Chapter 154 - Oranges
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The clouds outside the window were scattered and spa.r.s.e.
The living environment for the entire Azure Cosmos had been artificially created. Each of the four big cities maintained their own oxygen and temperature control, having carved out livable s.p.a.ces from the originally barren landscape.
Floating City’s seasonal changes were usually determined by the Meteorological Research Office and the Tourism Bureau. As a result, autumn was particularly long, and winters were short, followed by an early spring.
The day of the Autumn equinox was also referred to as the ‘Autumn Festival’.
At this time, there were only a few days left before the Autumn Festival, and the entire city had undergone both magnificent and luxurious decorative changes.
Looking down from the high tower of the Floating City military base, one could see the city with its blurred lights and shadows. The moat was stained pink with genetically improved cherry blossom petals as well as the flamingos who’d taken over the banks.
Further inwards, law enforcement guards had surrounded Red, who’d just come back, and were listening to him show off. Arjun came in from somewhere, leading a flamingo on a rope, and he paced in an imitation of the way Mao Dongqing walked the guinea pig. While walking, he even imitated the way Mao Dongqing spoke.
The young men of the guard team wanted to laugh but ultimately didn’t dare to. Zhou Nan, the psychologist, sat in a corner and smiled as he peeled an orange and stuffed it at Wu Jin.
In the tower, Wei Shi retracted his gaze.
Researcher Song opened up the terminal’s projector, “All of the relevant information is here.”
“The research on making a ‘scabbard’ for the ‘swords’ was set up 40 years ago. However, the technology is far less sophisticated than the creation of human-shaped weapons.”
“According to Mr Wu’s memories when he entered the emotional lock, the memory of ‘children lined up to enter the transformation room’ should have been his first experience undergoing a transformation between the ages of 6 and 8. What’s more, I heard Mao Dongqing say that Little Witch saw a purple-brown closed door in his memory, with a dense diamond decorative pattern––like eyes.”
Wei Shi’s eyebrows were twisted together, and the look in his eyes was deep and frightening.
Researcher Song sighed, “Doctor Zhou Nan said that his claustrophobia is related to this. However, last time when I went to the R-Code base, n.o.body was able to find the door. Based on the description of the pattern––it’s very similar to the outside door for the genetic reproduction room.”
“Little Witch’s blood test with its high concentration of MHCC resistance as a side effect also supports the fact that he’s been genetically transformed. And, I’m guessing, the dosage for the first modification was quite large.”
“Of course, none of this is as convincing as direct evidence.” Researcher Song glanced at Wei Shi and spoke again slowly, “News came in from the technical team yesterday.”
“The surveillance chip that was destroyed at the R-Code Base back then has been restored as much as possible. We were able to extract video recordings from 10 years ago.”
Wei Shi paused, “Open it.”
The recovered surveillance video recording wasn’t very clear, but researchers in white lab coats could be seen walking around. This section of the monitoring was aimed at the transformation room with the highest specifications within the R-Code base. Test tubes, needles, and monitoring probes could be seen everywhere.
Someone came in leading a group of children.
The recording stopped at a specific frame.
Wei Shi suddenly clenched his fists.
Researcher Song enlarged the details. In the low-definition video recording, they could still make out the young boy with the small curls in the crowd. He looked to be about eight or nine years old, appeared soft and gentle, and he didn’t dare to fall behind the other children for even a moment.
A young Wu Jin.
“I’ll ask the technical team to make a copy of the video for you.” Researcher Song stopped looking at the screen, and his voice was filled with emotional ups and downs, “These were all ‘scabbard’ experimental subjects.”
“Six years ago, the R-Code Base was disbanded. From the list that was found on-site, it can be inferred that they were still at the base, just like Wei Yan and Shao Yu. The problem lies in the time period four years ago. All records disappeared, and at that time, Shao Yu suddenly left R-Code Entertainment and defected to the Empire. Something must have happened during this period.”
A long time later, Wei Shi ordered, “Continue looking for Shao Yu and keep an eye on the R-Code Base.”
Researcher Song nodded, “There’s also Little Witch––”
“I hope that you can ask for as many clues as you can.”
Beneath the Floating Base tower.
The black cat and a flamingo were clumped together, fighting. Zhou Nan finished washing his hands and suddenly received a message from Wei Shi.
“Ask questions? It’s not that you can’t.” Zhou Nan reminded him, “R-Code is the source of all evil. Back then, even if it was you, Brother Wei, or Brother Dongqing, you both had to undergo two years of psychological therapy before being able to return to normal. In fact, if you ask me, it’s fine for Little Witch to have forgotten his past.”
“If you have to ask, then you’d better find something to distract him. Don’t trigger his psychological shadows halfway through!”
A few minutes later, Wei Shi held a bag of oranges and went to find Wu Jin, who was bathing the little Pterosaur by the river.
Wu Jin fell into a daze. It seemed that he’d never seen the big boss carrying a plastic bag before, but looking at it seemed to be quite a unique experience!
