Chapter 210 – The Isolation Plan

Yu Sheng brought Hu Li and Ailin back to the Orphanage and immediately sought out Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White.

Before long, the “King” also came over after hearing the news.

The Lodge trio (though it was debatable how many of them counted as human) sat facing the Fairy Tale trio (which included a cat), and the atmosphere in the reception room was exceptionally solemn.

Yu Sheng had actually already figured it out by now—although the Fairy Tale organization had a free and loose internal atmosphere, as an organization it still had a management structure and a backbone. Little Red Riding Hood was clearly the most authoritative Guardian in this “orphan organization,” and the other person with significant say in Fairy Tale was Snow White. One had the longest tenure, the other had the greatest strength—they could be regarded as Fairy Tale’s two “leaders.”

Of course, considering that both Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood’s conditions had already reached the “terminal stage,” they surely had successors lined up, but that wasn’t something appropriate to casually ask about.

As for the “King,” although its strength was considerable, it didn’t actually involve itself in organizational matters. It showed up for important discussions simply because it was a cat—creatures that have always gone wherever they pleased.

Before Fairy Tale’s two leaders and the cat, Yu Sheng held nothing back about the new intelligence he’d obtained from the Special Operations Bureau, laying out everything about the Angel Cultists and the “vessel.”

“The Bureau still has one last Angel Cultist in custody, but we don’t dare casually ‘interrogate’ them anymore. We can only isolate and observe cautiously for now,” Yu Sheng said, catching them up on the current situation. “These cultists who follow ‘An-Ka-Ai-La’ really do have some tricks up their sleeves. They seem to specialize in directly sacrificing their own lives to their ‘Lord.’ Those six who self-sacrificed didn’t have a single wound on their bodies. The one who died right in front of me was the same—the Bureau had a whole array of advanced equipment monitoring him, and he still managed to kill himself and feed his soul directly to his Lord. There was absolutely no way to stop it.”

Little Red Riding Hood listened with a taut expression, and after quite a while she finally broke the silence: “The ‘vessel’ is among us… So this has been confirmed, hasn’t it?”

Yu Sheng sighed and nodded helplessly.

“Right now we still don’t know how those Angel Cultists determine when a ‘vessel has matured,’ nor do we know what criteria the Twilight Angel uses to select a ‘vessel.’ But we can basically confirm that An-Ka-Ai-La has reached some kind of critical threshold of awakening, and those cultists’ self-sacrifices are further catalyzing the process. They may not be able to truly hear the Twilight Angel’s voice, but they clearly have some way of sensing the Twilight Angel’s ‘state.'”

At that moment, Snow White suddenly spoke up from beside them: “…Is it possible to capture more Angel Cultists?”

“There are definitely more hiding out there. With cultists, if you can catch one, there’s certainly a whole nest hidden away. But catching more in the short term probably won’t be easy,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head. “Besides, with An-Ka-Ai-La’s awakening approaching, hoping to root out all its ‘believers’ before then to delay the angel’s descent is probably already too late. What’s more, the Twilight Angel’s activities sometimes behave like a ‘natural phenomenon’—how much influence those cultists’ sacrificial activities actually have on their Lord is still an unknown.”

“Let’s think about how to approach this from the ‘vessel’ angle instead,” said Ailin, sitting beside Yu Sheng. “Do you have any ideas? Who is most likely to be this ‘vessel’?”

Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood exchanged glances, their expressions both complicated for a moment.

The King’s expression was actually quite complicated too, but Yu Sheng couldn’t decipher what that cat face was supposed to mean.

After a moment of heavy contemplation, Little Red Riding Hood sighed.

“The most likely candidates are actually right here in this room,” she said, raising her hand to point at herself, then at Snow White. “The ones closest to adulthood, and the one with the strongest combat ability—if you’re asking who in all of Fairy Tale is closest to that ‘Twilight Angel,’ it would inevitably be the two of us who have been corroded the most severely.”

“And from another angle, the King is also very likely.” Snow White thought for a moment, then pointed at the Tabby Cat draped over the armrest of the sofa.

The King’s eyes instantly went wide, its cat face stunned as it pointed at itself: “Why?”

Snow White’s expression was grave: “A cat that can actually become a vessel for a ‘Fairy Tale,’ and one bearing the most special role of ‘King’ at that—a role that can be seen as a ‘unifying background’ across many fairy tales. Don’t you think you’re rather special?”

“…Life has once again bared its claws at this innocent little cat,” the King immediately sighed, patting the armrest with its paw. “Sigh. Pet me.”

Before it even finished speaking, a spectral figure had already materialized in the air, and then a court jester dressed in garish, colorful clothing and wearing a teardrop mask appeared out of thin air in the room. The jester bowed to everyone else, then knelt on one knee before the King and began petting it.

Yu Sheng watched this in stunned bewilderment.

