This room was very spacious, its interior entirely constructed with silver-coloured metal. The lightning was subdued, gentle on the eyes, while the monotonous decor had a completely opposite effect on the mind.
The three chairs behind the desk were the only spots of light in the otherwise dim space. They were quite literally spots of lights—a colourful orb hovering in front of each chair: red, green, and blue.
Lian Chuan had always distinguished the three Administrators by their colours, referring to them as Little Red, Little Green, and Little Blue.
Little Red, Little Green, and Little Blue never revealed their faces, but they communicated through their voices. Unfortunately, Lian Chuan could only differentiate two voices—a mechanical male voice and a mechanical female voice.
However, such distinctions were meaningless, as listening to them was akin to hearing the routine morning system greeting.
“How has your day been today?” The mechanical female voice came from above—Lian Chuan quietly assumed it belonged to Administrator Little Red.
“Fine.” He replied.
“A bit perfunctory,” The mechanical male voice came from the right—this one he couldn’t be certain about, both Little Green and Little Blue had exactly the same voices.
“To be precise,” Lian Chuan pondered for a moment, “My day hasn’t even started yet.”
“What would you consider its starting point?” Little Red inquired.
“Like this, for instance.” Lian Chuan swiftly sidestepped, evading the unidentified being coming at him from behind. Lian Chuan hadn’t sensed when this thing had approached him, He only sprung into action the moment he felt a subtle disturbance in the air caused by the incoming attack behind his ear.
A white figure grazed by him. Without hesitation, he delivered a palm strike to the lower back of the white figure.
It was a humanoid creature. There wasn’t a single piece of clothing covering its glaringly pale-white body. He could estimate that it was indeed a body, judging from the impact he felt on the side of his palm upon the strike, but its bones were of no ordinary strength.
Although he didn’t know why such a creature would appear here, he didn’t give this thing a second chance to attack. He didn’t even take a closer look at this thing’s shape and form. Before it had a chance to turn back, Lian Chuan’s hand pierced its body directly, just like he had dealt with the mutant at school before.
It was only after it fell to the ground that he saw it wasn’t some strange creature but rather a male human—at least judging from its appearance.
To be more precise, this human body had just been taken out of the cultivating fluid not long ago, still bearing its characteristic paleness.
“Wow.” Little Red’s voice exclaimed.
Lian Chuan didn’t utter a word, taking a step back and no longer glancing at this ‘human’ on the floor.
“Impressive,” One of Little Green or Little Blue said, “As expected from the only person capable of synergising with Betelgeuse.”
They were probably testing him. However, Lian Chuan didn’t understand why they would have to do this here, and why Administrators needed to test him. Apart from the routine maintenance, Betelgeuse hadn’t been activated for a long time already…
Nevertheless, he remained silent, neither expressing his thoughts or asking any questions. He could think about many things, but he never voiced them easily.
Sometimes, he even needed to reach a point where he didn’t think about anything. Without thoughts, without words, without expressions—only a perfect tool could feel the safest.
“Why did you kill it straight away?” Although there was no change in the speed or modulation, Little Red’s voice still had a distinctive inquiring tone to it.
“Self-protection.” Lian Chuan replied. “Any threat to my life is inevitable.”
This memory was one he etched into his brain along with countless scars and pain—no matter how many times he got reset, it would always remain there.
After all, he was the only person able to synergise with Betelgeuse.
“Oh.” Little Red’s tone changed again.
.o0o.
“In the next few days, if you bump into any unusual targets—and I mean, if you feel like they’re unusual yourself—if you bump into one, you need to retrieve it intact.” Lei Yu said this to him in the vehicle after they left the City Affairs Bureau.
“Mn.” Lian Chuan nodded. What Lei Yu meant was, he had to capture it live. It wouldn’t be easy, but since Lei Yu said so, those were the orders.
“It’s almost Festival Day.” Lei Yu stated, “We can’t afford any mistakes happening.”
Festival Day was the grandest holiday of this enormous city. It occurred every 300 days and lasted for two days. The Main City would open its passages, letting everything and everyone that lurked in the darkness surge into the Safety District.
Two days of revelry, free from the nighttime curfew.
Each time, as if it was the last.
A day before Festival Day, each unit of the cleanup squad would get assigned to various strongholds within the Main City to stand by.
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.
“Guys, let me introduce someone. Our new squad member, xiao-Lu.” Lei Yu said from the entrance, then stepped aside to allow a person to squeeze into the room.
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Lei Yu watched everyone’s reactions. From his perspective, everything appeared normal.
“Lian Chuan is the leader of your unit,” He nodded in Lian Chuan’s direction, “You will follow his lead in all actions.”
“Roger!” Lu Qian straightened his back and hollered.
Lian Chuan was so startled by him, his feet slipped from the table to the floor. “Don’t shout.”
“Roger!” Lu Qian continued replying with his back straight and his voice loud.
“Get him out.” Lian Chuan said.
One unit member laughed and stood up, patting Lu Qian’s arm. “Come, let me show you around the area.”
“What do you think?” Lei Yu asked.
