The dark threads snapped back as if repelled by an invisible barrier. Irene let out a startled cry, tumbling straight from Yu Sheng’s shoulder. Fortunately, Yu Sheng reacted swiftly, instinctively kicking out his leg…
Well, she didn’t exactly land directly on the floor—she landed after Yu Sheng kicked her.
Irene’s curses were particularly harsh.
Flustered, Yu Sheng quickly picked up the wildly flailing doll, receiving a series of bites in the process. His hands were covered with tiny teeth marks, but seeing Irene still so energetic—loudly cursing and biting—he breathed a quiet sigh of relief, knowing she was at least unharmed.
After Irene finally calmed down a little, Yu Sheng quickly asked, “Are you alright? What just happened?”
“How should I know?!” Irene glared with her crimson eyes, “I’ve never seen anything like it! Something suddenly knocked me away…”
She continued grumbling angrily before looking up at Bai Li Qing, who stood nearby with a stiff expression. Irene explained, somewhat agitatedly, “My threads aren’t material! Nothing’s ever blocked them before… at least, nothing I remember could!”
Bai Li Qing gave Irene a thoughtful, peculiar glance, as though recalling something else. Yet, she nodded slowly. “I know. The threads of a Doll… they’re a blessing given by the Ancient Holy Spirit Alice. Indeed, nothing has ever been recorded to stop them before.”
As she spoke, her gaze once more settled upon the Mother Crystal atop the circular platform.
Yu Sheng fell silent, brows slightly knitted in thought. After a brief pause, a sudden realization came to him, and he broke the silence: “Irene, try testing the ‘Secondary Crystal’ again.”
Irene appeared puzzled, but seeing Yu Sheng’s serious expression, she suppressed her urge to protest and quietly nodded.
After carefully preparing herself, Irene once again summoned the dark threads, attempting to touch the tiny Secondary Crystal, no bigger than a finger.
Moments later, Doll’s threads were again stopped by an invisible barrier—though the reaction was not as violent as before, the threads still froze mid-air upon approaching the Secondary Crystal, halted by some unseen, impenetrable force.
What started merely as Yu Sheng’s impulsive thought had now unexpectedly revealed an entirely new property of these crystals. The researchers nearby immediately began recording the phenomena and double-checking data from various instruments around them. One of the scientists spoke aloud as he jotted down notes: “This seems like some kind of protective mechanism. Both the Mother Crystal and its converted Secondary Crystals trait… but then, what exactly are they protecting against?”
He raised his head, looking curiously at the doll perched on Yu Sheng’s shoulder through his thick protective visor.
“We previously tested regenerative Secondary Crystals with lasers, physical strikes, and so on, but never noticed a response before. Even threats strong enough to shatter them didn’t trigger their ‘protection.’ Doll Madam, may I ask about the specific properties of your threads? To my knowledge, Dolls from Alice’s Little House wield threads of different varieties—some control physical objects from afar, some create illusions, others interfere with the soul… Which type are yours?”
The researcher was exceedingly polite, instantly lifting Irene’s mood. She immediately poked Yu Sheng’s head excitedly, “Hey, hey, hey! Did you hear that? He called me ‘Doll Madam!’ He’s way more polite than you!”
“Yes, yes, I heard it clearly,” Yu Sheng helplessly brushed aside the doll’s paw. “He’s asking you a question.”
“Oh, oh, right, ahem,” Irene coughed deliberately, turning her head with a serious expression. “My threads are really powerful. They can connect minds, guide dreams, set traps, even control enemies—like Wolf Granny, you know her, right? Big and tough, takes a few cruise missiles head-on without falling over. I can hold her still for several minutes!”
The researcher stared blankly, evidently hearing about such complex Doll-thread abilities for the first time. “There… there are so many capabilities?”
“Absolutely!” Irene bragged happily, waving her fingers through the air as her dark threads danced gracefully. “I can even make string figures—really fun ones! I know dozens of patterns…”
For anyone meeting a member of the Hotel group for the first time, following such an unpredictable line of thought was certainly challenging. The researcher took several seconds to adjust, repeatedly switching between “I should analyze this seriously” and “Does this Doll have something wrong upstairs?” After finally regaining his composure, he said solemnly, “Given our prior tests, we can temporarily exclude physical threats. Thus, tentatively speaking, perhaps the crystals’ protective reaction is specifically targeted against ‘mental’ or ‘psychic’ forms of energy.”
Irene, having understood none of it, nodded anyway. “Oh… right, exactly!”
“That gives us a clear direction for our next tests,” said the researcher with a faint smile. “Sometimes, research just hinges on finding a good approach… Thank you very much for your help, Madam.”
Irene poked Yu Sheng on the head excitedly: “Hey, hey, he called me Madam!”
He suddenly lost interest in engaging with this troublesome Doll.
What followed was another long discussion filled with technical terms and scientific jargon. The lab director briefed Bai Li Qing on various test results concerning the “sample,” detailed plans for future research, and described the facility’s current security measures. Yu Sheng couldn’t make heads or tails of it all. He couldn’t even casually join the conversation without appearing ignorant. Adding to his discomfort was the constant fear of touching something he shouldn’t—after all, this was a highly secure area.
At that moment, he couldn’t help but envy Foxy, who was still happily devouring food in the cafeteria. [That young lady must be so happy right now…]
Just as he was spacing out, he realized the technical exchange nearby had finally wrapped up. At the end, the lab director turned to Bai Li Qing and asked, “Director, do you think it’s necessary to give these crystals a proper name? Currently, we’re still filing them under sample numbers, but given how special they are…”
“How about just calling them Anka Aila Crystals?” Yu Sheng blurted out casually. “The smaller ones can be Secondary Anka Aila Crystals. And in the future, if there are even smaller versions or synthetic ones, just call them Anka Aila Crystal Youth Edition.”
The lab director: “……”
Bai Li Qing simply glanced at Yu Sheng quietly and nodded toward the director. “Do as he says. Technically, he does have the naming rights.”
“…Understood,” replied the lab director.
Stepping out of the Containment Facility, Yu Sheng exhaled deeply.
After spending an extended period inside that massive cubic “Container,” a sense of pressure had gradually settled over him. Despite the well-lit, clean, and spacious environment, the oppressive feeling subtly accumulated until it was unavoidable.
He hadn’t noticed it much inside, but now, stepping into the open air, the sensation was undeniable.
Bai Li Qing didn’t seem surprised by his reaction.
“It’s normal,” she explained. “Everyone who enters a ‘Container’ for the first time experiences this—even trained operatives of the Special Affairs Bureau aren’t immune. The Container itself is designed as part of the containment process for dangerous items. It’s deliberately uncomfortable. Personnel assigned to facilities of this level aren’t just highly trained—they also need the innate ability to withstand this ‘environmental contamination’ and remain mentally stable over the long term.”
“I didn’t feel any mental influence, really—I just didn’t like the… atmosphere there,” Yu Sheng said, waving dismissively. He then changed the subject: “Anyway, any news on the missing Angel Fragments?”
“None yet,” Bai Li Qing shook her head. “But at least we’ve determined it wasn’t taken by someone within Boundary City, nor did it ever enter the city. It’s likely still hidden somewhere in the suburbs, or worse… it might have been quietly moved beyond the Boundary Stones.”
Her eyes grew serious as she spoke.
“As much as I hate to admit it, the chances of retrieving it are slim. The fragment crashed near a remote settlement at the outer edge of Borderland. To complicate matters, Temporal Turbulence has recently emerged, drifting randomly across the outskirts. Those disturbances severely disrupt our monitoring systems set up outside the city. Personnel stationed in settlements can’t maintain continuous surveillance beyond the walls. All these unfavorable conditions happened simultaneously.”
Yu Sheng had encountered yet another unfamiliar term: “…Temporal Turbulence? What’s that?”
“It’s a chaotic phenomenon that occasionally appears at Borderland’s outer edges,” Bai Li Qing explained casually. “As you know, the wastelands outside the city aren’t as stable as Boundary City itself. Temporal Turbulence is the manifestation of that instability. Areas affected by it experience random acceleration or deceleration of time. Communications between the affected areas and the outside world become severely disrupted or completely blocked. It often appears suddenly as gusts of wind—you might be caught inside and feel only a few seconds have passed, or perhaps days. When the wind disappears, in a best-case scenario, you’ve only lost contact briefly. In the worst case, by the time you’re found, your missing-person report might nearly have expired.”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “Fortunately, Temporal Turbulence isn’t life-threatening. In fact, it preserves your life. People caught in it don’t age, experience hunger, or die. Our current understanding is that the physical body enters a ‘state of stasis,’ with only consciousness experiencing the passage of time. Nevertheless, this phenomenon brings us nothing but trouble—this incident is a perfect example.”
Yu Sheng listened intently, absorbing this strange new knowledge. He could only marvel once again in his heart—
What else could be said? Borderland… [truly is a place where extraordinary things happen.]
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation