Chapter Ch111.1 - Sharp Blue
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Nine o’clock in the evening, at the entrance to Sharp Blue.
Luxury suspension cars were parked all over the place, and lights danced through the humid air of Floating City. Ming Yao glanced over the scene, then pushed his captain inside, “Captain, let’s go! The booth table near the dance floor––”
The lighting was ambiguous and dim. Wu Jin narrowed his eyes, and the bartender big brother who was pa.s.sing by sent him a sultry smile.
The deep V in his shirt went from his neckline down to his navel.
Wu Jin jumped back two steps, “…!!!”
Caesar slapped his thigh from behind him, “Little Ming is really rich!”
Wu Jin raised his head, “What?”
“It’s a booth! Based on the layout of this place, in the Federation, a booth costs 40,000 credits a night! Minimum!” Caesar explained it to him excitedly, “Back then, when your Brother Caesar trawled the clubs, I would buy a bottle of wine from the supermarket and then mix in with the crowd around the scattered tables!”
“However, when it comes to picking up girls, it’s not based on what you have in your pockets. It’s––ah, but your Brother Caesar already has a family and is low-key now. I’ll teach you some tricks later.”
On the stage, the DJ changed the music from a slow shake to some hip-hop, and the people who were originally loose and flowing on the dance floor suddenly started dancing chaotically.
Wu Jin could barely make himself heard over the noise, “Caesar! There aren’t any…”
Caesar: “Aren’t any what? You have to speak louder!”
Wu Jin turned up his own volume, “It seems that there aren’t any! Girls!”
The two of them were less than a meter apart. Caesar stuck his neck out but he still couldn’t hear a word. He asked again, but ended up caught by Red, “Brother, let’s go, let’s go play––”
The dance floor was incredibly noisy. Wu Jin was dizzy and couldn’t help but cover up his waist, then thought about it and realized that wasn’t right and hurriedly covered up his ears instead.
A young and handsome bouncer suddenly came out from behind a part.i.tion, smiling widely as he reminded him, “Fellow brothers, remember to head straight then to your left to exchange your masks for a special one. Our theme tonight is ‘attraction’…”
Ming Yao waved, and a waiter immediately helped him with collecting everyone’s masks and distributing out the new ones.
Ming Yao handed it to Wu Jin and asked curiously, “Why is Little Witch’s face so much smaller than Caesar’s? It turns out that Caesar’s head is really big!”
“!!” Wu Jin tried to remind him gently, “You’re not nervous anymore?”
Ming Yao bounced upright, “d.a.m.n it, why did you mention this? I’m starting to get nervous again!”
The group happily traded in their masks and finally squeezed out of the crowd to settle in at their booth.
The sofa faced the dance floor, and the view was bright and open, allowing them to look through the lights at the crowd, the background walls, and the entire scene at a glance.
When the birthday celebrations began, a three-layer cake was served along with explosive fireworks. Ming Yao drank two gla.s.ses of wine and immediately began to show the leisurely and trouble-loving energy of a true second generation rich.
He would be toasting his own captain one minute, then be in the middle of having a good time with Caesar and playing dice with Red the next. In the middle, he even drunkenly asked Wu Jin if Pterosaurs were tasty.
“……” Wu Jin deeply suspected that if Ming Yao didn’t partic.i.p.ate in the survival show, he would definitely become a food and drink bag that stuffed his face with food every day!
Just when Ming Yao’s IQ plummeted, the club suddenly erupted in wild cheers.
Wu Jin raised his head slightly. The R&B that had been playing for nearly an hour was over, and the DJ was now flicking his hair on the stage. The background music had now been changed to a kind of strange variant on electro house.
Caesar made a sound of realization, “It’s time for the main act.”
Caesar’s voice had just fallen when he discovered that other than Ming Yao, who was already as drunk as a dog, everyone else was watching him. There seemed to be a sacred beam of light that shone on Caesar, this old pro at the scene.
Caesar: “Holy s.h.i.t? You guys have never been here?”
Zuo Botang nodded and smiled, admitting frankly, “I’m usually busy with training.”
Red offered sincerely, “About that, my big brother keeps an eye on me!”
Wu Jin was well-behaved, “I haven’t been anywhere before.”
Caesar was in a daze and thought that he suddenly had three Little Witches sitting on the small bench in front of him. He came back to his senses half a beat later and then spoke proudly, “During this kind of night scene, it’s time to get high during the main act. You guys just wait.”
On the stage, the DJ was spinning the tables, and the atmosphere at the club heated up higher and higher. Caesar downed an entire gla.s.s of wine and slammed the gla.s.s on the table, “Little Witch, can you hear it? The rhythm is getting faster!”
