Chapter 607 Deep in the Starry Sea

A few minutes later, Yu Sheng had a general understanding of the situation that the Secret Service had.

No one expected that the Jieqiao incident, which was thought to be over, would resurface in this way.

—Actually, it's not quite appropriate to describe it as "another wave of trouble," because based on the current clues, the cultists' actions against the Boundary Bridge have never stopped. This "project" has been running on their side for at least several years, and it's even very likely that they were already simultaneously replicating something similar to the "Boundary Bridge" when Luo first started researching the "Zolda Black Stone."

This matter has only come to light now.

"If they really were watching Luo's research from the very beginning, then those suspicious logistics records and communication logs at Blackrock Station would make sense... But the key question is, where did those cultists get the secrets about the 'Boundary Bridge' in advance?"

Yu Sheng stroked his chin, his mind filled with doubt.

"The matter of the Boundary Bridge has been a little-known secret since the first descent of the Goddess of Ominousness three thousand seven hundred years ago. According to you, that was the 'classical era' of the border region, separated from the modern era by an 'epochal shift.' Even you, the director of the Special Operations Bureau, cannot find detailed information about that era. On the other hand, the only one who can be considered a 'survivor' of that time was the 'doll Irene,' and before we found that temple, she sealed all the secrets in the cracks of time and space..."

As Yu Sheng spoke, his brows furrowed unconsciously, for at that moment, he suddenly realized a problem he had never explored in depth before—

Is the intelligence and "knowledge" possessed by the Secret Order of Saints really just the result of their so-called "saints" racking their brains every day?

A group of delusional mortals equipped themselves with a bunch of bio-tech, some dark psionic energy and warp-space artifacts, and then sat in their dark lair praying. Could they possibly summon the "dark angel essence" of a vehicle that descended upon this universe 3,700 years ago? They could even roughly figure out the principles behind this thing and try to replicate it.

He voiced his doubts, but to his surprise, he was met with a strange look from Baili Qing, the humanoid dragon—her pale gray eyes stared at him intently for a long time, making even Yu Sheng, with his thick skin, feel extremely uncomfortable: "Uh, what's wrong with what I said?"

Bai Liqing thought for a moment and then gently reminded her, "You also have a Star Derivative planted in your church backyard—the Boundary Bridge is the fruit of the Star Derivative giant tree. In a sense, you've even hybridized two Dark Angels together."

Upon hearing this, Yu Sheng immediately became serious and said, "That's different. My technology is a rigorous and reasonable transformation and cultivation technique, and the entire technical route can withstand my own testing..."

Baili Qing remained silent and continued to stare at him, while Baili Xue also floated out and joined her in watching.

Yu Sheng couldn't take it anymore and touched his nose: "Alright, maybe the Secret Order has special technical routes and intelligence sources. I'm just a little concerned about this matter—after all, such an organization with flexible moral bottom lines may have some kind of black technology of unknown origin. The upper limit of the trouble they can cause is simply incalculable."

“So we can’t let them continue like this,” Baili Qing said calmly. “I have already discussed this with several other members of the council. The next priority will be to strike at the Chong Sheng Hermitage. Of course, all of this is on the premise that we first locate the Hermitage’s lair.”

As she spoke, she bent her fingers and gently tapped the table.

The office lights dimmed silently, and a huge holographic projection quietly appeared in the air, surrounding Yu Sheng.

That was a vast star map.

Yu Sheng had seen something like this in the navigation room of the Otherworld Hotel, but that was all—he knew nothing about navigation, piloting the spaceship relied entirely on instinct and thought, and he couldn't discern the meaning of certain specific clusters of light in the vast starry sky. But in any case, when such a vast starry sky surrounded him in the form of a holographic projection, its magnificence was enough to give him a sense of awe.

He stood in the darkness, surrounded by stars, and for a moment even forgot that he was in Baili Qing's office. Then he saw the stars around him begin to circulate, and the Milky Way and clouds rapidly contracted towards the center along a series of complex spiral lines. Meanwhile, a large number of lines and markings with intricate symbols appeared in the sea of ​​stars—the interstellar routes of the Universal United Industry, the transportation network controlled by the border regions, the stargates established by various civilizations and the jump channels between stargates, as well as those ancient, supposedly hidden paths left over from the time of the ancient Holy Spirits. All of these were interwoven like a spider web, stretching across the stars.

Between these complex lines and markings, one can also see many dark areas, as if forgotten by order and civilization—most of these places are sparsely populated by celestial bodies or shrouded in dangerous high-energy clouds, but some places are also teeming with stars, only to be inexplicably disconnected from the surrounding civilizations.

