The Black Dot Group, born out of an exploration activity hundreds of years ago, initiated by a group of deviated Star Nobles from Algerde, began as a "scholarly group," but has transformed completely over centuries of development into an uncontrollable behemoth. Whatever its original purpose may have been, it is now an entity that cannot be ignored. As a technological giant, independent military force, extremist organization, black market player, and actual controller of large areas of the Lawless Star Region, the Black Dot Group has long ceased to be a "scholarly organization." Although rumors persist that it is still led by those original Algerde scholars, it clearly has strayed far from the grand vision those scholars initially held, picking up too much baggage along the way. According to Baili Qing, Yu Sheng feels that the organization's complexity now is as chaotic as Hu Li's stew… "The Black Dot Group is a behemoth, with a vast and mysterious organizational structure, the details of which are unknown to outsiders. We only know that its top layer is still tightly controlled by a 'Board of Directors' composed of those former Star Nobles, while the execution of the group's will is handled by countless 'project departments.' They conduct research, trade, investment, espionage, invasion, sabotage, kidnapping, assassination… all to achieve that 'noble and rational goal.' "Their reach isn't limited to lawless areas; the business of the Black Dot Group spans across the starry sky, containing both legal and illegal endeavors. By layering cover-ups or through secret financial and personnel channels, innumerable industries fall under their control. These industries penetrate various civilized circles, some even operating openly while others run long-established commercial routes, seemingly mundane civilian businesses that might just be shadows of the Black Dot Group… "This is what sets them apart from the Angel Sect or the Venerate Saints Monastery—although many civilized circles broadly categorize them all as 'dangerous elements,' undeniably, unlike the Angel Sect members brainwashed by the Dark Angel or the fanatical and closed Hidden Monastery, the Black Dot Group still retains some elements that bring it closer to civilized society." Listening to the voice on the other end of the receiver, Yu Sheng wore an expression of contemplation. This was his first time delving so deeply into the mysterious "Black Dot Group," and many of the details diverged from his previous impressions. Perhaps due to dealing too much with the deranged Angel Sect members and the obsessively fanatical Hidden Monastery, he had preconceived notions that the Black Dot Group was similarly a group of lunatics, but now it seemed… this massive commercial + extreme technology organization was far more complex than those two cult groups. After a moment of thought, he suddenly became curious: "Given that the Black Dot Group's influence is so wide, doesn't the Boundary Land also have..." He didn't finish, and after a moment of silence, Baili Qing's voice came over the receiver: "The 'umbilical cord' technology used by deep divers." "Wow—" Erin exclaimed in exaggerated surprise and then began to whisper to Yu Sheng, "I told you this thing looks shady, seems like it's dabbling in black spirit abilities and subspace stuff, it's suspicious, see, turns out there's some clandestine dealings after all..." "It's not about 'clandestine dealings'," Baili Qing calmly explained, having overheard the puppet's muttering, "The Black Dot Group's various Exotic Realm detection devices circulate in the black market, and we use them for reverse engineering—technology itself has no bias, and it's good as long as it's useful. At least the 'umbilical cord' technology reduces the deep divers' casualty rate by nearly fifty percent." Listening to the explanation on the phone, Yu Sheng didn't say much, but clearly, the Black Dot Group's "contributions" to the Boundary Land might extend far beyond just this piece of technology. After all, according to Baili Qing, this extreme technology giant has created countless 'good things'—dangerous technology or not, there are far more dangerous things in this world than those technologies. Moreover, he didn't continue to pursue whether the Special Service Bureau or the Boundary Council also had a little bit of "private connections" with the Black Dot Group. This question evidently wouldn't have an answer, or even if it did, it wouldn't mean anything. "Now this group has reached into the Boundary Land," Yu Sheng said, stroking his chin with his phone on speaker on the table, "they're coming for 'knowledge'... But speaking of which, I saw Sun Chen's corpse, even talked to him once after his death, yet I didn't notice anything unusual back then?" "That's because before his 'death', the 'Sun Chen' who was an infiltrator for the Black Dot Group had already utilized the personality entity mechanism in the sanatorium to separate from the main body and hid away. This matter might have been planned for several years, and perhaps there was more than one infiltrator, and the original mission of the infiltrator named 'Sun Chen' might not even have had anything to do with the knowledge in that Tower… "Agents from the Black Dot Group are like cockroaches, laying dormant eggs all over, and using a variety of dubious technologies to control these infiltrators or set various 'activation' conditions for them. These eggs are hidden so well that even they themselves might not realize their employee status and the tasks they bear. Only when conditions are right will these cockroaches emerge unexpectedly from unfathomable places into your face..." Halfway through, Baili Qing spoke, and Yu Sheng finally couldn't resist: "Stop, stop, I understand what you mean, but that analogy is a bit disgusting..." After that, he took a breath and changed the subject: "So what plans do you have next? How to deal with those 'Black Dot agents'?" "The Special Service Bureau will follow up on this matter. Their target is knowledge related to the Omen Goddess, and the knowledge taken by Sun Chen is unlikely to suffice for his department's KPI requirements. They will certainly take further action," Baili Qing said, "I contacted you just to offer a warning; your current investigations overlap with the objectives of those Black Dot agents, so be cautious. "I will compile some information related to the Black Dot agents for you, including their operational style and some common tactics and abilities, but only for reference. If you truly encounter them, you'll need to adapt flexibly—of course, given your skill, taking on those agents shouldn't be a problem, but caution is always wise." "I understand, thank you for your concern—in addition, if I find any clues about those Black Dot agents, I'll contact you immediately." After ending the call with Baili Qing, Yu Sheng put away his phone and rubbed his temples, frowning slightly. Beside him, Hu Li placed the bowl, which had been licked clean and shiny, onto the table, sharing a similarly serious expression with Yu Sheng. Luna, having come up the stairs at some unknown time, also stood quietly by, her expression... just as usual. Erin, whose arms had healed by now, glanced at Yu Sheng and then at herself, resting her chin in her hands, exuding a lotus fragrance. She also adopted a contemplative look. After a few seconds, she suddenly clapped her hands: "Oh no! They're coming for me!" "Hey, you all say this thing is messed up. I'm a perfectly elegant and powerful Alice Puppet with beauty and grace, but just because I had a fight with a dropping-in Alien God back then, now I'm targeted by these dark forces!" Erin stood on the table, hands on her waist, eyes gleaming. Who knows what she had to be smug about, but she just sported a smug face, babbling complaints and nearly twisting her head around. "This bunch is obviously after me—what~am~I~to~do~!" Content orıginally comes from 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩 Yu Sheng, looking at the inexplicably smug little puppet, didn't even know how to respond, and just in that moment of distraction, Luna suddenly broke the silence: "No, they're not after you." Erin snapped her head around, staring at Luna with her scarlet eyes: "Why?" "They're after the knowledge, the knowledge of the Omen Goddess. The focus is on 'knowledge,'" Luna said, after pausing for a couple of seconds, speaking the longest sentence in her history. "Erin, doesn't have knowledge." Erin stood there, processing for a moment, then let out a screech and lunged forward: "C! Level! Grasp!! Damn you—" What followed was a series of clattering and banging noises from the attic. Seeing this, Yu Sheng quickly grabbed Hu Li and ducked by the window, simultaneously casting an extra appreciative gaze at Luna, who was casually swatting Erin back to the ground with random arm waves, musing thoughtfully: "With such a huge delay, splitting a sentence seven ways, yet needs to provoke Erin twice, Luna sure has her addiction bad." "Erin asked for it," Hu Li squatted beside Yu Sheng, hands on the floor, tail swaying like a melon-eating spectator, "She always finds chances to mess with Luna... though she's usually smacked back without much effort." At this moment, Yu Sheng saw Luna elegantly dodge an Erin flying tackle by moving gracefully like a dance, leaving the latter flailing mid-air coming towards him. He stepped forward and casually caught the little puppet, raising an arm and waved: "Alright, alright, it's like you're tearing the house apart at midnight." Luna instantly and elegantly lifted the hem of her nun skirt, curtsied gracefully, then silently retreated to a corner of the attic, as if nothing happened. Erin could only grimace fiercely and from a distance. "Jokes aside," Yu Sheng hurriedly shifted the attention between the big one and the small puppet seeing this, "No matter what, those Black Dot agents have already infiltrated, and given such a major influence, their daring act in the Boundary Land signals that the 'knowledge of the Omen Goddess' is a tremendous lure for them. Their infiltration is unlikely to just be a couple of nobodies, we're probably gonna have to deal with them..." Yu Sheng paused briefly, and Hu Li tilted his head toward Erin: "How about you lay low for a while?" The little puppet perked right up upon hearing this, arms crossing at her chest, eyes glaring: "Am I supposed to lay low from them? That would disgrace the entire travel agency—plus, I have the military strength of four groups under my command, who am I afraid of? As long as the drawing isn't lost, I can crush them with clones..." The little puppet's arrogance was quite justified, and as Yu Sheng listened, he nodded repeatedly, but halfway through he suddenly realized: "...Wait a minute! Four groups?! Since when?!" "Last night at half past two," Erin immediately shrunk her neck, "the little blood you had stored is used up again, and this time even the Mysterious Iron left by the silly fox is exhausted..." After speaking, she scratched her head, thought for a bit and added an awkward and uncouth smile to Yu Sheng: "Hehe~"