translator: loop
proofreader: roki
SkyEye finally grew a little smarter this time. The instant the aircraft became unstable, it intelligently started its anti-gravity system, locking all cabinet and compartment doors. This saved Chu Si and Sa’e Yang from any physical harm, and stopped them from becoming a splat against the hatch or porthole, preserving a bit of their image.
This could be counted as it barely redeeming itself.
“SkyEye, inspect all systems, have they been poisoned or something?” Chu Si supported himself against the hatch, smoothly holding onto a beam on the ceiling of the cockpit to maintain his position.
Ding—
SkyEye: “Inspection complete. Internal system has a self-fault factor of 0.82%, external energy field interference factor of 97.11%, and other unknown factors of 2.07%. Detected significant fluctuations in the external energy field for unknown reasons, a fracture has appeared on the axis—”
Chu Si: “Summarize, this isn’t the time to read out data!”
Ding—
SkyEye: “Fine, in human speech, the aircraft suddenly encountered a disturbed energy field caused by an abnormal space-time distortion, and cannot pass through.”
Taking advantage of the several places where he could put his hands, Sa’e Yang moved himself to the cockpit’s console. Fingers gripping the edge, he took a look at the data of the inspection while saying to SkyEye, “Then take two steps back and try colliding once or twice again.”
Ding—
SkyEye: “With all due respect, do you have some sort of personal grudge against the aircraft?”
Sa’e Yang hmphed.
SkyEye immediately piloted the aircraft to collide again.
It tried two more times, but still nothing came out of it. SkyEye gave a half-genuine whimper, about to cry, only to hear Sa’e Yang say, “Inspect again.”
SkyEye didn’t even ding, feeling a little reluctant, but the inspection results still came out quickly.
No one interrupted this time. It reported a long string of data, and at once, Chu Si recognized the difference. The external energy field interference had decreased this time, but not by much.
Sa’e Yang propped himself up with one hand, and used the other to quickly tap a button. After a moment, he turned his head and said to Chu Si, “Let’s wait another two hours, then collide again.”
SkyEye whimpered again, but was directly ignored by these two heartless people.
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.
The aircraft retreated dozens of meters, and only then did the rolling and shaking come to a gradual stop. The anti-gravity field inside was also released. Chu Si let go of the beam and landed lightly back on the ground.
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As he spoke, he headed into the aircraft and found something to bring with him from Carlos Black’s weapons storeroom. He rummaged out two finger lights, put one on his own finger and the other away, and found an armband to clip onto his left arm, inserting a row of crystal tube-shaped bombs into it.
In fact, on such a fragment, as long as one did not encounter any wanderers or forces from other planets, there was basically no danger involved. But in case he needed to clear a path or blow open a door, he still brought some weapons.
After briefly gathering what he needed, Chu Si descended the gangway. Only when he reached the bottom did he remember to ask Sa’e Yang, “Did you bring SkyEye?”
Sa’e Yang patted behind his waist.
Chu Si threw the other finger light to him.
Sa’e Yang raised his arm to catch it, examined the finger light for a while, and then finally pulled it onto his finger. With a hint of an ambiguous smile at the corner of his mouth, he teased, “Which finger are you wearing it on, Executive?”
“Aren’t you caring a little too much?” Chu Si replied coldly.
He had already walked some distance away before he shook his hand very perfunctorily behind him at Sa’e Yang.
The light reflected off his back, inexplicably giving off a sense of thinness in his straight and aloof figure. It shone through his fingers onto the palm of his hand, clearly illuminating the ring he was wearing on his middle finger.
Sa’e Yang clicked his tongue. “My dear, you’re quite adept at provoking people.”
“How novel.” Chu Si’s calm voice drifted over, with a hint of humor in it. “Mr. Sa’e Yang, who can make enemies just by opening his mouth, dares to call me provocative.”
Between them was a distance of seven or eight meters, but Sa’e Yang didn’t catch up, leisurely hanging behind Chu Si as if he were only there for a stroll.
Their finger lights were not very bright, but they still stood out in the pitch-dark city, reflecting the deserted streets, buildings, and parks nearby. Everything looked extremely unfamiliar, completely different from what Chu Si remembered.
His memory of this street was all from before he turned fourteen. More than forty years had passed, and everything had completely changed; nothing was the same except for the alignment of the street, and the vanishing and reappearing apartment complex at the end of it.
Chu Si subconsciously paused when he saw the entrance of the apartment complex from afar. Estimating the distance, he reached out his hand to explore.
Zip—
A ripping stab of pain pierced through his fingers, like an electric shock, and jumped up his arm.
He shrank his hand back reflexively and rubbed his fingers together, unsurprisingly feeling something slippery— crimson beads of blood had instantly spilled out.
