“Target lost, confirmed entry of Traveller Ning Gu into the Lost Alley.”Long Biao observed from the rooftop as the Travellers engaged with the city guards, dispersing in all directions.
After a moment, he also added, “Communication with Lian Chuan from Sixth Unit lost, presumed entry into the Lost Valley.”
“Mission concluded,” He heard Lei Yu say, “Regroup and standby.”
Long Biao gazed ahead. When he first arrived, the caracal was crouched on the opposite rooftop, observing the situation below. Now, when he looked over, there was no sight of the cat.
“Caracal’s gone,” He connected to Lei Yu’s private channel, “Do I need to report it?”
“No need.” Lei Yu replied, “He’s just Lian Chuan’s partner, not a cleanup member anymore. You don’t have to report about him.”
“Understood.” Long Biao said this, but still didn’t disconnect from the channel.
“Ask away.” Lei Yu prompted him.
“Does Lian Chuan have a personal mission? Like having to succeed in capturing the target or something,” Long Biao asked, “Even though I have my own opinions about Lian Chuan’s abilities being overly glorified, it doesn’t stop me from finding this mission too cruel.”
“Regroup.” Lei Yu ordered. This mission wasn’t classified, so although Long Biao mentioned Lian Chuan’s objective undisclosed to the other team members, Lei Yu didn’t care as much, since there was no problem with the mission itself.
However, Long Biao’s words left him a bit uncomfortable. This man had always been hostile towards Lian Chuan, and they had always been at odds since the day they first met. But, whether it was Long Biao or Lian Chuan, they would always do their utmost to protect a teammate during a mission. Their captain, however, couldn’t.
Lei Yu sighed and entered the Internal Defense Building.
The feedback from Lian Chuan’s movements had already been transmitted, so he didn’t necessarily have to come again. However, since everyone in the City Affairs and Internal Defense already thought that he was being overprotective, he might as well drop pretence and inquire about the course of events.
There was only Liu Dong in the monitoring room. Lei Yu breathed a sigh of relief; he didn’t want Secretary Chen around. Even though this Secretary had the most direct connections between the City Affairs Bureau and Internal Affairs Department, he was still an outsider. Inquiring about the developments, especially those related to Lian Chuan, were better done without an outsider present.
“I knew you’d come here.” Liu Dong gave him an enthusiastic handshake, a smile on his face as he looked at Lei Yu.
“How’s it going?” Lei Yu asked, “Is there any feedback?”
“None,” Liu Dong frowned, “The disturbance caused by the Travellers’ abilities around the time when Ning Gu and Lian Chuan entered the Lost Valley was too great; we didn’t manage to capture any clear image.”
“Can you determine whether both of them had entered?”
“You don’t want him to go in there that much?” Liu Dong watched him.
“From a personal standpoint, yes.” Lei Yu replied.
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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“Are you suggesting that he did it intentionally?” Lei Yu crossed his arms, “Then why choose a location near the Lost Valley to keep a watch? He could’ve picked anywhere else, waited for Ning Gu to enter, and then he would naturally have to ‘follow him inside’.”
Liu Dong nodded slowly, but quickly added, “Did you ask him? About why did it have to be the Lost Valley.”
“I did,” Lei Yu said, “The prerequisite for proving himself invaluable is that he remains alive.”
.o0o.
Only alive can I prove myself irreplaceable.
No matter what Ning Gu meant for the Main City, for Lian Chuan, he was an enormous threat. If he were simply caught and sent back to the surface right away, Lian Chuan would probably never get a chance to seize the initiative. His only option was to enter the Lost Valley voluntarily while creating an illusion that he wanted to avoid it.
In a place where even the Internal Defense Department, equipped with their strongest gear, had never dared to step in, faced with the possibility of getting lost, disappearing, or even dying, there was his last glimmer of hope to control his own destiny.
“Did you understand?” Lian Chuan looked at Ning Gu.
Ning Gu blinked his eyes, so Lian Chuan let go of his throat.
Ning Gu’s ability may not have completely awakened yet; Lian Chuan didn’t get that feeling every time he approached him. There was also nothing unusual when he locked eyes with Ning Gu. But whether it was an offence or defence, he’s never heard about Traveller having passive abilities.
There were people talking coming from the direction of the entrance; some Travellers were coming in.
“Let’s go.” Lian Chuan pushed him forward.
Ning Gu hesitated, but refrained from calling for help. One, to save face; two, to prevent his comrades from dying; and three… because he wanted to know why Lian Chuan wanted him to experience the cruelty from those distant memories.
He vaguely felt like these things were the key to why he could survive in Lian Chuan’s hands. It might even be a leverage he could use against Lian Chuan.
As for why Lian Chuan would present him with this leverage, he hadn’t figured it out yet, but Travellers came and went like the wind, their minds following wherever it pleased. In any case, he still had to die, so he had time to contemplate it.
As Ning Gu continued down the passage, he heard a vague mechanical sound behind him. Turning his head, he saw Lian Chuan removing the exoskeleton and equipment from his body. He immediately grew anxious, and scolded him in a hushed voice, “Do you really think you’re such a big shot of the cleanup team? Aren’t you being too arrogant? Running into someone else’s territory and even removing your equipment? Don’t you know that those…”
Lian Chuan tossed his weapon to the side and pointed a finger at him. Ning Gu’s hand immediately went to his throat and he turned around, continuing to walk forward.
He had only taken two steps when he suddenly felt his collar and shoulders tighten. Then, his arms were pulled back, and in a blink of an eye, the coat he had been wearing was already on Lian Chuan.
“Do you have no shame?” Ning Gu looked down at himself in shock, confirming that in just that second, his long overcoat was snatched by a Hyena, leaving even this notorious bully of the Ghost City with no time to resist. It really made him puff flames from anger.
“Go,” Lian Chuan looked at him, issuing a brief command.
Ning Gu felt that in his entire life, only in front of Captain could he control his temper like this. He walked ahead with his head down, tearing a slit in the hem of the jacket he was wearing. There was also a similar one on the overcoat. Regardless of its usefulness, he followed Hammer’s advice and made a mark.
The Travellers coming in ran past him with loud cheers, and one of them even used his shoulder to jump, clearly very excited. Ning Gu also picked up the pace and soon saw the red glow of the Lost Valley. He stopped and turned his head back to look at Lian Chuan. “I’m going to speak now.”
Lian Chuan remained silent. Ning Gu also didn’t speak, staring blankly at Lian Chuan’s face.
He had probably taken off his gear and stolen Ning Gu’s clothes because he feared other people would recognise him as a Hyena. That was also why he now also got rid of the highly advanced visor, specifically designed for the Hyenas, revealing his entire face. Although Ning Gu had previously glimpsed parts of his face, he didn’t have a clear image. Seeing it directly now, he could finally confirm that it matched the legends—there was a certain coldness to his expressionless face.
But he seemed much younger than Ning Gu had imagined.
“If you’re not speaking, then let’s go.” Lian Chuan said.
“This is my second time in the Lost Valley,” Ning Gu continued, “Don’t expect me to be your guide; I don’t know the way.”
“Let’s go.” Lian Chuan said.
“I haven’t finished yet.” Ning Gu looked at him.
Lian Chuan didn’t speak, but also didn’t move.
“If someone comes looking for trouble, you have to help me deal with them. I don’t know why you made me see those things from your past, but if you don’t help me, regardless of your reasons, I will not cooperate.”
Lian Chuan’s face remained expressionless, and even his gaze didn’t waver.
“Deal?” Ning Gu asked.
“Deal.” Lian Chuan replied.
Ning Gu nodded his head and turned, entering the Lost Valley.
.o0o.
Jiu Yi had never counted how many levels there were to the Lost Valley. The Bats were never interested in that.
The only thing he had to know was that in this seemingly endless, colossal funnel-shaped underworld, there was a level no normal person could ever reach, and that was his lair.
Jiu Yi crouched in the dim dark-red glow, no one to be seen around. This was his alone time.
The Travellers came again, that noisy bunch of daredevils from beyond the black fog.
The irregularly shaped metal block beneath his feet allowed him to sense various vibrations from the maze-like caves of the upper levels. Arranged around this metal block in a circle were forty-nine metal cylinders that collected all kinds of sounds.
Talking voices, shouts, laughter, cries, screams, curses…
None of them were clear; these were all just his guesses. But he could discern from these sounds what the Lost Valley was like today: safe or dangerous, calm or tumultuous, dull or… interesting.
It’s interesting now.
Jiu Yi waved his hand, and the modified metal spike embedded in his index finger chimed. A few of his underlings rushed out from the cave behind him, squeezing to his side. The red light reflected on their faces, and a single glance at them revealed an excitement brought by the excessive boredom.
“A Hyena got in.” Jiu Yi said.
“What?” Prosperity was shocked, “A Hyena had the gall to enter the Lost Valley?”
“Yeah, I’m also surprised,” Jiu Yu rubbed his chin, “Even a Hyena dared to get in… When was the last time we had one come here?”
“I wasn’t here yet,” Prosperity said.
“I wasn’t here either,” Longevity chimed in.
“And me too…”
“And me…”
A couple of Bats followed suit and spoke at the same time before Jiu Yi waved his hand, “Shut up, all of you.”
“What should we do?” Prosperity did not shut up.
“Take some people to the exits leading to the Main City for reconnaissance. Check if there’s anything happening outside… Black Rings squad.”
“Here.” Someone responded from the dark, dim red light in the distance.
“Go and check which Hyena is so bold.” Jiu Yi ordered.
“Should we take action?” The leader of Black Rings asked.
“Do you really think that Hyenas are that easy to catch?” Jiu Yi’s voice carried a hint of disdain for such a moronic notion, “If catching Hyenas was so easy, would we still need to hide here?”
“But this is the Lost Valley,” Longevity said, “They will get lost the moment they enter.”
“I’m not worried about whether he’ll get lost,” Jiu Yu raised his head to look up. The sight of layers upon layers of maze caves bathed in the red light gave the illusion of being intoxicated. “A Hyena wouldn’t enter here without a reason. Whether he’s lost or not, find out why he’s here. As for what he wants, it’s mine.”
Thanks a lot for the translation!❤
Noooo they can’t catch a break dammit
Thanks for the chap!❤️❤️❤️