Chapter 102 - Storm
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Floating City’s night scene was brilliant and chaotic.
The lights burned through the mists like fire, and the colorful neon signs in the night market were dizzying in the damp water vapor, causing one’s vision to flutter when they walked.
Wu Jin ate his handheld wrap very seriously, and his other hand was tucked very cleverly in Wei Shi’s.
Wei Shi looked down. He’d bought a big wrap for Wu Jin only two minutes ago, but there was only a small crescent moon of it left.
The youth’s mask was lifted up slightly as he ate and chomped happily.
He couldn’t help but take Wu Jin to buy another wrap. When they walked into the alley, he gently pinched a handful of soft flesh; of course the little fool had come to stave off hunger.
The one making the wraps was an uncle in his forties. He was cheerful when he saw Wu Jin sticking close to his windowsill happily and stretching his head in.
“Bacon?”
Wu Jin nodded, “Yes!”
“Orleans chicken drumstick?”
Wu Jin nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes!”
“Basil?”
Wu Jin glanced at the big boss, “No… don’t want that one!”
The uncle understood, “Oh, your boyfriend doesn’t like it. That thing is like star anise; those who like it love it, and those who don’t like it refuse to touch it.”
Wu Jin heard the word ‘boyfriend’ and smiled delightedly, nodding again and again.
The uncle added an egg to the wrap and the fragrance of coriander and shallots spread out, “How long have you known each other?”
Wu JIn grinned, “Three months.”
“Oho,” The uncle flipped the wrap and boasted, “My wife and I got married in three months. You young people should start thinking about it earlier too… Here, it’s done. Take it.”
The half-folded wrap was filled with sauce, bacon, and vegetables and couldn’t even be closed up. Wu Jin quickly accepted the plastic bag, and the lettuce leaf on the top fell out.
Wei Shi reached out and plucked out two leaves, feeding the greens to the little rabbit spirit.
Wu Jin nibbled on it, his tongue rolling up and cheeks puffing out, his breath coming out in huffs.
Wei Shi raised his brows.
Wu Jin: “Spicy…”
The hot sauce had been squeezed on at the end, and the two slices of lettuce had taken in a lot of it.
Wei Shi made a sound of acknowledgement and pulled out the remaining piece of red lettuce from the corner of Wu Jin’s lips, bringing it to his own mouth.
Wu Jin raised up his face and sought confirmation, “It’s spicy, it’s spicy right!”
Wei Shi finished it off in moments and obtained revenge for Wu Jin, “It’s alright.”
The two of them sat down on the bench beside the road. The night wind blew through, and the small curls were fluffy and happy. The pair waited quietly for the wrap that had just come off the stove to cool down, and only the crinkling sound of the plastic bag could be heard beneath the lights.
Wu Jin lifted his head and looked out over the bright night market that wound through the lights like a long dragon as well as the high, s.p.a.cious mansions amidst the fog in the distance. He was thinking very, very seriously about his and the big boss’s future.
This indulgent and sensual Floating City was too mysterious, and he knew too little about the big boss.
In this long lifetime, perhaps he would only be able to chase behind the big boss’s figure, but at the very least, he wanted to walk side by side with his lover on the screen.
His memory flashed back to the conversation with the shopkeeper just now.
“…got married in three months. You young people should start thinking about it earlier too…”
Wu Jin shook his head. As a poor little trainee, he didn’t have any capital to propose with! He had to at least make his debut and become a professional survival show contestant, as well as joining the Star League… Wu Jin suddenly turned his head and looked at the big boss’s face, his thoughts drifting.
If he could propose to the big boss with the Star League’s championship trophy––
Wei Shi: “Hm?”
Wu Jin straightened his back and hurriedly turned off the short film of k2018;winning the t.i.tle and returning with the beauty’ that was playing in his mind and promised solemnly, “I, I’ll work hard!”
The man looked at the silly youth and actually managed to understand this sentence that came out without any context.
A roughened palm stroked over the small curls, “Okay.”
Focus on the compet.i.tion, and bounce and jump around as you like.
When the huge handheld wrap cooled down, Wu Jin immediately started to gnaw at it from the left side, opening his mouth up to the fullest.
Wei Shi: “Won’t your mouth feel tired eating it like this?”
Wu Jin was embarra.s.sed, “It does seem to be a bit much…”
The man rolled up his sleeves, and his strong arm reached across Wu Jin. The man who habitually held a gun grabbed the greasy plastic bag and helped him gather together a corner of the handheld wrap, “Eat from here.”
Wu Jin looked up and opened his mouth with an ahhh to take a small bite before offering the still-intact other side to the big boss, “There’s no basil… is it delicious?”
The man bit down where he’d left his teeth marks, “Not bad.”
Wu Jin was delighted as he took back the wrap, and the two of them took turns taking bites until it was all finished. Wu Jin was unable to find anywhere to wash his hands for a while, only to turn back and find that the big boss had leisurely obtained some bubble foam from the cleaning robot by the bench.
