Chapter 69 – Deep Dive

Regarding the favor Little Red Riding Hood wanted from him, Yu Sheng had imagined several possibilities, all roughly related to the supernatural domain — after all, though she looked like a girl of seventeen or eighteen, she was a professional “spirit detective.” Whatever she needed to do should be professionally oriented. Honestly, Yu Sheng was rather looking forward to it. Since he himself had to deal with the Otherworld, treating this favor as a chance to gain experience under a “junior senior” wouldn’t be a bad thing…

He was just a bit nervous, unsure whether he could handle whatever Little Red Riding Hood needed done. If it was too difficult, he’d have to find some face-saving way to bluff his way through…

Then he sat in a roadside café, staring blankly at what this girl had pulled out.

It was copying math worksheets for a high school girl.

A really thick book of them!

Yu Sheng looked at the math worksheets in front of him, then raised his head to look at the short-haired girl across from him, his gaze bouncing back and forth several times, fully expressing his bewilderment.

It was indeed very difficult — if not for the answer key in the back, this stuff would be harder than fighting monsters in the Otherworld. After all, no matter how tough an entity was, you could brute-force your way through by dying a few times and dragging your corpse along. But math — if you didn’t know it, you truly didn’t know it. Even if you shot him dead on the spot and he opened his eyes alive again, he still wouldn’t know it…

Hu Li stood off to the side holding Eileen, watching without understanding what was happening.

“Just sit here and copy this entire workbook for me. The answers are all in the back. Your handwriting can be a bit sloppy — as long as it’s filled in, it’s fine,” Little Red Riding Hood said with a perfectly calm expression. “Then I’ll take Hu Li to the mall next door to buy clothes — oh right, you’ll need to give me some cash first. I don’t have much money on me. After we’re done shopping, I’ll bring back the receipts and we’ll settle up. Any extra gets returned, any shortfall gets covered.”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, finally organizing his words: “So, uh… the favor is helping you with homework? Is this… really appropriate?”

“Of course it is. I’d already finished all my homework, but then an entity tore it up — and my teacher didn’t believe me,” Little Red Riding Hood said with a thoroughly aggrieved expression, though when she looked at Yu Sheng, a glimmer of joy appeared in her eyes — the happiness of being saved. “I came here today to buy new worksheets. I’d already resigned myself to pulling an all-nighter, and then I ran into you guys.”

Yu Sheng grimaced. “My handwriting looks nothing like yours. Even if I try my best to imitate it, they’d probably still notice.”

“It’s fine, they won’t look that closely once they’re collected,” Little Red Riding Hood waved dismissively. “I’m actually one of the conscientious ones — at least I did the first pass myself. Some of my classmates just get other people to do it from the start…”

“Alright,” Yu Sheng finally sighed, accepting the fact that many things in this world never unfold the way you expect. He stood up, pulled out his wallet, and handed it to the girl in front of him, then turned to look at Hu Li. “Go with her. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask her. And take Eileen with you — if anything comes up, contact me through Eileen.”

Hu Li glanced at Little Red Riding Hood, seeming a bit uneasy, but after hearing Yu Sheng’s instructions, she gave a gentle nod.

Little Red Riding Hood paused briefly upon receiving the wallet, then her eyes darted upward as she joked: “Handing over both your person and your money just like that — aren’t you worried I’ll run off?”

Yu Sheng had already lowered his head to look at the worksheets. Hearing this, he raised his eyelids: “Are you planning to never go near a single door for the rest of your life?”

Little Red Riding Hood’s expression instantly went taut, the corner of her mouth twitching: “That’s a bit scary, you know…”

“This workbook of yours is scarier,” Yu Sheng sighed. “Honestly… I never imagined that one day I’d find myself facing high school homework again under these circumstances. And I swear we didn’t even have this much when I was in school…”

Little Red Riding Hood immediately grabbed Hu Li’s hand and started backing away, waving as she retreated: “Well then, we’re off to buy clothes!”

Hu Li blinked in surprise, then hesitantly raised Eileen toward Yu Sheng in a little wave — she had wanted to wave with her other hand, but that one was being pulled by Little Red Riding Hood.

Even from several meters away, Yu Sheng could see Eileen secretly baring her teeth in a grimace.

…

Passing through layer after layer of isolation doors and safety compartments, Song Cheng felt as though he were burrowing through the belly of some enormous beast cast from reinforced concrete. After passing through several checkpoints in succession, he finally arrived at his destination.

At the end of a brightly lit underground corridor stood a massive alloy blast door. Armed Special Operations Bureau guards stood on either side. The door’s surface was covered in dense, intricate patterns that made one’s vision swim with just a glance. Above the blast door, a light panel emitted a reassuring green glow, bearing the words: “Deep Dive Zone — D2 Descent Port.”

Song Cheng produced his identification card and swiped it on the card reader labeled “Customs Verification” beside the blast door. As the door opened, the scene beyond came into view.

