Baili Qing's explanation left Yu Sheng quite baffled.

After listening, his biggest impression was that organizations that work on theories are indeed formidable. The "Venerate Saints Monastery" is far more formidable than those erratic Angel Sect believers. No wonder they can produce such outrageous things as "Artificial Saintess" and occupy their own territory, while Angel Sect believers can only hope to scare a Dark Angel to get a glance from their "Lord" after their own demise — their execution power isn't even on the same level.

Of course, as for whether the theory of the Venerate Saints Monastery about "repairing mortals and the whole world through sanctification" holds any water, he wasn't interested in analyzing it in detail.

Stuff from cultists, for sure, it has to be inciting when you hear it. Even if it's twisted at its core, they'll figure out how to package it in a smooth appearance. Otherwise, how would they recruit members?

After all, in this world, those who sincerely want to take revenge on society from the start are in the minority. If you appear as a vibrant civic group and declare that your goal is to see this world burn, the people you'll attract can only be those complaining failures who have been beaten by life. But if you say, "Our organization's purpose is to bring warmth to the world through scientific innovation," then the cultural level seems instantly higher...

Yu Sheng's mind wandered off in a string of random thoughts, but it didn't really delay him for more than a few seconds. Then he asked, "Has the Venerate Saints Monastery caused much trouble for the Boundary Land? Have they done anything here before?"

"Due to the unique nature of the Boundary Land, we've interacted with almost every cultist or substantial illegal force, including the Venerate Saints Monastery. But the conflicts mainly occur at distant border stations or colonized planets. They rarely dare to do anything on the 'native' ground of the Boundary Land. The few actions they've taken were just for smuggling or rescuing members — but this time, it's different."

As Baili Qing said this, his tone became a bit heavy.

"Artificial Saintess, this entity cannot be deployed casually… On one hand, it's about their combat power as killing machines. More importantly, 'they' hold special symbolic significance within the Venerate Saints Monastery. An Artificial Saintess often serves as the core of a significant 'Venerate' operation. 'Her' presence is both to protect the Monastery's valuable assets and to symbolize the guidance and protection of the 'Saint'… You know what I mean."

Yu Sheng didn't speak for a moment, just frowning and thinking. After a long while, he broke the silence, somewhat enlightened, "Could it be related to the appearance of this thick fog?"

"...I suspect that too," Baili Qing lightly nodded, "This 'fog' is very unusual. Such a large-scale 'Exotic Realm', if it appeared in Boundary City from the start, there's no way it would go unnoticed for so long. Also, its timing is sensitive, occurring just after Angel Fall… At this time, anyone making small moves in the Boundary Land would be especially suspicious."

Just then, the identification team returned.

They brought back the black veil and several blades that Yu Sheng requested.

"Checked it; it's an N-12 model Artificial Saintess, and this unit should have been in service for less than five years. N-12 is a new model with sparse data in the database," the Special Service Bureau officer reported to Baili Qing while returning some samples, "The casing uses military-grade II level armor of Orton Alloy, with a trace of carbon chrysotile crystal groups, likely produced in the Great Cross Star Region. The blades are unidirectional crystalline alloy blades, a mature technology from the previous N-11 model, with the origin uncertain; suspected to be produced in the Venerate Saints Monastery's secret forges."

The technical personnel responsible for the briefing paused slightly and then pointed to the veil, "This has also been examined, ceremonial style, of local brand. However, it circulated through the Council trade network to over twenty external channels. Also, it's quite popular in some 'outer' regions, with many replicas and rebrands, while the genuine anti-counterfeiting measures are poor, making tracing quite difficult."

Yu Sheng stood by listening, bewildered, thinking to himself: professionals are indeed professionals — though he didn't understand a single thing about casing materials or origins.

But for Baili Qing, this intelligence was evidently very valuable.

"N-12… Dispatching such a cutting-edge model isn't a decision that branch offices can make; it at least requires orders from a mid-level or higher Monastery 'Sage'," she mused, then nodded to the reporting personnel after a moment's consideration, "Alright, you can head back first."

"Yes, Director."

The identification team left.

Baili Qing's gaze landed on Yu Sheng.

"We'd like to keep that arm for analysis. Artificial Saintess shell samples are rare, especially this new model, which we need — The Special Service Bureau will purchase it according to the standards for high-level Mysterious Objects. Is that okay with you?"

"That's easy," Yu Sheng said with a grin, waving his hand, "I said earlier I only want these 'long blades,' the rest you can handle however you want; I'm not familiar with the market prices anyway... I'll just take these items back first, alright."

While saying this, he carefully picked up those exceptionally sharp and sturdy "tools," handing them to Hu Li to store in her tail, then hesitated a bit before picking up the black veil, turning to Erin: "Want to take this back to make a skirt?"

