Chapter 62: The Ghost Living in the Borderland

Li Lin had never seen Captain Song, usually steady and reliable, look so furrowed-browed and as if facing a great enemy.

"So... that final eye-shaped Dark Angel just silently left the Otherworld it had parasitized, without attempting to contaminate or control anyone, and without leaving any 'offspring'?" Song Cheng listened to the report from the two Special Bureau agents before him, and only spoke after a long silence, "You didn't hear anything like 'High-Dimensional Whispers' in your minds during the entire process?"

"No," Xu Jiali shook her head, her voice low, "but that thing definitely noticed us. For a moment, I could clearly feel that 'gaze'; its focal point had landed on our hiding place. It was as if..."

Song Cheng frowned: "As if what?"

Xu Jiali recalled for a moment, speaking uncertainly: "As if it were searching for something."

Song Cheng tapped the table impatiently with his fingers for a moment without speaking.

After another dozen seconds, he let out a long sigh, turned to look at Li Lin, and asked, "When you contacted the person who called himself 'Yu Sheng', did you feel any 'alien' aura from him? Based on intuition, do you think he seems more like a human, or like... something else?"

"Like a human. At least in speech, conduct, and common sense regarding social interaction, he seems human. If that entity was disguised as a human, one can only say the disguise was too perfect—it was perfect enough to be treated directly as a human," Li Lin stated very confidently.

"But he has long 'resided' in 'No. 66 Wutong Road', which does not exist in the real world at all; that is an Otherworld that never appeared in any official records," Song Cheng sighed, "Otherworlds only generate 'entities', they cannot generate... humans."

Xu Jiali, standing nearby, remained silent for a while before speaking up: "There do indeed exist some 'entities' in this world that possess intelligence and can communicate. Some particularly friendly entities, or those with demands of the mortal world, can even cooperate with humans, such as the 'Story Person' and 'Passenger No. 22'; they even appear to have certain human characteristics..."

"But they are still completely different levels of concept from that 'Yu Sheng' you mentioned—in terms of 'anthropomorphism'," Song Cheng shook his head, looking at Xu Jiali, "Can you confirm he is the 'Door Opener' you saw on Aemyn-IX?"

"I can confirm it, but he didn't recognize me at all," Xu Jiali nodded, "At that time, I was equipped with a full set of powered armor and a mental shield. It seems his perception ability cannot penetrate the aforementioned equipment."

"Limited perception ability, possesses highly anthropomorphic characteristics, possesses the ability to arbitrarily open 'Gates', can fight against hunger entities significantly strengthened by the influence of the 'Dark Angel', but the specific process of the kill at that time remains a mystery... it seems he intentionally concealed his combat methods..." Song Cheng slowly summarized the intelligence currently held, speaking while thinking, "And there is one more point..."

"Very friendly towards humans," Li Lin, standing nearby, said.

"Yes, very friendly towards humans, even willing to proactively contact Special Bureau agents," Song Cheng nodded slightly, as if he wanted to say something more, but the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside the door, interrupting his next words.

A knock sounded on the door, followed by a short girl with short hair pushing the door open and walking in, holding a folder in her hand: "Captain Song, the Archives Department has sent the files over."

Song Cheng's eyes widened slightly in an instant: "... There really is data on that 'Yu Sheng'!?"

"Yes, but searching directly in the system shows it as 'cancelled'. The cancellation date is the day the current Borderland population archive system was established. That means, from the very beginning, this person was 'gone', even before the birth date on his data. Yet, strangely, after the cancellation time, this person's identity data remained in an 'active' state. The word 'cancelled' was like an insignificant watermark in the system display," the short-haired girl placed the folder on Song Cheng's desk, her face wearing an expression of disbelief, "We can even find some recent shopping consumption, social registration, and traffic records under this ID—all of these were conducted normally despite the system showing the account as cancelled."

Song Cheng picked up the folder while looking up in surprise: "Such a serious bug, and the system never triggered an alarm?"

"No. The Information Center is already arranging overtime for tonight. I saw Director Wu emitting sharp screams when I passed by..."

"... Let him scream. Anyway, he has to scream a few times every month," Song Cheng shook his head, looking down at the data in his hands.

From start to finish, it looked like just a very ordinary resident file, with very ordinary living expense records, except for the red, somewhat glaring "cancelled" watermark on every page, and the address "No. 66 Wutong Road", which should not appear in the archive system at all.

