translator: loop
proofreader: roki
All this time, Sa’e Yang’s decision whether or not to do something mostly depended on himself, both directly and indirectly. He always exuded an aggressive and oppressive temperament, to the point where his presence was terrifyingly strong. He could start a groundbreaking battle over the smallest thing, and never discussed anything with anyone beforehand.
He had always been a spontaneous person, standing on the sidelines and deciding whether to intervene or not based on his mood. So even if he gave a helping hand, he could never be called a collaborator, not when he only did as he pleased.
Of course, he was even less likely to be called a helper, because being a helper always implied subordination.
Anyone familiar with Sa’e Yang probably couldn’t imagine what he would be like as a “helper,” including Chu Si.
In fact, just now, when Le Pen had enthusiastically rushed to assign tasks, Chu Si’s heart flashed with a momentary worry. He even planned out what to do if Sa’e Yang didn’t cooperate and insisted on causing trouble, in order to ensure a smooth conclusion.
There wasn’t even a “what if” in this plan.
So, when Sa’e Yang compliantly worked with him as a “helper” to resolve the situation, Chu Si’s mood instantly became complicated.
The emotion that took up the most space was surprise.
Surprisingly, Sa’e Yang had an interest in being a helper. Surprisingly, they even had a day where they teamed up to save people. And they didn’t even have an ulterior motive for it; in fact, they saved people who had nothing to do with them.
Surprisingly, Sa’e Yang had moments where he seemed neither aggressive nor dangerous… such as now.
Other than the surprise, there was also an inexplicable sliver of guilt. After all, before the entrance opened, he had watched Sa’e Yang’s every move with caution and vigilance.
Chu Si had been watching him very calmly, and even met Sa’e Yang’s eyes many times. Therefore, even if he didn’t speak it out loud, Sa’e still should’ve known what Chu Si had been expecting.
He must’ve known, and known very clearly, but he still asked that question. One could imagine the playfulness behind it.
“Is it interesting to ask a question you already know the answer to?” Chu Si followed behind him and replied.
In the passage, the small white lights faintly illuminated their shadows. Every step that Chu Si took just happened to land in Sa’e Yang’s shadow.
“Quite interesting. Of course, I don’t know what you’re trying to say, Executive. Why don’t you be a little more specific?” Saying this, he finally looked back at Chu Si, half smiling, and then glanced down at the ground with a click of the tongue. “Even if you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to aim your steps at my face like that. My dear, your vindictiveness is really too strong.”
Chu Si hadn’t noticed where he was stepping, and it was only after Sa’e spoke that he realized he was standing in his shadow. He remained silent for two seconds before he finally couldn’t help but say unkindly, “May I ask how old Your Excellency is this year?”
“I’m someone who’s gone to prison, Executive, shouldn’t you be very aware whether I’m of age or not?” Sa’e Yang casually 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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Sa’e Yang reached the top first and stood there slightly turned, eyes half-lidded, to watch Chu Si, who was still on the stairs.
Chu Si was three steps from the top when he halted. He suddenly raised his head to look at Sa’e: “I wanted to say… if you had been in this state of taking the wrong medicine back at the sanatorium, perhaps we could’ve been friends.”
Sa’e Yang seemed to find this very interesting and smiled, eyes curving: “You’re wrong, Executive. If that had happened, you probably wouldn’t even remember my name.”
Chu Si was a little tempted to retort, but after mulling it over in his heart, he regretfully realized that… what Sa’e Yang said was more likely to be true.
So he only shrugged, then walked the last few steps.
As they stood side by side, Sa’e Yang lazily opened his mouth, as if he was making some joke: “Don’t think about it anymore, Executive. You and I could never be friends like that.”
Chu Si said coolly, “Then that’s great.”
“How are you? Does the sharp-mouthed soft-hearted Executive Chu feel a little regretful?” Sa’e Yang winked.
Chu Si patted him on the shoulder with a “do you want me to wake you up” expression, then walked around him towards the front.
As he walked to the entrance of the apartment complex, Chu Si’s communicator vibrated.
He felt it out and took a glance. It was a message from Tang.
The message said that after trying countless methods, he finally found a group of “floating objects” around the planetary fragment. Because they were relatively stationary compared to the fragment, and because they were in a dormant state, they had been difficult to detect.
“However, they aren’t silent or invisible. It didn’t take much effort to find them, meaning the other party isn’t afraid of being discovered.” Tang analyzed the situation, projecting the overall distribution map and status data display onto the holographic screen on Chu Si’s sleeve.
“Who could it be? The City of Silver? To speak frankly, I can only think of that one possibility. This is indeed something they would do. Is there anything here they want?” Tang said.
