Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 31: Three Rules

The surrounding building structure was weird and complicated, and the lighting was barely bright. The pirates obviously didn’t intend to pay attention to ostentation, but the safety-related facilities were very complete. Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu were huddled in an observation room that was transformed from a subway lounge, with an entire piece of thick glass in front of them.

This used to be an above-ground subway station. A subway train was still parked on one of the tracks with all the doors wide open, and rag curtains were hung on the windows. It seemed to be divided into many single rooms with rude laughter and cursing that came from behind the windows from time to time.

There were also many people outside the car. The electric lamps used for lighting account for a small number, as most were oil lamps that gave off a strange smell. The ruins pirates surrounded the light source like moths, leaning on wooden boxes full of supplies in twos and threes while chatting with each other. The sour smell of sweat and mixed odors that were common in crowds filled the air and pried into the glass cracks in the observation room and made Ruan Xian sneeze hard.

Yu Le, the captain of the Walking Stone, was still standing in front of them.

The middle-aged man wrapped in a dirty windbreaker looked at Ruan Xian’s face with interest, and then made a noise with his mouth. However, that frivolous look failed to deceive Ruan Xian­. The other party’s eyes were heavy with sobriety and vigilance, and there was no sign of relaxation.

Yu Le leaned against the glass, making his entire body look like a sharp blade that was wrapped in a rag. Ruan Xian looked at him in silence, with no plans to respond for the time being. He was still glancing at the subway hall in front of him, trying to carve every detail into his mind.

“Send the flickering grass to storage room No. 3 for processing and destroy all the fruits on them.” This time it wasn’t a virtual image but Tu Rui himself that was directing not far away.

Two men in tawny T-shirts replied “yes” loudly and began to churn through the packages brought back by Ruan Xian and Tang Yibu. Tang Yibu put his face on the glass and stared at the movements of the two pirates without blinking, with a trace of melancholy between his brows.

Seeing that neither of the two newcomers said a word, Yu Le patted the glass with his palm again, looking a lot less interested. “It’s boring. Let’s go. I’m now—”

“Captain!” A scream broke the calm in the hall. The buzzing whispers floating from all corners stopped abruptly, and dozens of pairs of eyes shot from all directions. Yu Le also stopped talking and looked at the source of the scream.

A man was crawling towards Yu Le. His long hair and beard were tangled in a ball, and there was still a fresh smell of blood on his body and some kind of…

Ruan Xian frowned.

“Captain, captain! I was really just confused for a while, captain, I… I’ve been with you for three years, and you have a lot of people!” The man shook like a sieve. “That bitch originally sold, and I can make up for her now. Just a few cans, Boss Yan. How can I say this—”

“Lao Yan?” Yu Le stuffed some dried jerky into his mouth and his tone became fleeting. He raised his chin towards the tall man who was chasing after that man.

“The woman who came from the west yesterday, Biao Zi* made her stronger. The woman suffered a fracture of her left arm and the bridge of her nose and also had a slight concussion.” The tall man was expressionless, and his tone of voice didn’t fluctuate. “I was going to follow the rules, but he ran away. He wanted to see you.”

*Note: Again, this is not his first name but just the way they address people affectionately, but in a joking manner.

“Oh, you have seen me.” Yu Le chewed on his jerky and said casually, “Biao Zi, now that you have seen me, what do you want to do?”

“She seduced me first, and she slept with Lao Li yesterday! I didn’t bring any goods with me today, so she refused. I just wanted to get things done first… Captain, we’ve been friends for several years. Look, I’ll pay her five times, no, no, ten time—” The bearded man collapsed on the ground, raised his head that was shaking like a sparrow in the cold wind.

“Oh, Biao Zi, I don’t usually see you in such a hurry.” Yu Le gave a smirk. “You said that you didn’t drink too much. After following me for all these years, haven’t you figured out my rules? Why are you acting so dumb?”

The man with tears on his face twisted his expression and smiled reluctantly.

Yu Le laughed, but his expression remained blank. He neatly took out the gun from his waist and shot it at the man’s crotch. After a scream enough to pierce the eardrums, Yu Le moved the muzzle up again. The next moment, a black and red bullet hole was imprinted on the center between the man’s eyebrows, and he fell softly like a sack as translucent blood stained the glass of the lounge.

“Lao Yan, drag this thing to the bait room. You don’t have to save me face.” Yu Le swallowed the jerky in his mouth and kicked the corpse to the ground. “Let that woman go to the warehouse to pick up something to eat, and then ask Old Man He to look at her injuries.”

“Yes, captain.”

There was still silence. The market pirates looked at the scene carefully, and Ruan Xian could feel the fear floating in the air.

“Lao Yu!” Tu Rui approached, a little dissatisfied on his face.

“What? Do you want to choke laozi* again?” Yu Le made a grimace. “The rules have been set a long time ago, so you can’t blame me.”

*(老子) Reference to Laozi but when used like this is referring to calling yourself “I, your father” in anger or out of contempt or referring to yourself in an arrogant way (like “I, this great one”).

“The vote is just half a month away, so you should restrain yourself. The newcomers are still here. You…”

“There’s no such word as ‘consideration’ in laozi’s dictionary. Don’t make trouble.” Yu Le waved his hand indifferently. “It’s like a fucking election and I don’t plan to be an official. If they really want to kill me, it’s their own ignorance.”

Tu Rui pushed up his glasses and sighed for a long time, hating that iron isn’t made of steel*.

*(恨铁不成钢) Idiom referring to being dissatisfied with a person for not living up to your expectations and eagerly hoping he would get better. From Cao Xueqin’s “A Dream of Red Mansions”.

“Okay, where did we leave off?” The soles of the boots rubbed the fresh blood marks on the ground, and Yu Le bared his teeth at Ruan Xian again. “Scared, eh?”

Ruan Xian looked at him quietly and shook his head slowly.

“Oh, it’s a pity that these eyes are on a man’s body. I like this cold style.” Yu Le rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You two bumped into me, so let’s consider this fate. You can bring back flickering grass with just a single deep dive, which means your strength and eyesight aren’t bad.”

“The benefits for you two are very simple. We don’t lack a safe place to sleep, and my buddy also has medicine and equipment that can’t be obtained by one person. With strong work and complete technical skills, you won’t be hungry if you have your hands. In addition, with the name of the Walking Stones behind you, others won’t easily act against you.”

Ruan Xian glanced obliquely at the blood stains on the lower right corner of the glass. Yu Le raised his brows, obviously understanding what Ruan Xian meant.

“Of course, there are rules. Not much, not much. Just three.”

Yu Le stretched out three fingers and shook, glancing at Tang Yibu behind Ruan Xian. The golden-eyed young man was still staring at the backpack full of loot outside the observation room.

After making sure that Tang Yibu also looked over, Yu Le continued his conversation.

“First, don’t touch psychedelics, or you’ll kill everyone you see. Second, you can kill people, but it’s all extra labor, so take it easy. Unless you’re good enough to make laozi turn a blind eye, don’t get cocky. Oh, children are out of the question. I don’t keep beasts.”

Ruan Xian nodded and motioned to the other party to continue.

“Third, I don’t care about stealing and fighting. I don’t care about whoring or selling, but regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman, you’re not allowed to use force. You just saw what happened. “

Yu Le pulled the corner of his mouth and knocked on the glass twice. “Remember?”

“Remember,” Ruan Xian replied calmly.

“Someone will tell you about other trivial things. Gang Zi, did you find these two people? Send Buddha to the west, and you’ll take them with you in the next two days. I’m tired, so that’s all for today.” Yu Le picked up the wine bottle that he had been holding in his hand and yawned.

“Yes, captain.” The muscular man who sent them deep diving before took a step forward.

As if receiving some kind of signal, the air relaxed again. The whispers and laughter sounded again, as if someone had finally remembered to turn up the volume of the background noise.

After Yu Le left the subway hall, Gang Zi released the two people in the observation room. He carried the two backpacks that had been basically emptied in front of the two of them. “Flickering grass is worth a lot of points, so it’s considered you have exceeded the required task. You can take this food back. Going out from exit E is a residential building, so find a place to sleep by yourself. Drinking water can be collected at the exit. We have our people patrolling nearby, so cockroaches can’t get in.”

“Gang Ge, I have a lot of things to ask.” Ruan Xian opened the bag and glanced around, adjusting his gentle smile that he was best at. “Here…”

“It’s too late now. Let’s talk about it during the day,” the burly man replied in a low voice. “Take the locator. I’ll find you two at dawn.”

“Well, just one question.” Ruan Xian picked up the bag in his hand after glancing at Tang Yibu, who looked a little dejected. “Can the orange soda in here be replaced with cherry? I saw them put a few bottles in the box over there.”

“Okay.” Gang Zi went straight over and opened the lid of the box, counted out a few bottles, and replaced the bright yellow cans in the backpack with black and red ones.

Tang Yibu suddenly became more energetic.

After changing the drinks, the burly man walked directly towards the carriage full of laughter without any intention of guiding them anymore. Ruan Xian followed the remaining signs in the subway to find exit E and quickly found the residential building that Gang Zi mentioned.

It was attached to the subway exit at an angle, making the entire building tilt at a forty-five-degree angle. The doors of many rooms weren’t tightly closed, and the lights of oil lamps spilled out from the cracks in the doors. When passing by a few of them, Ruan Xian was pretty sure he heard rapid gasps and ambiguous moans.

He resolutely put away his senses.

There was only one empty room left on the most convenient escape route. Due to the tilt of the room, all the furniture inside was piled up on one side of the room. The original owner of the place seemed to have a special preference for paper books, as all kinds of books were scattered all over the place, and the air was filled with the smell of damp paper.

Tang Yibu closed the door and easily lifted the refrigerator to the top. Ruan Xian took out a lantern he had obtained from the ruins of the hospital, turned it on, and hung it on the sharp corner of the bookshelf.

The entire space was instantly filled with light.

