Chapter 544: The Big One Is Coming (Really Big)
Listening to what the little bear said, Yu Sheng quickly recovered from his initial shock and immediately guessed what this was—this was a log left behind by that blonde Ai Lin from back then!
Now, the plush little bear still stood on the other side of the rift, its plastic-looking eyes like two endlessly dark deep holes, calmly staring into Yu Sheng's eyes, while a voice that sounded very much like Ai Lin's, but mechanical and flat, continued unhurriedly:
"……My mission was to cross the border and observe the opening process of the world rift inside Zero Angel, and depending on the situation, respond to the outer god codenamed 'Bad Omen'—either welcome or destroy it. Based on information security isolation protocols, this mission will leave no trace on the Garden Network, and if the mission ultimately fails, most of my data will also be erased along with it……
"What can be confirmed now is that the world rift has lost control. The connecting device called the 'Boundary Bridge' collided with &@#* during its entry into this universe. 'Bad Omen' was severely damaged during its descent, its divinity spiraled out of control, and it is causing continuous pollution backflow.
"The situation is irreversible. Cutting off the remaining connections of the Boundary Bridge and stopping the spread of pollution is now the top priority—if all goes well, perhaps Zero Angel can still be saved.
"……At the time of this log entry, I have successfully intercepted the main body of 'Bad Omen' and fallen together with it to the 'Node Star' of the Boundary Bridge. From my side, I can confirm that the other end of the Node Star has successfully disconnected from the observable universe. So the only thing left to do is to neutralize 'Bad Omen'.
"He… agreed to my fusion proposal and chose to voluntarily give up most of his consciousness, only hoping that I could retain a set of special data from his memories.
"The scale of that data is astonishing, but harmless—I cannot understand what it is, but it clearly holds extraordinary importance to Him.
"To ensure the fusion goes smoothly, we made a deal.
"The fusion process is irreversible. The time of next awakening is unpredictable. The outcome of the fusion and the future form of 'my' existence are also unpredictable. Perhaps I will open my eyes tomorrow, or perhaps after a long, long time, I will be awakened by the final flash at the end of the world, or perhaps… it will be a day that is neither too early nor too late, but a good one.
"I look forward to embracing the future fate with a new form and perspective.
"The above is Ai Lin's final action log."
The little bear sat down in the darkness, staring straight at Yu Sheng across the rift, its furry face looking somewhat… comical.
Yu Sheng opened his mouth but didn't know what to say—after all, what lay before him was just a log left behind a long time ago.
And at that moment, the little bear suddenly moved again.
Under Yu Sheng's astonished gaze, it slowly shook its body a few times in place, then pressed its furry paw against its belly. With a slight tearing sound, a gash was ripped open in the doll's stomach, and a viscous, mud-like shadow flowed out from the slit!
Yu Sheng was startled on the spot, stepping back half a step with a "Holy shit!" He saw those viscous shadows overflowing from the little bear's belly directly spill out of the rift, flowing toward him like living things, and for some reason, this scene reminded him of the time when he first shaped Ai Lin's body.
It was the same back then—dark matter oozing out from the bottom of the picture frame, flowing like a living thing across the table, seeping into the newly formed doll body.
And in that moment of stunned hesitation, the spreading viscous shadows had already closed in around him. Yu Sheng's heart suddenly stirred, and he instinctively looked up—
The little bear in the rift raised its head toward him, its furry face seemingly showing a smile: "Hello, I am Bad Omen."
…
"Spatial erosion is receding! Spatial erosion is receding!"
Shouts came from the corridor. Amid the low rumbling from all directions and the continuous vibrations underfoot, Song Cheng, who was directing the operators and Deep Divers to desperately fend off the endless 'Shadow Invaders,' looked up and immediately noticed the changes in the corridor.
The spatial rifts, large and small, crisscrossing and intersecting, were rapidly closing and disappearing. The corridor, which had taken on a strange 'expanded' form due to the superposition of time and space, was quickly returning to its original appearance. No more viscous shadows were crawling out of the rifts, and the sounds of gunfire from all directions gradually subsided.
The spatial structure of the entire customs floor was rapidly stabilizing, and the familiar architecture and indoor scenes were coming back into view.
Song Cheng turned around and met a pair of light, pale gray eyes.
"It looks like all the rifts have closed, Director," Song Cheng said uncertainly. "Did Yu Sheng succeed over there?"
Bai Liqing, however, still kept a straight face. Although the scene of the corridor quickly recovering seemed to relax her a little, the aura around her showed no sign of slackening.
