Chapter 241: Regarding Aftermath

Yu Sheng had strong curiosity, but he also had boundaries—just looking at Bai Li Xue's appearance, even using his duodenum to think, he knew she certainly wasn't born with such astonishing bones; there must be a tortuous, bizarre, and winding story behind it, one that, if handed to a TV drama producer, would likely span at least eighty episodes across three seasons, plus two bonus episodes; and from his many contacts with Bai Li Qing over such a long time and Bai Li Xue's displayed attitude, Yu Sheng could clearly feel that the two of them did not wish to share too much of this past with outsiders.

At the very least, at this stage, he and Bai Li Qing were not yet close enough for that.

So Yu Sheng very well reined in his curiosity—for the time being.

Moreover, he had more important matters to discuss with the female bureau chief before him—regarding the Dark Angel, his curiosity was even stronger.

"Ahem, ahem," Yu Sheng cleared his throat, looking at Bai Li Qing with a serious face, "Regarding Ankaila, what do you want to ask?"

"Everything," Bai Li Qing still wore an expressionless look; anyway, no matter how it ended, every conversation she had with Yu Sheng began with "being able to hold it together," "from the moment you entered that wall until the Angel fell, I want to know what happened in between—of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch; the Special Operations Bureau is willing to pay any reward that does not cross the line for this intelligence."

Upon hearing that last sentence, Yu Sheng immediately perked up, leaning his body forward: "Then could the budgets for rebuilding the two orphanages be transferred to the 'Inn' and 'Fairy Tale' accounts respectively?"

Bai Li Qing simply held her serious face frozen there, remaining motionless for about five seconds.

"... Why two?"

Yu Sheng looked perfectly frank: "To get a bit more."

"... That request of yours is very unexpected," a twitch finally appeared at the corner of Bai Li Qing's mouth; this was the fastest progression from "holding it together" to "losing it" since she had contacted Yu Sheng so many times, "I thought you would request some privileges in the Borderland, such as access to the Special Operations Bureau's confidential database and the like; these things cannot be measured by money..."

"But for a 'Novice Spirit World Detective' who only recently figured out what a 'Foreign Realm' is, what you said is basically useless, especially for me—database? Even if you moved your entire database into my home, I wouldn't know where to start looking; I don't even know what I don't know," Yu Sheng laughed, "Besides, that's all abstract; if I really had problems, I could just come find you or Song Cheng directly; if it's something you can tell me, you naturally will; if it's something you can't let me know from the start, then in the end you'll certainly still have ten thousand ways to 'keep it secret' from me—whereas funds are more concrete; this is something 'Fairy Tale' and the children truly lack; you have no idea how much money it costs to raise a nine-tailed fox demon that has been starving for decades..."

Bai Li Qing sat opposite, listening with a stunned expression; after a long while, a faint, barely perceptible curve finally rose at the corner of her mouth: "You are very clear-headed."

"I am a pragmatist," Yu Sheng spread his hands, "My vision is just this short."

"Fine, I can agree to this; it is within my authority," Bai Li Qing agreed very readily, "Compared to the shock a single 'Angel Fall' brings to the entire world, what you are requesting is not much."

"Then let's talk about 'Ankaila' next," Yu Sheng smiled, adjusting his sitting posture on the sofa, "This is a very long story—first, starting from when we entered that 'umbilical cord' extending from the orphanage toward the sky..."

Yu Sheng spoke very slowly and in great detail; Bai Li Qing listened with utmost seriousness; for a very long time afterward, Yu Sheng kept recalling and narrating, with Bai Li Qing only interrupting occasionally when encountering parts that were too vague or utterly unbelievable.

After a long while, Bai Li Qing stood up and poured a drink for herself and Yu Sheng respectively.

The look in her eyes seemed somewhat dazed.

Yu Sheng saw all these changes.

"It's incredible, isn't it," he let out a long sigh, "especially after hearing the truth about Ankaila."

"... A spaceship from 'outside'," Bai Li Qing sat opposite, showing a look of utter confusion and entanglement for the first time, "There are countless speculations in this world about the origin and true purpose of the 'Dark Angels'; I originally thought that among so many speculations, at least one or two should be close to the truth, but I never expected the truth to be even more unbelievable than the most outrageous speculations... it's actually a ship?!"

"It was a ship when it set out, but after 'falling', it obviously changed into a different form," Yu Sheng reminded from the side, "I don't know the principle behind this; anyway, it seems even its essence changed; souls even arose within the steel."

Bai Li Qing wore a thoughtful expression, and then she heard Yu Sheng's voice sound again: "There is still one more question."

"One more question?" Bai Li Qing frowned slightly.

