Chapter 151: Sample Inspection and Archival Records

Yu Sheng felt a bit dazed; the solemnity and caution displayed by the laboratory staff when taking over the samples far exceeded his expectations—taking the piece of paper had seemed normal, but when they later took away that iron lump, it was clearly off.

... So things brought out from No. 66 Wutong Road could make the Special Operations Bureau react as if facing a deadly enemy?

Many thoughts sprang to Yu Sheng's mind, but he knew the Xu Jiali before him certainly wouldn't reveal anything—and he guessed that even if the other party wanted to reveal something, there was nothing to reveal, after all, this fierce man was ultimately just a senior combatant and probably couldn't access too many core secrets.

So Yu Sheng said nothing; after watching the laboratory staff take the items inside, he let out a breath, turned to look at Xu Jiali, and asked, "So just leaving it to them is fine? I thought I could tour the process..."

"Of course you can tour, but in the observation room next door," Xu Jiali smiled, "this is after all a laboratory with very high security specifications; getting inside is very troublesome. Changing clothes, removing static electricity, injecting rationality blockers, and so on—a whole process that takes at least half an hour to start, and only personnel who have undergone specialized training can enter the operation area; it's too much hassle."

While speaking, he raised a hand and pointed to another door in the corridor beside them: "Follow me; you can see the situation inside the laboratory from this room. The materials you requested have already been sent over, and also... our Director is waiting for you."

"Your Director? She came personally again?" Yu Sheng was somewhat surprised; as he led Hu Li and Erin toward the next room, he spoke, "It's a bit embarrassing, always disturbing her..."

Xu Jiali just smiled and didn't say much; after leading Yu Sheng's group to the door of the adjacent observation room, he knocked, reported, then stepped back half a pace: "I won't go in; the Director doesn't like anyone disturbing her when receiving guests."

Yu Sheng made an "oh" sound, thanked the other party for their guidance work, stood at the door to adjust his expression, and pushed the door open to enter.

What came into view was a not-so-spacious rectangular room, with light brown flooring and light blue wallpaper, bright lighting, and a comfortable temperature.

Because it was essentially just an "observation room" attached to the laboratory, the furnishings inside were simple and plain; besides some control platforms and monitoring equipment installed against the wall whose purpose was unclear, there was only a table and several chairs that seemed to have been temporarily moved in.

A figure wearing a white suit-skirt, whose entire form gave a sense of lacking color and texture, stood in the room, and behind her was a huge window occupying almost the entire wall—through that window of unknown material emitting a faint blue glow, Yu Sheng could see a quite spacious laboratory on the opposite side, where many staff members in protective suits were busy at work, and the focus of their busyness was precisely the "sample" he had just sent in.

"Welcome to the Special Operations Bureau," Bai Liqing's voice interrupted Yu Sheng's curious gaze at the laboratory; the female Director, whose temperament was cool and clear, seemed to show a trace of a smile on her face, "I apologize that our first reception is in such a humble room—but I think compared to a comfortable reception room, you should be more concerned about the analysis situation of the sample."

"Indeed, I am a practical person, and I am indeed very interested in the... 'work' of these professionals."

While speaking, Yu Sheng stepped forward to the large window; he saw several technicians in protective suits placing the paper left behind by the "Entity-Hunter" under an instrument and spraying some liquid onto the paper, appearing to be conducting the most preliminary processing.

Bai Liqing then fixed her gaze on Hu Li and Erin.

Deep within her colorless eyes, a hint of curiosity and scrutiny seemed to faintly flow.

Erin, not afraid at all, climbed onto the chair closest to her, hands on her hips as usual, looking full of spirit, and stared back at the female Director.

Hu Li, somewhat constrained, came to Yu Sheng's side and nodded to Bai Liqing: "Y-you... hello."

"Hello," Bai Liqing said with a faint nod.

"Where is the other sample I sent?" Yu Sheng asked curiously, turning back, "The one, that iron lump whose use is unknown."

"The two samples need to be processed in separate zones; it was sent to another operation compartment."

While speaking, Bai Liqing casually operated a terminal device on the table a few times; the next second, Yu Sheng saw that "window" occupying almost an entire wall suddenly flicker, and immediately half of its area displayed the situation of another operation zone.

Technicians in protective suits were putting that "iron lump" into a peculiar transparent tubular container and placing the container on the operation table, seemingly preparing to irradiate or scan it with some high-power device.

Yu Sheng watched the change in the scene opposite the "window" in surprise, suddenly frowned, and turned thoughtfully to look at Bai Liqing: "... Is that laboratory opposite really 'opposite'?"

"Not entirely," a trace of amusement surfaced in Bai Liqing's eyes, "It seems you have already learned many 'characteristics' of this building on your way here."

"Is that 'iron lump' very special?" Yu Sheng finally voiced the doubt in his heart, "I saw you all acting as if facing a deadly enemy... I even posted a question on 'Border Communications' before, and no one knew what that thing was..."

"After hearing you mention it yesterday, I found the inquiry information you posted previously," Bai Liqing answered quite straightforwardly, "To be honest, we actually don't know what that thing is."

"Uh... you don't know either?" Yu Sheng was stunned, "Then why such a big production..."

"Precisely because we cannot confirm what that thing is through any means, and even after using some 'unusual' methods, we found no corresponding clues or records, we are especially interested in it," Bai Liqing said very seriously, "The appearance of 'foreign objects' in an Otherworld that is already in a stable state is a rare phenomenon; this is worth our extra attention."

Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, feeling that what the other party said seemed reasonable, but suddenly his train of thought shifted, and he discovered a blind spot: "If you say that, then No. 66 Wutong Road actually often has foreign objects..."

Then he saw Bai Liqing, who had been extremely calm and composed just a second ago, suddenly widen her eyes, her gaze even somewhat sharp: "What did you say? Other 'foreign objects' appeared there?!"

Yu Sheng was startled by the other party's attitude; although he didn't know why the female Director reacted so strongly, he quickly explained: "Well, I have to go out to buy things sometimes, like visiting a supermarket or going to the vegetable market, you see that plastic bag on the table inside, that's what I brought back from the supermarket last time..."

Bai Liqing: "..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

The room suddenly fell silent; Yu Sheng and Bai Liqing, neither speaking, just stared at each other with wide eyes; seeing this situation, Hu Li beside them immediately stood up the fluff behind her ears (after arriving at the Special Operations Bureau, she had returned to her most familiar fox-spirit form), while Erin silently climbed down from the chair, muttering as she climbed: "Definitely cursing again, hey..."

"... I didn't explain clearly," Bai Liqing suddenly took a light breath and explained calmly to Yu Sheng, "I was referring to the phenomenon of unknown substances suddenly generating or 'appearing' out of thin air inside No. 66 Wutong Road—your going out to buy things doesn't count."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, tried hard to keep his face straight, turned around, and sat down on a nearby chair: "Well, let's talk about the Black Forest matter first."

"Good," Bai Liqing immediately sat down opposite him, then pushed some organized documents on the table toward Yu Sheng, "These are copies of materials retrieved from the archives—including the operation records and basic personnel information from that year; you can take a general look first. The materials cannot be taken away; they will be destroyed after leaving this room. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me directly now."

Yu Sheng quickly adjusted his expression and mind, cast aside irrelevant thoughts, and opened those paper files that were obviously just photocopied or printed today, with destruction deadlines printed on their covers.

Opening the first file, the first thing that came into his view was several large, bold characters—

Operation Codename: Adulthood.

Yu Sheng's eyes changed slightly in an instant.

Bai Liqing's voice then entered his ears:

"The operation back then was named 'Adulthood'; from the name, you should understand what it means—from the perspective of later generations, this operation had many immature, rash, and even arrogant components; you should also notice those 'mistakes' that could have been avoided in the materials, but I must say, any so-called 'correct' path we know today was tested bit by bit with the lives of those pioneers who once made mistakes."

"I understand," Yu Sheng let out a light breath, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Bai Liqing nodded slightly.

"When 'Fairy Tale' was first discovered, we knew very little about it, and the characteristics it displayed were extremely deceptive," she slowly began, "At that time, the Special Operations Bureau believed its power should be similar to some kind of mental imprisonment cage, a 'consciousness trap' specifically targeting minors, with limited strength and slow onset; on the other hand, in the early stages of the 'Fairy Tale' outbreak, the destructive power exhibited by the children affected by it... was not very strong; many children would even just have nightmares, so the Special Operations Bureau at that time made the first misjudgment about 'Fairy Tale', which was also proven to be the most serious misjudgment afterwards."

"We thought it... wasn't very strong; after all, judging from the cases on the surface, even children around ten years old could resist its mental pollution for a long time..."

(End of Chapter)