Yan Bubu saw a long line ahead as soon as they turned the corner.
“Young Master, they’re getting food.” His eyes glittered.
“I saw.”
The two joined the back of the line and followed the crowd forward.
Two military vehicles were parked in front, with soldiers handing out food. Everyone received two bottles of water and two loaves of bread. Seven or eight soldiers with guns at their waists kept order.
A few moments later, the two had almost reached the head of the line when Feng Chen spotted the soldier with a detector on the right. Everyone who passed by held out their wrists so their personal information could be retrieved.
In the United States, one’s ID was stored in the form of biochips under the skin of the wrist. A detector was all that was needed to pull up a person’s identifying information.
“Wu Fan, you are a resident of Lule City. Why have you come to Haiyun City?” The soldier raised an eyebrow and sized up the man in front of him.
The man quickly said, “I came to visit a friend when the earthquake happened, so I had no choice but to stay here.”
“Your elder brother is named Wu Xun. He’s a sergeant with the Lule City Eastern Union Army, correct?” The soldier looked down at the detector.
The man was dumbstruck. “Yes, he is a member of the Eastern Union Army, but are you guys really turning away relatives of those in the Eastern Union Army?”
“Not at all. Both armies serve the United States. There is no tension between them…” The soldier said things no one believed before a cold smile appeared on his face. “But you do have a younger brother who joined the Church of Annujia, don’t you?”
The man’s expression suddenly changed. “I…he… I fell out of contact with him a long time ago.”
The soldier slowly looked up with a dark expression. “Who did you come to visit in Haiyun City? Why isn’t there anything in the database about your arrival?”
The man looked around as if to seek help from the people around them, but everyone remained silent. He had to turn back eventually.
“Sir, I really have nothing to do with my younger brother. I don’t know anything about the Church of Annujia either. I came with a tour group–”
“Stand aside.” The soldier interrupted in a cold voice, “You have been selected for a random search.”
Some of the soldiers maintaining order noticed the situation here and approached vigilantly, drawing their guns.
The man was too afraid to say anything more and stepped out of the line.
Yan Bubu felt the hand that was holding his tighten. He looked up at Feng Chen, whose lips had pursed into a straight line.
“Let’s go.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The soldier went to the entrance of the alley and found it empty already. The twisted path forward only had some scattered bricks and rubble.
He touched the electric baton at his waist and continued to move ahead. He took his gun out and peered into the cracked wall beside him.
There was no one inside. The soldier slowly moved forward again, step by step, with his gun raised.
Yan Bubu hid behind a concrete slab, right up against Feng Chen. He didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly as they listened to the sound of rustling footsteps closing in.
He realized at a very young age that there were two kinds of soldiers in the city. The Eastern Union Army and the Western Union Army.
When his mother took him out and the former checked their IDs, the soldiers would be very courteous with them. The Western Union Army, on the other hand, was very cold. His mother would always quickly whisk him away.
Although the Western Union Army was a bit aggressive, they usually didn’t need to hide when they ran into them. Yet that was what the young master was doing right now. Yan Bubu had a feeling something bad would happen if they were caught.
“Hey, I see you. Come out already.” The soldier’s voice came from just behind the broken wall.
Yan Bubu trembled with fear, but Feng Chen held his hand tightly and shook his head, wordlessly motioning for him to be quiet.
Yan Bubu hurriedly covered his mouth with his sleeve.
“No matter what crimes you’ve committed, let’s get through this disaster first. Come out. I won’t do anything to you…” The soldier’s voice was very mild as he loaded bullets into the chamber of his gun.
Feng Chen leaned over and poked his head out from the wall.
The hem of his shirt lifted as a result, revealing a small section of his strong yet thin waist. Like a cheetah poised to strike, every muscle was tensed at the ready.
The soldier seemed to sense something and was about to turn around when Feng Chen lunged at him.
Yan Bubu shuddered in fear. He heard a muffled thud from behind the wall and nothing else. He hurriedly climbed out of the concrete slab and saw the soldier collapsed motionless on the ground with a dazed Feng Chen standing over him.
“Y-Young Master.” Yan Bubu squeaked.
Feng Chen didn’t respond. There was a very odd expression on his face as he stared at his right fist and murmured, “I just punched him once…”
“Y-Young master, did you kill him?” Yan Bubu stood up and used his foot to push the gun on the ground further away.
Feng Chen came back to his senses and said, “No. He’s just knocked out after a strike to the temple.”
A voice came from the walkie-talkie on the soldier’s waist: [Lee Ben, where did Lee Ben go? Lee Ben, immediately reply when you copy.]
Feng Chen’s expression was grim. “Let’s go. They’ll come looking for him soon. We have to leave quickly.”
He went behind the broken wall to pick up his backpack, quickly leading Yan Bubu to the other end of the alley. Many footsteps came from behind as soon as they left the alley.