“Right now, we’re looking for—” Chu Si stood in front of the originally invisible barrier, but just as he was about to reach out and test it, Sa’e Yang simply lifted his foot and stepped inside.
“You—!” Chu Si pulled at him.
Except for the hand Chu Si pulled, Sa’e Yang’s entire body had already gone through where the barrier should’ve been.
“Look, the barrier really has disappeared,” he said.
Chu Si’s face remained expressionless: “If it hadn’t disappeared, that face of yours would be unrecognizable by now. Do you test everything like this?”
When he said that last sentence, he couldn’t help but frown.
“Honestly, Executive, it’s a little strange—” Sa’e’s gaze swept over Chu Si’s fingers that were gripping him and back to his eyes. “You being this way makes me want to do some boring and meaningless things, like…”
As he spoke, he smoothly flipped over the hand that was pulled, fingertip scratching the palm of Chu Si’s hand.
Chu Si’s fingers twitched, then abruptly retracted.
Tang called him twice at the other end of the communicator: “Executive?”
“Everything’s fine. I was saying I’m currently looking for something that might be of interest to them,” Chu Si said as he crossed the barrier, stepping towards the apartment in his memory.
He walked for a while and then stopped, explaining the matter to Tang in the communicator while turning his head to look at Sa’e Yang.
After seeing the latter had followed him, he continued walking forward and said, “By the way, find a way to appease those wanderers, especially Carlos Black. As a last resort, we may have to coax him into making a deal.”
Tang: “…I only just had my ancestors greeted by him.”
“You can’t do it?”
Tang: “Of course not. Don’t worry, Executive. You can count on me.”
Jiang Qi’s house was located in the middle of a large group of apartment buildings, and the path there was a little winding.
It had been decades since Chu Si had last walked this path, and he thought he had already forgotten how to get there. But before he knew it, he was already standing under that apartment building.
Sa’e Yang’s footsteps stopped beside him. He looked up at the seventy-story apartment building and asked, “Is this the place you’re looking for? Which floor?”
“62nd floor,” Chu Si said.
Sa’e Yang: “Make a wish, Executive, that the energy pool isn’t useless and the elevator still works.”
Chu Si had already entered the building and pressed the elevator button several times, but nothing happened: “…”
“Thanks to your unlucky words,” Chu Si turned his head to say to Sa’e Yang, who had just entered, “We’ll have to take the stairs. If the energy pool really is broken, we’ll also have to figure out another way to enter the apartment.”
“I wonder how much Executive’s physical strength has deteriorated after so many years of sitting in an office,” Sa’e Yang said.
Chu Si didn’t even want to pay attention to him, and started up the stairs.
They didn’t obediently take the stairs one step at a time, but instead relied on their long legs and strong physical strength to take the stairs in hrees. The 62nd floor was far away, but it didn’t take them that long to get there.
But going up the stairs wasn’t the same as walking on level ground, after all, and they walked so fast that Chu Si’s breath caught a little as they stood on the 62nd floor.
Sa’e Yang was habitually too strong for his own good, not entirely as a result of training. At least, he had already been ridiculously strong during those years in the sanatorium. It probably had something to do with his mysterious background, but it still brought a subtle imbalance to one’s heart at times like this.
He stood in the corridor and glanced around. There was only one apartment on the 62nd floor, which took away the possibility of making a mistake.
“I couldn’t tell on flat ground, but Executive’s physical strength has indeed declined.” He looked at Chu Si with a half-smile on his face.
“You shut up.” Chu Si suppressed his breath and quickly evened it out.
He raised his hand and touched the fingerprint lock by the door. It was indeed dead, without the slightest movement.
“It seems we need to switch to a more dramatic way of opening the door,” Sa’e Yang said, reaching into his pocket.
“No way,” Chu Si frowned. “Don’t use bombs here.”
“En?” Sa’e Yang paused and raised an eyebrow. “Even Executive has his moments of being gentle-handed? How interesting.”
“This place is different.”
“What’s different?” Sa’e Yang asked. “I originally wasn’t interested in knowing who lives here, but I suddenly have some interest now.”
Chu Si paused for a split second, then said calmly, “This is where I lived with my adoptive father when I was a child.”
Sa’e Yang froze slightly. Perhaps he was surprised at this answer, or perhaps he didn’t expect Chu Si to reply so simply, after all, he had never mentioned his past to anyone before.
“Then let’s switch to a more elegant way.” Sa’e Yang simply slammed his fist into the fingerprint lock, shattering the surface, about to connect an external energy source to it.
But the originally tightly shut door suddenly sounded, as if someone had unlocked it from inside.
“Who?” A voice came faintly through the door.
Jiang Qi? Is that you? 🥹
There’s still a chance to have a better relationship, Executive Chu. winks
Thanks for the update! 🥰