Chapter 156: Bai Liqing

In fact, Director Lady still needs practice when dealing with Yu Sheng.

She verified it several times before confirming she hadn't misheard.

Yu Sheng enthusiastically introduced Bai Liqing to his ambitious StarX Valley agritourism plan, the practical difficulties he'd encountered in "farming in a foreign land," and detailed the feasibility and current progress, leaving even the well-traveled Bai Liqing stunned.

To be fair, in her many years as Special Operations Director, Bai Liqing had seen everything—but this, she truly had never seen before…

"Actually, I still need quite a bit of help," Yu Sheng continued, seemingly oblivious to the subtle shift in Bai Liqing's expression (after all, this lady's expressions were notoriously hard to read), still speaking with enthusiasm, "everything I told you is just surface-level. The key issue is that there's no electricity in the valley. Could you possibly arrange some power generation equipment? But there's also no sunlight there—the ambient light is bright, but no one knows if it can power solar panels. There's a small river at the foot of the mountain, but it's too tiny; even a small hydroelectric station would be a stretch. If all else fails, we'd have to go with thermal power…"

Yu Sheng rattled off this long list cheerfully, then suddenly realized something after a while, fell silent, and looked awkwardly at the female director: "Uh… are my demands too much?"

Bai Liqing was frozen for several seconds, unable to think of anything to say, until Yu Sheng spoke again—only then did she snap back, forcing her usual calm expression as she replied: "... I'll do my best to arrange it."

Then she paused, as if gathering her thoughts, and her tone turned serious: "I'm astonished—what you've described is an entirely unexplored field. Frankly, just your ideas alone hold immense research value… I'm deeply interested in everything about that valley—its transformations, its current environment."

"Uh, I didn't think that far—I just felt it was a waste to leave such a vast area unused," Yu Sheng scratched his head, "So is it settled? I can open certain designated areas of the valley for your investigation, and you provide supplies and personnel?"

"No problem," Bai Liqing nodded solemnly, "The exact scope and list of 'support' items can be finalized after our specialists conduct an on-site survey."

Yu Sheng smiled, stood up from his chair, and extended his hand: "Then, good cooperation."

Bai Liqing hesitated slightly, then stood as well and shook his hand: "Good cooperation."

Yu Sheng exhaled softly, glanced back at the still-busy lab across the room, paused thoughtfully, then said: "We've covered everything we needed to. That 'metal part' I brought seems impossible to analyze right now… Since there's nothing urgent, could you show me around the vicinity? Consider it a celebration of our new 'cooperation project'—I'm quite curious about your headquarters building."

Bai Liqing blinked slightly, then nodded: "Of course."

"Then, Ailin, you and Hu Li wait here?" Yu Sheng turned to the doll and the fox spirit.

Ailin looked surprised, but before she could speak, Hu Li had already stood up instinctively: "Master, I'll come with you…"

"We're just taking a short walk," Yu Sheng reached out and rubbed the fur behind Hu Li's ear, "We'll discuss setting up an investigation team in the valley. It won't be interesting for you—stay here with Ailin and keep an eye on the lab."

Hu Li froze, still looking uncertain.

But Ailin suddenly stood up, climbed onto the table, and tugged Hu Li's tail: "Fine, we'll wait here for Yu Sheng…"

As she spoke, she turned to Bai Liqing: "By the way, do you have any snacks here? Send us some—we'll eat while we wait."

"Alright, I'll have someone bring some," Bai Liqing nodded, "Our staff snacks are quite popular."

Hearing this, Hu Li finally sat back down obediently, assuming the posture of someone waiting for food, and watched Yu Sheng: "Master, come back soon—I'll wait for you—don't go too far, okay?"

Yu Sheng nodded with a smile, tapped his fist lightly against Ailin's tiny fist, then turned and followed Bai Liqing out of the room at a leisurely pace.

Bai Liqing said nothing on the way, like a moving ice statue, maintaining her unchanging expression and mechanically precise steps, leading Yu Sheng down the long corridor of floor 54-1/2, offering only a slight nod in response to greetings from passing Special Ops staff. They entered the elevator at the corridor's end, and the elevator began ascending rapidly.