“Don’t keep sending all the morons to our unit,” Lian Chuan said, “We’re putting our lives on the line too. One deadweight can doom the entire unit.”
Lei Yu chuckled and then walked out.
Lian Chuan once again placed his legs on the table, staring out the window.
Lu Qian, a newbie. It was his first day in the cleanup squad’s Sixth Unit.
However, the day before, he had already died on the school’s sports field. On that day, it was his third day since joining the cleanup squad’s First Unit.
“Chief,” Luo Pan approached, looking somewhat displeased, “Could it be that this guy has a backer?”
“Which backer would use their connections to place their protegee in a cleaning team just to let them die?” Lian Chuan said.
“Makes sense.” Luo Pan nodded.
He could no longer recall the details of what happened at the school. The only thing he could remember were the names of the deceased members, and Lei Yu’s later order to retrieve any unusual targets intact—the causes and effects had already become a blur in his mind.
Lian Chuan knew that the memories of everyone involved in that mission had already been reset, and who knows how many times.
It didn’t matter—nothing of theirs truly belonged to them.
He had always been an anomaly who could never be fully reset. His brain was like a faulty hard disc, filled with countless bad blocks, numerous errors, and endless data corruptions.
He didn’t know if there was anyone else like him, but he knew that he couldn’t be the first one.
A brain that couldn’t be completely reset. It was a secret he had to protect at all cost.
“District D, crossing H3, redundant passerby.” A voice came from the communicator.
“Ours,” Lian Chuan stood up and said, “Let’s go.”
Lu Qian was about to step back into the room, but the moment he heard the order, he was lost at what to do. He watched as other unit members quickly emerged from the room, fully equipped, still standing on the side of the entrance.
“You’ll be going with my vehicle.” Lian Chuan said as he walked past Lu Qian.
“Yes, sir!” Lu Qian straightened his back.
Lian Chuan paused, turning his head, “If you shout again, you’ll have to run to the mission site on your own.”
Lu Qian tightly pursed his lips to remain silent, his back still straight.
“Do you know how to operate the equipment?” Lian Chuan climbed onto the black A01 parked on the side.
“I do,” Lu Qian walked over, excitedly listening to the faint sound of the exoskeleton moving on his body. He stared at the vehicle in front of him, “My entire training was for the sole purpose of joining the cleanup squad.”
A01 was a specialised vehicle designed for the cleanup squad. It allowed one or two people to sit one after another. It didn’t come in touch with the ground, making it immune to the challenging terrains. It moved smoothly with impressive speed and flexibility, capable of leaping five metres high and even climbing vertical surfaces…
He learned all of this from the training manual. Lu Qian had only practised driving the A01 on a simulator, so this was his first time being in such close proximity to the real deal.
“The third point on the third page of the manual,” Lian Chuan started the engine, “What does it say about the departure time?”
“What does it say?” Lu Qian was taken aback.
“If the accompanying rider won’t join the main driver on the vehicle within thirty seconds of mounting, it will be considered as abandoning the mission,” Lian Chuan said. “After two occurrences, the individual will voluntarily leave the cleanup squad.”
Lu Qian didn’t dare to freeze from shock; he jumped over to take his seat behind Lian Chuan, his retriever accidentally hitting Lian Chuan’s helmet.
Bang!
He hurriedly moved the retriever to his back before the automatic belt fastened him in place.
The vehicle sped forward, creating a gust of wind in its wake that caused the safety belt to tighten around his waist.
“I… don’t remember this paragraph,” Lu Qian listened to the wind whistling in his ears, feeling disheartened, “I had it all memorised, really! I even scored an A rank in the theory exam, so could it be that the manual version…”
“There was no such paragraph in the first place.” Lian Chuan said.
Lu Qian opened his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.
“But you must remember this rule when riding with me.” Lian Chuan added.
.o0o.
The wind was howling furiously as Ning Gu stood on the fractured steel frame. He watched the particles dancing within it through his shattered goggles.
“Don’t you think the wind has been really strong these two days?” Nail prodded the debris at his feet with a steel rod behind his back.
Even more particles rose to get swept by the wind from his poking—black, grey, white—making it hard to determine what they actually were.
This place was a colossal metal graveyard, formed by the heaps of scrap metal and discarded machinery, with its cold, unyielding hills rising and falling seemingly to no end. The dense black fog overhead hung lower and lower in the gusty winds but showed no signs of dissipating. Beyond black fog, there was only more black fog, and beyond that black fog, there was even more black fog—no light could penetrate it, and no wind could disperse it.
It had been like this since the dawn of the world—Crazy Uncle had said so.
However, Ning Gu couldn’t comprehend why there would always be so many particles of unknown origin suspended in the air. Those ceaselessly dancing particles made Nail believe that there was another world beyond the black fog.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t entertain such beliefs, but the only world beyond the black fog was Main City. The reality, as Crazy Uncle also said, is always cruel.
“You think so?” Nail picked up a small, smooth piece of metal, a square about the size of a palm, capable of reflecting a person’s face. He flipped it over to examine from all angles, then hid it in the leather pouch hanging from his shoulder.