"The rifts are indeed closing… but Yu Sheng hasn't sent any news," Bai Liqing said slowly, her tone somewhat serious. "Under normal circumstances, he would definitely contact us immediately after getting things done, and also…"
Song Cheng looked confused: "And also?"
Bai Liqing hesitated for a moment but still said: "And also, whenever he does something, it often ends up causing a huge commotion, especially something like this… It seems a bit too quiet."
Song Cheng heard this and instinctively glanced around again, only to see the corridor rapidly restoring order and the soldiers awaiting further orders. He thought to himself, isn't it a good thing that everything is settling down so peacefully?—but the words stuck in his throat. Because just by recalling a bit of Yu Sheng's "deeds," he felt the Director's judgment seemed to have some merit.
But regardless, the 'invasion' inside the Special Services Bureau building had indeed stopped. With no new anomalies appearing, Song Cheng began to arrange for the soldiers to carry out post-battle cleanup, while also deploying personnel to… 'take over' the Blackdot Group soldiers stranded on the customs floor.
Under the supervision of fully armed Special Services Bureau operators and Deep Divers, these 'illegal entrants' from Algrad were separated and began obediently handing over their weapons and registering.
Of course, considering they had just been fighting side by side, the Special Services Bureau personnel wouldn't make things difficult for them—disarming was just a necessary procedure, and so was the subsequent temporary detention.
How this matter would be settled ultimately depended on the outcome of the higher-ups' negotiations and talks.
Bai Liqing watched the situation in the corridor out of the corner of her eye, but clearly her attention wasn't fully there.
A pair of illusory eyes, invisible to others, appeared in the air, and Bai Li Xue's voice entered her mind: "Sister, it seems you're also feeling uneasy."
Bai Liqing: "Have you seen anything?"
"Not yet, but I can foresee some… not-so-pleasant shadows," Bai Li Xue said slowly. "It seems something is shrouding my vision. No matter where I look, shadows cover the entire Borderlands. Can you understand what I mean? It's like… everything is getting dark, something big is coming. This feeling is quite bad."
Bai Liqing frowned, and just as she was about to say something more, a slight vibration and buzz suddenly came from her earlobe.
Her heart stirred. Without removing her earring, she raised her hand and brushed over its edge.
Before the other side could speak, she asked first: "Luo, what's the situation over there now?"
"Poker face!" Luo's voice came from the earring. The first word made Bai Liqing's eye twitch, but the hastily delivered message that followed made her ignore the opening "Poker face." "The situation here is off—the rifts and voids in the hall have disappeared, but, but…"
"But what?"
"But half the space station has turned transparent!"
Bai Liqing: "…?!"
"It's hard to describe to you—it looks like half the space station was sliced away by something, nearly half the structure has disappeared, and you can even see outer space, but the material structure of those parts is still there," Luo said rapidly, and the background noise seemed to indicate she was moving. "The lab dome has disappeared, and the artificial gravity seems to be acting up… Wait, there's something outside the space station… I think I see…"
The signal seemed to be greatly disrupted, suddenly becoming intermittent. Even someone as calm as Bai Liqing couldn't remain composed at this point. Her expression changed and she quickly said: "What? Luo? Luo, are you still there…"
Before she finished speaking, she heard several exclamations from the corridor, and then Song Cheng rushed toward her: "Director! Director, look over here!"
Bai Liqing's heart skipped a beat. Her figure turned into a blur in an instant, and the next moment she was at a wide window on the outer side of the corridor. Bai Li Xue's eyes had almost simultaneously dissipated in the air beside her and had now jumped directly outside the Special Services Bureau building.
Outside the wide window was the cityscape of , the viewpoint seeming to be at some high altitude in the city center. In the distance, rows of towering skyscrapers could be clearly seen, as well as the most magnificent building at the very heart of the city—the Council Tower. The city was being enveloped by darkness, the sky gradually turning dim and lightless, clouds dispelled by an invisible force, and a shocking giant… was casting its shadow over the towering main building of the Council Tower.
At the same time as seeing the scene outside the window, the images Bai Li Xue observed from the air also entered Bai Liqing's mind. She "saw" the giant disc-shaped space station slowly moving across the sky, and the shimmering starry sky around it that seemed to be projected through a displaced spacetime. She finally drew a sharp breath.
Having been stationed at the Special Services Bureau for a hundred years, Director Bai, known for her cool and composed demeanor, had the thought of cursing for the first time in her life.
And then Luo's voice finally came through the earring again—
"…I freaking seem to see the Borderlands! Huh? Signal's back?"
"Luo…"
"Huh?"
"I'm going to kill you with anti-aircraft fire!!"