Yu Sheng temporarily put aside the matters with Zheng Zhi—under Baili Qing's guidance, the group had already arrived at the special containment floor designated for the temporary accommodation of the knight.After passing through a long corridor with pitch-black windows on either side, Yu Sheng saw a vast space. The space was devoid of visible architectural structures, surrounded only by a simulated sky formed by holographic projections, and in its center floated a large, entirely black building connected solely by a long bridge to the corridor's exit.
"This is a containment space specifically prepared for entities whose rules and origins cannot be determined, whose abilities are unknown yet have not shown dangerous tendencies," Baili Qing introduced, pointing to the black structure ahead. "The entire area is located in a fissure at the edge of the Boundary Land, with 120 independent 'rooms' inside the facility, half of which are currently unoccupied."
Yu Sheng nodded, observing as Baili Qing completed an identity verification at the entrance and exchanged words with the guards before they stepped into the building together.
They eventually arrived in an observation room; the room was simply furnished, with a few chairs and a control console set against the wall. The most striking feature was the observation window occupying an entire wall—initially shrouded in a layer of white mist, until a technician operated the console, making the window quickly turn transparent.
Yu Sheng saw the scene in the adjacent room—a spacious area enveloped in an unknown gray material, containing a few simple pieces of furniture with the knight, clad in iron-gray armor, sitting upright on the bed, opposite which was a middle-aged man in a Special Service Bureau uniform, behind a light screen.
Negotiations were clearly underway.
The adjacent room's sound transmitted through the listening device.
The negotiator patiently asked the knight several questions, all of which received no response.
Then, within the permissible bounds of protocol, he introduced the place to the knight, explaining the significance of the containment facility. This time, the knight responded—the heavy helmet nodded slightly, and Yu Sheng heard a dull voice, "I understand, this is a safe cell—those outside are safe, and those inside are safe."
Erin immediately raised her hand, poking at Yu Sheng's hair, "Wow, it really can speak human language."
Yu Sheng casually dismissed Erin's remarks, listening as the conversation continued from the other side:
"...We don't want you to feel that the Special Service Bureau is 'imprisoning' you; it's merely a necessary...'temporary protection.' We can't determine your origins or your intentions, and here, the unknown itself is a dangerous signal. But if you're willing to tell us something...or at least why you're unwilling to reveal your origins—it would greatly aid the current situation."
The knight fell silent once again, but just as everyone thought he would refuse to answer like before, the heavy iron helmet suddenly lifted, turning towards the observation window's direction.
Yu Sheng, standing behind the observation window, knew it was one-way transparent, yet he was certain the knight was looking his way.
"...I don't wish to harm anyone," the knight withdrew his gaze, speaking in a low, calm voice, "But some things, even speaking of them, would invite a spillover of catastrophe."
"Spillover of catastrophe?" The negotiator in the room immediately shifted posture, "What do you mean by that? Does it relate to your homeland? Behind that Lodaxim High Wall?"
The knight was clearly unwilling to continue answering.
"Hey! This is freaking uncooperative!" Erin couldn't take it any longer, supporting herself on Yu Sheng's head and standing up, cursing, "I swear, let me in there, and I'll knock some sense into him with a frying pan! Teach him why the creator's second..."
Yu Sheng steadied the wobbly Little Puppet, turned to Baili Qing and said, "Open the door, we're going in."
Hearing this, Erin swiftly sat back down, "We're really going in? I-I was just saying, this guy did stand up to protect the nephew after all...hitting his knee wouldn't be right, would it?"
"Can't you think of anything other than hitting someone with a frying pan?" Yu Sheng glared at Erin, "I want to go in and talk to him."
Erin: "Oh, oh..."
The dark door of the isolation room opened, and Yu Sheng, along with his group and Baili Qing, walked into the knight's containment room.
The Special Service Bureau employee who was negotiating with the knight behind the light screen heard the movement behind him, turned his head to see the director himself and quickly stood up, but before he could speak, Baili Qing waved him off.
"Let's stop here for now, I'll handle the rest."
"Yes, Director!"
The middle-aged man spoke as he stood, vacating his spot for Yu Sheng and the others. The knight opposite the light screen lifted his head, an invisible gaze from the slit in his heavy helmet fell upon Yu Sheng.
