Chapter 72: The World Unveiled

Yu Sheng’s question made Bai Liqing raise her eyebrows slightly, though the movement was subtle.

“There’s only one Borderlands,” Bai Liqing said. “A ‘World Convergence Point’ isn’t something mass-produced.”

“I’m talking about ‘ Border City ,’” Yu Sheng said seriously. “If there’s only one Borderlands, then what about Border City ? This city located in the Borderlands—could there be another city like it somewhere in the world?”

He paused, looking into Bai Liqing’s eyes, and spoke slowly: “Very similar, but not quite the same. They share the same name, some overlapping locations, but it’s not ‘extraordinary’ like here—just an ordinary place… If this world has an observable scale of hundreds of billions of light-years or more, then within such a vast range, could there be a city that fits my description?”

Whether it was his imagination or not, Bai Liqing’s expression turned unusually serious upon hearing this.

The “Director” remained silent for several seconds before speaking cautiously: “Regarding this ‘hypothesis’ of yours—I’ll call it that for now—scholars actually have an assumption. It goes like this:

“If the spatial and temporal scales of the entire universe are infinite, or at least statistically close to infinite within the scope humans can imagine and hypothesize, then there could appear two identical or highly similar locations in the universe, two planets with highly similar parameters, two similar mountain peaks, and even… two extremely similar histories. The probability of such ‘mirrors’ appearing may not be high, but given enough time and space, it is never zero.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and nodded slightly: “I think I’ve heard a similar theory…”

“Then let me tell you a limitation of that assumption—its unpublished part,” Bai Liqing said. “That is, even if the assumption holds, even if any location or event in the universe could have a ‘mirror image’ in infinite time and space, there are two exceptions that will have no mirror.

“One is a planet called ‘Terra,’ located deep in the stars, far from here, but with some hidden connections to the Borderlands.

“The other is this very Borderlands.

“In other words, there won’t be a second ‘ Border City ’ in this world, because this city is a major component of the Borderlands, and the Borderlands itself… has no ‘mirror image.’ No matter how vast the universe’s space or infinite its time, from the past to the future, there will only be this one ‘Borderlands’ and one ‘ Border City .’”

Yu Sheng’s eyes widened slightly, and he remained silent for a long time.

“Judging by your reaction…” Bai Liqing adjusted her sitting posture, “you’re almost certain that another ‘ Border City ’ exists in this world—in fact, have you seen it?”

Yu Sheng forcefully suppressed the surging thoughts in his mind. He took a deep breath and slowly tapped the table in front of him with his fingers.

“Yes, I’ve seen it. It’s a small coastal city. From the southernmost point to the northernmost, it takes only thirty minutes by car. There’s no ‘Otherworld’ there, no Special Affairs Bureau. People live very ordinary lives. The sunlight… the sunlight is always nice—soft, not harsh on the eyes. The evening glow is beautiful too…”

Yu Sheng described the scenes from his memory to the woman before him.

He didn’t hide these things. Given that she already knew the truth about No. 66 Wutong Road and that she was responsible for managing matters related to the “Otherworld,” this “Director” seemed to be the person most likely to help him now.

Bai Liqing listened quietly to these descriptions. Her colorless eyes seemed always able to hide her true emotional fluctuations—no one could tell what she was thinking while listening. Only after Yu Sheng finished did she suddenly speak: “Can I take a look?”

Yu Sheng was startled: “Look? How?”

The woman across from him directly reached out and pressed her fingers against his temple.

Along with the cool touch came a momentary dizziness.

“This is my ability—if you don’t mind, temporarily open your imagination to me. Of course, if you’re not comfortable, I certainly won’t force you,” Bai Liqing said seriously.

Yu Sheng frowned. After quickly weighing the pros and cons, he nodded slightly.

Closing his eyes, he imagined his hometown in his memories—the appearance of “the other Border City .”

That ordinary seaside town surfaced in his mind, and then he felt as if another pair of eyes were watching those imagined scenes along with his recollection.

After a moment, Yu Sheng opened his eyes.

He found Bai Liqing still had her eyes closed, and behind her, the infinitely extending café was silently collapsing from far to near. The neatly arranged, endlessly repeated tables and chairs were rapidly swallowed by darkness, and the crumbling structure seemed to fall into an invisible abyss.

Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned, unsure what was happening: “Hey! This place is collapsing! Hey, wake up! This…”

He had only spoken halfway when Bai Liqing finally opened her eyes: “It’s nothing. Just a side effect of using the ability.”

As she spoke, the collapsed structures and tables and chairs in the distance silently restored themselves to their original state.

Yu Sheng felt a bit embarrassed and gave an awkward laugh: “Oh, your ability is quite… flashy.”

Bai Liqing didn’t respond. She gently rubbed her forehead, seemingly lost in thought.

“Did you see everything?” Yu Sheng asked curiously. “So, what do you think…”

“I saw it. It is indeed as you described—a peaceful seaside town, with many places bearing the shadow of this city,” Bai Liqing interrupted him. For some reason, her words carried a hint of hesitation, but it was quickly masked. “Now I believe you have indeed seen such a ‘ Border City .’ But I’m curious—why are you so fixated on this ‘place’?”

“For personal reasons, I want to find it,” Yu Sheng said seriously. “But according to what you said…”

“A theory is, after all, just a theory,” Bai Liqing shook her head. Her attitude was no longer as definitive as at the beginning, and her words left much more room for leeway. “In fact, I still don’t think there is a second ‘Borderlands’ in this world, but if some place happens to share certain architectural or layout similarities with this city… it’s not entirely impossible.”

Yu Sheng looked at the woman suspiciously: “…Really?”

“Who knows?” Bai Liqing exhaled. “Some scholars have said that our universe is still young, and some new physical laws haven’t even had a chance to be born yet. So all human perceptions of this world could be wrong, or might be overturned one day. For now, I actually believe that ‘ Border City ’ you showed me exists—it’s just that it hasn’t been included in the Borderlands archives.”

“Well, if you ever find it someday…”

“You’ll be the first to know.” Bai Liqing nodded very seriously.

Yu Sheng thanked her.

But he didn’t fully believe it. Intuitively, he felt that this woman wasn’t being entirely “honest” about this matter.

He didn’t know where this feeling came from, but he decided not to continue this topic.

“I have another question,” Yu Sheng quickly changed the subject. “On behalf of a friend.”

Bai Liqing nodded: “Go ahead. I have plenty of time today.”

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, organizing his words: “Regarding ‘Alice’s Cottage,’ does the Special Affairs Bureau know about this organization?”

“Alice’s Cottage? Of course we know,” Bai Liqing immediately replied. “Those ‘living dolls’ are active in the supernatural realm and have had quite a few dealings with us.”

Yu Sheng felt a stir, thinking he had finally found the organization for his little doll: “You mean ‘Alice’s Dolls’? So this ‘Cottage’ is registered with the Special Affairs Bureau?”

“No, you’ve misunderstood one thing,” Bai Liqing shook her head. “Alice’s Cottage is not ‘registered with the Special Affairs Bureau’ at all—it is an independent force located outside the Borderlands. Although they keep a low profile, their influence is actually no less than that of the Special Affairs Bureau.”

Yu Sheng: “…?”

“There is not only one special place in this world, and naturally not only one major organization like the Special Affairs Bureau. We are just one of many official organizations that deal with Otherworlds and entities. Apart from us, there is the ‘Bamosan Hermit Society’ founded by the Bamosa people, the ‘Academy’ and ‘Archaeological Association’ from Terra, the ‘Astrological Association’ of the Algrads, and so on. The ‘Alice’s Cottage’ you mentioned is also a similar independent force—they follow an ancient sacred spirit called ‘Alice,’ ancient creations directly blessed by that spirit. The era they were active… predates even the Special Affairs Bureau.”

Yu Sheng: “…”

So that Irene had such a huge background?! Looks like the little doll wasn’t bragging after all!

Yu Sheng didn’t hide the change in his expression. Bai Liqing quickly noticed something: “I recall the report mentioned that there is also a ‘doll’ beside you?”

“That’s right. Her name is Irene. She claims to be a member of ‘Alice’s Dolls’ as well, but she was accidentally sealed for a long time.”

“But I also remember the report mentioned that her height is only about this tall…”

Bai Liqing gestured a height beside the table as she spoke.

Yu Sheng awkwardly rubbed his nose: “Ah, that’s another story…”

(End of chapter)