Chapter 282: Going Home Means Driving the House Back

The set of things Bai Liqing was saying left Yu Sheng completely stunned.

After listening, his biggest takeaway was that organizations that handled theory were indeed formidable. That bunch from the Congregation of the Sanctified were way more impressive than those crazy Angel Cultists—no wonder they could create something as absurd as an "Artificial Saint" and still hold their own territory, while the Angel Cultists could only blow themselves up hoping to startle some dark angel and get their "Lord" to glance at them. The execution levels weren't even in the same league.

Of course, as for whether the Congregation of the Sanctified's theory of "repairing humanity and the entire world through sanctification" actually made any sense, he had no interest in analyzing it closely.

Cult stuff, after all—it had to sound inflammatory on the surface. Even if it was twisted at its core, they'd find a way to package it until it looked perfectly polished. Otherwise, where would they recruit members?

After all, from the very beginning, people who genuinely wanted to take revenge on society were few and far between. If you ran a grassroots activist group and your publicity line was "Our goal is to set this world ablaze," you'd only attract losers who'd been beaten down by the world and were full of grievances. But if you said, "Our organization's purpose is to bring warmth to the world through scientific innovation," then even your education level sounded high...

All these random thoughts flashed through Yu Sheng's mind, but they didn't even take a few seconds. Then he asked another question: "Has the Congregation of the Sanctified caused much trouble for the Borderlands? Have they ever stirred things up here before?"

"Because of the Borderlands' special nature, we've dealt with almost all the cults and major illegal organizations, including the Congregation of the Sanctified. But the conflicts mainly occurred at those distant border stations or colonial planets. They rarely dared to cause trouble in the Borderlands 'proper.' The only few operations were for smuggling or rescuing members—but this time, it's different."

As Bai Liqing said this, her tone turned somewhat grave.

"An Artificial Saint—that's not something they can deploy casually. The combat power of these killing machines is one thing, but more importantly, 'they' also hold a special symbolic meaning within the Congregation of the Sanctified. An Artificial Saint often serves as the core of an important 'sanctification' operation. 'Her' appearance is both to protect the Congregation's important assets and to symbolize the guidance and protection of the 'Saint'... You understand what I mean."

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment, just frowned in thought. After a long while, he broke the silence thoughtfully: "Could it be related to the appearance of this thick fog?"

"...I'm starting to suspect that too," Bai Liqing nodded slightly. "This 'fog' is highly unusual. A 'Foreign Domain' on this scale, if it had been in the City of Boundaries from the start, there's no way it could have gone undiscovered for so long. And its timing is very sensitive—it appeared shortly after the angel's fall... At a time like this, anyone making small moves in the Borderlands is especially suspicious."

Just then, the identification team returned.

They brought back the black veil and the few blades Yu Sheng had requested.

"Checked it. It's an N-12 model Artificial Saint. This unit has been in service for less than five years. The N-12 is a new model, and there isn't much data in the database," the Special Operations agent who came to return some samples reported to Bai Liqing. "The outer shell uses military-grade Class II armored Oton alloy, with trace carbonyne crystal clusters detected, probably produced in the Great Cross Star Zone. The blades are monocrystalline alloy blades—technology already mature in the previous N-11 model. Place of origin unknown; suspected to be produced in the Congregation of the Sanctified's secret forge."

The technician paused slightly, then pointed at the veil: "We also checked this one. The design is a ceremonial style, a local brand, but it circulated through the Council's trade network to over twenty external channels. And because it's very popular in some regions 'outside,' there are many imitations and rebranded versions. The official anti-counterfeiting work is very poor, making tracing difficult."

Yu Sheng listened, stunned, thinking,

Professionals are indeed professional—even though he hadn't understood a word about the shell material or place of origin.

But for Bai Liqing, this intelligence was clearly valuable.

"N-12... sending this cutting-edge model here shouldn't be a decision made by a branch. It's at least an order from a 'Sage' of the Congregation at the mid-level or above," she said thoughtfully. After a moment's consideration, she nodded at the reporting officer. "Alright, go back first."

"Yes, Director."

The identification team left.

Bai Liqing's gaze fell on Yu Sheng.

"That arm—we'd like to keep it for analysis. Samples of Artificial Saint bodies are very rare, especially this new model. We need it. The Special Operations Bureau will purchase it at the standard rate for high-grade anomalies. Is that okay?"

"That's easy enough," Yu Sheng said, waving his hand with a smile. "I already said I only want these 'long blades.' You can do whatever you want with the rest. I don't really know the market anyway... So I'll take these things back now."

As he spoke, he carefully picked up the unusually sharp and sturdy "tools," handed them to Hu Li to put into her tail, then hesitated for a moment. He picked up the black veil, looked at it, and turned to Ai Lin: "Take this back and make you a dress?"

