Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Confronting “Them”

Invaders from outside the world, the Dark Angels.

Fanatics who converted after “guidance” from the Dark Angels: their nature has completely left humanity behind.

They exist in ways that break common sense, with strange forms and traits, wide pollution, and power our current technology cannot resist. Studying them risks falling into corruption, yet fighting in total ignorance is even worse.

Yu Sheng built a picture in his head of the Dark Angels and the Angel Cultists, sketching their outlines and guessing at what they really were: [What are you, and how do we stop you?]

Song Cheng stopped walking and did not interrupt Yu Sheng’s thoughts. Only after a long pause did Yu Sheng speak first, asking in a low voice: “From what you’re saying, up to now you still haven’t managed to kill even one Dark Angel?”

Song Cheng sighed and spread his hands, while Xu Jiali nodded and said in a muffled tone: “We’ve tried every method. Every power has tried. But Dark Angels are… odd. They don’t seem to fully exist where we observe them. Any attack bends away as it gets close. Even lucky hits barely scratch the surface. And some Dark Angels aren’t even normal matter. How are you supposed to kill a clump of shadow or a mass of light?”

The two meter tall man clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, then went on: “The closest we ever came was ten years ago in the Alglade Border region, during Operation Angelfall.

“They prepared for a long time and got very lucky, catching the Angel ‘Goddess of Beauty’ right before its Descent. A force that had pre-injected a Sanity Blocking Agent and wore heavy protection gathered on the plains. They saturated the whole Descent zone with fire, and they used a single Gravity Bomb to try to cancel the ‘offset’ that happens around an Angel.

“According to the monitors we had set up, that Gravity Bomb worked. A lot of fire really did pour onto the ‘Goddess of Beauty’ and its throne. That was the first time we collected data on an Angel’s physical toughness. At first it tanked almost everything. After a while under constant bombardment, its main body started to crack and disperse… but that was it.

“Once the damage passed a certain point, the ‘Goddess of Beauty’ vanished from the plain. The traps and restraints we laid ahead of time did nothing. A few years later, when that Angel appeared again, it had fully recovered.”

Yu Sheng listened in shock and kept quiet for a long time: [A full army, a Gravity Bomb, and all we got was a vanishing act?]

The scene Xu Jiali described had clearly gone far beyond a normal Special Affairs Bureau operation. That was war. A civilization called Alglade had gone to war with a single Descent. The firepower looked one sided, yet the result was only a successful expulsion.

“This is the current upper limit of damage humans can do to the Dark Angels: we can cripple one, then banish it. And most of the time we can’t even lock down a Descent site in advance, so even that kind of ‘banishment’ depends on luck,” said Song Cheng, breaking the silence. “Also, based on the numbers after the fact, even with heavy protection, nearly a thousand soldiers were affected during Operation Angelfall. Hundreds were turned into admirers of the ‘Goddess of Beauty’ and had to receive lifelong therapy.”

Irene blinked as she listened, then sighed: “This feels impossible to win.”

“No,” Xu Jiali shook his head at once, answering firmly: “Operation Angelfall didn’t meet the goal, but it still encouraged everyone. Because those things can be hurt. They don’t have to bleed, but we proved they aren’t the ‘Lords’ the Angel Cultists talk about. Human firepower can hurt them and drive them off. One day we’ll develop a way to kill an Angel. Honestly, we might already have the firepower. Next we just need to figure out how Descent works, build early warning, and find a way to hold them. Then we’ll finish the job.”

Hearing Xu Jiali’s serious, steady rebuttal, Irene opened her mouth and finally muttered: “Your human optimism and grit are really something.”

“The good news is that Dark Angel Descents in the real world are very rare, and they don’t go on ‘offense’ on their own. They don’t attack crowded places,” said Song Cheng. “Most of the time they appear at random in the Civilized World, sometimes in empty border zones, sometimes even farther out. The damage stays limited.

