Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 252: The True Face of Borderland

Yu Sheng’s mind wandered through countless possibilities, imagining the wondrous sights and customs of that distant world—”Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain,” and the vast star named “Grand Void Spiritual Axis” over which it presided. He pondered how Cultivators, with their mysterious powers, managed to thrive and negotiate with other cosmic forces beyond Borderland. His imagination wasn’t idle curiosity; rather, it was an old professional habit resurfacing. He couldn’t help but think, [This alone could easily fill several volumes…]

Bai Li Qing, however, could hardly guess what such an enigmatic Entity standing beside her might be thinking. She merely glanced at Yu Sheng with mild curiosity.

“You seem particularly interested in Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain,” she noted quietly.

“Oh, well, it’s my first time interacting with a power from ‘outside,’ plus they gave me such a valuable clue,” Yu Sheng quickly brushed it off with a casual air. “I’m just curious—nothing more.”

Bai Li Qing seemed about to say something else, but her phone suddenly rang, cutting her short. She exchanged a few brief words before hanging up and turning to Yu Sheng.

“Good timing since you’re already here. Would you like to come with me to another lab? There are some things there I’m sure you’ll find intriguing.”

Yu Sheng blinked. “What’s there?”

“The recovery team dispatched outside the city has finished their inspection, and the items they brought back have been transferred to the containment labs,” Bai Li Qing explained lightly. “The remnants from Anka Aila’s fall—they’re ready for viewing now.”

Yu Sheng’s expression flickered briefly before settling into solemnity, and he nodded gravely.

“Then follow me.” Bai Li Qing turned to head down the corridor.

Yet, after only a few steps, she stopped at a vending machine, bought a small loaf of bread, and handed it to Yu Sheng. “Sorry, eat this for now. We probably don’t have enough time to stop by the cafeteria.”

Caught off guard by her unexpected consideration, Yu Sheng chuckled and took the bread. “Actually, it’s fine. The main reason I mentioned your cafeteria was to feed Foxy—I just saw her eating happily over there.”

Irene, still perched lazily on his shoulder, muttered under her breath, “Of course, she’s always happy as long as there’s something edible…”

Guided by Bai Li Qing, Yu Sheng traversed numerous junction points within the labyrinthine headquarters, navigating corridors that twisted strangely through space. Finally, after walking through a hallway that gave off a constant feeling of being tilted, they reached their destination: a containment zone.

Or rather, one of hundreds—perhaps thousands—of such containment zones connected to this bewildering structure.

Special Affairs Bureau headquarters was like a massive cosmic tree, rooted at the heart of a spacetime nexus. Most individuals, even employees, only saw its trunk, never truly grasping the sprawling branches and roots that twisted through the convoluted fabric of Borderland. Each slender branch led somewhere distinct—Deep Dive labs, vast warehouses, harmless Otherworlds, alien refugee shelters, customs checkpoints, extraterrestrial embassies, abandoned outposts, and floors too dangerous to tread…

Yu Sheng suspected even Bai Li Qing, who had overseen this colossal growth for a century, couldn’t recall every route or the stories behind every hidden corner.

Thus, when he stepped through the final grand Door and saw a massive, cube-like structure suspended silently within an endless void, Yu Sheng felt no surprise at all. By now, he was numb to the wonders hidden inside this building.

“This containment facility is among the most secure connected directly to headquarters. Most of its architecture actually exists outside Borderland’s Frontier, beyond what the naked eye can see,” Bai Li Qing calmly explained, gesturing back at the corridor behind them. “The facility’s shell is balanced in a gravitational equilibrium, held by a star’s pull. This corridor is directly controlled by my mind—if the containment cube ever fails and what’s inside escapes, the link will immediately break, sending the entire facility plunging out of Borderland into that distant star’s fiery embrace.”

Yu Sheng’s eyes widened in amazement and slight confusion. “Shouldn’t that be classified information? Are you really allowed to just tell me?”

“You’re considered a trusted ally of the Special Affairs Bureau,” Bai Li Qing replied flatly. “After your help resolving the Dark Angels threat, there are very few secrets left we need to keep from you, especially regarding Dark Angels and containment operations. You might not feel its significance yet, but in future cooperation, sharing this kind of information will be essential for both of us.”

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, gazing across the bridge at the floating cube in the dark emptiness. After hesitating for a moment, he finally summoned the courage to voice a question he’d been pondering for a long time.

“Since you’re sharing openly… I’ve been curious about something for quite a while now—this tech of yours… what’s going on exactly?”

Bai Li Qing slowed her pace, looking back at Yu Sheng with an insightful expression. “You’re asking why the technologies you see here don’t match the tech level you’d normally encounter in everyday Boundary City life, correct?”