But he quickly swallowed all the retorts building up inside him and turned to Little Red Riding Hood with a serious expression. “So, we do need to consider an isolation and protection plan,” he said, thinking as he spoke. “Right now we don’t know when An-Ka-Ai-La will fully awaken, nor do we know who has been chosen as the ‘vessel.’ Although I’ve placed mental ‘protections’ on each of you, whether those protections will be effective against the Twilight Angel is also an unknown… All things considered, I also think we should temporarily relocate the children from the Orphanage to somewhere safe. At the very least…”

He paused mid-sentence, choosing his words carefully, trying to put it as tactfully as possible: “At the very least, somewhere with better isolation conditions, where it’s easier to monitor the situation and respond quickly.”

He looked up and glanced around.

“I’m not saying this Orphanage isn’t good, but this place…”

“Mm, I understand what you mean,” Little Red Riding Hood cut Yu Sheng off directly. Her reaction was calmer than he had imagined. “We do need to relocate the children, and we ‘Guardians’ will go too. At the very least, we can’t stay in the urban area.”

Yu Sheng froze, looking at the girl before him with some surprise: “Uh… So you’re saying you accept this plan?”

“I accept, and the other ‘Guardians’ will too,” Little Red Riding Hood nodded very seriously. “We just need a little time to explain the situation to the younger ones, and we’ll also need to pack quite a few things—including the comfort toys the children are used to.”

She paused, then added in explanation: “Most of the children in the Orphanage lack a sense of security. If the relocation is too hasty, it will worsen their mental instability.”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, and it took him quite a while to react. He said with an odd expression: “Uh, I thought…”

“Thought what? That we’d put up a big fight?” Little Red Riding Hood raised an eyebrow. “Shouting ‘we must defend our Orphanage, we’ll handle this ourselves,’ and then waiting for things to spiral out of control?”

Yu Sheng: “Uh…”

“That absolutely won’t do,” Snow White shook her head beside them, saying very seriously, “This is an urban area. Although there are no residents immediately around the Orphanage, just one intersection away beyond the quarantine perimeter there are residential complexes and shopping centers. If one of us really is the ‘vessel,’ even if only a fraction of the Twilight Angel’s power descends, it would be catastrophic. At a time like this, we need to follow the management department’s arrangements and relocate the danger source as quickly as possible.”

Yu Sheng suddenly didn’t know what to say and could only awkwardly scratch his head.

“I believe I’ve told you before—the children in this Orphanage finished their rebellious phase the very first time they fell into a nightmare,” Little Red Riding Hood said, gently swaying on the sofa with a half-smile. “Don’t worry so much about unnecessary things on our behalf. We’re not the kind of brats who are full of opinions before something happens and then throw crying fits after it does. If there are arrangements to be made, let’s hear them now. Are we going to an isolation zone in the outskirts? Or a containment facility under the Bureau?”

Yu Sheng finally set aside all unnecessary hesitation. Realizing he’d been worrying over nothing, he let out a soft breath and looked Little Red Riding Hood in the eyes.

“The Bureau has offered two options. Option one is a place called ‘Tranquil Town’—reportedly a relatively stable Otherworld with a safe zone established by the Bureau. The second option is a containment facility on the city outskirts. But I have an alternative proposal that I think might be better.”

Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White both leaned forward simultaneously: “An alternative?”

Yu Sheng’s expression was serious: “My ‘backyard.'”

Little Red Riding Hood blanked for a second, not immediately following, but the next moment she made the connection and her eyes went wide: “Ah—your Star-X Valley!?”

“Honestly, I think it’s far more suitable than any Bureau containment facility,” Yu Sheng said with an easy grin, nodding. “Just in terms of security level alone, any containment facility can potentially be breached, and any Otherworld carries at least some degree of contamination. But my ‘backyard’—forget about breaching containment, if I don’t grant access, even the Bureau’s most cutting-edge technology couldn’t find where the entrance is, and there’s absolutely zero contamination.

“Of course, I can’t guarantee that place could completely block An-Ka-Ai-La’s infiltration either. After all, that giant eye that flew away before just left whenever it felt like it—but then again, what in this world could block a Twilight Angel? At least The Valley seems to have some resistance. Plus, it’s directly linked to my perception—the moment anything actually ‘invades,’ I’ll sense it immediately. The Valley itself is also quite vast, so if something does happen, there’s enough space to establish a buffer zone…”

Yu Sheng rattled off a whole string of points, but in the end he shifted gears: “Of course, there are downsides too. The living conditions definitely can’t compare to the Bureau’s fully equipped containment facilities. But I’ve discussed it with Baili Qing, and if you agree, the Bureau is willing to cooperate. They can rush-prepare generators, prefab housing, living supplies, and everything else. I just need to open a big enough doorway—the conditions over there might not be great for long-term living, but for a short stay, more than sufficient.”

(End of Chapter)