The little trainee who hadn’t seen much of the world opened his eyes wide.
Wei Shi gestured for him to come over.
Wu Jin would always ask if he didn’t understand, “Do you just need to rub…”
The man nodded and gestured for Wu Jin to reach out, rubbing and rubbing for him, causing bright, transparent bubbles to float up from the gap between their hands.
Wu Jin blew out lightly.
A bubble landed on Wei Shi’s face and popped.
Wei Shi: “……”
Wu Jin: !! It wasn’t me, I didn’t…
A gust of wind blew by, and a chaotic mess of soap bubbles floated back towards Wu Jin’s face.
Wei Shi gave a low laugh, “Close your eyes.”
Wu Jin closed his eyes, subconsciously holding onto the big boss’s hand. He didn’t realize that the man was currently looking at him steadily.
It was like he was trying hard to imprint his face in his mind.
After they were done with late night snacks, the suspension car sent Wu Jin back to the training base.
“I’m heading out. I’ll be back in two weeks.” Wei Shi suddenly spoke up in the dark.
Wu Jin was stunned, “Two weeks––” This even included one week of cla.s.ses at the Crosson Show, but he was unable to pry out any further information.
Wu Jin felt a little lost, but he soon cheered up. He whiled away the time explaining his guesses about the upcoming match with the big boss. The women’s league, the Palace of Versailles, the ball… The terminal projection appeared in the narrow s.p.a.ce inside the suspension car, and the front row reclining chair was pushed down. The two of them lay side by side, their breaths mingling. It was mostly Wu Jin talking, with Wei Shi occasionally joining in with an a.n.a.lysis.
“It’s even possible that there will be no initial team formation between the players, and alliances will be caused by struggles between factions, the ident.i.ty cards might be changed or destroyed… Mmph!” Wu Jin chattered on, then suddenly paused, his eyes going round.
Wei Shi’s expression was ambiguous as he withdrew back to his own seat in satisfaction and ordered Wu Jin to continue.
Wu Jin’s eyes were full of complaints, but his lips were moist and soft. He stammered slightly and explained, “… After the cards are adjusted and changed, it-it-it…”
The man suddenly pulled the youth into his arms and held him, “Mm.”
Wu Jin looked up and waited for the big boss to a.n.a.lyze the rules.
Wei Shi thought about it, “…Mm. One more kiss.”
Wu Jin: “!!!”
His left arm was suddenly grasped, and Wu Jin was forced to raise up his head. Burning hot pheromones spread out in the narrow front seat of the suspension car. Wei Shi seemed to sweep across the youth’s lips and teeth in a threatening manner, his firm and hard muscles tightening almost painfully around Wu Jin.
A long time later, Wei Shi finally stopped.
The extreme possessiveness subsided, though the hormones still boiled through his blood.
His mood fluctuations had almost exceeded the threshold in that moment.
The fourth course of treatment.
His eyes were dark as they locked onto the curls on Wu Jin’s head, his hand straightening out the small, aggrieved curls.
There were only a scattered amount of clues, but the two of them ‘discussed’ them for half an hour. When Wu Jin finally walked out of the car in a daze, he thought of something and turned around, “Two weeks…”
Wei Shi nodded.
Wu Jin committed it to memory and waved goodbye to the big boss.
Then, he headed straight to the training grounds in the dark.
The only reason he couldn’t stand beside the big boss was because he wasn’t strong enough yet!
Wu Jin ran like the wind all the way to the training room and held up the cross-shaped sword, starting up the instance––the foolish, giggling expression on his face disappeared, and his eyes became as sharp as blades, shining beneath the lights.
Stab, slice.
Pious and determined.
Late at night, at the military base of Floating City.
The metal instruments shone coldly beneath the shadowless lights. Researcher Song went over the details of the treatment course with Wei Shi for the last time, “… Business will be handled by Officer Mao for the next two weeks. Arjun will follow up on Zhi Wei’s side, don’t worry. Memory recall––unlike the first three sessions, it can trigger a lot of negative emotions, including tyranny, jealousy, anger, and so on. I would like to repeat that you can choose to reject the treatment and maintain the status quo, or take the risk and continue…”
Wei Shi: “Continue.”
Researcher Song nodded, then sighed and handed the signature form to Wei Shi, “When the negative emotions are aroused, the subconscious of the person being treated will be closed to the outside world––we can’t go through it for you, and you can only rely on yourself. The fourth course is a high-risk treatment. Even in the Empire, the success rate is no more than 85%.”
“Memory recall is similar to a one-time injection of 200ml of MHCC, and there is a very small possibility that the person being treated will be trapped within their subconscious. Of course, I want to let you know that you have the support of the entire laboratory and Floating City behind you. Even if the curative effects fail this time, we will still go all out to get you out.”
Wei Shi nodded, picked up the pen and signed.
Emotional shackles.