There were quite a few people by the river. Red, who was nearby, jumped up directly, “Brother Wei, you’re here, ah, this place is very romantic. Hehehe, I won’t bother you guys––”
Wei Shi walked over to the riverside and sat down with Wu Jin.
The man’s long, straight legs were folded casually, his shirt collar undone. He’d just come out of the tower, and the darkness in his gaze hadn’t yet dispersed.
The big boss didn’t say a word as he began to peel an orange.
Wu Jin was currently drying up the little Pterosaur. He ‘ahh’ opened up his mouth and waited to be fed.
Wei Shi stuffed a slice at him.
Wu Jin: “…… Brother Wei, isn’t it a little sour?”
Wei Shi stuffed him with another slice.
The small round face practically collapsed. Wu Jin puffed up his cheeks, “Sour, ahh, sour, sour––”
Wei Shi: “How old were you when you learned to dance?”
Wu Jin hissed as he inhaled, all of his attention focused on the orange, “Around seven years old. The dean said that there was a cla.s.s for anyone who was interested.”
Wei Shi: “Dean?”
Wu Jin tried hard to digest the orange, “I was abandoned as a child and sent to the welfare home!”
Wei Shi’s eyes flashed slightly. The Federation had generous fertility benefits, and few offspring were abandoned even if their parents were unmarried. Citizens were entered into the gene bank from birth and wouldn’t be lost. Taking another ten thousand steps back, such a cute and well-behaved little boy would definitely be extremely popular on the adoption lists.
Wei Shi: “And then?”
Wu Jin finally understood. The big boss was trying to check his residency status! However, Wu Jin, as an illegal immigrant, wasn’t afraid at all. He didn’t understand how he’d transmigrated over, but if the big boss could figure that out, then he’d be a real immortal! He wouldn’t just call him big boss, but would change his method of address and call him daddy instead!
Wu Jin was smart and honest, “After that, I went to primary school, became a glorious student, and was even a little team leader for a year. I didn’t need to take an examination for junior high school, and it was a.s.signed at random. After that, I attended junior high school. I was the first in my grade for the middle school entrance examination. In high school, I took science as my major, and then for the college entrance exam…”
The shadows in the man’s eyes darkened, and he looked straight at Wu Jin, attempting to capture the subtlest of expressions on the youth’s face.
There were no flaws.
If it hadn’t been for the blood tests, the emotional lock, and even the surveillance, even Wei Shi himself would believe this ‘memory’.
Wei Shi peeled off another slice of orange and distracted Wu Jin’s attention.
Wu Jin trembled and shivered as he looked at it.
Wei Shi: “What about before seven?”
Wu Jin: “I-I don’t remember! Ahh, the dean said that I was silly as a child. My brain development was relatively slow, maybe… ahhhh don’t peel it anymore, I don’t want to eat it ahhh––”
A middle-aged lady who was fishing by the river finally couldn’t watch on anymore. She spoke in a critical tone, “Don’t bully others! There’s a military base beside us. If you keep using sour oranges to commit domestic violence towards your boyfriend, do you not think that I won’t call the police on you?!”
Then, she admonished Wu Jin, “You as well. Why are you so obedient? Do you eat whatever he tells you to eat? Don’t you know how to punch him…”
A few minutes later, Wu Jin smoothly ran away and gulped down mouthfuls of water at the entrance to the base.
Red laughed loudly, “How could it be? How could we have such sour oranges in our base?! Oh, right, just now, someone gave my big brother a bunch of coupons. If you want to buy some weapons for self-defense, you can get some of them from me. They’re for paint jobs and inscriptions––”
“I originally also wanted to show you around the armory, but it’s been sealed up by Brother Wei over the past two days. There’s a whole bunch of decoration teams coming in and out, making a lot of noise…”
In the high tower.
Researcher Song received the feedback and was also stunned for a moment, “The timeline doesn’t match.”
“From the monitoring, it looks like Little Witch was at R-Code Base at least during the time when he went to primary school. It’s impossible for one person to have two completely different sets of memories. What’s more, arts and science––the Federation divided them into four branches hundreds of years ago. Also, what is a team leader?!”
The a.s.sistant to the side read through the materials, “From Mr Wu’s description of his living environment, the expansion of the arts and science branches 800 years ago seemed to have taken place between the 20th and 22nd century. Over 90% of Mr Wu’s gene sequence can be matched to the East Asian genes recorded in the early 20th century. His ancestral background consists of 62.7% Southern Han, and 12.2% Yi Clan…”
Wei Shi: “His common sense knowledge, and scientific and technological knowledge only goes up to the 21st century.”
The a.s.sistant was stunned.
The research room suddenly fell silent. A long time later, the a.s.sistant began to tremble as he spoke up, “Professor Song, do you think that it’s possible that time and s.p.a.ce was distorted, and he was sent over from a thousand years ago––”
Researcher Song turned his head.
“Can monkeys recreate the ? For things that only exist in your imagination, the probability of them happening is 0.”
It was absolutely impossible.
However, judging from the existing clues, all their speculation had come to a dead end.
In the silence, Wei Shi spoke up, “If he came out of the genetic reproduction room,” The man’s voice was cold, “Go and find out who he was cloned from.”
Researcher Song was suddenly inspired and came back to his senses.
Genetic reproduction would explain the problem of Wu Jin’s genetic sequence. If they could find the source for the reproduction, they could find R-Code Base’s purpose in creating ‘Wu Jin’.
The a.s.sistant nodded quickly.
On the virtual screen, the computing core that calculated at ten thousand teramegabytes per second matched up Wu Jin’s genetic sequence with the source database’s data samples.
“Found it!” The a.s.sistant spoke up excitedly, “The genetic sample C72235AY8 is a 70% match with Mr Wu’s genes. It’s stored in––Blue Star’s underground Warehouse 6. It was one of the warehouses that the R-Code paid out four years ago to cover their debts.”
“C72235AY8 sample’s owner information is only available on paper, and the data and remains are stored in the same warehouse.”
Wei Shi paused.
The man’s fingers moved like electricity as he sent a message through the terminal. Soon, the technical team hacked into the monitoring feed for Warehouse 6.
“This warehouse is very out of the way. n.o.body’s been in there for a few years since R-Code was disbanded.” Researcher Song leaned over and said, “I’ll send someone over as soon as possible.”
Wei Shi shifted his gaze and looked at the sample bar code marked ‘C72235AY8’.
“Little Witch was genetically reproduced, not cloned.” Researcher Song spoke in a low voice, “Also, one’s growth environment, personality, and emotional influences all determine how life unfolds.”
Wei Shi nodded and looked down at the base of the tower, his gaze following the last rays of light before twilight. Wu Jin, who was modestly learning how to use an anesthetic dagger from the guard team, had bright and sparkling eyes.
The one and only.
At night.
Red drove a flashy suspension car and ran to the market with Wu Jin under Wei Shi’s instructions. By the time the two of them came back, they had eaten so much they lay there in the suspension car and couldn’t get down. Red’s stack of coupons was now short one ‘gun customization’ voucher.
Wu Jin repeatedly told Red to keep it a secret.
Red patted his chest in guarantee, done!
Floating City was different from the Crosson Base. Without Captain Zoe’s surveillance, Wu Jin was bold enough to live in the big boss’s mansion.
With a city full of flamingos to play with, the black cat was unwilling to return home even late at night.
Outside the window, the mist was scented with flowers, and lights were scattered here and there. On the other side of the window, a soft, p.r.o.ne Wu Jin was sprawled out on the big bed.
The big boss was in the tower nearby.
The old antique radio was still tuned in to the same channel.
“Going further down the agricultural economic road. The holiday edition of the breeding course, FM 126.X. h.e.l.lo, Azure Cosmos’s will teach you how to dye a rabbit pink to adapt them to the festive atmosphere––”
The robot was very solicitous toward Wu Jin, sending in supper, gaming machines, a virtual cinema account, and mobile game money card, as well as a champagne rose.
Wu Jin turned off the radio and lay down on the bed to reply to messages on his terminal.
Hudi had sent over a music demo. Wu Jin hummed for a long time and modified his high pitched accompaniment for him.
Thin Fire: I’m partic.i.p.ating in the selection for the most attractive male in womenswear in the compet.i.tion circles. Click the link to vote for me!
Wu Jin voted and helped pa.s.s on the link.
Caesar: bmd
Wu Jin received this secret code and quickly ordered delivery for Caesar, arranging to have it sent over to White Moonlight in secret.
Ever since Zoe had started regularly monitoring Caesar’s terminal’s ‘sent messages’, Caesar only used the first letter of every word to send secret messages.
Caesar: idfs
Wu Jin: Brother Caesar, don’t worry! Generally speaking, it will be very difficult for Brother Caesar to starve to death!
Caesar: npydxtwl, wygzyndw, qdnbd.
Wu Jin’s eyes dimmed, “……” He-he couldn’t understand it.
The last message at the bottom contained the dormitory surveillance video from the Crosson logistics department.
Wu Jin suddenly remembered that there was still this matter. During the fifth elimination match, the black cat seemed to have done something strange to the health care pillow, making the little Pterosaur very angry.
He quickly went through the whole week’s surveillance video.
The pets entered Wu Jin’s bedroom several times, but none of them touched the pillow.
Wu Jin: “Eh?”
He rewound the surveillance. The black cat ran in and licked Brother Rabbit twice. There was a six hour difference between the two incidents, and the cat’s movements had been exactly the same both times.
It was as though the same video recording had been played back again.
In the Floating Base tower.
Wei Shi had just come out of the armory when he suddenly received a message from Mao Dongqing.
Just now, a man had appeared in the surveillance camera in Warehouse #6 that held ‘C72235AY8’,
Shao Yu, who had disappeared.
Mao Dongqing: “Shao Yu’s goal is probably also the sample.”
Wei Shi’s eyes darkened. The suspension car arrived quickly, “Wait for me.”
Juurensha: Little Witch’s mysterious past! But it’s probably good he forgot it….
xiin: Wei Shi is so so so so sneaky with those sour oranges. and all that secrecy around the armory owo