Chapter 150 – A Special Borderland

Chapter 150 – A Special Borderland

Honestly, listening to Xu Jiali describe the situation, Yu Sheng did feel quite apologetic. He even seriously reflected on the timing and frequency of his recent calls to Baili Qing, ultimately reaching a conclusion — he could distribute some of those calls to Song Cheng instead, to alleviate the Bureau Chief’s late-night pressure.

The whole “also not yet asleep” thing needed to be spread around equally — because asking him to stop opening doors was simply impossible.

Beyond his self-reflection, Yu Sheng had also developed an intense curiosity about the Special Operations Bureau’s incredible headquarters “structure.”

This was his first time observing so directly and up close just what kind of wondrous “place” the Borderland actually was — especially when Xu Jiali led him through the corridor and pointed to an office at the end of it, telling him that the office drifted into some anomalous space every night after ten o’clock.

“We have many special rooms and ‘sections’ here. The entire Special Operations Bureau building doesn’t have a fixed structure. Some areas shift to other locations at certain times of day, and some even move into the territories of certain alien races — we use these regular movements to transfer supplies to colleagues at other outposts, or to conduct periodic shift rotations,” Xu Jiali patiently introduced this wondrous place to his guests. “I don’t know if anyone has told you about this before, but while the Borderland is called the ‘hub’ of this world, in terms of spatial structure, it actually isn’t directly connected to the outside world.”

“Not directly connected?” Yu Sheng asked curiously. “What do you mean?”

“It means you can’t leave this place through normal ‘transportation,'” Xu Jiali said with a smile. “Whether you go up into the sky or down underground, there’s no way out. If you leave the city, you’ll find vast wilderness beyond it, and further out, ‘unstable zones,’ and beyond those, past the boundary markers, lies the border. At the border, you’ll encounter spatial folding and be sent back to the edge of the city — the Borderland’s space-time curves inward. That’s what it means.”

Listening to this, Yu Sheng’s eyes widened slightly, and his heartbeat suddenly quickened by several beats beyond his control.

This was the first time he’d heard intelligence about the “edge” of the Borderland! The first time he’d formed an understanding of the spatial structure of this vast and eerie place!

The space between the edge of the Borderland and the normal universe was discontinuous!?

This made him instinctively think of that valley, of the endlessly repeating “mountain barrier” at the valley’s end, and the “teleportation” phenomenon that occurred after crossing the barrier. In his surprise, the words tumbled out: “This sounds kind of like some sort of… ‘Otherworld’?”

“Yes, it does sound a lot like an Otherworld, but the entire Borderland has a depth of zero, doesn’t generate entities, and follows the mathematical laws of the ‘outside world.’ So apart from some local areas occasionally experiencing supernatural phenomena, this place as a whole should still be classified as a ‘normal zone,'” Xu Jiali stopped walking and said to Yu Sheng with a smile on his face but seriousness in his tone. “Because of this, scholars have many interesting perspectives on this place. Most believe it simply has a special spatial structure, while the more radical ones believe the entire Borderland is an Otherworld with a depth of zero, where the operating rule is ‘everything is normal,’ and it generates an entity called ‘human society’ according to the normal universe’s order.”

This burly man, nearly two meters tall, deliberately delivered these astonishing theories in a somewhat eerie tone, even pausing intentionally at the end before adding a few more lines: “But this extreme theory can neither be proven nor disproven, so other scholars have proposed a more moderate theory. They believe the Borderland itself isn’t an Otherworld, but has been enveloped by a ‘bubble’-shaped Otherworld — an Otherworld that’s a membrane with zero thickness. This membrane ‘cut’ a section of normal space out of the universe, and that became the Borderland as we know it.”

Eileen thought for a moment and chimed in: “But that also sounds like it can neither be proven nor disproven, right?”

“Correct, so not many people believe that theory either,” Xu Jiali shrugged. “Speculation is free anyway, and the Borderland itself has countless secrets, so everyone uses this place to pad their publications — do you know how many apprentices and graduate researchers from all over come to stay in Boundary City each year? At least half of them are people who don’t have enough credits near finals and come here to farm research points or pad their project portfolios.”

Yu Sheng listened with his jaw on the floor, feeling like something about this topic wasn’t quite right. But before long, he pulled his attention back: “Wait, if the Borderland and the outside space are discontinuous, then how do people from outside get in? And how do people inside get out?”

“That’s where the ‘channels’ I just mentioned come in — like those special floors and offices in this building,” Xu Jiali said. “Normal transportation can’t get you out, but the Borderland itself has many natural ‘passages’ connecting to various places. These passages are essentially all controlled by the Council, and they’re also the only way in and out of the Borderland…”

At that, he suddenly stopped and looked at Yu Sheng with a somewhat peculiar expression.

