Chapter 16
By the time Long Hua had arrived at the Mirrored Moon Café with the casket back in its original form it was well past midnight.
Traversing on the road by bike would have made him stand out like a sore thumb after the incidents that happened today.
With that being the case, much of Long Hua’s journey to the café had been done on foot while under the shade of his robes’ camouflaging function.
“Job’s done.”
“Nice work out there.”
Dressed in his casual attires, Long Hua opens the door of the café to see the Owner standing behind the counter to welcome him.
“Hm? Aren’t kids supposed to be in bed three or four hours ago?”
The Owner being present is well within expectations, but the sight of Zhou’er seating herself at a table during this hour isn’t.
Since she is off work hours at this time, Zhou’er’s attire is on the casual side, which consists of a brown leather jacket over a white shirt and jeans.
“I got curious about the thing that you were bringing back. The news stations were talking about the incident with quite a bit of enthusiasm.”
Sticking her tongue out, Zhou’er answers as such and towards her answer, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders.
“Garage.”
“Right.”
Carrying the casket, Long Hua follows the Owner to the back of the café, while Zhou’er went to lock the door and turn off most of the lights prior to joining them.
Setting the casket down on the floor of the garage, Long Hua takes three steps back while the Owner crouches down with a small laptop in hand.
From the laptop, a wire extends outwards and is plugged into a port that is present on the casket’s side.
“It’s been a while since we’ve gotten our hands on such an item.”
“I’ve always been curious, but what exactly is the main ingredient of the elixir?”
As a member of the pig faction, Zhou’er has served NPI for over three years.
In fact, her entire family has been a part of this organization since the start of it, so she knows far more about the organization’s interior secrets than the average employee.
“IB-09, what do you think IB stands for?”
“Hmm nothing comes to mind.”
“Immortal’s blood.”
Standing to the side, Long Hua answers the question.
Compared to Zhou’er who has a three-year service record, Long Hua has been a part of NPI for a bit over ten years and as the ninth Serpent of the snake faction, 90 percent of the organization’s secrets are at his disposal.
“Immortal’s blood? Then…?”
“IMLs, aliens, foreign invaders, there’s various ways to call them, but Immortals are Immortals.”
As the casket releases a clicking sound, cold air spews out from within.
“Our pharmaceutical company’s pride and joy is an elixir concocted from the blood of the Immortals, the enemy of humanity; hence the key ingredient can only be an Immortal’s corpse.”
As the door panel of the casket opens, Zhou’er gulps down her spit. This is the first time she will be laying her eyes on an Immortal in the flesh.
“…”
“…”
“This is…!”
Towards what is contained in this casket, Long Hua didn’t show any changes on his face, but the Owner—
“This… Im-Impossible, this must’ve… Wait… Huh?”
He is noticeably appalled by the thing contained in the casket, for his anticipation had been shattered.
………
Silence looms in the air as the three met their eyes together once, prior to redirecting their gaze into the casket’s contents.
A naked humanoid body rests within the casket.
However, due to the lines that are present on this body, along with its transparent hair, one can easily guess that they are not made of flesh and blood.
“A doll?”
“Seems like we’ve been duped.”
Rising to a stand, the Owner narrows his eyes, while Long Hua crouches down and presses his index finger onto the doll’s forehead.
“Mobility Tech HC doll, Model number HX98.”
“What does the HC stand for?”
“Home care.”
“So, it’s a household worker?”
“Yeah. Well, this doll is considered a rarity since it was discontinued three months after release.”
“Why?”
“Apparently the AI is rather… I guess, buggy? Its successor was the HX99 that is apparently being given stellar reviews in the doll circle.”
“Didn’t take you for a tech geek.”
Towards Zhou’er’s remark, Long Hua shrugs his shoulders.
Dolls of such quality can only be brought by the super-rich and even then, such individuals might opt for living, breathing household servants over an android.
“So, what do we do with this thing now?”
“We’ll keep it here in the café. I’ll make contact with HQ to ask for an explanation.”
Recovering from his state of disappointment, the Owner answers as such.
“…I wonder, if she expected this.”
