Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 256: A Record
Underground factory, an emergency exit.
This emergency exit was so hidden, with few people nearby, that it served as a backup. Over time, people simply locked the door and completely forgot about it.
The exit itself was abandoned, by the nearby cameras were still working diligently, leaving one surveillance video after another on the memory card.
2xxx0905/00:11am
With a faint sound, the long-abandoned door slowly opened, and a head slowly poked out. The moment it met the camera’s gaze, the person grimaced and a pair of golden eyes gleamed in the darkness.
“Yibu, stop making trouble,” a young man with black eyes beside the man said helplessly.
Both of them were wearing very slim black combat uniforms. They had taken off their masks. Like a magician, the golden-eyed young man, Tang Yibu, pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Ruan Xian’s forehead, then wiped off his own sweat.
“I disconnected the internet. The data of this thing can only be stored locally. Those guys can’t see anything,” Tang Yibu said happily as he kissed Ruan Xian on the forehead.
Ruan Xian didn’t dodge but pinched his face instead. “We aren’t here to play.”
Tang Yibu: “Aren’t we?”
“…I guess so.”
The two of them walked briskly across the corridor and disappeared in the increasingly bright light.
2xxx0905/02:41am
Two figures appeared in the surveillance range again.
Tang Yibu and Ruan Xian both changed into grey work uniforms that had the factory’s logo that was clearly embroidered on the front of the hat.
Ruan Xian raised his head and carefully adjusted Tang Yibu’s collar. The latter narrowed his eyes in amusement and gently rubbed his cheek against the other’s knuckles.
Of course, Tang Yibu wasn’t idle either—as soon as Ruan Xian lowered his hands, he reached out and helped Ruan Xian adjust the cap. Once he was done, he examined it for a long moment, then fine-tuned it a few millimeters, as if he was completing a work of art.
“Good,” Tang Yibu said with satisfaction. “Mr. Ruan, did you bring any food? I’m a little hungry.”
Ruan Xian helplessly rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a few chocolates he always kept. “Just bear with it for a while. I’ve booked a restaurant for lunch. It’s the one you always wanted to go to.”
Tang Yibu peeled off the candy wrapper, bit into the chocolate ball, then gave Ruan Xian another kiss—this time on the lips.
“I’m really looking forward to it!” he said happily.
Ruan Xian licked the chocolate on the corner of his mouth. “Then let’s wrap things up quickly.”
2xxx0905/03:07am
Blurred screams were heard from outside the surveillance range and a pool of blood gradually spread to the front of the camera.
Two men in work uniforms stumbled into the surveillance area. Their clothes were soaked in blood, and they looked back frantically as they ran; their breaths were heavy as if they were instilled with fear.
A shadow flashed to one of them like a beast and its palm stabbed out like a blade, cleanly piercing the man through his chest.
“Forgive me, Boss, spare me.”
Another person kneeled down as tears streamed down his face. “I was just following my superior’s orders… I had no choice… I didn’t know it was fireflies…
Tang Yibu muttered: “You didn’t know? You still have a shitty half-finished product in your pocket. And I—”
He paused for less than a second. “—I just checked the other surveillance footage. There’s a video of you taking the drug today.”
The man kicked his legs desperately and crawled backwards along the floor, his face twisted with tears.
“Actually, I don’t want to deal with this kind of hassle. I want to go on a date,” Tang Yibu grumbled. “Such a large underground processing plant for fireflies should, in theory, be managed by the government.”
“Then, let the authorities…”
“But Mr. Ruan thinks your gang is too dangerous. So the two of us decided to drop by first and have a little fun.”
Tang Yibu looked helplessly before snapping the man’s neck.
Then he shook his hand, and a drop of blood splashed on the surveillance camera, turning it into a blood-red filter.
“Mr. Ruan, you’re here—” He looked outside the surveillance area and impatiently ran away.
2xxx0905/04:55am
The firelight illuminated the dim scene. Thick smoke flowed along the ceiling and the air became increasingly turbid.
In the gradually dimming picture, two people walked leisurely towards each other, with gas masks and goggles on their faces.
“Their processing workshop is too big. It would be faster to just blow it up,” Tang Yibu commented casually.
“We have to leave evidence for the authorities,” Ruan Xian said. “They still have a large amount of flickering grass extract in the warehouse. We also need to keep the processing machines and electronic records… An explosion will be too uncontrollable.”
“In the end, only those people will burn,” Tang Yibu concluded.
“Garbage should indeed be incarnated,” Ruan Xian said calmly.
Tang Yibu sighed and had an expression that said, “I didn’t have enough fun.”
Ruan Xian instantly noticed his dissatisfaction. “I still have an assassin organization that needs to be eliminated. We can continue during the day. Don’t you love hunting the most?”
Tang Yibu didn’t answer immediately. He paced slowly between the firelight and smoke, as if he was thinking about something.
