Even with Little Red Riding Hood's explanation, Yu Sheng still found it difficult to comprehend and imagine the life inside the orphanage, as well as what its "operational" state was like on a daily basis. He couldn't picture what the children living here thought about or did each day, couldn't fathom the specific responsibilities of the "Council employees" who were assigned here, and couldn't imagine how the "Council" that ruled the entire Boundary Land viewed this special orphanage.

After all, he didn't even understand how the immense "Boundary City" actually operated, nor the mysterious "Council"; the only "official" organization he had come in contact with was the Special Service Bureau, which in fact was just a part of the Council.

Boundary Land had too many aspects that seemed incongruous to him. Little Red Riding Hood and her friends' place of residence was just one more enigma added to his many doubts.

Silently accompanying him, Hu Li, who had not spoken since they entered, suddenly interjected, "Why doesn't the Special Service Bureau or the Council set up a special department to 'take over' this entire orphanage?"

Little Red Riding Hood looked at the demon fox girl with some surprise.

Hu Li blinked nervously, scratching her head, "Did I… say something wrong?"

"No... you're not wrong," Little Red Riding Hood quickly regained her composure and shook her head, "It's normal for you to think that way, but do you know how many groups or organizations like 'ours' exist throughout the Boundary Land?"

Hu Li opened her mouth but said nothing.

"As I've mentioned, most Spirit Realm detectives and investigators were prompted to 'change professions' after getting involved with incidents from the Exotic Realm, and the children of the 'Fairy Tales' group are influenced by 'Exotic Realm-Fairy Tales.' Essentially, wait till you see every child here later—all of them are either future or current Spirit Realm detectives, and we're one of the hundreds of Extraordinary Organizations in the Boundary Land, so many things must be dealt with in the way of Extraordinary Organizations.

"Of course, the Special Service Bureau once considered giving us 'children' 'special care,' a long time ago... just like you said, setting up a 'Special Orphanage' completely supervised by the Council, directly managed by the Special Service Bureau—centralizing all children affected by Fairy Tales for protection and guidance, with everything taken care of by 'adults' instead of our self-governance, but then... a major incident happened."

Yu Sheng furrowed his brows slightly, his mind instantly brimming with plots from movies, TV dramas, horror novels, and video games: "... the children were treated inhumanely, and then 'Fairy Tales' got out of control?"

"No, quite the opposite," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head, "The Special Service Bureau and the Council are not fools. They know that when 'Exotic Realm' is after lives, it doesn't abide by any 'human norms.' Thus, according to the records, they didn't do anything wrong at the time—they took great care of every child's situation, no inhumane treatment happened, but they overlooked one thing."

Erin peeked out from Hu Li's arms, "Overlooked one thing?"

"'Fairy Tales' doesn't like adults," said Little Red Riding Hood lightly.

Yu Sheng reflected thoughtfully, feeling like he understood the other party's point.

Hu Li, after a moment of consideration, nodded lightly, seeming to also grasp the intricacies.

Erin racked her brain for a moment, lifting her head, "Wait, what do you mean... how come you all seem to understand, what do you understand?"

No one paid her any attention.

"This ahead is the East Building," Little Red Riding Hood then pointed at the building ahead, introducing it to Yu Sheng, "The main structure of the orphanage consists of two buildings; the one you see immediately upon entering, this East Building, serves as the main residential and activity area, with the large dining hall and 'classrooms' for young children here, the other is the West Building, inside... there are some safe houses, and also Treatment Rooms. Sometimes when the children's state becomes unstable, they go to the West Building.

"Originally, there were two connecting passages between the two buildings, but latterly, the one underground encountered some issues and was locked up. Now, only the upper connecting corridor can be used. Of course, the West Building also has other regular entrances.

"Over there, that open space, is where the children usually play. Those slides and swing sets were made by us, and the sandpit was dug by us as well. The sand inside it was brought here by vehicles dispatched by the Special Service Bureau—free of charge. There was a bit of a mess at that time; the sandpit was dug too large and too deep, initially one truck was planned to be enough, but later three trucks came and almost weren't sufficient. The Bureau's personnel even suspected that we wanted to steal the sand to sell...

"Over there, do you see those trees? We planted them ourselves, I was just ten years old at that time... the 'parent' who helped me plant the trees is no longer here."

Yu Sheng listened quietly, spotting in the corner of his eye several curious glances peeking from the main entrance of the East Building, a few older children accompanied by even younger ones crowded near the doorway, surreptitiously sizing up the "guests" who appeared in the orphanage, occasionally whispering and gesturing, likely discussing or speculating about something.

Then, a bigger girl emerged from behind, shooing all the children back in.

"How many children are here?" Yu Sheng curiously asked, "Uh, I mean including those 'parents' like you."

"Seventy-six," replied Little Red Riding Hood, "Fewer than you imagined?"

