Chapter 156 – Baili Qing’s Judgment

Chapter 156 – Baili Qing’s Judgment

As it turned out, when it came to dealing with Yu Sheng, the Bureau Chief still had a lot to learn.

She confirmed what she’d heard several times over before she was certain she hadn’t misheard.

Yu Sheng enthusiastically introduced Baili Qing to his ambitious Stardew Valley farmstead plan, as well as the practical difficulties he’d encountered so far in the matter of “farming in the Otherworld.” He even gave a detailed explanation of the project’s feasibility and the progress already made, leaving the well-informed Baili Qing stunned speechless at every turn.

In all fairness, Baili Qing had seen just about everything in her many years as head of the Special Operations Bureau — but this was something she’d genuinely never encountered before…

“Actually, I need quite a bit of help on my end,” Yu Sheng said, as if completely oblivious to the subtle shifts in Baili Qing’s expression (though to be fair, this woman’s expressions were remarkably hard to read in the first place), still chattering away with great enthusiasm. “Everything I’ve told you so far is just the surface. The key issue is that there’s no electricity in the Valley right now. If possible, could you get me a power generation setup? But there’s no sun over there either. The ambient light is quite bright, but I don’t know if it could drive solar panels. There’s a small river at the foot of the mountains, but it’s too small — even a small-scale hydroelectric station would probably struggle. If all else fails, we’d have to go with thermal power…”

Yu Sheng rattled on cheerfully for quite a while before suddenly catching himself. He immediately reined in the conversation and looked at the Bureau Chief before him with some embarrassment: “Uh, am I asking for a bit too much?”

Baili Qing was hard-stunned for several seconds with no idea what to say. It wasn’t until Yu Sheng spoke a second time that she snapped out of it, struggling to maintain her usual composed expression as she replied: “…I’ll arrange what I can.”

Then she paused, as if forcefully reorganizing her thoughts, and her tone became serious: “I’m surprised — what you’ve described is a field no one has ever ventured into before. Frankly, your ideas alone already have enormous research value… Everything about that valley — the changes it’s undergone and its current environment — I’m extremely interested in all of it.”

“Uh, I haven’t really thought that far. I just figured it’d be a waste to let such a huge stretch of land sit there unused,” Yu Sheng scratched his hair. “So is it a deal then? I can open up certain designated areas of the Valley for your investigation, and you provide me with supplies and manpower?”

“No problem,” Baili Qing nodded solemnly. “The specific scope of ‘support’ and the project checklist — we can finalize the details after professional personnel conduct an on-site survey.”

Yu Sheng smiled, rose from his chair, and extended his hand to her: “Then it’s settled. Here’s to a pleasant collaboration.”

Baili Qing hesitated for a moment, then also stood and grasped Yu Sheng’s hand: “A pleasant collaboration.”

Yu Sheng let out a quiet breath, then glanced back at the laboratory across the hall that was still bustling with activity. After a moment’s thought, he said: “We’ve covered everything we need to discuss, and that ‘metal component’ I brought in doesn’t seem like it’ll yield any results anytime soon… How about, since we’ve got nothing else to do, you give me a tour of the area? Consider it a celebration of our new ‘partnership’ — I’m quite interested in this headquarters building of yours.”

Baili Qing was briefly taken aback, but quickly nodded: “Of course.”

“Eileen, you and Hu Li wait here?” Yu Sheng turned to the puppet and the fox spirit.

Eileen was somewhat surprised, but before she could speak, Hu Li had already instinctively risen to her feet: “Benefactor, I’ll go with you…”

“We’re just taking a short walk around the area,” Yu Sheng reached out and rubbed the soft fur behind Hu Li’s ears. “We’ll also be discussing arrangements for a survey team in the Valley. It’ll definitely be boring. Just wait here with Eileen and keep an eye on things in the lab.”

Hu Li froze for a moment, still seeming a little hesitant.

But Eileen suddenly stood up. She climbed right onto the table and tugged at Hu Li’s tail: “Alright then, we’ll just wait here for Yu Sheng…”

As she spoke, she looked toward Baili Qing: “So do you guys have anything good to eat around here? Send over some snacks — we’ll munch while we wait.”

“Sure, I’ll have someone bring some over,” Baili Qing nodded. “Our employee snacks are quite well-reviewed.”

Hearing this, Hu Li finally settled obediently back into her chair. Assuming a waiting-for-food posture, she looked at Yu Sheng: “Then come back soon, Benefactor. I’ll be waiting for you — don’t go too far, okay?”

Yu Sheng smiled and nodded, then reached out to bump Eileen’s tiny fist before turning to follow behind Baili Qing, leaving the room at an unhurried pace.

