Once again, a piece of paper with graffiti on it, once again, a short mysterious description.Yu Sheng looked up, meeting the simultaneous gazes of the fox girl and Baili Qing. Erin was standing on the table, clinging to his arm, peering at the contents of the paper and mumbling after a long look, "This stuff doesn't look as good as what I draw..."
"Is this what you were talking about before, the graffiti paper Erin's mass-produced puppets brought back from the amusement park?" Baili Qing looked at Yu Sheng and asked.
"This is it..." Yu Sheng slightly frowned, "But I didn't expect another one to appear in this way."
"We need to get it tested," Baili Qing said, "This thing is definitely not ordinary 'material'.
Yu Sheng casually handed over the paper: "We should check it out quickly. That Knight really cares about this stuff. After the high wall invasion of the amusement park and the lizard monster that Zheng Zhi encountered disappeared, they both left this kind of paper. Maybe it can help us understand what the Knight's 'Kingdom' is all about."
Baili Qing nodded as she took the paper, then looked at Zheng Zhi: "Do you remember any other details about the situation at the time? Anything that you personally 'felt' important."
Zheng Zhi frowned and tried hard to recall.
"Seems like there isn't," he slowly shook his head, "The whole process only lasted a minute or two, and I was planning to run away immediately, so I didn't really observe the situation closely."
"I understand," Baili Qing nodded lightly, "Then just continue to rest here, the observation period for the first stage of the awakening of the spiritual ability user is not over yet—if you remember anything else in the next few days, report to me immediately."
Zheng Zhi quickly stood up, along with the big yellow dog that appeared beside him at some point, and saluted: "Yes, Director!"
Erin mumbled from the table: "To be honest, this is really spooky..."
Zheng Zhi heard it and could only scratch his head awkwardly and smile — the big yellow dog beside him laughed along with him.
The fox girl felt that her inner stability was shaken by the sight, so she quickly left with Yu Sheng.
In the corridor outside, Yu Sheng took a long breath and temporarily put aside the matters concerning Zheng Zhi (including his ancestors and the big yellow dog at the door). He then rubbed his forehead and turned to Baili Qing: "I'll leave Zheng Zhi's side to you, next we..."
Before he could finish, Baili Qing spoke up: "Do you have time now?"
"Now? I don't really have anything to do..."
"Didn't you want to check out the fault below the Boundary underground?" Baili Qing shook her phone, "I've already made the necessary contacts. If you have time, I can take you to the Council Tower anytime."
Yu Sheng's eyes lit up at this — he had been looking forward to this for a long time: "I've got plenty of time for that!"
Erin and Hu Li both chimed in unison: "Can we also go with you?"
Baili Qing looked at the two of them, her face expressionless but her attitude slightly hesitant.
Erin, with her hands on her hips: "What's the matter, is the security level of that place too high for the two of us to go?"
"...It's not really about the security level," Baili Qing chose her words carefully, "But rather the uniqueness of you two..."
Hu Li looked at her somewhat suspiciously.
Baili Qing continued to explain: "Considering certain factors, the two of you might have some connections with the Dark Angel... I'm not sure if approaching the fault and rift would cause any unforeseen reactions."
Erin thought for a moment, then suddenly widened her eyes: "You're picking on outsiders!!"
Baili Qing: "..."
Yu Sheng quickly grabbed the little thing and stuffed it into Hu Li's arms: "Alright, alright, alright, their concerns are valid. I'll go on my own, and tell you about it after I get back."
The fox girl hugged the still flailing little puppet and nodded to Yu Sheng, speaking in a soft tone: "You take care, Savior, come back early, I'll cook for you."
Then Yu Sheng opened a door and sent them back to No. 66 Wutong Road. As they left, Erin continued to grumble from Hu Li's arms: "Silly fox, I'm telling you, this is picking on outsiders, even with local registration, we're no use..."
The world was finally peaceful.
Yu Sheng glanced awkwardly at Baili Qing: "So, how do we go to the Council Tower?"
Baili Qing turned and led the way: "Follow me, we'll take the elevator."
Yu Sheng followed in surprise: "...You can take the elevator there?!"
Baili Xue drifted over, floating beside his head: "Yes, the elevator systems of the Council Tower and the Special Service Bureau Headquarters are connected, and some floors are even shared between them. This system was designed as a 'fault' initially, to maintain the stability of the Boundary Land..."
Yu Sheng: "…Huh? Who designed it?"
"'Fault,' one of the council members' names. I don't like those council members, but my impression of 'Fault' is alright. He doesn't usually bully people, it's just that sometimes his eyes are a bit dazzling..."
Yu Sheng: "…?"