Song Cheng turned his chair, opened the computer on his desk, entered a certain internal application of the Special Bureau, typed in the keywords "No. 66 Wutong Road", and after pressing Enter, it directly displayed an error.

"A ghost... a ghost living in the Borderland, casting an indelible shadow in our complex population management system. He isn't even someone who recently emerged. According to 'Yu Sheng' himself, he has lived in this city for over twenty years, which also matches the records in the file," Song Cheng muttered softly, his face looking somewhat grim—though this was mainly related to his frequent overtime recently, "No one noticed him for a long time, not even the Director's eyes saw him—until now, when he proactively jumped out to contact us."

Li Lin and Xu Jiali exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of solemnity in the other's eyes.

—Fortunately, this "ghost" had no interest in causing destruction, and even always believed himself to be an "ordinary person".

And just then, Song Cheng's gaze noticed another entry on the file.

"... A writer?" He raised his eyebrows in some surprise, "This ghost has a job?" "A freelance writer, contributing to some small magazines and media accounts, writing some thriller stories or third-rate scripts, but with no fame, and recently he has hardly written anything."

Song Cheng thought for a moment: "... Is he a failure?"

The short-haired girl looked very serious: "He can support himself, so he isn't a total failure."

"... What kind of stuff does he write?"

"There is a short story at the end of the file. I found it in a magazine from last year—I just thought you might be interested."

Song Cheng immediately flipped the document to the end and scanned it quickly.

The short-haired girl looked at Captain Song with a hint of expectation: "How does it feel?"

Song Cheng remained silent for a moment, looking troubled: "I... don't quite understand the preferences of young people nowadays."

After speaking, he immediately coughed twice, discreetly closed the folder, and composed his expression: "But regardless, this is a very noteworthy lead—arrange for someone to collect everything 'Yu Sheng' has written, conduct psychological profiling and personality analysis. Also, keep a close watch on his future... um, 'creative' situation."

Stopping here for a moment, he added, "A 'suspected entity' that believes itself to be human, not only thinks like a human but can even create like a human. His works will surely reveal his inner, more authentic ways of thinking and emotions. This has never happened before; we must take it seriously—but do not let him notice."

"Received, Captain Song."

!.

The short-haired girl left the office with the files, and Song Cheng's gaze returned to Xu Jiali and Li Lin.

"Regarding the matter of creating 'spatial rifts' in the Borderland, did you ask the other party about the situation?"

Hearing this, Li Lin immediately looked at Xu Jiali beside him with some embarrassment. Seeing that the other party had no intention of speaking, he had to grit his teeth and say, "... I forgot to ask."

"You could even forget that?!"

"I was overly nervous at the time; it might be an effect after witnessing the 'Dark Angel'," Xu Jiali finally spoke up from the side, the old hand immediately coming to the rescue of the newcomer Li Lin, "However, although we didn't ask directly, we also heard some intelligence while evacuating to the hideout together with 'Yu Sheng's' two companions."

"You mean that puppet and that demon fox?"

"Yes. According to the situation mentioned in their conversation, the so-called 'spatial rift' seems to just be... 'Yu Sheng' trying to open a door to rescue the demon fox trapped in the Otherworld."

Song Cheng stared with wide eyes: "... That's it?"

"It should be just that."

"... Just to find a way, opening and closing a few doors, causing such turmoil in the entire Borderland that chickens and dogs were unsettled?!"

Xu Jiali tugged at the muscles on her face: "Actually, it only shook up the Bureau..."

Noticing the expression on the Captain's face, he immediately stopped speaking.

Song Cheng sat behind the desk, fuming with his eyes wide open. After a long while, he waved his hand, exhausted in body and mind: "Alright, you two withdraw first. This matter is a bit big; I need to discuss it further with the higher-ups."

Li Lin and the other looked at each other. Xu Jiali hesitated before speaking: "Then regarding the formal contact with that 'Yu Sheng' later... do we still follow the procedure?"

"You two don't need to worry about it yet; this matter will likely go through the Director as well," Song Cheng sighed, "If that Yu Sheng were truly an 'ordinary person', I would have sent you two directly. But the current situation is not that simple. Go back and rest first—ah, don't forget to go to the 'Treatment Room' first, finish the examination and fill out the forms before leaving. Starting tomorrow, you have three days off."

(End of Chapter)