Chapter 70: The Encounter
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation
In the hidden hallways of the Special Affairs Bureau, the deep divers were a kind of elite force. They weren’t chosen lightly. Each one had passed tests so harsh that most people would never dream of surviving them. Trained beyond ordinary limits, these divers were sent on missions where the world’s rules bent and twisted—places where a sane person’s mind could snap like a twig. They knew how to stay alive in wild, forbidden lands crawling with Angel Cultists. They knew how to slip into the Otherworld, battling dreadful creatures in darkness or rescuing people trapped inside swirling nightmares. Their work was like plunging from a calm, quiet surface into the churning depths beneath, into dimensions beyond ordinary reason.
Yet in spite of their training and toughness, there were things no human mind could ever truly prepare for. Even the best diver could fail, and fail often. Today was exactly one of those times. Captain Song Cheng had never faced such a baffling situation. Perhaps even the Bureau’s Director herself hadn’t foreseen this.
The moment the six returned from their dive, they were pulled from the tank at once, as if the mere air around them might poison their lungs. Their power armor had already switched into emergency mode. Tiny syringes inside the suits injected them with strong calming agents—rationality inhibitors that soothed them at once. Doctors and staff rushed over, scanning each diver to make sure their bodies had come back clean and their minds were actually their own. They had to confirm no strange hitchhiker—no Otherworld thing—had slipped back into reality along with them.
Standing a few steps away, Song Cheng and Bai Li Qing watched with tense, worried faces. Finally, Song Cheng broke the silence.
“A math problem?” he said, sounding puzzled. “They were spooked by a math problem?”
Bai Li Qing shook her head gently. “The scholars from Terra Academy can overload someone’s mind with too much knowledge, but it doesn’t look like that’s what happened here. Our divers know how to handle ‘attacks’ made of pure information. Their brains can shut down to keep them safe, and they’re well-trained to handle learning shocks.”
Song Cheng frowned. “So, if the math problem wasn’t just ordinary information… what was it?”
“I’m saying the ‘math problem’ they mentioned might not have been a real math problem at all,” Bai Li Qing explained, her voice low and grave. “It could’ve been something else entirely. A contamination disguised as a harmless riddle. At the end of that tunnel, they didn’t find Night Valley… Instead, they found this strange puzzle. Why would it appear as something like a math problem?”
Song Cheng kept quiet, not daring to break her chain of thought.
After a pause, Bai Li Qing turned to him and asked, “Xiao Song, have you contacted that person named Yu Sheng yet?”
“Not yet,” Song Cheng said. “I was planning on it today, but… with everything that’s happened, I haven’t gotten around to it.”
“Don’t go,” Bai Li Qing said firmly, no trace of doubt in her voice.
…
Meanwhile, Yu Sheng sat alone in a café, his head bent over a thick stack of high school workbooks. Now and then, he heard a faint noise and glanced around, but the source escaped him.
It was a slow day. The café felt almost too quiet. Only a few customers were scattered here and there, and the baristas were tapping lazily on their phones, barely paying attention. Sometimes someone would look his way, eyes curious, likely wondering why a grown young man would be hunched over homework fit for a teenager.
Yu Sheng sighed. He had already filled out half the booklet, and his hand was starting to cramp. He wasn’t used to writing by hand; he’d spent years typing on keyboards. This scribbling was more tiring than he’d ever expected.
Still, as rough as it was, it might be better than dragging that clueless fox-like companion of his around the mall. Copying homework felt easy compared to leading a wide-eyed fox spirit into, say, a lingerie shop. Yu Sheng couldn’t help picturing the scene. He would look like a weirdo, and the fox would be so innocent that any clerk would probably call security at once.
Suddenly, Irene’s voice sounded inside his head. “Hey, Yu Sheng, how much have you done so far?”
Without looking up, Yu Sheng answered softly. “Halfway done. Really, kids in high school these days have it tough—endless homework!”
“Keep going,” Irene said cheerfully. “I heard Little Red Riding Hood say she’s got another physics workbook at home, but she forgot to bring it.”
