Chapter 522 Breakthrough

Early the next morning, Yu Sheng received a message from Baili Qing - there was a result from her "interrogation".

Although I don't know how the director did it, it is obvious that she does have some unique techniques in restoring other people's memories.

After preparing the meal for Hu Li, Yu Sheng picked up Irene at random and tucked her under his arm. He pushed open the door and went to the Secret Service Bureau, then followed Baili Qing around to a place where dangerous prisoners were held. Now the "black spot soldier" was no longer in the medical area, but had been transferred to a single cell.

Inside the cell separated by a force field shield, the "Algrad Elf" in orange prison uniform was sitting on a chair. He didn't seem to have any external injuries on his body, but his mental state was quite bad. When he saw Baili Qing enter the cell, he shuddered noticeably - this time the fear was far more sincere than when he was lying on the hospital bed yesterday, and then he showed a cooperative attitude.

"Tell me again what you told me before," Baili Qing sat across from the prisoner, his expression as calm as ever. "Let's start with the 'research project' in that laboratory, such as the origin of that 'stone'."

The black dot soldier on the other side of the force field shield sighed softly, the struggle in his eyes lasting only a second. He then looked up at Yu Sheng and Irene sitting next to him, and then slowly spoke: "...That thing is called the 'Zolda Black Stone'. People in the laboratory usually just call it the 'Black Stone'. It's called this name because it first appeared on a ruined planet called 'Zolda' in the Greater Triangle Star Region...

"Local scavengers said the stone fell from a 'black crack,' but the exact time of its appearance is unknown... For a long time, the 'black stone' was a 'sacred object' for the superstitious local scavenger tribes. The barbarian leaders regarded the black stone as a symbol of divine revelation and destiny. They took large doses of hallucinogenic herbs and prayed to the black stone all day long, believing that this would grant them the power to predict good and bad luck.

"Local legends also say the Black Stone can lead people to the 'Astral Realm', a place free from hunger and disease. Some even witnessed it open a rift in public, revealing a 'Astral Paradise' with endless food on the other side. Warriors have crossed the rift and returned with bountiful harvests...

"Anyway, it was all a confusing mix of true and false legends, and these stories eventually caught the attention of some local barbarian warlords. Then, the chaos among the warlords attracted the attention of the group's local business personnel. Ultimately, the 'Zolda Black Stone' was delivered to our laboratory."

The Black Spot soldier paused and hesitated at this point, as if the string of previous events had caused his thoughts to become stuck. After a few seconds, the trance and confusion in his eyes slowly faded away, and he continued as if nothing had happened, "I'm just a guard. I don't understand technical matters, but it's said that scholars have discovered incredible power in the 'Black Stone' and discovered the 'reverberation of information' hidden within the Black Stone.

"I don't know the specifics, but I've heard a few things from casual conversations among researchers. They seem to believe... that the Zolda Black Stone is just a fragment that fell off from some larger device."

"Large-scale device?" Yu Sheng's mind suddenly stirred, his intuition pounding. "What large-scale device?"

The Black Spot soldier frowned and spoke hesitantly, "Something used to travel between worlds, some kind of... bridge? That's how the technical experts describe it."

Yu Sheng took a deep breath, and at the same time he felt Irene on his shoulder suddenly poking his head.

"It sounds like 'Jieqiao'!" The little doll came over and whispered in his ear.

"Nine out of ten." Yu Sheng nodded immediately and said softly while controlling the expression on his face.

It turns out that what was being researched in that black spot laboratory was actually fragments of the "Boundary Bridge"!

At that moment, a multitude of thoughts suddenly crossed his mind, and some of his doubts suddenly became clear. So, the rift that had appeared in the alley was actually opened by the Black Stone? Did the Black Stone contain a portion of the power of the "Boundary Bridge," allowing it to pierce the fabric of space and time? So, the Black Spot Group's focus on the knowledge of the Omen Goddess, and their activation of a sleeper to search for the secrets of the Broken Tower (Boundary Bridge), was also due to the deciphering of some of the secrets within the Black Stone?

So...what exactly does the Black Spot Group want to do?

Do they want to rebuild a "bridge"? Do they want to master the technology? Do they want to find the goddess of omen?

Yu Sheng's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He knew that the Boundary Bridge possessed the power to penetrate worlds. After all, its original purpose was to "guide" the Dark Angels into the observable universe. However, this power to penetrate worlds was essentially the result of amplifying the Dark Angels' own "penetrating" properties. And judging by the collapse of the Boundary Bridge, this technology was clearly not stable...