"Indeed... a bit fewer than I expected."

"It's always around this number, with only single-digit fluctuations occasionally," Little Red Riding Hood said, guiding Yu Sheng towards the building's main entrance, heading to the "Reception Room," "New ones come, old ones go, 'Fairy Tales' only accepts children who meet its criteria, and doesn't hesitate to eliminate the old ones. So compared to our numbers, this facility actually seems quite luxurious—the rooms above the fifth floor here are mostly empty, as are most areas in the West Building.

"Among the seventy-six children, sixteen are 'parents,' nearly half of the remaining are between eight to fourteen years of age, and the other half are younger. Overall, girls make up about three-quarters, and boys only a quarter..."

"I noticed too; most of the ones seen just now were girls," Yu Sheng nodded, his curiosity immediately piqued, "Why is that?"

Little Red Riding Hood gave a faint smile: "Because princesses are always more prone to crisis—'Country Maiden' like 'Little Red Riding Hood' are the same. You need to learn to analyze this place from the 'Fairy Tales' perspective."

Yu Sheng appeared thoughtful.

Under the guidance of Little Red Riding Hood, he, along with Erin and Hu Li, reached the Reception Room at the end of the corridor in the East Building.

Yu Sheng noticed several peering gazes at the door, and little figures shuffling back and forth in the outer corridor, evidently curious about the new guests today yet hesitating to come closer.

"I brought some gifts for the kids," seeing this, Yu Sheng picked up the cookies and candies he was carrying and nodded at Little Red Riding Hood, "Shall we distribute these to them?"

"Thanks a lot—you are quite thoughtful," Little Red Riding Hood didn't stand on ceremony, cheerfully expressing her gratitude, then waved to a tween at the door, "Huihui, take these to the cafeteria first, and distribute them during dinner."

The girl called "Huihui," who looked about thirteen or fourteen, immediately ran in gleefully, followed by several children aged around five or six who took this opportunity to sneak into the room, scampering around the table. Some were even excitedly shouting: "I want chocolate! I want the golden one!" "Are there any gummy bears?" "Thank you, uncle!" "Sister Huihui! Ya Ya stepped on my foot!"

Then a tiny tot with a peaches-and-cream complexion suddenly crawled out from under the table, looked up at Yu Sheng and Hu Li with big eyes, and then pointed at Erin: "I want to hug this one!"

Erin immediately threw up her arms and grimaced: "I am not a gift!"

The little one paused, then suddenly burst into tears on the spot.

A bunch of human toddlers dispersed noisily, squealing and scampering around chaotically—just like the mayhem Yu Sheng had imagined earlier that morning with Erin filling the room.

He was utterly befuddled at the time.

However, the chaos lasted only a moment; Little Red Riding Hood immediately stood up and calmed down the little ones with just a few words, then Huihui adeptly took charge of the kids, cajoling them back into the corridor and also closing the room's door.

Yu Sheng gawked at this quickly pacified scene, and it took him a moment to recover before turning to glance at Little Red Riding Hood: "...you... are pretty amazing."

"Just used to it, the kids here are actually quite sensible. Although they have some issues like kids of this age normally would, mostly they can regain composure faster than usual, understand the directions from older kids, and know the necessity of following rules," Little Red Riding Hood said with a light smile, "We all got through this way."

Somehow, hearing this made Yu Sheng feel even worse.

"Tell me about the 'Fairy Tales,' the 'Exotic Realm'—and that 'Black Forest' I saw, what's that all about?"

"Black Forest is a 'Subordinate' of 'Fairy Tales,'" Little Red Riding Hood began in a calm and collected manner. At this moment, Yu Sheng seemed to see again the prematurely mature, calm, and steady "Spirit Realm detective" he had met initially, "but before I explain its structure in detail, I want to discuss some basics with you first—do you know how many types of 'Exotic Realm' are there?"

Yu Sheng pondered, his expression turning serious: "I don't know."

Little Red Riding Hood: "..."

"I remember this is one of the key parts covered at the beginning of the database," she gave Yu Sheng a subtle look, "Didn't they tell you to quickly go through this knowledge?"

Yu Sheng felt a bit awkward: "I've been extremely busy these last few days."

"Busy with what? Does the Special Service Bureau have some new arrangements?"

Yu Sheng straightened his face, quickly reviewing in his mind what he had been doing in these last two days.

In the Exotic Realm—clearing fields, planting vegetables, dealing with ash, raising chickens, at home brushing Hu Li, studying the construction of more Erins with Erin, and contemplating how to use rebar and type 42 cement to produce more Erins...

It felt like his dignity as an adult would vanish the moment he spoke it out.

"Yes, it was the Special Service Bureau; they consulted me about the Dark Angel."

Yu Sheng's face was stern, without a single lie.

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