have looked outside the window, I...

If only I had slept, I should have obediently slept..."

The squirrel muttered, its voice becoming increasingly vague, eventually lapsing into unclear words, constantly repeating that it should have obediently slept—as if trapped in childhood trauma, never fully grown even after decades, believing to this day that if it had eaten on time, obediently slept, learned how to dress, it could have lived a "original" happy life.

Yu Sheng could finally confirm.

The squirrel before him was also one of the children from that "orphanage"—long, long ago, even before the Deep Dive mission 70 years ago, even before the first "fairy tale" outbreak, a child who once lived in that orphanage.

And from the squirrel's admission, much more information could be deduced.

Yu Sheng steadied himself, temporarily setting aside unverifiable conjectures, gently touching the squirrel's body, waking the "little animal" from its trance once again.

"I have more questions," he said seriously, "That 'falling object,' what did it look like?"

The squirrel shivered, finally breaking free from its "dead loop," and upon hearing Yu Sheng's question, it struggled to recall, replying after a long while: "... Hard to see clearly, it was glowing, I... I only remember an elliptical outline within the light, like a 'egg' with strange patterns. Initially, it was very large, seeming capable of flattening half the orphanage if it fell, but then it shrank, by the time it fell into the yard, it was only the size of the small metal tools shed.

"It drilled into the ground instantly, didn't stir up any dust, didn't make a sound, I initially thought I was seeing things."

Yu Sheng listened intently, his expression thoughtful.

Glowing, with strange patterns, looked like an "egg"...

Though the squirrel's description of the "shrinking and enlarging" phenomenon puzzled him, the particular shape described sounded familiar.

"Did the voice talking to you mention ta's name?"

The squirrel clawed at the fur on its cheeks.

"I... I can't remember, but ta seemed to have mentioned it, it's been too long, too long, squirrels have poor memory, can't remember what the teacher taught... but, there was a syllable, it started with An... something like that…"

"Anka Aela," Yu Sheng said slowly, but as soon as he finished, he tensed up, though he relaxed a moment later upon realizing the forest remained quiet, the small box in his hand still silent, only then did he continue, "Is this the name?"

The squirrel froze, then jumped up instantly: "... Yes! Yes! That's the pronunciation! But how, how do you know that?"

"I recently investigated this far," Yu Sheng gently pressed the squirrel's body, noticing the latter trembling all over, he felt if he didn't soothe it now, this "little animal" might have a panic response, "Relax, calm down, I still have questions."

The squirrel instinctively shrank back, but seemed afraid to really retreat: "But, the squirrel doesn't want to answer, the squirrel is tired."

"The last question."

"...Well, okay then."

"The voice that talked to you, what does their 'child' look like? Have you seen it? Or did they describe it to you?"

"No," the squirrel answered very quickly this time, "I'm certain, I've never seen it, nor heard it described."

Yu Sheng stared intently into the squirrel's eyes, and after a few seconds, he gently nodded his head.

"Alright, I understand."

The squirrel finally seemed to relax.

It let out a long breath, paced slowly on the windowsill, then sat back down, and took out a thin little stick from somewhere, used the tip of its tail to ignite a flame, and put it in its mouth, taking a drag.

This wasn't the first time it "smoked" in front of Yu Sheng, who had long since gotten used to it.

It was no longer the child who lived in the orphanage many years ago; now it was the squirrel of the Black Forest, a freaking adorable squirrel.

So Yu Sheng just sighed and ignored it, instead opening the wooden box containing the Angel Umbilical Cord to check its condition.

That thing still lay quietly on the red velvet lining with no signs of further "resuscitation".

Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to close the lid, he suddenly felt a stunned gaze from the side.

Looking up, he saw the squirrel staring wide-eyed, gawking at the wooden box in his hand.

The cigarette in its paw fell to the ground without it noticing.

"You... how do you have this?!" the squirrel screamed in disbelief.

"You know what this is?" Yu Sheng was also surprised, "You know what it is?"

"Umbilical cord!" the squirrel yelled, but then, as if fearing to disturb something, it instantly lowered its volume, "I've seen this, but... but I can't remember exactly when, it should have been a long time ago, when the Black Forest first appeared. Later... Later, Anka Aela lost it, they kept looking but couldn't find it... and then, they never appeared again, hiding in a very deep place..."

Hearing this, Yu Sheng frowned. He didn't doubt the squirrel's words, but questions arose in his mind—Anka Aela lost the umbilical cord? Then why did Old Zheng get it during his worship of Anka Aela?

At this moment, the squirrel also took a bold step forward, leaning in to carefully scrutinize the umbilical cord in the wooden box.

After a moment of hesitation, it voiced its confusion, "Hmm? No, this doesn't seem right... this looks a lot like it, but it's not the same."

"Not the same?"

"Yeah, it looks very similar, but more like a replica," the squirrel said hesitantly, "the real umbilical cord is longer, not shriveled, and though it's soft, it feels like metal. The one you have... is a fake."

"A fake?" Yu Sheng was a little surprised, "Are you sure?"

"It feels that way," the squirrel quickly changed to a more cautious phrasing, "I'm just a squirrel... I don't remember a lot of things clearly..."

Yu Sheng frowned and said nothing, just looked up at Erin and Hu Li beside him.

The two of them hadn't spoken since earlier—afraid that any interruption might stress out the already neurotic squirrel.

"Old Zheng prayed to the 'Dark Angel', and the other party gave him a 'fake' umbilical cord..." Erin frowned, her expression somewhat subtle, "Why does this feel so weird? What's the point?"

Hu Li also frowned and thought seriously for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Make a fake to copy, and ask Old Zheng to help find it?"

Erin was momentarily stunned, "…Are you serious about that answer?"

"Yeah," Hu Li nodded confidently, "If I lost something, I'd certainly find someone to help in that way too."

Then she turned to Yu Sheng, "Right, Savior?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and then nodded, "I think it makes sense."

Erin: "…?"

"In any case, a fake clearly has its own power," Yu Sheng said, not lingering on this topic. He looked thoughtfully at the faux Angel Umbilical Cord in the wooden box, then at the little hut illuminated by the initial fire and candlelight, "Perhaps it's because we have it that we could see the illusion of Little Red Riding Hood left in the Black Forest."

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