"No way!" Ai Lin immediately showed a face full of disgust. "That creepy thing—and who knows how many brutal things that C-type wore it for. I find it unlucky."

Yu Sheng chuckled: "Usually when I see you playing games or killing monsters, you're happily skinning and scavenging scales to modify gear."

Ai Lin stood on Bai Liqing's desk with her hands on her hips: "That's different! Games are games, reality is reality..."

Yu Sheng casually tossed the veil to Hu Li: "Fine, if you don't want it, then Hu Li can keep it. Her tail has plenty of space anyway."

After finishing the discussion about the Congregation of the Sanctified, it was almost three o'clock.

Considering that the investigation wouldn't be completed overnight, Yu Sheng decided to go home—Hu Li was already yawning so hard that even her ears were drooping.

Besides, he still had to drive the house back to the real world. Although No. 66 Wutong Road had its own cognitive interference, theoretically even if it flew all over the City of Boundaries, it shouldn't attract ordinary people's attention. But now he'd parked it inside a Foreign Domain, and if it stayed too long, he worried something might go wrong.

"We'll head back first, then," Yu Sheng said, casually pulling open the door leading to the living room. "No. 66 Wutong Road will return to its original position soon. There might be some 'disturbance' when it does, so be prepared on your end. Also, log the new 'signature code' and update it in your automatic system."

"Alright," Bai Liqing stood up from behind her desk. "I'll personally follow up on the deep-dive team's search. If any new clues turn up in the 'Fog City,' I'll contact you."

Yu Sheng nodded, then, with Hu Li and Ai Lin, stepped through the door.

Watching the illusory door silently close in front of her, Bai Liqing stood still for a few seconds, then let out a soft breath.

She picked up the phone on the desk and casually dialed an internal number.

"Who's on duty in the Tech Department right now? ...Good, I have a request..."

...

"Home is still the best," as soon as they got back, Ai Lin jumped down from Hu Li's arms and stretched vigorously while muttering, "In that steel-faced director's office, everything felt cold and oppressive. The air was suffocating."

Hu Li yawned hugely, her several large tails drooping listlessly behind her. "Benefactor, sleepy."

Seeing this, Yu Sheng smiled and rubbed the soft fur behind the fox-girl's ears: "You go upstairs and sleep. I'll get the house back."

"Okay~"

Hu Li mumbled a reply, then headed for the stairs. Halfway up, she simply dropped to all fours and slowly crawled up.

Yu Sheng watched from behind, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He felt that this fox girl was getting more and more relaxed—of course, he didn't think that was a bad thing...

Shaking his head, he pushed aside the faint drowsiness for the moment. He walked to the front door, placed his hand on the handle, and began the process of sending No. 66 Wutong Road back to the real world.

This was his first time performing a "reverse operation," and to be honest, he was pretty nervous.

When people get nervous, they tend to come up with weird ideas.

As soon as he felt the connection with the "door" established, a bold idea suddenly popped into Yu Sheng's mind—since his house could move back and forth between the Borderlands and the "Fog City," would it also be possible to move it somewhere else?

If he used the same method he used to "transfer" to the Fog City, what would happen if he set No. 66 Wutong Road to go even farther—like an alien planet, or one of those bizarre places he'd seen when practicing opening doors...

Would No. 66 Wutong Road naturally appear there too? If it landed in another city, if there were people living there...

Just then, Ai Lin saw Yu Sheng suddenly freeze, and then a weird grin spread across his face. The little doll immediately guessed what was happening and quickly called out: "Hey hey hey, don't you dare try it now! It's past three in the morning! Give it a rest!"

"Ahem," Yu Sheng quickly pulled back those bold ideas, letting his eyes look at his nose, his nose at his mouth, his mouth at his heart: "I was just conceptualizing, you know, conceptualizing. This time I won't mess around."

As he spoke, he honestly settled down. Following the previous method, treating No. 66 Wutong Road and the front door as a single entity, he completed the assignment and preparation for opening the "door."

The handle turned gently, and the latch clicked open.

Yu Sheng slowly pushed the door open.

The street outside was calm in the night, no fog, everything normal.

Two unfamiliar Special Operations agents were standing on the empty ground in front of the door, each holding something like a recorder, staring blankly in his direction.

After a long moment, the two spoke in unison: "Uh, you're back?"

Yu Sheng: "Yeah, I'm back."

"Welcome back..."

"Want to come in for a bit?"

"No, no, we have noodles steeping..."

"Oh, then I'll close the door."

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Yu Sheng closed the door and exchanged a look with the little puppet at his feet.

"I feel like those two aren't very bright."

"I think so too. Dumb as a rock."

(End of chapter)