Chapter 154: Yu Sheng's Plan

The small room fell silent for a moment; Yu Sheng and Bai Liqing both sank into deep thought. Although Hu Li and Erin hadn't quite grasped the situation yet, they sensed from Yu Sheng's reaction that things were somewhat complicated, so neither dared to speak rashly.

After a while, Yu Sheng raised his head again, his gaze falling on the "ID card" on the screen. After staring at it for a few seconds, he withdrew his eyes and looked at the "Operation Record" before him.

"Can we determine exactly which one of them it is?"

"The name and the key ID number have been erased and cannot be restored. We cannot confirm if this was intentional," Bai Liqing said. "We can only judge that it was one of the twelve team members who executed the deep-dive mission seventy years ago... Perhaps we should exclude the two who successfully returned to the real world?"

Speaking of this, she suddenly paused, frowned, and gently shook her head: "No... According to the records in the file, the two deep-divers who returned to the real world very likely only had their bodies return; their souls should still be trapped in the 'Fairy Tale' Otherworld... just like the other ten."

Yu Sheng said nothing. His thoughts were in chaos at this moment; countless guesses and clues formed by connecting known information swirled like a vortex in his mind. He kept generating new hypotheses, only to have them continuously overturned by obvious contradictions or unexplainable loopholes.

After a while, his brows furrowed deeply, and he finally hesitated before breaking the silence: "Do you remember what we just discussed? The twelve deep-divers back then... the place they arrived at should not have been the Black Forest, yet this 'piece of paper' was picked up by me in the Black Forest, and the 'Hunter' is also an entity wandering deep within the Black Forest."

"This is also what confuses me," Bai Liqing did not hide her confusion. "'The deep-dive team from seventy years ago did not enter any known subset of the 'Fairy Tale' Otherworld' has been one of the Special Bureau's conclusions regarding that operation all along. Logically, even if those deep-divers back then really left some 'relics' in the Otherworld, these items should not appear in the Black Forest, unless..."

Yu Sheng raised his head: "Unless?"

"Unless after the accident erupted, those deep-divers were still active deep within the 'Fairy Tale'... and eventually found a path leading to the Black Forest."

Yu Sheng's eyes instantly sharpened, then he slowly spoke: "And then, they, or one of them, became the 'Hunter' in the Black Forest..."

Just then, Erin, who had been speaking very little beside him, suddenly tugged his sleeve. The small doll hesitated before saying: "Um, don't blame me for being a killjoy, but the 'Hunter' isn't necessarily one of the deep-divers from back then. It's also possible those team members were killed, and that ID card is the 'Hunter's' trophy. After all, the 'Hunter' is itself an entity in the Black Forest, right..."

Yu Sheng and Bai Liqing both turned their gaze to Erin at the same time. The latter instinctively shrank her neck: "I said don't blame me for being a killjoy; this is just a guess."

Bai Liqing fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly: "Yes, we cannot rule out this possibility either."

Yu Sheng did not respond; he simply couldn't help but recall his experiences deep within the Black Forest, recalling that dim wooden house hung with red capes, and the moment he faced that hollow figure draped in hunting gear.

That Hunter had no face, no speech, and strange mannerisms; its movements were dull and stiff. From every aspect, it looked more like a strange entity generated by the Otherworld than a "living thing" possessing human nature.

But when Yu Sheng told it that the child swallowed by the Wolf Grandmother had been safely returned to the real world, that empty hood did indeed nod gently.

Was that barely perceptible nod the remnant of its humanity?

"Is there more detailed information?" Yu Sheng suddenly broke the silence, pointing his finger at the list in the file on the table. "About this team of twelve."

"Yes," Bai Liqing nodded immediately. "I'll have someone bring it; it will arrive very soon."

Saying this, she picked up the phone on the table and gave a few instructions to a subordinate.

For the next short while, Yu Sheng waited patiently while keeping an eye on the situation across the large window.

The laboratory across the way was still busy—although the technicians had successfully restored the original appearance of that "piece of paper" and confirmed its origin, there was still much intelligence on the paper worth analyzing: changes in physical and chemical properties, the composition of stains on the paper, soil particles carried... These insignificant, tiny clues could all become chips for those "ordinary people" to use against the Otherworld.

And in another part of the window, the situation in another operation room could be seen: the mysterious metal device that had "emerged" from the room at 66 Wutong Road was undergoing a new round of instrument scanning. Compared to the intelligence quickly obtained from that "piece of paper," the analysis work on this sample was clearly encountering difficulties; the technicians on site had not yet fed back any valuable information.

