The next thing Luna knew after experiencing pain like never before, was that she was back in the dark space with BaoBao. She really wanted to find out the reason for that torturous experience, but she was still reeling from pain so she could only glare at BaoBao who was floating in front of her.

BaoBao immediately explained himself with tears in his eyes. "Luna! I'm sorry, I had to do it! I felt a tremor in our bond so I checked back on you only to see that you were being consumed by Vlad! That can't happen! Your soul being obliterated such that it can never be reincarnated in that world did not matter but Vlad cannot absorb your soul into his! You would have went rogue and lost. I had to activate the emergency evacuation which is always kept as the last resort because it endangers your soul and I know it causes great pain! I had no other choice!" 

BaoBao was also still reeling from the shock he received since he was met with such a dangerous situation when he believed that Luna should have been having her first ever intercourse.

Luna could now comprehend the situation but she was still jarred. After a long while, she spoke weakly, "It's alright BaoBao, you did the right thing. I was the one who was careless. So how's my condition?"

"Your soul's a complete whole. There seems to be no repercussions either. You aren't experiencing any lingering aches or migraines, are you?"

Luna shook her head.

"Then it should be fine."

"Should be?"

"Erm... While I managed to retrieve the part of your soul that Vlad consumed, it had already gotten merged with his..."

"What do you mean? Is that bad?"

"To put it simply, a little of him is a part of you, and a little of you is a part of him now. I don't know what would be the effects because this is the first time it happened. I have already sent a report of your situation and the dangers of this world to the administrators. We can only observe for now."

"I see..." Luna quickly moved on with business as usual since she could do nothing about her condition right now. "So what happened to Vlad?" Her voice revealed her genuine concern for him. She knew that he still has separation issues with her.

BaoBao pursed his lips, looked terrified, then behaved as if his fingers were the most entertaining things he has ever seen in his life. 

"... BaoBao?" Luna's tone was threatening and she raised an eyebrow. Is he becoming more defiant now? I still haven't knocked his head for siding with Vlad before. 

BaoBao's shoulders jumped then he peeked up at her. Looking at her cold visage looking back down at him, he broke and half-wailed-half-complained to her while flailing his arms about wildly, "Vlad went completely berserk!! He transformed into some monster with godly powers and overwhelmingly ended the world just because it no longer has you!"

"Ended the world? What happened to Michael and Angela? This is when I need more details BaoBao." She frowned and reprimanded him sternly. 

BaoBao pouted while elaborating, "After changing into a monster, the first ones he killed were Michael and Angela... They stood absolutely no chance against him! He then went on a killing spree, enslaved every human on the surface, and expanded hell beyond the underworld! He even broke into heaven and contaminated the blood of the immortal ruler of the angels! All in one night. He's crazy!"

"What about Noah and Sophia?"

"They should be safe... Vlad split his powers into the two of them."

"Should be? What's with all the uncertainty this time round?"

"This time it isn't because world destruction is something new, but I had completely lost all signal and connection with that world. This happens whenever a world is lost to us. Ever since he killed off the lead couple, there was a huge fluctuation in the world's consciousness which interfered with the information transmission. Even I don't know the details of how the following events happened, I just know that those events took place. Then everything was lost the moment Vlad transferred his powers to the children. Anyway, I think you should worry more about yourself..."

With BaoBao's reminder, she was hit with the realisation that she had grown used to and even a little emotionally attached to the life she led with Vlad and the children. She had not moved on from her time in the previous world yet. She frowned as she mentally chided herself for losing her focus. "So... Is there some punishment in store for me?"

"I'm still waiting for news from the administrators but I sure hope there wouldn't be any punishment... The world destruction has nothing to do with you..." BaoBao continued to pout. Nothing seemed to be going right at the moment.

Luna decided to use this time to delve a little into history and distract BaoBao from their current plight. "BaoBao, you mentioned that this was not the first time a world has been destroyed. What exactly do you mean by that? How did it happen and why?"

"We term it 'world destruction' but it's not really destroyed per say. It doesn't crumble and vanish into nothing. What happens is that the world consciousness just goes completely haywire and unstable. It's in a very vulnerable state for bugs to happen which is likely what happens. When that happens, further instability is created, resulting in a never-ending vicious cycle."

"And you systems can't help because of some connection issue that you mentioned earlier?"

"Exactly. We won't be able to establish any connection with the world. It's as if it isolated itself. We don't know if it will stabilise again because that has never happened. Even if it would, no one knows how long it would take."

Luna could not help but feel a slight ache in her heart. Vlad... Noah, Sophia...

BaoBao continued explaining, missing Luna's moment of vulnerability. "This happens whenever the events that happened stray too far from the intended path, fate, story, whatever you wish to call it. This often happens due to bugs and sometimes hosts who were supposed to help. Those hosts either grew too attached to the world or became overly ambitious. Either way, they end up simply doing whatever the hell they wanted."

