Alien Hotel.

Chapter 501 Doubts from 3,700 Years Ago

Yu Sheng sat across from Baili Qing's desk, silently going over what she had just said in his mind again.

Otherworldly Gods, Boundary Bridge, Dark Star...

He frowned, trying his best to match the few obviously special terms mentioned in the passage with the currently known information. After a while, he finally looked up: "The 'other god' mentioned here should be the Goddess of Omens... But what is the Boundary Bridge? Does it refer to that tower? Is the essence of that thing a 'bridge'?"

“I also tend to agree with this answer, but there is too little information about this tower, and there is no other mention of what the ‘Boundary Bridge’ is in the records from the ‘Classical Era’, so we can only guess for now,” Baili Qing nodded and said. “Judging from the name, its function should be to connect two spaces, or even two different worlds—and the records also mention ‘the Dark Star and the Dome overlap’, which may mean that the appearance of the ‘Boundary Bridge’ has preconditions.”

“Dark Star…” Yu Sheng repeated the word subconsciously. For some reason, what came to mind was the strange celestial body that Master Yuanhao had mentioned before, which he called the “Black Star.” “Could this thing be related to the ‘Black Star’?”

"We can assume that they are very similar, at least in terms of their names."

Yu Sheng stroked his chin, and spoke to himself in a deep thought: "The most important piece of information right now is actually the phrase 'meet with us as promised'..."

“Yes, we met as agreed,” Baili Qing breathed a sigh of relief, her usually expressionless face now showing a hint of solemnity. “If there is no error in the expression or understanding of this statement, then it means that the scene recorded by the golden-haired doll three thousand seven hundred years ago was not an ‘accident,’ but a… premeditated meeting. And those ‘exploration teams’ that appeared around the tower were originally the rendezvous personnel, but the whole process was out of control due to the collapse of the ‘boundary bridge.’”

Yu Sheng remained silent for a moment, then lowered his head and pondered for a while before carefully speaking: "Considering that the essence of the Goddess of Omens is likely one of the 'Dark Angels,' isn't this record even more suspicious? After all... who would actively invite a Dark Angel to 'keep an appointment'?"

“So this is very likely an ‘angelic summoning’ event that occurred 3,700 years ago, and the person who left this record may have been an angelic cultist from that time,” Baili Qing nodded. “In the simplest terms, they summoned a dark angel called ‘Omen’ and then, very much in line with popular stereotypes, the ritual went out of control. But there are several major doubts about this conjecture.”

Yu Sheng looked up: "Suspicious points?"

Bai Liqing said in a serious tone: "First, the 'Boundary Bridge' is clearly mentioned in the records as a 'transportation route' used to allow dark angels to enter this world. Although the bridge eventually broke, it was at least built by someone. This shows that the 'descent' 3,700 years ago was planned in a very meticulous way, and even accompanied by a large-scale 'construction project'. This is completely different from the random sacrifices and summoning methods of angel cultists in the general sense."

"You've dealt with angel cultists before, so you should have seen their abstract behavior of drawing a circle on the ground, circling around and mutilating themselves in preparation for summoning angels—these people, whose sanity has been destroyed by the whispers of angels, could not possibly build something like a boundary bridge. Even the well-organized Secret Order of Saints might not have that technology... no, they definitely don't. Otherwise, with their mobility and organizational skills, they would have been drilling holes all over the observable universe and would have turned the world upside down long ago."

"Secondly, judging from the video recordings provided by Marlene, the being that is suspected to be the 'Goddess of Omens' is obviously rational. Although its existence may be accompanied by powerful mental pollution, it does not conform to the characteristics of a typical dark angel that is completely chaotic and incomprehensible. There is also obvious communication between the blonde 'Eileen' and the 'Goddess of Omens'... although the communication process was not pleasant."

"Third, and most importantly, in the video footage, the blonde 'Eileen' was clearly covering the retreating 'exploration team.' You see, as followers of the ancient Holy Spirit, the Alice dolls have no liking for cultists like the Angel Cultists or the Secret Order of Saints. If that exploration team really was Angel Cultists going to meet the 'Lord,' the blonde doll would probably have attacked them first."

Yu Sheng's thoughts raced as Baili Qing analyzed, and the emergence of doubts made him realize something quickly.

"The matter of the Goddess of Omens... is very complicated."

He muttered to himself, but involuntarily, an image popped into his mind of a 66.6-centimeter-tall doll in front of a computer, typing away and arguing with some idiot online.

...In comparison, Eileen is much more shallow.

