Chapter Ch48.2 - Unstable Period
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Half an hour later, the insectoid beasts dispersed like the tide. Wu Jin gasped violently for breath and staggered to the edge of the training room. He drank down an entire tube of recovery agent and went over the training video while waiting for his physical strength to recover, constantly making fine adjustments.
An hour later, Wu Jin started the second set again.
The training difficulty for his tactical evasion had increased from beginner-intermediate to intermediate.
Outside the door, a sweaty Zoe knocked on the door, wanting to take his team member back with him. He didn’t obtain any response and left a message on the terminal before going back through the overpa.s.s to sleep on his own.
Two and a half hours later.
The lights inside the base went out one by one, and only two or three training rooms remained active.
In the control room, a young man with a feathered mask was still arguing fiercely with the same person, “None of our colleagues feel any affection for you at all!”
The other party responded coolly, “I’m sorry. I don’t feel anything about that.”
“You’re lying! In your heart, you only have your guinea pig, and your younger brother Silly Red comes second. There’s no pitiful Arjun in there at all! You should just f*cking go and marry that guinea pig and be done with it! And have Silly Red call the guinea pig sister-in-law…”
The other party retorted dispa.s.sionately, “Impossible. The glory of Floating City is always in first place. Darling comes second.”
“You’re even calling Silly Red’s sister-in-law Darling!”
The other side interrupted his endless pestering, “Just say what you want to say. Arjun.”
Arjun snorted and said angrily, “My training this month has been motherf*cking increased again… It must be that Brother Wei learned about what happened this morning. I have to come and pick someone up.”
The other party raised his brows, “Who?”
Arjun tensed up, “You know, that one. I can’t go over there in order to avoid suspicion, you know? I’ve already parked the car for you outside. You go and pick them up.”
The other person refused him decisively, “No.”
Unexpectedly, Arjun suddenly pulled open his jacket and proudly plucked something out from inside––a ping-pong ball rattler.
“Your guinea pig’s favorite toy is in my hands. If you don’t agree, I’ll tear up the ping-pong ball toy! You can have it play with toilet paper rolls instead!”
The other side: “……”
After Arjun successfully issued his threat, he switched over to using softer tactics, “Little Song said that Brother Wei is going to undergo the next treatment process today. The black cat has already been sent in to accompany him. We can also send a person over to express our concern and care for Brother Wei. Ah, Big Mao, those of us who are his subordinates should be able to figure out what our superior wants. Brother Wei might not say it, but we should still do something!”
The other party suddenly frowned, “Researcher Song said that he should be accompanied by his therapy companion?”
Arjun nodded.
The other party made a sound of acknowledgement, “Give me the car key. I’ll send them over.”
Arjun was surprised, “… You agreed just like that? Ah, my G.o.d, Big Mao, you’re amazing! The car is parked in my spot. Brother Wei will be back at twelve o’clock. Take that… Student Little Witch… and send him over directly. Be extra polite! They’re only nineteen. Don’t be too obvious!”
“Ah, take the ping-pong roller with you. I even wiped it clean for you. Remember to wash your Darling before the next match, he smells like guinea pig, and the scent is all over my jacket…”
The man picked up the car key and walked through the dark corridors.
In training room A073, Wu Jin had just finished off the last tube of recovery agent and gone to the changing room to take a simple shower before opening the door that led out to the corridor.
He was stunned by the sudden appearance of a stranger, but he quickly reacted and realized that the other party wasn’t wearing the basic mask that was common around the base.
His visitor was about thirty years old. His eyes were indifferent, and his facial features were familiar––
Wu Jin soon figured it out––this person’s appearance and Red had an 80% similarity.
But their temperaments were as different as heaven and earth.
His hair was plain black, and there was no exaggerated styling. His eyes were solemn and showed practically no reflection beneath the ceiling lights––just like Wei Shi.
Wu Jin was absent-minded as he spoke, “h.e.l.lo…”
The other party directly projected his ident.i.ty card from his terminal.
Floating City’s 4th Law Enforcement Marshal, Mao Dongqing.
Wu Jin immediately showed a full 120% of his respect. The other party was obviously an important person! After that, he quickly thought through whether or not he’d violated the rules and regulations of Floating City…
He didn’t expect the officer to say, “Call me Big Mao.” He showed him the car key in his hand, “If it’s acceptable, please allow me to take you to Floating City’s military base sixteen kilometers away. Brother Wei is waiting for you there.”
