Chapter 48
Si Chen sat in the back of the car.
This off-road vehicle looked unremarkable but it had been remodeled very well. Not only was its artillery comparable to a military vehicle, its passengers could even fully lie down and sleep.
The extendable dining table from the car door came with a feature that enabled it to hold the plate and the glass filled with hot watermelon juice steady.
Last time at Ji Chuyao’s house, Si Chen drank this.
He really likes the taste of watermelon juice but it tastes better cold.
Si Chen took off the filter mask from his face.
The air quality in the Copper Stone District is very poor. Dust and ashes from the power stones floated about everywhere. Although, it won’t affect an Evolutionary’s health, it still doesn’t smell very good.
The metal mask was black and against Si Chen’s white skin, it created a very eye-catching contrast.
Even Ji Yuanji who was used to seeing beautiful people, couldn’t help but cast a few more glances.
The corner of Si Chen’s lips curled up and he asked him, “Do I look good?”
Ji Yuanji blushed and turned his head away angrily.
Little nephew Ji Yuanji also got a glass of watermelon juice, no sugar added.
Holding the glass, he was flattered by this favor from a superior and the corners of his lips couldn’t help from rising up. He said coyly, “You are too kind, Uncle.”
Ji Chuyao replied, “It’s nothing. Si Chen can’t finish it by himself.”
Ji Yuanji: “…”
He didn’t know why the watermelon juice he had suddenly didn’t taste quite as good.
There was an automatic driving system in the car, so Ji Chuyao didn’t need to sit in the driver’s seat at all. But Ji Yuanji wasn’t sharp enough to pick up on the cues and insisted on sitting next to Si Chen.
“Let me introduce you. This is my third cousin’s youngest son, Ji Yuanji. He is 19 years old and a sophomore. You can call him Xiao Ji.” Ji Chuyao activated the control panel of the off-road vehicle, “This is your Uncle Si Chen. Xiao Ji, call him Shushu.”
Si Chen defended himself. “I’m only 22. I think calling me Gege is enough.”
He was only three years younger. Even calling him by name shouldn’t matter.
Ji Yuanji endured the humiliation and said, “Shushu.”
After calling him thus, Ji Yuanji turned his head to the side and refused to look at him.
In view of the fact that he’ll be entering an instance with Ji Yuanji soon, Si Chen explained slowly, “The disabled people you saw at the station are all professional beggars. Didn’t you see that they only took the nutrient solutions but didn’t even drink them? That’s because they have owners and they’ll be handing those to them.”
Si Chen educated him on the cruel crime of “plucking and cutting”.
Ji Yuanji was stunned when he heard this. He quietly clenched his hand around his cup. “But, at least, if they get something, those people would be better off… right?”
Of course not.
But Si Chen didn’t argue with him.
These begging tools on the streets have at least one function: to satisfy the deep fantasy and narcissism of people like Ji Yuanji. They will be touched by their own kindness through the act of giving.
But who could say that this wasn’t a kind of compassion?
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.
Si Chen changed the subject. He looked at Ji Chuyao and said, “The people at the station saw Ji Yuanji getting into this car. They might send someone to follow.”
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**
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When the energy core reserves were exhausted, this transport station also fell into disuse. In the parking lot, weeds were growing stubbornly on top of the stone peaks. Like reeds, they had a ring of dark gray fluff growing on the tip of their blades.
The young man got down from the driver’s seat, took out three sleeping bags and seemed to be planning to rest.
They even cleared a patch of snow.
This was the scene sent back by the reconnaissance drone.
“This car was produced by the Machine Core Group. It was a model from 15 years ago and at the time, it cost two million credits…” The man who spoke licked his chapped lips. “See the row of steel pipes at the bottom of the car, it’s been remodeled.”
A two million credit car, at current prices, was moderately priced. But for the people in the Disaster Zone, it is already a huge sum of money.
If the price of this car is too high, they wouldn’t dare attempt to do anything to it.
A cripple without his lower body seated on the ground, added, “The nutritional supplement that the young master took out is the latest product on the market.”