Tang Yibu didn’t care about the dusty bed. He opened the closet, dragged out a few quilts in moisture-proof bags, and spread them neatly on the big bed against the wall. Then the android picked up two cans of cherry soda, leaned against the corner, and patted the empty spot next to him.

Ruan Xian put the plastic bucket full of clear water against the corner. He pinched his brows, then took off his shoes and sat down.

To be honest, Ruan Xian was a little unsure of what kind of emotions he should show at this moment. The society in his memory operated in a disciplined manner, and the terms and conditions of morality and law were detailed and clear. It was easy for him to infer what to do and what not to do and what kind of expression to use depending on the occasion.

Now the order was completely loosened, and everything was in chaos. The blood red that smeared the glass was still stuck to his retina and it refused to dissipate for a long time. This wasn’t the society he was familiar with, and the feedback mechanism he used to pretend to be normal began to slowly collapse, so Ruan Xian could only put on a blank look.

Instead, the expression of the android became more agile. Tang Yibu pulled up the best-preserved quilt, covered the legs of the two, and let out a comfortable sigh.

“This is the map that Elysium gave me.” Ruan Xian kept his face blank until Tang Yibu put his chin on his shoulder.

“Nn.” Tang Yibu sounded very relaxed.

That map was very simple. It roughly marked the condition of the Sea of Ruins and the surrounding geography.

The entire wilderness of the Sea of Ruins faced the sea in the west, while the east and north were marked with “Petri Dish No. 1024”, while the south was “Petri Dish No. 1036”. The long strip of ruins ran from east to west across the wasteland, and a large circle was drawn at the end of the east side, clearly marking the words “Annihilation Point”.

This description was too vague, so Ruan Xian decided to skip it for the time being.

“Both you and the pirates mentioned Petri Dish No. 1036.” Ruan Xian tapped the side of the ruins with his fingers, trying his best to ignore the body temperature that was covering his back. “It’s also marked here, just in the forest area where the refuge was located. Is that the title given to it by MUL-01?”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu nodded to the east side of the Sea of Ruins. “Before, I bypassed the Sea of Ruins and ran from Petri Dish No. 1024 to No. 1036. There are more insiders on No. 1024, so I got a piece of information whose accuracy has yet to be determined. Under the supervision of the Mainbrain, there are probably less than two thousand existing petri dishes, and the survivors… or ‘samples’ are about 30 million.”

“What’s the situation on No. 1024?” Ruan Xian was silent for a while, and when he spoke, his voice was still calm.

“The cultivation conditions are different. No. 1024 is a cold zone. A blizzard killed almost all the survivors when I left. It’s estimated that MUL-01 will restart it within a few years.”

“…It sets different conditions to observe the survival of survivors?”

“That’s why it’s called a petri dish.” Tang Yibu tugged at the quilt. “According to my observation, the Sea of Ruins should be the part that MUL-01 removed after finishing the landscape. It chose to gather them into a pile and deal with them uniformly, just like…”

“Like sweeping garbage into a dustpan.” Ruan Xian zoomed in on the part of the Sea of Ruins on the light screen. “No wonder surveillance here is looser and humans aren’t as harsh to the cockroaches in the junkyard.”

After the Sea of Ruins was enlarged, the 3D model was densely marked with boundaries, and the divided space was filled with yellow and gray colors. The yellow one was marked with Elysium, and the gray one was marked with Walking Stones. A schematic diagram that showed a standard sphere of influence.

“But I have a question,” Ruan Xian murmured. “This is also a special environment, and even you can’t wait to run towards. If the Mainbrain wanted to collect survivor data, it wouldn’t just let go of this place.”

“I haven’t heard of its number. It’s just called the Sea of Ruins.” Tang Yibu opened another bottle of cherry soda. “But I agree with you.”

“Before, it relied on black boxes to obtain detailed data, but there seems to be no habit or condition for injecting auxiliary chips here.” Ruan Xian shrank into the quilt and stared at the flashing light screen in front of him. “…I guess we’re on the same page.”

“Yes.” Tang Yibu drank half a can of soda, then put his chin back on Ruan Xian’s shoulder, bringing back a little bit of the sweet and sour smell of cherries. “If MUL-01 wants to obtain data, its people are here among the pirates. If you want to inquire about Ruan Xian’s whereabouts, you won’t let him be killed by MUL-01 first—”

“Have you ever played a ghost catching game*, Tang Yibu?”

*There are different versions of it, but the basic premise is that it’s a party game where two groups are divided into humans and ghosts, and the humans try to vote out those among the players who are ghosts. You can read my Kinky Thoughts for a summary of the rules.

The author has something to say:

Lao Yu is a real jerk√

Kinky Thoughts:

Basic summary rules of ghost catching game:

Players are divided into 2 groups, humans and ghosts, with one judge.

This is an example of a 9-player game. Game flow:

1. The judge will write something down, like “apple”, on 6 pieces of paper, and a descriptor of the word on the other 3, like food = 5 letters. He then passes the paper out to all the players and the game starts.
2. The judge will randomly assign the pieces of paper to all the players.
3. Positioning:
   1. The judge then announces all players to close their owns.
   1. Then he will ask for the ghosts to open their eyes (they are the ones with the pieces of paper that only has the descriptor).
   1. Judge then asks the ghost to specify which player will speak first. At this time, the ghost needs to unanimously vote and point out a player (can be human or ghost) to speak first after dawn. (Note: the entire game will take turns speaking counterclockwise).
   1. The judge will then ask the ghosts to close their eyes.
   1. Dawn arrives and the judge asks everyone to open their eyes.
   1. The player who was voted on by the ghost starts to speak.
4. The first player to speak starts to describe the word in his hand. There are no restrictions on the way of the descriptions, but it must be information that is common knowledge (you can’t say something that only you and a few people are privy to, like inside jokes not known to all players). Or instead, you can say “pass”.
5. After all players have spoken, the judge announces a vote starting with the person who spoke first and going around the entire table. Each player can only vote once, and players can choose not to vote. The player with the highest vote is voted out and can no longer participate. (There are other rules to this part, but I won’t mention them since it’s too long.)
6. The ghost wins if the number of humans is tied to the number of ghosts. If the ghosts are all voted out, then they have one last chance to guess what the word is to win.

This is the game summarized. The other versions are built off of this version, but the above is the basic outline. Those who are more familiar with this game can chime in but do note that I did not include full details on the rules.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 30: Firefly

After a vague scream, there was only a rumbling collapse from a distance in the darkness.

Ruan Xian didn’t immediately put on his backpack. The wreckage of a certain lounge was lying under his feet, and the metal wardrobe was crushed and deformed. He bent down and pulled a white coat from the inside and put it on his body without buttoning it.

The vague white made him feel at ease, and the wide white gown perfectly hid the holster under his armpit. Ruan Xian believed that it could make him look more harmless.

Then he put on his backpack and led Tang Yibu into the thicker darkness. The smell of blood and the special fishy stench of fresh meat came from the air, and a torrent of aromas poured down from diagonally above. Those three people should be on the third or fourth floor, somewhere southeast of them.

Tang Yibu followed him lightly. The beverage bottles bumped against each other but were all wrapped in waste cloths or towels, so they didn’t make a sound. With an elegant gait, he silently ran over the broken glass and decayed wood chips, sticking behind Ruan Xian like a shadow.

There was no elevator in the stairwell two meters away, and the dark doorway was wide open. Tang Yibu swept over with the light, showing a densely covered net of some kind of creature, as compact as a loofah. Ruan Xian followed and glanced around, quite sure that there was a sticky climbing sound from the depths of the elevator shaft. He tended to shoot unnecessary curiosity and stayed as far away from them as possible.

Taking a few steps back, Ruan Xian led Tang Yibu to the dark stairwell.

The emergency exit sign was tilted to one side, still emitting fluorescence conscientiously. Intermittent crying and conversation came from upstairs, but no footsteps sounded. The three strangers were still there.

“The smell of corpses, but it’s not human. I smell the stench of ventral cockroaches.” After opening the decayed door of the stairwell, Ruan Xian suddenly stopped. “Are there ventral cockroaches here too?”

“There are ventral cockroaches everywhere. They eat everything,” Tang Yibu said in a low voice. “They will even gnaw on the corpses of mechanical life, even if the artificial tissue has no nutritional value for it.”

“I think it’s them that were eaten this time.” Ruan Xian lowered his voice even lower.

The faint sound of sucking and chewing came from the stairwell. The sound was small and light, like a lady enjoying foie gras in little bites. Tang Yibu extinguished the light, walked in front of Ruan Xian, and the two moved forward cautiously.

Ruan Xian saw something in the dark one step ahead. Unlike what he had imagined, there were no monsters blocking the stairwell.

Seeing them approaching, the corpse of a ventral cockroach slid down the wall.

The original smooth and flat wall was now as uneven as the surface of the moon, with a black hole the size of a washbasin embedded in the middle and fine fangs embedded in the edges. Centered on the giant mouth, strands of blue light flickered on the wall, which flowed towards the mouth along the radial track, creating a beautiful but deadly invitation.

However, neither of them was stupid enough to accept it.

“This is the Sea of Ruins. Can this thing be counted as a deep-sea animal?” Ruan Xian gave a huff. “A new species or…?”

“Mechanical life,” Tang Yibu said, carefully stepping across the abdomen that fell to his feet. “It is ingesting artificial tissue in the stomach of the cockroach.”

Seeing that the two of them were not fooled, the weird mouth opened and closed twice, and the blue light dimmed. It tried to stretch its mouth and sucked up the corpse shell of the ventral cockroach again.

The stairwell was empty and quiet, and the rest of the way was unobstructed. Ruan Xian didn’t go to the second or third floors, which were full of medicinal smells, and led Tang Yibu directly to the fourth floor of the ruined hospital.

The sobbing and whispering were less than ten meters away.

