Familiar room, familiar furniture, familiar little living room, familiar bachelor apartment.

Everything is still the same as when it left, like an amber frozen in the shell of time, and no matter how much time passes, nothing will change here.

Zhou Ming walked into the small living room of the bachelor apartment, and standing in the room where he had lived for many years, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn't been back for a long time – and sometimes, he even felt like he had forgotten about the bachelor apartment and the "other world" it represented behind it.

But in the end, this self-deceptive "forgetting" is meaningless.

He smiled and shook his head, and then walked straight in the direction of his desk—he hadn't checked the closed window as he had done before, for the clutter and flour on the windowsill had been cleaned up the last time, and he was no longer expecting any more guests to visit the last cabin in the depths of the mist.

There was a faint layer of green fire on the desk that was slowly fading, and in the fading flames, he saw that the new "collection" had gradually taken shape.

Zhou Ming walked over, sat down on the chair, put his hands on the table, and looked at the ...... "little sapling" that looked vibrant calmly and gently.

She floated above her desk, the canopy about the length of an adult's forearm, lush and leafy, with a large mass of dirt attached to the trunk of the tree, in which her roots were deeply rooted, and a few more of them extending from beneath the dirt, exposed to the air.

She floated like this, about ten centimeters above the desk, in a ...... The uncanny way of maintaining the levitation shows a painting style that is completely different from other "collections".

Zhou Ming raised his head and glanced at the large shelves not far away—the other collections on the shelves were all quietly in their respective lattices, landing steadily on the partitions.

This "little sapling" floating above the table at the moment is currently the only "collection" that exhibits obvious supernatural properties.

…… Is it because her essence originates from the "dream realm", so even if it becomes a collection here, does it still retain a unique characteristic of the dream creation?

Zhou Ming thought about it in his heart, stretched out his hand and gently flicked the crown of Xirantis-this "World Tree" like a "suspended bonsai" floated in the air and was pushed away by him a little, and then fluttered back to the original position.

But other than that, the little sapling didn't show any other active traits—she neither spoke nor responded to Zhou Ming's touch in any other way.

"Now, you have really become a little sapling again......" After quietly staring at this small "World Tree" for a long time, Zhou Ming finally said softly, "I don't know if you can still hear it...... Actually, I don't even know how you became the 'collection' here after being burned by the fire, but ......"

He paused, glanced at the shelves not far away, and swept his gaze over the Lost Country, the White Oak, and the models of the two city-states.

"But no matter what, this will be your new home from now on." He whispered.

The model wouldn't answer his questions, making him feel like he was muttering into the air, which would have been an awkward scene if outsiders were present - but thankfully, there had been no "outsiders" here for a long time.

He reached out and carefully picked up the piece of dirt where Sirantis had rooted, and led her to the shelf in the corner - he was careful not to break up the "clod" that didn't look very strong, because once the clods were scattered, it might not be so easy to gather them together, and maybe some of the dirt that fell into the cracks in the floor would become "wastage".

In this hut, "dirt" is a valuable resource.

But to his surprise, the seemingly loose piece of soil was actually very "stable", as if there was some invisible force maintaining its form, and he carried it all the way, and not a single grain of soil fell from it.

He placed Silandis on the shelf, next to the model of the Lost Country.

The "little sapling" still floats in the lattice, like a quiet bonsai.

Zhou Ming stood in front of his new "collection" and stopped to watch for a while, but this time his mood was no longer the same as before, all kinds of complicated thoughts fluctuated in his mind, and after a long time, he sighed softly with relief.

At the very least, when you go back, you can tell the goathead that its "little sapling" is indeed still there.

"You don't need to water...... Zhou Ming suddenly thought of one more thing, and couldn't help muttering, "Theoretically, it shouldn't be necessary...... I hope you don't grow up again, I don't have that much of a place here......"

The "World Tree" in the lattice certainly doesn't respond to his soliloquy, and Silandis just floats silently in it, turning slowly.

Zhou Ming shook his head, turned around and sat down on the sofa in the small living room, he sat on it and rested for a while, then casually took a book from the small round table next to him, and flipped through the two pages aimlessly.