“Who?”
“The CEO.”
The CEO of NPI is named Nián Yáo Yáo (年瑶瑶) who hails from a family that went by the name Lóng Yuè (龙月).
“I’m wondering if this is just another episode of the family feud.”
“A family feud that turned an entire city’s ward into a mess?”
Towards Zhou’er, who is unable to imagine a family feud that could cause so much damage, Long Hua smiles, and pats her on the head, while remarking—
“Goes to show you’re still young.”
“Let go.”
Slapping away Long Hua’s hand, Zhou’er fixes her brown hair.
“It’s a good thing. Means you still got a lot to learn and see. Right Owner, you got my wine?”
“I do. Help yourself to it. It’s already quite late, so if you want to stay the night, go ahead.”
“I think I will.”
“Then, I’ll be heading back to the second ward.”
“Be careful on the way.”
“Won’t a strong man escort me back home?”
“Who?”
“…”
Giving Long Hua a kick aimed at his right leg, Zhou’er walks toward the café area.
Following after her, Long Hua also moves back to the café area, while the Owner goes to the computer room.
“Well then, night.”
“Night.”
After Zhou’er leaves through the door, Long Hua locks it, prior to going behind the counter to see a box with three bottles of cherry blossom wine.
Grabbing a bottle and a whisky glass, Long Hua pours himself half an index finger’s worth of clear pink liquor.
“Hmm.”
Giving the liquor a brief sniff, Long Hua picks up a flowery scent.
(Why did I ask for this as a bonus? Heck, I didn’t even know this thing existed until today…)
Prior to putting the glass to his lips, these thoughts ran through Long Hua’s mind.
“…!”
As the first sip enters his mouth and touches his tongue, Long Hua shuts his eyes tightly.
“Sour… But…”
As the flowery scent begins to fade, the sour taste of the liquor begins to sweeten.
“………”
Strange, that is the first thought that came to Long Hua’s mind. This should be a foreign taste and a foreign scent, and yet they all seemed familiar to him.
(I… Have I drunk this in the past?)
As far as Long Hua can remember, he has never touched alcoholic beverages in the past.
Emptying the remainder of the cup, Long Hua pours himself another while savoring the wine’s taste and scent that brings him a sense of comfort.
(Makes me think about crude homemade…? Cooking…?)
Closing his eyes, Long Hua tilts his head in confusion.
“You look like you’re recalling something sad.”
“…Do I?”
“Sinners don’t get drunk easy, so…”
“I’m completely sober. But… I don’t know why, but this wine’s taste and scent just… I guess makes me emotional?”
Setting the glass down, Long Hua exhales a sigh and reopens his eyes.
“Well, did you manage to find out why and how we got duped?”
………
“What do you mean?”
Dressed in casual clothing that consists of a loose T-shirt with baggy shorts, Jue Yun raises this question to the person on the other side of the video call.
The hotel room is rather minimalistic, for it is made up of a single bed with drawers on each side.
Next to the entrance of the room, there is a door to the side that leads into a bathroom.
At the far back of the room is where Jue Yun sits in front of a small table that has a laptop placed onto it.
[It’s exactly what I said. That casket didn’t contain anything of true value.]
The person on the other end of the video call is a white-haired old man—dressed in black military garbs named Xiáng Yǔ (祥羽).
“Then, the lives that were lost?”
[Meaningless.]
“…”
Despite having accepted the fact that the lives of ordinary soldiers are but fodder, this still ends up leaving a sour taste in Jue Yun’s mouth.
[Is what I’d usually say, but it’s not all in vain.]
“Explain.”
If this old man had been right in front of him, in person, Jue Yun would have surely wanted to send a jab to their face.
[The situation is like this. Someone of great wealth, time, and influence wanted to prank another person of great wealth, time, and influence. Our job in this prank was to act as the prankster’s hands and feet. In return for our services, we are being given benefits.]
“A prank?”
Hearing this to be the reason, as to why the men he had been in charge of had died, nearly causes Jue Yun to curse aloud, but—
[The benefits are priority service to an experimental surgery procedure that can enhance the performance of common soldiers.]
