Chapter 71: Learn More
Yu Sheng didn’t know why the woman who introduced herself as the Madam Director of the Special Affairs Bureau suddenly froze up. He simply examined her curiously, and when she didn’t speak, he took the initiative to start the conversation.
“I must say, the Special Affairs Bureau sure pulls out all the stops when it comes to ‘contacting’ involved parties. I thought Li Lin or someone like him would be the one to meet with me. Didn’t expect I’d come face-to-face with the Madam Director herself. Is this how you always operate?”
Bai Li Qing quickly regained her usual cool composure. “No. Only under special circumstances.”
“Special circumstances?”
“For instance, a ‘peculiar individual’ who lived in the Otherworld for decades but managed to dwell in the Borderland for over twenty years under the guise of a ‘normal person.'” She looked directly into Yu Sheng’s eyes. “Forgive me, I hope you don’t mind me calling you that.”
“Uh, not really, but… do I really come off as that weird to you people?” Yu Sheng was a bit embarrassed. “Li Lin and Xu Jiali looked pretty shocked too. I guess I can kind of understand it.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed it yourself,” Bai Li Qing sighed. “But many within the Special Affairs Bureau have been monitoring your actions. In recent days, a large number of Operatives have been working overtime because of you.”
Yu Sheng opened his mouth. “…Huh?”
Bai Li Qing held his gaze. “You possess the ability to open ‘Doors,’ don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Yu Sheng nodded and reached into the air. A Door materialized beside him. “That’s how I got back with Li Lin and the others…”
He hadn’t even finished the sentence before the woman across from him sharply raised her hand. “No need to demonstrate!”
It was rare to see Bai Li Qing, normally so composed and indifferent, show such agitation.
Yu Sheng awkwardly let go of the Door handle, vaguely understanding her reaction. “So… opening a Door messes with your people, huh?”
“Whenever you open a Door, the entire Borderland registers spatial-temporal disturbances of unknown origin,” Bai Li Qing stated plainly. “The technicians monitoring these phenomena have been very vocal lately. You really haven’t noticed anything?”
Yu Sheng looked stunned, his expression gradually growing more complicated. After a long pause, he shook his head with a weird look in his eyes. “Didn’t feel a thing… You’re telling me opening a single Door shakes up the whole Borderland? So… I shouldn’t use this ability anymore?”
He clearly didn’t like the idea. The Door was incredibly convenient, and he had only just begun to fully appreciate its usefulness. Now the Special Affairs Bureau suddenly shows up to tell him it’s causing a disturbance… Yeah, it felt awkward.
But judging by the Madam Director’s attitude, the level of disruption caused by his Door was far from minor. That, too, was awkward.
Bai Li Qing naturally noticed Yu Sheng’s mood. After a moment of consideration, she shook her head. “It was only a suggestion. I hope you can try to limit the frequency of your ‘Door’ use. At the very least, avoid opening hundreds of rifts overnight again, or at least give us a heads-up. This is, after all, your ability, and it hasn’t caused substantial damage to the Borderland. In principle, we can’t outright forbid it—provided, of course, you’re willing to cooperate and register your use legally. In return, we can adjust our monitoring systems to better accommodate your ability.”
Yu Sheng was surprised.
The Madam Director in front of him had seemed so cold and stern, not the type to be easily reasoned with. Yet, she was being… surprisingly reasonable.
Yu Sheng instantly realized what Bai Li Qing meant by “opening hundreds of rifts overnight.” He hadn’t felt anything at the time, but thinking back on it now, he could easily imagine the sheer disturbance he had caused. And yet, this Madam Director still chose to approach the matter diplomatically—even came to speak with him in person…
Yu Sheng wasn’t some naive teen. From an “official” standpoint, her gesture was a major show of goodwill.
Her reasonableness actually caught him off guard. He had mentally prepared himself to spar with the Special Affairs Bureau over the “disturbance” issue. But this felt like punching a pillow instead of an opponent.
He actually felt a little embarrassed now. “That’s fine. I can register, no problem… but I do have a few questions. Would you mind answering them first?”
Bai Li Qing nodded. “Of course. What would you like to know?”
