Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 601: Brief Disorientation

Yu Sheng's great-grandmother passed away many years ago. When she was alive, he seldom visited his hometown, so he didn't see her often—but after her death, they started meeting much more frequently.

Sometimes, he could even see several at once, accompanied by various relatives, known or unknown, along with numerous odd phenomena that defy description.

This situation became increasingly severe after he came into contact with the "Angel Umbilical Cord," happening as often as weekly during the most frequent occurrences.

Fortunately, the Special Service Bureau's training proved effective; at least, Zheng Zhi is much calmer than before when encountering such situations, and he has learned many immediate self-protection techniques.

Upon realizing the surroundings were heterogenizing, and he had possibly stepped into the Exotic Realm, Zheng Zhi immediately activated the emergency locating, environmental collection, and recording functions on his phone, shoved it into an inner pocket, and retrieved a Sanity Blocker from another pocket to inject into himself.

Feeling a coldness spreading within, the muffled, low noise beside his ear briefly emerged and swiftly faded away. Zheng Zhi sighed gently, placed the plastic bag he was holding on the ground, grasped the concealed defensive pistol beneath his clothes with one hand, while the other reached into his pocket to pull out a hard, small card.

As he unveiled the card, the seemingly ordinary white cardstock revealed a triangular insignia of the travel agency painted with dark red "ink," along with several runes that appear mysteriously impressive (though purely decorative). The red marks had dried but, upon closer inspection, seemed to still flow, or "live." They resembled subtly pulsating blood vessels and nerves, maintaining a state between life and death on the card's surface.

This seemingly modest card offered Zheng Zhi a sense of security that nearly surpassed the Bureau-issued gun capable of launching rocket-assisted explosive rounds.

This is the "Life-saving Talisman" given by Yu Sheng, a one-time-use "Pre-made Door," already primed for activation. Anyone accepting "Blood Transfer" can use it to open a gateway to the valley's transfer hub any time—because Zheng Zhi frequently falls into the Exotic Realm, and retrieving him was always laborious, Yu Sheng simply handed him a stack, so he always carries two or three when he goes out.

Zheng Zhi breathed a light sigh but did not immediately activate the card in hand, instead observing his surroundings cautiously.

He still remembered he was a Special Service Bureau Officer—though yet to be officially recognized, reporting to the bureau only once every two weeks, spending most of his time idling at the "travel agency," sometimes forgetting he had an actual job... However, with the gun in his grip now, it did jog his memory.

Of course, what mattered more was the peculiarity of this "supernatural encounter."

After a brief illusion vanished, the street appeared as usual, devoid of any clear "heterogenization" seen in the Exotic Realm nor visible abnormal phenomena or entities.

The most significant anomaly was the absence of people, coupled with a thin layer of mist floating around, obscurely veiling the end of the street.

…Mist City?

Zheng Zhi furrowed his brow, first suspecting he had slipped into Mist City again but quickly reconsidered—the mist here was evidently much thinner than Mist City's, and if it truly were Mist City, this area should have the patrol team and easily recognized warning signs from the Bureau.

He cautiously transferred to a street corner, using the building as cover to view outside.

The sky was dimming, once gray, now darkening as if turning to night, yet streetlamps did not light up, furthering the street's grim, oppressive gloom.

Zheng Zhi rubbed his eyes.

At a certain moment, bizarre and massive shadows had suddenly appeared between the street's buildings—some resembling colossal equipment or houses, others resembling vehicles streaking through midair, as if scenes from another timeline had unexpectedly overlaid the street, causing a dizzying sensation.

Subtle sounds emanated from nearby atmospheric spaces, akin to muffled conversations, yet regardless, he could not make them out clearly.

Zheng Zhi gulped, grasping the card meant for emergency evacuation, slowly pulling back his gaze from outside the corner and turning to look down the small path behind him.

The path leading to a residential area was also veiled by thin mist, and faint shadows appeared to overlap from an alternate timeline in that blur.

Just then, a sharp pain jolted through his head—a sudden surge of Spiritual Intuition—and in the next instant, clear figures emerged amidst those indistinct shadows.

Several cloaked figures in black robes, converging behind a middle-aged man cloaked in white, rapidly passing through the path.

Zheng Zhi gasped sharply, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, he raised the gun with one hand while pressing the card against the closest wall with the other—however, just as he intended to shoot and flee, that group seemed oblivious to his presence, walking straight in another direction, disappearing into a nearby building's wall within a few steps.