But perhaps this state of "difficulty" is the usual condition when conducting Otherworld sample analysis.

However, Yu Sheng's attention now was mostly no longer on that "iron lump"; he was more concerned with matters related to the "Fairy Tale."

Less than ten minutes later, the materials Yu Sheng requested were delivered into the small room.

It was a stack of personnel files temporarily printed from the database, a thin dozen or so sheets of paper, bearing the simple information of that batch of deep-divers from back then—names, ages, photos, service records, and so on.

Yu Sheng flipped through them one by one, gradually matching their names with the list on the operation file, while looking at those black-and-white portraits.

Twelve people, some male and some female; some were elite veterans who looked to be middle-aged, while others were young people who looked about the same age as him.

At the end of the file was a group photo. The twelve people, wearing some kind of heavy protective armor with a somewhat "old-school sci-fi" aesthetic, stood neatly in front of a building. They were not slinging arms over shoulders, nor striking any poses of victory or encouragement; they just stood straight, stiffly, taking a group photo after removing their helmets and standing at attention.

"This is the group photo taken before they departed," Bai Liqing said beside him. "This is the Special Bureau's rule: before every team executes a deep-dive mission, all action team members participating in the dive must take a group photo."

"Hmm," Yu Sheng nodded gently, staring quietly at the group photo printed on the A4 paper before him. After a while, he suddenly spoke: "Can I take this away? Just take this one; I won't take the other materials."

"What do you plan to do?" Bai Liqing asked curiously.

"To show it to that 'Hunter,' if there's a chance."

Bai Liqing fell silent for a while, seemingly thinking.

"In principle, this batch of materials cannot be taken out; not even a single sheet of paper." She said calmly.

Yu Sheng: "... Uh, okay..."

"But the principle is in my hands," Bai Liqing continued, pushing the sheet of paper toward Yu Sheng. "Take it away. Don't spread it externally. After the incident ends, destroy it at an appropriate time."

Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned: "...?"

Bai Liqing looked at him: "Is there a problem?"

Yu Sheng finally reacted, taking the paper, folding it, and putting it away while muttering with a somewhat strange tone: "Uh, I didn't expect you to have a sense of humor after all."

"I am not a steel-faced stoic."

Yu Sheng: "I didn't say those words..."

"I am just used to being serious," Bai Liqing still showed no expression, as if she didn't care at all what Yu Sheng was saying, and immediately changed the subject. "Tell me your plan. How do you intend to deal with the 'Fairy Tale'? Besides this intelligence, what else do you need us to do? We will do our utmost."

Yu Sheng immediately felt a bit embarrassed: "Uh, your help has already been quite significant..."

"Regarding the matter of the 'Fairy Tale,' the Special Bureau has an old score to settle," Bai Liqing interrupted him with a calm gaze and tone. "On the other hand, you are the only 'adult' so far who can enter a 'subset' just like those children without being affected, and you also successfully rescued a child from deep within the Black Forest. We have ample reasons to continue providing assistance."

Those colorless eyes were calm and firm. Yu Sheng met that gaze for a while, then gently exhaled.

"I am trying to root out the 'Storyteller' behind the Black Forest," he said slowly. "Based on my observations of the Black Forest and my perception of those wolf packs, it can now be basically confirmed that every subset of the 'Fairy Tale' is controlled and driven by a 'Story Source.' This source is very likely the thing that the deep-dive team encountered back then. But the problem I face is that I can enter the Black Forest, yet I cannot find the path to 'behind the stage.' This situation might be exactly the opposite of what that team encountered back then."

Speaking of this, he paused and looked seriously into Bai Liqing's eyes: "They very likely landed directly behind the stage."

Bai Liqing immediately understood the meaning of this sentence: "So, if the 'Hunter' in the Black Forest really is one of the deep-divers from back then..."

"... then it would know how to go behind the stage," Yu Sheng nodded. "That team might have already successfully drilled through the deep barrier of the 'Fairy Tale' back then—only that by the time they drilled through, they had completely lost contact with the real world."

"But the 'Hunter' cannot communicate and has no reason."

"So I need this," Yu Sheng pointed to his pocket where he had placed the group photo against his body. "This thing might work."

"Using a group photo to redeem a soul that has already become an entity, to restore its empty humanity?" Bai Liqing's gaze toward Yu Sheng seemed somewhat strange. "Do you really think something that feels like a plot from a novel... will work?"

"If it doesn't work, we'll think of other methods," Yu Sheng was quite open about it, a smile on his face. "Anyway, let's just try."

(End of Chapter)