Chu Si looked up and scanned. If the aircraft hadn’t been blocked and his fingers torn bloody, he wouldn’t have been able to tell that a barrier existed here with the naked eye alone.
As he scanned, another hand crossed over him toward the invisible barrier.
Chu Si grabbed that wrist and turned his head to Sa’e Yang: “You don’t want your hand anymore?”
Sa’e Yang pointed with his chin: “Is it right there?”
“SkyEye said it was an energy field disorder caused by an abnormal space-time distortion…” Chu Si squinted, his gaze crossing the barrier and landing on the apartment complex. “I pretty much know what’s causing it.”
He pointed to the apartment complex and said, “The last time that apartment complex existed here was 5683, and it was torn down and redeveloped after that. But look, it’s suddenly reappeared.”
That was to say, the apartment complex had suddenly returned to thirty years ago.
If all the planetary fragments returned to thirty years ago, then there wouldn’t be dragon pillars or the cyro-capsules Carlos Black mentioned, because these two things did not exist thirty years ago.
This situation right now where they faced dragon pillars, cyro-capsules, and buildings from thirty years ago suggested time was not uniform on the planetary fragments.
Two spacetimes unfortunately appeared on the same vector and intertwined with each other. This led to the disordered energy field, creating barriers and faults between the two spacetimes.
Where they stood was less than twenty meters from the entrance of the apartment complex, but it was hard to move an inch. They’d have to wait for the disorder to finally settle down and stabilize before they could cross over.
“Do you believe this is the result of a coincidence?” Sa’e Yang asked casually.
Chu Si glanced at him: “Even if you tried to coax a ghost with those words, it wouldn’t believe it.”
So many high-authority channels were left untouched, but his was being impersonated? So many people had a normal rate of time, but the fragment he was on fast-forwarded by fifty years? There were countless effects of the disordered spacetime, but the place that reappeared was where he had once lived? How could there be so many coincidences?
Chu Si only believed in one possibility: that the reappearance of the apartment was because of human interference. Someone wanted it to reappear.
Everything was strung together, faintly leading in a certain direction.
Chu Si furrowed his brows and opened his mouth: “You…”
Crack—
In the silence, a faint sound suddenly sounded, like the sole of a shoe scuffing against a withered branch or leaf.
Chu Si suddenly turned his head to look at a patch of greenbelt not far away, where dead vegetation sagged and tangled into clumps of dark shadows, blocking his view.
Was someone there?
Without saying a word, the two of them lifted their feet and headed towards the greenbelt.
A rustling sound rang out again, like someone was panicking and running away.
“Don’t hide, you can’t run.” Sa’e Yang’s voice was a little playful, sounding nothing like a good person.
The two of them were tall and had long legs. They made their way to the greenbelt in just a few steps, sweeping their finger lights around. Before they could see anything clearly, they heard a suppressed sob that sounded both aggrieved and afraid.
Sa’e Yang was stunned: “Scared to tears?”
Chu Si: “…”
To be honest, the people they had dealt with over the years were each more shameless than the other, and each more dangerous than the other. It had been a long time since they ran into someone who could cry after just one sentence.
As soon as the other party sobbed, these two bastards became even more eager to see who they were, so two beams of finger lights converged in one place at the same time.
At the corner of a wall on the street side of the greenbelt, behind a dust-covered garbage bin, a head bobbed slightly, each bob a sob.
Chu Si gave Sa’e Yang a glance, telling him to stand still, while he turned off his finger light and quietly walked over.
Just behind that garbage disposal bin crouched a dark figure, curled up in a tiny ball. It seemed to be a child, no more than five years old. Crying, he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings at all. It wasn’t until Chu Si walked up to him and bent down to pat his head that he looked up pitifully.
Executive Chu hadn’t had a serious conversation with a little kid in so many years, let alone such a soft one. He lowered his gaze to look at him, saying, “Are you alone?”
He didn’t know which part of this question poked at the kid, but his mouth pressed together and he began to cry. As he cried his heart out, his head tilted back and his center of gravity became unstable, about to fall back.
Chu Si: “…”
He reached out and pulled the kid’s arm to stabilize him, beckoning Sa’e Yang over with a complex expression on his face.
It was probably the first time in Chu Si’s life that he took the initiative to beckon over Sa’e Yang. Sa’e also felt that the moment was a bit novel as he lazily walked over and raised his eyebrows. “My dear, did you take drugs?”
Chu Si pinched his brow, lifted his chin at the crying kid, and said, “Quiet him down. I can’t coax brats who keep on crying.”
Sa’e Yang’s steps paused: “…Who are you making coax him?”
As he said that, his gaze swept over towards that kid again. Initially, it was just a casual sweep, but he suddenly narrowed his eyes as if he saw something surprising.
AHH that cliffhanger!! 😭 I wonder if this kid is someone Sa’e Yang knows!