He used to be a teacher in an elementary school. In order to treat his mother’s illness, he borrowed money at a usurious interest rate and failed to repay the loan and thus fell to this point.
But even if he was a disabled beggar, he was obviously treated a little better than the others. The boss even allowed him to eat at the table.
“So, do we go in?”
The man called ‘boss’ had a fleshy face and there was a scar running through his face, all the way from the back of his ear. It looked like his entire face had been cut open.
The boss exhaled a mouthful of crude earthen smoke. “The old captain left me with a rule that if you hesitate for more than three minutes, it’s best not to do it. It’s been more than three minutes now.”
The people under him showed disappointed expressions.
All three of them looked young, like young masters on a vacation in the wilderness. Rich and stupid. It would be a pity to pass it up.
But, the boss suddenly changed the topic and pointed at Si Chen. “I’ve been thinking for a long time about where I’ve seen that person. I finally remembered. Three months ago, that kid Chen Yan took an order and went to Meishan District to loot. He escaped the scanners in Space Fold area only to die on the ride home…”
Chen Yan had the Ghost Hand. He could fight and even had a mind control skill. Generally speaking, even if he couldn’t win, at least, he wouldn’t die. But unexpectedly, he died on some ordinary bus and the goods disappeared.
“I asked someone from Copper Stone’s Safety Bureau to send me the case file. Did you know that only one person survived from that bus?” The boss pressed the end of his burning cigarette against Si Chen’s face on the screen, burning a dark hole. “And that’s him.”
His voice was calm but there was a strong aura of bloodthirst in the air.
The boss too was surnamed Chen, codenamed Ghost Blood.
The man, who was in charge of the technical investigation, wiped the cold sweat off his brow. “Boss, I haven’t found any information about these three people.”
Their information database that they’d purchased for six million credits didn’t have the information of these three people.
Which told them only one thing: none of them were ordinary citizens.
Boss Chen’s eyes slowly turned red and he said in a low voice, “Then we won’t do anything in the wild. Aren’t these three going into the Space Fold? Have Ghost Blade follow them in.”
The room fell quiet for a moment.
“…It’s true that after the last incident, Ghost Blade isn’t the same Ghost Blade anymore. But if we let him out of the basement, will he still listen to orders?”
The boss pointed to his head and said with a smile, “What are you afraid of? He’s got that chip here, doesn’t he?”
**
The three of them waited in the wilderness for four hours and apart from detecting that the drone, they hadn’t seen anyone else.
The sky was already dark and Si Chen even actually fell asleep in his sleeping bag.
It felt okay and it was soft inside. It was like being surrounded by cotton.
Ji Chuyao glanced at Ji Yuanji’s metal arm. “Your shiny arm must have scared them away.”
Ji Yuanji felt very wronged. “My energy core is only Level 3! I even specially chose a normal prosthetic model. I doubt this would scare anyone away!”
If he’d gone for a combat version, he could have directly installed a mechanical ax for an arm.
The Eternal Life Abyss let out a big yawn. “Mom, good morning~”
Because there were outsiders, Si Chen didn’t answer, simply caressing the raised bright red seam on the back of his hand.
Ji Chuyao handed over a vacuum seal bag and Si Chen opened it. Inside was an automatically heated disposable face towel, suitable for wiping one’s face and hands.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
Ji Chuyao’s brows and eyes looked very relaxed. “You’re welcome.”
Ji Yuanji had a nagging feeling that Ji Chuyao’s attentive demeanor looked very familiar.
Thinking about it carefully, he was acting just like Ji Sicheng in front of Chu Fuxi.
Like father, like son.
The off-road vehicle got back on the road. After driving for 51 hours, they finally arrived at the set coordinates.
“You have reached your destination. I look forward to serving you next time.”
The car stopped at the edge of a mine pit.
Ji Chuyao said, “This used to be one of the main mining areas in Copper Stone District.”
The mining company was a subsidiary of the Machine Core Group.