“The first question—this Special Affairs Bureau of yours… what kind of organization is it exactly?” Yu Sheng wasted no time. The question had been simmering in his mind for a long while. With utmost seriousness, he asked, “What’s its nature? How far does its reach go?”
“Is that all you’re curious about?” Bai Li Qing seemed mildly surprised by his focus but responded promptly. “The Special Affairs Bureau, formally known as the Bureau for Paranormal Security and Operations, answers directly to the highest governing body of the Boundary City—the Council. It’s the central division responsible for all supernatural incidents across the Borderland—those involving the Otherworld, Entities, anomalies, and other forms of the extraordinary. If you divide the Borderland into two halves—natural and unnatural—then we are the top authority overseeing the unnatural.”
“But our jurisdiction—our sphere of operation—extends far beyond just the Borderland.” Bai Li Qing paused, her gaze meeting Yu Sheng’s.
“The Borderland’s… uniqueness,” she said, drawing him in.
Yu Sheng’s brow furrowed. Immediately, he recalled fragments of intel he had heard from Irene, and more vividly, the realization that struck him when he opened the colossal Doors that led outward.
This world… there wasn’t just one Borderland. Beyond this strange “city,” there lay a multitude of “distant realms.”
“I’ve learned a bit,” Yu Sheng murmured as thoughts raced through his mind. “From the name, it seems like this place connects to many others? I heard there’s all sorts of strange things here—just hidden beneath a veneer of normality…”
“To hide all that defies logic and surpasses the Borderland’s ‘baseline’—to keep this city running and developing according to ‘standard parameters’—that’s one of the Bureau’s core tasks,” Bai Li Qing nodded lightly. “As you suspected, it connects to many places. And the number… the extent… it’s beyond imagination. Picture the world as a vast web of unseen pathways—interdimensional routes that ordinary people can’t perceive. But in the unnatural layer of reality, these paths twist and coil, influencing each other… and they all converge at a single nexus point.”
“That is the Borderland.”
She paused again, ensuring Yu Sheng was following, then continued.
“The Special Affairs Bureau’s duties are twofold. First: to maintain the boundary between the natural and unnatural within the Borderland, preserving order on the latter side. Second: to intercept all threats that creep in from the web of paths—threats targeting this convergence point—regardless of whether they originate from a breath away… or from thirty-six billion light-years into deep space.”
Yu Sheng’s eyes widened. After several seconds of silence, he finally muttered, “…Isn’t that a bit too much of a distance gap?”
“For the Borderland’s properties,” Bai Li Qing replied calmly, lifting her hand and pointing at him, “those distances are identical. And for you—aren’t they, too?”
Yu Sheng froze, instantly grasping her implication.
“In those hundred-plus dimensional fissures you’ve passed through, those pointing tens of billions of light-years away weren’t in the single digits.” Bai Li Qing’s tone was mild.
Yu Sheng said nothing.
His face remained composed—but inside, waves of thought crashed violently.
Truth be told, he wasn’t surprised. When those massive Doors first opened, he had suspected as much. Just how far were those breathtaking vistas?
He never had a concrete answer—but while enthusiastically chatting with Irene, he’d already felt that… some of them might lie at the edge of his imagination itself.
Now, hearing that number from Bai Li Qing’s lips—felt like his intuition receiving an official footnote.
What truly staggered Yu Sheng wasn’t the number itself—but the scale of the Special Affairs Bureau’s reach. He had seen Li Lin in action once—a Bureau Operative who had hoarded instant noodles with him at the supermarket, who disguised himself during a surveillance mission as a goofy guy on the roadside watching short videos. That guy… at best gave off the vibe of a street cop. And yet now, to be told the organization behind him operated on a cosmic level?
That was… hard to digest.
Yu Sheng hesitated for a long while but didn’t dare voice his inner monologue to the Madam Director sitting before him.
Mostly… for fear it might mess with Li Lin’s career trajectory.
Since Yu Sheng kept silent, Bai Li Qing didn’t speak either. The two of them sank into a brief stillness.
After nearly half a minute, it was Bai Li Qing who broke the silence.
“Any other questions?”
“Yes.” Yu Sheng swiftly cleared away his scattered thoughts and reorganized his words. “Next question—Boundary City… is there only one?”