Chapter 321: Whereabouts

Deep within the Special Bureau, inside the Director's office, Bai Liqing had just activated the projection device in the room.

Accompanied by the humming of numerous small devices originally hidden in the walls and ceiling, dozens of projection screens instantly replaced the office's original walls; what was displayed on them were scenes from various locations within the "City in the Mist."

Some screens showed fog-shrouded streets and buildings, while others displayed the "Contaminated Zone" covered by that strange purple-black crystal cluster; one could also see Deep Divers clad in heavy power armor moving about within that crystal field, collecting samples and setting up environmental monitoring devices.

"The appearance of the Holy Hidden Sect in the City in the Mist makes this already suspicious Otherworld even more questionable. Now the Special Bureau has dispatched numerous elite Deep Dive squads; not only are they focusing on inspecting the plot where that 'Gao Ta' once took root, but they are also constantly expanding the exploration scope of the City in the Mist," Bai Liqing said, "So far, we still have not found the boundary of this thick fog."

Yu Sheng, meanwhile, was marveling at this set of black technology in Bai Liqing's office; hearing the other's words, he instinctively asked, "Are these all real-time images?"

"That's right, real-time transmission. Part comes from recorders on the Deep Divers' power armor, and part from monitoring devices set up in various locations—through shift rotations, there are currently at least three squads active in the City in the Mist twenty-four hours a day. Their 'Umbilical' devices can provide extra bandwidth to maintain real-time communication between the real world and that Otherworld," Bai Liqing said, "The next step is our plan to set up a semi-permanent signal transmission device deep within the fog to build a more stable Real-Otherworld channel, so we won't need to rely on the Deep Divers to provide bandwidth."

She paused here, turned her head to look at Yu Sheng: "This should also thank Miss Hu Li for her help."

Yu Sheng: "Huh? Thank her? Why?"

"The Special Bureau's 'Deep Dive' technology can only send living beings with souls or machines with Machine Souls into the Otherworld, and the 'Umbilical' device used to maintain Real-Otherworld communication must also be connected to an individual with a soul or a Machine Soul—this is a complex 'Psionic Resonance' technology. Although it solved the communication problem between reality and the Otherworld, its usage restrictions are great," Bai Liqing explained patiently, "And the 'Mysterious Iron' provided by Miss Hu Li... solved the most troublesome part of it."

Yu Sheng immediately understood how things were.

The Special Bureau's "Machine Souls"... can now be mass-produced on a small scale!

"It is currently still in the testing phase," Bai Liqing noticed Yu Sheng's expression and continued, "If everything goes smoothly, in the near future we will be able to mass-produce 'Deep Dive Communication Devices' that can be docked with the 'Umbilical.' At that time, there will be signal in those already-explored Otherworlds. This is not only of great significance to the Special Bureau's agents and Deep Divers, but can also greatly reduce the risks for Spirit Realm Detectives and Investigators when acting in the Otherworld."

Listening to Bai Liqing's calm narration, Yu Sheng felt this was a bit unreal. He hadn't expected that the "lump of iron" Hu Li had casually thrown out back then would actually be put to use so quickly, and in the foreseeable future, this use might even be enough to change the fate of countless Otherworld explorers. However, after the shock and sigh, he thought of a very practical question: "Is her small production volume enough?"

"We only need it to trigger the Machine Soul. Theoretically, the amount used per device is very, very small, but to be honest... if we really want to mass-produce, it's still not quite enough," Bai Liqing said frankly, "So we are also doing some other research, trying to figure out the principles behind that 'Spirit Fox Mysterious Iron'."

Yu Sheng blinked, feeling this was quite incredible: "Can this be researched to yield results? That thing might even be related to black technology from another world..."

"But it can exist stably in our universe," Bai Liqing said very seriously, "Existence has its reason for existing. There is no such thing as black technology in this world, only mysteries we do not yet understand."

"Alright, that is indeed the logic," Yu Sheng scratched his hair, agreeing with Bai Liqing's statement, then his attention returned to those monitoring screens, "So now, regarding the 'City in the Mist,' what discoveries have you made?"

Bai Liqing nodded: "The biggest progress is that we have mapped out some of the City in the Mist's safety mechanisms—

"The fog density in that Otherworld is uneven. In most cases, fog density and danger level are directly proportional. In any area with visibility below twenty meters, there is a probability of encountering entities, but it seems that only one type of entity appears in the same area at the same time; at least that is the case currently. In the few areas where the fog is thinnest, there are currently no entity sighting reports. Based on this, we plan to mark the explored areas of the City in the Mist according to danger level, and mark out several 'Safe Zones' and 'No-Go Zones.'

