Chapter 210

Chapter 210: Quarantine Plan

Yu Sheng returned to the orphanage with Foxy and Irene and immediately found Little Red Riding Hood and Princess Snow White.

Not long after, the King arrived as well.

The Hotel trio (and no one knew how many of them counted as “people”) sat across from the Fairy Tale trio (including a cat), and the air in the reception room felt unusually solemn.

By now, Yu Sheng could tell that even if Fairy Tale felt loose and casual on the inside, it still had a structure and a core. Little Red Riding Hood was clearly the most authoritative senior guardian in this “orphan organization,” and the other voice with real weight was Princess Snow White—one the most senior, the other the strongest. In practice, they were the two leaders.

Of course, given that Little Red Riding Hood and Princess Snow White were already in the end stage, they surely had successors. That wasn’t something to pry into.

As for the King, it was powerful, but it didn’t manage anything. It showed up for major discussions because it was a cat—the kind of creature that went wherever it pleased.

In front of Fairy Tale’s leaders and the King, Yu Sheng didn’t hide what he’d learned from the Special Operations Bureau. He laid out everything about the angel cultists and the container.

“The Special Operations Bureau is still holding the last angel cultist, but we don’t dare interrogate him casually anymore. For now, we can only isolate him and watch him closely,” Yu Sheng said. “These angel cultists who follow Anka Aila know exactly what they’re doing. They specialize in sacrificing their lives directly to their ‘lord.’ Those six cultists who performed self-sacrifice didn’t have a single wound. The one who died right in front of me was the same. The Special Operations Bureau had a pile of advanced equipment watching him, and he still managed to kill himself and feed his soul straight to his lord. We couldn’t stop it.”

Little Red Riding Hood listened with a tight expression. After a long moment, she finally said, “So the container is among us. That part’s confirmed now, isn’t it?”

Yu Sheng sighed and nodded.

“Right now, we still don’t know how those cultists judge whether the container has ‘matured,’ and we don’t know what standards the Dark Angels use to choose the container. But we can pretty much confirm that Anka Aila is hovering at some kind of threshold of awakening, and those cultists’ self-sacrifice is accelerating the process. They might not truly hear the Dark Angels’ voice, but they clearly have a way to sense the Dark Angels’ condition.”

Princess Snow White, sitting beside them, asked softly, “Is there any chance we can catch more angel cultists?”

“There are definitely more hiding out. With cultists, if you catch one, it usually means there’s a whole patch lurking somewhere,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head. “But it won’t be easy to catch more in the short term. And with Anka Aila this close to waking, it’s probably already too late to round up all its believers beforehand and delay the descent. Besides, the Dark Angels’ activity sometimes feels like a natural phenomenon. How much those sacrifices actually affect their lord is still unknown.”

“Then we focus on the container,” Irene said from Yu Sheng’s side. “Do we have any leads? Who’s most likely to be it?”

Princess Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood glanced at each other, their expressions turning complicated.

The King looked complicated too, but Yu Sheng couldn’t read anything off that cat face.

After a brief, heavy silence, Little Red Riding Hood sighed.

“The most likely candidates are in this room,” she said, lifting a finger to point at herself, then at Princess Snow White. “We’re the closest to adulthood, and we’re the strongest in combat. If anyone in Fairy Tale is closest to that Dark Angel, it’s us—the ones most severely eroded.”

“From another angle, the King could be it too,” Princess Snow White added after a moment, pointing at the tabby sprawled on the sofa armrest.

The King’s eyes widened. It pointed at itself, thoroughly offended. “Why?”

Princess Snow White looked grim. “A cat that can serve as a vessel for Fairy Tale—and not just any role, but the special one: the King. In many Fairy Tale stories, that role functions like a unified background. Don’t you think that makes you special?”

“Life has shown its claws to this innocent little cat again,” the King sighed, patting the sofa arm. “Sigh. Pet me.”

Before it even finished speaking, a phantom silhouette appeared in the air. A court jester in loud colors, wearing a teardrop mask, materialized in the room. The clown bowed to everyone, then knelt on one knee before the King and began petting it.

Yu Sheng stared, stunned.

He swallowed the snark rising in his throat and forced himself back to seriousness. He turned to Little Red Riding Hood.

“So we still need an isolation and shelter plan,” he said. “We don’t know when Anka Aila will fully awaken, and we don’t know who’s been chosen as the container. I’ve put a shield on each of your minds, but whether that kind of protection works against a Dark Angel is still unknown. All things considered, I think we should temporarily move the children from the orphanage somewhere safe—at the very least—”

He paused, choosing his words as gently as he could. “At the very least, somewhere with better quarantine conditions. Somewhere easier to monitor and quicker to respond.”

He looked up and swept his gaze around the room.

“I’m not saying the orphanage is bad. But this place…”

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Little Red Riding Hood cut in. She was calmer than Yu Sheng expected. “We do need to move the children, and we guardians will go with them. At minimum, we can’t stay in the city.”

Yu Sheng froze, staring at her. “Uh… so you accept the plan?”

“I accept it, and the other guardians will accept it too,” Little Red Riding Hood said firmly. “We just need time to explain it to the brothers and sisters, and we have to pack a lot—especially the comfort toys the younger kids are used to.”

She paused, then added, “Most of the children here don’t feel safe in the first place. If we move too fast, they’ll spiral.”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth. It took him a second to react. “I thought…”

“What did you think? That we’d refuse?”

Little Red Riding Hood raised an eyebrow. “That we’d shout, ‘We’ll defend the orphanage! We’ll handle it ourselves!’ and then sit around until it was beyond saving?”

Yu Sheng: “Uh…”

“That would be impossible,” Princess Snow White said, shaking her head. “This is the city. There may not be residents right around the orphanage, but just outside the isolation belt at the next intersection there are apartment complexes and malls. If one of us really is the container, then even a small portion of a Dark Angel’s power descending would be a disaster. At a time like this, we have to follow the authorities and move the danger away as soon as possible.”

Yu Sheng didn’t know what to say. He scratched his head, awkward.

“I should’ve told you,” Little Red Riding Hood said, gently rocking on the sofa with a half-smile, “the kids here got past their rebellious phase the first time they fell into those nightmares. Don’t worry so much. We’re not the kind of brats who get big ideas before trouble hits, then sob and throw tantrums afterward.”

She leaned forward slightly. “Just tell us the plan. Are we going to the quarantine zone outside the city, or to the containment facility under the Special Operations Bureau?”

Yu Sheng finally dropped the hesitation he didn’t need. He let out a soft breath and met her eyes.

“The Special Operations Bureau gave two options. Option one is a place called tranquil town. Supposedly it’s a relatively stable otherworld, and the Bureau has a safe zone there. Option two is a containment facility on the city outskirts. But I also have a backup plan, and I think it might be better.”

Little Red Riding Hood and Princess Snow White leaned forward at the same time. “A backup plan?”

Yu Sheng’s expression turned solemn. “My backyard.”

Little Red Riding Hood blinked, then her eyes went wide. “Ah—you mean Star X Valley?!”

“Honestly, I think it’s far more suitable than the Bureau’s containment facility,” Yu Sheng said, grinning as he nodded. “In terms of security alone, any containment facility can be breached, and any otherworld carries some degree of harm. But my valley—forget breaking containment. If I don’t grant access, even the Bureau’s most advanced tech can’t find the entrance. And there’s zero contamination.”

He spread his hands. “Of course, I can’t promise it can block Anka Aila’s infiltration completely. That giant Big Eyes flew off whenever it felt like it—but what in this world can truly stop a Dark Angel?”

“At least the valley seems to resist,” he continued. “And it’s directly linked to my senses. If anything really breaks in, I’ll feel it immediately. The valley itself is huge, too. Even if something goes wrong, there’s time to build a buffer…”

He rattled off a long list, then softened his tone. “It does have drawbacks. The living conditions won’t match a facility the Bureau already built. But I’ve discussed it with Bai Li Qing. If you agree, the Bureau is willing to cooperate. They can rush out generators, modular housing, and supplies, and all I need to do is open a door big enough. Long-term living might be rough, but for a short stay, it’s more than enough.”