Baili Qing said nothing along the way, like a moving block of ice, maintaining her unchanging expression and mechanically precise stride as she led Yu Sheng through the long corridor of Floor 54-1/2. She only gave the occasional slight nod in response when passing Bureau employees greeted her. They walked like this all the way to the elevator at the end of the corridor, and then rode it upward.

“Where are we going?” Yu Sheng noticed that Baili Qing had only swiped a black card and hadn’t selected any floor, yet the elevator seemed to have already determined its destination and began moving rapidly. He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“Floor N,” Baili Qing said casually. “A good place to talk.”

Yu Sheng instinctively glanced at the elevator’s control panel but couldn’t find any “Floor N” option. He only saw the numbers on the screen steadily climbing, and after surpassing a certain limit, the display no longer showed floor numbers but instead continuously displayed the words “Elevator Ascending.” After a while longer, he felt the elevator begin to decelerate. The lights inside the car gradually dimmed, and the ascending indicator on the display vanished. A few seconds later, accompanied by a slight tremor of the car, all characters on the screen disappeared at once, leaving only a single large letter: N.

The doors opened. Baili Qing stepped out first. Yu Sheng hesitated briefly, then followed her outside with a touch of curiosity.

He stared at this place in astonishment.

Beyond the elevator, there was no corridor or room — only a barren expanse of ground covered in dark, jagged rocks. The entire area was small, perhaps only a few hundred meters across. Its edges were fragmented, with countless pieces of gravel floating in midair. Even this few-hundred-meter stretch of “ground” itself seemed to be suspended in empty space.

And beyond this “island” stretched an endless expanse of chaotic space, through which vast and brilliant streams of magnificent light cut across from the far reaches of space, traversing the entire sky like some kind of suspended river of luminescence hanging high above this “lone island.”

Yu Sheng looked back the way they’d come and saw the “elevator” jutting abruptly from the center of this “void island.” The elevator shaft pierced through the gravel-strewn ground like a pipe, extending ever upward until it vanished into the depths of that magnificent river of light.

“…Your headquarters building certainly has spectacular scenery. Is this still the Borderland?”

“Welcome to the Borderland’s ‘rooftop’ — or at least part of it,” Baili Qing said mildly. “Very few people come up to this level normally. Although it’s always been my favorite observation deck, other people don’t seem to care for it much. Would you like something to drink?”

Yu Sheng blinked, only then noticing that near the elevator there was actually a small area that had been leveled out. The clearing was bordered by a ring of stones, and on it sat a sofa, a coffee table, chairs, a bar counter, and even a beverage cooler and an ice machine — Baili Qing was currently retrieving drinks and ice from the machines, extending an invitation.

Yu Sheng stared wide-eyed: “…How did you get water and electricity up here?”

Baili Qing: “…Huh?”

Yu Sheng repeated himself: “I mean the water and electricity…”

A peculiar look finally crossed Baili Qing’s face: “I’ve hosted guests here several times. You’re the first one to ask that question.”

“Can’t help it — I’m a man who values practicality,” Yu Sheng walked over and sat down on the sofa. “Just water is fine. Extra ice.”

Baili Qing poured a glass of ice water and handed it to Yu Sheng, her composed expression restored: “It’s routed through the elevator shaft. But if you’re asking how the elevator shaft ‘penetrates’ to this place, that’s hard for me to explain — you’d have to ask the Engineering Department.”

Yu Sheng gave a small “oh” and didn’t actually pursue the matter further. After taking a sip of water and briefly organizing his words, he asked bluntly: “Let’s cut to the chase — what’s really going on with Hu Li’s homeland?”

Baili Qing didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.

Her answer was remarkably candid: “We suspect she came from ‘outside.'”

“Outside?” Yu Sheng immediately furrowed his brow. “You mean…”

“Remember those materials Song Cheng brought you before?” Baili Qing looked into Yu Sheng’s eyes. “The materials about the Twilight Angels.”

Yu Sheng was briefly startled, then immediately understood. He murmured: “The Twilight Angels are ‘invaders’ from beyond the world…”

“Yes, the key phrase is ‘beyond the world,'” Baili Qing set down her cup, her face perfectly calm. “The appearance of those invaders revealed a truth to us early on — that beyond our ‘known universe,’ there exist other ‘things.’ Beings utterly different from us, incompatible with us, bizarre beyond description. At least, before the ‘Miss Hu Li’ at your side appeared, that was the entirety of our impression of ‘visitors from beyond.'”

Yu Sheng gaped for several seconds, then furrowed his brow slightly: “Hu Li isn’t a ‘Twilight Angel,’ and she’s certainly no invader — she’s a victim of the Twilight Angels.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I only said she might be an ‘outsider’ and didn’t call her a Twilight Angel or anything similar,” Baili Qing remained calm. “Even though this challenges the greatest understanding we’ve had of ‘outsiders’ to date, I can still make a judgment from a rational standpoint.”

(End of Chapter)