"That is whether 'Ankaila' is a special case, or whether all other Dark Angels are the same as it," Yu Sheng said very seriously, "Ankaila is a refugee ark; what about the others? The Tree Angel, the Goddess of Beauty, the Star of Hecate... as far as I know, every Dark Angel 'looks' different; not only are their appearances bizarre and varied, but their abilities differ vastly too; you say... can they be the same as 'Ankaila'? If they are not the same, then how many similarities exist among them?"

Bai Li Qing fell into thought; after a long time, she slowly spoke: "In my personal opinion, they should all be different; at least, they cannot all be 'refugee arks' like Ankaila, after all, the distinctions between them... are simply too great; but on the other hand, the intelligence you brought reveals a possibility: that other Dark Angels probably also possess similar 'mutation' phenomena." Yu Sheng nodded with a solemn expression.

Bai Li Qing continued speaking thoughtfully: "They 'enter' our world from beyond the universe; during the process of entering, they become unrecognizable forms, or in other words, they become forms that 'we' cannot 'identify' or 'understand'; at least in Ankaila's case, this change is not something the Dark Angel can actively initiate or control..."

"We have always regarded Dark Angels as 'invaders' launching active attacks, but Ankaila clearly resembles more a victim of an accident; it was 'thrown' into our world by some enormous disaster from its homeland..."

"But this does not mean all Dark Angels are like this," Yu Sheng reminded.

"Correct, we can only confirm that Ankaila is like this; at most, we can infer that some among the Dark Angels also exist in situations like it," Bai Li Qing nodded solemnly, "But even if there are many more 'Ankailas', it cannot change the reality that Dark Angels pose a huge threat to this world—after all, when they unleash a disaster, they do not need malice; their very existence is already a disaster."

Yu Sheng did not speak; he simply recalled the enormous umbilical cord extending toward the sky within that orphanage, and the "Angel Fetus" that had almost been born from the nightmare into the real world.

He knew Bai Li Qing was right.

"What I care about more now is whether there are other Dark Angels that, like Ankaila, possess 'mind' and can communicate," Bai Li Qing added, "If so, how many are there, and how should we 'identify' them?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, looking uncertainly at the serious-faced female bureau chief before him: "Don't tell me you're thinking that next time a Dark Angel descends somewhere, you'll just launch me over there?"

"Of course not," Bai Li Qing said with a sincere face, then turned her head away.

No mistake, one sentence, one content, all inside, all visible!

Yu Sheng: "..."

Lady, your attitude is very untrustworthy!

Yu Sheng's expression immediately became exceptionally serious: "Let me tell you, there are too many variables in this incident; many steps are irreproducible—including the 'Fairy Tale Book' used to establish contact with the Dark Angel, including the children serving as 'mediums', including that squirrel, and including the 'path' left for me by that Deep Dive Team seventy years ago; if any one of these is missing, the matter will not succeed.

"So it's not that I lead two people into the wall, have a 'talk therapy' session with that Dark Angel, and the opponent just lets go of their obsession, says 'ah', and dies—if you really launch me over whenever a descending Angel appears, the only result will be me saying 'ah' and dying, or perhaps I won't even be able to say 'ah'..."

Bai Li Qing turned her face back.

"We will not take such reckless action," she continued to say with a sincere face.

Afterwards, she took a sip of her drink and changed the topic: "You just said you 'fused' the 'Fairy Tale' Foreign Realm with that valley?"

"Yes," Yu Sheng nodded very frankly, "Now my valley has expanded again, and not just doubled; the people your Special Operations Bureau sent over there are all eyewitnesses; you should receive their more detailed reports very soon; however, you can also go see it with your own eyes—I personally feel the scenery after the fusion is quite good; there are even clouds in the sky, and the 'Fairy Tale Area' at the valley's edge has day-night changes, not as monotonous as before; you can go experience the primitive style of the Black Forest, or overlook the mountain scenery from Gao Ta... by the way, the ticket for that tower is twenty; I'm not collecting it; the Long-Haired Princess wants to charge."

Yu Sheng's tone was like that of a shady tour guide coaxing people onto a bus; as Bai Li Qing listened, her expression subtly began to lose its composure; however, being a bureau chief, she soon coughed twice to interrupt Yu Sheng: "Ahem, ahem, so that means the entire 'Fairy Tale' organization is now effectively 'incorporated' by you?"

"That's not the case," Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands, "They are just living at my place; although it looks like they may live there long-term, 'Fairy Tale' is still independent. Of course, they now say I am 'Fairy Tale's' biggest head of the household; I'm quite happy about that, but this is more of an honorary title..."

As Yu Sheng spoke, a smile that came from the bottom of his heart appeared on his face.

Even happier than when Bai Li Qing just agreed to transfer the orphanage reconstruction budget directly to the "Inn" account.

Bai Li Qing also smiled.

Even more relaxed than when she first saw the Angel fall.

(End of this chapter)