"I can feel you," the knight said in a deep voice, "You bind me here."
"No choice, we want to chat with you, but you're really elusive," Yu Sheng spoke as he walked up to the light screen, knocking on it and turning to Baili Qing, "Can this thing be opened?"
The middle-aged man nearby instinctively replied, "This is a safety measure, according to protocol..."
"Disengage the barrier," Baili Qing said blandly, "Then activate the memetic safety protocol outside. From now until we leave the room, maintain complete isolation in this area."
The mid-aged person listened, his expression instantly straightened, snapped to attention to receive his orders, then turned and strode out of the room.
A moment later, Yu Sheng heard a distant alarm, followed by the room's lights flickering a few times, seemingly undergoing a power switch, and then a low buzzing sound came from under the floor, the continuous charging sound of some barrier extended all the way to the rooftop, and the several surveillance cameras set in the corners of the roof drooped down, and red lights indicating signal interruption lit up on their casings.
The energy barrier blocking the Knight and the people in front of him disappeared.
"This room has completed its isolation, no information from within the room will leak outside, including the pollution carried by the information," Baili Qing looked at the Knight and spoke slowly, "If you're worried that some terrifying entity from your homeland will leak out through your 'words,' then you should be able to speak now."
The Knight turned his head and looked around, clearly hesitating in his movements.
After all, he did not understand this strange place, nor did he know the nature of this bizarre 'Special Service Bureau,' and he did not quite comprehend or trust what Baili Qing was saying.
However, after a few seconds of hesitation, he finally spoke up.
"As long as those cursed disasters don't hear someone outside mentioning 'them,' 'they' should not emerge...
"I hope your methods truly work; otherwise, you won't only be risking your own lives.
"I... come from the kingdom within the High Wall."
"The kingdom within the High Wall?" Erin blinked her eyes, "What's it specifically called? Could it be that the kingdom's name is Lodaxim?"
"The kingdom... is just the kingdom," the Knight shook his head, "It has no name, nor a founder, it is forged from origins and stands in the mountains called time, and Lodaxim... Lodaxim is just the name of the last mad King."
"Mad King?" Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows.
"That was a long time ago, when the stars, moon, and sun still rose in the sky, the kingdom was still ruled by the King, then the curse began to spread, madness engulfed the nation...
"The King ordered a high wall to be built in the mountains of time to intercept the tide of disasters, but until the wall was erected, people found that the curse did not come from outside... a Witch was hiding in the palace, the first howler crawled out from the sewers of the Royal City.
"But it was too late—the Witch had already hidden, people rushed into the Royal City, only to find a King that had long been polluted and fallen... it was too late."
"Uh..." Yu Sheng listened to this distant and ancient story, though still somewhat confused, he continued to follow the Knight's narrative and asked, "And then what? What happened to the kingdom?"
The Knight shook his head.
"I can't remember anymore, I have been exiled for too long. When people rushed into the Royal City, I was already infected by the curse... many were thrown out of the Lodaxim High Wall, merely a few days passed, only a few remained alive.
"Then followed a long and blind wandering, I can't recall when the high wall disappeared from my sight, I only remember it being sometimes near, vast at times, but when I reached out, that Door was at the end of view.
"Perhaps... I have been forever rejected by the high wall, never again able to return behind it."
The Knight's voice carried a hint of despondency, it was the first time Yu Sheng felt such noticeable human emotion from this gloomy iron can.
"So, you want to return within the high wall, right? That's why you have been wandering outside?" Hu Li asked curiously.
The Knight remained silent, only nodded lightly.
"Why is that?" Erin curiously scratched her head, "Well, I understand your longing to return home, but didn't you say your homeland is almost torn apart by that curse? People have gone mad... why go back in such conditions?"
Unbeknownst to herself, Erin had already begun to treat this Knight, essentially likely a 'Wandering Entity,' like a real person, communicating with the emotions and logic she would use for an ordinary person.
The Knight was silent for two or three seconds, then a low voice came from under the helmet: "...I want to go back to find someone."
Yu Sheng: "Who?"
"My daughter," the Knight said slowly, "She is waiting for me at home."
Yu Sheng and several others instinctively exchanged glances with each other, their expressions showing a bit of surprise.
Except for Baili Qing—her minimal expression was less pronounced than Luna's.