Wu Jin shook his head, “It’s not the rhythm. The frequency of the drumming has increased. The ba.s.s switched from the counter-melody to the main melody, and the duration of the rests have increased, with the cheering voices becoming stronger and creating the illusion of an accelerated rhythm. The actual drum beat is very stable…”
Caesar: “What are you talking about? I’m telling you to look at the stage!”
In the middle of the scene, a beam of light suddenly lit up one side of the stage, and a man with large pectoral muscles was suddenly on display. Without saying another word, he accepted the wine offered up by a waiter and poured it down his throat.
The seductive, sultry dancers on the dance floor all clapped and cheered, and a man with blue hair soon came up and began to hook up with Mister Pecs.
The beam flashed again, and another man was caught in its light. He waved to the crowd without any hesitation and cheers rang out again.
Wu Jin’s eyelids twitched, “This-this-this…whoever is caught in the light beam has to drink…”
He choked all of a sudden. In his field of vision, the light beam moved slowly and steadily from the dance floor towards their booth, wavering slightly between the five of them––
Wu Jin didn’t hesitate to dive beneath the table.
Caesar: “Holy s.h.i.t, Little Witch, why are you so fast––”
The beam of light stopped on Ming Yao.
Zuo Botang stilled and subconsciously blocked Ming Yao behind him. Red whispered, “Wait a minute, isn’t Little Ming already wasted?”
Who could’ve known that Ming Yao would bounce up with a swish? He didn’t wait for the bartender to come over and had already enthusiastically lifted up a gla.s.s of Four Loko. He raised his gla.s.s up to the beam of light, “Respect freedom, ideals, and the team captain!”
Zuo Botang hadn’t been able to stop him. “……”
The crowd exploded, and many people on the dance floor prepared to head their way. This was especially the case due to the beam of light that coated the scarred muscles of the two a.s.sault positions and two snipers with a layer of gold––
The bouncers quickly picked up their walkie talkies, “Pay attention to the first floor. That group of zeroes is going crazy.”
Beneath the beam of light, Ming Yao chugged down half the drink, then suddenly collapsed face first onto the sofa and fell asleep hugging a pillow. All of this happened too suddenly, and Red slapped his thigh, “I was just saying, Little Ming has been drunk since a long time ago. Just now, that just now was like the last radiance of the setting sun––hey, why is the beam of light still here?”
Caesar spread his hands, “The drink isn’t finished! Should we prop him up?”
Zuo Botang shook his head from the side. The Jingyi captain picked up the half-finished gla.s.s of alcohol that Ming Yao had left behind. He was clearly out of place in this night scene, yet this Jingyi gentleman didn’t go out of character and still managed to suck up more gazes with every pa.s.sing minute.
Zuo Botang spoke elegantly, “I’ll drink for him.”
The crowd went quiet, and then the noise grew even louder. Whistling and catcalls rang out everywhere, and the DJ scrubbed through three songs in a row.
The little zeroes beneath the stage who’d been planning to go up and try their chances immediately sighed reluctantly. “Alas, he already belongs to someone.”
“Aren’t there two others up there? No, there’s three… say, how could there be someone watching in the dark under the table?!”
On the stage, Caesar quickly regained his wits and held down Zuo Botang, s.n.a.t.c.hing away the drink, “Hey, Captain Zuo, one of these drinks is enough to get you drunk. If you don’t come to these places often, then don’t drink it. Us brothers are all here today due to Jingyi, so it’s fine! I’ll drink for you!”
There was a delay from beneath the stage.
A few little zeroes gnashed their teeth, “What kind of relationship do they have? The two of them are fighting over who drinks? Are they jealous?”
The beam of light finally moved away.
The booth once again reverted to a happy and harmonious state. Zuo Botang thanked Caesar, and Red flipped up the table cloth and waited for Wu Jin to come out before saying thoughtfully, “How about we put Little Ming under the table?” He shut up immediately when he saw Zuo Botang’s gaze.
In a quiet corner of the dance floor, Wu Jin continued to bite at the straw of his Baileys milk c.o.c.ktail and listened quietly as Caesar boasted exaggeratedly about his nightclub experiences.
Caesar scratched his head, “Speaking of which, how come I keep feeling that something’s not right with this club.”
“There still aren’t any girls! Say, your Floating City’s night scene is so uninteresting. First things first, I’m a man with a wife now, and I have no regrets, but you guys…”
The sound of a bottle being opened rang out clearly from behind them.
Caesar turned his head, and a young man in leather pants and a tight purple shirt raised an eyebrow, tossing Caesar a look. “Hey, let me treat you to a drink.”
Caesar immediately thanked him and leaned in, laughing loudly as he gave the young man a big bear hug, “Thank you, big brother!”
The young man was confused, “Big, big what…”
The chattering little zeroes beneath the stage were all surprised by this, “What? He got him just like that? He really managed to treat him to a drink? Let’s go, let’s go, we should head over too. If there’s meat, then we should enjoy it together.”
A group of little zeroes’ hands immediately rushed over to encircle Caesar and Red, and the two of them were soon missing from the booth. Zuo Botang nodded to Wu Jin, “I’ll take him to wash his face first.” After that, he took Ming Yao with him and disappeared.
Wu Jin sat there alone in the booth and continued biting the straw until the light beam of all evils moved again––
Wu Jin jolted, then rushed out of the booth to hide among the people on the dance floor.
A large group of men twisted and writhed amidst the blue and purple lights, like the social media dancing in Thin Fire’s live broadcast. Wu Jin swam through the crowd and was just about to turn back when he was suddenly stopped by a pa.s.serby.
“Why aren’t you dancing?” The pa.s.serby came up and asked.
Wu Jin was having difficulty breathing. He felt like he was about to be squished into a Little Witch pancake, “I-I’m not––”
The pa.s.serby exclaimed, “It’s such a large dance floor, yet you’re the only one not dancing. You’re making it easy to get eaten.”
Wu Jin: “What––”
Wu Jin’s eyes suddenly opened wide as the beam of light once again travelled straight through the crowd!
The pa.s.serby shook his head, “If you can’t get in the mood, the DJ’s salary will get deducted! So, they can only invite you to drink. If you don’t drink, it’s a sober mood, and after you drink, you’ll be as high as a mountain. You’re better off dancing.”
Wu Jin gritted his teeth and could only nod his agreement, “Fine then… can you please give me a little s.p.a.ce.”
The pa.s.serby had just taken the opportunity to lean closer and was currently staring at the youth’s slightly exposed neck. He hurriedly made a sound of agreement, “Of course, of course. Dance away, dance away. In that case, let’s… how about we exchange Star Net contact numbers…”
The pa.s.serby stilled abruptly.
The youth that seemed like a little white rabbit in front of him pulled down the zipper of his coat slightly to reveal the agile waist within, causing quite a few people to all look his way at the same time.
The music that was playing during this main act was real soulful house.
House was a branch of electro-acoustic music from the 20th century. It mixed 4/4 beats with high pitched female voices that were full of expression. In disco, it could also be categorized as ‘ethereal’.
‘Ethereal’ meant that it wasn’t easy to dance to. Compared to more common movements, it was easy to make mistakes if one twisted around to house music––
Wu Jin stepped on the beat, and the pa.s.serby brother stared on in a daze for a few minutes before suddenly jumping up like his tail had just been stepped on. “Holy s.h.i.t!”
The youth was dancing the most standard house moves. His sense of the beat was too accurate, and every step was like a chiseled ice blade, perfectly in sync with the sound with only a 10 microsecond variance. He was like a ray of light in the chaotic crowd. The youth’s movements weren’t large, but his control over his limbs was too good, allowing people to practically imagine the perfect, tight waist beneath the dark outerwear.
House was one of the easiest dances for ‘seduction’, to the point where it had once been cla.s.sified alongside new jazz as the ‘first choice for girl dance groups’. However, there was a cold aloofness to Wu Jin’s dance moves; his lips were slightly pursed, his entire figure moving like an exquisitely tuned instrument, catching everyone’s gazes when he moved explosively––
The cold and indifferent temperament mixed together with his inescapably youthful aura.
The pa.s.serby brother sucked in a cold breath.
It was just at this time that Sharp Blue’s main doors opened again.
The bouncer who was still monitoring that group of small zeroes suddenly turned back and asked in a stunned whisper, “What’s going on? Doesn’t entry to the club end at ten o’clock? Why is someone coming in now?!”
His colleague’s face was full of excitement, “Holy s.h.i.t, what do you know? The one, the one who just came in is…”
Sharp Blue’s dance floor had become a chaotic mess a long time ago. Naturally, n.o.body noticed the main doors.
Standing against the dim light, the half-masked man looked over this night scene, and his gaze darkened.
On the dance floor.
Wu Jin opened his eyes and watched as the beam of light shifted away and finally let out a sigh of relief, heading back towards the booth. He was oblivious to the gazes that burned as they landed all over his body. The pa.s.serby brother stared at his back and only felt that the youth that was moving in time to the beat and doing nothing else was already incredibly s.e.xy.
He quickly followed over, “Let’s be friends!”
“Let’s exchange contact numbers! Or, I can send you home––”
xiin: the big boss appears! *dun dun*~