"What happens to those hosts? The administrators don't sound kind enough to overlook such transgressions."

BaoBao nodded. "There's this thing called a punishment world. It's sole purpose is to waste your time. And it's not wasting it idly, it's a lifetime of suffering for nothing."

Luna blinked several times. Why's BaoBao making it sound like something really bad? "That's it?"

"Well, if the hosts are really good to the point that they'd dominate and beat the world's consciousness that is supposedly really stable and strong to be listed as punishment worlds, we have no choice but to abandon them. We return them to wherever they came from but they do not get the privilege of changing their death since they failed to uphold their side of the deal."

"That sounds fair. You're losing resources that's valuable to your kind because of them."

BaoBao's jaw dropped. "Fine if you say that it's fair for those other hosts who intentionally changed the way things were supposed to be in the world, but you-" Suddenly, he froze in the midst of speaking, only to disappear in the next moment. 

"BaoBao? BaoBao!" Luna called out to him to no avail. She frowned. Where did he go this time? I hope nothing happened to him again.

Luna patiently waited for BaoBao in the black space. Overtime, she could not help but feel the weight of Vlad's absence. He was always either talking with or to her or hovering around her. Ah... I really should stop this... 

She fell back as if lying down on an invisible bed, and remained floating, then put an arm over her eyes. Soon after, she felt the familiar sudden and rough tug on her soul which indicated another transmigration. Wha-

 

Somewhere deep in the universe, while Luna was waiting for BaoBao, BaoBao was standing in front of a group of old men and women. Their features could be roughly made out from the stars and sparkles that they were made up of.

"This is a first."

"A brazen one."

"Gutsy."

"But irrational." 

"A system shouldn't be having those traits. What's going on?"

BaoBao had a stubborn look on his face. 

He had came here to push for his petition to reassess Luna's performance. They had received a failing grade for the evaluation by the administrators and a null grade by the world's consciousness since it could not be contacted. Not only that, they handed down news that Luna was to enter the punishment world next and they would only give him some time to explain to her what it was about before sending them there without a choice. This was not a luxury trip. Luna and BaoBao would have no control over when they wanted to be transmigrated. 

"It's clearly not my host's fault for the world destruction! Why're you still punishing her for it?! What did you expect her to do?!"

Several administrators took turns replying to him as if they shared one mind.

"She should have accounted for the possibility of a character going OOC. It would not be the first case."

"So was this a lapse in judgement on your part or her part?"

"Did you fail to inform her of the possibility? Or did she reject the idea which resulted in negligence? Could you perhaps be holding onto an ineffective host?"

"Child, remember that we choose only the best. We don't waste time, effort, or resources."

"No! I- I- ... There's potential in her! Especially for this new department! Our judgments aren't lacking!" BaoBao got a little tongue tied and nervous with their interrogation.

"Just potential?"

"Our purpose is not to develop some talent. We need already developed talents for what we send hosts to do. We cannot afford failures in case of cases like this."

"BaoBao, it seems you're not ready to be bound to hosts just yet."

"Yes. Too immature and impressionable."

BaoBao felt panic rising in him. Were they saying that he would have to be replaced? Or would Luna also be returned back to her world? No! He didn't want that! He had only just recently caught glimpses of Luna's true desire to live on in her world! This can't be the end!

"I'm fine! My host's fine! We're fine! All you old people are just being stubborn, biased, blind, old fools! Luna is completely innoce-" BaoBao's voice suddenly got caught in his throat as he felt heavily scruitinised by someone. The gaze was so intense that it made his skin crawl. He slowly shifted his eyes to the one who had not spoken a word from the moment he had arrived. He looked to be the oldest man there.

After a long moment of silence, the old man finally spoke, "You should know how this works BaoBao. This is how we should be. Decisions are final. No questions. No arguments. You know it and that is why you're panicking."

BaoBao found himself unable to refute back. He knew. He knew somewhere deep down that it would have been futile to come here to persuade them. He also knew that Luna would probably take this punishment with a pinch of salt. But he felt so stuffy inside that he had to vent it out. It felt so unfair. He did not know what possessed him but he felt like it would not feel right unless he at least tried.

"I'm sorry..." BaoBao said with a crestfallen expression.

"Begone then." And the transmigration was immediately initiated.

When BaoBao was gone, one of the administrators spoke. "You seem lenient with that system."

"I would have ended him there if he failed to restrain himself. However, not all hope is lost. He has probably learnt his lesson. We can afford to continue our observation and learn more about the deviant case."

No one found fault with his explanation so returned to their work without another word.

BaoBao... He really reminds me of you, my dear friend...