Chapter 84: Registration

Chapter 84: Registration

Handling identity registration for two girls who might not even count as “human” was something quite novel to Yu Sheng. But once he sat down in front of Hu Li’s form, he realized that it was only novel to him. In the eyes of the Special Operations Bureau, this was probably nothing unusual at all.

Because the first line of the form read:

If the applicant is a long-lived species (average lifespan of 1,000 years or more), the age field should be filled in as a percentage, followed by the species’ average lifespan. If the applicant’s species does not have a concept of gender, the gender field should be blacked out. If the applicant cannot use writing instruments, or primarily identifies through pheromones or other special secretions, staff should assist with sampling or form completion. For other special cases, explanation may be provided in an attachment and reviewed and signed by staff.

This was followed by a long disclaimer, which could be summarized in one sentence: the Special Operations Bureau knows there are all kinds of strange things here, and we have tried our best to account for all kinds of bizarre life forms and species restrictions. If you still feel offended, go talk to the Council.

Yu Sheng sat at the table staring at that long disclaimer and instruction section for a long time. Only on the second page did he finally find the actual fields for name, gender, age, and address.

He looked up at Ren Wenwen beside him. “So… normal citizens in Boundary City definitely don’t use forms like this, right?”

“Of course not,” the young Special Operations Bureau staff member immediately nodded. “Ordinary citizens have much simpler forms. This is specifically for ‘guests’ who need to reside long-term in the Boundary Zone but are not human. The IDs issued for these two young ladies will also be special versions. They look similar to normal ID cards on the outside, but they contain data that can only be read by specific departments and equipment. If they run into trouble in the future, it also serves as a channel for assistance and preferential treatment for ‘special residents.’”

“Do you handle this kind of registration often?” Yu Sheng asked curiously.

“Much fewer than ordinary citizen registrations, but still several thousand to ten thousand new records a year,” Ren Wenwen said without hiding anything. “The Boundary Zone always has ‘travelers’ from all over who apply to stay for various reasons.”

Yu Sheng listened carefully, gradually feeling something inexplicable… stirring inside him.

This form filled with strange content suddenly gave him a real sense of the Boundary Zone, and of the world beyond everyday life.

On the side, Irene was already gripping the oversized ballpoint pen and struggling to fill out her form. For her, it was a difficult task, especially since the pen was almost as long as her arm and the A4 sheet was nearly half her height. Yet she showed no intention of asking for help, instead writing with surprising enthusiasm.

Yu Sheng lowered his head and carefully wrote Hu Li’s name on the form in front of him.

Then he got stuck on the next field.

“Benefactor?” Hu Li noticed his pause and asked curiously.

“…How old are you this year?” Yu Sheng looked at the demon fox girl with a strange expression, then immediately felt something was off. “No, wait… I should ask your species’ average lifespan first… no, that’s still wrong. Also, does your ‘one year’ match a Boundary Zone year?”

Hu Li tilted her head, her large silver-white furry ears twitching in confusion, as if she did not quite understand.

After two or three seconds, she hesitantly said, “About two hundred years old? We reach adulthood at around one hundred and eighty, but I don’t really know how long we live. My parents said when you get tired of living, you ‘return to the Dao,’ but they said that’s not death, it means becoming one of the heavenly people…”

Yu Sheng: “…”

He turned for help to the staff member beside him.

Ren Wenwen pointed at the age field. “Just write ‘extremely long-lived.’”

Yu Sheng: “…That works?!”

“If you think that’s not formal enough, you can also write ‘unknown,’” Ren Wenwen said very seriously. “A lot of people do that every year. Some species live extremely long without a clear lifespan concept. Others cycle through rapid generational life and death, and they don’t measure age in years at all, but in generations. Even they don’t know their own age.”

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, then looked at the next field. “…What do I write for place of origin? I don’t even know where she’s from.”

“Just write ‘foreign,’” Ren Wenwen said seriously. “Anything from outside the Boundary Zone with unknown origin can be filed under that.”

Yu Sheng looked slightly dazed. “…What about species?”

Ren Wenwen pointed again. “Check the appendix. There’s a list at the end. See if anything fits.”

Yu Sheng flipped to the last page of the stack. A dense wall of checkboxes fell into his vision.

The very first thing he saw at the bottom was a note:

If your species has variable traits, select “mimic-type.” If your species does not fit any listed category, write “to be supplemented,” and we will establish a new category as soon as possible.

Yu Sheng’s expression carried faint admiration as he looked up at Ren Wenwen. “Your daily work must be… quite complicated.”

“It’s alright. I’m actually in logistics. The Special Records Department handles most of this directly. They are very busy. Both male and female staff there don’t have much hair,” Ren Wenwen said, then pointed at a checkbox. “Pick this one. ‘Beast-spirit or humanoid shapeshifter.’”

Yu Sheng glanced at it and frowned slightly. “Why not ‘celestial spirit variant’? That seems fitting too.”

“There are group benefits. Half-price subway fares,” Ren Wenwen said casually. “And her tail leans more toward beast-type anyway. But it doesn’t matter much. If you think it’s inappropriate, you can choose something else, or just pick under the humanoid category. Nobody checks too closely.”

Yu Sheng continued filling it out with growing amazement, occasionally glancing toward Irene, who was carefully checking the box labeled “advanced doll or alchemical humanoid,” and even writing “from Alice’s Cottage” in the remarks.

After a while, the forms were finally completed.

Honestly, it was not easier than doing homework for Little Red Riding Hood. The content was too strange and too scattered. Many things were impossible to even imagine without Ren Wenwen’s explanations. No wonder staff assistance was required on-site. Without help, just the sections on “thought classification” and “neural evolution taxonomy” alone would take an entire day.

On the other hand, many fields were absurdly flexible. For those that could not be filled in, Yu Sheng simply wrote “unknown,” “random,” or “any” following Ren Wenwen’s instructions. By the end, he even began to doubt the professionalism of the Special Operations Bureau.

“Actually, you don’t need to worry. This form is designed under maximum adaptability principles. Generally speaking, as long as an outsider fills in one quarter of the fields, it is enough to accurately describe their origin, purpose, and characteristics,” Ren Wenwen explained patiently. “We cannot expect a single form to impose sufficient constraints on outsiders. The Boundary Zone has remained stable until now thanks to a very large and effective management system.”

While speaking, she placed a small device on the table. “Next is biological data collection. Since both of you are humanoid types, we will take fingerprints?”

Irene raised her finger. “I don’t have fingerprints.”

Ren Wenwen paused. “…Then blood samples… but dolls don’t have blood… then hair samples? Uh, dolls may resist that… then skin scrapings? From the arm should be fine.”

Irene sighed. “If you scrape it off, it’ll just turn into lotus root starch.”

Ren Wenwen: “…?”

“This is a long story,” Yu Sheng said, holding his forehead. “Her body is temporary. You should probably skip the collection. You won’t get anything useful anyway. It’s all made from supermarket materials.”

“Then… alright. The director said we can be flexible,” Ren Wenwen said with a subtle expression. She picked up the forms again, scanned them briefly, and sighed. Then she looked at Irene. “Miss Irene, the ‘normal form or physical characteristics’ field cannot be filled with ‘pretty.’ It should be ‘humanoid’… forget it, I’ll rewrite this page for you. You just need to sign later. Also, please get ready for photos. Miss Hu Li, can you hide your ears?”

Hu Li casually removed her ears and tucked them into her tail.

Ren Wenwen: “…Huh?!”

The next second, the young staff member finally realized what she had just seen and turned to Yu Sheng. “Mr. Yu, she she she just…”

“Calm down,” Yu Sheng said, as if he had expected this. “You work at the Special Operations Bureau. Broaden your perspective.”

Ren Wenwen: “…”

After a long effort to steady herself, she finally regained composure and pulled out another stack of forms.

“Um, this is the registration document you requested. Before the two young ladies’ IDs are issued, you can fill this out first.”

Yu Sheng immediately felt a shift in mood and took the papers.

Independent Operation Organization / Group / Office General Registration Form

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Finally, it was time for this.