It didn't make much sense, he had read the book a few times, and the content in it was boring and boring, and it had long been no longer fun to read.

But he's used to doing things that "don't make sense" when he returns to his bachelor apartment — either sitting down to read a few pages of a book, writing down a two-line diary, or packing up clutter and cleaning the room itself, which is almost spotless.

For Zhou Ming, these things are like opening a small shop in a city-state and being a caretaker in a cemetery, which is not necessary in itself, but it is like an anchor of human nature, allowing him to feel that he is still a human being, still living in "order" and "civilization".

After a while, Zhou Ming put down the book in his hand and prepared to get up and return to the Lost Country.

But just as he looked up, his movements stopped—in a posture that had just gotten up, his eyes fixed on the desk not far away.

Sirantis was floating silently a few centimeters above his desk, as if he had been there all along.

Zhou Ming blinked, and for a moment even suspected that something was wrong with his memory, then he frowned, came to the desk and looked left and right at the Silantis floating in the air, and then looked up at the empty lattice on the shelf.

After a moment's hesitation, he picked up Sirantis and seriously placed her on the shelf.

He stared at the lattice for several seconds, checking it before slowly stepping back, then turning around and walking away a few steps, then slamming back.

Sirantis still honestly stayed in the lattice of the shelf.

Zhou Ming frowned, exhaled, and walked towards the door of the apartment—but just as he was about to walk to the door, he suddenly stopped and turned back without warning.

Silantis was floating silently above his desk, as if he had never moved.

Zhou Ming: "......"

He walked over with a straight face, staring at the "little sapling" floating in the air without blinking.

"You did it on purpose? Do you have free time? ”

Sirantis, of course, didn't respond, she was like a real tree, quiet when she stayed there.

Zhou Ming stared at the "World Tree" for a while, raised his hand to pick her up, and put it on the lattice of the shelf, then turned around and stood in front of her for a while, and after more than ten seconds, he turned around and saw that Silantis was floating above the desk next to him.

The corners of Zhou Ming's mouth twitched involuntarily, he took a few steps to the desk, raised his hand and pointed at the table: "This, this is my desk, it is where I work, and if there are new 'collections' coming over in the future, they will also appear on this table." ”

Then he raised his other hand and pointed to the large shelf in the corner: "Over there, it's for you, and the second grid below is for you, you should go to your grid, not occupy my table here!" ”

Silantis didn't respond, just floated quietly in mid-air, slowly turning in circles.

The corners of Zhou Ming's eyes twitched, and without hesitation, he raised his hand and put the "little sapling" on the shelf again.

Then he stared at it for a long time, then turned around and stared at his desk.

Silantis didn't show up at the desk this time.

But behind Zhou Ming, there was a "bang, bang" crash.

He turned his head and saw that Sirantis had somehow appeared in another compartment - the storage compartment with the "model" of the White Oak.

Silantis was slamming the hull of the White Oak with the large clods of earth from her roots, which she was already knocking to the ground.

"Stop!" Zhou Ming directly reached out and pressed the crown of Xilandis, "Don't hit your 'roommate'!" ”

Silantis shook under his hand, and then quickly shook to the side, Zhou Ming only felt a flower in front of his eyes, and then looked in the direction of the last flick of the little sapling-

The small "World Tree" was floating quietly on his desk.

Zhou Ming: "......"

After a few moments, Duncan opened the door to the captain's quarters and sat down at the sailing table with a tired look on his face.

The goat's head at the edge of the table immediately crunched and turned its neck, and its gaze fell on the captain.

"Duncan Abnomar." Before the goat's head could speak, Duncan waved his hand and took the initiative.

"Ah, Captain! You're back, I thought you'd be the first to come, but I didn't expect ......" The goat's head immediately came alive - it seemed that because of the dissipation of the mythical form, the familiar noise returned to the chattering wood carving again, but soon, it noticed some subtle expressions on Duncan's face, "Uh, you look tired?" ”

Duncan waved his hand again, and this time let out a sigh.

It took several seconds before he raised his head and looked into the goat's eyes: "Your little sapling has taken over my desk." ”

(End of chapter)