“This is my identification card. This is a video of a relatively large-scale medal ceremony. From 6:35 to 7:16, I’m in the same shot as Wei Shi. Additionally, the law enforcement back office and central control authentication system can prove my ident.i.ty. If you require any other information…”
Wu Jin hurriedly shook his head, “Thank you… I believe you. You don’t need to show me this information, it’s all confidential…”
“No. You have the right to know.” Mao Dongqing said.
His voice barely fluctuated as he spoke, and his facial expression remained the same, reminding Wu Jin of R-Code Entertainment’s Wei Yan. In other words, Wei Shi, Wei Yan, and Mao Dongqing all had similar auras; it was just that the big boss seemed to have a little more understanding of human feelings––even so, he still seemed unaffected by the world.
The suspension car brought the two people up into the night sky, cutting through the neon lights of Floating City.
Wu Jin leaned against the window and looked out, his eyes darting around in circles.
The misty city was soaked in dazzling and fantastical colors, its streets noisy and bustling. Pedestrians were laughing and talking, or hurrying along with masks on their faces.
The skysc.r.a.pers reflected the gorgeous lights, while silvery white law enforcement robots made sweeps with their guns in mid-air. When the suspension car pa.s.sed by, they would call out respectfully with their electronically synthesized voices, “Welcome, Lord Marshal.”
Mao Dongqing sat in the front, and Wu Jin sat in the back seat of the car.
He was caught off-guard by two clatters. Wu Jin quickly turned around and picked up a bright yellow ping-pong ball from the floor near his feet.
Wu Jin looked down in surprise, and there was a rustle from the seat next to him. A chubby, compact guinea pig had drilled out at some point and was staring at him with small, crystal bright eyes.
Wu Jin reached out and moved away the soft cushion of the suspension car.
The guinea pig slowly made its way over and licked Wu Jin’s fingers.
Wu Jin grinned and lowered his small, round face. He picked up the guinea pig, placing his left hand under its front paws and his right hand beneath its b.u.t.tocks. Wu Jin didn’t immediately lift it up, but instead first shifted slightly to make sure it had adapted to the new height before slowly tucking it into his arms.
The guinea pig licked his fingers again and let itself be held in place quietly.
The boy rubbed his chin against the guinea pig’s head and played happily with it in the back seat.
In the front seat, law enforcement officer Mao Dongqing finally moved his eyes away from the rear mirror.
Ten minutes later, the two of them arrived at Floating City’s military base. Guards in combat fatigues opened the door for them, and during the moment when Wu Jin came out holding the guinea pig––their chins almost dropped open in surprise.
Mao Dongqing expressionlessly took the guinea pig out of Wu Jin’s arms and led him through the main entrance of the base.
It had the same sterile layout style as the survival show arena in Azure Cosmos’s main city’s underground base. Outside the window, countless buildings could be seen in the dark, piled up along the mountain peaks. The end of the base couldn’t be seen.
They took the elevator all the way up and finally came to a stop in front of a nondescript building.
The night wind carried with it a moist mist, and the air gave off a faint fragrance of viburnum flowers. Mao Dongqing handed Wu Jin a key, “You, go inside with it.”
Wu Jin subconsciously looked at the guinea pig, but a ‘meow’ unexpectedly rang out from the other end of the dark corridor, and two green eyes suddenly appeared.
Wu Jin: “……” This cat was really black!
Mao Dongqing uttered two sentences of instructions, then turned and left with the guinea pig.
The black cat came closer, its tail c.o.c.ked at an angle. It circled Wu Jin twice before swaying to gesture for him to open the door.
Wu Jin immediately recognized it as the black cat that was raised by the big boss. He immediately stood up straight and fiddled with the key in the dark, “Wait a moment, Brother Cat…”
The black cat snuck in as soon as the door opened and darted inside, abandoning Wu Jin who was already useless to him. It accurately found Wei Shi’s bed in the room––then transformed into a cat pancake as it spread out on it, arching excitedly against the sheets.
Wu Jin turned on the light.
The room was completely furnished in every way, and everything was in the same shade. Other than dark materials, there was nothing but matte metallic surfaces. Other than the sheets that the black cat had messed up, there were almost no other signs that anyone lived here.