"Additionally, we are also trying to figure out the entry and exit mechanisms of that Otherworld and have made some progress. It is now basically confirmed that there should be a 'Safe Exit' capable of returning to reality in the place where the fog is thinnest; it's just that the exit's opening conditions still need careful testing. Currently, we can only roughly judge that it is related to the 'Mirror Surface.'

"Another point is the 'scope' of the City in the Mist—it is huge. As of now, the explored area has almost reached a quarter of a Border City, and its boundary has not yet been found. So although we cannot draw a conclusion yet, many in the Bureau believe that Otherworld might truly be as large as a Border City, or even as large as the entire Borderland."

Yu Sheng spoke thoughtfully: "Then the connection between the people of the Holy Hidden Sect and this 'City in the Mist'..."

Bai Liqing shook her head: "No clues have been found yet. Currently, we can only confirm that they might have infiltrated long ago—the crystal cluster samples collected from that contaminated plot bear traces of long-term growth. However, exactly how long they have been lurking there, and what their purpose is, still depends on the interrogation results of those cultists."

"In short, based on the intelligence currently in hand, for a very long time, they were just lurking very low-key, perhaps they hadn't even stepped out of that Gao Ta. Coupled with the barrier of the Otherworld, no one noticed their existence at all."

"In fact, if the existence of the 'City in the Mist' hadn't suddenly been exposed, and you hadn't accidentally run into that 'Artificial Saintess,' those Hidden Sect cultists would likely have continued lurking."

Yu Sheng frowned slightly, quickly realizing: "They have been lurking there for a long time—that means the 'City in the Mist' existed long ago? It's not an Otherworld generated recently?!"

Bai Liqing nodded gently: "I'm afraid so—right under the eyes of the Border City people, an Otherworld that was almost like a 'Border City Replica' has existed for a long time, and a group of cultists discovered it even before we did. I must say, this is quite shameful."

Listening, Yu Sheng stroked his chin thoughtfully, but just as he was about to speak, he seemed to feel something again, and his complexion instantly changed slightly.

Bai Liqing immediately noticed: "What's wrong?"

Yu Sheng did not answer immediately; instead, he frowned as if carefully sensing something, and after two or three seconds, he suddenly exclaimed: "Oh my god! The Saintess I put in the coffin is gone!"

Hearing this, Bai Liqing was stunned, but Yu Sheng obviously had no time to explain to her—by the time his words fell, he had already casually pulled open a door leading to the Holy Coffin Room, flashed inside, and only had time to hastily leave a sentence: "I'll explain later, I'm going to find someone first! The Artificial Saintess is gone!"

The next second, the illusory door slammed shut, and Yu Sheng had already arrived in the Holy Coffin Room.

The "Iron Coffin" before his eyes was standing quietly on the platform base; the coffin lid was open, but inside was empty.

Yu Sheng stared dumbfounded at this scene; only after several seconds did he react, immediately beginning to try to find traces of the Artificial Saintess within his sensing range.

A moment later, he seemed to sense something, immediately reached out to pull open a door beside him, and stepped inside.

He arrived at a clearing near the small town in the center of the valley, where the Artificial Saintess's aura had briefly lingered.

However, stepping out of the door, he only saw several doll-headed children running around on scooters—a group of kids staring wide-eyed at him.

"Hello, Uncle Yu Sheng!" several children happily came over to greet him.

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment: "Did you see a... uh, very tall person, wearing a veil on her head, her body wrapped in a layer of black..."

He had just asked casually, but before he could finish, one child happily raised a finger pointing in a certain direction: "Saw her! A very, very tall big sister went that way!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng was stunned, and almost at the same time, he indeed sensed that familiar aura again—for some reason, that aura felt intermittent to him. Even with the connection established by blood, in his perception it seemed as if separated by a thick curtain, vague and blurred. A moment ago he couldn't find her traces, and this moment he found that she seemed to be nearby.

"Thanks—be safe while playing!"

Yu Sheng left those words for the doll-headed children, then quickly pulled open a door again and urgently teleported toward the direction he had just sensed.

The next second, he stepped out of the door, only to hear Xiao Xiao's voice, tinged with tears, immediately upon emerging—

"Big sister, this is our labor class homework... the teacher told us to do it ourselves, not to let others help..."

Hearing this commotion, Yu Sheng was stunned for a moment, then followed the sound and saw Xiao Xiao and several children of the same age standing beside the vegetable patch he had just opened out of, and that Artificial Saintess who had run out of the Holy Coffin Room...

Was weeding the field.

Yu Sheng: "..."

(End of Chapter)