The two people on either end of the interstellar communication link simply stared at each other: one sat in a spacious office with a computer in front of him and a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, beyond which lay a sea of fog; the other sat atop an immortal peak with the Spiritual Echo Mirror before him, while two cranes flew outside the Carefree Pavilion behind him. Though their settings could not have been more different, the two had actually been old acquaintances who had dealt with each other for over a hundred years.
"My account is newly created. I made it so no one would recognize me and I could enjoy some peace and quiet." The old man with an immortal air on the communication screen stroked his beard, his face full of disbelief. "Even my closest disciples don't know about it. Director Baili, how did you find out? Don't tell me that privacy statement on the Border Communication registration page is a scam..."
"It has nothing to do with that. I deduced it. Your accounts have always been easy to figure out," Baili Qing said casually. "Besides, I only need to mention one thing and you'll understand. Someone delivered a special 'sample' to the Special Operations Bureau today—a mysterious fragment of cloth of unknown origin."
The old man on the screen immediately understood. Stroking his beard, he wore a look of realization. "Oh—I see. He sent it to you so quickly? Yes, yes. I recently made a new online friend. We aren't very familiar yet, but he seems to possess a kind of 'opportunity' ordinary people don't have. He's found two strange objects in succession that even I couldn't identify. How interesting. The second one looks remarkably similar to an object my senior brother brought back years