The sunlight in the Main City had already dimmed. In a short while, the streetlights would illuminate, marking the beginning of the city’s night.
Lei Yu had been sitting motionless in his office in front of a screen for several hours. Outside the window lay the courtyard of the cleanup team’s headquarters. It was much more comfortable here compared to the mostly underground offices of the Internal Defense Department.
However, today he wasn’t inclined to look outside the window.
Boss squatted on Lian Chuan’s A01 for hours. Just as long as he spent in the office, Boss stayed in the vehicle.
Everyone passing by the caracal would lower their heads and hastily walk past.
Lian Chuan had entered the Lost Valley. This matter was already known to everyone in the cleanup team, and they retained their memories of it.
Half an hour ago, Secretary Chen had proposed the idea of resetting the team members’ memories if Lian Chuan didn’t return. However, this suggestion was quickly turned down by both the City Affairs Bureau and the Internal Defense Department. It would be too challenging to erase Lian Chuan from their memories. Lian Chuan, with his exceptional willpower and combat prowess surpassing all the members of the Internal Defence, had firmly embedded himself in everyone’s recollections. Forcefully resetting those memories could lead to serious bugs.
Sometimes, Lei Yu would wonder if this was a way Lian Chuan fought against the fate assigned to him by the Main City. Even if one day he was replaced and disappeared, he would forever remain a legend of the city.
Boss was waiting for Lian Chuan to return. Every team member was awaiting Lian Chuan’s return. However, apart from Boss, perhaps everyone had already harboured a hopeless and pessimistic answer in their hearts.
The Lost Valley was a haven for Bats, a refuge for Travellers, a dreamland for vagabonds. Yet, for anyone with data of a Main City weapon, it was a place of no return, where no one dared to step into.
They wouldn’t see Lian Chuan return. That was the conclusion the team members had arrived at.
Lei Yu stood up, opened the office door, and walked out. He knew that at that moment, somewhere deep below the City Affairs Bureau and Internal Defense Department, people were still discussing another matter.
They might lose Ning Gu—if Lian Chuan can’t bring him back, what should they do for their next step?
As Lei Yu walked past Boss, he paused for a moment, looking at him, “Want to come to my place and eat something?”
Boss flicked his ear and looked away, displaying clear impatience in his body language, seemingly intent on shaking Lei Yu’s voice out of his ears.
“I’ll inform you as soon as I have any updates.” Lei Yu placed a communicator on the front of the vehicle, along with a radio transmitter, “Take this one too. You’ll need it when… when Lian Chuan is back.”
It was a device Lian Chuan used to communicate with the caracal. It was found at the entrance to the Lost Valley, along with Lian Chuan’s equipment and exoskeleton.
Boss turned his head back, grabbed the transmitter in his mouth, placed it on the seat, and secured it under his hind paw.
Lei Yu was uncertain if he wanted to go back home. If he did, he wasn’t sure if he could resist asking Chun San about things he shouldn’t attempt to touch upon.
Chun San was working in the City Affairs Bureau. On the surface, she was responsible for running the education system, while her covert role was classified—a core technician of the Irregularity Project. But they both knew each other’s situations well. He knew, and she knew that he knew. Over the years, they silently agreed to never discuss these matters.
Lei Yu’s focus was solely on the cleanup team, striving to protect each member under the overwhelming pressure, even though, due to the challenges beyond his control, he often appeared somewhat cold and indifferent.
Chun San, on the other hand, was concerned about the Main City’s future.
“I’m not in the mood for anything,” Chun San sat at the table, rubbing her forehead. “How about we eat the rations today?”
“I’m fine with anything,” Lei Yu took off the coat and stood behind her, gently massaging her head, “Still no news?”
“Nothing,” Chun San sighed, “When I just got home, all of the scanners in the Main City’s Fourth Area were working full-time. But besides the equipment at the entrance, they couldn’t find any trace of him. We can only confirm that he never left there.”
“What’s the connection between Qi Hang and Ning Gu?” Lei Yu didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly. Between him and Chun San, they didn’t need to dance around the topic, testing the waters.
“I can’t tell you that.” Chun San replied.
