The small room was momentarily quiet, as Yu Sheng and Baili Qing both fell into deep thought. Hu Li and Erin, though still not entirely clear on the situation, perceived from Yu Sheng's reaction that the matter seemed complex, and they didn't dare to speak rashly.

After a while, Yu Sheng finally lifted his head again, his gaze falling on the "credential" on the screen. After staring at it for a few seconds, he moved his eyes back to the "operation record" in front of him.

"Can we determine exactly which one of them it was?"

"The name and key credential number have been erased and cannot be restored. It is uncertain whether this was done intentionally," Baili Qing said, "We can only determine that it was one of the twelve divers from seventy years ago... perhaps we should exclude the two who successfully returned to the real world?"

She suddenly paused, then frowned slightly and shook her head, "No... according to the records, the two divers who returned to the real world are very likely to have only physically returned; their souls should still be trapped in the 'Fairy Tales' Exotic Realm... just like the other ten people."

Yu Sheng didn't speak; his thoughts were a mess at this point. Countless conjectures and the known information intertwined like a whirlpool in his mind, constantly giving rise to speculations, yet also being continuously overturned due to obvious contradictions or unexplainable gaps.

After a while, he frowned deeply and finally hesitated to break the silence: "Remember what we were discussing earlier? The twelve divers from back then... they probably didn't reach the Black Forest, but this 'paper slip' was found by me in the Black Forest, and the 'Hunter' is also an entity roaming deep in the Black Forest."

"This is what I'm puzzled about," Baili Qing didn't hide her confusion, "'Seventy years ago, the Deep Dive Team did not enter any known subset of the 'Fairy Tales' Exotic Realm,' this has always been one of the conclusions of the Special Service Bureau. Logically, even if the divers left some 'artifacts' in the Exotic Realm, they shouldn't appear in the Black Forest, unless…"

Yu Sheng lifted his head: "Unless?"

"Unless after the accident erupted, those divers were still active deep within 'Fairy Tales'... and eventually found a path to the Black Forest."

Yu Sheng's eyes suddenly hardened, then he slowly spoke, "Then, they, or at least one of them, became the 'Hunter' in the Black Forest..."

Just then, Erin, who had been largely silent, suddenly tugged at his sleeve and hesitantly said, "Um, don't blame me for being a downer, but the 'Hunter' might not necessarily be one of the deep divers from back then; maybe those divers were indeed victims, and that credential might be a trophy of the 'Hunter', since the 'Hunter' itself is an entity in the Black Forest, right..."

Both Yu Sheng and Baili Qing's eyes fell on Erin, who instinctively shrank her neck: "I said don't blame me for being a downer; it's just a guess."

Baili Qing was silent for a moment, then softly spoke, "Yes, we can't rule out that possibility."

Yu Sheng did not respond; he couldn't help but recall his experience in the depths of the Black Forest, remembering the moment he faced a void figure in a hunter's clothes in that dimly lit wooden house draped with red cloaks.

That hunter had no face, no speech, and moved eerily and rigidly; in every way, it seemed more like a bizarre entity generated by the Exotic Realm, rather than a living being with humanity.

But when Yu Sheng told it that the child swallowed by Wolf Grandmother was safely returned to the real world, that empty hood had indeed nodded slightly.

Was that imperceptible nod indicative of its remaining humanity?

"Do we have more detailed information?" Yu Sheng suddenly broke the silence, pointing to the list in the file on the table, "Regarding this group of twelve."

"Yes," Baili Qing immediately nodded, "I've had someone send for it; it should arrive soon."

With that, she picked up the phone on the table and ordered a few words to a subordinate.

In the following moments, Yu Sheng waited patiently, keeping an eye on the situation opposite the large window.

The laboratory opposite was still busy—the technical staff had successfully restored the original condition of the 'paper slip' and confirmed its origin, but there were still many details on the sheet worth analyzing—the changes in its physical and chemical properties, the composition of the stains on the paper, the soil particles it carried... these seemingly insignificant clues could potentially be chips for those "ordinary people" to use against the Exotic Realm.

In another section of the window, the situation in another control room could be seen—a mysterious metal device that emerged from the room at No. 66 Wutong Road was undergoing a new round of instrument scanning. Unlike the swift intelligence obtained from the 'paper slip', the analysis of this sample seemed to have encountered difficulties, as the technical staff had not yet provided any valuable information.

But perhaps this kind of "difficulty" is a common state when analyzing Exotic Realm samples.

However, most of Yu Sheng's attention was no longer on that "piece of iron"; he was more concerned with matters related to "Fairy Tales."

Less than ten minutes later, the information Yu Sheng requested was brought into the small room.

It was a stack of temporary personnel files printed from the database, a thin stack of papers that bore the simple details of the deep divers from that era—names, ages, photos, service situations, and so on.

Yu Sheng flipped through page by page, gradually matching their names with the list on the operation file, and looked at those black and white portraits.

Twelve people, men and women, some looked like middle-aged veteran elites, and some looked about his own age.

There was also a group photo at the end of the file, twelve people wearing some kind of thick, "old-school sci-fi" style protective armor, neatly standing in front of a building. No arms around shoulders, no poses of victory or encouragement, just standing straight and rigidly, helmets off, standing at attention for the photo.

"This is their photo before departure," Baili Qing said, "It's a rule of the Special Service Bureau. Before every deep dive mission, all participating action team members must take a group photo."

"Yes," Yu Sheng nodded gently, quietly looking at the printed photo on the A4 paper. After a while, he suddenly spoke, "Can I take this with me? Just this, I won't take any other documents."

"What are you planning to do?" asked Baili Qing, curiously.

"Show it to that 'Hunter,' if there's a chance."

Baili Qing stayed silent for a while, seemingly pondering.

"Technically, you can't take any of this information out, not even a single paper," she said calmly.

Yu Sheng: "...uh, okay..."

"But the rules are in my hands," Baili Qing continued, pushing the paper towards Yu Sheng, "Take it, but don't share it with others, and destroy it at the right time after the event is over."

Yu Sheng was a bit stunned: "…?"

Baili Qing looked at him: "Is there a problem?"

Yu Sheng finally responded, taking the paper and folding it carefully while murmuring with a strange tone, "Uh, I didn't expect you to have a sense of humor."

"I am not Ironclad Expression."

Yu Sheng: "I didn't even say those words..."

"I am just accustomed to being serious," Baili Qing still had no expression, as if she didn't care at all about what Yu Sheng was saying and quickly changed the subject, "Tell me about your plan. How are you planning to deal with 'Fairy Tales'? Besides this intelligence, what else do you need us to do? We will help as much as we can."

Yu Sheng felt a bit embarrassed: "Uh, you have already been a great help..."

"In the matter of 'Fairy Tales,' the Special Service Bureau has an old score to settle," Baili Qing interrupted him with a calm look and tone, "On the other hand, you are currently the only 'Adult' who can enter the 'Subset' just like those children, unaffected, and you have successfully rescued a child from the depths of the Black Forest — we have sufficient reasons to continue offering help."

Her colorless eyes were calm and resolute, Yu Sheng looked into her eyes for a while, and gently exhaled.

"I am trying to pull out the 'Storyteller' behind the Black Forest," he slowly said, "Based on my observations of the Black Forest and the sensing of the Wolf Pack, it is now almost certain that each subset of 'Fairy Tales' is controlled and driven by a 'Source of Story,' and this source might be the entity originally encountered by the deep diving team, but I'm facing a problem: I can enter the Black Forest but can't find the way to backstage, which might be exactly the opposite situation encountered by the squad back then."

He paused, staring seriously into Baili Qing's eyes, "They might have directly landed backstage."

Baili Qing immediately understood the meaning of this statement: "So, if the 'Hunter' in the Black Forest really is the former deep diver..."

"Then ta would know how to reach the backstage of the stage," Yu Sheng nodded, "That squad might have already successfully penetrated the deep barrier of 'Fairy Tales' back then — only when they did, they had already completely lost contact with the real world."

"But the 'Hunter' is uncommunicative and lacks reason."

"That's why I need this," Yu Sheng pointed to his pocket where he kept the group photo close, "This thing might just work."

"To use a group photo to appeal to an ethereal soul that has become corporeal and regain its lost human essence?" Baili Qing looked at Yu Sheng with a somewhat strange gaze, "Do you really think something that sounds like a plot from a novel... will work?"

"Let's try this, and if it doesn't work, we'll think of something else," Yu Sheng was quite optimistic, smiling, "Just give it a shot."

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