He didn’t know if it was because the drugs leaked, but the fourth floor was overgrown with plants. As soon as he opened the stairwell, Ruan Xian almost slipped on sticky moss. Translucent mushrooms exuded a faint milky white fluorescence in the dark, and everything in front of them was like a dream.

Ruan Xian nodded to Tang Yibu, who turned on the light knowingly.

As the lights lit up, the whispers and sobs not far away stopped instantly, and the click of metal friction sounded. The other party must have taken out a gun.

Ruan Xian held the blood gun tightly in his hand and leaned against the corner. “Don’t be nervous. We’re just here to find something.”

“People from the east.” The person not far away lowered his voice. “What should I do? Lu Ming couldn’t leave in this situation. We can’t fight them.”

“They could have just overtaken us without a greeting. Maybe they’re not malicious,” the female voice replied. “Either way, let’s try to talk first. The people in the east won’t send important people to such a dangerous place.”

The other person just grunted in pain.

Ruan Xian pursed his lips and stood out of the corner first. He raised his hands high. “We just arrived at the Sea of Ruins, and were thrown down by the people of the Stone Walkers to find something… I originally thought there was no one but us here, but I didn’t expect to hear screams halfway, so I came to take a look quietly.”

Tang Yibu immediately followed suit. He only held the locator for light in his hand. His whole person had a gentle and harmless appearance, lending credibility to Ruan Xian’s statement.

Although they tried hard to cover it up, the people on the opposite side still relaxed visibly to the naked eye.

There was a large area of long grass that resembled reeds between them. The tip of the grass had clusters of green fruits the size of gooseberries, and they emitted a bright green light. One of the people on the opposite side had inserted his left leg into the grass and was sitting at the edge of the grass, moaning in pain.

“This is…” Tang Yibu tried to prompt.

“I know.” Ruan Xian interrupted him. He had seen these things in the illustrated book of “treasures” given by the pirates. The pirates called it flickering grass, which was almost as valuable as medicine. The reason for its value wasn’t detailed, as it only mentioned that its stems and leaves could be used as raw materials for various props after treatment.

After the description, a blood-red warning was attached: “Extremely dangerous. Proceed with caution.”

The purpose of the group of people on the opposite side was obviously not in the stems and leaves. A cloth bag that was opened next to the injured person was filled with the fruits of the bright grass, and the fresh green shimmer illuminated the folds of the bag.

“They keep doing this, throwing innocent people down casually.” The woman stood up. She looked between twenty to thirty years old, her cheeks were badly sunken, and her whole body looked a little listless. “They didn’t give you a map, did they?”

“No.” Ruan Xian looked at her expression carefully.

“Since you are also looking for things in the hospital, did you find hemostatic spray and a bone saw?” The woman wiped the sweat from her face. “We don’t have enough hemostatic spray. Listen, we can give you a basic electronic map in exchange. Do you… Do you have it on you? 3 bottles of spray are enough, and the bone saw will be returned when we finish using it.”

There was indeed a bone saw in the backpack, and he had also caught a glimpse of Tang Yibu putting five or six bottles of hemostatic spray into the backpack.

“Do you mind?” Ruan Xian turned his head and looked at Tang Yibu.

“I’ll listen to you.” Tang Yibu had obviously entered observation mode.

“…Yes, but you have to pass the map first.” Ruan Xian cleared his throat.

“Then you guys throw over the bone saw first.” The thin woman bit her lip. She didn’t wear an electronic wristband. She just picked up the pendant hanging on her chest. A blurred light screen appeared in front of her. “After receiving the bone saw, I’ll immediately pass the map.”

Ruan Xian took out the bone saw from his backpack and threw it neatly to the other side, and the metal landed with a crisp sound. In almost the next second, his wristband that received the data vibrated.

“Quick, quick!” The woman immediately turned her attention to the map. “Lao Hu, you hold him down. We have to cut off his leg.”

“No anesthesia!”

“Prepare the blood supplement tablets first, and then talk about anesthesia!”

With a bite of the woman’s teeth, the saw that had been sterilized by the potion directly broke the flesh. The creaking sound made people’s skin numb, and the man whose legs were being sawed let out a whine that wasn’t human.

“Lao Hu, hold him down! If you move around, something will happen!”

“If you want… Why don’t we give him a firefly. I still have one left today.”

“No, Fan Lao said, at most three fireflies a day. Lu Ming has already eaten three today.”

“His screaming will attract the ventral cockroaches!” the man said anxiously. “Aren’t we desperate?! After getting so many materials back this time, Fan Lao wouldn’t care if we consumed an extra one. There are those two boys watching from the side. The sooner this happens, the better!”

“But…”

Ruan Xian listened quietly to the conversation between the two. Since he threw the bone saw over, the man still looked nervously from time to time, and the woman had completely focused on her injured companion.

It was strange that there were no traces of animals around, and there were no fallen beams. If he fell into an ordinary trap, they didn’t need to use such an extreme method like amputation as soon as it came up. Ruan Xian couldn’t think of the reason for the other party’s injury.

Just as he was puzzled, the bright grass in front of him flickered.

It felt very strange. The grass that was still real just now was like a broken projection. After twisting for a while, it disappeared in place, and then flashed back in half a second. In just half a second, Ruan Xian saw the man’s leg clearly.

He took a step back and slammed his back into Tang Yibu’s chest.

That leg was bulging, and it was three times as thick as the other one. Compared with ordinary congestion and swelling, it was more like the legs of a scarecrow stuffed with too much grass. Countless grass leaves drilled out of the cracks in his skin, covered with blood, verdant, and still growing. The woman was trying to saw off the injured person’s thigh on the rapidly changing leg.

As the whole piece of grass flashed back, the wounded let out even more heartbreaking cries. The man next to the injured man moved quickly, and he took out a pea-sized pill from his pocket.

It rolled slightly in his palm, exuding a dazzling green halo, which was really a bit like a firefly. Ruan Xian could smell a sweet and creamy aroma from above. For some reason, he instinctively hated the smell.

The man exhaled, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally stuffed the pill into the injured man’s mouth.

“Hu Jian!” The woman holding the bone saw screamed.

The wounded man immediately calmed down. Through the gap in the grass, Ruan Xian even saw the intoxicated expression on the man’s face.

However, the intoxication was very short-lived.

In less than half a minute, the man who was still screaming opened his mouth wide, and grass leaves emerged from his mouth and nose at a speed visible to the naked eye, immediately filling his eyes and ear holes. The section of the wound that the woman was about to finish sawing also gave birth to grass, followed by the torso, arms, and the injured person’s whole body swelled softly.

The woman was still kneeling on the ground, holding a bloody bone saw, her face in a daze. “Lu—Lu Ming…”

As if hearing the call, the wounded man stood up by himself. His posture was weird and soft as he waded through his own blood. But instead of walking towards his companion, he rushed into the grass behind him.

The sound of landing was almost negligible, and soon the grass became thicker again.

“He—He’s infected. Linlin, he’s infected. We were too slow,” the man known as “Hu Jian” murmured. “If I knew, I would have brought Lao Pan down with me. Damn it, at a critical time, I couldn’t find anyone…”

The bone saw slipped from the woman’s hand, she buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking badly.

“I’m sorry,” Ruan Xian said softly. “Do you still need hemostatic spray?”

“…No need.” The woman stood up shivering and sniffled hard. She picked up the blood-stained cloth bag full of fruit at her feet and held it tightly in her arms. “You—You see… This is such a dangerous place. Newcomers shouldn’t be allowed to come down at all. If it weren’t for our limited equipment this time, I could take you away.”

“Thank you, but we have collected enough things.” Ruan Xian smiled soothingly. He could guess what she wanted to hear.

Sure enough, the woman’s expression eased a little, and her eyes were still flushed. “You are a nice person. Not suitable for the pirate nest in the east.”

“If you and your friends are having a bad time over there, there is information on the map. You two can defect to Elysium,” she added, after operating the equipment that seemed to be a position device in her hand. “The captain of the Walking Stones is a bastard who doesn’t treat humans like humans. You will know it when you see it. The living conditions on our side are much better, and you’re welcome to come over at any time.”

Two sets of metal spacesuits hung from the ceiling. After stuffing the loot and bone saw into the backpack, the only pair of men and women left stepped into the metal clothes and quickly sank into the ceiling with the cable.

“Elysium.” Ruan Xian turned his attention back to the grass in front of him, muttering in a low voice.

“Interesting, she shows no signs of lying.” Tang Yibu took out a knife from his backpack and aimed it at the roots of the grass.

“That’s because she believes what she said is true,” Ruan Xian snorted. “Humans do this occasionally.”

According to the man, the party was supposed to be a four-person team, but there were only two sets of metal spacesuits that had just been sent down. The person who answered above could adjust the number of metal spacesuits according to the content of the communication as there was no claim that the equipment was limited. Her tone was sincere and truthful, and she was unambiguous when she took the bone saw away. Her whole person is full of contradictions.

He didn’t have a good impression of the two of them just now.

Seeing Tang Yibu eager to try on the pile of grass, Ruan Xian also took out the knife in his backpack and decided to put the woman’s proposal on hold for the time being. “Tang Yibu, I just observed it. Before these grass flickers…”

“It will shake three times.” Tang Yibu shrugged, cutting the grass with a click. “I also noticed it too. From the situation just now, that kind of flicker may be the way they prey on animals—flashing into the body tissue, and then taking root and growing.”

Ruan Xian was slightly surprised. “Its fruit…”

“It has a slightly creamy flavor and a psychedelic component. It looks like it is not yet mature, and there are remnants of petals at the bottom of the fruit, but since they can bear fruit in this kind of place, we have to be careful about pollinating things.” Tang Yibu tied the grass as he spoke. “You wanted to say this?”

Ruan Xian put away his momentary surprise, and when he realized it again, a smile had already hung on the corner of his mouth without authorization.

Tang Yibu stopped pressing the straw bales into his backpack. “…This is the first time I have seen you smiling like this, Mr. Ruan. Is there any problem with what I just said?”

“No, let’s go.” It seemed that he didn’t need to slow down for someone else this time. This feeling wasn’t so bad.

But after returning to the territory of the market pirates, Ruan Xian’s subtle good mood quickly disappeared without a trace.

“Yo, Lao Tu is right, they are really two little white faces*. How rare.”

*[Xiao bai lan] (小白脸) Specific term used derogatorily to describe good looking men who rely on women for financial support. It can also be used to describe men who are handsome and fair-skinned, as opposed to rough and muscular men.

Across the glass curtain of the small room, a muscular middle-aged man was slumped on a chair not far away. He straightened his head. His beard was rough, and his facial features were tough and rigid. Combined with the slickness and ruffian-like expression; what little bit of possible righteousness disappeared without a trace.

The man stretched out, picked up the wine bottle on the table, and walked crookedly towards them. Then he lowered his head, and his frivolous gaze passed through the thick bulletproof glass and swept across the faces of the two of them. After observing, he blew a whistle and even knocked on the glass in front of Ruan Xian a few times with his knuckles.

“This is the first time I have regretted that I don’t like men. Oh, what a waste.”

The author has something to say:

Ruanruan is actually super suitable for the pirate’s den (×

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 29: Starry Sky

The white shelf in front of him had accumulated a thick layer of dust, which swept into the air with one’s breath. Bags of food and candy were scattered everywhere, all over the slightly sloping smooth floor, dressed in dust like some kind of fungus.

Ruan Xian removed a bag of chocolate stuck under his shoe, afraid that it would make noise, shrank his body in again, and listened intently to the conversation from the people outside. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of light conversation, the two men and woman fell silent, and only dull footsteps and breathing could be heard outside.

The three of them didn’t find the small convenience store hidden around the corner, half-covered by the ruins. They trampled on the broken glass on the floor and moved away in the direction of the entrance to the main building of the hospital. At the same time, a loud noise of friction and collapse between the walls sounded not far from the right side of the hospital, causing the ground to shake slightly and debris to fall with a patter from the cracks in the ceiling.

The hospital seemed to be on the edge of the Sea of Ruins, and the building that had just been blocked on its right had peeled off and moved to a new position. The air outside poured in along the gap, causing the space to no longer feel humid and stuffy. After confirming that the three unidentified people had walked away, Ruan Xian stood up and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go another way.” He took apart a towel and began to wipe the dust from the package. “There’s a strong smell of medicine in the side hall, so the pharmacy is probably in that location.”

Now that he knew that Tu Rui was a member of the rebel army, his goal was clear. The three people who had just passed by seemed to have a clear destination. Ruan Xian didn’t plan to wade into this muddy water until he found out the details of the other party.

Tang Yibu opened the door of the storage room and stretched most of his body into a huge box freezer, turning over the cans inside. Ruan Xian got a muffled “Nn” through the rattling of jars.

Then he watched as Tang Yibu went too far and fell with a loud bang. The smoke that came from the impact was like the smoke from a flame.

Ruan Xian began to have a headache. Until now, he couldn’t figure out whether the android was harmful or harmless in general. Tang Yibu lived like a drunk cat. He could never guess what the other party wanted to do next.

The android turned to the drink he wanted and stepped out of the cabinet contentedly.

“We have limited time.” Ruan Xian ground his teeth and roughly wiped the packaging off a cookie box.

“But you’re hungry.” Tang Yibu shook his slightly long black hair, and another wave of dust swept up.

“I didn’t—” Before Ruan could finish, his stomach made an indefatigable growling sound. “…How did you know?”

“In the early morning of yesterday, you were ‘killed’ by Major Ding. You lost a lot of blood. After that, you only hate half a piece of salt bean cake. Since the initial power of a Prototype is stronger, it also consumes a lot of energy as well. If you can’t guarantee the calorie supply, there’ll be problems with your abilities.”

Tang Yibu pulled open the backpack and stuffed the cans neatly inside. “When we hand over the things, the food we can get may not be better. It’s best to eat some first… Personally, I suggest choosing the one with the highest calories.”

The entire space was dark and depressing, covered with dust and mold. Ruan Xian moved a few steps, and he could feel the softness of the dust on the ground through the soles of his boots. From any point of view, this wasn’t a suitable dining environment. “It’s not ventilated here. I don’t have much appetite. Let’s talk about it somewhere else.”

Tang Yibu’s golden eyes could be said to be the only light source in this dark space. Those beautiful eyes blinked in front of Ruan Xian, and then followed their owner to turn around and return to the storage room behind the small door.

Bang. Bang. Creak.

Now Ruan Xian could distinguish these sounds. They represented the bending of steel bars, the depression and peeling of the walls, and finally the cracking. Then came the sound of wind pouring into the room. Fresh air from the outside quickly squeezed in, and a little light overflowed from the storage room that was as dark as a cellar.

“Come,” Tang Yibu said.

Ruan Xian hesitated for a moment and stepped into the brightened space.

There were two door-sized cracks in the wall. Tang Yibu removed the large freezer and stuck it in the gravel-covered breach. The android was sitting on the edge of the breach, facing the oncoming moonlight and evening breeze. He patted the flat freezer fragments beside him with his hands.

Ruan Xian scratched his temple fiercely with his knuckles and walked over helplessly.

The unpleasant smell of dampness was blown away by the wind. Ruan Xian put his backpack containing half of the food between the two of them and sat down carefully as he looked at the scene in front of him.

‘It’s crazy,’ he thought.

They were on the edge of the Sea of Ruins, somewhere above the sky. It was like they were sitting on the edge of the roof of a high-rise building. He looked down at the entire wasteland that was vast and desolated, with a blurred horizon that connected the boundless starry sky. Looking down, there were still many irregularly piled buildings under his feet. The entire Sea of Ruins was rumbling forward, like an ominous and slow giant train.

“It’s well ventilated here,” Tang Yibu said in a low voice, reaching out and digging in his backpack. In the next second, Ruan Xian’s face felt the feeling of a cold can sticking to his face, which made him subconsciously grab it.

The android nodded solemnly and began to pull the backpack that Ruan Xian had put down.

Ruan Xian lowered his head and looked at the jar that was clearly illuminated by the moonlight. A black and red packaging of a bottle of cherry soda. He had never drunk this thing before because of his constitution.

“We can leave the chocolate and butter cookies.” Tang Yibu confirmed the calorie description on the package. “According to your information, pirates prefer heavy-flavored foods with a lot of additives to high-calorie foods.”

As he spoke, he tore open a pack of cookies neatly, causing the rich aroma of butter to instantly rush into Ruan Xian’s nose.

Ruan Xian quietly accepted the cookie and ate it in small bites. The strange, heavy smell almost paralyzed his tongue.

“You were angry again just now, right?” Tang Yibu’s way of eating was much rougher. Each bite he took would cause his delicate face to bulge up and his voice to become muffled. “I mean when I was in the cell.”

“…Yes.” Ruan Xian opened the can of soda that had been sealed for many years, making a small puff.

“Why didn’t you say it?”

“I do wish you would discuss things with me in advance, but time obviously didn’t allow for such a thing in that situation.” Ruan Xian took a sip of his soda and was so shocked by the bubbles pouring into his mouth that he almost dropped the can.

“But I still cause you unhappiness.”

“I don’t need your apology. We can skip this topic.”

“I’m just curious—we all know that my approach is ‘reasonable in terms of results’, but you still act like you’re hurt.” Tang Yibu raised his chin to allow the wind to blow more freely on his face while he kept on his muttering. “It’s amazing.”

“I am also very curious. Since you know that I am not a human being, why do you continue this kind of observation?” Ruan Xian put down the cookie box in his hand and turned his gaze to the sky.

“You are infused with human personality information. The human body is also a kind of machine in nature. Memory is data, thinking habits are algorithms, and the two influence each other.”

Tang Yibu crunched the cookies, put down his drink, stretched out his hands, and gestured slowly at Ruan Xian.

“As long as the memory data is not erased, this kind of observation is meaningful before your thinking algorithm makes a huge change. Just as we all know that tadpoles are destined to become frogs, tadpoles themselves also have observational value.”

Ruan Xian retracted his gaze. “Listen to what you said, you—”

“Yes, I have not been infused with any personality information, so I’m not very familiar with human thinking habits.” Tang Yibu’s legs swayed slightly on the edge of the hole, looking very comfortable. “I still want to apologize. I’m sorry I made you feel unhappy. I will try my best to discuss with you in advance matters related to you in the future, Mr. Ruan.”

Ruan Xian kept quiet. His fingers touched the smooth packaging of the cookie box before he folded it. The night breeze wrapped him firmly like a river. After a few seconds of silence, Ruan Xian turned his head and looked at the handsome face of the android beside him.

There wasn’t much expression on that face, but it was more vivid than all the human faces he had ever seen.

There was no compliment, caution, pity, or fear on the android’s face, nor appreciation or awe. Tang Yibu just stared at him like that, his gaze pure and direct, with cookie crumbs sticking to the corner of his mouth.

“…But in exchange, I hope you don’t suppress your emotions in front of me in the future.” Tang Yibu wiped the cookie crumbs from the corner of his mouth and moved his face closer. His tone was very solemn, and the tip of his nose almost touched the tip of Ruan Xian’s nose. “If you refuse to express how you feel, I can’t get accurate information.”

“I won’t be a good sample.” Ruan Xian’s voice was a little dry. He raised his head and looked at the starry sky again.

Tang Yibu didn’t understand.

“How do they make you feel?” Ruan Xian pointed to the clear and bright Milky Way on the top of his head. The clean and clear night sky was decorated with broken diamonds.

The android drank the last sip of soda carefully and painfully pressed down a burp, still puzzled.

“Normal humans will tell you that it’s beautiful and worthy of praise in poetry. The grandeur and beauty of nature are shocking, and so on.” Ruan Xian looked at the twinkling stars.

