Chapter 271: Collection Point at the Doorstep

Hu Li came to the living room holding her bowl, crouched down next to Yu Sheng, and started eating while curiously watching the three bodies huddled together, sitting with their knees hugged in an autistic circle. After a long while, she couldn't help but ask, "Benefactor, what's wrong with Ai Lin?"

"She got hit hard," Yu Sheng sighed. "She just found out there's a kind of stone in the world that does nothing except counter itself, and she thinks she's unlucky."

"Oh," Hu Li nodded with the bowl, not sure if she understood, then leaned over and patted one of Ai Lin's shoulders with her tail. "The teacher at school said that the talented always suffer heaven's envy..."

Ai Lin looked up from her self-imposed autism circle, and all three bodies said in unison, "What does that mean?"

Hu Li was an honest girl: "I don't know, but the teacher said that when you meet someone who's especially unlucky, you comfort them like that—though they might still be unlucky after the comfort."

The three Ai Lins sighed in unison. Two of them immediately lay down on the sofa, lifeless and hopeless. The remaining one scrambled up and ran to Yu Sheng, "Ah—Yu Sheng, I think the world is targeting me!"

Yu Sheng nodded. "Yeah, I can see that."

"You said 'yeah'!" Ai Lin was almost on the verge of tears. "No, seriously, why?! That thing knocked me over, and I thought it had detected some amazing property... but it doesn't defend against anything except me?! Did I offend Ankara or something?"

"How would I know?" Yu Sheng rolled his eyes, then thought about it and decided he needed to comfort the little puppet. "But look on the bright side, maybe those crystals are actually targeting 'Alice Puppets'—when we get in touch with Alice's Cottage later, have your sisters try it too."

What Yu Sheng said had no basis at all, but Ai Lin believed it in a flash. The little puppet's face visibly cheered up. "Hey, that makes sense! It must be that we puppets are all too powerful, naturally suppressing the 'foreign' Gloomy Angel, so even after Ankara is gone, they still target us..."

Not to mention anything else, this little thing's optimism was quite admirable.

As they were talking, a commotion suddenly came from outside the window, interrupting the conversation between Yu Sheng and the little puppet.

The fox, who was eating, immediately pricked up her ears.

Yu Sheng also looked up toward the living room window, a bit surprised—Wutong Road No. 66 was usually very quiet. Apart from the Special Ops Bureau and the fairy tale people, ordinary people couldn't even get within dozens of meters of this house. What was that noise?

With some doubt, Yu Sheng got up and walked to the window, followed by Ai Lin, who climbed up his clothes and squeezed onto the windowsill from under his arm, and then Hu Li, still carrying her bowl. Three heads—two big and one small—looked out together and saw a group of people busily working at the intersection nearest to No. 66 Wutong Road.

That spot was almost the edge of the "no-go zone" at Yu Sheng's doorstep. There were a few shops that had been hanging rent and sale signs for years, along with unoccupied empty houses. Yu Sheng had even suspected those empty houses were part of the "abnormal area" of No. 66 Wutong Road. Later, he specifically asked the street office and found out they weren't—they just weren't renting out because they were too remote.

But now one of those shops had obviously been rented out. Yu Sheng saw a truck parked at the intersection, and several strong young men were unloading quickly, carrying shelves, counters, computers, and other things inside.

Yu Sheng watched in amazement. "...Wow, is this place finally going to get bustling?"

"How could that be! Don't you know the peculiarity of your house?" Ai Lin pressed her whole body against the window, muttering as she looked out. "No birds poop here, even dogs go the other way..."

Yu Sheng: "Although that's true, your way of saying it is really asking for a beating."

"Benefactor, should we go say hello?" Hu Li had finally finished eating, and as she wiped her mouth with her tail, she casually asked. "It's a bit far, but they're new 'neighbors'?"

"Not exactly neighbors—but it's worth checking what they're up to," Yu Sheng nodded. "I'll go say hi."

As soon as he spoke, Hu Li immediately stuffed the bowl into her tail. "Benefactor, I'll go with you!"

Ai Lin also jumped from the windowsill into Hu Li's arms. "Me too! I'll play dead now!"

As soon as she said that, the little puppet's arms and legs drooped, and her eyes instantly lost their luster—so practiced.

Hu Li also casually pulled off her ears, and her tail vanished with a "puff," no slower than Ai Lin.

Yu Sheng looked helplessly at these two followers, sighed, and said, "Alright, let's go together."

He changed into some outdoor clothes, then led Hu Li (and Ai Lin, who was playing dead) out of the house. Soon they arrived at the shop, and Yu Sheng curiously looked around. But his gaze was immediately drawn to a mark on the truck beside him—

Black background, red pattern, a diamond-shaped symbol that looked like a vertical warning eye.