“I’m not doing that,” Yu Sheng grumbled. “She can handle it herself once she’s back. How’s it going on your side?”
“Not bad,” Irene replied. “Foxy is having trouble with zippers, and Little Red’s been showing her how they work for ages. Right now, both of them are in the changing room, and I’m stuck outside on a bench. Oh, and guess what? Little Red bought me a hair clip! It’s from that doll store—bright red and shiny.”
Yu Sheng paused, rolling his eyes. “That’s with my money, you know.”
Irene’s voice turned sly. “I know, I know. Think of it as a gift from you to me. It wasn’t expensive or anything.”
“Fine,” Yu Sheng said, smiling despite himself. “Just don’t go overboard. Also, don’t forget to get Foxy some basic things—bed linens, toiletries. You remember her bed size, right?”
“Sure, sure,” Irene said, but then her voice wavered. “Wait… Foxy’s memory is bad, and I…”
A thick silence clung to Yu Sheng’s mind. Moments like these reminded him of how tough it was to manage this strange little team of his.
“How big was her bed again?” Irene asked, sounding sheepish.
“1.5 by 2 meters,” Yu Sheng sighed. “Tell Little Red. She’ll remember it better than both of you. She’s a student, after all—her brain’s still fresh.”
“Right… good idea,” Irene agreed hastily.
Their mental conversation ended, leaving Yu Sheng feeling drained. He lowered his head and tried to focus on his work again. But just then, he sensed something was off.
It had gone completely silent. Not just quiet—truly silent. The soft murmurs of distant customers were gone. Yu Sheng lifted his head at once.
He was still in the café, but now it stretched out endlessly. Tables and chairs formed neat rows that went on and on, as though someone had placed a mirror at every end, reflecting into infinity. There were no customers anymore. Just emptiness.
On his left, there was a window running endlessly along the wall. Outside, instead of a street scene, there was only thick white fog. Something very large moved in that mist, gliding slowly past the glass. It occasionally pressed close, as if peering inside. Yet no matter how Yu Sheng strained his eyes, he could only make out vague, shifting shapes.
He felt a chill and stood up slowly. He thought of opening the door and leaving, but before he could, a voice spoke from across the table.
“Hello.”
It was a woman’s voice, low and slightly rough. Yu Sheng turned, startled. He hadn’t noticed her before. She sat right across from where he had been writing. She looked about twenty-something, wearing a crisp, well-fitted white suit. Her hair, an odd shade of grayish-white, was pulled back into a neat ponytail. She was remarkably beautiful, but something about her was distant and cold, like a statue in a silent gallery.
Yu Sheng’s attention moved to her eyes. They were a pale, stormy gray. He could barely see where her irises ended and the whites began. It made her look slightly unreal.
As he looked around, he noticed the color had drained from everything near her. The chairs, the floor, even the closest tables—all had faded into a grayish-white. This colorless zone spread out about ten meters in every direction, growing lighter toward the edges. Only Yu Sheng and the woman were still in their true colors.
Yu Sheng’s heart beat faster. He remembered Irene mentioning that some Otherworld beings behaved almost like humans, some even spoke with human intelligence. Still, he couldn’t be sure what stood before him. If she greeted him, he might as well respond.
He sat back down, keeping calm as best he could. “Who… who are you?”
The woman nodded slightly, as if acknowledging a small courtesy. “My name is Bai Li Qing. I’m the Director of the Special Affairs Bureau under the Borderland Council. I apologize for meeting you in such a manner—it’s necessary for secrecy and safety.”
Yu Sheng blinked, taken aback. The Special Affairs Bureau? They really had been trying to find him, and they sent their Director, no less!
As he struggled to understand why she would come to him like this, Bai Li Qing lowered her gaze to the table. Her eyes fell upon the pile of math workbooks scattered around his pen and papers. Her expression froze for a moment, as if surprised by this odd discovery.
So many math problems, all lined up neatly in his high school exam practice books.