Chapter 72: The World Unveiled

Chapter 72: The World Unveiled

Yu Sheng’s question immediately made Baili Qing raise an eyebrow slightly, though the movement was very subtle.

“The Boundary Zone naturally has only one instance,” Baili Qing said. “A ‘world convergence point’ is not something that can be mass-produced.”

“I’m talking about Boundary City,” Yu Sheng said with a serious expression. “The Boundary Zone only has one instance, but what about Boundary City? This city located within the Boundary Zone, could there be another city in the world similar to it?”

He paused, looking into Baili Qing’s eyes as he spoke slowly.

“Very similar, but not quite the same. They share the same name, and some places have identical names too, but unlike this place, it’s not ‘extraordinary’. It’s just an ordinary location... If this world has an observable scale of tens of billions of light-years or even larger, then within such a vast expanse, could there exist a city matching my description?”

Whether it was just his imagination or not, when she heard this, the expression on Baili Qing’s face became unusually serious.

The Director remained silent for several seconds before speaking cautiously.

“Regarding your ‘hypothesis’, I’ll call it a hypothesis for now, scholars actually have a theory. The theory goes like this:

“If the spatial and temporal scale of the entire universe is infinite, or at least statistically speaking, nearly infinite within the limits of human imagination and speculation, then it becomes possible for two identical or highly similar places to exist somewhere in the universe. Two planets with highly similar parameters. Two comparable mountain peaks. Even... two remarkably similar histories. The probability of such ‘mirror images’ appearing may not be high, but given a sufficient scale of time and space, it is absolutely not zero.”

Yu Sheng thought about it for a moment and nodded lightly.

“I think I’ve heard similar theories before...”

“Then let me tell you one restriction attached to that hypothesis, the non-public part of it,” Baili Qing said. “Even if the hypothesis is correct, even if any location or event in the universe could theoretically have a ‘mirror image’ somewhere in infinite time and space, there are two exceptions. They have no mirror images.

“The first is a planet known as Terra. It lies deep among the stars, very far from here, yet it has certain hidden connections to the Boundary Zone.

“The second is this Boundary Zone itself.

“In other words, there can never be a second Boundary City in this world, because this city is a major component of the Boundary Zone itself. And the Boundary Zone... has no ‘mirror image’. Even if space is boundless and time infinite, from the distant past to the far future, there will only ever be this one Boundary Zone and this one Boundary City.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes widened slightly.

He remained silent for a long time.

“Judging from your reaction...” Baili Qing adjusted her posture. “You’re almost certain that another ‘Boundary City’ exists somewhere in this world. In fact, you’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

Yu Sheng forcibly suppressed the turbulent thoughts surging through his mind. Taking a deep breath, he slowly tapped the table with his fingers.

“Yes, I’ve seen it. It was a small seaside city. Driving from the southernmost part of the city to the northernmost took only thirty minutes. There were no Other Domains there, no Special Operations Bureau. People lived completely ordinary lives. The sunlight... the sunlight was always beautiful, gentle and never harsh on the eyes. The evening glow was beautiful too...”

Yu Sheng described the scenes from his memories to the woman before him.

He did not conceal anything. Since she already knew the truth about Wutong Road 66, and since she herself was responsible for matters related to Other Domains, this Director seemed to be the person most likely to help him among anyone he could currently reach.

Baili Qing listened quietly to his descriptions. Her colorless eyes seemed forever capable of concealing her true emotional fluctuations. No one could tell what thoughts these descriptions stirred within her.

Only after Yu Sheng finished speaking did she suddenly ask, “May I take a look?”

Yu Sheng froze.

“Take a look? How?”

The woman across from him directly reached out and pressed a hand against his temple.

Along with the cool touch came a momentary daze.

“This is my ability. If you don’t mind, temporarily open your imagination to me. Of course, if you’re uncomfortable with that, I certainly won’t force you,” Baili Qing said very seriously.

Yu Sheng frowned.

After quickly weighing the matter, he nodded lightly.

Closing his eyes slightly, he imagined his homeland from memory, the appearance of that “other Boundary City.”

The ordinary coastal city emerged within his mind.

Then he felt as though another pair of eyes was viewing those imagined landscapes alongside him through his memories.

A moment later, Yu Sheng opened his eyes.

He discovered that Baili Qing still had her eyes closed.

Behind her, the infinitely extending café was silently collapsing from far away toward their position. The neatly arranged, endlessly repeating tables and chairs were being rapidly swallowed by darkness. The collapsing structures looked as though they were falling into an invisible abyss.

