Chapter 28
Jiangchuan District, hospital.
With just three sentences, Si Chen had cheated the company of 4.55 million credits. Now, he was lying on the hospital bed unable to move because he was too full.
He felt like a water balloon inflated to the extreme. The slightest shake could cause a leak.
But what was even more infuriating was that even though Si Chen couldn’t fall asleep because he was much too full, in the middle of the night, the Eternal Life Abyss’ voice suddenly sounded in his ears. “Mom…hungry…food…”
Si Chen sneered. “Are you trying to eat yourself to death?”
The Eternal Life Abyss ignored him, continuing to say, “Hehe…food… Mom… hehe…”
It took Si Chen a long time before he realized that the Eternal Life Abyss was talking in its sleep.
…
He kind of wanted to give this kid a beating but because their location made it inconvenient, Si Chen held back.
The next day, Si Chen finally felt that he could move. He got up and went to handle the discharge procedures.
Based on his experience of eating an Eyeworm last time, something might happen while he’s in this semi-comatose state. Si Chen was worried that he’d be found out through the hospital’s surveillance.
In the end, just as he was finishing the discharge procedures, Xin Xiaocao sent a message saying that he was going to bring all the members of Team 7 to the hospital to visit him.
When he said he was coming, Si Chen rushed to the toilet and looked in the mirror. He found that he had rosy lips and cheeks, he looked to be in the prime of health. And so, he had to buy a bottle of foundation from one of the nurses and applied it on his cheeks and lips.
Not only that, he also wrapped bandages and gauze around himself and dabbed iodine all over his body just to make sure that nothing could go wrong.
Si Chen looked in the mirror. He was quite satisfied with this look.
In the afternoon, Xin Xiaocao came alone with bags of all sizes. “The captain and the others are still at work. They asked me to come and see you.”
With that said, Xin Xiaocao opened the group video call and several faces appeared on the screen. Because they were underground, the signal wasn’t good and the image was quite dark.
“This is our Captain Long Que.”
This is our deputy team captain, the only one in the entire team who has passed the mechanical maintenance course…”
Xin Xiaocai introduced each of their teammates one by one.
His colleagues were very distressed when they saw his state and they all bid him take a good rest.
Si Chen nodded obediently. As soon as Xin Xiaocao left, he went home with their get well gifts.
Because there were simply too many things, he had to call a car to transport all of them.
Many of these get well gifts had the Serpent Staff Gene trademark. When the driver saw it, he was quite envious, “Joining a huge company at such a young age, you must have worked really hard. Unlike my son, he didn’t even pass the second round of interviews to join the factory.”
Society now is too competitive. Technological progress has eliminated a large number of mediocre labor jobs. If you want to find a good job these days, you must either be strong enough yourself or have a strong background. Otherwise, the only thing open to you is to work as a screw in a factory or to go to the Disaster Zone and make a living there.
Those who are born in the Disaster Zone has it the worst. Their living conditions aren’t as good as those in the Safe Zone and there is a good chance that they will only ever see the so-called new energy and high technology on TV. They will muddle through a primary education, after which they’ll be sent to work in the mines, in factories or do manual labor. And then suddenly, they’ll find themselves trapped in a Space Fold and that would be the end of their lives.
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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Just two months prior, these were all things that Si Chen couldn’t buy even if he wanted to.
It’s a pity that now he could only put it in storage to gather dust. He could have sold it on a second-hand website, but Si Chen was reluctant to do so.
Si Chen lay down on the bed in his new home. The thermostat and the floor heating were turned on, making him feel very comfortable.
The sleepiness was overwhelming and based on past experience, this was a harbinger of evolution.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, relaxed his body and let himself fall into a deep sleep.
This time, the Eternal Life Abyss didn’t shed its skin.
On Si Chen’s arm, there appeared a lump.
The lump swelled until it looked as though it would burst. And then, it cracked like a ripe fruit and bright red juice flowed out.
An eye grew out of the slit, its pupil was pitch black. It was very alert and a little curious.
The eyeball slowly popped out of the eye socket. Several black tentacles trailed behind the eyeball.
The Eternal Life Abyss squeezed out from the back of Si Chen’s arm. It looked like a ball of black liquid.
It didn’t look small anymore. Now fully out, it looked like it could fill at least a shoebox.
It was only twenty degrees. This temperature is nothing to an Eternal Life Abyss that can survive even hundreds of degrees below zero.
It was just that it had gotten used to Si Chen’s body temperature.
The Eternal Life Abyss pressed itself against Si Chen’s chest and at that moment he had a very strong urge to cut himself into pieces and shove them in his mother’s mouth.
There was another impulse: to eat mother.
But it held back. Although its IQ wasn’t high, the Eternal Life Abyss knew the Si Chen didn’t like getting eaten.
It would be awesome if there were two Si Chens, one to cuddle with and the other one to eat.
Just as the Eternal Life Abyss was thinking so, its eyeball seemed to catch a glimpse of something.
The Eternal Life Abyss wriggled and raised its eyeball.
Outside on the balcony, someone was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He had the same face as Si Chen, wearing a white dress, with his hand on the window, quietly watching the scene in the room.
He smiled, opened and closed his lips silently, saying, “Do – you – want – to – eat?”