When it was first designed, its primary purpose was to act as a self-destruct lock rather than as a means to control the threshold of mood fluctuations.
It was like a sheath attached to a weapon to prevent it from turning against its controller.
Those who disobeyed would die.
Six years ago, the only key was destroyed in the R-Code base. Shao Yu, Mao Dongqing, Wei Yan, and all the modified humans who had the shackles became ticking time bombs, himself included. n.o.body knew when it would trigger, and the only way to undo the lock was to unlock it with a long course of treatment.
Researcher Song took back the signature form. Mao Dongqing, who’d been waiting for a long time in the corridor, pushed open the door and came in.
Beneath the shadowless lights, Wei Shi entered the cold laboratory instrument. Two a.s.sistants in white lab coats and Researcher Song confirmed repeatedly that the settings were correct.
Mao Dongqing nodded, and Researcher Song clenched his teeth and made a gesture.
The lights went out, and the instrument began to slowly operate.
The fingers of the clock paused slightly before moving towards 11 o’clock sharp.
Ding-dong.
In the Floating base, Wu Jin was shocked by the sound from the clock on the wall. He hurriedly shut down the training equipment and swallowed down a recovery agent before pulling the training clothing over his head and rushing to bed.
In the dormitory building, Caesar, who was reading a novel upstairs, slapped the railing. “Ah, you’re back, you’re back! I was just saying, how could there be a piece of cloth running around in the middle of the night?!”
Wu Jin took a quick post-battle shower and squeezed his way into the room next door five minutes later than the scheduled group meeting time. He apologized, “It’s raining outside…”
Zoe didn’t mind. He picked up Caesar’s towel and wrapped Wu Jin up in it, and praised the model trainee Little Witch who loved to learn and worked hard.
However, the team’s happy atmosphere changed to a treacherous low after the special training that day.
In the middle of the projected screen, the ‘learning materials’ that Ying Xiangxiang had provided them with played slowly. Two dance teachers, one male and one female, smiled like blooming flowers as they turned and jumped, turned and jumped on the red carpet––
Zoe pressed the pause key and asked slowly, “Who will dance the female part?”
All hands darted beneath the table instantly.
Zoe’s expression was pleasant, “Are there any trainees who have a lot of ideas who are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the team?”
A stretch of silence.
Zoe coughed softly: “Are there any very thoughtful, a.s.sault position, exercise students who are willing to help everyone.”
Caesar was happy, “There is, there is!” He raised Wu Jin’s hand up with a swish.
Wu Jin looked at his own hand in confusion.
Zoe slapped the table and spoke seriously, “Alright, we’ll take this contestant, Caesar, with a little paunch!”
Half an hour later, the exhausted Caesar spread out on the bed, “I, I can’t dance anymore. I’m not accepting any more clients today…”
Zoe placed a foot on his big fat leg, “Have you lost any fat yet? How come you’ve gotten fatter?”
Wu Jin couldn’t bear it anymore and gave Caesar a tube of recovery agent before hurrying back to his bedroom before midnight.
His soft bed was fragrant with the light smell of sunshine.
The champagne rose was leaning gently in its vase, and rain was falling outside.
Wu Jin rolled around his bed as usual, and his small round face rubbed against the pillow until the entire quilt warmed up. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
His dream was full of warm light.
The priest in white sacrificial robes prayed for the marching knights, light and shadow drifted over the statues in the temple, and some of the people there were smiling compa.s.sionately.
Wu Jin glanced at the sword at his waist.
His colleagues were pushing and shoving playfully, their swords surrounded by gilded verses. The priest smiled and sprinkled water on Wu Jin, “The G.o.d will stand on your shoulder through your verses––tell me what is written on your sword hilt.”
Wu Jin lowered his head, “Wei…”
The divine light suddenly blazed like fire during the day. The entire hall was burning, and Wu Jin hurriedly went to the G.o.d in the shrine. He had exactly the same facial features as Wei Shi, his eyebrows slightly lowered as his gaze looked across the distance into the void. Tongues of fire spread up along his robes, engulfing the man’s clothes, the hand that held his sword, and his broad shoulders––
Wu Jin gasped for breath in the fire and reached out subconsciously. The fingers that were swallowed by the tongues of fire weren’t burned, but instead felt like they’d entered an ice cellar.
Wu Jin woke up abruptly.
Sharp winds were howling in his ears, and there was heavy rain falling outside the window.
Rain poured in through the half-open window, wetting the edge of the bed. The champagne rose had been left tilted by the wind, and the petals were scattered.
In the moment when Wu Jin was about to close the window, his heart gave a violent thump.
At the Floating City military base dozens of kilometers away.
The cold laboratory instrument suddenly sounded a shrill alarm.
The little researcher on duty shivered and turned pale, “Brother Wei… the equipment…”
He banged open the door and ran outside, “––Something’s wrong!”
Juurensha: Nooo, let’s hope the treatment goes okay!
xiin: backstory arc~