Yu Sheng was instantly dumbfounded.

He had no idea what was happening.

“Hey! This place is collapsing! Hey, wake up! This...”

He had only spoken halfway when Baili Qing finally opened her eyes.

“It’s fine. Just a minor side effect of using my ability.”

As she spoke, the collapsed buildings, tables, and chairs in the distance silently returned to their original state.

Yu Sheng immediately felt somewhat embarrassed and laughed awkwardly twice.

“Oh. Your ability is pretty... impressive.”

Baili Qing said nothing.

She merely rubbed her forehead lightly, seemingly deep in thought.

“You saw everything?” Yu Sheng asked curiously. “Well, what do you think...”

“I saw it. It was indeed exactly as you described, a... peaceful coastal city. And many places bore traces of this city as well,” Baili Qing interrupted him. For some reason, she seemed hesitant when she began speaking, though the hesitation was quickly concealed. “I now believe that you truly have seen such a ‘Boundary City’. But I’m curious. Why are you so obsessed with that place?”

“For personal reasons. I want to find it,” Yu Sheng said seriously. “But according to what you said...”

“A theory is still only a theory,” Baili Qing said, shaking her head.

Her attitude was suddenly no longer as certain as before. Her words now carried much more room for flexibility.

“In truth, I still don’t believe a second Boundary Zone exists in this world. But if it’s merely a place that happens to resemble this city somewhat in terms of architecture and layout... then it’s not entirely impossible.”

Yu Sheng looked at her suspiciously.

“...Really?”

“Who knows?” Baili Qing let out a breath. “One scholar once said that our universe is still very young. Some new laws of physics may not even have had time to come into existence yet. Therefore, every piece of human understanding about this world could be wrong, or destined to be overturned someday in the future. I do believe now that the ‘Boundary City’ you showed me truly exists. It’s just that... even the Boundary Zone archives contain no record of it.”

“And if one day you find it...”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Baili Qing said, nodding seriously.

Yu Sheng thanked her.

But he did not completely believe her.

Instinctively, he felt that the woman before him was not being entirely sincere about this matter.

He did not know where that feeling came from, but he decided not to continue the topic.

“I have another question,” Yu Sheng said, swiftly changing the subject. “I’m asking on behalf of a friend.”

Baili Qing nodded.

“Go ahead. I have plenty of time today.”

After some thought, Yu Sheng organized his words.

“Regarding Alice’s Cottage, does the Special Operations Bureau know about that organization?”

“Alice’s Cottage? Of course we do,” Baili Qing replied immediately. “Those living dolls are active within the supernatural world. We’ve dealt with them many times.”

Yu Sheng’s heart stirred. It felt as though he had finally helped the little doll find her organization.

“You mean Alice’s Dolls? So this Cottage is officially registered with the Special Operations Bureau?”

“No, you’ve misunderstood something,” Baili Qing said, shaking her head. “Alice’s Cottage is hardly something that’s ‘registered with the Special Operations Bureau’. It’s an independent power that exists outside the Boundary Zone. Although they keep a low profile, their influence is actually no smaller than ours.”

Yu Sheng: “...?”

“There isn’t only one special place in this world, namely the Boundary Zone. Naturally, there isn’t only one major organization either. We are merely one of many official organizations dealing with Other Domains and entities. Besides us, there is the Bamosa Hermits established by the Bamosans, the Academy and Archaeological Association from Terra, the Algrayed Astrological Association, and many others. The Alice’s Cottage you just mentioned is another such independent power. They follow an Ancient Holy Spirit known as Alice. They are ancient creations directly blessed by an Ancient Holy Spirit. The era in which they were active... predates even the Special Operations Bureau.”

Yu Sheng: “...”

So Irene’s background was really that impressive?!

It turned out the little doll had not been bragging all this time!

Yu Sheng did not conceal the change in his expression, and Baili Qing quickly noticed something.

“If I remember correctly, the report mentioned that there is also a ‘doll’ by your side?”

“That’s right. Her name is Irene. She claims to be one of Alice’s Dolls as well, though she was accidentally sealed away for a very long time.”

“But I also remember the report saying that her height is only about this much...”

As she spoke, Baili Qing raised a hand and gestured beside the table to indicate a height.

Yu Sheng awkwardly rubbed the tip of his nose.

“Ah, well... that’s another accident.”