Lei Yu didn’t press further. Previously, he could still speculate that Ning Gu and Qi Hang might not have a real connection, and the ability to activate the same weapon could be explained by Ning Gu’s own reasons. But Chun San’s words just now were equivalent to telling him that those two were related.
But although he needed to know what relationship existed between them to further assess Lian Chuan’s safety, he couldn’t continue to ask so directly.
“Where’s Qi Hang?” He asked a different question.
“You can’t keep asking me stuff I can’t answer,” Chun San laughed, picking up a white cube from the tray on the table and passing it to him, “Maybe this can stuff your mouth?”
Lei Yu laughed along with her.
After a moment of silence, Chun San sighed, “Honestly, I knew that a day like this would come. Chuan is different from other people; his sole reason for existence is to destroy.”
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.
“Lf’r lcvffv j qfmeiljg xlv.” Ofl Te gfwjgxfv.
“Gb sbe gfwfwyfg ktfc tf kjr rwjii? Lf jikjsr tjv rb wjcs defralbcr,” Jtec Vjc ifjcfv yjmx, gfralcu tfg tfjv bc Ofl Te’r rabwjmt, “Yatfg xlvr kbeivc’a atlcx jr wemt. Lf bcmf jrxfv wf ktfgf jii atbrf vfragbsfv qfbqif kbeiv ub—P tjv cb lvfj tbk ab jcrkfg tlw…”
“He was too young at that time, I think he wouldn’t understand either way.” Lei Yu felt something stir in his heart.
“I also remember how he kept pestering you with those questions.” Chun San chuckled, a joyful glint appearing in her eyes.
They will turn into ashes, dissipate into the air.
Then do they disappear, or do they keep existing?
I don’t know, but their bodies are definitely gone, they no longer exist.
What about their minds? Their consciousness? The people, the things, everything they remembered, will they disappear too?
Why do you never ask any childish questions… Those things, maybe they stay behind forever, somewhere.
.o0o.
Mazes like the Lost Valley are always precarious for those entering it for the first time.
…And it isn’t any better for those entering it the second time.
Ning Gu walked with Lian Chuan through the one trade hall he knew, carefully avoiding Yellow Flower Eye, then chose the first tunnel he saw being used by the Travellers and followed them in. They still found a similar sight on the other side, and after passing through a big cave chamber twice, Lian Chuan stopped.
“Where are we going?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” Ning Gu turned around, noticing the doubt in Lian Chuan’s inquiry. This soured his mood a lot, and even though those doubts were reasonable, he still gestured with his chin at Lian Chuan, “If you know the road, then get to the front and lead the way.”
“You’re heading inside.” Lian Chuan said.
“Is that so?” Ning Gu looked around. He really didn’t like Lian Chuan, but he wasn’t some unreasonable blokehead; in this situation, he was ready to humbly accept the guidance from the man he hated. “What do you mean by ‘inside’?”
“Depths of the Lost Valley.”
“How do you know that?” Ning Gu was genuinely asking, he didn’t see anything around that could help him estimate the directions.
Lian Chuan didn’t respond, instead reaching into the bag he earlier packed his things into. Then, with a flick of his finger, he tossed a single round object that fell on a counter located by the entrance to one of the trade rooms. The owner of the table sleeping beside it suddenly looked up, catching it with astonishing speed before even fully opening eyes.
“Notebook, pen.” Lian Chuan requested. The vendor didn’t say anything, nimbly fishing out a box from under the counter, taking out a notebook and two black pencils.
“Do you have any other colours?” Ning Gu asked from the side.
The vendor tossed a small case onto the countertop, “Red, yellow.”
“Make it anything but black.”
The vendor put the black pencil back into the box, tossing him the red and yellow pencils. After leaving the trading room, Lian Chuan grabbed the notebook and walked until he reached a corner of a cave hall with fewer people, before crouching down and putting it on the ground.
“What did you exchange just now for paper and pencils?” Ning Gu was kinda curious.
The Hyenas really were a different beast; it was so easy for them to find things to trade in the Lost Alley so easily for them, and they didn’t have to worry about the deal ending in a brawl over the price.
“Common currency.” Lian Chuan said.
“Oh.” Ning Gu remembered Hammer saying that as long as you have the common currency, you can also make deals.
