Out of nowhere, an alert sounded suddenly in FD-1 lab. It was one of the Irregularity Project laboratories, filled with monitoring equipment that tracked the information of the samples and subjects, as well as any abnormal data that appeared in the Main City. Chun San had never heard that subtle sound before, so similar to the one made by a food enricher when it finished its work.
It was a warning from the monitoring system for the psychic activity in the Lost Valley, and would only sound when the reading was ten times the normal level; that tenfold was nothing other than the level signifying Poet’s full complete awakening.
Almost no one in the lab had ever heard this alarm, so when it went off, everyone froze.
“Open the monitoring device, I need to see the data feedback.” Chun San was the first one to react, rushing to the nearby screen.
It was immediately flooded with huge amounts of data, all kinds of mixed numbers and graphs that looked a complete mess. Chun San didn’t go review it all, but instead focused on the screen. Amidst the unfamiliar flickering data, she was searching for the information she needed.
She didn’t want it to appear, but if it did, then she had to find it fast…
CC1Q.
Her breath caught for a moment when she saw this string of letters among the clutters of data.
“Copy all of it, then set secrecy level,” Chun San issued the orders, “I level A, send it to the administrators.”
“Roger.” Came the reply of the operator.
Chun San quickly entered the lab’s innermost room, which served both as her lounge and a communication room for confidential information.
The wall-mounted communicator was for a single-channel transmission, connecting her directly to Secretary Chen’s office. Apart from a few significant errors occuring in the subjects, this communicator usually didn’t have much use. When Chun San picked it up, she noticed her hands were becoming sweaty.
“Monitoring room reporting.” Said Chun San.
“This is Chen Fei,” came Secretary Chen’s voice.
“We have detected an anomaly in the Lost Valley’s energy levels. Psychic activity has exceeded ten times the usual reading.” Chun San reported
Secretary Chen fell silent.
“Poet has awakened.” Chun San added.
“Did you find a marker?” He finally asked, to which Chun San replied, “CC1Q, a verified marker.”
Secretary Chen remained quiet for a moment before he muttered, “Turns out our predictions were right.”
CC1Q. It was the marker of Qi Hang’s psychic activity.
“I need the orders for the following course of action.” Chun San replied.
“Did you report to the Internal Defense and Training Department?” Secretary Chen asked.
“Not yet, I only reported to the Administrators,” Chun San said, “Do you need me to notify them now?”
“No, wait for the Administrators to do that.” Secretary Chen said, “Is there any news from Lian Chuan’s side?”
“You shouldn’t ask me about that,” Chun San frowned. Lian Chuan’s current situation was even worse than she anticipated, and so she deeply resented everyone who pushed for him to enter the Lost Valley. “Aren’t you and that Internal Defense bunch more informed about it than me?”
“Ning Gu’s biodata is indeed very unusual, but we didn’t detect any fragments,” Secretary Chen said, “So maybe Qi Hang won’t notice him immediately, and the only thing Poet needs is Lian Chuan’s psychic energy, so if…”
“So maybe if Lian Chuan surrenders himself and stakes it all, he might be able to protect this resource you want so much,” Chun San interrupted him, “Is that right?”
“I’m also not happy to think like this,” Secretary Chen retorted, “I watched Lian Chuan as he grew up. The Internal Defense and Training Department had been watching me closely since his first day in the clean-up team, so as long as there was a sliver of a chance, I also couldn’t…”
Chun San snickered coldly, “But right now, you’re just like them, readying up to sacrifice him to protect Ning Gu, that precious resource of yours. You want to get rid of Betelgeuse, the ‘one and only’ the Main City had always kept completely bound and controlled, and obtain an infinite vessel…”
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.
“Chun San!” Secretary Chen raised his voice, “Keep your emotions in check! You should be glad that this is a private call between us.”
“Dea jii bo la vfqfcvr bc Oljc Jtejc,” Jtec Vjc abcfv la vbkc j yla, “Gb sbe atlcx tf kbeiv vb atja?”
“Tbe atlcx tf kbeivc’a?” Vfmgfajgs Jtfc jrxfv.
“Tbe yfaafg vbc’a obgufa atja lc atf akfcas rlz sfjgr bo tlr ilof, fnfgs vjs, fnfgs rfmbcv, kf ajeuta tlw atgbeut qjlc ab gfwfwyfg,” Jtec Vjc rqbxf ribkis, tfg nblmf rboa, “Snfgs atgfja ab tlr ilof lr jc lcfnlajylilas atja tjr ab vlrjqqfjg.”
Secretary Chen fell silent.
“He’s going to live no matter what,” Chun San continued, “Otherwise how do you think he was able to become our only Synergiser?”
Those people could only see Lian Chuan’s and Betelgeuse’s perfectly carried-out missions. Like a machine, they would never make a mistake, always correct in their judgement and decisive in their actions, never disobeying. Yet they gradually forgot…
It was the survival that left its mark through his entire life.
.o0o.
