Chapter 70: The Encounter
In the Special Affairs Bureau, Deep Divers were the elite of the elite. Emerging from ordinary agents, they had undergone rigorous selection and harsh training, enduring countless trials to become what they were.
They were always dispatched to the most dangerous places, facing challenges beyond human comprehension. They knew how to survive in deadly alien environments, chase down deranged cultists of the Angel Cult in lawless lands, and even infiltrate Otherworlds to confront the most dangerous entities. Sometimes, they dove into nightmares to rescue lost souls trapped in labyrinths woven from spirit and consciousness. Deep Diving—descending from the peaceful world into the dark dimensions beneath reason—was their job.
But not everything could be understood or fought by human intelligence. Even the most seasoned Deep Divers often faced failure. And now, this situation surpassed even Song Cheng’s experience—it seemed to exceed the Director’s expectations as well.
Six Deep Divers had been transferred from the “Tank” to the outside. Their power suits had automatically activated emergency medical procedures upon their return to reality. The built-in systems injected large doses of rationality blockers and protective agents into their bodies, calming them quickly. Support personnel stepped forward to check each person’s contamination status and confirm whether their consciousness had returned to the material world—ensuring nothing else had “come back” with them.
Song Cheng and Director Xu Jiali stood aside, watching with furrowed brows.
“Math problems?” After a long, heavy silence, Song Cheng finally spoke. “Math problems did this to them?”
Xu Jiali shook his head slightly. “Professors from Terra’s ‘Academy’ can attack by flooding ordinary minds with excessive knowledge, but it wouldn’t have this effect. Moreover, our Deep Divers are trained to adapt to ‘knowledge-based’ attacks. Besides having considerable learning abilities, their brains can actively shut down when facing knowledge beyond their processing capacity.”
Song Cheng frowned. “So, you’re saying…”
“The ‘math problems’ the Deep Diver mentioned before passing out might just be an impression they had during the dive. The real cause of the contamination must be something else,” Director Xu said gravely. “At the end of the passage… there was no Nightfall Valley. But why would it be math problems?”