“By how much?”
Such a thing has been performed in the distant past, but none of them bore significant improvements to the accepters of the operation. At most, it only made an ordinary human more durable.
[At its finest, the soldiers, who undergo the operation can contend against the Immortals through a set of specialized equipment. At minimum, they can at least run and take a hit with high odds of survival so long as they are decently geared.]
“Who is offering this service?”
[Can’t tell.]
Chapter 17
“Well, did you manage to find out why and how we got duped?”
“The CEO wishes to talk to you directly about that.”
“…”
Without waiting for Long Hua to give a reply, the Owner has already set his laptop down on the counter and proceeds to go to the back.
Waiting for the call to connect, Long Hua fills his whisky glass with a block of ice.
As the call connects, the screen displays a figure seating themselves in a darkened room. Their face isn’t visible, for it is completely hidden by the darkness of their vicinity.
“…”
As Long Hua sips on the glass’s content, he seems to be waiting for the person on the other side to say something first, but—
[…]
The other person seems to be doing the same.
“………”
[…Say something, you’re making the situation awkward here.]
As a woman’s voice comes through the speakers of the laptop, Long Hua raises an eye.
“You’ve already made it awkward by having your room darkened. Oh, I get it. You wanted to make yourself seem like the shady boss of a shady organization. Sorry for being so insensitive, how about a restart?”
As the other side clicks their tongue, the light on their side is turned on, revealing a woman in her early twenties.
Seated on a luxurious leather office chair is a woman with snow-white hair and is dressed in a red one-piece qipao. Decorating the qipao is a Qilin done in golden threads.
The first odd feature of this woman are the pupils of her golden eyes that are narrowed into sharp slits, reminiscent of the sort seen on reptiles.
The second odd feature of this woman would have to be the sharp golden horns that protrude from the side of her head, and are flowing backwards.
This person is the CEO of NPI, Nian Yao Yao and the exiled daughter of the Long Yue family, an ancient family that has existed even before the Great Immortal Wars.
Flowing in their veins are the blood of the Immortals with the purest household members of this clan possessing the beast like traits seen on Nian Yao Yao.
[You’re no fun…]
“What’s a 100 something year old fossil doing sulking and pouting? Get on with it.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Setting down his glass, Long Hua looks at Nian Yao Yao with a bored expression on his face.
[Has life been fun?]
“…”
Refilling his cup, Long Hua thought for a moment before answering—
“Nothing’s really changed. I’m still the same as ever.”
[I see.]
“And you?”
[Peeved. That 200 something years old fossil played me well. I’m definitely going to get back at her for this.]
Currently, the Long Yue family has only two clansmen of the purest bloodline alive. The first is Nian Yao Yao and the second is the former’s mother, Nián Táo Táo (年桃桃).
The mother and the daughter have different views on their household’s goals in the current world, hence the origin of their feud with one another—that has lasted for over 180 years.
“And how do you intend to do that?”
[I’ll endure it for the time being and wait for a chance to bite back at her. This time she’s made the military act as her limbs to pull a prank on me, no doubt she’s offering them something of great value in return. I think sabotaging their exchange would be good as payback.]
“You’re talking to me now to do what exactly? Make prearrangements?”
[Something like that. Well, I was also curious about how you’ve been. Five years in that city, it’s been so long since we’ve last managed to meet each other face to face.]
“I’m going out to dinner with Jing Sunday.”
Towards this announcement, Nian Yao Yao widens her eyes in surprise.
[You placed a ring on her? That woman whose mind is as hard as a diamond? When?]
“Never did. It’s just a dinner to… To celebrate being able to know each other for so many years, I guess? She’d be the last person, I’d think to start a family life with, if I ever did.”
(Whoever can put a ring on that woman must have nerves of steel.)
(Whoever can put a ring on that woman must have nerves of steel.)
Simultaneously, the two thought of the same thing.
[You two being together would look rather amusing. Ah re-]
“If you’re going to tell me to report back to you about what happened during this dinner later, you can just ask her yourself.”
[Alright, I’ve decided, I’ll head over to your city on a private jet. Let’s have a get-together.]
Not even a second had passed after Long Hua’s reply, did Nian Yao Yao give hers.
“Don’t.”
[It’s fine. I’ve got plenty of time to kill recently, and I’m also planning to meet a client there.]
“It all feels too coincidental. Well, if you’re serious about coming over, bring me a few things. I’ll send you a list later.”
[Sure.]
A plate of what seems to be a high-quality steak is placed onto the other side’s table, along with a bottle and glass of dark wine.
“Right, its daytime on your end. So, who is this client you planning to meet here?”
[A very wealthy gentleman, who wishes to acquire some elixirs and wants to trade me some ingredients.]
“They have a corpse?”
If that were the case, then this client would have to be someone of great status in the military.
[No, just blood.]
Downing his glass, Long Hua thought of another matter.
“Look into a few people for me.”
[Who?]
“My teammates in the bureau.”
[Would be nice to know who you’re working with, wouldn’t it?]
“Indeed. It’s also inconvenient to have to reveal my Relic to them and make it difficult to use it outside of bureau work.”
[I’ve got you just the thing to deal with that.]
“And how much would that cost me?”
[Consider it a reunion gift.]
“Nice.”
[I see that you’ve finally started to delve into alcohol, how about we get ourselves wasted?]
“To hell with that. I’m dead tired and I got work tomorrow. If we’re done here, I’m hanging up.”
[Wait, wait.]
“What?”
[That doll.]
“What about it?”
[Remind me why you don’t like working with others.]
“I’ve… Learnt to not put my trust in living, breathing people.”
[You weren’t taught this.]
“…”
Despite not having had any recollections of experiencing a betrayal, Long Hua possesses this trait of not wanting to put trust in living people.
[Trying to handle a major job on your own can be quite difficult at times. You’ve worked for me for over ten years now, so you should know this. If you can’t come to put your trust in living people, then how about a machine?]
It goes without saying that modifications of civilian dolls into combat-ready military dolls is illegal. But so long as one is able to disguise the doll’s outward appearance well, no one will know.
“I’ll think about it.”
[If you’re worried about there not being enough space on your yacht, I can always rearrange your living environment a bit. Some money spent here and there can easily get you a permit to stay in the second ward.]
“I believe, I have gotten far too used to the yacht to live elsewhere. Within the earthly realms, you may dwell wherever, so long as you are able to dine and rest.”
[Well offer is always open.]
A smile appears on Nian Yao Yao’s face after hearing Long Hua’s manner of speech turning archaic, hence—
[Hey.]
“What?”
[It’s been so long since I’ve last heard a poem from you. Recite me something.]
“…”
Pouring out the last bit of his cherry blossom wine, Long Hua thought for a moment before answering—
“Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon,
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
That year, that day
We encountered one another before the city gates.
Have you perhaps heard of
The Wind, the Flower, the Snow, and the Moon?
I shook my head and asked you what
The Wind, the Flower, the Snow, and the Moon
Had meant.
Towards my question
You smiled and gifted me a round package
To which I later found to be the moon
I wished to return it and yet
Who knew the roads of the River and Lakes to be so vast?
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon,
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
Youthful nonsense it may be
I was determined to find you.
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon,
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
In spring the trees blossomed for miles on end
In summer the sight of fireworks dazzles the night skies
In autumn the trees wither and rid their leaves
In winter the snow buries all and embraces the world
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon,
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
Who knew the roads of the River and Lakes to be so vast?
Who knew the oddities of life to be so odd?
Who knew that a single encounter before the city gates would have brought upon such a journey?
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon,
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
Who spilled this story onto the world?
Who changed this story into one of such fine detail?
Who began to tell of this story to those on the streets?
Roaming through a sea of strangers whilst this story is being told
I hear a nostalgic laughter
Should I turn back now, wouldst you do the same?
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
What does
The Wind, the Flower, the Snow, and the Moon
mean?
Spilling a bottle of ink I write towards the moon
Pouring a bottle of moonlight I toast to Heaven and Earth
The Wind, the Flower, the Snow, and the Moon
That is me desiring to play out a romantic story with you and the world.”
Chapter 18
“Morning.”
Stepping into the rundown office building of DB-06-07, Long Hua gently sets the door back into its position while thinking this should be the first thing they get fixed after a payment.
“Morning.”
Waving back at Ye Chen, Long Hua looks to the sofa on the left side of the table.
“Uh…”
There, sits Yu Ji, who is holding onto his stomach with an expression of pain. Qing Yue sat next to him, while Li Xue sat on the opposing sofa.
(I didn’t exactly hit him that hard, why does he look like he’s expecting a baby soon?)
Walking over, Long Hua sits down on the sofa that is empty.
Placed onto the table directly in front of Li Xue is a white laptop.
“All hell broke loose in the fourth ward yesterday apparently.”
The moment Long Hua seats himself, Li Xue brings this up as a topic of discussion.
“I heard.”
Without breaking his composure, Long Hua answers as such, while Ye Chen—
“Ai, if only we were the ones called in. I heard the girl who got to take part in the attempted capture was compensated nicely.”
(Did they mention any sort of head injuries? Would be nice if that hit managed to tighten up her loose screws.)
Recalling Shen Le’s rotten eyes, Long Hua comes to the immediate conclusion that she must have a few screws loose in the head.
“Just be patient. We’ll get our turn soon enough.”
“You’ve done what I told you?”
Towards this question, Long Hua, Yu Ji, and Qing Yue can’t help but look towards Ye Chen and Li Xue with confusion.
“What exactly did you tell the vice-captain?”
“You know how we’re located in the sixth ward right?”
“What about it?”
“It’s the ward that is focused on Sinner education. According to past statistics, we very rarely get handed a job.”
As this is the ward that is heavily focused on Sinner education, issues regarding Sinners do not occur very often, for they tend to be taken care of ahead of time by means outside of the Disciplinary Bureau; mainly by the military instructors, who are stationed in the educational institutes akin to S09.
And if issues regarding Sinners do occur here, then the issues in question must be quite major.
“Wait… Doesn’t that mean our place’s income-”
“It’s exactly what you think, 2nd Lieut. Yu Ji.”
“So… Aren’t we basically unemployed?”
“If there isn’t a way, we create a way. I’ve told our vice-captain here to post an ad on the internet telling others that we’re accepting odd jobs.”
“…Somehow, this isn’t what I imagined coming here.”
Towards Qing Yue’s words, Long Hua had to agree.
“Well, think of it this way. It just means we’ve got more freedom than most other squads. If it makes you feel any better, we’re basically the reserve unit that gets called in when all hope is lost.”
“What is up with that, we’re the ace in the hole line of thinking?”
“I like how you described that, 2nd Lieut. Qing Yue. And 2nd Lieut. Yu Ji, no need to get yourself so bothered about low income. Like I said, if opportunities won’t come to us, we simply need to create our own.”
“Captain.”
“What’s wrong, 2nd Lieut. Long Hua?”
“You’re a real positive guy.”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”
Judging by the air of satisfaction that comes from Ye Chen after hearing those words that is definitely a lie.
“I got things planned Sunday, so I won’t be showing up unless it’s an emergency.”
Since Ye Chen has indirectly said that their office is a place with more freedom than most, Long Hua figured that he may as well take advantage of this conversation topic to request for a day off.
“That’s fine, but what exactly are your plans that day?”
“Something like a company get-together.”
What should have been a dinner for two people has turned into a company get-together at a luxury hotel located in the third ward.
“I sense something more.”
“I’ll leave that up to your imagination, vice-captain.”
Just as it would seem like today was going to be just another casual day, where nothing will happen, the speakers on Li Xue’s laptop raise a mild ringtone.
“Hm?”
“We got a job offering?”
Reading the message that was sent over, Li Xue blinks her eyes once, and reports—
“Another squad wants us to take over their patrol duty.”
“Patrol of the wastelands?”
The areas beyond the city’s barrier are typically called the slums, or the wastelands.
Much of what makes up that area are old ruins that are on the verge of collapsing. Those that are kicked out of the city for whatever reason, or are banned from entering—gather there.