“Indeed,” Tang Yibu agreed.

“But I can only see the broken time. They are mixed with light from different distances. It’s just a huge… phenomenon. I can’t appreciate its ‘beauty’.” Ruan Xian slowly exhaled. “You should find a more normal sample.”

“Why?” Tang Yibu sounded a little confused. “Perhaps most humans will think this scene is beautiful, but will the aesthetic issue be about whether it’s normal or not? I remember this is a more personal attribute, and it doesn’t involve whether it ‘should’ feel beautiful.”

“Then I will explain another way. About the memory I was infused with—When I was young, I was shown a lot of pictures of corpses.”

Ruan Xian looked at the dark wasteland and plucked out the memories that lingered in his heart. He remembered everything since he was conscious, and naturally, he also remembered the personality test that the medical institution had conducted on him.

“Although I was a little uncomfortable, I didn’t feel any fear or anxiety.”

He was four years old at that time, and a miserable 3D image flashed in front of him. From minor injuries to serious injuries, decay, from partial to whole, from adults to children; he just watched quietly, unmoved, without a trace of expression. The machine next to him honestly recorded his heartbeat and brain waves.

He was very confused at the time, and he couldn’t figure out why they wanted to show him this kind of thing. Did they want him to help? Were they confused?

Why were the expressions of those people getting more and more serious?

Maybe helping them would keep them from frowning. These adults were very stupid, and they must not have figured things out.

[The man in the 74^th picture was killed by a chain saw, leaving very obvious traces on the bones. According to the condition of the wound, the height of the murderer was about 1.78 to 1.8 meters, and his dominant hand was his left. He worked hard to change his attack method, but the final few strokes are still obvious.]

He pulled the miserable dead corpse and made it clear.

[Change the size of the chainsaw, fix it on the lower arm, and wear heightening shoes of more than four centimeters. Finally, using acid, it can destroy the traces on the bones and eliminate most of the evidence. However, the murderer’s technique was too rough, and so it couldn’t hide all the deliberate details.]

Unfortunately, this was only a small part of the personality test, and those with frowning brows didn’t want his help.

“…They just wanted to see me scared because normal people are scared, but I wasn’t.”

“Oh, you want to say that you ‘should’ be scared.” Tang Yibu touched his chin. “Then in your memory, have you ever killed anyone?”

“No.”

“Criminal act?”

“None.”

“Then you’re just being infused with the memory of a dull human being. Plain and not a criminal.” Tang Yibu judged unceremoniously. “Most humans wouldn’t collapse at the thought of meat in a slaughterhouse or a butcher shop. They cut off genitals of plants and put them on their bedside until they rot and wither. You’re just a little duller on this basis. Strictly speaking, the ‘you’ in your memory is much more common than the felons in prison.”

Ruan Xian almost laughed with anger. He really wanted to pull on the other party’s collar and let the android experience what abnormality was, but inexplicably he couldn’t find a word to refute it, so his fist made of anger could only punch cotton.

And behind that anger, a faint sourness gradually spread.

“Whatever you say.” Ruan Xian suddenly felt a little tired.

“Do you want to be ‘abnormal’?” Tang Yibu started the interview with great interest.

“Of course not.”

“If you care about this kind of thing, you are still full of human thinking.” Tang Yibu squeezed the drink can into a small ball, showing a faint smile. “Anyways, for me, dead flowers, dismembered livestock, and rotting humans are no different—they are all the corpses of creatures, aren’t they?”

“……”

The android threw the metal ball into the ruins below, and the curvature of the corners of his mouth became larger. “In my opinion, humans are a relatively strong race, but they are limited to this.”

“I thought you wanted to understand human emotions.” Ruan Xian narrowed his eyes.

“Humans also want to understand the way other species express emotions, but they still live in a human way. It’s just understanding and learning,” Tang Yibu said. “Well, let’s put it another way that is convenient for you to understand. You can think of me as a zoologist who studies humans.”

After that, he stretched out his hand. “I want to pinch your face. Can I pinch it?”

Ruan Xian wiped his face, and out of some complicated emotion, he laughed. The other party didn’t care about humans more than he thought. Perhaps he could take off his mask for a while and breathe indulgently?

“No,” he said, pushing Tang Yibu’s hand back to his side. “I’m full. Let’s go.”

Tang Yibu withdrew his hand with regret. “Then we—”

A sharp scream came from the depths of the ruins of the hospital, and the two quickly glanced at each other.

“Go and have a look?” Tang Yibu jumped up quickly, hurriedly carrying his bag on his back.

“Go and have a look.” Ruan Xian nodded. “Maybe we can exchange a few favors and ask for information.”

This time he spoke his thoughts smoothly.

The author has something to say:

Guess who will be tempted first? (×

Kinky Thoughts:

My bet is on Ruan Xian.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 28: Dive into the Dark

The originally dark space was suddenly illuminated by lights, and the colors in their field of vision suddenly increased. Ruan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the person in front of him.

The darkness just now could be a problem for normal humans, but it wasn’t a problem for a body fused with the S-type Prototype. Tu Rui didn’t come from the entrance. He watched the other party appear in thin air. Now he could see the rise and fall of the other person’s chest caused by his breathing, and he could also hear the sound of hissing, but he couldn’t feel any air flow from that direction.

It was a virtual image.

Ruan Xian took a few steps back in silence; the two blood guns still in the holster hurt his ribs.

“The lights here are still working.” Tang Yibu, who was lying next to him, was quite surprised. The expression on his face resembled that of a shocked human.

“…Hello.” He watched as the android started acting. The corners of Ruan Xian’s mouth twitched. He put on his usual gentle smile and decided to officially start the conversation. After all, their capturers wouldn’t show them a virtual image just for fun.

The man looked at Tang Yibu for a while, then turned his gaze back to Ruan Xian. “Who are you two?”

“Escaped from the petri dish No. 1036.” Tang Yibu grabbed the conversation and showed a proper smile. That smile was natural and sincere, with no hypocrisy in it. “You know Petri Dish No. 1036, right? You understand what’s going on inside. Who could stay there? The two of us plan to go to the Sea of Ruins to have a meal together.”

With a bean-like call, Tu Rui’s attention was smoothly pulled over. “The color of your eyes is quite special.”

“Like an android. I know. It’s just my boyfriend’s kink. It’s not difficult to change the color of one’s iris these days.”

Ruan Xian felt a chill down his spine as he glared at Tang Yibu vigilantly, trying to signal warnings with his eyes.

“Then this is…?” Tu Rui didn’t show an expression of surprise or disgust and turned his head in the direction of Ruan Xian.

“My boyfriend, Ruan Lijie.” Tang Yibu’s tone was firm.

The gentle smile on his face had a tendency to falter as Ruan Xian could feel the blood vessels in his forehead beating wildly. Ever since this hapless android had appeared, he had challenged his bottom line in every sense. This anger wasn’t as dark and vicious as it used to be, but it was more like annoying smoke that blasted directly into his heart…

“Yes.” However, that was all he could answer. Ruan Xian could probably guess Tang Yibu’s thoughts. This bastard had no plans to expose himself at all. In the event of a crisis in the future, their “kiss” would be a good trump card.

But this didn’t prevent him from being frustrated.

“Whatever, as long as you can work.” Tu Rui pushed his glasses. “The two of you can cross the dead wall, which means you have a bit of skill.”

“It’s still hard work, plus a little luck. The refuge just happened to get caught up in a leader change.” Tang Yibu wriggled and sat up.

“Oh? How did the two of you get out?” The man who claimed to be the “deputy captain of the Walking Stones” took two steps closer. “As far as I know, the dead wall will block all electronic equipment close to it. If you want to rely on aircraft or inertia to cross over it, you will also be directly bombarded by missiles. In addition, there will be a pressure-sensitive transmission alarm every five minutes.”

“We stole a few vacuum plungers and tied them to our hands and feet and stuck them on. You see, it’s just the two of us, so the Mainbrain has no intention of pursuing us to the end,” Tang Yibu answered eloquently. “As soon as we ran out…”

Ruan Xian simply closed his eyes and leaned against the wall blankly, listening to the android’s bullshit.

“Ability?” Tu Rui interrupted Tang Yibu’s rigid story, obviously not very interested in the details of their escape.

“I only have a little strength.” Tang Yibu spoke confidently. “I didn’t even bring a weapon.”

“Well, I can see that, boy. This one here is wearing two guns.” Tu Rui turned to Ruan Xian, who was silent. “One whose name is Ruan, what about you? What can you do?”

Ruan Xian opened his eyes suspiciously. “Primary perception is strengthened, marksmanship is okay, and a little bit of mechanical knowledge.”

Tu Rui huffed. “Passable. I can give you two a bite to eat. It’s not too late yet, so go to the sea and get something valuable, then hand it in. I’ll take you to the captain later.”

After that, he clapped his hands. “Bring in the things!”

There was a sound of metal rubbing against the stone surface outside, then two sets of bloated metal spacesuits were dragged into the room. They even had old-fashioned wraps on their backs with long thin metal tubes that were attached to a machine to pull them in. The large-scale machine looked dilapidated, covered with patches of rust all over, and almost got stuck to the half-decayed door.

A burly man with bulging muscles kicked it twice in the back before it stumbled into the room.

“We just escaped, and we don’t have enough physical strength.” Ruan Xian tried to buy time. “I am also a little uncomfortable. If you are willing to provide a little mechanical support, I want to make sure first—”

“No ability, no discussion.” Tu Rui gave an order to the muscular man who had just come in. “Gang Zi, send them down.”

After that, he yawned and pretended to walk out the door.

“Don’t try to run away,” seeing Ruan Xian curled up nervously, the burly man said sullenly, first pulling away the restraint belt on Tang Yibu’s body. “The isolation in this room is very good, and it’s useless for you two to kill me. Listen to the deputy captain and get something.”