The thought of this made his expression slightly awkward – no, the original world bridge had already collapsed, and those shady scientists actually had the audacity to create a knock-off version using just a fragment and a bunch of cobbled-together knowledge (which was very likely incompatible with this world)?!

Yu Sheng immediately understood what Baili Qing had said when she introduced the Black Spot Group to him. He understood why such a "technology company" could get so involved in various major civilizations that it could sit at the same table with two groups of cultists... They were really not afraid of a big explosion!

"Are you planning to restore that 'large device'?" Even Irene suddenly thought of this and looked up at the black dot soldier on the other side of the shield.

"I don't know—I said I'm just a guard," the Black Spot soldier shook his head, but then changed the subject, "But if it's feasible... why not?"

Yu Sheng was shocked. "Oh my god... You guys haven't figured out what that thing does yet, and you don't even know how it works, and you're already starting this project? How long have you been working on it?"

"About seven years, according to Terran standard time," the Black Spot soldier said honestly, adding, "I actually think this project is a bit unsafe... Most people in the lab are aware of the risks. While many people outside say we're extreme, we also understand the concept of 'risk management.'"

Yu Sheng stared: "Uh, so..."

"So we buried a nuclear bomb under the laboratory," the Black Spot soldier said matter-of-factly, "and made adequate safety preparations."

Yu Sheng: “!?”

Erin: “Fuck!”

The prisoner on the other side of the barrier sighed. "I don't understand why you backward barbarians are always so surprised by our security measures..."

This sigh was obviously from the heart, and stemmed from the worldview and prejudice ingrained in his bones, so much so that when he said this in front of Baili Qing, it was particularly smooth - Yu Sheng couldn't help but look closely at the face of the black-spot soldier, but he only saw a face full of calmness and self-righteousness. In those pupils filled with pale golden stars, there was no fanaticism, no blindness, only calm... rationality.

The Black Spot soldier continued chattering, "Based on probability and the unique nature of the project itself, if an experiment involving spacetime rifts gets out of control, escape is impossible. Even the act of escape itself could further damage caused by the loss of control—because any form of superluminal drive would further tear apart the rifts opened by the Black Stone. Therefore, interrupting the entire laboratory's operations within a thousandth of a second of a nuclear bomb detonation is the most effective way to control risk—it's a simple math problem."

"Besides, we won't detonate nuclear bombs at the slightest sign of trouble. We also have other safety measures..."

Yu Sheng blinked: "For example?"

"For example, killing the operator contaminated by the Black Stone immediately..."

Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand: "Okay, I understand, you don't have to say anything."

The black spot soldier opposite sighed again.

Although he didn't say anything, the words "It's so difficult to communicate with backward barbarians like you" were almost written on his face.

Even though Baili Qing personally performed the "memory recovery technique" on him, this Algrad man still maintained a certain indestructible pride in his bones.

"So, when did you guys start targeting the border area?" Baili Qing asked from the side. "When did you convert the lurker named 'Sun Chen'?"

"I don't know," the Black Spot soldier shook his head frankly. "That's beyond my purview. I only know that early in the project, technical experts extracted information about a broken tower from the Black Stone, but that information was vague, and several psykers were lost in the process of deciphering it. As for how they later locked onto the Junction from that bit of vague information, that's beyond my purview.

"As for the undercover agent named 'Sun Chen' you mentioned, I've never heard of him. That's the business of other departments."

"I have another question," Baili Qing asked again, "How much do you know about the next 'experimental plan'?"

"I don't know," the black-spot soldier shook his head again. However, under Baili Qing's gaze, he quickly turned thoughtful. After a moment, he hesitated and spoke, "...Well, I only know that experiments to open rifts are conducted every day, but they don't always succeed. In fact, most of the time, the 'Black Stone' wouldn't respond to any commands we input. Only occasionally, stimulated by a specific energy source, would it open some unstable channels. Only recently has the situation changed."

Yu Sheng frowned: "Change?"

"Just in the past few months, the Black Stone's activity has suddenly increased. It has begun to actively respond to the energy and activation commands we input into it. The channels it opens are becoming more and more stable, and even have a certain degree of practicality. It's like... it has suddenly come alive."

After the Black Spot Soldier finished speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief and spread his hands. “That’s all I know.”

(End of this chapter)