The Special Ops Bureau's mark.

Just as he was stunned, Yu Sheng heard a familiar voice: "Teacher Yu!"

He looked up and saw Ren Wenwen, dressed in a black suit and looking like an office elite, standing in front of him with a bright smile.

Several young people busy moving shelves around also looked up at the sound, including two who were clearly Special Ops Bureau agents who had helped in the valley not long ago...

Yu Sheng: "...?"

Seeing it was someone familiar, Ai Lin immediately stopped playing dead and lifted her head from Hu Li's arms. "What, it's you guys? What are you doing here?!"

Yu Sheng also looked at Ren Wenwen questioningly, and saw her smiling as she pointed to a sign that hadn't been hung yet at the entrance of the shop—

"Starlight Express Wutong Road Collection Point."

Yu Sheng's expression changed slightly. "...A courier station?"

Ren Wenwen laughed. "You mentioned to the Special Ops Bureau before that it was inconvenient to receive deliveries and takeout at No. 66 Wutong Road, right? So we decided to set up a collection point as close to your home as possible. Don't underestimate this storefront—from the site selection to the supporting personnel, the bureau went through repeated demonstration and testing many times.

"This location is the edge of the 'shielding zone' near your home, and it's the maximum distance an ordinary human can approach No. 66 Wutong Road without cognitive interference. It's the prime spot for a collection point. From now on, two Special Ops Bureau agents will be stationed here permanently. It's essentially a special 'station' of the bureau. I'm directly responsible for the liaison work here. In the future, you can also write this as the reception address for the 'Hostel.' That way, it'll be convenient for you to take on detective commissions, otherwise clients won't be able to find your home easily..."

Ren Wenwen spoke seriously, enumerating items one by one. Yu Sheng maintained an expression of "Huh? Yeah? Oh?" throughout, feeling caught off guard—but honestly, it wasn't that sudden, because he had mentioned this to Bai Liqing a long time ago. He had just been too busy lately and had almost forgotten...

Ren Wenwen seemed to notice the subtlety in Yu Sheng's expression, and after finishing, she bowed her head apologetically. "Sorry for making you wait so long. You see, even though this station is small, quite a few departments were involved. And considering future needs, we also integrated the Starlight Express channel, which required another round of Council approval processes. Even though each step was handled as a special case, running through all the processes still took some trouble."

Only then did Yu Sheng snap out of it. Looking at the apologetic clerk, he quickly waved his hand. "Ah, it's no trouble, no trouble. I've just been so busy lately that I forgot about it, so I was a bit surprised... Wait, what did you say about the Starlight Express channel? I wanted to ask when I saw the sign..."

"Oh, that's the shopping and delivery platform directly invested and controlled by the Borderlands Council," Ren Wenwen said, pulling out a QR code from beside her. "Scan this to download the app..."

Yu Sheng suddenly felt she looked less like a Special Ops Bureau agent and more like a salesperson at a mall who chases you to follow a public account, register as a member, and buy a prepaid card just for a bottle of shampoo...

But Ren Wenwen didn't notice the subtle change in Yu Sheng's expression and continued enthusiastically. "Ordinary people can't register on this platform. It operates on a whitelist system. Mainly, many items are restricted from circulation in the Borderlands or require strict purchasing qualifications. But don't worry, you've been on the whitelist for a long time—our director signed it himself. You can just register. Of course, if you really need restricted items, you won't be able to buy them; a warning will pop up when you place an order. Also, if you don't need this app, that's fine too. Starlight Express also handles regular logistics and deliveries within the Borderlands, so it's very convenient for you..."

Yu Sheng didn't really pay attention to what Ren Wenwen mumbled at the end. After downloading the app, he opened it, glanced at the page, then silently closed it. He opened it again and looked a few more times, then closed it again.

He roughly understood what this thing was.

The homepage was recommending "Bal Gomo Delicious Alien Cans." The first line of the product details taught the user several practical fighting techniques after opening the alien can...

He felt he probably wouldn't need this hardcore stuff for a while...

Then he heard Ren Wenwen change the subject. "Oh, by the way, Teacher Yu, I saw your newly published novel!"

To be honest, Yu Sheng really flinched.

Mainly because this girl's level of craziness in shipping characters had left a deep impression on him.

But soon, Yu Sheng remembered that last time he had changed the male lead's mount to an alpaca. He relaxed and let out a small sigh, then smiled. "How was it?"

"A bit... thrilling," Ren Wenwen thought for a moment and said seriously, with an expression even carrying a sense of mission. "Honestly, it was quite challenging, but I'm trying..."

Yu Sheng: "..."

He stood there stunned for a long time, his brain creakingly turning—and then he felt it would have been better if it hadn't turned.

No, girl, what exactly are you trying for?!