The Eternal Life Abyss’ eyeball instantly turned bloodshot.
It squirmed and almost instantly threw itself to the window where it slammed against the tempered glass.
Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, the figure in white was gone.
The Eternal Life Abyss let out a low frustrated moan, feeling very regretful and annoyed.
…
…
This time Si Chen slept for three days. When he woke up, just as he expected, he felt hungry.
Before the Eternal Life Abyss could speak, Si Chen had already answered, “I know, you’re hungry. Bear with it.”
The Eternal Life Abyss: “…”
Si Chen went to the bathroom to take a shower. While there, he checked all over and found no strange marks on his body this time.
Although he’d gone with a biological transformation as his path of evolution, Si Chen’s degree of distortion wasn’t high. He couldn’t compare with someone like Song Qingyu who could spin silk.
After eating the Evolutionary Eyeworm, Si Chen could feel that he had acquired a new skill.
[Blood pupil: When it’s on, your eyes turn red, causing hallucinations to intelligent beings.]
For the time being, Si Chen didn’t know where he could use such an ability. What he did know was that the hole in his body representing the “Second Step” was now completely filled with eyeballs.
They were densely crowded in this narrow hole, like eggs stuffed to the brim.
The third cave was opened a little bit, but not completely.
Si Chen was now right between the Second and Third Step, solidly in neither.
Si Chen had been completely unconscious and unware during the past three days.
Fortunately, Song Qingyu had given him half a month’s leave and Si Chen’s had very few social contacts. No one would care where he went save for Ji Chuyao.
Ji Chuyao: I heard you were transferred to the Production department?
Ji Chuyao: Did you go to the Space Fold area in Jiangchuan District? Stay safe.
Ji Chuyao: Are you there?
There was exactly one message each day and every time, the message was sent precisely at six o’clock in the afternoon.
It just goes to show that no matter how rich a man, chasing his wife always starts with “Are you there?”
Si Chen: En, I’m working in the production department now. I’ve been there and have come back already. I ran into a bit of trouble but it’s been resolved.
That bit of trouble referred to encountering an Evolutionary Creature that forced him into the Singer’s territory to survive and almost dying in the process.
Si Chen: I’m resting at home now. I was reading a book before and didn’t check my phone. The boss is very good. After knowing I was injured, he gave me half a month off.
Si Chen remembered the gifts sent by his colleagues and typed in: By the way, I signed a new contract. My monthly salary has risen to 700,000 credits. I bought some things for you.
After sending the message, as was now his habit, he threw in a sticker of a cute kitten.
This time, Ji Chuyao didn’t answer for a long time.
He’d accidentally crushed the phone with his bare hands.
Si Chen tentatively sent: I want to ask you something, how does one evolve?
All he knew was that the Eternal Life Abyss would be hungry and the only thing it liked to drink were nutrient solutions and what it liked to eat were High-Dimensional creatures. When the Eternal Life Abyss is full, Si Chen will evolve with it.
In short, all this did not seem to have much to do with him.
Ji Chuyao: “For mechanical transformation, you look at the energy core; for biological transformation, you look at the implanted high-dimensional creature. In most cases, the high-dimensional creature is killed during the transformation process and some of its characteristics will be retained. I have not specifically learned about spiritual transformation but it should be similar to biological transformation.”
Si Chen: These evolutionary paths all depend on High Dimensional creatures. Is there no path that relies on oneself?
Ji Chuyao: Why would it be called “High Dimensional evolution” otherwise? There used to be but if you rely solely on your own, no matter how hard you try, you will only ever be able to reach the Fourth Step. So that path has long since been rejected.
Ji Chuyao: Moreover, as Low Dimensional Creatures, human beings have too obvious limitations. There is no way around this. Don’t think too much about it.
Si Chen: OK, thank you. I’ll go and read my book first.
As per usual convention, this should be the end of their conversation.
After a moment of feeling conflicted, Ji Chuyao finally turned on his phone again.
He asked, trying his best to pretend he was only asking offhand: By the way, who’s your boss?
Si Chen: Song Qingyu.
Ji Chuyao: He’s not bad.
After a while, he added: He’s just a little weak and he’s only just reached the Fifth Step.
At almost every second, a new message came from Ji Chuyao.
Ji Chuyao: And he’s ten years older than I am.
Ji Chuyao: His family also isn’t as rich as mine.
Ji Chuyao: He’s just so-so.
Si Chen was a little puzzled and after scrolling up for a long time, in one inconspicuous corner, he finally found the message he’d sent that triggered it.
– “The boss is good.”
Si Chen: …
It is said that the human brain does not fully mature until the age of thirty. It seems there’s some truth to that.
Your puppy boyfriend wants your attention!!!
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
Kitty Si Chen: Yeah, the boss is fine…
Doggo Ji Chuyao: Fine?!
Hahaha… So, uh, can Si Chen eat both bio and spirit based creatures to evolve…? Also, that Spirit teasing Little Abyss is funny. Totally something Si Chen would do.
And when you’re in love, no matter what age you are, the ship known as your brain capsizes, there’s no escaping that.
Thank you for the chapter~!
he’s not human though…
Oh jealous~
Thanks for the chapter 🌹
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Hahahahaha! The cuteness contest I on! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Hah!