“By contrast, their Descents in the Otherworld do more harm. Any Otherworld parasitized by an Angel jumps at least one danger level. Some worlds that were stable and harmless turn into traps that threaten reality. We’ve even seen Angels change the rule limits of an Otherworld, which let certain Entities slip into the real world for a short time. For an Organization like the Special Affairs Bureau, that’s the bigger disaster.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes slid back to the files on the table.

A moment later, he steered the talk back to what happened in Boundary City, asking calmly: “So what were those two Angel Cultists in the Museum trying to do?”

“They wanted to summon their ‘Lord’ here,” said Song Cheng in a deep voice.

Irene blurted out: “They’re sick!”

“Right. Anyone mentally sound wouldn’t be an Angel Cultist,” said Xu Jiali, shaking his head. “They love this kind of thing. They run their spooky ‘sacrifices’ in the Otherworld. Since Dark Angels Descend more easily over there, they think polluting an Otherworld with special rites will draw their ‘Lord’ in.”

“Does that work?” Yu Sheng could not help asking.

“Most of the time it’s useless and only piles up victims. Dark Angels don’t really answer their prayers,” said Song Cheng, waving a hand. “But the low chance is what scares us. Their nasty, chaotic sacrifices are basically a way to attract an Angel’s attention. Once the count piles up, one attempt might work. There really are records of summoning Descents in history, and not just once or twice.

“That’s why cutting down Angel Cultists as soon as they pop up is a very important and effective way to fight the Dark Angels. We may struggle to kill an Angel, but if we snuff out the sacrifices, we can greatly reduce the chance of a Descent. At the same time, wiping out the cultists helps stop their information pollution from spreading.”

Song Cheng paused, gathered his thoughts, and continued: “Tonight our people will enter the Museum to clean up the leftover sacrifice site and confirm the victims’ identities. We’ll also run a full sweep of the Museum and the ‘theater’ outside to see if the cultists left any other hazards.”

“They infiltrated the Otherworld and slipped past the Node’s monitoring,” Yu Sheng reminded him, raising a brow: “Have you figured out why?”

“We’re checking, but it won’t be fast,” said Song Cheng, shaking his head. “The Node Monitoring Network has been running fine. With the skills Angel Cultists have, there’s no way they could damage the Node Network in the Borderland without being caught. If nothing else, they couldn’t dodge our Director’s eyes. Our current guess is they found another ‘entrance’-one not in the database, unknown to anyone, that leads to the Museum.”

Yu Sheng stared: “There can be another entrance?”

“Low chance, not zero,” Song Cheng nodded. “In the end, the ‘Otherworld’ is a special information structure under rules that overlaps reality in limited ways. In other words, as long as you meet its entry rule, any spot can become an entrance. Usually, except for a few abnormal types, a normal Otherworld’s entry rule binds tightly to a specific place in reality, and in the Borderland all those places sit under the Special Affairs Bureau’s watch. But like I said, nothing in this world is a hundred percent accident proof.”

Yu Sheng rubbed his chin and muttered: “So that’s a thing too… accidents really are hard to guard against.”

Li Lin, who had kept quiet until now, finally could not hold back. He looked up at Yu Sheng and said flatly: “When you did Door Opening, you were that ‘accident’ for us.”

Yu Sheng straightened at once as if he hadn’t just said the last line himself.

“We came today mainly to tell you these things,” said Song Cheng, clearing his throat, as if he hadn’t noticed the exchange between Yu Sheng and Li Lin. “Since you’ve already dealt with the Dark Angels, your odds of meeting them again are much higher than most people’s. If you build up knowledge early, it might help you later.

“Besides that, if you need the Special Affairs Bureau’s help with anything, whether it’s your work as a Spirit Realm Detective or trouble involving the Otherworld and Entities, tell us anytime. We value our partners.”

Yu Sheng thought about it and took the offer seriously. Then, right before Song Cheng stood to leave, something popped into his head. He raised a hand and said: “Actually, there is something. I’m not sure if you can help.”

Song Cheng blinked: “Oh… go on.”

Yu Sheng scratched his cheek, a bit embarrassed: “Do you have a way to fix the problem where food deliveries and packages can’t make it to The Door at No. 66 Wutong Road?”

Song Cheng said, stunned: “Huh?”