Chapter 47
When playing online games, there would often be high-end players who carry noobs for various purposes such as making friends.
When Si Chen occasionally visits the forums on the Association’s website, he too would see some rich landowners, who had money but no background, offering huge sums to anyone who’d take them to an instance.
And after all, not all Evolutionaries come from rich families. So long as the price is high enough, there are plenty of people willing to take the risk.
Si Chen held back for a couple of seconds but in the end, was unable to resist the temptation.
Si Chen: Where are you going?
Ji Chuyao: [coordinates]
The location was a little far from Jiangchuan. It was a no-man’s land in the middle of the area connection Jiangchuan and Beicheng, two large Safe Zones.
Ji Chuyao: According to the test, it should be between a 2A and 3A. Most military academies’ practical exam will be held in Space Folds around this range. It would be very suitable for you.
After Si Chen turned 18, the first Space Fold he encountered was a level 3A.
He was no longer the noob he’d been at the beginning who knew nothing about evolution. He knows just how lucky he is to be alive now.
If he hadn’t met Ji Chuyao and his inexhaustible supply of gene medicine, he wouldn’t have been able to resist the strong energy radiation during even the first handful of days.
Thinking about it, it was inevitable that he’d add a +1 to Ji Chuyao’s affection column.
Ji Chuyao: En, the estimated date of occurrence is about half a month later. If we set off now, we should be there just in time.
For most people, the only means of transportation in the wild is off-road vehicles.
A small number of people could use a plane and Ji Chuyao is one of those few people.
Only that it is extremely costly to ride a plane these days. Just one plane trip from Beicheng to Jiangchuan could cost him half a month’s pocket money.
It was fine if done occasionally. But flying to Jiangchuan every day would simply be too extravagant and would gander a lot of unwanted attention.
There was benefit to having a big family but the more people there are, the more thoughts there are.
Ji Chuyao never thought of letting Si Chen be his nighthawk but he couldn’t control what other people thought.
When the time comes, If some unworthy descendant of his runs his or her mouth, wouldn’t his hard-earned favorability rating take another deep plunge?
The two agreed on a time and place to meet and then exchanged friendly “good night”s.
Although he’d only joined the team last month, he was going to a Space Fold after all. There was no telling how long he’d be in there. Therefore, Si Chen logged into the company’s intranet system and applied for a leave.
The reason isn’t a free field and employees have to select from the drop down options. Si Chen chose “Entering a Space Fold” and a new dialog box popped up, asking him to fill in the coordinates.
Si Chen filled in the coordinates sent by Ji Chuyao.
The application was approved and marked as under review.
The next day, he received a message on his phone saying that his application had been approved.
“A total of 7 production department employees have applied to enter this Space Fold. Their employee numbers are as follows…; You may contact each other on the company’s intranet.”
Serpent Staff Gene is one of the largest and most prestigious enterprise in the Alliance. Naturally, they would have more than one production department.
Si Chen clicked on the profile information of the other people but he didn’t recognize any of them.
“Addendum: Provide information about the Space Fold and after review, you may avail of overtime subsidies.”
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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Documents, guns, army knives, the Little Bear’s lighter, containment bags; nutritional supplements, sets of uniforms, nutrient solutions, gene medicines… Putting everything in, it was just enough to fill a small suitcase. Most of them he just bought from the company.
After hesitating for a moment, Si Chen decided to still take along the prosthetic eye with the locator.
In case his current one gets broken, it could still serve as a replacement.
The habited area closest to the Space Fold was called Copper Stone. Like the name suggested, this place used to be a mass production site for energy stone mining. Unfortunately, later on, the resource grew scarce and it was now a well-known poverty-stricken area within the Alliance, spending their days looking forward to the yearly financial assistance from the other areas.
Jiangchuan was quite a distance from Copper Stone so Si Chen needed to take a long-distance bus.
Si Chen’s wallet has gotten considerably thicker and so he decided to book an extravagant first-class seat.
The further north you go, the colder it gets. It was almost April and there were light yellow snowflakes floating around.
This extreme weather is a common occurrence given the present state of the planet.
The attendant in first-class was an intelligent robot. To avoid the uncanny valley effect, the robot attendants were created in cute cylindrical shapes.
It can help make the bed, launder your clothes and regularly empty the garbage.
Si Chen was at the dining bar, staring out the window for a little too long.
The robot said, “Esteemed passenger, do you like the snow landscape? We shall be stopping at service area soon and we shall be there was a while. If you’d like, I can take your picture for you.”
Si Chen shook his head. “I don’t like snow.”
For the civilians in the Disaster Zones, snowy days mean there would be people who’ll die. When Si Chen was a child, he was often so cold that it would result in a persistent fever, causing him to shiver all over. Several times, the nurses though he wouldn’t make it to spring.
Although his experience in the orphanage wasn’t pleasant, as a child, the treatment he’d received as much better than most in the Disaster Area. Most died on the streets.
People who die from hypothermia often feel very hot before they die. Because of the unbearable heat, they would even strip naked. Bare naked; how they came in to the world, was how they died.
This is called paradoxical undressing.
First-class seats came with single rooms where the passenger can sleep. And the floors were heated too.
In the wilderness, there was no signal in most areas so Si Chen specially brought along a deck of playing cards.
After a few days of training, the Eternal Life Abyss has learned how to play a number of card games like poker. It was a pity that they were one player short of being able to play Fight the Landlord.
When the bus arrived at their destination, Si Chen, though still raring to go another round, put away the cards. “How much do you owe Mom now?”
The Eternal Life Abyss pointed with its tentacles aggrievedly. “15…meals.”
“Do you know what you’re going to do in the Space Fold this time?”
Eternal Life Abyss: “Find food, give to Mom.”
Not only was this black-hearted mother, making his less than a year old child do housework, he was even letting it shoulder so much debt at such a young age.
As an Evolutionary on the Third Step, Si Chen was no longer afraid of the cold.
He’s wearing a shirt with his uniform. He had on a metal filter mask and was carrying a fine metal luggage. You could tell at a glance that he wasn’t from around here.
The transportation terminal in Copper Stone wasn’t even as busy as an ordinary bus station in Jiangchuan.
Probably because of the Space Fold nearby, many people had arrived at Copper Stone during the last few days, the restaurant that had been abandoned for a long time reopened, selling drinks. Others held signs offering accommodation and car rentals.
Additionally, by the roadside, a short few hundred meters from the transport station, were a lot of cripples sitting on their knees.
Despite the ice and snow, these people wore only thin unlined garments. They basically had only an arm or a leg left. They sat on bicycles, playing songs from a small old speaker, a begging bowl in front each one.
Only Si Chen’s eyes were visible but his attire only represented one thing in the Disaster Zone: wealth.
At least, wealthier than the average person.
Some of them hesitated for a moment, then came forward with a bowl in their hands. “Master, just a little please.”
Although Meishan District, where Si Chen grew up, was also a Disaster Zone, comparatively speaking, it was more developed. At least, the streets were clean and they had shopping arcades, hospitals and libraries.
Although, they also occasionally had such professional beggars on the streets in the city center. They were called “Plucked and Cut“.
They are man-made horrors, people made into human swine, made to use their disabilities to elicit pity and thus money from others. The money they earn from begging won’t fall into their own pockets but will be taken away by the local “boss”. They aren’t people, they are tools.
Some of these tools were mortgaged by their parents, some went in to pay personal debts and some came from trafficking. One these tools outlive their purpose, some are sent to be blood slaves and some are sent to have their organs removed and sold. Some are sold outright. One person can sell for tens of thousands of credits.
Because they cannot enter the Safe Zone, such scenes are seen only in the Disaster Zone.
Si Chen saw these tools as neither good nor bad themselves. Si Chen simply didn’t want these tools’ owners to reap any benefits.
He ignored them and simply passed them by.
The disabled tool man then turned towards to passenger that came after Si Chen.
The person walking behind him was also an Evolutionary who got down from the first-class carriage. He had a young and outstanding appearance. His clothes were even more obviously expensive than Si Chen’s and the surface of his exposed metal arms had light golden lines.
The two had crossed paths in the bus before.
Obviously, the boy had never experienced such a situation and he was a little flustered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring cash.”
Saying so, he hesitated for a moment and took out a box of nutrient solution from his suitcase.
The eyes of these beggars turned blood red, and they rushed forward like vultures.