“Sorry, we don’t know the situation.” Seeing Tang Yibu’s eyes staring at the metal clothes a few steps away, Ruan Xian retracted his only expectation.

“I’ll tell you about it later. As long as… Ah, like I said, it’s not necessary.” Gang Zi sighed helplessly.

At the moment when the burly man tore open Ruan Xian’s restraint belt, the muzzle of a gun was aimed right at his heart. Ruan Xian calmly held the blood gun and said, “Take us out of here.”

Tang Yibu turned his head and raised his eyebrows.

The burly man raised his hands, not looking nervous at all. He walked in front with a sigh and flashed out the door. “You can see for yourself.”

Ruan Xian went out cautiously. Though he was mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but inhale deeply.

This dilapidated apartment cell was surrounded by huge bottomless cracks and dark ruins squeezed into buildings. The houses were stacked together like broken building blocks—all kinds of signs and broken steel bars were sandwiched in the concrete, and the painted walls of different colors looked like Skittles covered in dust, piled up in a mess. The boundary couldn’t be seen whether he looked up or down, left or right.

They were more than ten meters away from the nearest platform. As long as Tang Yibu didn’t want to expose them, he didn’t have any tools to leap over.

“Even if you can really go there, you will die sooner or later.” The burly man shrugged, as if he had seen through Ruan Xian’s mind. “The Sea of Ruins is a maze. It’s absolutely impossible to traverse without a map and guide.”

Ruan Xian retracted his gun. “…One has to try it.”

The burly man had the expression of “I’m used to hearing that” on his face. He pointed to the two sets of metal clothes in the distance. “Can your wristband still be used? I’ll pass you the information and data. If you find enough things worth 2,000 points, you can hand them in. I’ll contact you two when you’re done.”

Ruan Xian didn’t speak again. He obediently received the information, put on a metal spacesuit, and stood next to Tang Yibu, who had wrapped himself in his metal spacesuit a long time ago.

“Since Mr. Ruan has a weapon, we will no longer provide one.” The burly man muttered, knocking hard on the old machine. “There is no map under here. Please help us explore the way. Let’s go.”

As soon as his voice fell, the ground under Ruan Xian disappeared.

The long metal tubes on their spacesuit whizzed and stretched. At the speed at which they fell, it was close to free fall. Their bodies were slightly hot, and the cross-sections of countless buildings and debris passed in front of them. They were diving into countless ruins, passing through cement and bricks like ghosts.

He didn’t know how long they were falling until they finally slowed down, then they stopped in the air and hung in a dark hall quietly for more than ten seconds. As soon as Ruan Xian wanted to make a tentative sound, the spacesuit completely tore open on both sides, and the two of them fell down.

Fortunately, they weren’t far from the ground enough to really become injured from the fall.

In the next second, the metal spacesuit gradually rose and disappeared from the decayed ceiling, leaving a few circles of ripples like water waves.

“Are you sure you want to deal with these people?” Ruan Xian coughed a few times among the ashes.

The other party’s intention was obvious. In the absence of a map, the only way out for ordinary people was to float up using those metal spacesuits. In this way, they were thrown into the depths of the ruins that their own people had not reclaimed, and this was a test of their abilities. If they were to return, the pirates would undoubtedly have a double harvest, both of materials and intelligence. If they were unfortunately killed, Ruan Xian didn’t think Mr. Tu would really feel bad about it.

This was the attitude of pirates.

“If it’s just observation, it’s the same anywhere.”

Tang Yibu unscrewed the lighting device on the communicator and wandered towards Ruan Xian. The communicator looked like a flashlight for exploration, and it was thoughtfully equipped with a rope at the end. “Don’t worry, they didn’t bug this thing. It only has simple lighting, positioning, and image identification functions.”

“Whatever you want,” Ruan Xian responded flatly. It didn’t make much difference to him. After all, people didn’t write “I know Ruan Xian’s whereabouts” on their foreheads. If they inquired for news about him, it was better that the other party was strong.

“But why did you do such an ineffective resistance just now?” Tang Yibu moved his wrist and carried the backpack used to hold loot. He scanned the corners of the hall with the light, and his face returned to blankness.

“That person was too relaxed. I wanted to know whether his backup was nearby or if he was confident in his strength.” Ruan Xian sniffed, making sure he smelled the faint aroma of medicine. “It would be weird not to resist. After all, my guns were still on me and we just ‘crossed the dead wall’ and was full of resistance enthusiasm.”

“Is that what your indoctrinated human mind told you?”

“Nn.”

“Very informative. Thank you, Mr. Ruan.” Tang Yi took two steps forward, avoiding a few drops of water dripping from the ceiling. “It seems that my thinking angle is still a bit biased.”

Ruan Xian turned his head, didn’t speak again, and focused on the environment in front of him.

He didn’t need lighting to see the slightly tilted hall in front of him clearly. They were standing in the middle of the abandoned hospital hall. The consultation table was covered with black mold, there was glass broken into small pieces, and the infusion poles were lying in the corner. A metal cart, which was crushed and deformed by the rubble, was lying on the ground, holding a dirty little bear doll.

After temporarily stuffing the blood gun used for treatment back into the holster, Ruan Xian carefully pulled out the dirty doll. The filling inside had rotted and exuded a thick, moist smell. The doll had lost an eye and was staring at him with only one button left. There was a red thread that hadn’t been pulled clean and was attached to the back of the button.

Ruan Xian raised his head and looked out through the glass window of the hall. The other room was tightly squeezed out of the glass window of the hospital hall—a child’s bedroom, and several plush toys were stuck in the window connected to the hospital hall, pierced by broken glass.

There were no human corpses.

The entire space was empty, like a rotten insect shell. Ruan Xian pursed his lips and put the doll back in place. After half a minute of silence, he turned on the electronic wristband and quickly scanned the “treasure” information thrown by the thieves.

“The most valuable are medicines, tools, and processed food, followed by waste parts and clothes.” Ruan Xian filled his head with all the information. “Follow me. I can’t tell the difference between medicine, but at least I smell the food.”

Tang Yibu pulled out a few unopened syringes from the dust and threw them into his backpack. When his backpack was opened again, canned drinks were thrown in.

“Affiliated convenience store.” Tang Yibu rubbed the dust on the metal bottle with his sleeve. “Yes, these things are still within the shelf life. Would you like a can?”

Ruan Xian stopped throwing biscuits into the backpack. He slipped across the shelf like a cat and pressed Tang Yibu’s head. “Someone.”

Tang Yibu was still holding the bottle of canned soda. He was short and honestly hid himself behind the shelf.

“The pirates in the east sank Chen Ge’s ship,” a somewhat sharp male voice said. “Fuck, I hope that the next time they ‘disinfect’, the Order Supervisor can send Yu Le’s things to the west.”

“He can’t run away,” a female voice replied to him. “Look, it’s just his virtue. Fan Lao* just doesn’t care about him because of us. This kind of scumbag will sooner or later kill himself.”

*When Lao is used after a name, it signifies respect to that person when addressing them (usually for someone who’s older). Translated would be like Elder Fan.

“It’s a pity that Tu Rui couldn’t be pulled to our side. That guy has a shrewd look and stands in line like an idiot.” A new voice joined in, which sounded a bit slick.

“Pity indeed! Have you heard that Tu Rui turned out to be from the rebel army? If he wants to come to our side, that would be a real disaster.”

“Hey… There’s more to this matter. Didn’t Ruan Xian’s rebel army die a long time ago? Why is there still one alive?”

“Who knows?”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 27: Ruins of a Pirate Ship

Finally, with the heat and loud noise, the flying giant ship crashed into the ground. Tang Yibu stretched out his arm and hooked Ruan Xian into a pit on the ground. Metal fragments burst out in continuous explosions, and a piece of twisted iron sheet scraped past the two of them, leaving traces like a knife cut.

The explosion quickly subsided, and all that remained was the sound of flames burning. Tang Yibu grabbed Ruan Xian tightly in his arms and remained motionless, like a snail indented into its shell, until the sound of burning gradually disappeared. Ruan Xian had to bury his face in Tang Yibu’s arms to escape the smell of the unpleasant fumes of rubber and plastic burning behind him. At this moment, Tang Yibu smelled like clean soap and a basket of dried grass, which only made Ruan Xian focus more on this smell.

The air gradually cooled down, and the black smoke was diluted by the evening breeze. Ruan Xian breathed out and finally managed to pull his nose back from Tang Yibu’s coat.

He stood up, pounded his aching back, and looked at the ship.

There was no human breath or heartbeat aboard the ship; only little cracking sounds caused by burning, in addition to the clicking sounds of metal cooling.

Under the dim moonlight, the strange big ship had plunged diagonally into the soil, with only about two-thirds of it exposed outside. It looked a bit like a submarine, and the part that hadn’t been blackened by the flame revealed some dirty iron. Its design and shape were extremely rough, and a large number of traces of iron sheet that looked spliced were left on the shell, which made it seem as if it wasn’t a product of precision technology.

Tang Yibu patted the mud off his body. “Is there anyone there?”

“No.” Ruan Xian rubbed the blackened hull with his fingers. “There’s nothing on this ship.”

“Great. Let’s go in,” Tang Yibu said.

“…Are you sure?” Not to mention the toxic smoke hadn’t completely dissipated, the way this ship had landed was strange. It stood to reason that instead of being deeply inserted into the soil, it should have directly fallen apart on the hard land and split into several pieces. This submarine-like ship was full of oddities, which made Ruan Xian cautious and didn’t want to approach it rashly.

Not to mention, there was a strong smell of burnt flesh coming from the ship. There were indeed no living humans in it, but that couldn’t be said about the dead. He wasn’t sure if he was mentally prepared for the scene inside.

Tang Yibu was much simpler. He quickly tore off a piece of iron sheet from the hull, rolled it into a cone, and tangled it all over the semi-collapsed ship. The evening breeze was strong and the turbid heat in the ship passed through the hole with the wind, causing the temperature nearby to drop a bit.

