Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 619: Anomalous Activity

The previously clear sky suddenly bore a few clouds, and the warm sunlight faded away. The surrounding temperature seemed to drop; a winter alley was cold, and the wind was cold too—but Li Lin and Zheng Zhi felt their blood at that moment was colder than the surrounding wind.

That tall, graceful, seemingly flawless yet grave-cold and dangerous "Iron Puppet" stood silently there. No one knew when or where she had emerged from; her pale female visage calmly watched Zheng Zhi and Li Lin, and the latter didn't dare breathe.

Li Lin held a roasted sweet potato, standing like he was struck by lightning. His first instinct was to draw his gun; however, in reality, he dared not move a single finger, as if fearing that a tiny gesture would trigger some "switch," causing this killing machine to charge at him.

He even had a self-deceptive thought, hoping she was merely passing through or that her sensors had malfunctioned and couldn't see him—but that pale face stared directly here, instantly extinguishing his hope in the cold wind.

Just then, Zheng Zhi's voice suddenly sounded, slightly stuttering, very low: "Li, Brother Li, don't panic. I-I-I, I have experience. She's just an illusion; she can't actually touch us..."

Li Lin seemed to feel a little intangible comfort from his partner's experienced words, but the next second, he saw that tall figure suddenly move—she walked toward them, her heels clinking crisply against the concrete floor, making a cold sound in the street alley.

Zheng Zhi gulped but still whispered to Li Lin: "Don't panic, don't panic. Last time was even scarier; she directly charged and stabbed me, actually nothing happened. If you don't believe me, watch—"

While speaking, he waved the roasted sweet potato in the air as if proving that what was walking toward them was merely an uninteractable spatial projection.

Then the Artificial Saintess snatched the roasted sweet potato from his hand.

Zheng Zhi was stunned, Li Lin was also stunned, the two gaped like fish out of water, watching helplessly as the cold-blooded killing machine grabbed the roasted sweet potato in her hand. Zheng Zhi opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but before uttering a word, he saw the Artificial Saintess bring the food toward her mouth...

She seemed to want to eat.

However, the Artificial Saintess cannot eat; apart from the biosynthetic structure of the face's surface, this steel body has no system for swallowing.

So she only pressed the food against the mouth, futilely squeezing a few times, watching it drop to the ground under pressure.

The two watched this bizarre scene and subconsciously took a half-step back. Li Lin took the chance to sneak his hand into his pocket, not pulling out a gun but instead sending an alert signal to the Special Service Bureau.

The situation was odd, yet he was ready to meet his end here today—the Artificial Saintess in front of them was acting strange, but if it came to blows, even the oddest Artificial Saintess could easily take both his and Zheng Zhi's lives. After all, they were merely two Special Service Bureau officers who hadn't even worked for two years combined. Leaving a mark on that Starship Armor Steel before dying was uncertain, but sending out the message before death was considered an achievement.

A similar thought occurred to Zheng Zhi.

But the next second, he saw the killing machine reach out a hand toward him—a steel hand without those terrifying sharp blades, only holding a handful of shiny discs.

Zheng Zhi stood there confusedly, as the Artificial Saintess silently stood without saying a word.

After several seconds, Zheng Zhi suddenly snapped out of his daze and instinctively reached out his hand.

The Artificial Saintess placed the shiny discs in his palm—

They were game coins, the type widely seen in many arcade halls in Boundary City, who knows where she had picked them from.

Zheng Zhi dumbly raised his head, only to see the tall figure take a half-step back, dissolving into the air as if melting into the shadows under the cold wind.

The cold, blade-like sensation pressing against the neck suddenly vanished, and the icy wind blew through the quiet street alley. Li Lin and Zheng Zhi were silent for a moment—probably because they couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

After three or four seconds, Zheng Zhi squeezed a sound from his throat: "...Ah?"

He lowered his head, looking dazedly at the game coins in his hand.

Beside him, Li Lin's mouth twitched too, unsure if it was pure joy from surviving or just the cold wind freezing him. Then he handed over the remaining half of the roasted sweet potato: "...Do you want half of mine?"

Zheng Zhi didn't take it; his mind finally cleared up. The first thing he did upon snapping out of it was quickly pulling out his phone, shakily dialing—first to Yu Sheng, but heard a message saying the number was unreachable, so he called Erin.

People who often interact with the travel agency know that the little puppet now has a phone watch. Usually, Erin leaves at least one body at No. 66 Wutong Road, one reason being to answer calls anytime, hence utilizing the puppet network's immunity to Exotic Realm interference so she can deliver messages even if Yu Sheng is operating in an Exotic Realm.

The phone receiver emitted the surprised voice of the little puppet: "Huh? Nephew?"

"I've encountered the Artificial Saintess again!" Zheng Zhi's voice slightly distorted, "Probably still the same one—quickly let Brother Yu know! I'm on the street behind the Old RunDa Mall!"

...

Yu Sheng arrived quickly. Barely two minutes after Zheng Zhi hung up the phone, he saw a door suddenly appear at the nearby intersection.

In this old district, almost every intersection had coordinates left by Yu Sheng, mostly recorded during his casual outings with Hu Li.

Yu Sheng came out through the door first, followed closely by the fox girl in her ordinary human disguise. Erin, as usual, pretended to be a normal puppet, leaning quietly against Hu Li's chest with deadpan eyes. Finally, it was Luna who emerged from the door—still in her nun's attire, but now wrapped in a hooded windproof cloak and a mask covering half her face, thoroughly concealed from head to toe.

Of course, even with such thorough coverage, Luna seldom left No. 66 Wutong Road; her two-meter height was simply too conspicuous, like a landmark no matter where she stood. And given her personality, she clearly didn't enjoy such "high profile" visibility.

Today, there was no choice. She had an "ex-colleague" now operating in Boundary City, who was probably out of control.

As soon as Zheng Zhi saw Yu Sheng, he looked as if he'd seen a savior, and rushed over: "Oh Brother Yu, you're finally here! I was nearly scared to death..."

"Your news scared me too!" Yu Sheng quickly spoke, reflexively checking his surroundings, but he didn't see any signs of a fight. Li Lin and Zheng Zhi didn't look injured, causing him to frown subconsciously: "You're alright? So the Artificial Saintess didn't attack you two?"

Zheng Zhi's expression turned strange, and after a moment of hesitation, he muttered, "Well, you could say it was an attack..."

Erin, who was pretending to be dead, couldn't hold back anymore. Seeing no one around, she lifted her head from Hu Li's embrace: "What do you mean by 'you could say it was an attack'?"

Zheng Zhi: "She stole half of my roasted sweet potato..."

Yu Sheng was perplexed: "…?"

Thinking for a moment, Zheng Zhi added, "But actually, she didn't really steal it. She paid, but she gave me some game coins."

As he spoke, he fished around in his pocket, showing Yu Sheng the "coins" he'd received.

Honestly, at that moment, Yu Sheng even suspected he might've hallucinated from eating spirit mushrooms during his last meal in the valley. The absurdity rivaled seeing Little Red Riding Hood howl at the sky from a rooftop, while in the sky, the long-haired princess was curled into a ball.

But his nephew's expression was unmistakably serious, and Li Lin's expression was even more serious than his nephew's.

Yu Sheng took his eyes off the game coins and looked into Zheng Zhi's eyes: "…First, tell me exactly what happened. Explain from start to finish."

Zheng Zhi recounted the incident in full detail.

The situation wasn't complex; it transpired over just a few minutes. Though extremely unusual, it wasn't hard to explain.

Once the event's authenticity was confirmed, the only thing left was to ponder the reasons behind it all.

Yu Sheng recalled what he'd seen through the "cat's" memory in the dark alley.

The Artificial Saintess fell into a stupor just before retreating, attacked her own team, and then "escaped" through the alley to Boundary City in reality, inexplicably stealing food yet seemingly knowing how to "pay"...

And then there was the strange behavior of "attempting to eat."

Yu Sheng could easily think of many explanations—after all, he was a novelist.

"Sounds like she suddenly broke free from the mind restraints set by the Venerate Saints Monastery, but not completely," Yu Sheng mused, stroking his chin with a frown, "She might still think she's human? Thought she was buying food from Zheng Zhi? Yet she clearly doesn't recognize currency, and seems unable to speak... She seemed anxious while escaping the dark alley. Had she noticed changes in herself then? Or did she see the 'Knight' as a monster?"

Naturally, no one on scene could provide an answer. Yu Sheng pondered briefly, before suddenly looking up: "Have you reported this to the Special Service Bureau?"

Zheng Zhi scratched his head: "Not yet..."

"I just sent an alert," Li Lin said, pulling out his phone and dialing as he spoke, "I'm contacting the bureau now to report the situation."

Erin lifted her head again stealthily, glancing at Li Lin, then at the pure and clear super-intern officer.

"…Hey, do you remember you're with the Special Service Bureau?" the small puppet asked curiously.

Zheng Zhi pondered, then continued to scratch his head.