The bed was very big, and a familiar scent wafted up from it when one stepped close.
After opening the window, the air outside was still filled with the damp fog that covered Floating City, but it had thinned out from the mountain wind. Looking down, countless high and low buildings and warehouses could be seen flickering amidst the fog––when he narrowed his eyes, he could see that each light was a shiny silver mask logo.
This was a spectacular view in the night sky.
Wu Jin’s eyes opened wide, and his heart pounded.
This kind of feeling was just like––
Going to other children’s houses to play with them, only to discover that their friend was very powerful…
Wu Jin took a deep breath and closed the window. What the words ‘Floating City’ represented was finally clear to him.
The clock hands. .h.i.t twelve o’clock, and the lights in the room gradually dimmed due to the artificial intelligence settings.
Wu Jin sprawled down on the table, his small round face scrunched up. The fatigue of the day still crashed over him despite drinking three tubes of recovery agent.
At a quarter past twelve, there was a faint sound from the corridor, but when he listened more carefully, it was already quiet again.
Wu Jin raised his head. In the mirror, his face had gained two red marks.
He hesitated a little.
That bed was very big––
He could sleep in a corner and definitely wouldn’t take up much s.p.a.ce!
After the big boss came back, he could shake him off from the sheets if he minded!
Wu Jin calculated carefully, picked out the most inconspicuous corner, and climbed cleverly onto the bed.
Unexpectedly, the black cat that had been jumping around on the bed suddenly cried out ‘meowwww’, and ran over, pushing him off the bed with its claws and head.
“Hey, Brother Cat!” Wu Jin hurriedly stroked the cat, “I, I, I, really won’t take up s.p.a.ce! We’re both sleepy, let’s wait for big brother to come back together… be good…”
However, the black cat was both arrogant and unusually aggressive. In the past, it could do as it liked in the base. With its ident.i.ty as a therapy companion, who would dare try and fight against it for its master?!
Four fluffy claws suddenly turned into virtual shadows and ‘greeted’ Wu Jin. The rabbit spirit nearly lost the corner he was defending, but it wasn’t difficult for a survival show trainee to deal with a cat after undergoing hard training––
For a while, the room was filled with flying cats and jumping rabbits, leaving the bed sheets tangled in a mess. Even the quilt was tossed aside. “Meow, meow, meow” sounds rang out endlessly, and he had just pressed the cat’s dark, black head down when the other side pushed against Wu Jin’s small round face––
The door opened suddenly.
“Your mood will remain unstable during the four hours following treatment. It is recommended that you and your therapy companion remain within a close distance…”
Researcher Song’s voice stopped abruptly as he looked blankly inside the room.
Wei Shi narrowed his eyes.
Wu Jin seemed to have sensed something, hurriedly pulling himself up to sit upright obediently. His small, messy curls turned soft and quivered slightly, and his cheeks were red. It was obvious that he had just been bullied quite badly by the cat.
The black cat detected Wei Shi’s arrival, and its eyes brightened. It toppled over on the bed with a plop and stretched out its paws pathetically towards Wu Jin in accusation.
Wu Jin’s eyes widened in grievance.
It had clearly been the cat who attacked first!
One person and one cat sat on opposite sides of the bed and looked up at Wei Shi at the same time––
Wu Jin shrank back subconsciously.
Big boss… seemed to be a little different.
Wei Shi wore a silver mask, and no emotions could be seen in his eyes. He appeared cold and dangerous when he looked over directly, and he gave off an aura like a tempered knife as he stood there at the edge of the dark corridor, leaving chills running down people’s backs.
The weak light illuminated his body, and Wu Jin could clearly see the big boss’s Adam’s apple shifting, like a fierce beast who’d just scented blood and would attack and wring his neck in the next second.
Wu Jin shrank back once again.
Wei Shi nodded to Researcher Song, closed the door behind him, and unfastened the two b.u.t.tons on his collar.
His shirt sleeves were stretched open by his muscular arms, and Wu Jin stared blankly, feeling as though big boss was about to lift his hand and beat people up at any moment––
Wei Shi looked coldly at the mess bed, “Off.”
Wu Jin and the black cat both came to their senses at the same time and scrambled off the bed.
Wei Shi’s eyes dimmed slightly. He looked at Wu Jin, “You, come back.”