Every two days after a patrol’s conclusion, another squad would be sent out to perform it again.
This is done repeatedly because the Gears of Descension can occasionally teleport something into this world without triggering the city’s detection system, which has a limited scanning range pass a certain point.
“How much are they offering?”
“50,000 NWD.”
“Huh?”
Hearing such a high number, the others can’t help but raise a look of surprise.
“50,000 for just a two-day patrol job?”
“…”
The fact that this other squad is willing to offer this much money for them to take over their area of patrol sounds far too good to be true.
“I doubt they’d answer honestly, if we asked them why they’re willing to offer this much.”
“Negotiate with them a bit. See if you can get them to raise the fees.”
“So, we’re taking it?”
“Of course. Beats sitting on our asses all day. If they say, they can’t raise the price, remind them about the penalties involved with delaying their responsibilities.”
A monetary fine would be the least of the other squad’s concerns—if they were to delay the patrol schedule. In extreme cases, they could very well all get sent to the frontlines.
With that decided, Long Hua sends a text message to the Owner telling them that he would be absent from the café for two days.
Chapter 19
The next day—
“Right, let me introduce you to our office’s main mode of transport. Her name is Christiana.”
“…”
“This…”
“Captain will this thing last the trip?”
Compared to Long Hua and Yu Ji, who are a bit hesitant to point the matter out, Qing Yue raises her concern to Ye Chen readily.
In front of the five is a black off-road truck that has most definitely seen better days. Shades of rust can be seen here and there, but the tire set of the vehicle seems fresh.
Packed onto the back of the vehicle are some outdoor camping supplies that will most definitely be used during the trip.
“Remember kids, it’s not about how she looks on the outside. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.”
Towards this sleazebag like answer, Long Hua walks forward and presses a hand onto the vehicle.
(Tai Xuan.)
As information regarding the vehicle enters his head, Long Hua frowns before taking three steps back.
“It will hold. But another 5,000 miles later… Get your divorce papers ready and start looking for a Christiana II.”
“Yeah, the mechanic was saying the same thing when I brought it off him for cheap with those tires installed.”
“We’re low on funds right now, so we’ll just have to bear with it.”
Opening the doors of the tall truck the three lieutenants are a bit surprised to see how clean it was on the inside.
The driver’s seat is occupied by Ye Chen while Li Xue takes the passenger seat beside him.
Yu Ji is the first to enter the back seat while Qing Yue struggles a bit to climb onto the vehicle due to her height.
“C’mon.”
“I don’t like this at all…”
Holding Qing Yue by her hip, Long Hua gives her a boost into the backseats.
“Hey, Long Hua, you ride a bike?”
“I do. Something the matter?”
“No, just reminds me of the unpleasant guy from yesterday…”
“…Hm?”
With everyone now inside the vehicle, the group sets off for the edge of the city.
Despite how the off-road truck had looked on the outside, the riding experience wasn’t too bad.
“…How is he able to sleep like that?”
Looking at Long Hua, who is leaning his head against the window and is sleeping peacefully, Yu Ji can’t help but shake his head.
“Being able to sleep at any time is a valuable skill to have on the frontlines. You can practice that right now if you want.”
“I’ll pass.”
Upon reaching the edge of the city’s crystal walls, the sight of a checkpoint comes into view.
The checkpoint consists of dormitories, and other living faculties for military personnel, who are stationed here as guards all year round.
“Halt.”
Coming to a stop in front of a raised hydraulic barrier system, Ye Chen produced a leave permit to the guard, who had approached them.
“Everything checks out. You can go.”
With the permit approved, the hydraulic barriers are lowered, allowing them to drive through.
“Hey, mind if I ask a question?”
“Go ahead.”
Showing his phone that displays a patrol route, Ye Chen asks—
“What can I expect to run into in these areas?”
“There’s a village on this route. Other than that… Not much else that I can tell you.”
“Thanks.”
Detecting something in the guard’s eyes, Ye Chen inwardly frowns as he drives off.
“Well?”
“I get the feeling that this two-day trip is gotta be an interesting experience.”
“Interesting in a good way or…?”