“We have to search for supplies first.” Tang Yibu threw away the iron sheet in his hand and patted them. “Generally speaking, people in the Sea of Ruins will not chase so far, but these metal parts may attract scavengers. There are humans staring at it. Keep a low profile.”

As he spoke, he peeled back the iron sheet, like tearing off skin, and created an entrance, then made a “please” gesture.

Ruan Xian clenched the gun in his hand, sighed, and walked into the cabin with Tang Yibu. As soon as he entered, Ruan Xian immediately found something was wrong. His feet stepped on solid ground.

It was like someone had cut off the first third of the ship and cleverly placed the rest on the ground. Not only were there no potholes on the floors of the inside of the ship, even the grass stayed safely in the crevices of the stones. Ruan Xian squatted down and dug along the bulkhead inside the ship. The smooth bulkhead under the ground melted with the soil and became a hard and loose honeycomb structure.

The moonlight fell down the hole above his head, illuminating the small piece of ground in front of him. Like a withered black flower, a charred hand poked out of the soil and was bathed in silver light.

Ruan Xian frowned, picked up the fragment from the ground, and poked it carefully. The wrist of that hand made an uncomfortable cracking sound and fell to the side.

The human body under the soil was similar to the bulkhead. The soft flesh had merged with the soil and turned into a fine honeycomb shape.

“This ship… passed through the soil.” Ruan Xian turned his head and looked at Tang Yibu, who was putting cans and tools into his backpack.

“This is a pirate ship. They need to sail in the Sea of Ruins, so the ship must have the ability to pass through solids.” Tang Yibu was squatting in front of the scorched cabinet trying to find objects that hadn’t been burned. “The vibration system of this ship has failed. This kind of accident is very common.”

“You seem to know this place well.” Ruan Xian moved away from the broken hand, took a few steps forward, and picked up a blackened knife.

“I’ve heard a little bit about it.” Tang Yibu stopped moving and looked out of the hole. “We have to move faster. Other machines are coming.”

Ruan Xian clung to the crack and looked at the source of the footsteps…

A group of spherical metal machines were rapidly approaching. They ran on four pointed legs, leaving a trail of dust behind them. A small scavenger puppet followed closely behind, walking awkwardly. Unlike the two they encountered in the forest, there weren’t many metal fragments on its body and its soft pale tissues were exposed in many places.

At this speed, it was estimated that the group of weird things would reach the ship wreckage in about three minutes.

Ruan Xian instantly lost the mood to inquire more. He looked around and found a bundle of metal rope that could be used. Just as he was about to run up the upturned stern, a strange sound of breaking through the air passed through his ears.

“Something’s wrong.” He subconsciously pulled Tang Yibu’s back collar. “Let’s withdraw.”

Tang Yibu didn’t say anything. He grabbed his bulging backpack, stood up obediently, and tore open an exit on the other side of the cabin. The two squeezed out as quietly as possible, leaving the continuing approach of the machines on the other side. The strange whooshing sound in the sky was still approaching. Ruan Xian wanted to signal Tang Yibu to leave faster, but the sound had caught them.

A large soft net that was almost transparent fell from the sky and swooped them to the ground. Also unlucky was the group of machines that had just arrived. The small spherical machines were crowded into a pile like grapes, squeaking and screaming. The scavenger puppet twisted its pale limbs and was struggling frantically, but the net was flexible and strong, like some kind of spider web that was inescapable. Ruan Xian cut hard with the knife he had just picked up but didn’t even make a dent.

Tang Yibu looked around as he lay slowly on the ground and calmly put on the coffin-style sleeping position that Ruan Xian was familiar with.

“Aren’t you going to struggle?” For a moment, Ruan Xian wanted to poke the android with the knife he was holding. “For example, tear open this net and then find a better place to sleep.”

“This net is too strong. If I tear it with my bare hands, it’ll arouse their vigilance. This is good. We have to deal with the pirates sooner or later.” Tang Yibu had let the net fall on his face as he spoke calmly.

Ruan Xian persistently used the knife to cut for a while, and finally determined that this thing was in every sense of the phrase yielding neither to soft or hard*. He moved to Tang Yibu’s side and sat down in a posture that was a bit subtly consistent with the crestfallen scavenger puppet not far away. “Are you sure they won’t kill us?”

*(软硬不吃) Refers to being immune to cajolery or coercion. || Basically, it’s saying the net can’t be broken through forceful or soft means.

“Usually not. We can pretend to be humans. Humans at this age are useful labor and an important resource.” Tang Yibu stretched out his hand to hook Ruan Xian’s waist and fix him tightly to his side. “It’s not too late to run. If something goes wrong, you can still catch a ride.”

“What ride? “Ruan Xian grabbed the hooked arm and asked vigilantly.

What happened next was faster than Tang Yibu’s answer.

As fast as the net came, it was pulled back just as quickly. It passed through the wreckage of the ship like a phantom, leaving only the two humans and the machines with vital characteristics behind, and yanked straight towards the Sea of Ruins.

The net was pulled into the air, causing the spherical little machines and the scavenger puppet to squeeze tight like packed sardines. The speed of the oncoming wind was extremely fast, causing the net to spin rapidly and made Ruan Xian nauseous that he almost vomited. Tang Yibu, who had been lying straight, bent his body. The two looked as if they were two shrimp caught in a fishing net.

After flying for a few minutes, they finally hit something soft. Judging by the sense of shock under them, the thing that caught them was very close to an air cushion made of plastic cloth.

This time, Ruan Xian decisively decided to play dead with Tang Yibu.

“The harvest is good. Those idiots in the west can still do us some good even if they die.” A hoarse male voice sounded in his ears. “Let me see… Thirty-five iron beads. Okay. Oh, a scavenger puppet. This will make me a lot of money.”

An iron rod stretched out and poked Ruan Xian’s waist directly.

“Someone.” The thick voice immediately became vigilant. The pole was pulled back and there was a click, as if a weapon was being activated. “Gang Zi, turn the net over and have a look.”

“Okay!”

The net under him was drawn away, and the spherical machinery jingled and scattered. Ruan Xian collapsed motionless on the air cushion like a dead fish, staring at Tang Yibu, who was also facing down, from the crevices of his eyes.

“Both of them are still breathing.” The hoarse voice seemed to be talking to someone. “How to put this… It doesn’t look like they’re from the west.”

The air cushion sank under them, indicating someone was approaching. One hand grabbed Ruan Xian’s hair and forced him to lift his face. The visitor hissed for a few breaths, let go of him, and grabbed Tang Yibu on the other side.

“Two little white faces. There are no such people in the west. Looking at their appearance, they’re either androids or were genetically modified.” He sounded a little confused. “They have a good physique and look strong. Captain, look at this—okay, okay. I’ll get them back first. You mentioned location? Just over the wall of Petri Dish No. 1306.”

Ruan Xian tried his best to listen, but he could only hear murmurs. Most likely, the other party wasn’t giving instructions via voice.

“Gang Zi*!” A thick voice rumbled, causing the communicator to shake. “Tie these two up and take them to the stronghold cell.”

*When used after a name, it’s an affectionate way of addressing them, but more so in a historical setting, so this is more like affectionately addressing them but jokingly (I think).

Gang Zi didn’t answer. Ruan Xian could feel a large hand directly grabbing him and wrapping him into a spring roll with a restraining strap. He and Tang Yibu were carried on the person’s shoulders, one on each side as they rocked forward with the giant.

At first the shaking motion was regular, then it felt like some kind of wheeled vehicle, similar to a hoverbike. After being blown by the cool breeze for about half an hour, the big man known as “Gang Zi” finally stopped moving. He opened something, causing a bang…

Then came the fall.

First Tang Yibu, then himself. They were thrown into a dark hole like garbage by the big man. Within a few seconds, Ruan Xian confirmed his thoughts. They were sliding down a garbage chute of a high-rise building, and the speed was accelerating.

Two dirty spring rolls were ejected from the outlet of the garbage chute and fell to the ground one after the other. Tang Yibu landed first and unfortunately became Ruan Xian’s meat cushion. He gave a pitiful “ugh”, twisted his body, and got out from under Ruan Xian.

“There’s no one nearby.” Ruan Xian moved his shoulders and found that he couldn’t break free from what was restraining his body. Fortunately, the garbage chute had been abandoned for a long time, as there was no residual garbage left. Otherwise, he would’ve gone crazy at this moment.

They were thrown into a strange room, which at first glance looked like a half-collapsed ordinary apartment. The fine and hard iron bars were obviously installed later, and they were roughly inserted into the exquisite wooden floor. Decorative paintings hung crooked on the wall, and a fabric sofa was overturned in the corner. Most of the sofa’s cushions were broken and covered with dust.

“I fell and I’m a little hurt.” Tang Yibu spoke deeply.

“Uh-huh.” Ruan Xian continued to observe the surroundings vigilantly.

“I need some treatment.” The android squirmed like a worm and approached him, obviously with no intention of unlocking his restraints.

“Come on, be strong.” Ruan Xian glanced at the stains on the other party’s lips and inched a few steps back. “It’s good to feel more pain. It’s more realistic.”

“You’re faking it—”

“Your mouth is stained with dirt and mold from the garbage. If you dare put your mouth near me, I’ll make it hurt even more severely later.” Ruan Xian spoke very fast. This time he almost poured out all the thoughts that appeared in his mind.

“I understand.” Tang Yibu nodded solemnly. “Sorry, I’ll remember to wipe my mouth in the future.”

“…There is no future.”

The light suddenly snapped on.

“It doesn’t seem to be an android and he also seems to have the mind to flirt at this time.” The visitor was wearing a dirty jacket, but his hair was neat. He wore gold wire glasses that had cracks on them and were framed on the bridge of his nose, giving him a svelte appearance.

“The great Tu Rui, deputy captain of the Walking Stones. Good evening to you both.”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 26: Tactile Exercises

The texture of the dead wall was dark and dense, cold to the touch, which made it difficult to distinguish whether the materials were metal or stone. It was about five meters wide. Tang Yibu took a few steps forward, jumped off the wall, and landed in the sand with Ruan Xian.

The Sea of Ruins, composed of long buildings, was still some distance away from them.

Tang Yibu returned to his usual expressionless face. Seeing Ruan Xian standing firmly on the wasteland, he took Ruan Xian’s backpack and carried it, and walked straight to the long building floating in the distance. Ruan Xian glanced behind him, and the high, dark wall behind him sucked away all the light, and the space seemed to be cut off, revealing the nothingness behind it.

He could still smell the forests and grasslands on the other side of the wall, but the vibrant smell was muted a lot.

“We’re just going to walk over like this?” According to their current speed estimate, it would take at least until dawn. The ground under their feet was rugged, which wasn’t suitable for driving.

“The closer you get to that place, the higher the security and surveillance,” Tang Yibu explained patiently. “Intense exercise also consumes a lot of calories, and our supplies are insufficient.”

“You just said that MUL-01 has more relaxed management here.”

“Those surveillance belongs to humans,” Tang Yibu added.

Ruan Xian stopped. He frowned, closed his eyes, and began to listen—The wind blew through the dry grass stems, insects and mice rustled over the sand. A little further away, there was an electronic sound, the squeak of metal friction, and…

Once again, the sounds in his ears became like a rumbling flood. His eardrum was pierced like a needle, and the severe pain caused him to squat down instinctively. This time, Ruan Xian was more experienced. He immediately covered his ears with both hands and reduced the volume of the sound that was brain-shattering, leaving only the sound he heard was blood flowing through his blood vessels.

“You listen too hard.” When he opened his eyes again, Tang Yibu had already sat down opposite of him. “The perception ability of the S-type Prototype is indeed powerful, but your information processing power is limited.”

“Information processing power?” Ruan Xian put his hands down. His eardrums were still aching faintly.

“Yes. Pictures, sounds, and smells all contain a lot of information. This is a typical reaction to information overload. Come on, add some calories.” Tang Yibu turned Ruan Xian’s bag to his body, took out the small package containing food, broke half of a salt bean cake, and handed it over.

Ruan Xian took the salt bean cake and didn’t move. “Last time when something went wrong, I didn’t have much to listen to.”

“Your brain is gradually adapting.” Tang Yibu chewed up the remaining half of the cake. “This is a good phenomenon. Your electronic brain has good performance, at least better than the human brain. This level of information is enough to make the human brain lose function.”

After eating the salt bean cake in his hand, the android clapped his hands and stood up. He reached out to pull up Ruan Xian.

Ruan Xian didn’t plan to stand up. He quickly extracted the information he wanted. “I can consciously train it to adapt faster.”

Tang Yibu retracted his hand. “Why? I can protect you. This information is enough for us.”

After thinking for a moment, Ruan Xian stood up. He had obtained useful information and had to put the brakes on the car before the conversation slid into a more dangerous direction. He wasn’t in a rush to train at that moment.

“I’m just talking casually.” He smiled.

Tang Yibu, however, didn’t intend to let it go and instead looked at him with interest. His golden eyes were particularly conspicuous in the dark. “You’re lying.”

The smile on Ruan Xian’s face froze. He thought that his response was perfect, but the android must have noticed something.

“I lied to you.” Tang Yibu looked serious. “Your reaction just now tells me you were indeed lying previously.”

“……”

“You want to train your abilities, gain more information advantages, and find a way to get rid of this earring. right?” Tang Yibu pointed to Ruan Xian’s stud earring while Ruan Xian still remained frozen like a dummy. “No problem. I can help you train your abilities.”

“Why?” The smile on Ruan Xian’s face completely disappeared.

“Because no matter whether I intervene or not, you will always find a way to do it.” Tang Yibu spread his hands. “‘Helping you’ can reduce the possibility of you falling into danger as a result, and it can also increase the probability of gaining your goodwill.”

Ruan Xian began to consider whether there was something wrong with the design of this android in front of him.

“Saying this out loud won’t help your plan,” he responded dryly.

“You can think of this yourself. There’s no difference between saying it or not.”

“…No, I never thought you wanted me to have a favorable impression of you.” For some reason, Ruan Xian felt a little uncomfortable. He thought perhaps it was because the earring was still emitting a foreign body sensation on the earlobe.

Tang Yibu widened his eyes slightly. “But you obviously did the same—choosing the most acceptable personality among humans and even increasing your own risks for them. You want the humans in the refuge to agree with you, even if those good feelings are of no practical use.”

He paused, took a step closer, and stared into Ruan Xian’s eyes. “You have had emotions similar to anger towards me a few times before, and you suppressed them all. At that time, our conflict was indeed disadvantageous for you… But your disguise was so proficient that I thought it was because you wanted ‘no conflict’.”

Ruan Xian secretly squeezed the salt bean cake in his hand, almost crushing the poor cake.

“Now you are pretending again.” Tang Yibu shook his head. “We’re already in a partnership. You—”

“I don’t need to please you. You’re right. I shouldn’t make unnecessary disguises.” Ruan Xian hissed, and his voice became cold. “It was my mistake in judgement. After all, your appearance is too close to human beings.”

Maybe he should lose his temper. After throwing out the response, Ruan Xian felt a little dazed. Tang Yibu’s straightforward explanation brought a certain pain, like being stripped. Those disguises had long become an essential part of his life, and he never thought they would be a problem that needed to be addressed.

[Well done.] His foster mother would always praise him like this. [Xianxian is so smart, he can definitely act as a gentle person. As long as you behave like this, there is no danger. Everyone will not be afraid of you. Remember?]

Anger was dangerous, indifference was dangerous, and dissatisfaction was also dangerous. He must hide them well; hide them behind a smile, and even if he wanted to show them, he couldn’t vent in person. Everyone knew that although the ugly “wheelchair monster” in the institute had terrible intelligence, his personality was extremely good-tempered.

Now, he wanted to lose his temper at Tang Yibu but found that he had long forgotten how to vent his anger. As usual, after a brief appearance, it sank into his heart again and became part of the dark torrent. His emotions quickly cooled down.

And Tang Yibu just stood in front of him, waiting for him to lose his temper, which only made this more frustrating for Ruan Xian.

“Forget it, let’s keep going.” He took a few deep breaths and took the first step.

“Okay.” Tang Yibu blinked. “Now give me your hand.”

“No.”

“I said I will help you practice.” Tang Yibu picked up a piece of broken gravel from the ground, used it to draw something in the palm of his hand, and then went around to Ruan Xian’s right side. He reached out and grabbed his right hand. “Including that piece of salt bean cake. If you don’t have an appetite, I can also help you eat some.”

“What do I need to do?” Ruan Xian stuffed the cake into his mouth, causing him to cough a few times as he almost choked on it.

“Feel.” Tang Yibu let out a small sigh and moved his fingers. “Don’t look, listen, or smell. Focus on your right hand and feel the touch.”

The two just walked forward hand in hand that Ruan Xian suddenly felt that the scene was a bit silly, but before he had time to laugh bitterly in his heart, the touch of his hand took away all his attention.

He had never been hugged before because of skin lesions caused by his genetic diseases, and no one had ever held his hand. Although the one next to him wasn’t considered a person, that hand felt very warm. Fate was indeed crazy. When the world was functioning normally, he seemed to be living in a space that no one else could touch. Now the wreckage of the human world was tumbling before his eyes, and he had touched human skin for the first time.

“…To what extent do I need to feel?” Concentration was fruitless. Ruan Xian had to ask for clarity.

“I wrote a sentence in the palm of your hand, and the traces of dust are still there. When you can parse that sentence accurately, the basic tactile training will be completed. With the foundation, other training will be much better.”

Ruan Xian shook his head and tried to concentrate on his right hand…

The friction between the skin quickly turned into severe pain, and cold sweat instantly wetted his back. Ruan Xian suppressed his scream and hissed.

“You’re overloading. Adjust the concentration level.” Tang Yibu reminded.

However, the adjustment of concentration was futile. What Tang Yibu just said was equivalent to when trying to cook and the instructions just said, “add the right amount of water”. Ruan Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead with his left hand and continued walking forward at Tang Yibu’s pace.

The severe pain turned into a tingle and then into a gentle numbness with a slight itch. He felt something in it, but the feeling of skin-to-skin contact was too beautiful, and the layer of dust was too small. He was in a trance for a while, trying to identify the rough impurities from the warmth, until Tang Yibu released his hand.

“It scattered.” The android regretfully retracted his hand and wrote in the palm of his hand again. “Try again.”

But before Ruan Xian had time to stretch out his hand, Tang Yibu changed his posture. The android stopped vigilantly and stood in front of him. Ruan Xian was stunned for half a second, and quickly pulled out his pair of guns. His mind that was originally concentrated on the right hand dispersed.

It seemed that it was not humans that Tang Yibu was wary of.

Making sure that there was really nothing approaching. Ruan Xian raised his head and looked in the direction of the Sea of Ruins.

A dark red light illuminated half of the night sky. The surface of the long line of buildings suddenly ignited with a raging fire, mixed with many huge electric arcs. Ruan Xian narrowed his eyes. He could barely distinguish what it was through the smoke and flames…

It was two ships.

Two large ships floated near the long line of the building, frantically attacking each other. Without having to specifically strengthen his hearing, Ruan Xian could also hear the rumble of the battle. One of them had clearly fallen behind. It changed direction, dragging billowing smoke and fire, and rushed straight in the direction of where they were, like a plane that was about to crash.

“…” Ruan Xian calculated its falling orbit. Even if he was sure that it would not really hit them, he still grabbed Tang Yibu and moved back.

“It’s similar to what I heard.” Tang Yibu stared at the rushing ship. “Mr. Ruan, welcome to the Sea of Ruins.”

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>