He suddenly realized that the Council Tower behind Baili Qing, which he had heard so much about but never officially interacted with, might indeed be somewhat remarkable...
Moments later, he was following Baili Qing and her sister into the elevator. With an electronic synthetic voice announcing, "Elevator in operation, turn right ahead," he felt the ground tremble slightly under his feet, followed by a sudden shift in gravity, as if he were traversing layers of tunnels.
This sensation didn't last long. In just a minute or two, he heard a broadcast in the cabin, "Elevator arrival, pulse engine shutdown," and the metal doors silently opened in front of him—leading into a corridor with frosted glass half-walls on the side, through which a large office area was visible.
The office area was neatly organized with workstations. At a glance, this area alone had possibly over a hundred people working, with individuals in business attire bustling back and forth.
Yu Sheng was a bit puzzled by this scene; the inside of the Council Tower wasn't quite as he had imagined: "…Do so many people really work here?"
"Of course," Baili Xue said, "With such a large Boundary Land, how could there be few civil servants..."
Yu Sheng: "Honestly, this isn't quite what I imagined."
"What did you imagine?" Baili Xue rolled her eyes up slightly, "Is the Council Tower supposed to be some mysterious occult headquarters? In such a big building you'd think just five mumbling council members would sit underground all day having meetings? And when they meet the True Man, they don't even show up, just surround the table with coffin-like holographic projections..."
Yu Sheng sucked in a breath through his teeth: "…Truth be told, that's exactly the kind of scene I had envisioned."
"No way!"
Yu Sheng chatted intermittently with Baili Xue while following Baili Qing through numerous hallways and office areas, gradually realizing the path ahead was becoming more serene.
Baili Xue unknowingly quieted down, as if she suddenly became well-behaved.
Yu Sheng could sense that the atmosphere around them was changing. The views outside the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the corridor began to show unusual distortions. It seemed like he had crossed through the "regular office area" for ordinary people, and the increasingly quiet corridor ahead... no longer seemed to be within normal time and space.
Several figures suddenly entered his line of sight.
At first glance, he recognized a familiar figure—a black-haired girl standing in the corridor with her eyes tightly shut, her figure thin and pale, wearing a white long dress with hair nearly reaching her ankles.
Beside the girl was an odd... robot: a rough iron frame forming its body, with a chest cavity like a steel cage stuffed with what appeared to be broken alarm clocks, meaningless pipes and wires jumbled inside, and a large light bulb screwed onto its neck emitting a gentle glow.
No matter how you looked at it, this style didn't align with "high-tech" but rather seemed like a collection of artworks full of whimsical creativity.
On Red's other side was an elderly man who looked impossibly old, wearing a simple and plain gray coat, leaning on a large cane. Next to him was a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man, whose face showed signs of exhaustion, as if he had been working overtime for a long time.
In total, there were four people—the vampire, the mechanical artwork, the old man, and a workaholic.
This was Yu Sheng's initial assessment.
It did indeed align with his assumptions: the Council Tower was indeed a place of hidden talents and significant figures.
Baili Qing led Yu Sheng forward, first introducing the frail old man: "This is our Chairman—you can consider him the highest official in the Boundary Land."
Baili Xue floated up and whispered softly behind Yu Sheng's ear: "He doesn't have a name; he's just called the Chairman."
Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned, reaching out to shake hands with him.
The old man extended his hand as well—dry and thin.
But surprisingly strong.
"I've been watching you and your friends," the Chairman said with a cheerful smile, seeming nothing like the difficult character Baili Xue described, "We should've met sooner, but there were too many unfortunate occurrences."
"This here is Kant," Baili Qing gestured to the exhausted-looking middle-aged man and the "robot" beside him, "He's the most knowledgeable about the Fault. Next to him is 'Fault,' who controls all the networks and information flow in the Boundary Land.
"Red probably doesn't need an introduction; you all are already familiar with each other. She just managed to get back today."
"The Boundary Land is never peaceful," Red said with a slight smile, nodding lightly to Yu Sheng with her eyes closed, "either bad situations arise or we're in the process of dealing with them."
Taking this opportunity, Yu Sheng carefully assessed each of the council members before cutting to the chase and proposing they go check out the fault immediately.
Fifteen minutes later, he found himself on a lift stranger than the ones at the Special Service Bureau Headquarters Building, heading straight for the basement of the Council Tower.
Ultimately, he came across a fractured expanse engulfed in dark chaos—a realm of grim stillness.
"Here lies the 'Fault' beneath the Boundary Land," Kant said, departing the elevator cabin and glancing at Yu Sheng who was wide-eyed and taking it all in, "Come, I'll show you the rift."