“I have an idea.” He suddenly stopped and announced seriously, “Mr. Ruan, could you take off your gas mask first?”
Ruan Xian happily did as he was told—not to mention the smoke nearby wasn’t even thick, even if the surroundings were full of poisonous gas, his body wouldn’t be affected. Wearing a gas mask wasn’t a life-saving measure, but more of an experience-enhancing measure.
Tang Yibu took a deep breath and held it. He took off his mask and kissed Ruan Xian.
…This time, it was a deep kiss.
He hugged Ruan Xian’s waist and kissed him passionately. Ruan Xian took a step back, leaned his back against the wall, and reached up with his hands to caress Tang Yibu’s neck.
While their lips and tongues were intertwined, Ruan Xian could occasionally pass breath of air to Tang Yibu, fearing that this guy would be too busy kissing and inhaling too much smoke.
“In this case, our action isn’t a night exercise, but a night date.” Five minutes later, Tang Yibu announced breathless, “It’s a great night date—”
Ruan Xian laughed and gave his lover’s cheek a hard rub.
“Yes,” he said. “A great night date.”
2xxx0905/05:00am
“It’s exactly the same as the scheduled time.”
Ruan Xian checked his watch. “The authorities should have noticed something unusual. It’s time to leave.”
“What are we having for breakfast? We already have that restaurant booked for lunch so we can’t eat too much, but we can’t skip breakfast either.” Tang Yibu’s mind was already wandering elsewhere. “Mr. Ruan, do you want to eat dumplings? Or should we get some pastries?”
Ruan Xian thought for a moment and said, “Let’s just eat some steamed buns.”
“Do you want leavened or unleavened dough, or shall we do fried buns? Meat or veggie filling? I found a place with good reviews. Their eight-treasure congee is delicious—”
Tang Yibu chattered on incessantly.
Under the watchful eye of the camera, the two men changed back into their original black combat uniforms and headed towards the emergency exit.
But before leaving the surveillance area, Tang Yibu suddenly turned back.
He stretched out his hand toward the camera. The hand grew larger and larger, eventually covering the entire screen.
2xxx0905/05:01am
The scene was pitch black.
2xxx0905/10:32am
The scene was pitch black.
2xxx0905/02:57pm
The screen flickered.
After a brief shake, a huge golden eye appeared on the screen.
“Hello,” he said cheerfully to the camera. “From today on, you’re our date souvenir number 3683!”
“I love these self-contained mementos like yours. It’s like a diary! …Hmm, the data recording and performance are both excellent. This is really great.”
The golden eye zoomed away, revealing a beautifully decorated room. It looked like a carefully designed warehouse, with each shelf filled with small items that were numbered.
“It’s a pity that your storage capacity is limited. I can’t keep you on all the time.” Tang Yibu sighed. “Let me make a diary summary.”
“We busted a firefly processing plant. It was a perfect night date!”
“The steamed buns on xxx road were delicious. Mr. Ruan likes their beef steamed buns, but he thinks they’re a little greasy. If I were to make them, I’d add more green onions. Mr. Ruan would definitely like that… Let’s try that out tomorrow.”
“At noon, Mr. Ruan took me to a restaurant I had always wanted to eat at. Their crispy suckling pig was especially delicious! Mr. Ruan liked the tofu and mushroom and ham porridge more. I didn’t expect him to like mushrooms and ham so much.”
“Let’s go home now. Mr. Ruan is going to take a shower first. I don’t think we’ll go out again today. I don’t know if the news will feature anything about the plant tonight…”
Tang Yibu muttered excitedly to the camera—even though he had all the details firmly memorized in his mind, he just wanted to speak them out loud and ruminate on them again.
“…A good day needs a good ending.” Finally, he announced, “Tonight I’m ready to…π!!!”
As Tang Yibu was gesturing excitedly, the iron bead shot out like a cannonball, its mouth wide open towards the camera. Fortunately, someone had incredible reflexes and quickly grabbed it back.
There was a crisp sound. The iron bead only bit into air and the mouth made a crackling sound.
“When did you learn to open the door?”
Tang Yibu held up the iron bead with both hands and scolded it. “You’re not allowed to eat the food here! Oh, I must remember to lock the door next time.”
The iron bead remained silent, pretending to be innocent as if nothing had happened.
“That’s all for today.” Tang Yibu held the iron bead tightly with his left arm and reached for the camera with his right hand again. “Don’t worry. I’ll remember to perform maintenance on you on schedule and ensure you’ll still be functioning properly in a hundred years.”
“Now I’m going to find Mr. Ruan,” he said solemnly. “I’ve been separated from him for one hour, twenty-six minutes, and six seconds.”
2xxx0905/06:57pm
The scene was pitch black.
…Maybe the next time it opens, a new date will be recorded. Who knows?
The author has something to say:
The iron bead makes an appearance!
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