“I do.” Ning Gu replied, adjusting his collar. While the winds there may blow year-round, there would always be a distinction between a strong gale and a gentler wind.
He leaped down from the steel frame and proceeded forward.
“Where are you going?” Nail called out after him as he continued to search through the scrap metal for anything of interest.
“Don’t follow me,” Ning Gu said, “I’ll go find you when I return.”
“You’re going to meet Crazy Uncle?” Nail said, “That insanity is contagious, so try not to talk with him too much.”
Ning Gu turned his head and smiled.
Crazy Uncle was an elderly man with a face concealed beneath an unruly beard and moustache. People started calling him crazy due to his eccentric appearance, and after interacting with him, Ning Gu discovered that this eccentricity extended beyond his looks.
He was just weird in general.
“Come, I’ll read your future.” Crazy Uncle stood by the entrance of his small hut and gestured for Ning Gu to enter.
“Don’t.” Ning Gu bent down and entered the hut.
Crazy Uncle’s hut was situated far from the shelter where everyone resided, deep within the metal graveyard. It was put together from a few unknown machine parts, and from a distance, it resembled an upturned bowl, while up close, it looked like a broken upturned bowl.
However, Crazy Uncle once described it as resembling a turtle shell, and even drawed it for him.
He knew that a very long time ago, perhaps even before the dawn of the world, plants and animals thrived everywhere, and turtles were one of those animals. However, as time passed, everything vanished, and humanity began to lose their knowledge of animals. The few animals they could still recall gradually became the ancient beasts of the legends.
Currently, only a couple people among the elite of the Main City could afford to keep those few artificially bred pets or a couple of small flowers that could only grow in the specially designed containers.
No, there was also a caracal.
This one was the true wild beast, unlike any other in the past or future. It was the only caracal of its kind in and outside the world, famous for its savagery and agility, coming and going without any trace…
Crazy Uncle had said so, and of course, he had also drawn it.
Crazy Uncle’s drawings were very ugly, with messy strokes that made it difficult for Ning Gu to grasp what a caracal looked like.
The only thing he remembered was that its owner was named Lian Chuan. The ruthless Main City Hyena, a merciless killer with no remorse.
He has no heart! Crazy Uncle had said.
But he has a caracal. Ning Gu thought enviously.
“I’ve read your future,” Crazy Uncle entered the hut, took a boiling kettle from the stove, and poured him a cup of water. “Do you want to hear it?”
“Nah,” Ning Gu replied, “You read my future when I was twenty-two and told me that I wouldn’t live past twenty.
“How do you know you’re really twenty-two?” Crazy Uncle asked, “What if you’re actually just nineteen?”
“So, am I going to die next year?” Ning Gu slumped onto the chair and gazed at him.
“Who knows,” Crazy Uncle poured himself a cup of water as well, then pulled a small pouch from his pocket, shaking some stuff from it into the water, “Alive or dead… we might have already died.”
“What is it?” Ning Gu scooted over, intrigued.
“Nothing that little children can drink.” Crazy Uncle hugged the cup and moved away.
“Either way I’m supposed to die next year,” Ning Gu insisted, “I want some.”
“You might drop dead on the spot if you drink it.” Crazy Uncle said.
“I don’t care, I might already be dead,” Ning Gu followed after him, “You just said it yourself.”
“No, no! I only have this much, and it’s so hard to find!” Crazy Uncle hugged the cup while running around the hut, “It might be the only time I was able to find it in this life!”
“Lunatic,” Ning Gu slumped back onto the chair, “Tell me my fortune then.”
“I’m not a fortune teller,” Crazy Uncle grumbled, “I told you, I’m a prophet.”
“Then prophesy my future.” Ning Gu said.
“What kind of future?” Crazy Uncle quickly looked at him, “When you’re destined to die?”
“The wind is so strong,” Ning Gu gazed at the door. The gusts of wind continued to barge in through the entrance, carrying the fine particles with them, leaving a grey layer even in his cup, “Will the train come?”
Crazy Uncle kept staring at him.
“How long will it take?” Ning Gu asked again.
Crazy Uncle continued watching him for a while longer before answering, “I don’t need to divine it. Based on my experience, it will be tomorrow.”
“Good,” Ning Gu clapped his hands and jumped up from the chair, walking to the door, “I’ll trust you this time.”
“Do you want to go?” Crazy Uncle asked.
“It’s not like I’ve never gone.” Ning Gu replied.
“It’s different. You sneaked in alone before, and you probably didn’t even move after boarding the train,” Crazy Uncle sipped some tea. “But this time, you want to enter the Main City.”
“So what?” Ning Gu tilted his head.
“Don’t go,” Crazy Uncle said, “You’ll die.”
Ning Gu laughed and strode out of the hut. He raised his hand to wave goodbye to the old man, raising his voice against the wind, “I’ve already died at twenty.”
Such a curious world… Thanks for the translation 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Huh. Can’t help but think that ‘crazy uncle’ actually knows how the system works 😲
A mind that cannot be reset… All the knowledge forgotten… And it seems the festival is not at joyous as it first looked.
Thank you for posting!❤️❤️❤️