Chapter 618: Signs of Losing Control

A long time ago, Yu Sheng had asked the Special Operations Bureau to help investigate information about the "Artificial Saints." Now it seemed that his request back then had been taken seriously—the Bureau had indeed found quite a bit of related data from various sources. The intel Song Cheng brought was timely, and it successfully stoked everyone's anger once again.

Yu Sheng's gaze fell on Luna's face, but he couldn't detect much of a change in expression from her perpetually perfect features. Only through the connection established by blood could he sense a biting coldness hidden beneath her reason and calm—a coldness that was brewing and growing in the depths of her heart.

The little puppet on his shoulder stirred. Yu Sheng turned his head and saw Erin straining to lean toward Luna, so he cooperatively stepped aside. Erin finally managed to reach out and pat Luna's shoulder. The little puppet's face, rarely seen with such seriousness, tapped the "C-clip" she usually complained about, speaking in a cocky tone: "Listen up, C-clip, I'm telling you—we're definitely going to get you payback. I'm awesome. By next month, I'll have six regiments of troops..."

Luna seemed a little surprised. She stared blankly at the little puppet for two seconds before slowly lowering her head. "Th... thank you."

Hu Li glanced at Yu Sheng and Luna, then at Xu Jiali lying on the bed. Suddenly, the usually quiet one spoke up: "Are those guys who attacked you still in the Dark Alley?"

"Definitely not," Xu Jiali sighed. "After we pulled out, the Bureau dispatched two more squads to check the scene. The Dark Alley had already reverted to its previous state—the Knights and the leading Artificial Saint were nowhere to be seen, and even the traces of our fight had been mostly repaired by the Domain's characteristics. Our captain should know about this."

"Yeah, I sent them," Song Cheng nodded from the side. "We now suspect those cultist followers have found a way to stably control the passage, or at least figured out the pattern for opening and closing it. The batch that attacked Xu Jiali was clearly different from the ones you encountered before, Yu Sheng. This time, they were organized, sizable, and both their attack and retreat were orderly... I hate to admit it, but we're on the back foot this time."

Yu Sheng didn't speak. Instead, he had been stroking his chin, deep in thought. After a long while, he suddenly spoke: "But from another angle, they came through the 'Dark Alley' both times. Doesn't that mean their ability to open a 'passage' is also limited? If we can keep an eye on the Dark Alley..."

Song Cheng nodded before Yu Sheng could finish: "That's what we thought. So now the Dark Alley is under heavy surveillance, and we've stationed specialized psychics there, hoping to find traces of the 'rift' in the alley—though we haven't made any progress yet."

Erin started fiddling with Yu Sheng's hair. "Maybe we should go take a look?"

"We need to check it out," Yu Sheng let out a soft breath, his gaze landing on Xu Jiali. "You just rest here and heal. Leave the rest to us."

Xu Jiali's face was tense (probably because the painkillers were wearing off again). Upon hearing Yu Sheng's words, she didn't speak, just slowly nodded.

But just as Yu Sheng opened a door leading to the entrance of the Dark Alley, he suddenly stopped. "Wait."

Yu Sheng halted and turned around.

"Be very careful," Xu Jiali said gravely. "That Artificial Saint is dangerous. I know everything else is dangerous too, but this one feels especially off. She's different from Miss Luna. I can't quite explain it, but when I fought her, I kept feeling like she could see through my every move, like something was drilling into my mind. Other Deep Divers reported similar situations. If the Psionic Attendants hadn't been providing protection, our squad's situation would be even worse than it is now."

Yu Sheng listened to her account, his expression turning serious.

"I remember." He nodded earnestly, then turned and stepped through the door.

...

The cold and gloom of the Dark Alley were as ever, and the thin mist floating in the air added an extra layer of eeriness to the dense, old buildings.

When Yu Sheng and his group entered the alley, the first things they saw were the Deep Divers and Psionic Attendants stationed at the intersections, along with Special Operations Bureau agents in black tactical suits setting up some kind of sensing devices in front of various shops.

The Bureau had apparently notified the personnel in advance. When they saw Yu Sheng, they didn't react much, just nodded in greeting before continuing their work.

Erin (the blonde one) was holding onto Yu Sheng's head, whispering in his ear: "The atmosphere is... really tense, huh."

Whether the atmosphere was tense or not, Yu Sheng could tell the little thing was nervous.

He raised a hand to pat the little puppet's head, then led Luna and Hu Li to the spot where Xu Jiali's squad had been attacked.

The attack site was right near the old bookstore, diagonally across from the small pet food shop.

