Chapter 69: Deep Dive

Chapter 69: Deep Dive

As for the favor Little Red Riding Hood wanted from him, Yu Sheng had guessed several possibilities. Most of them were related to the supernatural field. After all, although she looked like nothing more than a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, she was also a professional spirit world detective. Whatever she needed done ought to be something professional. To be honest, Yu Sheng had been looking forward to it. He had to deal with Other Domains himself, after all. If he could treat this favor as a chance to gain experience under a “junior senior,” that would not be a bad thing.

He was just a little nervous, unsure whether he would actually be able to handle whatever she wanted. If it turned out to be too difficult, he would have to think of a way to back out without losing face.

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

It was a high school math workbook.

A huge one.

Yu Sheng looked at the math workbook in front of him, then looked up at the short-haired girl across from him. His gaze went back and forth several times, fully expressing his confusion.

It really was difficult. If the answers had not been printed in the back, this thing would have been far harder than fighting monsters in an Other Domain. At least when dealing with entities, even if they were difficult to kill, he could eventually drag himself across the finish line through repeated deaths. Mathematics was different. If he did not know it, then he simply did not know it. Even if he were killed on the spot and came back to life, he still would not know it.

Hu Li stood nearby holding Irene, watching the scene without understanding what was happening.

“Just help me copy out this entire workbook here. All the answers are in the back. The handwriting can be messy. It just needs to be filled in,” Little Red Riding Hood said calmly. “Then I’ll take Hu Li to the shopping centre next door to buy clothes. Oh, right, you’ll need to give me some cash first. I didn’t bring much money. Once we’re done shopping, I’ll bring the receipts and settle the account with you. Any excess will be refunded, and any shortfall made up.”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth and finally organized his thoughts.

“Um... so the favor is helping you do your homework? Is that... really appropriate?”

“It is. I’d already finished all my homework, but an entity tore it up, and my teacher doesn’t believe me.” Little Red Riding Hood looked thoroughly depressed, but when she looked at Yu Sheng again, delight appeared in her eyes, the happiness of being rescued. “I came here today specifically to buy a new workbook. I’d already resigned myself to staying up all night. I never expected to run into you.”

Yu Sheng made a pained face.

“But my handwriting isn’t the same as yours. Even if I try to imitate it, they’ll probably notice.”

“It’s fine. Nobody checks that carefully when collecting homework.” Little Red Riding Hood waved a hand dismissively. “I’m actually one of the conscientious ones. At least I really did write it myself the first time. Some of my classmates just get someone else to do it from the start...”

“Fine.” Yu Sheng finally sighed and accepted the fact that many things in this world never unfolded according to expectations. He stood up, took out his wallet, handed it to the girl in front of him, then turned to Hu Li. “Go with her. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask her. Bring Irene along too. If something happens, use Irene to contact me.”

Hu Li glanced at Little Red Riding Hood. She seemed somewhat uneasy, but after hearing Yu Sheng’s instructions, she still nodded gently.

After taking the wallet, Little Red Riding Hood paused briefly. Her eyes shifted, and she looked up with a teasing smile.

“You’re just handing both the money and the person over to me? Aren’t you worried I’ll run off?”

Yu Sheng was already looking down at the workbook. At her words, he lifted his eyelids.

“Are you planning to spend the rest of your life never going near another door?”

The expression on Little Red Riding Hood’s face instantly tightened. The corner of her mouth twitched.

“That’s actually kind of terrifying...”

“This workbook is more terrifying,” Yu Sheng sighed. “Seriously... I never imagined there’d come a day when I’d be facing high school homework again under these circumstances. I don’t remember having this much of it when I was in school...”

Little Red Riding Hood immediately grabbed Hu Li’s hand and backed away, waving as she retreated.

“Then we’re off to buy clothes!”

Hu Li froze for a moment. Then she hesitantly picked up Irene and waved toward Yu Sheng with her. She had wanted to use her other hand, but Little Red Riding Hood was holding it.

Even from several metres away, Yu Sheng could see Irene secretly baring her teeth and making faces.

After passing through layer after layer of isolation doors and secure compartments, Song Cheng felt as though he were moving through the stomach of a gigantic beast made of reinforced concrete. Only after passing several checkpoints did he finally reach his destination.

At the end of a brightly lit underground corridor stood a heavy alloy gate. Fully armed Special Operations Bureau guards stood on either side. The gate itself was covered with dense, intricate patterns that made one’s vision swim after a single glance. Above it, a sign emitted a reassuring green glow.

Deep Dive Zone D2, Downwell Port.

Song Cheng took out his identification card and swiped it through a reader marked Customs Verification beside the gate. As the door opened, the scene beyond came into view.