The soft golden light was like fine grains of scattered sand, gathering and dissipating in the air, only to then gather again. Ning Gu watched the gold dancing and twirling on the backdrop of iron-black and dark red. It was kind of dazzling, but also kind of strange… But its colour was very pretty.
Ning Gu found himself bewitched by it.
The only thing he wasn’t happy about was Lian Chuan blocking the way in front of him. He knew that Lian Chuan intended to protect him. Considering his own strength, if he stepped forward and tried to confront him, he might die a very humiliating death.
That wouldn’t do. In a moment of such danger, he’d better just do as Lian Chuan told him and stand by the wall, watching as the situation develops.
Before long, the golden rays of light slowly slowed down and started to form some shape in the vast space before the cave entrance. It was a bit blurry, but he could still make out a human face.
“Poet?” Ning Gu whispered quietly. He really didn’t expect to meet him like this; he thought that Poet counted as a mirage, and that he would have to, for good or bad, at least look for his shell for this first encounter, after all, Bats had so many materials for all kinds of modifications.
“No.” Lian Chuan’s voice was somewhat grave.
“Wha?” Shocked, Ning Gu looked at that face, then asked again in a small voice, “You know him?”
“It’s Qi Hang.” Lian Chuan said.
The golden face in the air revealed a smile. They didn’t see his lips move, but they heard his voice. “It’s all me.”
Just like before, this voice didn’t appear to come from any specific direction.
Although this answer was kind of mystifying, since it was ‘all him’, then at least half of that idle nonsense whispered and sighed to Ning Gu before was done by this face here. Ning Gu was immediately annoyed by this schizophrenic Gold Dust Face.
“Aren’t you keen on playing mysterious games,” He snorted disdainfully, “What about that old blind lackey? He didn’t come with you? Didn’t he want to sell us for a deal?”
“Not you.” Gold Dust Face chuckled, then slowly got closer to their side of the cave, and Ning Gu could finally see that ‘his’ eyes were looking at Lian Chuan.
“Don’t get any closer.” Lian Chuan spoke.
“Is it a warning?” Gold Dust Face asked.
There still didn’t seem to have any direct source for it, but what shocked Ning Gu enough to make him forget the humiliation of that face openly ignoring the Ghost City’s number one hottie was that it was speaking in Lian Chuan’s voice.
“Final warning.” Lian Chuan said those two words with the same callousness and calm as when he announced his identity to the mission target, and showed no sign of reaction for the fact that Gold Dust Face could use his voice.
It had to be said that if Ning Gu was completely won over something in Lian Chuan, then it was his ability to drive his opponents crazy so casually—no matter if you were a wimp or a thunder, he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.
“How interesting,” Gold Dust Face went back to his original voice, “Seems like you won’t believe me so easily.”
“I only trust myself.” Lian Chuan said.
“I only trust myself,” Gold Dust Face repeated in his voice, “Do you even know who you are?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am.” Lian Chuan replied.
“It doesn’t matter even if you say who he is, so better say something that does.” Ning Gu was getting a bit impatient. He grew up in the Ghost City, and Travellers were always a bunch to quickly get into a fight over a minor disagreement, or even without much talking involved. If it weren’t for them having to eat, even their mouths would disappear in another hundred years.
“So better say something that does,” Gold Dust Face again repeated Ning Gu’s words, “Fine.”
Ning Gu’s entire body instantly tensed, ready to act at any moment.
“Has Lei Yu ever told you who your parents are?” The face asked.
Although Ning Gu also had doubts towards this question, it wasn’t his turn to answer. Gold Dust Face was directing it at Lian Chuan. He hadn’t expected Lian Chuan to also be a poor wretch that didn’t know his parents.
“No.” Lian Chuan replied.
“Have you ever thought that you never really had them?”
“I’m not interested in my parents.” Lian Chuan’s voice remained steady throughout, with only a clear murderous intent clearly lacing his dour tone.
“What wouldn’t have parents?” Gold Dust Face asked.
“The Irregularity Project’s prototype subject.” Lian Chuan said.
“What are you talking about?” Ning Gu felt a cold shiver running down his back.
The Main City’s Irregularity Project was public, everyone knew about it, but it was said that after all those years, they never managed to produce a successful subject. Ning Gu and Nail always used it to joke about the uselessness of the Main City, that maybe they would have better luck trying it out on the Administrators.
But Lian Chuan was a subject of the Irregularity Project? No, that’s not right… its prototype?
“What is a prototype subject?” He asked.
“A foundation of the Irregularity Project,” Gold Dust Face explained patiently to him, “only because they had this subject the Irregularity Project was able to begin.”
“Oh.” Ning Gu didn’t know what to say and just kept staring at Lian Chuan’s profile. He really wasn’t a normal human—no wonder he became so powerful, and no wonder the Main City would be able to launch this Irregularity Project. After all, who wouldn’t want a legion of soldiers like this?