"Where are we going?" Yu Sheng asked curiously, seeing Bai Liqing swipe a black card but select no floor—the elevator had already determined its destination and was accelerating swiftly.

"N Level," Bai Liqing replied casually, "A suitable place to talk."

Yu Sheng instinctively glanced at the elevator's control panel but saw no "N Level" option—only numbers climbing continuously, then, after surpassing some threshold, the display stopped showing floor numbers and instead constantly read "Elevator Ascending."

After a while, he felt the elevator slow down, the cabin lights dimming, the "ascending" message vanishing. Seconds later, accompanied by a slight jolt, all characters on the screen vanished, leaving only a single large letter: N.

The cabin doors opened. Bai Liqing stepped out first. Yu Sheng hesitated slightly, then followed, curious.

He stared in disbelief at the place.

Outside the elevator was neither corridor nor room—only a barren expanse of dark, jagged rocks. The entire ground spanned perhaps only a few hundred meters, its edges shattered, with countless floating stones suspended in midair. Even this few-hundred-meter "land" seemed to float in emptiness.

Beyond this "island" stretched an endless, chaotic void, pierced by vast, brilliant streams of radiant light that ran from horizon to horizon like suspended rivers of luminous energy, hanging high above the "lonely island."

Yu Sheng turned back toward where they came from and saw the "elevator" jutting abruptly from the center of this "void island," its shaft like a pipe piercing through the rocky ground, extending upward endlessly into the depths of the radiant light stream.

"…Your headquarters building really has stunning scenery. Is this still the Borderland?"

"Welcome to the 'roof' of the Borderland—at least, part of it," Bai Liqing said coolly. "Few come here. Though it's always been my favorite viewing deck, others seem to dislike it—would you like something to drink?"

Yu Sheng blinked, then noticed a small flat patch of ground near the elevator, surrounded by stones, with a sofa, coffee table, chairs, a bar counter, even a beverage cabinet and an ice maker—Bai Liqing was now retrieving drinks and ice cubes from the machine, extending an invitation.

Yu Sheng stared: "…How did you even hook up water and electricity here?"

Bai Liqing: "…Huh?"

Yu Sheng repeated: "I mean, water and electricity…"

Bai Liqing finally showed a strange expression: "I've hosted many guests here. You're the first to ask this question."

"I'm just particular about logic," Yu Sheng walked over and sat on the sofa. "Water, lots of ice."

Bai Liqing poured him a glass of iced water and replied calmly: "It's drawn from the elevator shaft. But if you ask how the shaft 'pierces' here, I can't explain it—that's for Engineering to answer."

Yu Sheng nodded, didn't press further, drank some water, gathered his thoughts, then asked bluntly: "Be straight with me—what exactly is Hu Li's origin?"

Bai Liqing showed no surprise.

Her reply was startlingly direct: "We suspect she's from 'outside.'"

"Outside?" Yu Sheng frowned immediately. "You mean…"

"Remember the materials Song Cheng gave you?" Bai Liqing looked into his eyes. "About the Obscure Angels."

Yu Sheng froze slightly, then understood, murmuring: "Obscure Angels are 'invaders' from beyond the world…"

"Correct. The keyword is 'beyond the world,'" Bai Liqing set down her cup, expression calm. "Their appearance revealed to us long ago a fact: beyond our 'known universe,' there exist other 'things'—radically different, incompatible, bizarre entities. At least, until the girl beside you—Hu Li—appeared, that was our entire understanding of 'extraterrestrials.'"

Yu Sheng stood there, mouth open for several seconds, then frowned slightly: "Hu Li isn't an Obscure Angel, nor an invader—she's a victim of Obscure Angels."

"Yes, I know. That's why I only said she might be an 'outsider,' not an Obscure Angel or anything similar," Bai Liqing remained calm. "Though this challenges our entire current understanding of 'outsiders,' I can still make a rational judgment."

(End of Chapter)