Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 608: The Art of Baiting and Chumming

The sound of knocking echoed in the darkness, and the star map projection covering the entire office quickly dimmed and shattered. The lights were turned back on, and the room returned to normal.

Baili Qing exhaled lightly, a hint of weariness seemed to flash across her face, but she quickly returned to her usual self, turning and returning to her desk.

Yu Sheng was still reflecting on the information the other party had disclosed to him, while somewhat immersed in the grandeur of the star map he had just witnessed.

To be fair, he felt that the level of professionalism in this matter had exceeded his knowledge reserve a bit, but as a gradually mature leader of a society, he had fully mastered another truly professional skill—that is, delegating tasks to subordinates.

"Can you send me a copy of your analysis and the raw data that Zheng Zhi retransmitted to the Special Service Bureau?" Yu Sheng looked at Baili Qing, "I'll forward it directly to Luo to see if she can come up with something."

As he said this, he paused for a moment and added, "Of course, if there are confidentiality requirements, then forget it."

"This does indeed count as classified data—but the level is not that high, I can approve it," Baili Qing raised her eyelids, "I have limited trust in Luo, but I trust your restraint over her."

"That's fine then," Yu Sheng nodded with a smile, "Don't worry, she's very compliant now, and she's quite angry about someone stealing from her, so she's very motivated on this matter."

Baili Qing nodded and didn't say much, simply steering the topic in another direction: "The intelligence Zheng Zhi obtained is our advantage; right now, the Venerate Saints Monastery shouldn't yet know their secret has been exposed, at least in the Dark Meteor Domain, they'll be lax on defense—and on the other hand, they already know that their 'experimental field' will connect with Boundary Land, although the process seems difficult to control at the moment, given my understanding of those cultists… they'll definitely find a way to use this against us.

"Earlier, the Venerate Saints Monastery acted rather low-key, but since the last Anka Aela incident, they've exposed their ambitions. The Boundary Land, a place where 'Angel Descent' and 'Angel Fall' have happened numerous times, has a deadly allure for them.

"I think this can be utilized."

Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows at this, almost instantly guessing the other party's intentions: "What are you planning to do? Bait them?"

"They're after the Angel Catalyst. Zheng Zhi heard the term 'catalyst' mentioned in the intelligence, and it seems they urgently need a stronger catalyst to stabilize a certain experimental device," Baili Qing nodded. "The 'catalyst' left by Anka Aela and the Inference Star Body is tightly controlled by Boundary Land and Qianfeng Ling Mountain. Sending out news saying an item was lost wouldn't fool anyone; however, the World Bridge… the incident concluded not too long ago. If we send out news saying cleanup work isn't finished and parts of the remnants are outside, many people might believe it."

Yu Sheng was certain that he saw a sly smile on this bureau director lady's face—a pixel-level micro-expression that he'd miss if he blinked too fast.

"The real situation of the World Bridge's disintegration is known only to a few of us, including you and me," Baili Qing continued, "It disintegrated in the material universe, the residual information and blueprint were consumed by you, leaving no physical remnants behind. But… perhaps we can create some fake ones."

Yu Sheng's mind had already started to become active halfway through listening. After all, he was not proficient in the techniques discussed earlier, like star maps, star gates, authorization codes, but when it came to this righteous business of digging pits, burying people, baiting, setting traps, creating hoaxes to deceive, he had a lot to say—back in Nightfall Valley, he had fed "Hunger" fake meals, and it was common for him to use his own traps while fighting Dark Angel…

However, he was also curious: "Fake news is one thing, but how are you going to make the fake goods? Just come up with some building debris, add some effects, and claim it's World Bridge fragments? Would the Hidden Monastery people fall for it?"

Baili Qing thought very seriously this time.

"Those cultists may be obsessive, but they're not fools. If the act isn't well-executed, big fish won't be caught, and more so, they've studied Dark Angel for years—they should have some methods to detect and identify Angel Catalysts… Bait made too hastily could expose our intentions.

Yu Sheng couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression upon hearing this.

"Some real stuff needs to be mixed in…" He unconsciously rubbed his nose, starting to contemplate how to prepare the bait, "Using the remaining Derivative Star Crystal Branch from the Guardian Silence Crust? Not likely… that thing actually doesn't retain much Dark Angel power, and no different from regular minerals, easily spotted. Or mix in some 'Anti-Eileen Crystal'? The purity's there, but it's a controlled substance, and what if it really lands in those cultists' hands for them to study?"

Baili Qing listened to Yu Sheng's mumblings, after a while suddenly spoke: "I think you could discuss this with Luo."

Yu Sheng couldn't keep up for a second: "Luo? She knows how to make fake artworks?"

Baili Qing: "She was really blown up by World Bridge fragments."

"Ah, now that you mention it, it makes sense…"

"She should still have plenty of data related to 'Zolda Black Stone,' and this data will help us replicate similar substances—at least in terms of properties, it should be enough to pass ordinary detection methods," Baili Qing said leisurely, "You tell her, she only needs to provide the data; as for the specific 'production,' the Special Service Bureau's lab can handle it."

Yu Sheng laughed: "That makes things easier."

After that, he discussed with Baili Qing a lot about the details of manufacturing fake Angel Catalyst and releasing fake news to bait, the more they discussed, the higher they felt the success rate of this plan, and after all, the cost is not high, even if a group of "Knights" is lured out it wouldn't be a loss, indeed if they can lure an Artificial Saintess or even a "Sage" level priest from the Hidden Monastery, that's a big gain, and at that time if Luo opens a breach over in the Dark Meteor Domain… with multi-point positioning and internal and external coordination, the good days of the Hidden Monastery constantly hiding in their comfort zone and remotely harassing people are over.

"Then it's settled, you send the original data Zheng Zhi transmitted back, along with your analysis report, directly to the Otherworld Inn. I'll forward it to Black Stone Station, and by the way, I'll also inform Luo about the research materials," Yu Sheng got up from across the desk, preparing to open the door and leave as he spoke, "Additionally, if 'Knights' or 'Artificial Saintesses' are spotted elsewhere in Boundary City during this time, make sure to notify me immediately. Capture them alive if possible... but, of course, prioritize our own safety."

"I understand your point."

Baili Qing nodded solemnly, and as she stood up to see him off, she couldn't help but let out a big yawn.

For this usually icy and composed female director, this was already quite an uncharacteristic behavior.

Yu Sheng had already noticed the heavy drowsiness surrounding the other person since a while ago and couldn't hold back: "Didn't sleep well again, huh... It's not my fault this time, right?"

"I slept well," Baili Qing quickly adjusted her expression and held her face as usual, "Just a yawn."

Yu Sheng tried not to mind, but Baili Xue's eyes kept flickering on the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, repeatedly making sleepy, dazed expressions indicating something.

He heard a faint whisper directly enter his ear: "Because of winter..."

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched, looking Baili Qing up and down with a peculiar gaze: "Wait a minute, you... hibernate?"

Baili Qing instantly turned to look at the floor-to-ceiling window behind her — those drifting eyes disappeared into the thick fog outside in the blink of an eye.

She slowly turned her head back, her expression calm: "I don't hibernate, I just get sleepy easily in winter."

Yu Sheng continued to stare at her.

Baili Qing slightly tilted her head, calmly looking at a corner of the ceiling where the smoke detector was, and began to speak leisurely, her voice like the female narrator in a game Erin used to play, telling the opening story: "...In the distant past era when dragons and magic existed in the world, the Colorless Dragon would seal its territory during winter, using a vast dream realm to protect its treasure, preventing disturbances from Snow Demons and Frost Giants to its realm..."

This director stood there, dignified, steady, cool, like a proud, solitary dragon from the north.

Yu Sheng pondered for a moment: "Have you just given me another explanation of dragon 'hibernation'?"

Baili Qing sighed, but only halfway before it turned into another uncontrollable yawn.

Clearly, even the proud northern dragon was about to be overwhelmed with sleepiness.

Yu Sheng felt like he had discovered a new continent. He had known Baili Qing for over a year, but apparently, he wasn't very familiar with her at first, which led him to completely miss this characteristic of hers last winter, and now suddenly he felt that the ever-present cold hardness surrounding her had largely melted away.

Judging from her micro-expressions, he imagined that Baili Qing had already reached a certain level of embarrassment, so he didn't continue discussing the hibernation topic further, simply greeted her and pushed open the door to leave the director's office.

The large office fell silent again, and Baili Qing sat quietly behind her big desk, suddenly propping her head and letting out a sigh.

A pair of illusionary eyes floated like a thief to the computer screen opposite her and then slowly drifted down to the desktop.

"Keep a close eye recently on places where Space Rifts appeared during the World Bridge incident," Baili Qing suddenly spoke, "Especially those districts that were highlighted by the Spirit Fox System — the space-time structure there was completely punctured and could potentially become an 'invasion point' for the Hidden Monastery."

"Wow," the pair of eyes shook dramatically, "Even fighting the instinct to hibernate, you still want to assign your sister work immediately?"

Baili Qing ignored the tease — she wasn't sure when, but her 'sister' had become more vibrant by the day, almost as if possessing genuine humanity. Though she noticed this change, she rarely brought it up proactively.

She didn't know if this was good or bad.

She only knew that the sleepy days of the year had begun again.

"Ha—"

A dragon's yawn.