“How did you know?” Gold Dust Face tilted its head, “Nobody knows this aside from the core personnel, and they can’t tell you this. If Lei Yu and Chun San divulged this secret they would get retrieved, never to be reset.”
“I just learned this,” Lian Chuan looked at the face, “You told me.”
Gold Dust Face seemed surprised by this.
“You’re only able to imitate my voice,” Lian Chuan glanced at Ning Gu for a moment, “If you could do the same with his voice, you would have already done that.”
“That’s right, with you being so smug, you wouldn’t not try to copy me, and if you didn’t it means that you aren’t able to.” Ning Gu chimed in as well.
He already couldn’t wrap his head around it, and his mind was a mess, but the only thing he was clear about was that Lian Chuan sure deserved to be the strongest Hyena in the Main City, the Betelgeuse known and feared by everyone and everywhere—he actually showed no reaction to this suddenly obtained knowledge.
A person turned to gold dust and mixed with another person, also turned to gold dust, and after living over twenty years in hardship and suffering so many injustices, in the end he turned out to be just a test subject.
“You disappeared decades before me, and a long time before the Irregularities. The Lost Valley is monitored, and there was no way for you to come in contact with me to get my data,” Lian Chuan said, “The only possibility to do that would be if my data as the prototype subject had already been in the system before.”
“So clever,” Gold Dust Face sighed and got slightly closer, already less than five metres away from the cave entrance. A part of the golden speckles of light dancing around its edges fell inside the cave, like dust illuminated by an intense light. Some of them fell to the ground, while some floated in the air, “If we could cooperate…”
Lian Chuan didn’t say anything, then suddenly leapt.
Ning Gu was still amazed by how much Lian Chuan was speaking when suddenly, the cave wall to the right exploded with countless iron and stone pieces as the kick cut a deep bruise in it. The jagged metal shards flew outside the cave entrance with a whizz as they passed through the golden face at high speed and fell into the pit.
Final warning. Lian Chuan really was a man of his words…
When Ning Gu raised his hands to block a few debris pieces flying his way, he saw as a small golden particle got carried by the air current and rolled up before him. Its light was gentle, like a faraway window in a pitch darkness, or like an open door at the end of a long corridor.
Lian Chuan noticed what was going on the moment Ning Gu made the first step forward.
This Traveller really was troublesome… If his power suddenly activated at that moment, this schizophrenic hybrid would notice, and he had no understanding of hybrids and no confidence in fighting one.
He could only gamble on making the first move.
He rushed to Ning Gu’s side, grabbing him by the back of his collar and darted towards the edge of the cave entrance. The two of them shot through the pit, crossing through the epicentre of the golden light hovering in the air.
Countless of the disturbed golden particles flitted by them, dancing and colliding in the air.
.o0o.
There were a lot of human shapes swaying in the dazzling light.
Ning Gu had never seen a light this bright in his life before. He struggled to even open his eyes.
It hurts.
This familiar pain that had once tormented him for an entire night shot through him again.
He knelt with one leg on the ground, the pain on his back assaulting his entire body as if tearing into him. He struggled to stand up, and could hear his heavy and strenuous breathing.
The human shapes slowly merged into one and walked over to him. He fought to open his eyes, welcoming the blinding white light.
The human shape held a long, black rod in hand and was raising it above him.
He had to live.
He couldn’t die.
No matter what, he had to live.
He sprinted forth with all he’d got. It was as if there was some switch in his mind—when he got up, the pain got pushed into the deepest parts of his memory.
He kicked the ground, leapt, and turned his body mid-air, sweeping down to deliver the punch…
He throwed it with all his force at that blurry figure. But it didn’t feel tangible.
It was airflow that smashed and dispersed it.
The staggering pain was once again unleashed, causing his breath to hitch.
.o0o.
It was as if the golden mass of light scattered from a punch, its form breaking immediately like golden fireworks on the last day of the Festival.
Lian Chuan’s previous estimation wasn’t wrong—it wasn’t really possible to jump to the cave on the opposite wall if he took Ning Gu with him. But with this sudden explosion of the mass of light he understood that to him, Ning Gu wouldn’t just be a problem anymore.
For the first time in his twenty-odd-years-long life, he made a decision that went against his instinct.
He swung his arm, throwing Ning Gu ahead.
As Ning Gu fell heavily into the cave, Lian Chuan’s trajectory got cut short in the air from this manoeuvre.
And then, he fell into the depths of the pit.
T/N: I’m very sorry for the prolonged hiatus ;;; This semestre is pretty intensive for me, and after such a long break from translating I fell out of practice, so it was hard to get back into the flow of things. I’ll be working hard to rebuild my stockpile and provide more consistent updates. Thanks for waiting!
Hii, I just wanna ask if I can become one of Chrysanthemum garden’s editor or translator?
Yuppp, just message one of our mods on the discord for the information! Good luck ✨️
Thanks for the translation!❤
MY ROBOT BABY GOT THROWN IN THE PIT?!?!??? Save himmmmm
Thanks for the chap ❤️❤️❤️