Yu Sheng felt a bit dazed. The staff in the lab treated the samples he’d delivered with a level of caution and seriousness that far exceeded his expectations. Handling the paper fragment had seemed straightforward enough, but their response to the metal lump was… unsettling.
Something from Wutong Road No. 66 had managed to make the Special Affairs Bureau act as if they were facing a major threat?
His mind swirled with questions, but he knew Xu Jiali wasn’t the one to provide answers. As a seasoned combat operative, Xu Jiali likely had little access to the Bureau’s deeper secrets, even if he wanted to share.
So Yu Sheng let it go, watching as the lab staff disappeared with the samples. He let out a breath and turned to Xu Jiali. “So, that’s it? I just hand the stuff over? I thought I’d get to see the process.”
“You can observe it from the viewing room,” Xu Jiali said with a grin. “This is a high-security lab, after all. Entering it means going through a whole process—changing clothes, eliminating static, applying rational inhibitors. Just the preparation takes half an hour, and only trained personnel can actually enter the workspace. It’s not worth the trouble.”
As he spoke, Xu Jiali gestured to a door along the hallway. “Come on. You can watch from this room. The documents you requested have already been sent there. Also… our Director is waiting for you.”
“Your Director? She’s here again?” Yu Sheng asked, surprised. He started walking toward the door with Foxy and Irene in tow. “I feel bad, always troubling her.”
Xu Jiali chuckled but didn’t comment. Once they reached the door to the observation room, he knocked lightly, reported their arrival, and stepped back. “I’ll wait outside. The Director prefers not to be disturbed when she’s meeting guests.”
Yu Sheng nodded, thanked him for his guidance, and took a moment to compose himself before stepping inside.
Standing near the center of the room was Bai Li Qing, dressed in a crisp white skirt suit. Her entire presence seemed drained of color, as if she existed in muted tones. Behind her loomed a massive window that stretched across nearly the entire wall. The material of the window glowed faintly blue, and through it, Yu Sheng could see the laboratory beyond. Inside, technicians in protective suits worked methodically, their focus centered on the samples he had just delivered.
“Welcome to the Special Affairs Bureau,” Bai Li Qing said, her cool, composed voice breaking Yu Sheng’s train of thought. Her expression seemed to carry the faintest hint of a smile. “I apologize for the sparse setting—it’s not exactly a reception room. But I imagine you’re more interested in the sample analysis than in a comfortable seat.”
“That’s true,” Yu Sheng admitted, approaching the window. “I’m a practical person. I’ve always been curious about how professionals handle this kind of… work.”
As Yu Sheng watched, several technicians were examining the paper fragment. They sprayed it with a liquid under the lens of a complex device, beginning what appeared to be a preliminary analysis.
Bai Li Qing’s gaze shifted to Foxy and Irene. Her pale eyes reflected faint curiosity and a touch of appraisal. Irene, unfazed, climbed into the nearest chair, planted her hands on her hips, and met the Director’s gaze with her usual self-assured boldness. Foxy, by contrast, moved hesitantly to Yu Sheng’s side and offered a polite nod. “H-hello.”
“Hello,” Bai Li Qing replied with a slight nod.
Yu Sheng glanced back at the lab. “What about the other sample? The metal lump?”
“The two samples are being processed separately. It’s in another containment zone,” Bai Li Qing replied. She turned to a console on the table and tapped a few commands. The massive window flickered, and half of its surface transformed to display another laboratory.
There, technicians were placing the metal lump into a transparent tubular container. The container itself appeared to be set for exposure to high-powered scans or radiation.
Yu Sheng frowned as he watched. After a moment, he turned to Bai Li Qing. “That lab—is it really just ‘next door’?”
“Not entirely,” Bai Li Qing said, a faint smile playing on her lips. “I see you’ve already learned about some of the ‘features’ of this building.”
Yu Sheng hesitated, then voiced his lingering question. “Is that lump… special? You all seem to be treating it like a major threat. I even posted about it on ‘Frontier Communication,’ but no one seemed to know what it was.”
“I found your post after you mentioned it yesterday,” Bai Li Qing said calmly. “To be honest, we don’t know what it is either.”
“You don’t?” Yu Sheng was taken aback. “Then why all the fuss?”
“Precisely because we couldn’t identify it—not through any usual means or even more… unconventional methods. There are no records or traces linking it to anything known,” Bai Li Qing explained. “For an external object to appear in a stable subset like the one at Wutong Road No. 66 is an extremely rare occurrence. It warrants close attention.” Р𝐀ŊՕВĘS̩
Yu Sheng processed her words, acknowledging the logic, but a thought struck him. “But by that reasoning, Wutong Road No. 66 always has external objects showing up. It’s practically a regular occurrence.”
For the first time, Bai Li Qing’s calm demeanor cracked. Her eyes widened sharply, her gaze turning piercing. “What did you say? Other external objects have appeared there?”
Startled by her intensity, Yu Sheng quickly clarified, “Uh, I mean, I have to go grocery shopping, right? Like to the supermarket or the market stalls? See that plastic bag in there? I brought that home last time I went shopping—”
Bai Li Qing’s expression froze.
“… What?” Yu Sheng asked, genuinely confused.
An awkward silence fell over the room. Foxy’s fur bristled slightly in tension, her ears twitching as she instinctively reverted to her demon fox form. Irene, meanwhile, slid quietly off her chair, muttering under her breath, “Bet someone’s cussing again…”
“It seems I didn’t explain clearly,” Bai Li Qing finally said, exhaling softly. Her tone returned to its usual calm. “I was referring to unidentified objects that manifest or appear spontaneously within Wutong Road No. 66—not items you bring home.”
Yu Sheng blinked, then awkwardly sat in one of the chairs. “Right. Uh… maybe we should talk about the Black Forest instead.”
“Agreed,” Bai Li Qing said, immediately settling into a chair across from him. She pushed a neatly organized stack of papers across the table. “These are copies from the archives, including operational records and personnel reports from the time. You can review them here, but they cannot leave this room. Once you leave, they’ll be destroyed. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.”
Yu Sheng nodded, setting aside his lingering embarrassment. He focused on the documents, flipping through pages clearly marked with destruction deadlines. The first page caught his eye immediately.
Operation Codename: Maturity.
His expression shifted subtly as Bai Li Qing’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“That operation, named ‘Maturity,’ carries a certain symbolism,” she began. “Looking back, it’s clear that it was marked by immaturity, recklessness, and even arrogance. The mistakes you’ll see recorded here could have been avoided. But every so-called ‘correct’ approach we now rely on was built upon the sacrifices of these pioneers.”
“I understand,” Yu Sheng said quietly, his demeanor turning solemn.
Bai Li Qing nodded approvingly. “When the ‘Fairy Tale’ subset was first discovered, we knew very little about it. Its characteristics were highly deceptive. At the time, the Bureau believed it to be a kind of mental confinement—a trap targeting the consciousness of minors. Its effects seemed limited in strength and slow to take hold. In the early stages, the destructive behavior exhibited by affected children was relatively mild. Many of them merely experienced nightmares.”
She paused, her tone grave. “This led to the Bureau’s first—and most critical—misjudgment: we underestimated its strength. After all, even ten-year-old children could resist its mental pollution for extended periods…”
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation