This butler was completely baffled by Yang Zicang’s words; he could only mumble, watching him head toward the courtyard, “Miss even prepared a secret passage?“
Then, realizing he should lend a hand, he quickly scurried up and said,
“I’ll call a car for you.“
Getting a car Wasn’t exactly an ordinary matter nowadays. Even Haili Koni’s car had to be provided by her own family.
“You can contact the driver?“
“Yes, sir.“
The butler stood at attention, making no effort to cross his hands over his front in a contrived way.
“Because Miss Koni has been staying here for a while recently, you understand, as part of the Hai Li family, I’m the butler in charge of the miss’s affairs over here. Since she spends most of her time in the new manor now, I decided to simply come along. With me around, the family can rest easier knowing she’s living out here mostly alone.“
“Mm… then, I’ll trouble you.“
Yang Zicang told him the address where he needed to go.
｛Distributor Trudei Oka Tatta’s report: “Advance.“｝
Damn it… Yang Zicang bit his lower lip out of view. This bastard, he had to have picked this up from their conversations over the last two days.
It wasn’t long before the butler came backing out from inside, with a cheerful demeanor.
“Esteemed Mr. Yang Bucheng, the miss’s driver will be here in a little while. You’d be most welcome to come rest with me in the meanwhile. This gravely ill gentleman does need a place to lie down, doesn’t he?“
That’s true.
Yang Zicang turned and followed him toward the hall. But the butler’s steps veered to the right.
Upon arrival, he found himself led by the butler to the sunroom door in front of Hailikoni’s morning sitting room, lined with layer upon layer of small flowerpots.
“……“
Sunlight streamed through the crystal-like sloping ceiling—a half-glass, half-wooden lattice canopy—scattering down. Beyond the flowers on the left lay the girl’s tightly shut door.
“Mr. Yang Buchen, you can rest here.“
“Uh… here… not quite proper.“
Almost without allowing any dissent, the butler warmly helped lay He Yishu, who was on his back, down onto the nearby lounge chair.
The female maid came over with a beaming smile, carrying a teapot, her gaze constantly lingering on Yang Zicang’s still-healing face.
“Try this rose-and-lemon tea; see if you like it. This is our lady’s favorite flavor.“
That look in her eyes, like an elder sizing up the younger generation, made Yang Zicang extremely uncomfortable.
……
The sunlight was clear.
“Um…” The maid set down the teapot: “If you don’t care for it, tell me what flavors you prefer, and I’ll prepare some shortly. The lady keeps some leftover black tea bits here, but none of that green tea you Mistfolks like. Though she did say she’s already preparing some.“
“Ah… well… this tea is fine. I’m not picky.“
Yang Zicang knew that the “black tea ” the other party mentioned was nothing more than some cheap crumbs unworthy of being served. Yet, in these tea-scarce nations, even that was considered a luxury item affordable only by the middle class.
The butler smiled and walked out, saying he was going to keep an eye on the car at the door for him.
After they left, Yang Zicang felt a bit nervous, sensing something was subtly amiss.
This new face had indeed come with an “agenda. “
But… it seemed different from the kind of agenda he had imagined.
“Is it because I’m a Fogfolk? ” he frowned, while Haili Koni’s heroic, spirited figure on the plane and her beautiful expression of genuine worry for him kept floating through his mind.
……
Not long after, the driver of Haili Koni’s special car delivered him and the unconscious He Yishu to a guarded mansion.
Dealeyano was already waiting at the door, smoking a cigarette.
From the quiet, cold street outside the courtyard wall came the sound of a loudspeaker, where a woman was reciting a prose poem in an elegant tone.
— “…If we don’t see it, our children will. If they don’t, their children will… someday, someone will, even if by then we are long gone… “
This time, the driver’s attitude was so gracious it bordered on fawning.
“Mr. Bucheng, here’s my card. It has my contact number on it. Call this number, and someone will notify me to pick you up. “
“Alright, thank you. ” Yang Zicang took the card, which was made of ordinary material.
The doctor here examined He Yishu and his injuries, stating that both required surgery. Besides physical injuries, He Yishu also faced the problem of his consciousness shattering.
“In short, his consciousness is now in chaos. It’s nearly at the point where his personality and cognition are crumbling. “
“That serious? Can it be resolved? “
The medium-built, bearded doctor chuckled:
“The solution is also relatively simple. Just implant a spirit pattern into the comatose patient, anchoring their consciousness within a safe zone, and they can slowly be awakened. “
Yang Zicang instantly understood the meaning of a safe mental zone.
The solution to this problem was surprisingly something he had been using all along—the “spirit pattern. “
So it was this dangerous without the aid of a pattern.
But where on earth could he find a pattern now?
As if reading Yang Zicang’s worry…
“I’ll help with the anchoring, ” Dealeyano spoke up with a smile from the side.
“Well, that is… wonderful. “
Knowing what had happened to He Yishu, Yang Zicang finally felt a huge weight lifted off his chest.
-｛Distributor, April & Odyssey state: I have now conceived a complete Radiance.｝
Meanwhile, in the city, Xue Qi and Hua Mi, who were still trying to find a better doctor, received this hint by a shop with boards nailed across its door, thanks to a distribution beacon.
……
In less than twenty minutes, a flustered Haili Koni appeared at the entrance of the medical room where Yang Zicang was undergoing his skin examination.
Yang Zicang, whose shirt was lifted and had a stethoscope pressed to his chest, turned his head.
As the graceful figure, with slowed steps, came into view, a peculiar feeling rose in their hearts.
Whatever doubts remained at the end about undergoing the operation here inexplicably vanished at that very moment.
Accompanied by Haili Koni, representing Lieutenant General Ross, and Dealeyano, who was trusted by Zorro, Yang Zicang finally accepted the injection of the anesthetic and lay down on the operating table.
“Your recovery will probably take about two to three days, ” the doctor said, hanging the IV bottle.
｛I… sense a certain relaxation…｝
Yang Zicang felt his vision begin to fade.
In his dreams, he traveled to many places, seeing countless landscapes and people whose faces he could not discern clearly.
……
Deep within a trench…
Rat-a-tat-tat! The machine gun roared fiercely on the left flank of the line.
A cannon shell slammed home with a thunderousBoom, cascading showers of dirt down upon them; those in the trench immediately ducked back, dropping their weapons and huddling against the wall of packed earth.
The sergeant, clutching his helmet, eyed the newcomer to his right.
Seeing the fool had actually pulled back into the passage and whipped out a notebook to scribble on a piece of paper at a time like this, the sergeant’s blood boiled:
“You damn fool! Is this really the time for writing out your last will and testament!“
Bai Yuan, holding his pen and waiting for the words on the paper to change, scowled bitterly amidst the flying mud and dust. ‘Yeah,’ he spat.
“I was press-ganged into this damn army! I’ll write my goodbye when I damn well please!“
“To hell with you!” the sergeant snapped, lunging at him with his rifle butt.
But immediately after, another explosion rocked the people in the trench violently. Then they heard with horror the rumbling sound of an engine approaching.
Bai Yuan, shouldering a soldier’s steel helmet, looked up and saw a massive steel creation charging aggressively from one end of the trench, driven by tracks half an arm’s length wide.
“They’re charging! Mass killing! “
Below, one man’s head instantly exploded under the tank as it pressed down on the trench. Yet it rolled past him like crushing a walnut, continuing to charge forward.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
After a hail of bullets from the tank’s gunports rained down into the trench, it swept on into the rear lines like a tiger among sheep.
By the time Bai Yuan came to his senses, everyone within that stretch had been struck down by bullets. He spaced out for a moment, then stumbled back several paces with a jolt.
“Whoa, no way! Hong Haocheng, you son of a bitch. Something’s gotta go wrong with so many dying! “
Seeing countless tanks crossing this trench en masse, mowing down over a hundred men into the mud in an instant, Bai Yuan’s face turned white.
His pen flew across the paper, writing: What do you mean sending me here? There’s a massacre happening!
“They’re committing mass murder! ” Soldiers in the distant trench cried out in horror.
As if waiting for this line, the person on the other end of the paper let the ink twist, shifting into a new phrase.
—While figuring out how to stay alive, use the camera I had you prepare to photograph the situation here and release it to the public. This is how you intend to carve your participation into that shining glory.
“What! ” Bai Yuan stared blankly at the words on the paper, looking utterly mad.
“Son of a bitch! “
Bai Yuan yanked off his helmet and tossed it aside, scrambling hastily out of the trench.
For a split second, he didn’t want to follow this boss anymore; he might as well genuinely pledge himself to Yang Zicang. But then he quickly thought, I probably haven’t been exposed yet, and right now I’m just a member of Zhang Jie’s tour group! I can just blend right in, can’t I?
A sudden noise stirred within the trench, and Bai Yuan, who had just fished half a camera out of his bag, spun around with a start.
The sergeant reached out from a pile of corpses, saying: “The enemy is charging in force. Hurry and… tell the commander. “
“Do I even need to be the one to report that? ” Bai Yuan replied with a hint of indignation as he shoved the small camera back into his bag.
The man said: “Rumor has it that this is some new militia unit from Velania. They don’t respect the border agreement—these rebels only want to claim credit and get promoted to secure immigration rights up south. They don’t understand anything and don’t care. Go now. The comms guy here might already be dead. “
Bai Yuan studied the man’s ear attentively but couldn’t discern anything out of the ordinary.
“Alright. I’ll go. What about you? “
“I… I’ll stand guard… here. “
The sergeant, his body smeared with blood, rasped with effort: “Go. You’re still young. “
Suddenly, Bai Yuan’s eyes stung with a hint of warmth.
Seeing Bai Yuan about to turn and help secure something, the sergeant grit his teeth and pulled a grenade from his belt.
“I said get the hell out, private! I’m going to blow myself up—and thatnext truckheading straight for us—together. If you think you can handle it, then stay!“
“This…” Bai Yuan faltered for a moment. “…Sorry, I can’t kill anyone.” With that, he promptly turned and retreated.
Watching the man finally leave, the sergeant slumped onto the ground… drawing a few deep ragged breaths.
…
More enemy soldiers swarmed the position, shouts echoing in the sergeant’s ears lit the air from both sides of the no-man’s-land crossfire, penetrating chorus full of grim inevitability.
The sergeant heard the grim cries of many lives being ripped from mortal combat pressing thick around him.
“One thousand men…“
The sergeant’s ears distinguished the falling bodies.
The reinforcements stationed on their side also charged forward, which could be judged from the positions of the exploding shells. The deafening clamor of combat erupted in the distance.
“Three thousand? There should be more by now. ” The sergeant’s hand moved slowly…
He fished from his bosom a thumb-sized cylindrical micro camera.
He aimed the micro-camera at the ravine full of silent figures, pressed the small shutter button on it, and recorded this shocking scene.
He sat in a trench full of corpses, waiting, watching as countless lives withered away one by one.
Gradually, the sergeant felt a secluded chill.
This cold feeling rose from beneath the ground, as if surging upward from the depths of the earth.
Then he saw a silver-black vine burst through the soil like tiny metal earthworms and snakes moving swiftly toward him.
“Click. ” The sergeant clicked the shutter at the steel vine and immediately moved rapidly, charging into the battlefield.
Everywhere, things were breaking through the soil!
A few minutes later, even after reading the brutal records of this battlefield in the previous Track of Fate via information leases, the sergeant was still shocked by the sight of countless moving steel vines before him.
“This is the end-times calamity! “
They wrapped around the soldiers who were weaving between campfires and exploding shells as they charged on the battlefield.
The vines mercilessly pierced their soft bodies.
Many people, in their screams, were wrapped by the split gray and dark steel vines, which slowly drained their blood. They wailed as they became dried corpses hanging from branches or lying tangled in vines, their bodies indistinguishable.
By the time Bai Yuan arrived, it was impossible to penetrate deeper into the battlefield. Those vines flowed out on a large scale like mercury spilling across the ground. Some entered the forest, spreading over the trees, while others entered the grassy burrows, entangling the rabbits and rats.
As he nervously took photos, he suddenly caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure charging towards him. The vines behind the newcomer spread at a speed as swift as rushing steam water.
“What are you still looking at? RUN! “
This man, who claimed he would die for his country, quickly overtook him. Bai Yuan had barely taken two photos, and he was so furious that his nostrils nearly flared.
“Dammit! I’m really going to inform the commander! “
“You did a good deed—no one managed to do that here last time! You saved at least two concentration camps that were on their way here. “
Bai Yuan’s legs nearly gave way as he stumbled, staring in disbelief at the figure ahead of him.
-｛Distributor April Mingqin, with her extensive experience, declares: I have already nurtured a light of radiant splendor imbued with color.｝
……
After a while, Yang Zicang awoke.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling onto the white medical sheets covering him.
The anticipated danger never came; instead, a vase of fresh flowers sat beside his hospital bed. Hailikoni was quietly reading beside him. Seeing this, Yang Zicang felt a sense of warmth.
“You’re awake. How do you feel? “
Noticing he had come to, Hailikoni put down her book, gently moved her waist, and sat down beside his bed.
Yang Zicang savored a sense of relaxation he hadn’t felt in a long time. It felt as if he were sleeping amidst the vast whisper of the wind.
Then, he felt the bandages wrapped around his face and body.
-｛Distributor Loki Tata Mingqi indicates ‘Guard.’｝
Yang Zicang was stunned. “How long have I been asleep? “
“You’ve been asleep for a full two days. “
“That long! ” Yang Zicang sat up abruptly. “I thought ‘two days’ meant I’d have to stay in bed for two days. “
Yang Zicang tried to prop himself up, but Hailikoni reached out and gently pressed his shoulders down, her gaze tenderly fixed on the young man’s eyes.
“Don’t worry. Just take a few more days to rest and recover. “
“Did anything happen in the past two days? “
“The world situation is changing day by day. Yesterday morning, Steffen swallowed a small country to the south, and now they also have territory in the seawater backflow zone. “
Pausing, Hailikoni picked up the honey water from the table, twisted open the bottle cap, poured a small cup, and said:
“Also, a severe Steel Vine Demon Disaster has occurred in the area controlled by the armed forces in the eastern region of the Kingdom of Whelan. “
“Steel Vine Demon Disaster? How severe is it? “
“Very severe. This time it happened in the standoff zone at the border. The militia armed group that had newly taken control of the frontier stronghold didn’t believe in the legendary demon disaster. They launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Stirling Republic to seize the water route, but the war triggered the ancient Steel Vine Demon Disaster. Casualties were heavy. “
Yang Zicang was taken aback.
“But there’s some good news too. ” Hailikoni brought the water close to his lips and said:
“Our great hero, because you’ve been slow to respond to invitations from various parties, some small nations have successively issued documents stating their support for the bill ‘On Prohibiting the Enslavement of Civilians as Labor.’ “
That meant his own glimmer of hope had essentially been brought to term? But what did it have to do with him not replying…
“How could this happen? Those countries must know I can’t protect all those preparatory committee projects. “
“As for the answer, heh heh, ” Hailikoni said with a playful tone:
“Because Waldestatt—the nation where the Central Coordination Station is located—the head of state sent an appeal to all the world’s small nations the day before yesterday morning. “
“The initiative states that as long as they are willing to recognize their nation’s Science Heritage Preparatory Committee as the Alliance Headquarters and contribute scientific and technological materials, other small countries can obtain immigration eligibility to the open areas of Nordstein. Hmph, and the quotas are limited. It’s simply malicious to the core. “
This was indeed a well-designed plan.
Yang Zicang felt a touch of joy and warmth upon hearing the girl speak the dialect of his hometown.
But the next moment, he suddenly realized something.
He looked at the girl, whose lightly applied lipstick accentuated a face that was both delicate and faintly heroic.
It seemed that many of the nobles he knew, or even high-status individuals among the natives, for the most part, more or less understood one or even two or three languages from the various nations of the homeland.
His heartbeat suddenly quickened.
“Is learning our Mistfolk language a tradition for you? “
Upon hearing this, Haili Koni’s hand paused for a moment. As if suddenly struck by realization, her beautiful eyes widened as she stared into Yang Zicang’s dark pupils, which seemed to contain tiny, storm-like swirls.
Meeting his gaze, her lips parted slightly, releasing a breath light as an orchid, and she whispered:
“It truly is… a tradition passed down from the aristocratic thought lineage spanning over four hundred years. “
She withdrew her gaze a little sheepishly, lowering her head to look at the honey water in her hands.
“It seems we’re born needing to learn many languages. The more completely different two language systems are, the more our teachers value them. How many languages one can speak has even become… a criterion for judging whether one is truly noble. “
She paused and looked up.
“When I was little, I used to wonder what your homeland is like. I wanted so badly to visit your continent and see your landscapes—and the Mist Realm world shaped by human intelligence in another form. “
“Our world… ” Yang Zicang’s gaze regained some clarity as he recalled his own experiences and doubts, speaking calmly:
“Just think of it as fake. “
-｛Distributor… unknown. Beginning to watch my current life experiences.｝
Yang Zicang was suddenly startled, his whole body tensing up.
The room was eerily quiet— “tick, tock, tick, tock “—the only sound the rhythmic movement of the clock’s hands on the wall.
“Oh, right. ” The girl suddenly spoke in the silent air.
Sensing the atmosphere was too quiet, almost wanting to mask some emotion in her earlier words, she stood up, walked to the other end of the window, and pulled out an oil painting from a pile of gift bags on the floor.
“This is the newest painting sent over this morning by Mr. Dians from the Tech Department. Look, your friend has become our art world’s most amiable virtual companion. Paintings of him in all his different identities are everywhere. “
Yang Zicang turned to look.
In the oil painting, Hong Haocheng was once again wearing a different set of clothes.
He wore a gown of royal wine-red, like one bestowed with a knighthood, with a double row of gold toggle buttons running down his chest. A tall, cocky feather adorned his head, and leaning on his black gentleman’s cane, he appeared both valiant and supremely dignified!
-｛The Distribution Beacon… is unknown; it hasn’t fully perceived my whereabouts.｝
Yang Zicang, who had been coiled taut, inexplicably let out a breath of relief.
-｛**The whimsical Double-Sided Golden Skull Gem Pendant eagerly communicated:
The beacon… is unknown; it is beginning to reveal its name to me, Lone Star·Scribed Trail.**｝
The woman, clutching the oil painting, crouched down several steps from the foot of the bed. Picking up a pear, a rarity this season, she said in a gentle voice:
“In the traditions of our nobles here, gifting a friend an oil painting is a way to express a very refined and subtle friendship. That’s because its colors require the heart’s blood to blend, needing to be poured forth with emotion, craft, and technique.“
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