“Give me one.” Lian Chuan reached his hand out.
Ning Gu looked at the pencils in his hand and passed him the red one.
Seeing Lian Chuan open the notebook, he suddenly grew awkward and hastily crouched down beside him, covering the pages with his hand, “Wait.”
Lian Chuan looked at him.
“What are you going to write?” Ning Gu asked.
“I’m not writing,” Lian Chuan said, “I’m drawing.”
“…Oh.” Ning Gu breathed a sigh of relief and took his hand back.
Lian Chuan lowered his head and flipped through the pages. It was an old, used notebook, full of messy scribbles inside—it looked like it could’ve been used by a bored kid in class. He found a blank page and began to draw, starting at its bottom right corner.
Originally, Ning Gu was waiting to hear this “Are you illiterate” from him, and if Lian Chuan really dared to ask him that, he would sure as hell dare to curse him. However, Lian Chuan didn’t ask. This man seemed to take thoughts and words as some unexpendable resource, it was hard to get even a single surplus word out of him.
From the corner of the page he drew a tunnel, then a circle, then a few more tunnels—but he only drew a small part of them, only one was fully sketched. Ning Gu watched it, almost spellbound. Although it wasn’t a real picture, he had to admit that even if Lian Chuan was only drawing circles, they were still rounder than those drawn by Crazy Uncle. It was a pity that even though the pencil was red, the graphite was still black, so it wasn’t a coloured picture.
After drawing a bunch of circles and tunnels, Lian Chuan made a long line through them, adding arrows along its length. Then, he tossed the notebook in front of him, “This is the way we came here, with all the places we passed.”
“Ah.” Ning Gu picked up the notebook in shock. Every cave chamber they passed had a few tunnels and trading rooms, and Lian Chuan had drawn them all, “How did you remember it?”
“With my brain.” Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu didn’t expect him to speak like that. He clicked his tongue and looked at him again, “No wonder, I have no such thing.”
“Are you going to continue going deeper inside?” Lian Chuan asked.
“That’s right,” Ning Gu looked at the notebook, “The last time I came here, I saw a cave with countless levels all the way down. I don’t know how many levels it has or how deep it is, but that time I didn’t see anything that could lead me to the lower ones. I think that there are some stairs or a passage deeper inside.”
“Is that necessary?”
“Necessary for what? To overwrite the data? Of course not, I’m sure I could find a Bat that could do that on this level.”
Lian Chuan didn’t say anything.
“Aren’t you curious?” Ning Gu asked, “Why did you pass out before?”
Why did he pass out?
He didn’t know. But a second before he lost consciousness, Lian Chuan had a feeling. It was one he struggled to put into words, just as indescribable as the sensation of Ning Gu prying into his mind. He couldn’t even be sure if whatever he was seeing, hearing, and feeling was real. If it wasn’t already being distorted by some unknown force, and could only draw a vague conclusion from it.
The powerful function left behind in the Lost Valley at some point in the past, the one that prevented the Main City equipment from entering it, was probably some kind of psychic power.
Or maybe it was a person, destroyed and faded away…
And yet whenever Ning Gu was confronted with this force, it was as if nothing had happened at all.
“Is that a tavern?” Ning Gu suddenly pointed ahead, “I heard that you can drink alcohol here.”
Lian Chuan had already noticed the sign with the word ‘Alcohol’ inscribed on it hanging in front of this trading room, so he replied in a tone that left no room for doubt, “No.”
“It’s not?” Ning Gu was a bit doubtful, “I can even smell it. Are you sure that the sign doesn’t say anything about alcohol?”
“It doesn’t.” Lian Chuan replied.
“Then tell me what word it is.”
“Water.” Lian Chuan told him.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?” Ning Gu pointed to his face, bringing it closer so he could look at it.
“Weren’t you short of a brain?”
“…Yes, I almost forgot.” Ning Gu nodded and made a U-turn, about to blow a fuse.
Just as he wanted to go into that room to have a look, a few people walked out. Ning Gu caught sight of Sister Qi walking in front of the group at first glance. He promptly covered his face and turned around, pushing Lian Chuan to leave, “Quick, Sister Qi will reco—…”
“Ning Gu!” Sister Qi already saw him, and called out to him in a shocked, suppressed voice.