A boy’s voice came from far behind, “Hey, wait. Slow down, don’t rush…”
After a while, the boy found his way standing next to Si Chen at the bus stop.
He glanced at Si Chen and said emphatically, “Those lacking in virtue, will suffer disasters. Those underserving of wealth, will bear loses”
In fact, he had no need to raise his voice at all. Most Evolutionaries have had their senses heightened and their ears are as sharp as cats’.
Si Chen didn’t get angry and simply said, “Be careful when you sleep at night.”
This was not a threat.
He had no idea which family foolish spendthrift this was but innocent, enthusiastic and young people often end up being targeted by people with evil plans.
In Disaster Zones, people going missing is a common occurrence.
So long as the profit is big enough, there are countless desperadoes willing to take the risks.
Si Chen bowed his head and sent Ji Chuyao his current location.
The other party had arrived half a day before him and had come by car. He said he would come pick him up.
Ji Chuyao replied: Noted.
Then a voice message came: “Si Chen. My cousin’s son snuck out of school and his current location is displayed as Copper Stone District. My cousin has asked me to look after him. I’m sorry, this time we may have to take him with us .My little nephew is currently ranked 20th for his Step and his performance isn’t bad. Don’t worry about him being a burden.”
“This is completely unexpected and I’m not happy about it either.” Ji Chuyao’s voice was slightly distressed.
When Ji Chuyao got the news, he was even tempted to remotely crush his nephew's energy core.
After all, no one wants a third wheel on a date.
That’s right, for Ji Chuayo, a Level 2A Space Fold was no different from a date spot.
He had even already thought of the name of their future child on his way there.
But life is always full of surprises.
Si Chen glanced at the child next to him and suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.
This feeling reached its peak when a black off-road vehicle slowly approached from the corner of the street and the child next to him started fidgeting in excitement.
“Uncle! I’m here!”
Si Chen: “…”
Your Ji family is just filled with people so eager to be wronged.
Ji Chuyao parked the car, opened the door and got down from the driver’s seat with a hand warmer in his hand.
He asked, “It’s a bit cold here, careful not to get hypothermia. Is the luggage heavy? I’ll help you carry it.”
Ji Yuanji was taken aback: “Uncle, we’re family. There’s no need to be so polite.”
Who was Ji Chuyao? The chairman of the student union of Beicheng University, perpetually ranked first on his Step, Ji Sicheng’s only son. They were from the same family and Ji Yuanji called him uncle but he was well aware of the disparity between him and this uncle; it had to be at least two Safe Zones wide.
During the Chinese New Year family gathering, Ji Chuyao was at the first table and he was at the seventh.
They are only 6 years apart, but as an elder, Ji Chuyao gave red envelopes to the younger generation.
Family gathering like these were some of the rare opportunities for the lowly members of the clan to refresh the bigshots’ memories of their faces.
Ji Yuanji remembered the last time they met. Ji Chuyao was seated next to a box of energy stones tied with red silk.
The juniors bowed and saluted one by one. Ji Chuyao kept a faint smile on his face.
This uncle probably didn’t like dinner parties with so many people. Although he was not difficult to get along with, he was obviously distant and reserved. When has he even been so solicitous?
But Ji Chuyao simply rushed past him. He stuffed the hand warmer into Si Chen’s hand and took his suitcase while he was at it. In a slightly distressed tone, “Why are you wearing so little? I’ve heat up your meal. Get in the car first. It’ll snow any moment now.”
Si Chen: “En.”
Then, he got into the car confidently?!
Ji Yuanji: “——??”
The world seemed to have just turned fantastical.
Pfft! Dumb nephew, turn down your light and keep away from trouble!
Also, Ji Chuyao having his first-time-crush-idiocy is so… cute. Thinking about what to name their child… Oh Heavens! Do Turing and White Dress agree to this union tho?
Thank you for the chapter!
It is so cute ughhh
hoe before bro?
Stand aside third wheel, the wife is here… Thanks for the update 🤣🤣🤣❤️❤️❤️
Light bulb 😂 go light up somewhere. Dont bother your uncle’s date hahahaha
“Plucked and cut” it’s also a pretty sad, but common thing in my country
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
D*ng, a third wheel 🤦
But I’m so happy, Ji Chuyao already thought of the baby’s name kyaaahhh!! 🤭😍