A slightly distorted curtain of light covered the inner side of the gate. Through it, one could see an enormous hall beyond. The hall was brightly illuminated, and many large devices resembling water tanks were arranged in neat rows. Each tank was a three-metre cube. Their bases consisted of complex black metal structures, while the containers themselves were filled with a pale blue liquid.

Many people in white uniforms moved between the tanks, inspecting the operation of individual units.

Song Cheng stepped through the doorway.

The moment he passed through the distorted light curtain, he felt brief weightlessness and dizziness, followed by several seconds of ringing in his ears. When the ringing faded, a gentle system notification sounded through his headset.

“You have entered D2 Downwell Port. The current Deep Dive Zone is located at Panning-III Station. Average depth within the hall: Depth L-1. Environment: Stable.”

Song Cheng shook his head to dispel the lingering dizziness, then walked directly toward a row of nearby tank devices.

He saw that a figure in a white skirt suit, with grey-white hair tied into a ponytail, was already standing there.

“Director!” Song Cheng quickly approached, his tone full of surprise. “You came personally?”

“This is an unprecedented situation, after all.” Baili Qing turned her head and looked at him with her colorless eyes. “Your team members are already prepared.”

Song Cheng nodded and looked toward the six tank devices before him.

Six fully armed Deep Divers were slowly entering the tanks with the assistance of mechanical arms. They wore black powered armor. Fully enclosed helmets concealed their faces, with only dark red monitors flickering faintly across the visor areas. Each diver also carried an additional miniature reactor backpack to supply power to their mental shields and specialized observation and recording equipment.

The mechanical arms lowered the Deep Divers into the tanks from above. They floated within the pale blue liquid. Moments later, a faint humming sound came from the black metal bases beneath the tanks, gradually rising in pitch as the machines activated.

A broadcast echoed through the area.

“Configuring Deep Sea environment. Personnel, prepare for dive. Umbilical cord ready. Awaiting manual command.”

A technician monitoring the tanks stared at the readings on his device. Several seconds later, he shouted:

“Connect the umbilical cords!”

Several white-robed staff members immediately stepped forward and manually entered commands into each tank.

The pale blue liquid inside the tanks began to ripple gently.

At the same time, tubular black metal structures resembling spinal columns rose from the bottoms of the tanks. Dark red glimmers flickered between their metallic segments. They seemed almost alive as they swam and extended through the pale blue liquid, then precisely connected to the chest positions of each Deep Diver.

The broadcast sounded again.

“Umbilical cords connected. Induction agent injection complete. Beginning dive.”

Ripples spread through the tanks.

The pale blue liquid seemed to transform into seawater in the blink of an eye. Or rather, each tank appeared to become a small slice cut from some vast ocean, all of them beginning to surge in unison at a specific frequency.

Then, in the very next second, all the Deep Divers vanished from Song Cheng’s sight.

Only the umbilical cords connected to their powered armor remained floating in place, gently rising and falling within the liquid, indicating that the divers were still inside the tanks.

They simply could no longer be observed by anyone outside.

“Do you think this will work? What will they see?” Baili Qing turned and looked at Song Cheng.

“...The induction agent will sink them into the spirit world. It’s very effective against certain types of Other Domains, especially those entered through mental states, dreams, or emotions. But honestly... Nightfall Valley is somewhat special.” Song Cheng shook his head. “We still haven’t found a stable method of entering or leaving Nightfall Valley. The induction agent can only let observers glimpse its shadow through hallucinations. And now that the place has mutated, even Passenger 22 doesn’t know what’s happening there. I suspect... the Deep Divers will return empty-handed.”

Baili Qing nodded.

Song Cheng was about to say more when a sharp buzzing alarm suddenly erupted.

“Holy crap! Contamination!” A technician practically leapt into the air and dashed toward the emergency stop button like a gust of wind. “Pull them back!”

The emergency stop button was slammed down.

Piercing noise erupted from the base of every tank. The pale blue liquid was drained almost instantly. Sparks burst from the surfaces of every umbilical cord.

In the next moment, the six Deep Divers instantly reappeared in the real world.

They collapsed awkwardly into the tanks, bodies curled up. One yanked off his faceplate and immediately doubled over, vomiting violently onto the floor. Another struggled to his feet, staggered to the edge of the tank, and pounded furiously against the reinforced polymer wall, seemingly trying to shout something to the people outside.

Song Cheng and Baili Qing immediately rushed over.

“We reached the end of the corridor!” the standing Deep Diver shouted. Through the tank’s safety barrier, his voice sounded warped and distorted. “The end of the corridor! A beam of light! There was no Nightfall Valley, none at all! At the end of the corridor there was only, only... only math problems! They were all freaking comprehensive-answer questions!!”