Chapter 594: "Opportunity"

The jostling "cat conglomerate" slithered and rolled up to Yu Sheng. A cluster of eyes flickering with eerie white light shifted across the surface of the amorphous mass of shadow. From inside the mass came a cacophony of cat meows. Then the shadow suddenly collapsed in place, instantly disintegrating into dozens—even hundreds—of black cats. As the collapse progressed, each cat transitioned from an ethereal shadow state to acquire a plastic or rubber-like texture, becoming the form Yu Sheng was familiar with.

Immediately after, the black cats scattered into the corners of the alley.

Only one cat remained—this pitch-black "plastic kitten" stared fixedly into Yu Sheng's eyes and raised a front paw.

Yu Sheng hesitated, then bent down and touched the paw.

A shallow "thought" entered his mind.

"The invaders will return."

The little black cat turned and ran away, like a series of intermittent images, its figure disappearing into the depths of the street corner through continuous short-range teleportation.

Yu Sheng raised his head, following the direction where the black cats had vanished, and saw that the street-facing shops on both sides of the Dark Alley were still lit with eerie lights, their windows reflecting hazy shadows.

The mist, after thinning to a certain degree, remained unchanged, still drifting in the alley.

The Dark Alley had not completely returned to its original state due to the retreat of those brass knights.

Yu Sheng told the others about the information he had obtained from the "cat."

Little Red Riding Hood frowned deeply, looking uneasily at Yu Sheng: "What do you think is going on? So many brass knights... and they come and go freely in the Dark Alley. They don't look like they stumbled in by accident; they resemble a special forces team sent to carry out a mission. If those Hermetic Order cultists have infiltrated again... I have a feeling this is on a bigger scale than last time."

Aileen scratched her hair, turned to look at Yu Sheng: "So does that mean we're getting a new spaceship again?"

"It's not about that," Yu Sheng waved his hand, then took out his phone and checked the time. "Anyway, we need to inform the Special Operations Bureau about this. The changes in the Dark Alley are no ordinary incident. We won't be able to investigate much on our own... It's too late today. You all go back and rest. I'll go find Bai Liqing and talk to her about this after I leave. Maybe she's still at the bureau."

Aileen thought for a moment: "To be honest, I'm starting to feel sorry for that iron-faced stoic..."

What could Yu Sheng say? He felt sorry for that bureau chief sister too.

He didn't understand why he always went to talk to her at night, and always about urgent matters that couldn't be delayed.

The only good news was that no further changes occurred in the Dark Alley afterward, and the group smoothly exited the alley.

Before leaving the Dark Alley, Yu Sheng's last action was to pull out a few blood grenades and detonate them all on the street—only after watching the blood mist seep little by little into the surrounding buildings, into those windows reflecting eerie lights, did he leave reassured.

Outside, the world was lit by the first evening lights, night enveloping the entire city. The Special Operations Bureau squad was still guarding the entrance to Old Street, though some personnel had rotated. They knew nothing of what had happened inside the alien domain.

After all, their task was merely to prevent reckless rookie investigators and spirit realm investigators from sneaking into the alley, not to monitor the state of the alien domain in real time.

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then decided to first inform them about the situation inside.

Then Aileen was the first to run over—the 66.6-centimeter-tall little doll scampered up to the two Special Operations Bureau operatives, tilted her head up proudly, and said, "What are you standing there dumbfounded for! Monsters spawned right under your noses!!"

The two sentries on duty had been amused watching this little thing run all the way over, but when they heard Aileen's shout, they were startled and looked up at Yu Sheng.

Yu Sheng gave them a brief account of the situation in the Dark Alley—dozens of brass knights had spawned, and it seemed to have "connected" to some secret colony of the Sanctified Hermetic Order, with even the spatial laws having changed...

The expressions of the Special Operations Bureau operatives on duty changed on the spot.

Of course, how they would write their reports afterward was no longer Yu Sheng's concern. After fulfilling his duty as a "spirit realm investigator" to investigate and report, he first opened a door to send Little Red Riding Hood back to Fairytale Town, then sent Hu Li, Aileen, and Luna back to 66 Wutong Road, while he himself turned and entered the Special Operations Bureau.

As soon as the door opened, he was in Bai Liqing's office. Yu Sheng entered and saw that she had just finished tidying up her desk, holding a bag, looking as if she was about to leave.

Yu Sheng looked at Bai Liqing, and Bai Liqing looked up at him.

Yu Sheng felt he had seen a series of micro-expressions measured in pixels.

"I'm off duty," Bai Liqing said expressionlessly, but her tone carried a hint of gritted teeth.

Yu Sheng sighed, picked up a chair, and sat down across from Bai Liqing's desk. "Let's talk about some overtime work."

Bai Liqing didn't move, just put down her bag and assumed a listening posture.

"I just fought a battle with my people in the 'Dark Alley,'" Yu Sheng didn't beat around the bush. "You should already know about the recent changes there. This time we went and discovered new developments. There are 'knights' of the Sanctified Hermetic Order in that place. If I'm not mistaken, the 'humanoid entities' mentioned in the sighting reports of other spirit realm investigators should be these things."

Bai Liqing sat down.

"How many?" She raised her eyes, their light gray pupils filled with gravity.

"We encountered dozens—and likely not all of them," Yu Sheng said frankly. "Those brass knights seemed to come and go freely, and when they 'entered' the Dark Alley, they caused obvious spatial changes. It seemed the entire alley had been 'widened,' with both ends extending infinitely... That's not even the most suspicious part. The most suspicious is that I also heard some sounds there, sounds... that seemed to come from Luna's homeland."

Even Bai Liqing gradually showed a serious expression at this moment.

The Sanctified Hermetic Order causing trouble under the noses of the Special Operations Bureau for the second time clearly put the female bureau chief in a bad mood, but as Yu Sheng related more and more details, the anger in her expression turned more to gravity and thoughtfulness.

"...This doesn't seem like simple 'infiltration' or an invasion," she suddenly broke the silence. "Are you sure that when the Dark Alley 'contracted' again at the end, those 'knights' directly 'melted' into the surrounding buildings?"

"That's what it looked like," Yu Sheng thought for a moment. "And some knights simply disappeared into the distant fog. I didn't see any spatial teleportation phenomenon... Also, before one of the knights disappeared, I shot two blood needles into its body, but the connection to those needles was lost quickly. I don't know if it was because of the distance or if something interfered."

Bai Liqing pondered.

Yu Sheng didn't dare disturb her. He waited patiently for a while until he saw her raise her head again.

"You only encountered 'knights'?"

"Only them," Yu Sheng scratched his hair. "What's wrong?"

"If the number of 'knights' reaches a certain level, there must be a command node behind them—either a high-ranking monk of the Sanctified Hermetic Order, or... an artificial saint. You encountered dozens of 'knights'; theoretically, there must be other high-level units hidden nearby."

Artificial saint...

Yu Sheng's expression carried some gravity, but in his mind appeared the scene of meeting Luna for the first time, and the moment he first heard Luna speak.

"At the time, Hu Li's divine sense didn't detect anything else, and Luna's radar didn't react either," he said slowly. "In theory, if there were other Hermetic Order members or artificial saints nearby, she would have found them."

Bai Liqing thought for a moment.

"So, either the command node of those 'knights' was not in the Dark Alley, or some phenomenon in the alley at that time blocked your perception. Additionally, considering the other strange phenomena you mentioned, it's possible that the Dark Alley intersected with other times and spaces. If those 'knights' 'sneaked in' from another time-space, that could also produce this situation..."

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment.

He didn't know how those "knights" had entered, nor what the Sanctified Hermetic Order behind those enemies was planning this time. At this moment, he only realized one thing.

This was an opportunity.

Those elusive cultists who always hid in the shadows had shown their heads again—not only had they surfaced, but the Dark Alley had even presented news of Luna's homeland.

Even if it was just a clue, some puzzling strange phenomena, this was still an opportunity.

He had promised to help Luna get revenge, to help her return home.

Bai Liqing didn't speak, just observed Yu Sheng's expression. She seemed to know what he was thinking. After a long silence, she spoke as if casually: "I think I told you before that the Sanctified Hermetic Order is a behemoth, a troublesome enemy of a different type from the Dusk Angels. We speculate they possess dozens of colonized planets, highly fortified fortress star sectors and at least two illegal star gates, as well as a huge population and an industrialized production system."

"Right, I remember you also said I could ask you for backup," Yu Sheng said. "The Borderlands has also been seeking an opportunity to completely wipe out these lunatics."

"Completely eliminating such a behemoth is not easy. It requires not just one or two battles, but a real war. But you're right, the Borderlands has indeed been waiting for this opportunity, provided you really have a way to dig out their lair," Bai Liqing said seriously. "In the past many years, we have tried, but the lawless star sectors are full of shadows. Finding a few specific stars in the vast starry sky is no simple matter. Last time you captured one of their capital ships, that might have been the closest we've come to success in many years... but the star charts on that ship were wiped clean by those cultists at the last moment."

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, then said seriously: "Last time we had no experience. This time, I think it can work."

Bai Liqing immediately stared into his eyes: "Do you have any basis for that?"

Yu Sheng: "I think so."

Bai Liqing nodded: "...Alright."