Zheng Zhi froze, collecting his weapon and card in a frightfully dazed state, looking toward where those figures vanished.

They couldn't see him?

Or... were he and the group originally positioned in timelines unable to perceive each other, but his "observational ability" was simply too strong, inadvertently glimpsing the opposite scene?

The Special Service Bureau intern officer, gifted from a young age, began analyzing the situation before him based on his extensive experience with supernatural encounters. However, just a few seconds into his analysis, a low conversation suddenly arose nearby — this time, he could make out a few sentences.

"...still unstable...can't fully replicate..."

"The data is definitely valid; the issue likely lies with the 'catalyst'. It's lacking in power..."

"...Recently...the range of the device's influence is expanding. Even on Pasture Star, bubble phenomena have appeared. Should we consider postponing? The accident at the Black Spot Laboratory serves as a lesson..."

"No, we can't...time is running out...the lifespan of the core of the door is limited, after all, it's just a counterfeit...and we've recently lost a batch of 'Knights'. We haven't figured out the cause yet, but they likely ended up on the Boundary Land side, which might cause trouble..."

"How could they end up there?!"

"...those rifts...might have a tendency to replicate..."

Zheng Zhi felt his heart pounding, each word he heard seemed like a hammer in his mind. He widened his eyes, straining to see in the direction the voices came from, but he could only glimpse a few very vague shadows — those shadows stood in the mist, in front of what seemed to be some large control or display equipment. Farther away, there appeared to be a soaring, curtain-like object, which could be the wall of a hall or something resembling a barrier.

The next second, the hazy mist before him began to move again, and Zheng Zhi felt a blur before his eyes. The shadows on the street changed, seemingly shifted by the "Mapping" of the space.

And just as he was trying to discern more from the changing shadows, an inexplicable unease and chill suddenly arose from the depths of his heart.

Zheng Zhi shuddered involuntarily, quickly turning to look in the direction indicated by his Spiritual Intuition.

He saw a very tall shadow.

It was a tall and elegant female figure, possessing perfect poise and a cold demeanor. Its pitch-black shell exuded a metallic sheen, with a face that seemed to eternally bear a compassionate, gentle smile.

The tall figure stood at a nearby crossroads, surrounded by many faint, towering illusions, seemingly stationed there but not noticing this side.

Miss Luna?

Zheng Zhi's heart stirred, instinctively thinking it was the friend he knew, but in an instant, he realized, cold sweat accompanied by dread emerged —

It was the Artificial Saintess under the control of the Venerate Saints Monastery!

Almost at the moment of his shocking realization, the "illusion" standing in the mist slowly turned its head in this direction.

It was a perfectly gentle smile, remarkably similar to the familiar "Holy Lady" from the travel agency, but this familiar visage was now eerily, terrifyingly more so than any entity Zheng Zhi had ever encountered in his life.

In fact, at this moment, he had a subconscious thought that the other side couldn't see him — after all, the street and its illusions were clearly in two different time spaces. The robed and cloaked figures that had passed by earlier hadn't seen him, but this thought only persisted for a moment before his frantically signaling Spiritual Intuition told him that murderous machine had indeed noticed this "uninvited guest".

It could be highly advanced radars, Black Spirit Ability, or some mystical contraption cooked up by the Venerate Saints Monastery — regardless, he had been spotted across the inter-dimensional barrier.

The next moment, that smiling killing machine transformed into a rapid shadow in Zheng Zhi's eyes — he had no time to react as a few sharp blades were already poised at his chest.

However, after a moment of panic, the anticipated pain and death did not arrive.

Confused, Zheng Zhi looked down and saw the few sharp blades appearing in a semi-transparent, illusory state, lingering in his body like shadows.

He looked up again to see the "Artificial Saintess" before him also somewhat illusory, its perfect face seeming slightly confused, its eyes not truly focusing on him.

This killing machine seemed to have attacked purely driven by its enemy radar system and a series of instincts.

Faint exclamations and curses could be heard in the air. Someone was ordering the absent Artificial Saintess to return to its post, someone was checking the condition of some damaged equipment, and alarms seemed to be blaring — but all these sounds were rapidly fading away.

Zheng Zhi took a sudden breath, suddenly feeling the previously dizzying street return to a normal "atmosphere".

He was back.