Yan Bubu couldn’t run too fast, so Feng Chen simply caught the back of his collar and sprinted away. Yan Bubu was half suspended in the air, only his toes touching the ground occasionally.
The suit jacket was so big that Yan Bubu’s body gradually sank until only his eyes were still above the collar. He was worried that he would slip out entirely, so he desperately kicked his legs to keep up with Feng Chen while frantically looking around.
There was a row of collapsed bungalows coming up on their left, the furthest one still shakily standing at an incredible angle. The door was blocked, but there was a small hole at the foot of the right wall that a person could pass through.
“Young Master, Young Master!” He hurriedly shouted, pointing at the hole, “Look.”
The people behind them were about to leave the alley. Feng Chen had no time to think. He picked up Yan Bubu and rushed over, shoving him into the hole.
Yan Bubu smartly scampered inside, Feng Chen right behind him. Then the teen reached out and used two pieces of debris to cover the hole.
The sound of disorderly footsteps stopped nearby. Several people could be heard.
“Where did he go? I don’t see anyone out here, and there’s no place to hide.”
“There’s a house there. Let’s check it out.”
“The door’s blocked. It looks like it might collapse at any time, so don’t get too close.”
“Got it.”
Yan Bubu and Feng Chen pressed against the wall, listening to the footsteps getting closer and closer until stopping in front of the hole.
The rocks blocking the hole were lifted, letting in a beam of light. Then the light was blocked as someone crouched down and tried to peer inside.
Yan Bubu clutched at the corner of Feng Chen’s shirt, watching him quietly take off his backpack to put it in the corner before smoothly using something to cover it. He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
At that moment, the house suddenly began to shake. Everything creaked as dust and wallpaper fell near the hole.
“Another fucking aftershock. Back off. This house might collapse.” Not far away, someone yelled.
The others loudly echoed the sentiment, “Let’s go, maybe he’s still in the alley somewhere. Let’s go back and go look for him.”
The man at the hole grunted and walked away, revealing the light again.
Yan Bubu held his breath until the voices of those people completely disappeared. Then he tugged at the corner of Feng Chen’s shirt and whispered, “Young Master, they’re all gone.”
Feng Chen didn’t respond. Yan Bubu looked at him only to find him staring up at the ceiling with a solemn expression, as if he had discovered something unusual.
He also looked, but only saw a few concrete slabs that hadn’t fallen there.
“Young Master.” He called out blankly.
“En, just wait.” Feng Chen kept looking up.
The concrete slabs above them were illuminated by the light coming through. There were several dark-coloured thin ropes on it, but the ropes weren’t taunt. They were curled things attached to the slabs, even embedded in some places like they were growing from within.
“Flashlight.” Feng Chen held out his hand.
Yan Bubu hurriedly opened the backpack in the corner and handed the flashlight to him.
Feng Chen illuminated the concrete slabs and saw that they weren’t thin ropes, but dark green vines decorated with heart-shaped leaves.
Devil’s ivy.
The devil’s ivy snaked around, gripping a few large pieces of debris tightly. He followed the thickest vine down with his flashlight until he saw a cracked flowerpot by the wall. The roots of the devil’s ivy had already grown into the ground.
He tugged on it, but the green vine was unusually sturdy and firmly attached. He tried a few times to no avail. An incredulous idea popped into Feng Chen’s mind: was this plant what prevented the house from collapsing during the earthquake?
But that earthquake happened without any warning. Unless the devil’s ivy extended its vines in the few seconds after…?
He instantly dismissed the idea. After all, that was something that only happened in movies. It clearly couldn’t have happened. Nonetheless, these devil’s ivy made cold sweat trickle down his back.
“Come on, we’re leaving.” Feng Chen said to Yan Bubu.
Yan Bubu has been staring at him the entire time. Although he didn’t understand what was going on, he also inexplicably became nervous. He immediately turned and scampered out of the hole.
“Where are we going now, Young Master?” Yan Bubu asked when Feng Chen also came out.
Feng Chen secured his backpack and looked around. “They’re going to scan our ID chips if we get food from them, so we have no choice but to find something else to eat now.”
“En, okay. Let’s find some food.” Yan Bubu put a hand on his grumbling stomach.
Why would he ask where they were going to find food? Wherever Feng Chen went, he would follow.
I know they can’t stay kids forever but I kind of them them to… ☺️
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter! 🤍💚🤍💚
Thank you 💐💐
Plant user? I love plant users
Kids should eat better
Thank you for your translation 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
Hungry little kids…hope they find something soon… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
oooh so it’s a kinda fictional world?
This is so interesting I Love it!!
I’m so surprised to see this is the United States ngl
According to a previous tl note, it’s not necessarily the USA, it’s just a collection of states or governing bodies.
they’re in a territory made up of united states but not ‘The United States of America’ if that makes sense? Its a group of territories with their own rules and government, but there’s a larger governing body over them, i believe.