Chapter 271

Chapter 272: There’s Always Trouble Around Him

Yu Sheng suddenly felt gloomy about his writing future, very gloomy. He was mostly worried about the reputation he might leave in the literary world later, which could turn out very bad. Even though he had met a special case like Ren Wen Wen now, just having this one special case already made him feel he would not end well.

He also knew he could not talk people out of their shipping tastes, especially when she worked at the Special Affairs Bureau. She faced a high pressure and high risk job every day. Do not be fooled by the fact that she was a clerk in the headquarters building. Given that building’s nature, even the person watching the printer counted as doing special operations. What if her mind stayed steady only because she relied on that odd “Door” fandom theory as support?

Ren Wen Wen did not notice the stormy change on Yu Sheng’s face and kept talking with great interest: “Hey, Teacher Yu, when will you release the next story? Is it still mystery and detective work? Will your older characters show up again? I really like Mr. Seventeen, the one you mentioned in Rain Harbor, so when will he be the lead…”

Yu Sheng did not answer, but Irene, who was in Foxy’s arms, spoke fast and tipped her head back: “The male lead’s ride in the next book is a three wheeler!”

Ren Wen Wen’s eyes lit up at once: “Oh that is fun, the kind where the machine and its owner grow feelings over time!”

Yu Sheng finally reacted: “…!?”

He figured it out at last. So this miss shipped humans and Machine Spirits, right? [You have got to be kidding me.]

He raised a tired hand and tried to steer the topic: “Let’s talk about something else.” Then he looked up at the sign over the pickup point. He said with a sigh: “I think this is not just a pickup point, right? I do not know your Special Affairs Bureau’s standards for setting up a ‘site,’ but since this place counts as a site, it cannot be just two people bringing deliveries to my house. I guess it is also an observation post?”

Ren Wen Wen’s face turned a bit awkward right away.

Yu Sheng smiled and waved it off: “Do not be nervous. I knew that long ago. Right now, you should also have observation somewhere nearby. Even if you do not, your Director’s eyes have probably looked this way plenty of times. I am only confirming it, do not overthink.”

Ren Wen Wen gave an embarrassed little smile and nodded seriously: “You can put it that way. The station does keep an eye on Number 66, Wutong Road. But as you know, we cannot observe your building at all. So the main task here is to watch around you. Strictly speaking, we watch the whole of Wutong Road.”

Yu Sheng looked confused and asked: “What is there to watch on Wutong Road? Is it worth setting up a station here just for The Door?”

Ren Wen Wen answered with a wry face: “Because there is always trouble around you.”

Yu Sheng fell silent: “…”

She rushed to add: “Uh, that is not me saying it. Captain Song said that. I do not know who told him first.”

Yu Sheng tugged the corner of his mouth, then shook his head with a helpless smile: “I think I know. Fine, I do not mind. Just treat it like having two more sentries near The Door. It does make deliveries and takeout easier for Number 66 later. That is it then. You keep busy. I will head back.”

He waved to Ren Wen Wen, then craned his neck to glance at the truck where several large boxes were still not unloaded. After that, he turned around and strolled away at an easy pace.

He looked like a retired boss stepping out through The Door for a leisurely walk.

Ren Wen Wen watched Yu Sheng go. She watched as he opened a Door out of thin air on the Open Ground dozens of meters away and vanished from sight. Only then did she breathe out lightly. She turned and looked at the big boxes still on the truck: a border scanning station, a fixed deep-sensing station, Entity detection radar, two emplacement-type Shield Generators normally issued only to Deep Divers, plus a pile of other gear.

That was basically the full configuration of a Border Outpost.

One Special Affairs Bureau operative hefted a heavy case down and could not help muttering: “Ren Wen Wen, do we really need these Shield Generators? Even if we do, why equip two?”

Ren Wen Wen gave him a sideways look: “The front line would cover the floor with these if they could and sleep on the Shield Generators every day. Move them in. They are all good stuff. Normal domestic outposts never get this gear.”

The operative answered with a quick: “Got it.”

…

Inside the Special Affairs Bureau headquarters building, in the Director’s office, Song Cheng was reporting to Bai Li Qing: “The Wutong Road station has already made contact with Yu Sheng. Ren Wen Wen was on site. The contact went smoothly. Yu Sheng had no objections to the new site and even seemed quite pleased.”

Bai Li Qing spoke in a light voice: “Most of the time he is easygoing and lazy. As long as we do not actually disrupt his life, he will not resist. Our observation does not work on him, but multiple pickup points do make things more convenient for Number 66 on Wutong Road. Of course he has no objection. Just remember to remind the staff there that in any situation, and I mean in any situation, they must treat ‘Yu Sheng’ as Human. That is the most important thing.”

Song Cheng nodded, very serious: “Understood. It is already written into the rules, and everyone there will be trained. I told them that even if they see Yu Sheng grab an Entity on the spot and swallow it whole, they must stay calm…”

Bai Li Qing cut him off: “Wrong. They should show proper surprise and can even complain a little about how the other person eats everything, because that is the normal reaction a Human has to another Human who eats weird things. Your approach is off. Redo the training content. If it really does not work, send that young man Li Lin over, or find someone else who has a broad mind.”

Song Cheng’s body tightened: “I understand. I will adjust it today.”

Bai Li Qing gave a short nod.

A knock sounded. After she granted permission, the duty secretary appeared at the doorway: “Director, Director Zhang from the Technical Department is here. He says there is a major breakthrough to report directly.”

Bai Li Qing said calmly: “Let him in.”

Moments later, a middle-aged man walked in wearing a white shirt and dark brown trousers. He was on the thin side, his hair was sparse, and there was a strange glow of excitement on his face.

He nodded to greet Song Cheng as he entered, the smile never leaving his face.

Bai Li Qing raised an eyebrow and looked at the head of the Technical Department: “Xiao Zhang, why so happy?”

Director Zhang’s face almost shone: “Director, the filter System is done! It will automatically recognize when Yu Sheng opens a Portal and block alarm signals, then switch recording modes on its own. We finished it!”

Even her ice-cold face showed clear change at that moment. The corners of her mouth slowly lifted: “Very good. I will contact Yu Sheng as soon as possible and ask him to help test your System so we can see how it runs.”

Director Zhang was still smiling, but then he rubbed his hands with a bit of hesitation: “Director, there is also another matter.”

Bai Li Qing asked with a soft “Hmm?”

Director Zhang’s expression turned complicated: “The message came just as I was leaving, from the testing lab. It is about that ‘cast iron sample’ the cafeteria sent to our door last time.”

Bai Li Qing reacted fast: “Oh, the iron cube the fox from the Hotel used to pay after eating? What did testing find?”

Director Zhang reported at once: “The regular composition tests found nothing special. It is iron of extremely high purity. After finishing a series of routine items, the lab decided to try making something from the iron. They mainly wanted to see its mechanical traits after a change in shape. So they made a hammer…”

Bai Li Qing cut him off without mercy: “Too many useless details. Keep it short. Tell me what happened.”

Director Zhang spread his hands: “A Machine Spirit appeared.”

Song Cheng, who had been quietly listening on the side, blurted out: “…(?0?)!?”

Even Bai Li Qing jolted. She raised her head sharply, and her gaze startled Director Zhang.

She drew a quiet breath and said: “Now give the details.”

Director Zhang looked far less confident than when he had announced the filter System’s success. The strangeness and lack of explanation clearly made the Technical Department head nervous: “There is not much more detail. A Machine Spirit appeared. It mainly shows a Self Repairing Trait. When used, it seems to cooperate with a Human’s strength on purpose. It also tends to interact with nearby machines. When no one was present, the cameras recorded the hammer lightly tapping a nearby impact analyzer. The lab team thinks this might be some kind of social behavior.”

Song Cheng finally could not hold it in: “What kind of hammer did you make, a mechanical power war hammer? A rocket-boosted impact hammer? Or did you stuff something inside…”

Director Zhang showed empty hands: “Just a hammer. They cut a small piece off the ingot. They barely reforged it. They pressed the shape, punched a hole, then slipped in a wooden stick as a handle.”

Song Cheng stared: “And that brought out a Machine Spirit?”

Director Zhang sighed: “Yes, that brought out a Machine Spirit. I have led the Technical Department for years and studied many cases about Machine Spirits. The conditions for machine-like behavior are usually a certain degree of complexity, long contact with Humans, and very rare chance. I have never seen this kind of thing. I even suspect that if they had not made a hammer but something like an ear pick, a Machine Spirit would have shown up too.”

Song Cheng looked dazed: “Do not say you have never seen it, no one has seen this.”

Bai Li Qing stood up from behind her desk: “Neither have I. So take me to see it now.”