Yu Sheng spread his hands open, his gaze thoughtful. “I saw what Boundary City was like. Sure, it’s modern enough, but it’s… normal. Cars still roll on wheels, and there’s no sign of strong AI or anything. But look at this place—the connecting bridges, the giant floating structures, and that energy barrier thing I saw back in the prison holding those Heretic Cultists… It’s like it’s all generations ahead in tech.”

He paused, making a slicing gesture in the air to indicate the clear divide.

“This feels weird. Tech shouldn’t jump levels this way, right? Is there some reason for it, or is that classified too?”

“I thought you didn’t ask before because you either didn’t care or just hadn’t noticed,” Bai Li Qing observed Yu Sheng silently for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s actually quite simple. The things you see inside this building aren’t some mysterious advanced technology. This,” she gestured around, “is the real technology standard of the Council and the Special Affairs Bureau. But the Boundary City you see… is Borderland’s ‘baseline state.’”

“…Baseline state?” Yu Sheng’s brow furrowed, clearly puzzled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You can think of it as an anchor,” Bai Li Qing replied calmly. “Boundary City represents a society based on ‘normality,’ ‘rationality,’ and ‘order.’ It’s deliberately allowed to develop slowly and steadily, without interference, so it can serve as a giant Cognitive Stabilizing Anchor. This anchor pins the entire Borderland firmly at Level-0. Without it… how deep do you think this city could sink?”

Yu Sheng’s eyes widened. “…Holy crap?”

A small slap instantly landed on his shoulder—little Irene’s annoyed voice piped up: “Language!”

“You’re usually way worse!” Yu Sheng pushed away the doll’s hand and turned sharply back to Bai Li Qing. “Wait, hold on—you’re saying that the human society within Boundary City keeps the whole Borderland anchored at L-0? So when Anka Aila happened before…”

“Exactly.” Bai Li Qing’s tone was grave. “For us, that night was the worst nightmare in our history. Outside Borderland, we have immense military strength and countless defense lines designed to handle external threats. We’ve always been extremely careful to maintain Boundary City’s slow and secure growth, precisely to prevent our home from collapsing into deeper layers. But the Dark Angels… they ignored all our precautions, penetrating directly into the heart of the Council itself.” freēwēbnovel.com

Her voice grew quieter, tinged with a hint of lingering dread.

“Back then, countless people prepared for the worst. I even considered temporarily fracturing a part of Borderland to banish Anka Aila—fortunately, it didn’t come to that.”

She met Yu Sheng’s gaze steadily.

“In terms of physical destruction, Anka Aila’s arrival might’ve destroyed just one city. But in terms of impact, the city it threatened was Borderland’s unique and irreplaceable core.”

She stopped there, looking directly into Yu Sheng’s eyes.

“So now you realize the magnitude of what you did that day.”

Yu Sheng rubbed his forehead, processing all this. He’d thought earlier that learning about Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain was already his day’s highlight. Clearly, he’d underestimated.

Borderland was just full of surprises—how many secrets did this strange place have left to reveal?!

“Can I ask one more thing?” Yu Sheng finally spoke again after holding back for a while. “How big exactly is Borderland?”

Considering the strength Special Affairs Bureau had shown, plus snippets Li Lin and Xu Jiali mentioned about the outside, he’d begun suspecting Borderland’s influence was way beyond what he’d imagined.

“If you mean a purely geographical concept, Borderland is exactly as you’ve seen—a vast Boundary City, surrounded by sprawling wilderness, enclosed by the Boundary Stones at the Frontier. It’s just a large ‘hub-space bubble’ within a special spatial structure,” Bai Li Qing explained patiently.

“But if you’re referring to Borderland as a power—how far the Council’s control actually extends—then it’s enormous.”

A faint smile gradually appeared on her normally indifferent face.

“Imagine Borderland as an egg floating in the cosmos. From this egg, the Council’s branches spread outward, claiming their place among the stars. You’ve actually already glimpsed a tiny portion of these branches—the passages to the outside, those customs facilities, ports—they’re the veins and arteries transporting resources.”

“It’s actually quite obvious if you think about it,” she continued. “We control the universe’s largest natural transportation hub, the biggest trading platform for Otherworldly goods. Countless races have established their communication nodes here, relying on the order we’ve created to maintain their trade routes. We even have equal partnerships with massive and ancient forces like Terra Academy and Alglade Astrological Society…”

“With all these benefits, have you wondered why Borderland still stays peaceful? It’s surely not because every species in the universe suddenly decided they love peace.”

Yu Sheng considered this, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

“Yeah… that makes sense.”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation