Yu Sheng spent quite some time in his mind, imagining what the customs and cultures of "Qianfeng Ling Mountain" and its leading planet "Taixu Spirit Hub" would be like, and how a power controlled by "Cultivators" would operate in the universe outside the Boundary Land, interacting with other forces. He was doing this purely out of professional habit, always feeling that there were at least a million words that could be written about it.

Baili Qing couldn't guess what the anthropomorphic entity in front of her was thinking. She just looked at Yu Sheng with some curiosity, "I feel like you care a lot about 'Qianfeng Ling Mountain.'

"Uh, this is not the first time I've had to deal with a force from 'outside,' and they even gave me such an important clue," Yu Sheng quickly brushed off, "I'm just a bit curious, nothing more."

Baili Qing seemed to have something more to say, but just as she was about to speak again, a phone ringing interrupted her.

Answering the call, Baili Qing exchanged a few words with the person on the other end and then looked up.

"Since you're here today, would you like to go to another lab with me? There's something there that I think you'd find very interesting."

Yu Sheng blinked, "What is it?"

"The recovery team that returned from outside the city has completed their inspection. The things they brought back have already been transferred to the lab in the Containment Zone," Baili Qing said lightly, "The remnants left after Anka Aela's fall—it's now available for viewing."

Yu Sheng's expression shifted subtly for a moment before he nodded calmly and solemnly.

"Then follow me," Baili Qing said as she turned and walked down the corridor in the other direction.

However, she stopped after just a few steps near a vending machine, bought a piece of bread, and handed it to Yu Sheng, "Sorry, make do with this for now. We might not have time to slowly eat at the cafeteria."

Yu Sheng was taken aback, not expecting her to consider this, and then he smiled and took the bread, "Haha, it's not a big deal. I said I wanted to sample your cafeteria mainly to feed Hu Li. I saw her eating quite happily there earlier."

Erin, lying on Yu Sheng's shoulder, casually muttered, "Of course, she's happy with anything she eats, as long as there's food she's happy..."

Under Baili Qing's guidance, Yu Sheng wound through several "transition points" in the headquarters building, which was like a time-space labyrinth. They then passed through a corridor that always gave a sense of misalignment before finally arriving at the so-called "Containment Zone."

Or more accurately, one of the hundreds or thousands of containment zones connected to this building.

The headquarters of the Special Service Bureau was like a towering tree growing at the Universe Transportation Hub. Most people, even many of the Special Service Bureau's staff, could only see the tree trunk in their daily lives. Its branches and roots, however, spread out everywhere within the complex time-space structure of the Boundary Land. Almost every minute branch ended in a different functional area—Deep Dive facilities, storage areas, harmless Exotic Realms, Alien Species hideouts, containment areas, customs ports, embassies established by aliens, abandoned stations, dangerous floors...

Everything you could think of and things you couldn't be imagined were there. Yu Sheng even suspected that even Baili Qing, who had controlled this towering tree for a hundred years, couldn't accurately describe the layout of every branch and the stories behind them.

So when he passed through the last door and saw the enormous cubic building floating in the dark void, Yu Sheng wasn't surprised at all—he had become indifferent to whatever scenery might appear "inside" this building.

"This is considered one of the highest security containment zones directly connected to the headquarters. Most of its structure is even outside the Boundary Land, on the 'other side,' invisible to the naked eye. Its 'shell' has been captured by a Constant Star, maintaining a state of balance," Baili Qing said, pointing to the corridor they came from, "This corridor is directly controlled by my mind. If anything in this cubic 'container' breaks containment, the corridor will sever, and the entire containment facility will instantly fall out of the Boundary Land and into the Constant Star's fiery hell on the other side."

Yu Sheng was amazed and a bit puzzled, "Shouldn't this kind of thing be classified? You just told me outright?"

"You're a friend of the Special Service Bureau," Baili Qing said blandly, "After solving the Dark Angel threat to the Boundary Land, the Bureau has almost no secrets to keep from you, especially regarding the Dark Angel and containment mechanisms. Although you may not feel it now, in future collaborations, sharing this information will be crucial for both sides."

Yu Sheng listened thoughtfully, then looked up at the giant floating cubic structure on the other side of the suspended connecting bridge. Finally giving in to his long-standing curiosity, he decided to ask, "Since you've said this much, there's something I've been curious about for a long time—how exactly do your technologies work here?"

Baili Qing slowed down, turned her head slightly to look at Yu Sheng, "You mean you've seen many things here that don't match the technological level of daily life in Boundary City, right?"

"Exactly," Yu Sheng spread his hands, "I've seen what Boundary City is like. Although it's a 'modern city,' the technology there is still... how to put it, 'normal.' Cars still need wheels to run on the ground, and there's no strong artificial intelligence. But look at this place, this connecting bridge, the floating giant space structure, and the energy barrier in the cell where the cultist was held. A bunch of black tech..."

He paused here, making a clear breaking gesture with his hand.

"This situation is so incongruous, the technology must be a few generations ahead, there has to be an explanation, right? Or is it classified?"

"I thought you never asked because you didn't care or didn't notice," Baili Qing looked at Yu Sheng silently for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Actually, it's not hard to explain. The various facilities you see in this 'building' are not 'black technology'. In fact, they represent the true technological level of the Council and the Special Service Bureau. What you see in 'Boundary City'... is how the Boundary Land looks in its 'baseline state'."

"...Baseline state?" Yu Sheng frowned, looking a bit puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"You can consider it as an 'anchor'," Baili Qing said calmly, "Boundary City is a society built on the foundations of 'normalcy', 'rationality', and 'order'. It has developed to this day in a controlled and steady manner, unaffected by external disturbances. Based on this, it is designed to be a large 'cognitive stability anchor'. This 'anchor' firmly fixes the entire Boundary Land at the L-0 level. Without it... can you guess how 'deep' this city could get?"

Yu Sheng: "...What the hell?"

The Erin perched on his shoulder instantly slapped down: "Vulgar!"

"You're usually cruder than I am!" Yu Sheng pushed away the little puppet's palm and turned his head to stare at Baili Qing with wide eyes, "Wait a minute, you said the human society in Boundary City is an 'anchor' ensuring the entire Boundary Land stays at the L-0 depth. So, you're saying that wave from Anka Aela..."

"Yes, for us, that was absolutely the most terrifying night in history—we have a vast armed force and countless defensive lines outside the Boundary Land to fend off potential threats. We have always been very cautious to maintain Boundary City's stable development at a safe, undisturbed pace to prevent our homeland from 'collapsing'. But the Dark Angel suddenly burrowed right into the heart of the Council without reason.

"At that time, countless people prepared for the worst—I even considered a plan to temporarily exile Anka Aela by 'shattering' a part of the Boundary Land—fortunately, we didn't have to."

"In terms of destruction, Anka Aela's descent might only destroy one of our cities, but in terms of its impact, that city was the 'core' of the Boundary Land's power—a unique and irreparable core."

Baili Qing paused, quietly looking into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"So now you should understand the magnitude of what you did that day."

Yu Sheng rubbed his forehead.

He used to think that the information about 'Qianfeng Ling Mountain' was the most substantial he encountered today, but now it seemed he thought too early.

The Boundary Land is truly a land of exceptional people... how many more secrets is this bizarre place hiding?!

"Can I ask one more question?" After holding back for a long time, Yu Sheng finally couldn't help but speak, "How big exactly is the Boundary Land?"

Based on the powers revealed by the Special Service Bureau so far, and the occasional mentions by Li Lin and Xu Jiali about the situation "outside", he had sensed that the Boundary Land as a force might differ significantly from his initial perception.

"If you're referring to a simple 'geographical concept', the Boundary Land is exactly as you currently understand it: a huge 'Boundary City', plus the vast wilderness areas outside the city, and the 'border' encircled by the Boundary Stele. The Boundary Land is just this big, merely a 'hub space bubble' in a special temporal-spatial structure.

"But if you're asking about the extent of the Boundary Council's control as a force... it's much larger."

Baili Qing said this with a faint smile that had somehow appeared on her face.

"Think of the Boundary Land as an 'egg' floating in the universe, with the Council's branches spreading out from this egg, occupying a place among the stars. You have actually already seen a small part of these branches—those pathways to the outside world, those customs facilities, ports—they are the 'vascular' that transport nutrients among the branches.

"It's quite obvious actually—you see, we occupy the largest natural transportation hub in the universe, have the biggest platform for trading exotic goods, countless races have established contact points here, building their trade routes relying on the order constructed by the Council. We even have equal relations with large ancient powers like Terra Academy and the Algered Astrological Association...

"Given all these advantages, it's a wonder the Boundary Land remains peaceful. Do you think it's because every race in the universe loves peace?"

Yu Sheng thought for a moment, his mouth twitching: "Alright, that does make sense..."

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