Yu Sheng felt bewildered: “What?”

“It’s not the only way anymore,” Xu Jiali said in a muffled voice.

Yu Sheng paused briefly, then quickly caught on.

His doors — those doors leading to all sorts of strange places.

Because of his arrival, the Borderland now had an entirely new way to leave this “hub” — beyond all its existing natural “passages.”

Yu Sheng couldn’t help but sink into thought. Xu Jiali’s voice came from beside him: “…Anyway, if you want to further study those ‘doors’ in the future, or if you want to travel to the ‘Distance,’ you can come to us anytime. The Special Operations Bureau has been managing this place for many years after all, and some of our experience would be very helpful to you.”

Yu Sheng slowly nodded. Regardless of whatever deeper meaning might lie behind this offered goodwill, he was willing to sincerely express his thanks.

As they spoke, they had already come to a stop before a large door.

“We’re here,” Xu Jiali raised his hand and pointed at the room ahead.

Yu Sheng looked up and saw that this was the very last laboratory at the end of the corridor. Even though he wasn’t familiar with this place, he could tell this lab was special — the exceptionally heavy door, the distance maintained from other rooms, the multiple layers of surveillance equipment at the entrance, and the many warning signs posted in prominent places all spoke to the importance and security level of this facility.

Above the laboratory door, an illuminated sign displayed a line of text: High-risk/special sample Analysis and Containment Chamber No. 2.

Then Xu Jiali stepped forward and operated the access control device at the laboratory entrance. After verifying his senior Deep-Dive Agent high-clearance ID card and his temporary authorization as a “special escort,” he spoke a few words through the intercom to the people inside. Only then did the heavy isolation door emit the sound of machinery in motion, slowly opening and retracting to both sides.

Two workers wearing full white protective suits and face masks appeared on the lodgeer side of the door, standing behind a glowing red isolation line to “welcome” Yu Sheng’s group.

Yu Sheng felt a bit dumbfounded and turned to look at Xu Jiali: “Uh… I’m just dropping off a scrap of paper and a lump of metal. Don’t you think this is a bit much?”

“This was arranged by our Bureau Chief, don’t overthink it. The main thing is that this is the only lab that can be activated immediately right now,” Xu Jiali explained cheerfully. “Each lab has its own security level and corresponding procedures, and they’re always strictly followed no matter what. Since this one was assigned, even if what you’re handing over is just a button, they’d still have to do the sample transfer in the exchange zone wearing protective suits — that’s how work procedures are at the Special Operations Bureau. You’ll get used to it.”

Yu Sheng thought about it and expressed his understanding — except things got awkward when it came time to actually produce the items.

He first rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the tattered-looking scrap of paper, placing it on the tray in the exchange zone as instructed by the workers: “This is a sample retrieved from the Dark Forest, a dropped item from the entity ‘Hunter.'”

The workers solemnly collected the paper.

Then Yu Sheng rummaged through another pocket and pulled out a white plastic grocery bag, opened the bag and fished out something wrapped in old newspaper, and only after unwrapping the newspaper did the “lump of metal” he’d picked up from the strange room on the second floor of his house come into view.

The crackling and rustling of the shopping bag and old newspaper being opened was especially grating in the solemn silence of the laboratory entrance. As Yu Sheng fumbled with the wrapping, he could feel cold sweat forming. He couldn’t help glancing down at Eileen beside him: “Should I have put this thing in a little briefcase before leaving the house? You know, the kind you see in movies — with a combination lock, the kind that looks all professional and impressive…”

By this point, Eileen had already covered her face with her hands: “…I don’t know, but I feel like you’d have been better off just stuffing it straight into your pocket…”

“I was worried it would tear up my clothes. This thing has edges and bumps all over it, and these clothes are brand new.”

Yu Sheng muttered as he placed the lump of metal on another tray, steeling himself as he addressed the lab workers in their full protective gear across from him: “This is another sample. Recovery location was my house. No wait — No. 66 Wutong Road, Otherworld.”

Then he watched as two more workers emerged from a smaller door on the lodgeer side, wearing even heavier protective suits — suits so thick they looked like freaking titan armor. One of them was carrying a silver-white alloy container covered in engraved symbols. They solemnly placed the mystery lump of metal into the container, while a muffled but polite voice came from behind the other worker’s filtered mask: “Could you also hand over your carrying container to us?”

Yu Sheng stared blankly for a long time before realizing the person was referring to the old plastic bag and newspaper in his hands…

Utterly baffled, he handed over the plastic bag and newspaper, watching as the two titan-armored figures solemnly collected them, turned, and entered the laboratory. He stared for several seconds before turning to look at Xu Jiali: “…Is this also your standard procedure?”

Xu Jiali put on a brave face: “…Yes. Bureau Chief’s orders.”

(End of Chapter)