Dimensional Hotel
Chapter 281: Holy Revere Hermitage

Yu Sheng hung up the phone, standing in place thoughtfully for a few seconds before breathing out a heavy sigh. “Ah, being Director isn’t easy for her either.”

As soon as he spoke, Irene opened her little hands, palms upward. “Why do I feel half of her recent troubles can be traced back to you?”

“Tonight’s incident isn’t my fault,” Yu Sheng hastily defended himself. “Artificial Saintesses from Holy Revere Hermitage have already infiltrated. Actually, I discovered them early! Who knows how many troubles I’ve prevented for the Special Affairs Bureau in the long run?”

Irene pondered that for a moment. “Hmm… is that right?”

“Of course,” Yu Sheng chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. “Alright, let’s call Foxy back first and get that arm to the Special Affairs Bureau experts.”

Before Irene could reply, the sound of swift footsteps echoed up from the basement stairs. Foxy bounded into the room, happily clutching an iron arm—now neatly segmented into three parts, with all its fingers cut off. She showed it off proudly, beaming at Yu Sheng. “Benefactor! It’s all done!”

Yu Sheng was startled. “Already?”

Irene was equally surprised, staring wide-eyed at the pieces Foxy was holding. “You actually got it cut off that quickly? And you dismantled the joints, too?”

“Yes, yes!” Foxy nodded enthusiastically. “It wasn’t easy at first; the same firepower I used to cut steel beams only turned it red-hot. But after adding a few spells, it finally came off. The joints were easier—just needed a hard pull, a really strong pull.”

Irene giggled knowingly. “See? Exactly. Those C-type buckles are just like that.”

Foxy blinked innocently. “Why do you have such a big issue with these joints?”

“Imagine there’s another Demon Fox species that brushes its fur backward…” Irene said gravely.

Instantly, Foxy’s tail fluffed visibly in shock—clearly covered in goosebumps. “I-I understand now!”

Yu Sheng finally spoke up, “Well, dismantled is dismantled. Let’s just take these pieces to Bai Li Qing—bring the blades too. Irene, take the Head Veil. Time to head to the Special Affairs Bureau.”

“Yay!” “Alright~”

With a wave, Yu Sheng opened a translucent Door directly to the hallway outside Bai Li Qing’s office.

Stepping through, the bright corridors of the Special Affairs Bureau appeared before them. Even at this late hour, the building was still ablaze with lights. In this structure, tasked with monitoring countless Otherworld gateways and safeguarding the entire Borderland region, there was always someone awake and on duty.

As Yu Sheng entered the office, Bai Li Qing was at her desk, issuing urgent commands into the phone.

“…Teams must operate in groups; no one should act alone. Artificial Saintesses are extremely dangerous.”

“Concentrate searches in the northern Old City District, but if the mist grows too thick, pull back. The first phase is to deploy detectors…”

“Monitoring teams remain on standby at Channel 16 of the Deep Dive…”

“Report immediately if there’s any situation.”

Bai Li Qing swiftly and seriously delivered her instructions until she noticed Yu Sheng approaching. Only then did she force out a tired semblance of a smile.

“You’ve already deployed investigative teams?” Yu Sheng guessed, based on what he overheard.

“Yes,” Bai Li Qing nodded, rubbing her forehead gently. “A team of Deep Divers is already inside the mist, approaching Old City District from ‘the other side’. They’re specifically inspecting the area around your recent attack. Artificial Saintesses don’t just randomly appear in Special Affairs Bureau-controlled zones—they usually guard significant assets or important individuals. Something must be hidden nearby… this ‘Mistbound City’ keeps becoming stranger and stranger.”

She paused here, glancing thoughtfully between Yu Sheng, Foxy, and Irene, her expression stern but faintly concerned.

Yu Sheng felt a bit awkward under her scrutiny. “Uh, what’s wrong?”

“You three were ambushed by an Artificial Saintess, yet none of you were injured?” Bai Li Qing’s voice carried a clear hint of disbelief.

Yu Sheng’s expression became complicated instantly.

[How to explain this—] he wondered internally. It definitely wasn’t accurate to say they weren’t injured; he’d received fatal wounds, stabbed twice with eight holes left behind. But at the same time, calling it an injury felt odd, considering mere fatal wounds…

Yu Sheng’s face twitched slightly before he carefully answered, “Just minor injuries. My body heals faster than average.”

Bai Li Qing eyed him suspiciously, clearly unable to imagine exactly what a “minor injury” looked like when inflicted by an Artificial Saintess. Fortunately, she didn’t push further, instead shifting her attention to the pieces Foxy and Irene carried.

