Chapter 218: After the Overflow Recedes

Yu Sheng stood motionless at the doorway, one hand still holding open the passage to the valley, while his eyes stared fixedly into the depths of the hall, at the staircase leading underground.

He could be certain he had truly seen the Hunter's figure just now—worn hunting gear, a thick hood, empty beneath the hood; the other stood silently within his line of sight. Although it lasted only a blink, that Hunter... was definitely staring right at him.

Why did the Hunter appear? Was it because Little Red Riding Hood left last, causing the "Black Forest" subset to not fully recede? Was it because something still lingered inside this building? Or was it because... Anka Ela's activity was intensifying further?

Besides, Yu Sheng could be certain the other had been looking at him just now. Did that mysterious Hunter... want to communicate something with him?

He frowned tightly, and just then, he saw a figure flicker beside the door he had opened. Irene leaned in, peering curiously through the doorway: "Eh? Yu Sheng, why aren't you coming over?"

"You take Little Red Riding Hood and the others to settle the children first," Yu Sheng said quickly, "I'll check this area a bit more, then return shortly."

"Oh," the small doll nodded, not asking much more, "Then come over early. There's a huge pile of kids here; I'm afraid once they adapt, they'll come grab me. I can't hold them off then..."

Yu Sheng casually agreed, then released the hand holding the doorknob.

The passage to the valley closed in the blink of an eye; the landscape floating in the doorframe vanished into thin air, leaving only the empty courtyard outside the East Building immersed in the night.

With a sense of inexplicable caution and vigilance in his heart, Yu Sheng first checked the first floor, then went up to the second floor, walking slowly forward along the corridor.

The building was lit, doors everywhere were open, and traces of the children's hasty relocation could still be seen inside the rooms—beds were unmade, items too late to take were left on tables or at the foot of beds, and knocked-over chairs lay abandoned on the floor, simply lying there.

In the empty, silent hallway, only Yu Sheng's footsteps echoed.

No strange sounds, no lights suddenly appearing outside the windows, nor strange shadows emerging from the air or walls—Yu Sheng checked the second and third floors and saw no unnatural phenomena again.

It seemed that with the children's relocation, the "overflow" of the fairy tale had indeed stopped; the Hunter's appearance earlier was likely just some phenomenon similar to an "aftershock."

... Was it really just that?

A trace of doubt remained in Yu Sheng's heart, and then his phone rang.

The caller was Song Cheng—the children had been relocated early, the engineering personnel on the valley side had received notice, and this news would naturally reach the Special Operations Bureau.

Answering the call, Yu Sheng spoke before the other could: "The children have been urgently relocated; the 'overflow' phenomenon in the orphanage has now stopped, and all illusions entering the real world have receded. I am patrolling the corridors; currently, only I remain here."

"Good," a relieved voice came from the other end of the phone, "It's good that the overflow has stopped... a small team is already heading your way, arriving in about ten minutes. They will be responsible for monitoring that place afterwards."

"Alright, I'll wait a bit longer," Yu Sheng said, then looked up through the corridor window at the sky outside—that was the place previously illuminated by the "Prince's" anti-aircraft fire. "Just now, overflowing illusions were everywhere here; some illusions I saw even extended beyond the orphanage walls, or up into the sky... Did they cause too much impact on the surroundings?"

"That is exactly what I wanted to say—currently, no eyewitness reports regarding this have been received, and the sensing equipment set up by the Special Operations Bureau around the orphanage has not detected any abnormal signals," Song Cheng's tone sounded somewhat heavy. "The Bureau is rushing to confirm data from sensors at other locations and from the recent 'nodes' transmitting back, but currently it seems... I'm afraid all equipment failed to capture those 'overflowing illusions' you mentioned."

Yu Sheng stopped in his tracks, his expression somewhat stunned.

Those illusions overflowing from the nightmare just now were so massive, even including the roar of artillery and flames shooting toward the sky, yet there wasn't a single sound outside the orphanage?!

No eyewitness reports was one thing, after all, it was already the middle of the night, and the orphanage surroundings were naturally equipped with "node" devices shielding ordinary people, but even the monitoring equipment set up by the Special Operations Bureau nearby failed to capture any anomalies; this was a bit suspicious.

... Could it be that those illusions overflowing from the nightmare were only "visible" within the scope of the orphanage?

Puzzled, Yu Sheng told his hypothesis to Song Cheng on the other end of the phone. After listening, the other remained silent for two or three seconds before speaking: "... Very likely. Those 'overflowing' illusions are essentially still the 'nightmares' of the Fairy Tale members, not truly 'physical objects' invading reality. You also mentioned that after those illusions receded, they left no traces in the real world, which indicates their 'visibility' is still greatly restricted."

"Then we should feel fortunate that we controlled the 'overflow' in time while those illusions were still just illusions." Yu Sheng let out a light sigh.

Just then, through the window, he saw several lights appear outside the orphanage walls—that was the glow of car headlights coming from the direction of the intersection.

Song Cheng's voice also came from the phone: "Our people have arrived; they are at the main gate."

"I see them—I'll go down to meet them." Yu Sheng arrived at the orphanage's main gate. As soon as he stepped out, he saw several black vans bearing the Special Operations Bureau emblem parked by the wall. The doors opened, and more than a dozen black figures, fully armed to the teeth in Special Operations Bureau agent gear, looking like future spies, jumped down from the vehicles—they looked incredibly professional, and among the group was an especially familiar face.

Li Lin.

When Yu Sheng saw this young Special Operations Bureau agent, his first reaction was to freeze, quite unable to recognize him—because now the other was wearing full tactical combat armor and holding a gun; that style, placed in an FPS game as an NPC, could at least tank a full magazine from the protagonist's squad. Yet Yu Sheng's deepest impression of this young man remained stuck on the image of him buying discounted instant noodles in the neighborhood supermarket and squatting by the roadside acting like a "spiritual youth"...

The image of the "spiritual youth" in memory and the elite agent image before his eyes overlapped for a long time without matching up. Only when Li Lin walked over proactively did Yu Sheng belatedly raise his hand to greet the other: "Uh, it's you?"

"Yes," Li Lin nodded, then snapped to attention with a sharp "clap," speaking in a highly trained, rigid manner: "Special Operations Bureau, Second Action Brigade, 'Fairy Tale' Emergency Response Team, Li Lin. Currently acting as on-site commander, taking over monitoring and garrison duties for this area!"

Yu Sheng listened, stunned, and couldn't help but blurt out: "... You are the on-site commander?"

"I was also transferred here temporarily," Li Lin said, his expression turning somewhat bitter. He leaned in and lowered his voice: "Brother Yu, I'm freaking out right now..."

Yu Sheng had been somewhat unaccustomed to Li Lin's current appearance, but as soon as the other spoke, he couldn't help but laugh, then curiously asked casually: "Where is Xu Jiali?"

"He is a Deep Diver, on standby at headquarters. He will only be deployed if the Otherworld truly goes out of control," Li Lin explained in a low voice. "Our group's main mission is to keep watch here—how is the situation inside now?"

"Ahem, there's no situation inside now; the situation just now was quite lively," Yu Sheng coughed twice, then briefly recounted the situation in the orphanage to the other. "... Basically that's it. After the children evacuated, the overflowing phenomena here have stopped, but since we are unsure if the orphanage itself has any 'mutation' factors, someone still needs to stay and watch. I will withdraw shortly to oversee the settlement point; I'm leaving this place to you."

No mistake, one sentence, one chapter, one content, all in one place!

"Received, leave this to us and rest assured," Li Lin nodded immediately. At this moment, he truly displayed a bit of the reliability of an elite agent. "Go ahead and rest easy."

Yu Sheng felt the other's words sounded more and more wrong as he listened; of course, it might also be because he had died so many times recently that he was more sensitive to this kind of thing, similar to a professional funeral...

However, he didn't pay much attention. After explaining the orphanage situation, the characteristics of those overflowing illusions, precautions, and other matters to the young agent before him, Yu Sheng waved his hand at Li Lin, casually picked up his phone to file a report, pushed open the door, and headed for the valley.

Then, the very first second after crossing the portal, he heard Irene's noisy commotion in his ear—

"Aaaah Yu Sheng!! Help! —Someone manage these naughty kids!!!"

Yu Sheng was startled, then saw several doll heads running wildly in circles on the grass nearby, with Irene being chased ahead like a rabbit, her short legs kicking up sparks as if they were about to catch fire...

And further away, he saw several "parents" from the Fairy Tale organization leading a group of children resting on the grass and platforms, Little Red Riding Hood communicating with the person in charge near the settlement point construction site, and the Fox Miss running over this way.

Good, the children were happy and adapted here, with no accidents—relief arose spontaneously.

A smile appeared on Yu Sheng's face as he greeted the Fox Miss, who was running over excitedly. The latter shouted happily while running: "Benefactor! Benefactor! Human toddlers are so much fun!"

Yu Sheng laughed cheerfully, but stopped abruptly halfway, then finally noticed the situation on the other side of the platform out of the corner of his eye—several fox tails emitting blue flames were zipping back and forth above the grass, with a cheerful doll head hanging from each tail...

Cold sweat practically sprayed out of him instantly: "... Damn! You can't play like that!"

Irene continued running in circles on the grass nearby, shouting even louder than Yu Sheng: "You can't play like that either!! Is there anyone coming to manage this?!"

(End of Chapter)