Ning Gu pretended to not hear and bolted ahead without caring about Lian Chuan.
“Stop right there!” Sister Qi was still speaking in a hushed voice, “Why are you here?!”
Ning Gu looked nervously around, searching for somewhere that could let him get away from the cave floor. Sister Qi’s ability was stronger than Hammer’s, she didn’t need a solid ground…
But after two seconds passed, he finally noticed that he was still fine.
When he turned his head, he realised that the person behind him wasn’t even on the ground. Lian Chuan pushed Sister Qi onto a nearby wall by her throat. A few Travellers surrounded them, but none of them dared to move.
“What are you doing!” Ning Gu quickly rushed to them, grabbing Lian Chuan’s hand, “Let go!”
Lian Chuan glanced at him, then looked at Sister Qi, loosening his hold on her throat, “You’re going to take him with you?”
“And why would I do that! I’m not working now!” She coughed twice.
“I hope so.” Lian Chuan said.
Sister Qi couldn’t do anything else, so she turned her head to glare at Ning Gu, “Why are you with a Hyena? Tell me, did he threaten you?!”
“No. I need to do something, so he’s my bodyguard for now.” Ning Gu found himself feeling helpless—really, why was it so simple to guess that Lian Chuan was a Hyena.
He also pulled Lian Chuan by the wrist he had grabbed, but realised that those arms could as well belong to a jammed machine, and didn’t move a single bit. Maybe he really was a robot. Ning Gu now remembered the deep crack that ran through the ground outside of Lost Valley after Lian Chuan’s kick.
“Bodyguard?” Sister Qi was a bit shaken, “A Hyena, as your bodyguard?”
“I’ve got something on him,” Ning Gu gave Lian Chuan a look, “Let go of her. Are you going to break the deal?”
Lian Chuan finally let go.
Sister Qi rubbed her neck, staring wide-eyed at Lian Chuan before looking at Ning Gu, “Does anybody know you came here?”
Saying this, she once again looked at Lian Chuan.
“Nobody knows,” Ning Gu said, “It’d be for the best if you also didn’t know about that.”
“Bullshit! Where else could you run off to if not the Main City!” Sister Qi exclaimed, “What are you going to do?”
“Can’t tell you.”
“Then I’ll choose something you can tell me,” Sister Qi leaned on his shoulder, whispering a question to his ear, “Is this guy Lian Chuan?”
“He’s not,” Ning Gu denied it quickly. He couldn’t let Captain know that he was with Lian Chuan, “He’s called… Little Trumpet.”
Sister Qi and the few Travellers were all taken aback, and even the always unfazed Lian Chuan turned his head, his expressionless face suddenly tinged with disbelief.
Sister Qi bursted out laughing, doubling up with laughter as she slapped his shoulder, “Little Gu, did you really think that the people of the Main City would call each other just about any easily recognisable name like us?”
“What’s your name?” Ning Gu turned his head to look at Lian Chuan.
Lian Chuan knew that Ning Gu didn’t want Captain to know who he was mingling with. He feared that if Captain heard about it, the next time the train came around, every Traveller of the Ghost City would come swarming into the Lost Valley to search for them.
That being the case… although this name left him baffled, he still answered placidly, “Little Trumpet.”
“See?” Ning Gu looked at Sister Qi, who was laughing so much that she barely could stand. She waved him off, “I can’t be bothered with stuff like this, and it’s not like Captain had me keep an eye on you…”
“Then I’m going.” Saying this, Ning Gu turned around to leave, but stopped after two steps. He pointed at the tavern’s signboard, “Aren’t they serving alcohol there?”
“Ah!” Sister Qi’s eyes grew wide when she heard this, then she swiftly turned and ran away.
The few Travellers following had also vanished in an instant.
“It’s definitely a tavern,” Ning Gu was very pleased with himself, “Captain doesn’t let Travellers drink alcohol. Just look at her getting scared, she must’ve drunk it.”
Lian Chuan didn’t say anything.
“I’ll just have a sip,” Ning Gu walked over to it, “Come on, Little Trumpet.”
Thanks for the translation!❤
Little trumpet hahahah what does it mean?!
Thanks for the chap ❤️❤️❤️