Bai Liqing's figure passed through the star map, and she raised her hand in front of Yu Sheng, pointing to a corner.

“This dim cloud of space is the Dark Current Star Region, and the ‘bright band’ right next to it is the Great Triangle Nebula,” Baili Qing said calmly. As if knowing that Yu Sheng’s knowledge in this area was limited, she did not use any complicated technical terms. “There are many lawless zones in the observable universe, and the largest lawless zone is deep within these two nebulae that are bright and dark. We only know that a limited number of gray paths pass through the edges of the Dark Current Star Region and the Great Triangle Nebula, but we know very little about what is inside them.”

Yu Sheng blinked, listening to Baili Qing's explanation with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, his gaze lingering between the shimmering orbs of light and the dark clouds.

The Dark Current Nebula and the Great Triangle Nebula look like two closely packed cones, as if they were two "breaths" spewing into space from an invisible deep hole. One of them is extremely dim, while the other is bright and dazzling. Countless stars are hidden in that seemingly misty "veil." In other parts of the star map, routes and beacons are everywhere, but in these two cone-shaped nebulae, Yu Sheng only sees a chaotic scene and the words "Danger Zone."

"So, we can now be fairly certain that the headquarters of the Cult of Saints is hidden here, right?" Yu Sheng frowned slightly. "...How big is this place?"

“It seems you have at least read those interstellar navigation manuals I gave you back then,” Baili Qing seemed to raise an eyebrow. “You already have a basic understanding of ‘scale’ in the universe.”

"It's easy to see—if it weren't for the cosmic scale blocking our way, where would all these lawless zones come from? It's certain that many illegal forces are hiding in these places, yet no one has gone to 'clean them up'. That can only mean that these two seemingly insignificant 'clouds' are actually incredibly vast."

"...Without a stargate and the corresponding jump code authorization, relying solely on the ship's faster-than-light engine to travel from the nearest starport to the Dark Current Starfield to 'Grey Dwarf Star,' even the Secret Service's fastest deep-space shuttle would take approximately 127 years," Bai Liqing said calmly. "Moreover, the Dark Current Starfield is sparsely populated with celestial bodies, and many areas exhibit strange 'fault' phenomena, making navigation in the dark zone difficult. Once the ship enters, it's like falling into a dark abyss, making it virtually impossible to find specific planets out of thin air—let alone specific planets, even finding a stable foothold would be extremely difficult."

Yu Sheng was able to follow Baili Qing's explanation, but he was a little curious: "How do those illegal forces survive in such a poor and remote place?"

"...People outside are also very curious about how the people in the border region survived surrounded by four-digit alien realms," Baili Qing glanced at Yu Sheng, "They would issue an alert if an alien realm with a depth exceeding L-3 appeared on their planet."

Yu Sheng: "Okay, I understand."

The local environment shapes the people.

Baili Qing paused briefly before continuing, "There is one person who might know something about the Dark Current Starfield."

Yu Sheng didn't react for a moment: "Who?"

“Luo,” Baili Qing looked into Yu Sheng’s eyes, “I should have mentioned to you before that her previous hiding place was actually on the edge of the Dark Current Starfield. Many of the Black Dot Group’s strongholds are also located in the Dark Current Starfield area. The various forces in the lawless starfield have a ‘chaotic order’. They hide in the protective force field of their respective home planets, set up thousands of illegal broadcasts, avoid each other and scheme against each other. There are survival rules there that are completely different from other places, and Luo… knows the rules there.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, I remember you did mention this to me before,” Yu Sheng suddenly realized, then stroked his chin. “So, she really is planning to go back to her hiding place… Do you think she can find any trace of the Cult of Saints?”

“It would be very difficult to find them directly. As you know, the Dark Currents and the Triangle Nebula are extremely vast in actual range. And you can tell from their names that those ‘Hidden Order’ members must be hiding in the deepest part of the lawless zone. After all, the Black Dot Group still has to do business with the civilized world, while those cultists have no intention of ‘peacefully coexisting’ with the outside world.”

"Luo has lived in the Dark Stream Starfield for so many years, but he has not seen many members of the Cult of Saints. This is enough to show that they are far apart, or at least that the members of the cult are well hidden."

"But even if she can't find it, she should be able to open a breakthrough there, even if it's just getting us a piece of authorized code from some gray route—that way we can send a group of agents to infiltrate. Once the initial situation is established, finding those cultists is just a matter of time. After all... most of the members of the Secret Order are still 'human.' Even if they don't interact with outsiders, they still have to do some activity within the lawless sector, and this process can't be without leaving any trace."

(End of this chapter)