If it weren't for the sheer number of clues all pointing to the same place, he would have found it incredibly difficult to connect the noisy, simple-minded, and extremely ill-mannered short man at home with this epic drama spanning 3,700 years!
Baili Qing probably guessed something from Yu Sheng's change in expression. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly spoke: "In any case, even if the 'Goddess of Omens' is essentially a dark angel, she should be the most unique dark angel we know of so far, and you are the only 'expert' in the angelic realm. We hope you can handle this matter carefully..."

“I will definitely handle it carefully. To be honest, which of these Dark Angels isn’t special? They all need to be handled with caution,” Yu Sheng said immediately. However, he quickly understood Baili Qing’s meaning, so he paused for a moment and added, “I will keep a close eye on Eileen. No matter how things turn out, I will try my best to ensure the safety of the border area. But at the same time, I will do my best to protect Eileen. Her safety and the safety of the border area are both very important to me.”

“I understand,” Baili Qing nodded solemnly, then she let out a soft breath, and a hint of a smile seemed to appear in the corner of her eyes. “I can see that you care about that doll.”

“There’s nothing I can do, she’s just too unreliable,” Yu Sheng’s expression relaxed, and he pointed to his head. “Like right now, she’s yelling in my head, urging me to go back quickly.”

“Let’s stop here then,” Baili Qing stood up from behind her desk and bowed slightly. “The arrangements at Jinglin Sanatorium are all set. I’ll send you the relevant instructions—that sanatorium is special, but it’s not dangerous for ‘visitors.’ I’ll continue to monitor the progress of this matter. If you need anything from the Special Operations Bureau, you can contact me anytime.” Yu Sheng thanked her, waved to Baili Qing, and turned to open a door leading to No. 66 Wutong Road.

The next second he heard a whoosh beside his ear, and a dark shadow darted onto his shoulder in a flash, accompanied by a familiar yet loud voice: "Yu Sheng, you're back!"

Before Yu Sheng could even speak, he heard the little doll start chattering in his ear: "Yu Sheng, let me tell you, Hu Li just rolled me down with her tail again. She's been shedding a lot lately, and it's all over my joints, it's so itchy... C-Hook won't let me watch TV, she says what I watch is affecting her thought process, all I did was say she's like a robot vacuum cleaner... You bought me that phone watch that can play games... My stone ball can carry me flying... Little Red Riding Hood just now..."

Yu Sheng's head was buzzing from the noise of this chatterbox. He quickly pulled the little doll off his shoulder and held it up in front of him, saying, "Stop, stop, I know, but please be quiet for a moment, my head hurts."

Eileen swayed back and forth in his hands, giggling like she was on a swing, and continued to mutter to herself—even though no one paid any attention to her, she was still quite happy muttering to herself.

Little Red Riding Hood finally had a chance to speak: "Are all the formalities completed?"

Yu Sheng quickly gathered up the chaotic thoughts in his mind related to the Goddess of Omens, the Dark Star, and the Boundary Bridge, and nodded to Little Red Riding Hood: "The procedures are all set, and the sanatorium has made arrangements. We'll have someone from the Special Operations Bureau to meet us when we get there."

Little Red Riding Hood: "Okay, shall we set off now?"

"Let's go now," Yu Sheng nodded and said, then thought for a moment and turned to look at the family members.

The fox wagged its tail and came closer: "My benefactor, do you need me to go with you?"

“Theoretically, we’re going to visit a mental hospital—there’s no need to fight there,” Yu Sheng thought for a moment and decided to let the fox girl stay at home. “You and Luna should stay here. I’ll take Eileen with me.”

"Oh," Hu Li's ears drooped for a moment, but then perked up again. "Hey, do you want to bring that monster from the valley with you?"

Yu Sheng was momentarily stunned: "Snake Princess? Why would I bring her along?"

Hu Li said in a serious tone: "She used to be a mental patient..."

“Then it’s not necessary,” Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand, while inwardly marveling at the fox girl’s seemingly random idea. “The person we’re looking for isn’t really crazy—and there are a lot of real patients with mental health issues there. If I bring a lunatic there, she might have a fit and turn into a π, which could easily cause a medical accident due to stress.”

"Oh……"

Having finally managed to fool the fox in the house, Yu Sheng left home with Eileen and Little Red Riding Hood.

Standing in the open space in front of No. 66 Wutong Road, he asked curiously, "How do I get to Jinglin Sanatorium? How far is it?"

“We’ll take the ‘shortcut’,” Little Red Riding Hood said, as a massive shadow wolf gradually materialized behind her. “I’ll ride my wolf over there.”

Yu Sheng glanced at Little Red Riding Hood, then at the shadow wolf behind her, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Isn't the 'Shortcut' network only for driving? How can your wolf be on the motor vehicle lane?"

Then he saw Little Red Riding Hood rummage through her bag, pull out two temporary license plates, and silently hang them around the wolf's neck.

"The border area is a very tolerant place..."

(End of this chapter)