"I don't want it!" Erin instantly showed a look of disgust, "It's creepy, and who knows how many gruesome things that C-type buckle did wearing this. I find it ominous."

Yu Sheng chuckled: "Usually, I see you gleefully flaying and scaling monsters in games, modifying gear right and left…"

Erin stood on Baili Qing's desk with her hands on her hips: "That's different! A game is a game, real life is real life…"

Yu Sheng casually tossed the veil to Hu Li: "Alright, if you don't want it, you don't have to have it, let Hu Li keep it for now, since her tail has plenty of space."

After wrapping up discussions about the Venerate Saints Monastery, it was already close to three o'clock.

Considering that investigating this matter wouldn't be completed in a day, Yu Sheng decided to head home first — Hu Li was already yawning so much her ears drooped.

Besides, he still needed to return his house to the real world — although No. 66 Wutong Road comes with cognitive interference, theoretically without drawing ordinary people's attention even if it flies around Boundary City, but he had parked his house in the Exotic Realm, and long stays made him uneasy.

"Then we'll head back first," Yu Sheng said as he casually pulled open the door leading to his living room, "No. 66 Wutong Road will quickly return to its original position, so there might be a bit of 'commotion' then. You guys should prepare in advance and update the new 'character code' in your automatic system."

"Alright," Baili Qing got up from behind the desk, "I will personally follow up on the Deep Dive Team's search work. If anything new is discovered in 'Mist City,' you will be contacted."

Yu Sheng nodded, and then, with Hu Li and Erin, stepped across the threshold.

Watching the illusory door close silently before her eyes, Baili Qing stood quietly for a few seconds before letting out a gentle sigh.

Then she picked up the phone on the table and casually dialed an internal number.

"Who's on duty at the tech department now... Alright, there's a request..."

...

"It's still more comfy at home, huh," Erin murmured as she leaped down from Hu Li's arms upon returning home, stretching lazily, "In that ironclad expression's office, everything feels so cold, even the air feels oppressive."

Hu Li let out a big yawn, her several fluffy tails hanging listlessly: "Savior, sleepy."

Yu Sheng, seeing this, smiled and rubbed the fur behind the demon fox girl's ears: "You go upstairs and sleep first, I'll handle putting the house back."

"Okay~"

Hu Li muddle-headedly agreed, then walked toward the second floor. Halfway up, she simply went on all fours, climbing up leisurely.

Yu Sheng watched from behind, both amused and bemused.

Somehow, this fox girl seemed more and more relaxed nowadays—which, honestly, wasn't a bad thing...

Shaking his head to cast aside the slight drowsiness, Yu Sheng approached the main entrance, resting his hand on the doorknob, preparing to send No. 66 Wutong Road back to the real world.

This was his first time performing a "reverse operation," and to be honest, he was quite nervous.

People, when nervous, tend to come up with all sorts of strange ideas.

The moment he felt the connection with the "door," a bold thought suddenly popped into Yu Sheng's mind—since this house can move back and forth between the Boundary Land and "Mist City," is it possible to move it elsewhere too?

If he applied the same method of "transferring" to Mist City and set the entire No. 66 Wutong Road to appear far away, what would happen? Like on an alien planet, or in those bizarre places he saw when practicing door-opening...

In those distant lands, would No. 66 Wutong Road "naturally" appear there too? What if it dropped into another city, where local people gathered...

Beside him, Erin saw Yu Sheng suddenly frozen with a strange smile emerging on his face. She quickly guessed something and spoke up: "Hey hey hey, don't suddenly try it at this hour—it's past three in the morning, try to keep it down!"

"Ahem," Yu Sheng hurriedly tucked away those bold ideas from his mind, looking ahead calmly and reassuring himself, "I'm just conceptualizing, you understand conceptualizing, right? I won't mess around this time."

As he spoke, he focused earnestly, using the previous method and viewing No. 66 Wutong Road and the main entrance door as a whole, completing the "door's" setting and opening preparations.

The doorknob gently turned, and with a click, the latch opened.

Yu Sheng slowly pushed open the front door before him.

The street outside was calm in the night, with no mist, all normal.

Two unfamiliar Special Service Bureau officers were standing on the open ground at the door, each holding something that looked like a recording device, staring blankly in his direction.

After a while, the two spoke in unison: "Oh, you're back?"

Yu Sheng: "Yes, I'm back."

"Welcome back..."

"Wanna come in for a bit?"

"No, no, our noodles are ready..."

"Oh, then I'll close the door for now."

"You close it, you close it."

Yu Sheng closed the door, exchanging looks with the little puppet at his feet.

"Feels like those two aren't too bright."

"I think so too, a bit silly."

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