Chapter 537 Luo

When two factions have ideological conflicts, and one side obviously has major internal problems but cannot be reasoned with, directly bringing the other side's boss over for a face-to-face interview is actually a solution - at least that's what Yu Sheng thinks.

His approach to problem-solving has always been straightforward.

It happened so quickly, and apparently no one on either side of the gate reacted.

Under Baili Qing's stunned gaze, more than a dozen mass-produced Irenes appeared near the blonde elf. Beams of light flew across the maintenance room and clanged loudly. The blonde elf "Luo" tried to use her mechanical limbs to resist the puppets with dead fish eyes rushing towards her. However, the small size and agile movements of the mass-produced Irenes made it difficult for her to cope. After two of her mental fireballs were blasted by more than a dozen scorching beams of light from the puppets, she was covered with Irenes - several times more than what Yu Sheng usually had on him.

Some of the little puppets grabbed Luo's legs, some grabbed his arms, some held his mechanical limbs and chewed them, some pulled his hair, scratched his ears, bit his fingers, and tugged at his skirts, and some even found a piece of meat and twisted it hard to hang themselves on their target when they found no more space... A bunch of short and fat people who were crawling around like cursed dolls lifted Luo up together, and rushed into Baili Qing's office shouting "We got it, we got it" noisily.

Then Yu Sheng waved his hand and closed the door.

Luo struggled hard on the office floor, his mechanical limbs scraping across the ground with a harsh sound, and he screamed non-stop: "Ah! Let me go! You little evil... Bai Li Qing!! You will be cursed... my ears!"

Honestly, Yu Sheng felt a bit terrified just watching from the side. From another perspective, he imagined that this unfortunate elf felt like he had fallen into a movie set of "Haunted Dolls"—but even horror film directors wouldn't be so ruthless as to stuff a dozen cursed dolls into the victim's arms right at the start. This elf had four hanging from its arms alone...

Fortunately, Irene (the host) who was sitting on Yu Sheng's shoulder waved her hand, and those mass-produced girls finally let go of the unlucky blonde elf. A group of little dolls quickly climbed down from Luo, then obediently ran behind Yu Sheng and stood in a neat row.

Luo sat up in a panic, using his arms and mechanical limbs to support his upper body. He looked up and saw Baili Qing looking at him expressionlessly from behind the desk.

She turned her head and looked around again, making sure that she had really been taken to the Secret Service director's office.

A huge sense of absurdity and astonishment filled the elf's heart, and fire seemed to burst from his eyes. "I have never heard of anyone doing this..."

Before she could finish, Baili Qing sighed, "I was quite surprised too."

Luo: “……?”

"You'll get used to it," Baili Qing continued calmly, "Yu Sheng often uses surprising methods to solve problems—and they're generally quite effective. Look, can't we have a good chat now?"

Luo was speechless for a moment, then he heard footsteps behind him. He turned his head and exclaimed again: "Ah!"

It turned out that Irene had climbed down from Yu Sheng and came behind her on her short legs.

"You're weaker than I thought," the little puppet curiously fiddled with the mechanical limbs on Luo's back, looking nonchalant. "Seeing your appearance, I thought you were a good fighter, like Frankenstein in the movie... but it turns out you can only make a few fireballs? Are those mechanical arms just for driving screws?"

The mechanical limbs twitched violently, and the little doll was startled and hurriedly hid behind Yu Sheng, but the expected attack did not come - Luo just frowned suddenly, and his eyes became a little dazed after hearing Irene's voice.

Yu Sheng keenly noticed the trance in the other person's eyes. He didn't say anything, but his expression seemed thoughtful.

Baili Qing came around from behind the desk and reached out to help the elf who was still sitting on the ground.

"Anyway, I didn't expect our first real-life meeting would be like this," she said slowly. "Now we should talk about your dangerous 'scientific research project'—believe it or not, the situation is really serious. I don't understand why you're still..."

She suddenly stopped and looked into Luo's eyes.

A glimmer of light flashed in those faded light gray eyes.

Luo shuddered suddenly, as if she had been awakened from her sleep. The trance in her eyes faded away. She looked at the person in front of her with some confusion, and her voice seemed a little dull and hesitant: "...What did you say just now? My research project? What's the problem with my research project?"

Baili Qing quickly noticed that the other party's reaction was not right. Her eyes fixed, and her voice seemed to carry some kind of power that affected the mind: "Zolda Black Stone—you have been studying it for seven years, don't you remember? I have argued with you about this more than once recently..."

"Zolda Black Stone? Black Stone..." Luo frowned, her voice filled with confusion and bewilderment. But then, as if remembering something, she put a hand on her forehead and said, "Yes, Black Stone. I'm researching it. We found that stone from a remote and savage planet. It's... an incredible carrier of information. It has a physical form in the real world, but its material structure cannot be analyzed no matter what. Knowledge... knowledge!"

Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she seemed to be revived from her trance. The mechanical limbs behind her unconsciously stretched out. "It is a carrier of knowledge. A huge information structure is compressed in its reality! Data... With just the right stimulation, it will feedback a large number of incredible mysteries to you - it can even explain to you the order in the unobservable deep space!"

"Do you understand? Do you understand? All 'characteristics' are incidental. The essence of that stone is more fascinating than its power! I have learned a lot from it, and it is willing to convey that to me..."

The blonde elf was completely excited, and seemed to have forgotten that she was a captive who had been "captured" by unreasonable means. She even turned to Yu Sheng, and gestured with open arms as if she couldn't wait to share her surprise with her friends: "Knowledge! Wisdom! A way to save the world from disaster! The future of everyone! Do you understand? Can you comprehend it? So much..."

A pair of scarlet eyes suddenly caught her eye.

Many pairs of scarlet eyes met her gaze.

A neatly arranged row of mass-produced dolls stood behind Yu Sheng, staring at her.

Irene stood at Luo's feet and reached out to tug at the elf's skirt.

"What are you talking about?" The little doll blinked. "Did you take it?"

Luo's body shook, and those scarlet eyes seemed to expand wildly in her field of vision, and then turned into two out-of-control whirlpools that interfered with and devoured each other, violently pulling her mind out of a certain "sinking".

"Knowledge" and "wisdom" are in complete disarray and retreating like the tide.

All that remained was a sense of clarity of mind that seemed to have not been felt for a long time.

"...No!" Luo suddenly raised his head and turned to Baili Qing beside him, "There's something wrong with that stone!"

Baili Qing and Yu Sheng said in unison: "Do you even need to tell me that?!"

"I..." Luo Gang opened his mouth to say one more word, and suddenly raised his hand to cover his forehead, as if he was dizzy again. "There is noise in my head, a very chaotic noise..."

After several seconds, the terrible dizziness finally subsided. Luo gasped for breath and looked up at the figures in front of him, his eyes finally falling on Baili Qing.

"I need the Secret Service's help—at your price."

All the confusion and trance disappeared, and her expression became serious, completely different from before.

"You need not only the Secret Service, but also the power of the 'Hotel,'" Baili Qing said, raising her finger and pointing at Yu Sheng. "Yu Sheng was able to get you here, and now if you want to shut down your out-of-control laboratory, he's probably the only one who can help you."

"Yu... Sheng?" Luo blinked in confusion, then turned to look at Yu Sheng for a moment. It seemed as if he had finally realized and connected some of the information in his mind. "Wait, I think I've heard some news... That angel hunter?!"

Her eyes suddenly widened, staring in disbelief at the big shot in front of her who had repeatedly opened the door to her secret base and had just brought a dozen cursed dolls to tie her up.

"I do have that name," Yu Sheng said with a cheerful laugh. He pulled a business card from his pocket and thrust it into the other person's hand. "I've opened a spirit world detective agency called 'The Inn,' and I handle all sorts of supernatural business—including dealing with dark angels in homes."

Luo: “……?”

The elf took the small card in a daze and saw a huge fox head printed on the front of the card, and Yu Sheng's name and phone number on the back, as well as a bunch of advertising slogans.

Baili Qing's voice came from behind her: "We need to shut down your laboratory as soon as possible - at least to calm down that 'Zolda Black Stone'. It's now digging holes all over the border area. If we hadn't guessed from the beginning that there might be a hidden reason behind this, the situation would definitely be more serious than you imagined..."

Luo listened gravely as Baili Qing explained the current situation. While her mind was still clear, she quickly compared the fragments of memory she had once neglected. After a moment, she broke her silence with a solemn expression, "...In theory, as long as I can reconnect to the Blackstone Space Station's system and activate the nuclear bomb buried under the laboratory..."

Before she could finish her words, Baili Qing interrupted her: "Um, about that nuclear bomb..."

Luo: “?”

Baili Qing: "It is in our hands now."

Luo: “…Ah?”

Then the elf Ji You Lao's gaze fell on Yu Sheng with a strange look in her eyes.

"Mr. Hunter, why did you kidnap my nuclear bomb?"

"Why would I kidnap a nuclear bomb?" Yu Sheng said, his face brimming with anxiety. "That thing just 'dropped' into this foreign land on its own, okay? We all suspect that Black Stone sent it here through a spatial rift."

Luo blinked and frowned slightly: "Is that so..."

But she quickly pursed her lips and adjusted her expression: "It's okay, there is more than one safety measure. There is another backup bomb above the laboratory. As long as I reconnect..."

Before she could finish her words, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the corridor, interrupting her again.

There was a knock on the door. After Baili Qing responded, Song Cheng pushed the door open and walked in, saying hurriedly, "Director, a team of agents found a fusion bomb in the 'museum'. Judging by the logo, it belongs to the Black Spot Group..."

Song Cheng got stuck in the middle of his sentence and looked up blankly at the blonde elf in the office.

After a moment of unspeakable silence, Yu Sheng spread his hands to Luo: "Now you have no spare bombs."

(End of this chapter)