A faintly distorted light curtain covered the lodgeer side of the blast door. Through it, one could see an extremely spacious hall beyond, brightly lit, with numerous large devices resembling “water tanks” arranged in orderly rows. These “tanks” were three-meter cubic containers, each resting on a structurally complex black metal base, filled with some kind of pale blue liquid.

Many people in white uniforms moved about among the “tanks,” checking the operational status of various units.

Song Cheng stepped through the door.

The instant he passed through the distorted light curtain, he felt a brief sensation of weightlessness and vertigo, followed by a ringing in his ears that lasted several seconds. When the ringing faded, he heard a soft system notification through his earpiece: “You have entered D2 Descent Port. The Deep Dive Zone is currently located at Panning-III Station. Average depth in the current hall: L-1. Environment: Stable.”

Song Cheng shook his head to clear the lingering dizziness, then walked directly toward several neatly arranged “tank” units nearby.

He spotted a figure with gray-white hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a white skirt suit, already standing there.

“Bureau Chief!” Song Cheng hurried over, his tone full of surprise. “You came in person?”

“It is an unprecedented situation, after all,” Baili Qing turned her head, her colorless eyes glancing at Song Cheng. “Your team members are ready.”

Song Cheng nodded and looked at the six “tank” units before him.

Six fully equipped “deep-dive operatives” were being slowly lowered into the tanks with the assistance of mechanical arms. They wore jet-black powered armor, their fully enclosed helmets concealing their faces, with only dark red monitors flickering faintly across their visors. Each one also carried an additional miniature reactor backpack on their back, providing power for mental shields and specialized observation and recording equipment.

The deep-dive operatives were hoisted by the mechanical arms and lowered from above into the tanks, then suspended in the pale blue liquid. Moments later, a faint hum emanated from the black metal bases beneath the tanks, the operational drone gradually rising from low to high.

An announcement echoed through the area: “Configuring ‘deep sea’ environment. All personnel prepare for descent… ‘Umbilical cords’ standing by. Awaiting manual command.”

A technician monitoring the “tanks” studied the readings on his device, then called out several seconds later: “Connect umbilical cords!”

Several white-coated workers immediately stepped forward and began manually entering commands into each “tank.”

The pale blue liquid inside the tanks began to ripple. Simultaneously, spine-like tubular structures made of black metal rose from the bottom of each tank. Dark red light flickered between their metallic segments, and the whole assemblies seemed almost alive as they swam and extended through the pale blue liquid, then precisely connected to the chest of each deep-dive operative.

The announcement sounded: “Umbilical cords connected. Inducer agent injecting… Commencing descent.”

Waves rippled through the tanks. The pale blue liquid seemed to transform into “seawater” in the blink of an eye — or rather, the interior of each tank seemed to become a small slice cut from some vast ocean, surging in unison at a specific frequency.

The next second, all the deep-dive operatives vanished from Song Cheng’s sight. Only the “umbilical cords” connected to their powered armor remained floating in their original positions, gently rising and falling in the liquid, as if indicating that the operatives were still inside the tanks — just no longer observable by anyone outside.

“Do you think this will work? What do you think they’ll see?” Baili Qing turned her head to look at Song Cheng.

“…The inducer agent will cause them to sink into the spirit realm. This is very effective for certain types of Otherworlds, especially those with entries tied to the mind, dreams, or emotions. But honestly… the Night-shrouded Valley is a bit unusual,” Song Cheng shook his head. “We still haven’t found a stable way to enter the Night-shrouded Valley. Using the inducer agent only allows observers to catch glimpses of its shadow through hallucinations. And now that place has undergone a ‘mutation’ — even Passenger No. 22 doesn’t know the specifics. I suspect… the deep-dive operatives will come back empty-handed.”

Baili Qing nodded.

Song Cheng was about to say something more when a piercing whine suddenly erupted!

“Holy sh—! Contamination!” A technician practically leapt out of his seat and shot toward the master emergency stop button like a gust of wind. “Pull them back!”

The emergency stop button was slammed down. A harsh noise blared from the base of every “tank” as the pale blue liquid was drained almost instantly. Then every “umbilical cord” erupted in blinding sparks, and the next second, all six deep-dive operatives reappeared in the physical world — they tumbled into the emptied tanks in disarray, bodies curled up. One of them wrenched off his faceplate and collapsed to his hands and knees, vomiting violently. Another struggled to his feet and staggered to the edge of the tank, pounding on the reinforced polymer wall, apparently trying to shout something to the people outside.

Song Cheng and Baili Qing immediately rushed over.

“We reached the end of the passage!” the operative who had managed to stand screamed. Through the safety barrier of the “tank,” his voice sounded distorted and warped. “The end of the passage! A beam of light! There was no Night-shrouded Valley — none! At the end of the passage there was only — only… only math problems! All of them were math problems! They were freaking full-length exam questions!!”

(End of Chapter)