Yu Sheng gestured for Irene and Foxy to put the items directly onto Bai Li Qing’s desk.

Bai Li Qing carefully examined the pile for a moment before lifting her head thoughtfully. “I recall the arm was intact in your photos…?”

“Ahem, that was just my curiosity at work. I needed the blades, so I had Foxy dismantle it,” Yu Sheng replied sheepishly, touching his nose with embarrassment. “Should I… not have?”

“It’s fine,” Bai Li Qing shook her head lightly. “Even dismantled, it still holds value. Our main goal is extracting intelligence from it. I’ll call in some experts from Identification—they’re familiar with these types of things.”

She paused briefly, then glanced at Yu Sheng again. “Don’t worry, we’ll return it afterward.”

Yu Sheng chuckled easily. “No worries, I just need the blades. Keep the rest; I won’t be able to analyze anything useful from it anyway.”

Suddenly remembering something important, he stepped forward, pointing at the Head Veil on the desk. “Oh right! There’s something weird about this veil—it even has a brand tag and washing instructions…”

But Bai Li Qing’s expression remained calm. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“Uh…isn’t there?” Yu Sheng blinked, momentarily confused. “It’s from Holy Revere Hermitage—an artificial Saintess and all. Sounds sinister and mysterious. Why would their gear have a normal commercial brand? It’s pricey but still ordinary…”

Bai Li Qing’s expression didn’t change, though her eyes showed a faint hint of amusement, as if questioning why he’d find this odd. “Holy Revere Hermitage is still an organization run by mortals. They don’t produce everything themselves and certainly can’t create goods out of thin air. Isn’t it logical they’d buy supplies from the outside?”

Yu Sheng paused. “…Yeah, that actually makes sense.”

Bai Li Qing studied Yu Sheng for a second longer, and a quiet glimmer of amusement shone in her gaze, as though secretly pleased at seeing this usually resourceful man momentarily bewildered.

However, she quickly regained her composure.

Soon, the Identification experts arrived. They took away the remnants of the artificial Saintess’s arm and the Head Veil. Once they’d left, Yu Sheng casually pulled over a chair and sat down, finally asking the question he’d been pondering since before leaving home.

“So, what exactly is this ‘Holy Revere Hermitage’? Another cult, like those Angel Cultists? How’d they end up in Borderland?”

Bai Li Qing adjusted herself seriously behind her desk and nodded slightly.

“In most civilized regions, Holy Revere Hermitage is indeed classified as a cult,” she explained. “But their structure and methods differ greatly from Angel Cultists.”

“Angel Cultists have a loose organizational structure. Apart from their shared worship of ‘Dark Angels,’ their followers are divided into countless small branches, each serving their own Angel. Despite their vast numbers, they can’t form unified forces, making them relatively easier to counter.”

“But Holy Revere Hermitage is the complete opposite.”

“They strictly follow a doctrine called the ‘Path Of The Holy,’ which outlines clear goals and behavioral guidelines. Their hierarchy is rigid, their personnel tightly controlled and highly efficient. Even though their total numbers are far fewer than the Angel Cultists, their combined power is significantly greater. In remote lawless regions, they’ve even established stable bases with substantial armed forces—something obvious from the existence of deadly creations like the artificial Saintess.”

“You must’ve noticed how formidable an artificial Saintess can be. What’s scarier is they can be mass-produced.”

Yu Sheng immediately sat up straight, alarmed. “Wait—mass-produced?!”

Bai Li Qing nodded calmly. “You heard correctly—mass-produced. But only within their core territories, and even then, only in small batches. So, don’t worry too much about encountering an army of them.”

Yu Sheng exhaled nervously before continuing, “Alright…then what exactly is this ‘Path Of The Holy’?”

Bai Li Qing took a gentle breath, her voice deepening with solemnity.

“Holy Revere Hermitage believes our world is fundamentally flawed. All disasters and sufferings—Otherworld incursions, wars, diseases, famines—are merely symptoms of these flaws. Similarly, human imperfections like greed, selfishness, and cowardice are reflections of the world’s deeper faults. To put it simply: they consider our world and everyone in it defective.”

“Their self-proclaimed mission is to repair these defects.”

“They believe humans can be perfected—through intense spiritual and physical refinement, through alterations leading to a ‘holy transformation’ into perfect beings. Alternatively, through advanced technology, they aim to directly create flawless humans. The artificial Saintess is one such byproduct of this pursuit.”

“Based on the same logic, they believe the world itself can also be perfected, though they haven’t discovered how yet. The first necessary step is producing a true Saint—someone embodying all their ideals.”

“All actions taken toward this end constitute their ‘Path Of The Holy’…”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation