Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Against “Them”

Intruders from outside the world. Dark Angels.

Fanatics twisted by “guidance,” warped so far from humanity that calling them human felt like a lie.

A way of existing that defied common sense—countless forms, countless traits, contamination over wide areas, power current technology couldn’t oppose. Research meant risking corruption, but knowing nothing made it even harder to fight those intruders.

Yu Sheng slowly refined his impression of Dark Angels and their cultists, sketching an outline in his mind and groping for their essence.

Song Cheng didn’t interrupt. Only after a long while did Yu Sheng break the silence. “So what you’re saying is… up to now, you’ve never successfully killed a Dark Angel?”

Song Cheng sighed and spread his hands. Xu Jiali, standing off to the side, nodded and spoke in a low, sullen voice. “We tried every method. Every faction tried. But Dark Angels exist in a very… weird way.”

“They don’t seem to fully be where we observe them. Any attack shifts off course as it gets close. Even if you get lucky and hit, it’s hard to damage their surface. And some of them aren’t even normal material forms. How are you supposed to kill a mass of shadowspawn? Or a mass of light?”

The two-meter-tall brute clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed. “So far, the closest anyone got was Operation Angel Fall in the Alglade border region ten years ago.”

“They prepared for a long time, and got insanely lucky catching the signals before the Beauty God descended. An army injected with a sanity-blocking agent and equipped with heavy protective gear gathered on the plains.”

“They bombarded the entire descent zone with everything they had. They even used a gravity bomb, hoping to cancel out the deflection phenomenon on the ‘angel.’”

Xu Jiali’s voice stayed flat, but the scene he described was anything but. “Based on the on-site monitoring signals, the gravity bomb worked. Massive firepower really did pour onto the Beauty God and the Beauty God’s throne.”

“That was also the first time anyone collected data on an angel’s body strength. At first, it almost withstood every attack. But after sustained bombardment, its main body started to crack and dissipate… and that was it.”

“Once the damage reached a certain point, the Beauty God vanished from the plains. The traps and restraints set ahead of time did nothing. And when it appeared again years later, it had fully recovered.”

Yu Sheng listened in stunned silence.

What Xu Jiali described went beyond the normal scope of the Special Operations Bureau. That was war—an entire civilization called Alglade going to war against a single descended being. And even then, the one-sided bombardment had ended in nothing more than a successful “banishment.”

“That’s the current upper limit of the damage humans can do to Dark Angels,” Song Cheng said, breaking the silence. “Cripple it, then exile it. And in most cases, we don’t even get the chance to lock down a descent location in advance, so even that ‘exile’ depends on luck.”

He paused, then added, “Also, according to later statistics, even with heavy protective measures, nearly a thousand soldiers were affected during Operation Angel Fall. Several hundred were transformed into admirers of the Beauty God and had to undergo lifelong psychological treatment.”

Irene blinked, then let out a slow sigh. “…This sounds completely unwinnable.”

“No.” Xu Jiali shook his head immediately. “Operation Angel Fall didn’t achieve the outcome we wanted, but it still inspired everyone—because those things really can be hurt.”

“They might not bleed, but we confirmed they aren’t the ‘lords’ the cultists talk about. Human firepower can hurt them. We can drive them off. So one day, we can develop technology that can kill an angel.”

“In fact, we might already have that kind of firepower,” he continued. “Next, as long as we figure out how Dark Angels descend—and find a way to warn and trap them—we’ll be able to handle them.”

Irene stared at him for a beat, then said, “…Your human optimism and toughness really are impressive.”

“The good news is, Dark Angels descend in the real world very rarely,” Song Cheng said. “And they don’t actively launch attacks or strike population centers.”

“Most of the time, when a Dark Angel descends in the real world, it just shows up somewhere in the civilized world—sometimes on remote frontiers, sometimes even farther out. In those cases, the damage is limited.”

“Relatively speaking, the damage they cause when they descend in Otherworld is worse. An Otherworld parasitized by an angel will increase in danger by at least one level. Some Otherworlds that were stable and harmless become dangerous traps in the real world.”

“There have even been cases where an angel changed Otherworld’s limiting rules, allowing certain entities to briefly enter the real world.” Song Cheng’s tone hardened. “For an organization like the Special Operations Bureau, that’s an even bigger disaster.”

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

After a moment, he brought the topic back to what happened in Boundary City. “So what were those two cultists in the museum trying to do?”

“Summon their ‘lord’ here,” Song Cheng said heavily.

“…They’re sick in the head,” Irene snapped.

“Yeah,” Xu Jiali said, shaking his head. “No one mentally normal becomes an angel cultist.”

“They love this kind of thing—doing their creepy ‘sacrifices’ in Otherworld. Since Dark Angels descend more easily there, they think using special rituals to contaminate an Otherworld can draw their lord over.”

“Does it work?” Yu Sheng asked, genuinely curious.

“Most of the time it’s useless and only adds casualties,” Song Cheng said, waving it off. “After all, Dark Angels don’t really respond to prayers.”

“But what we fear are low-probability events. All those evil, chaotic sacrifices are basically attempts to attract an angel’s attention. Once they do it enough times, maybe one of them really does succeed.”

“Historically, there are records of ‘summoning descents,’ and not just once or twice.”

“So killing cultists as soon as they surface becomes an important and effective way to fight Dark Angels,” Song Cheng continued. “We might have trouble killing an angel, but by snuffing out sacrifice activities, we greatly reduce the odds of a descent.”

“And on the other hand, eliminating cultists also helps contain Dark Angels’ information contamination from spreading.”

He paused, then went on. “Our people will enter the museum tonight, deal with the sacrifice scene left behind, and confirm the victim’s identity. We’ll also do a full inspection of the entire museum and the theater outside it, to see whether they left any other hidden dangers.”

“They infiltrated Otherworld and bypassed node monitoring,” Yu Sheng reminded him. “Have you figured out why?”

“We’re investigating, but it won’t be fast,” Song Cheng said, shaking his head. “The node monitoring network has been running normally. With what those cultists can do, there’s no way they could sabotage the node network in a place like the Borderland without being noticed.”

“If nothing else, they wouldn’t be able to evade our director’s ‘eyes.’”

“Right now, we suspect they found another entrance—an entrance that wasn’t registered in the database, one nobody ever discovered, leading into the museum.”

Yu Sheng looked startled. “There can be another entrance?”

“The probability is low, but not zero,” Song Cheng said, nodding. “In the end, Otherworld is a special information structure restricted by rules, one that produces limited overlap with the real world.”

“In other words, as long as you meet its entry rules, any place can become an entrance to Otherworld. Usually, except for a few abnormal types, a normal Otherworld’s entry rules are strongly bound to specific locations in the real world.”

“And in the Borderland, those locations are under the Special Operations Bureau’s monitoring.” Song Cheng spread his hands. “But like I said, nothing in this world is ever one hundred percent accident-proof.”

Yu Sheng rubbed his chin. “So that’s how it is… accidents really are impossible to guard against.”

Li Lin, who’d been silent the whole time, finally couldn’t hold back. He looked up at Yu Sheng. “When you open doors, you’re the accident to us.”

Yu Sheng instantly sat up straighter, as if he hadn’t said anything a moment ago.

“What we wanted to tell you today is basically all of that,” Song Cheng said, clearing his throat as if he hadn’t heard the exchange. “About Dark Angels—you’ve already dealt with them. In the future, your chances of encountering them again will be far higher than most people’s.”

“Building up some knowledge now might come in handy later.”

“Also, if there’s anything you need the Special Operations Bureau to help with—whether it’s your work as a spirit realm detective, or troubles involving Otherworld and entities—you can talk to us anytime. The Bureau has always taken its partners seriously.”

Yu Sheng actually considered it. Then, before Song Cheng stood up to leave, he remembered something.

“Oh, right,” Yu Sheng said. “There really is something. I don’t know if you can help.”

Song Cheng paused. “Uh… say it.”

Yu Sheng hesitated, oddly embarrassed. “About delivery and takeout not being able to reach Wu Tong Road 66… can you fix that?”

Song Cheng stared at him. “…Huh?”