# 1725
Chapter 1718: The Psychiatric Hospital in Deep Space
[Time until the Eastern Emperor Bell rings: 10 minutes]
Shangjing City, Night Watch Headquarters.
"Stipulation... what exactly is it?"
In the archives room, Zuo Qing stared at the ancient parchment in his hands, murmuring to himself.
Dinglingling—!
A crisp phone ringtone broke his reverie. He answered the call.
"Okay, I'm coming."
He placed the file back in its original position and hurried back to his office, where his secretary was already waiting anxiously.
"What's so urgent? Did Qi's Night and the others return?"
"No... Director Lin and the others should still be out at sea. It's something else!"
The secretary handed a tablet to Zuo Qing and spoke solemnly: "Just one minute ago, our lunar orbital monitoring satellite transmitted some strange images..."
"Lunar orbital monitoring satellite?"
Zuo Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.
Early on, when humanity first observed the Seraph Michael on the Moon, they had begun constructing lunar orbital satellites to monitor that angel's movements. However, after the first lunar orbital satellite was launched, it was directly sliced in two by Michael with a single sword stroke. Later, humanity launched several more attempts, each time cautiously extending the observation distance, until the fourth satellite was launched, when Michael finally refrained from attacking the satellite—essentially tacitly permitting humanity's distant observation.
But this satellite's distance from the Moon was far too great. Even equipped with the most advanced telescopes of that era, it could only barely make out figures on the Moon's craters as white dots, rendering any useful surveillance information impossible to obtain.
Later, after sensing that Michael harbored no malice toward humanity, people gradually abandoned their monitoring of the Moon, and this early lunar orbital monitoring satellite became a forgotten relic.
After all these years, what valuable information could this satellite possibly capture?
Zuo Qing took the tablet with lingering doubts. The image it captured wasn't of the Moon itself, but rather the space near it. In the pitch-black depths of space, a white dot was slowly approaching the Moon.
"What is this? Space debris?"
"Please... zoom in and take a look."
Zuo Qing enlarged the image. Through the blurred lens, the outline of that white dot gradually took shape...
"Hm?" Zuo Qing froze. "What kind of thing is this... a model? Or some kind of Lego construction toy?"
On the screen, the silhouette of a hospital emerged. Walls, a courtyard, patient buildings—even the chessboard and wooden chairs in the central courtyard were discernible. Above the hospital's gate, several large characters could be faintly made out:
—Asylum of the Gods.
"Commander Zuo, this image has been reduced to approximately one-hundredth of its actual size." The secretary spoke slowly. "This isn't any kind of model... judging by its scale, this is a full-scale, real psychiatric hospital."
"You're saying there's a floating psychiatric hospital in space?" Zuo Qing stared at him in disbelief. "Either I've lost my mind, or the world has."
"The lunar observer clearly captured its trajectory—it's continuously approaching the Moon... This situation is too strange, which is why I received this news and came to you immediately." The secretary's expression was grave. "Commander Zuo, there's Michael on the Moon..."
Zuo Qing rose from his office chair, his brow furrowed tightly. "What exactly is that hospital... If this is some form of attack, then it's quite the joke. Besides, Michael is stationed on the Moon, so this matter..."
Zuo Qing沉思片刻，片刻后开口：
"Moon matters are of great importance. Regardless, we must proceed with caution... Go inform the Heavenly Court and ask if they've noticed that thing."
"Yes."
"How long until it reaches the Moon at its current speed?"
"When these images were captured, it was less than ten thousand kilometers from the Moon. At this rate, it's probably already descending toward the lunar surface."
"That fast?"
Zuo Qing's brow creased even deeper. He paced around the room for a long while. "By the time Heavenly Court receives notice and departs for the Moon, it will take at least ten minutes... In that case, I'll set out immediately and cross space directly. I'll head to the Moon first—contact Zhou Ping, Lu Wuwei, Master Chen, and other apex entities who can traverse space, and have them set out immediately as well."
Hearing this, the secretary hesitated slightly. "Commander Zuo, our satellite only captured images of an empty hospital... It's not like a large-scale enemy assault. Is it really necessary to be this nervous? Besides, Michael is on the Moon."
"When something abnormal occurs, there must be a demon behind it. When it comes to the Moon's seal, a bit of extra caution never hurts."
Zuo Qing draped the dark crimson cloak from the coat rack over his shoulders, hung the Straight Blade at his waist, and swiftly walked toward the door.
Halfway there, he suddenly stopped.
"By the way, check the contents of the second drawer on the right side of my desk... If anything goes wrong, you know what to do."
The secretary paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something. He straightened and replied:
"Yes."
Zuo Qing didn't take the stairs to the main entrance of the Night Watch building. Instead, he directly opened the window, stepped out, and azure radiance surged from within him like a blue flame-bird, rapidly shooting toward the sky!
...
[Time until the Eastern Emperor Bell rings: 7 minutes]
The Moon.
Within a gray-white crater, a golden figure with six wings gripped a massive sword, standing proudly beneath the silent depths of space.
His tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, as if sensing something, then suddenly opened. On the barren lunar surface, a massive shadow was rapidly enlarging!
His brow furrowed. Golden divine power instantly surged outward like a tidal wave. Just then, a brilliant light suddenly burst forth from that shadow, engulfing his form!
Michael's pupils contracted sharply!
Even He had failed to sense even a trace of that shadow's presence. Had it not been for the shadow blocking sunlight and causing changes in the lunar surface's illumination, He wouldn't have even known the thing had arrived above His head!
What in the world is this?!
Michael had no time to think. That radiance transformed the surrounding scene in an instant.
When He came to His senses, the original barren, vast lunar surface had vanished. Instead, there was a bare, white room.
Sunlight poured through the windows from the distant depths of space, illuminating one corner of the room. Through the window, a corridor could be seen outside, and below that, an empty, green-shaded courtyard...
Where exactly is this?
The moment this thought arose in Michael's mind, the room's door slowly swung open...
With a harsh creak, a white figure stood in the corridor outside the room.
It was a Black man wearing a white lab coat.
He stood there with his hands casually stuffed in his pockets, wearing a pair of scholarly black-framed glasses that almost blended into his skin tone. He gazed at Michael inside the room and smiled, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth.
"Hello there, Patient Number One... Michael."