A light of anticipation emanates from Li Xue’s eyes as she asks this question.
“Shall see.”
………
As the group continues their travels and distances themselves from the city by a bit more than 25 miles, Ye Chen stops the truck.
This is their first area to look through.
Surrounding the vehicle are towering buildings of old that have greenery growing out of their breaches.
“I feel like, I’m looking at another world.”
Reflected onto the surface of Qing Yue’s bright pink eyes is a world, where plants have thoroughly overrun these old structures, making it difficult to imagine that this land had once been a part of civilization.
“…”
Pieces of rubble that were once a part of the buildings, where people had called a home, or a workplace is scattered throughout the area.
(…What a sublime and comedic scenery really. Humans… As grand as your civilization can be, nature will always be able to outlast it.)
Mother nature has completely reclaimed this land from the clutches of humanity, that would be one way to describe the landscape before the five’s eyes.
“Wake up, the sleeping 2nd Lieut.”
“I’m already up.”
“Didn’t notice. Li Xue, explain what patrol means to them.”
“25 miles away from the city’s barrier devices, that is the limit of the city’s detection system’s scanning range. Our task here, is to head over to each of the computer terminals that acts as a miniature relay tower. We read the data, collect the recording chip, then give the machine a new one—that is scheduled for pickup by the next squad that performs the patrol two days after us.”
“Simple enough to understand right? 2nd Lieut. Long Hua and 2nd Lieut. Qing Yue, you two are heading out with me. Li Xue and 2nd Lieut. Yu Ji, gets to stay and watch the transport.”
It was then that Long Hua realized something.
(He keeps calling me and the other two second lieutenants, but he calls the vice-captain by her name… I see, a lack of trust.)
Which isn’t something that Long Hua has any rights to judge—seeing as how he himself is a person who is very cautious about who he would put his trusts on.
Getting out of the truck, Long Hua turns around and raises his hand out to Qing Yue, but—
“Don’t need it.”
“Heh.”
With a chuckle, Long Hua takes three steps back while Qing Yue jumps onto the ground with a solid landing.
Chapter 20
“Quite far.”
Looking at the coordinates displayed on his phone, Long Hua is currently situated at the far back of the group.
Qing Yue is positioned in front of him, while Ye Chen leads them as vanguard, should they encounter anything of danger.
Other than the threat of Immortals, the secondary threats that the denizens of this world are made to deal with are the foreign animals that are transported into this world by the Gears of Descension.
Compared to domestic animals that can be seen in zoos and can be kept as pets, animals that dwell in the wastelands are completely foreign to this world.
These animals are beasts that were originally a part of whatever world the Immortals have originated from, and this means that they are far stronger in strength.
At this point, almost all the wildlife that were originally a part of this world have gone extinct or are kept in zoos for protection.
“Roads’ quite uneven. Work on your balance, this is the sort of terrain you can expect to walk on in the frontlines. Sometimes a slip there can cause you to fall into a bottomless crater.”
“Is it really that bad?”
Out of curiosity, Qing Yue asks, and towards her question—
“It is. Life in the double or triple digits are lost daily over there. Almost 50 percent of it doesn’t involve receiving an actual attack from an Immortal, but just from minor issues that accumulated over time.”
The common soldier may be fodder on the frontlines, but that doesn’t mean that they should be treated as such.
On the battlefield, these soldiers are kept as far away as possible from the main areas of conflict, where Sinners are made to take charge of.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, but… Captain, why did you decide to stay an additional year in that hellhole?”
Coming to a stop, Ye Chen looks back at Long Hua with an odd smile.
“That’s something that’s a bit more private, second lieutenant.”
“Very well then.”
Continuing to trudge along, the group eventually finds the computer terminal that they were looking for.
Surrounded by a ring of rubble is a machine with a box shaped base that is stapled into the earth through spikes.
Extending from the center of the box is a round tower with a complex set of antennas mounted onto its flat head.
A small monitor with a keyboard is attached to the tower’s side.
Wrapping around the entire machine is an orange energy dome, which is produced by the miniature barrier devices that surround the terminal.
“Bingo.”
Approaching the large computer terminal, Ye Chen directs his phone towards it, and taps the screen twice causing the barrier devices to deactivate.
“Right, come along, and see how it’s done. Eventually, every one of you need to learn how to do it.”
In a snappy manner, Ye Chen demonstrates the procedures to Long Hua and Qing Yue on how to read the monitor’s data, and how to retrieve and replace the recording chip.
Once that is done, they rearm the barrier devices prior to departing from the site.
“What happens if during the patrol an unexpected attack causes us to lose the chip?”
“Nothing much that we can do. Pay may get cut here and there, but shit happens, and if more shit happens because of it, well… They might try to direct some heavy responsibilities our way. That’s why it’s important to make some notes if possible.”
“Heavy responsibilities such as… An instant ticket to the frontlines?”
“That can definitely happen.”
As Ye Chen and Qing Yue continue to converse, Long Hua abruptly halts his footsteps.
(He picked it up faster than me?)
Momentarily, Ye Chen does the same, while Qing Yue remains oblivious to the situation.
“Wha-?”
“Shhh.”
Looking around the area, both Long Hua and Ye Chen had a solemn expression on their faces, and reading the tension filled mood, Qing Yue does the same at the realization that something dangerous might be nearby.
(It’s fast. Probably some sort of four-legged beast.)
(Seems to weight quite a bit judging by the sound…)
As the sound of the beast’s heavy footsteps draw closer and closer to the three, the louder it becomes, and—
*Thud!* leaping over a tall pile of rubble, a four-legged beast lands a few meters in front of Ye Chen.
Its outward appearance resembles that of a lion due to the dense mane growing around its neck and upper body.
However, what separates this foreign beast from an ordinary lion, would have to be the fact that it is doubled in size with a single horn protruding from its forehead—along with its twin saber styled fangs.
“Well, I suppose, this is a good chance to see how you two handle yourselves in battle.”
Having said this, Ye Chen takes a few steps back, while Long Hua advances to the front.
(Well, the CEO said that she has a solution for me. So, I guess showing my Relic is fine.)
Just as Long Hua thought of summoning his Relic—
“Charge Bai Hu!”
*Grawr!* following a beast’s roar, a white shadow leaps pass Long Hua, and continues to charge towards the one-horned lion.
This second beast is a white tiger that is a bit over two meters in height, and over four meters in length. The black stripes that should be on its body are replaced with black cloud patterns, making it clear that this was not an animal that was born naturally into this world.
As the two beasts roared at one another, it was the white tiger that managed to land a hit in first.
(So, this is one of the things that her pouch can summon?)
Looking at Qing Yue’s right hand, Ye Chen sees a blue drawstring pouch embroidered with the figure of a carp with multicolored scales.
*Grawr!* as the one-horned lion raises a fierce roar, it shoulder tackles the white tiger aside, and makes a straight line charge towards Qing Yue with bloodshot eyes.
(It’s able to tell that killing the summoner would be easier than dealing with the summoned.)
(Now then…)
Directing his eyes at Long Hua, who has moved himself in front of Qing Yue, Ye Chen sees two pale white ribbons emerging from the top of the former’s jacket.
Rather quickly, these ribbons solidify their forms into white-scaled serpents.
“Step to the side a bit.”
“I-I got it…”
Heeding to Long Hua’s words, Qing Yue distances herself from the incoming beast’s line of charge along with Ye Chen.
“…”
*Grawr!* as the one-horned lion pounces towards him, Long Hua shifts his body to the left to avoid being crushed, and upon the beast’s heavy landing—
(Hm?)
Narrowing his eyes, Ye Chen focuses on the sight of Long Hua delivering a palm strike that sinks into the beast’s neck in one swift motion.
Simultaneously, the twin serpents rush forth and sink their fangs into the beast’s flesh.
Venomous poison is injected into the beast’s body in less than the time it would take for a person to blink their eyes.
“…”
*Thud. Thud. Thud… Thud!* as the beast takes another three steps forward in a sluggish manner, it ceases to move entirely, prior to falling onto its side with blood flowing out of its maw.