Chapter 584: A Heaven-Sent Thinking Partner

Yu Sheng's state of mind was very good.

Bai Liqing's state of mind, however, was considerably more complicated.

She looked up at the crystal tree and those temporal-spatial fissures hanging among its canopy like "tree fruits," then looked down at Yu Sheng. Her light gray eyes betrayed no emotional change, but a storm of thoughts was raging in her mind—

Two Gloom Angels' "legacy" stood towering right before her, and it looked astonishingly healthy. The world's only Angel Hunter declared the thing harmless, so she had no choice but to take it at face value. And now Yu Sheng was telling her that through the fissures in the canopy, one could observe the edge of the universe, even the Ancient Spirit assembly ground that had long since lost contact with the inner universe—if even half a sentence of this news leaked out of the Borderlands, she couldn't imagine when her next vacation would be.

After all, that was the Homeless—the world's final, and original, ark.

"Besides that ship, did you see anything else?" Bai Liqing suddenly asked.

"See anything else..." Yu Sheng rubbed his chin, thinking for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Aside from the starry backdrop and the sea of fire spreading around it, I only saw that ship. Maybe that ship's 'presence' was too strong, and my attention couldn't focus on anything else..."

He paused mid-sentence, then suddenly remembered something: "Ah, wait—although I didn't see anything else, I did have some strange 'feelings' at the time. Just looking at that ship, I inexplicably felt a kind of 'pull,' as if my mind had already crossed that fissure and been drawn to the edge of the universe, and also as if that ship were pulling the entire starry sky, even pulling all things in the world forward... Am I being too abstract? But I can't think of a better word."

Yu Sheng felt his description was pretty vague, but Bai Liqing seemed to fall into serious thought. After a few seconds, the Director woman broke the silence with a grave expression: "What you said... might not be an illusion. If that fissure hadn't collapsed at the time, you might really have crossed the stars and reached that ship by now."

Yu Sheng blinked, then spoke after a delay of two or three seconds: "Could I have come back?"

"How would I know? Maybe you could open a door and go home from the Homeless? Or perhaps the Ancient Spirits would personally send you back to the inner universe," Bai Liqing showed rare uncertainty. "Of course, it's more likely... you would have been stranded at the border of the universe. After all, at the end of the world, most of the laws of reality people are familiar with are no longer reliable, and we can't be sure about the situation over there at the border, or what attitude the Ancient Spirits would take toward you."

Yu Sheng twitched the corner of his mouth, saying nothing for a while, lost in thought. After a long moment, he shook his head: "Alright, I'll have to be careful next time I observe these fissures."

He glanced again at the crystal tree's canopy, then his gaze fell on Bai Liqing: "You've seen the crystal tree, and you understand the situation with the World Bridge. Anything else you want to know?"

Bai Liqing thought for a moment, her eyes sweeping over the corridor surrounding the courtyard and the continuous, magnificent, solemn cathedral buildings beyond it.

"Mind if I take a look around here? I'm somewhat interested in this cathedral—and that 'Soul Wilderness' outside."

"Of course, no problem," Yu Sheng smiled, raising a hand to wave at Luna, who was standing by at a distance. "It just so happens that Luna can show you around this place—she's a great guide. Luna, come show Bai Liqing around, and introduce your Phase Twelve engineering plan to her while you're at it."

Luna immediately walked over with a bright smile.

Judging by her expression, Yu Sheng could tell she was already drafting the compressed file in her head...

...

Special Operations Bureau Headquarters, Director's Office.

After who knew how long, Bai Liqing suddenly opened her eyes, as if waking from a dream. Her mind left the Soul Wilderness and returned to the real dimension.

Yu Sheng was sitting across the desk, looking at her happily.

Bai Liqing blinked, feeling her mind still buzzing. It took another two or three seconds before she fully recovered. After a moment of silence, she spoke: "...She's really that talkative?!"

Yu Sheng laughed at that: "Given the chaotic environment of the Lodge, with Eileen bouncing around, running her mouth, being a nuisance, and lacking class, Luna can handle it all with ease and even keep Eileen in check. Do you really think she's meek and honest?"

He shook his head and added: "It's a good thing Luna has high latency in the real world. If her latency were just a bit lower, I'd probably have to sleep on the roof every day—that house wouldn't be livable anymore."

Bai Liqing didn't say anything, just rubbed her forehead tiredly.

Yu Sheng felt that although Luna could talk, she wasn't that potent—maybe the Director hadn't slept enough.

But Bai Liqing soon pulled herself together.

"How is Luo doing over there?" she asked.

"She's been pretty well-behaved the past couple of days," Yu Sheng said, recalling what Little Red Riding Hood had reported. "Basically stays in her room, or sits by the door to sunbathe—although there's no sun in my valley. At first, I ordered her not to leave the valley, but surprisingly, she hardly even steps outside. According to Little Red Riding Hood, her current temperament is pretty... melancholic."

"...That's more or less what I expected," Bai Liqing said thoughtfully. "She's smart. She knows that under these circumstances, the best way to lower her presence and threat level is to leave room for possible negotiations or interrogations in the future—much better than most cultists who can't read the situation.

"Of course, she's not as docile as she appears—I bet she's tried to bypass communication blocks to contact the outside world. And if there were even the slightest loophole in your 'detention' of her, she'd certainly try to escape. The only reason she isn't running now is that she has a very clear assessment of the containment level of your 'valley.'"

Yu Sheng rubbed his chin, thinking, then asked curiously: "What are your plans for Luo? Surely you're not just going to keep her locked up forever?" "...To be honest, this problem is tricky even for the Special Operations Bureau, and even for the Borderlands," Bai Liqing said frankly. "If she were a notorious Black Spot warlord who had made moves against the Borderlands, everything would be simple. But she happens to be a 'moderate,' who even 'cooperated' with the Bureau in a sense. Moreover, her status within the Black Spot Group is delicate—not high enough to trade for significant benefits, but not low enough to be ignored...

"Not important enough to execute, not insignificant enough to release. The chance of recruiting her is very low, and trading with the Black Spot Group requires even more caution. For now, the most likely scenario is continued house arrest—long-term house arrest—until we need her for something. Of course, there's a lower probability of a secret execution after long-term house arrest... if she again poses a threat to the Borderlands."

Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow: "I thought you two were on pretty good terms."

"Friendship is friendship, principle is principle. Besides, there isn't that much 'friendship' between us to begin with," Bai Liqing said calmly. "Being able to secure long-term house arrest for her is already out of consideration for our few past collaborations, and the fact that she was also a victim in this incident."

"Speaking of which..." Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then looked very seriously into Bai Liqing's eyes. "I have an idea."

Bai Liqing seemed to guess something quickly, looking surprised: "You want to keep Luo?"

Yu Sheng nodded.

Bai Liqing's tone was strange: "What do you want a Black Spot warlord for?"

Yu Sheng spread his hands: "Didn't I snag a space station?"

Bai Liqing: "...No need to be so proud and candid about it."

"I don't really know how to use that thing," Yu Sheng said, pretending not to hear, still looking frank. "Mo Ran rounded up a bunch of Algrade star scholars over there, but the experts said that even they have trouble understanding what the Black Spot Group's 'tech freaks' cooked up, not to mention the space station's core system has layers of encryption—organizing a team to crack it is nowhere near as efficient as having the original owner go over and enter the password."

Bai Liqing raised her eyelids, her light gray eyes fixed seriously on Yu Sheng: "And the rest?"

Those eyes seemed to see through everything, but Yu Sheng was getting a bit used to it. He just smiled: "On the other hand, I do need a 'smart person' here to help me with some research."

There was a lot he wanted to research.

For instance, Eileen's condition, the "artificial saint" technology in Luna, the World Bridge, and that "astral crystal tree."

More and more bizarre things were showing up around him, and Yu Sheng had gradually come to realize that some secrets couldn't be figured out by just the lively bunch living at 66 Wutong Road, nor by his own "thinking" alone.

The Lodge needed to do some real "research."

One person's thinking was limited—he needed to find a smart person to think with him.

Preferably someone who didn't follow the beaten path, someone who routinely dealt with all kinds of shady stuff, someone with a bit of dark psionics and subspace expertise.

Of course, the Special Operations Bureau had research teams, and Shu Ji had immortals who delved into the Great Dao. Even academic organizations like Terra Academy and the Algrade Astrologers' Guild—through the Bureau or connections in the Featherwing Star Sector—Yu Sheng could ask them for help. But help was help; they weren't part of the Lodge after all.

Luo wasn't part of the Lodge either, but she could be.

There was no need for a guilty conscience about poaching from the Black Spot Group.

Besides, Luo had an irreplaceable advantage: she really did routinely deal with all kinds of shady stuff, and she really did have some dark psionics and subspace experience. More importantly, she had been "crowned" by the Goddess of Ill Omen—and survived.

That meant her spiritual talent was extremely high, and she had a tough life (that being the most important).

Yu Sheng felt she was a rare talent, a heaven-sent thinking partner.

(End of chapter)