The plain was covered in snow and at first glance, it looked like the surface of the moon, with pits of different sizes. Viewed from above, these pits revealed a spiral pattern. These lines were winding mountain roads.
Energy stones will only be produced in areas where high-dimensional invasions have occurred.
Here, time and space must be extremely unstable, resulting in occasional Space Folds.
On the old map, this plain was originally one of the most prosperous gathering places for humans.
By the time they arrived, quite a few people were already there. Everyone consciously distanced themselves from each other.
The biggest advantage of a Space Fold in the wilderness is that there is no need to pay the Security Bureau. And so, there were a lot more people than when Si Chen entered an instance last time.
Ji Chuyao opened the trunk of the car and took out a metal box.
After some tinkering, a hatch opened and a drone flew into the sky.
“Although the terrain changes in a Space Fold, it won’t change much. I’ll download a satellite map first. Xiao Ji, you can check the Bluetooth communication device. Also set up a signal tower and send a message to the family… Oh, that’s right, I haven’t asked you why you ran away from home.”
Ji Yuanji said sullenly, “Dad has arranged a marriage for me. He wants me to get married at 25 and get engaged first.”
“Which family?”
Ji Yuanji became even angrier. “A guy from the Song family. The marriage agreement stipulates that there are to be two children. One named Ji and the other named Song.”
Ji Chuyao: “If you don’t want to have children, you can find a way to mechanize your lower body after we get back.”
While talking, he looked around. “Where’s Si Chen?”
Ji Yuanji: “Si Chen Ge said he wanted to walk around by himself to get some fresh air.”
As soon as he arrived, Si Chen got out of the car and walked away. His occupational disease made him very curious about the plants here.
Ji Chuyao said, “You go and find him. It’s not safe in the wilderness.”
The main thing is that in the wilderness, people are very open and not the least bit reserved. There’s no law enforcement team and violent incidents occur from time to time.
Si Chen actually didn’t need protection but Ji Chuyao couldn’t help it.
Ji Yuanji: “Uncle, he isn’t from the Si family, is he?”
The Si Family could also be regarded as an Evolutionary family with some small amount money; nothing comparable to a behemoth like the Ji Family. It would be similar to comparing one of the world’s richest to one of a certain city’s richest.
“No, why?” Ji Chuyao raised his head, his blue-green eyes glowing slightly.
“Do you like him? Are you going to marry him?”
Ji Yuanji was actually at a loss.
He appeared to be used to matchmaking and arranged marriages because everyone around him was like this.
Occasionally there are free marriages but without the family’s support, it usually doesn’t end well.
Ji Chuyao replied. “If he wants.”
It’s a pity about that idiom ‘Big Qi unmatched‘. At present, to speak nothing of marriage, the two of them didn’t even have any signs of falling in love.
“Actually, I think Si Chen Ge’s not bad. Mainly because, Uncle, you’re a lot more charming with him around…”
Ji Chuyao corrected, “It’s Si Chen Shushu. Don’t go sneakily raising your seniority.”
Ji Yuanji asked in a low voice. “Has Grandfather agreed?”
From childhood to adulthood, Ji Sicheng has never asked anything of him. Ji Sicheng’s greatest wish was for him to be safe, happy and content.
It was a pity that Ji Chuyao didn’t answer this question.
Ji Yuanji also gave up.
The scan showed that Si Chen had gone two kilometers away.
Ji Yuanji walked towards the direction indicated on the map.
As he walked, the sunlight in the sky suddenly shrank and the ground shook and rumbled.
The surrounding space distorted in an instant. The surroundings seemed to turn into an oil painting of “The Scream” with distorted vortices of varying degrees appearing suddenly.
A leaflet floated down from the sky.
Ji Yuanji picked it up and took a look. He obviously shouldn’t know the words on it, but he clearly understood the meaning. “Give up resistance. Abandon your delusions. Humanity has been crushed. The future world belongs to the Machines!”
Ji Yuanji’s face froze and he looked up at the sky. “Has it begun?”
Thank you for the chapter.
New arch!!
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Machines v humans? … Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Thanks for the chapter 🌹