Just as Xu Jiali had said, the Domain's "reset" characteristic had basically erased the traces of the fight. Now only a few shallow bullet marks and cracks remained on the street-facing wall, and even those were slowly fading.

Luna stepped forward silently, examining the remaining marks. Her fingers brushed across the wall next to a shop window, pausing thoughtfully over the cracks.

"It's... an Artificial Saint," she looked up at Yu Sheng. "But the style... is different from mine."

Yu Sheng: "What do you mean?"

"Like... an older model," Luna thought for a moment, speaking haltingly. "I... don't know how to explain..."

She raised her hand, pointing at herself: "I can... recognize it. Like... a physical instinct."

"...Sounds like she's your predecessor then." Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow, and the corner of his eye caught a small shadow.

It was a little black cat with a plastic-like texture—half its body emerged from a puddle of water, peeking out nervously.

Erin instinctively tensed: "Hey, another cat!"

"Don't be jumpy. It's harmless now, isn't it?" Yu Sheng said as he crouched down, beckoning to the little black cat. "Come here."

The little black cat jumped out of the puddle, appearing before Yu Sheng in a series of discontinuous "flickers." Its white-glowing eyes stared straight at him, and a "meow" came from its pitch-black body.

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, placed his hand on the little cat's head, focused his mind through the blood connection, and issued a command as clearly as possible: "Show me what you saw."

Through the connection built by blood, a series of fragmented "impression shards" began to surface in his mind. They were blurry, discontinuous shadows, along with sounds—both actual sounds and the "noises" the cat's chaotic, fragmented mind interpreted. The mess of information coalesced into something like this:

Hard-shell people, weird cat-eared folks walking upright, came in and messed things up, got hit, clang clang clang, no canned food, didn't get any canned food, sent several flying, meow, miserable, no canned food...

Yu Sheng: "..."

What the hell was this!

The cat's pudding-like mind made his head buzz. He was already out of ideas, and this only made things worse. But just as he was about to take his hand off the cat's head, the last few image fragments that surfaced in his mind made him freeze.

He saw a tall, elegant figure—the unfamiliar Artificial Saint. The Knights behind her were retreating in an orderly fashion through a rift floating in the alley, but the Artificial Saint suddenly stopped for some reason, standing still in the middle of the street.

On the devastated street after the battle, within the twisted force field left by the psychic scream, she stood there alone, as if she had suddenly lost her mind or fallen into some kind of malfunction—much like Luna's usual "freeze" state.

In the next image, a Knight seemed to notice the Saint's abnormality. He turned and walked over, apparently to urge her along.

But the Artificial Saint suddenly raised her arm, and her seemingly slender hand grabbed the Knight around the waist. Despite his violent struggle, she casually swung, brutally throwing the tall brass armor into the rapidly closing rift.

The next second, the Artificial Saint who had just attacked her comrade spun around and rushed toward the intersection at the end of the Dark Alley.

Yu Sheng was completely stunned.

The "memory stream" in his mind rapidly faded. The little black cat's limited mind couldn't provide more details. Yu Sheng's vision blurred, and his focus returned to the alley. He shook his head hard and slapped his thigh: "She ran away!?"

Hu Li, who had been standing guard with her two big tails wrapped around her, looked confused: "Huh? Benefactor, what ran away?"

"That Artificial Saint—she suddenly attacked the Knights there, then ran off on her own!"

Yu Sheng quickly stood up, briefly recounting what he'd seen in the memory stream, then pointed to the other end of the alley: "That way—through the 'crossroads' that generates an exit. So she's probably already gotten 'outside.'"

Everyone present was stunned by this news (except Luna, whose expression was hard to read). Erin and Hu Li stared at each other for a long while before finally both turning to Luna, speaking almost in unison: "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Luna stood dumbfounded for a long time before finally stammering: "I... don't know either!"

...

At the same time, in the old district of Boundary City, on a small path near 66 Wutong Road, Zheng Zhi and Li Lin were each carrying a roasted sweet potato they'd just bought from an intersection, strolling back leisurely.

It was a nice day—bright and sunny, with some snow still piled by the roadside but the weather relatively warm. The Bureau had no assignments, not much work. Walking along with a hot roasted sweet potato in hand was truly a delightful experience—the perfect way to enjoy life.

Li Lin felt that nowadays, life was much more comfortable than when they had to go on field missions with the captain.

Zheng Zhi agreed.

The Super Intern took a bite of his roasted sweet potato, a puff of hot air swirling before his eyes.

A light breeze blew, cold. The hot air was scattered by the wind.

An Artificial Saint stood right in front of him.