Chapter 62: A Ghost Living in the Borderlands

This was the first time Li Lin had ever seen the usually steady and reliable Captain Song with such a furrowed brow, as if facing a formidable enemy.

“So... that eyeball-shaped Dim Angel just silently left the alien realm it was parasitizing, without trying to contaminate or control anyone, and didn't leave behind any 'offspring'?” Song Cheng finally spoke after a long silence, having listened to the reports from the two Special Affairs Bureau agents in front of him. “Didn't you hear any 'higher-dimensional whispers' or anything like that in your minds during the entire process?”

“No,” Xu Jiali shook her head, her voice low. “But that thing definitely noticed us. For a moment, I could clearly feel that 'gaze'—its focus fell on where we were hiding. It was as if...”

Song Cheng frowned. “As if?”

Xu Jiali recalled the moment and said uncertainly, “As if it were searching for something.”

Song Cheng tapped the desk with his fingers, somewhat agitated, and remained silent for a moment.

After another dozen seconds, he let out a long sigh and turned to look at Li Lin. “When you were in contact with that person who called himself 'Yu Sheng,' did you sense any 'alien' aura from him? By intuition, do you think he seemed more like a human, or like... something else?”

“Like a human. At least in his speech, behavior, and common sense in dealing with others, he was human. If he is an entity disguised as a human, the only explanation is that the disguise is too perfect—so perfect that he can be directly regarded as human,” Li Lin said very certainly.

“But he has long 'lived' at '66 Wutong Road,' a place that doesn't exist in the real world at all—an alien realm that has never appeared in any official records,” Song Cheng sighed. “Alien realms only generate 'entities,' not... humans.”

Xu Jiali, who was standing nearby, was silent for a while before speaking. “There are indeed some 'entities' in this world that possess reason and can communicate. Some are exceptionally friendly or have requests for the mortal world, and they can even cooperate with humans, like the 'Storyteller' and 'Passenger 22.' They even appear to have certain human characteristics...”

“But compared to this 'Yu Sheng' you mentioned, they are still completely different levels of concept—in terms of 'human-likeness,'” Song Cheng shook his head and looked at Xu Jiali. “Can you confirm that he is the same 'Door Opener' you saw on Amein-IX?”

“I can confirm, but he didn't recognize me at all,” Xu Jiali nodded. “I was equipped with full power armor and a mental shield at the time. It seems his perception couldn't penetrate that gear.”

“Limited perception, highly human-like personality, the ability to open 'gates' at will, capable of fighting against the hunger entities that were greatly enhanced by the Dim Angel's influence, but the specific process of that kill remains a mystery... He seems to be deliberately concealing his combat methods...” Song Cheng slowly summarized the intelligence they had gathered so far, thinking as he spoke. “And there's another point...”

“He's very friendly toward humans,” Li Lin said from the side.

“Yes, very friendly toward humans, even willing to actively approach Special Affairs Bureau agents.” Song Cheng nodded slightly, seeming about to say something more, but the sound of footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside the door, interrupting him.

A knock sounded, and then a short-haired young woman pushed the door open and walked in, holding a folder in her hand. “Captain Song, the Archives Department sent over the documents.”

Song Cheng's eyes widened slightly. “...There really is a file for that 'Yu Sheng'!?”

“Yes, but if you search directly in the system, it shows as 'cancelled.' The cancellation time is the very day the current Borderlands population registration system was established. In other words, this person was 'gone' from the very beginning, even before the birth date on his file. Yet strangely, after the cancellation time, this person's identity information has always remained in an 'active' state. The word 'cancelled' is like a trivial watermark on the system display,” the short-haired girl placed the folder on Song Cheng's desk, her face full of disbelief. “You can even check some recent shopping, social registrations, and transportation records under this ID number—all of which have been proceeding normally despite the system showing it as cancelled.”

Song Cheng picked up the folder and looked up in surprise. “Such a serious bug, and the system didn't alert?”

“No. The Information Center has already arranged overtime tonight. When I passed by, I saw Director Wu letting out a sharp screech...”

“...Let him screech. He screeches a few times every month anyway.” Song Cheng shook his head and looked down at the documents in his hand.

From start to finish, it looked like just a very ordinary resident file, along with ordinary living expense records—except for the glaring red 'cancelled' watermark on every page, and the address '66 Wutong Road,' which should never have appeared in the archive system at all.

Song Cheng swiveled his chair, opened the computer on his desk, entered the Special Affairs Bureau’s internal application, typed in a few keywords for '66 Wutong Road,' and hit Enter—it immediately displayed an error.

“A ghost... a ghost living in the Borderlands, casting an indelible shadow in our complex population management system. He didn't just pop up recently. According to what that 'Yu Sheng' himself said, he has been living in this city for over twenty years, which matches the records,” Song Cheng murmured softly, his expression rather grim—though that was mainly due to his recent frequent overtime. “No one ever noticed. Not even the Director's eyes saw him—until now he voluntarily popped out to contact us.”

Li Lin and Xu Jiali exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of gravity in each other's eyes.

—Fortunately, this 'ghost' had no interest in causing trouble, and had even always thought he was an 'ordinary person.'

Just then, Song Cheng's eyes noticed another section in the file.

“...Writer?” He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “This ghost has a job?”

“Freelance writer. He contributes to some small magazines and media accounts, writing horror stories or B-grade scripts. But he's not famous, and he hasn't written much recently.”

Song Cheng thought for a moment. “...A failure?”

The short-haired girl looked serious. “He can support himself. That's not a failure.”

“...What's his writing like?”

“There's a short story at the end of the file, which I found from a magazine last year. I thought you might be interested.”

Song Cheng immediately flipped to the end of the file and gave it a quick glance.

The short-haired girl looked at Captain Song with faint expectation. “How is it?”

Song Cheng was silent for a moment, a troubled expression on his face. “I... don't really understand the tastes of today's young people.”

Having said that, he immediately coughed twice, closed the folder expressionlessly, and composed his face. “But in any case, this is a very noteworthy lead—arrange for people to collect everything this 'Yu Sheng' has written, conduct a psychological profile and personality assessment, and also keep an eye on his future... ah, 'creative' output.”

He paused and added, “A 'suspected entity' who considers himself human, not only thinking like a human but even creating like a human. His works will surely reveal his inner, truer way of thinking and emotions. This has never happened before; it must be taken seriously—but don't let him notice.”

“Understood, Captain Song.”

The short-haired girl left the office with the documents, and Song Cheng's gaze returned to Xu Jiali and Li Lin.

“Regarding the 'spatial rifts' that were created in the Borderlands—did you ask him what was going on?”

Upon hearing this, Li Lin shot an awkward glance at Xu Jiali beside him. Seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he had no choice but to steel himself and say, “...I forgot to ask.”

“How could you forget that?!”

“We were mentally overstressed at the time. Probably the effect of witnessing the Dim Angel,” Xu Jiali finally spoke up. As a veteran, she immediately helped the rookie Li Lin out. “But although we didn't ask directly, we did pick up some information while evacuating to the safe point together with Yu Sheng's two companions.”

“You mean that doll and that fox spirit?”

“Right. According to what they mentioned in their conversation, the so-called 'spatial rifts' were just... Yu Sheng trying to open a door, in order to rescue the fox spirit who was trapped in an alien realm.”

Song Cheng stared wide-eyed. “...That's all it was?”

“That should be it.”

“...Just to find a way, opening and closing a few doors, and shaking up the entire Borderlands?!”

Xu Jiali twisted the muscles in her face. “Actually, it only shook up the Bureau...”

Noticing the expression on the captain's face, she immediately stopped.

Song Cheng sat behind his desk, staring wide-eyed and trying to recompose himself. After a long while, he tiredly waved his hand. “Alright, you two can head out first. This matter is a bit big. I need to discuss it with higher-ups.”

Li Lin and Xu Jiali exchanged glances. Xu Jiali hesitated and asked, “Then regarding the formal contact with that 'Yu Sheng' later... do we still follow procedure?”

“Don't worry about it for now. This matter will probably have to go through the Director,” Song Cheng sighed. “If that Yu Sheng really were an 'ordinary person,' I would have sent just the two of you over. But the situation now is not so simple. Go back and rest first—ah, don't forget to stop by the 'Treatment Room' first, get checked up and fill out the forms before you leave. Starting tomorrow, you two get three days off.”

(End of this chapter)