Yang Zicang removed the bandage from his foot; the skin had already formed a layer of scar tissue.
But there was still a slight adhesion between the old scar and the new skin, so to be on the safe side, the doctor advised him to stay in bed for another day or two.
“Have you really fully decided against going to Stefen? ” Zorro, who had arrived in the night carrying a long gun, came to Yang Zicang, who was now able to get out of bed.
He had already gone to see He Yishu.
He Yishu was still in a coma, and his body would take a long time to recover fully. However, it seemed his spirit was beginning to heal, and sometimes he could perceive slight movements of his eyeballs under his eyelids.
-｛Distributor April / Odyssey ’ s concerned exploration was sympathetically perceiving my path.｝
Yang Zicang picked up a newspaper from the bedside, which reported the increasingly severe panic spreading across the nations on the continent over the past two days. Many people, disregarding warnings, insisted on heading south to the various countries. Small-scale border conflicts were occurring from time to time.
Sensing the distributor’s concern over his decision, Yang Zicang sighed softly and said:
“Although the selection of the Scientific Vein Preparatory Committee is very important, with my current strength, going to Steffin would likely be walking right into a trap. “
-｛Distributor May · Valkyrie gave me a “Neutral Review. “｝
Ignoring them, Yang Zicang looked up at Zorro and said, “Honestly, sometimes I wonder, if the world is like this, can all our efforts really make it better? “
“Save the disheartening words.“
Zorro sat down on the edge of his bed and placed the silver long spear in his hands onto the mattress. “Thankfully I had this. I’m returning it to you now. But…“
Yang Zicang’s gaze fell upon the weapon.
He still couldn’t sense any signal from the ｛Chrono Weapon｝ at this moment, indicating it had yet to fully sever ties from its new wielder.
“But what? “
Zorro said, “That teammate who used it before asked me if he could keep using it for a while longer. He’ll pay you rent. “
“Rent? That won’t be necessary… “
“No, rent must be paid. That way, you’ll have more Radiance to move forward with whatever you need to do next. “
Zorro raised his wrist showing his watch and said:
“Apart from the fact that borrowing this weapon will naturally allow you to gain Radiance-level or higher experiences during our operations, that gentleman who’s renting it out will also pay you extra materials or Iridescent Brilliance. “
Yang Zicang watched as he showed him the slightly industrial-style watch, the Earth’s disc on its face lighting up with a multicolored flash.
｛The Squib Squab Brand Double-Sided Gold Skull Gem Pendant indicates: Zorro intends to transfer “Iridescent Brilliance, to unblock and circulate the earth’s spiritual veins “.｝
“Brilliance as rent? Really, there’s no need—last time you already… “
“The Brilliance generated last time was borrowed by me. As for this Iridescent Brilliance rent, consider it a goodwill gesture from our new friends. “
Yang Zicang thought it over. “Alright then. I’d be remiss to refuse. “
He took off his necklace and held it in his hand. Zorro leaned in, swiped his finger across the watch, and the light from its face shone into the emerald eye sockets of the Double-Sided Gold Skull pendant held in Yang Zicang’s hand. Then the brilliance of the watch face dulled, while in the mirrored gemstone, that light revolved slowly and lingered on.
｛I have acquired a new entry.｝
｛– Iridescent Brilliance: Witnessing the unblocking of circulating earth’s veins.｝
“Dinner’s here! “
The boy in the hat pushed open the hospital room door, and Tamingki placed the meal he had brought on the long cabinet against the wall next to the bed.
“How was business today? “
“Haha, I didn’t sell much of anything today, but I did manage to buy quite a few silver items. Oh, Brother Zorro, do you need any accessories? If it’s a beacon, I could make one for you… Hmm, I guess that won’t be necessary now.“
Seeing the watch on Zorro’s wrist, Tatalinchi shook his head with a sigh.
“Is that watch something special?” Yang Zicang asked.
“It’s a top-tier piece that can connect to six distributors and six companions who have Distribution Beacons at the same time.“
“Ah, so it’s incredibly valuable?“
Zorro looked at it a bit puzzled. “I knew it was valuable, but top-tier? This…“
“Well, didn’t you just luck into a big spender?” Tatalinchi sniffed at the soup aroma rising from the basin. “Just the Distribution Beacons on that watch, intended for everyday Fogfolk, require you to submit a completed contract before you can exchange them at a dealer. And the price isn’t cheap either.“
Upon hearing this, Yang Zicang couldn’t help but take another look at the object.
“Zicang, I’ll see if I can ask him to get you one later.“
“Can you make something like that?” Yang Zicang looked at Tatalinchi, who was dishing out the food.
The boy nodded, then shook his head. “Sigh, something this high-grade… I can’t just whip it up whenever I want. I’d have to go pay a visit to my teacher.“
Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the entrance.
Yang Zicang heard familiar voices – it seemed the embassy people were back again. But this time, several rougher voices rang out over the nurse’s shouts.
There came a knock at the door.
The nurse, a bit helpless, pushed open the wooden door and looked at the person inside watching her. “Hero, these people insist on seeing you. We couldn’t stop them. “
Seven or eight heads appeared in the doorway. Yang Zicang was startled.
“What’s this about? “
“It’s like this. ” Ang Jins squeezed past a few people from behind and walked to the door. “I brought some civilian researchers this time who want to meet the hero together. Because… “
“We have something we’d like to show the hero! ” several men and women in the doorway exclaimed, their emotions high. The two children among them, in particular, were especially excited and joyful.
Ang Jins winced and struggled to keep his expression in check. He’d had Mortaf prepare a team, but Mortaf had turned it into some sort of appreciation meeting for research members under the guise of a reward.
When they heard they were going to the hospital to see the hero and present their research results live—within their cramped, wooden warehouse-like research building—some people couldn’t even wait to head back home to the nearby dorms and fetch their wives and children. If not for Ang Jins’ strong opposition, at the very least several dozen people would have come along.
He had only managed to select a few core personnel, along with two kids who insisted on coming—otherwise they would have cried hysterically. He made the remaining people promise to keep today’s events completely confidential. Meanwhile, the embassy guards tasked with keeping this event secure were already on their way.
Zorro walked to the door and glanced outside. Right away, he saw a bunch of cables being set up and machinery being moved around in the corridor.
“Hey… is that a screen? ” Zorro said, eyeing something with confusion.
But it was far too small—barely the size of two palms put together.
……
Ang Jins on this side walked solemnly into the room, said to the boy who had re-covered the lunch box and adjusted his posture on the bed, and to Yang Zicang:
“We have a top-secret high-end scientific achievement that we wish to demonstrate for the esteemed hero, sir. “
“Top-secret… scientific achievement? “
Yang Zicang immediately realized that the other party intended to continue trying to persuade him.
“Ambassador Ang Jins, first of all, thank you very much for your concern. But I really am not yet well enough to travel far. “
“Hero, sir. ” Motav at the door rushed in, waving a stack of documents in his hand.
Several of them could see that there were many clippings of reports about Yang Zicang on it.
“We are a comfort team organized by civilian researchers. It was only after seeing the reports that we found the embassy. If you want to blame someone, blame us then. We just hope that our research can bring you, sir from the Mist Realm, a fond memory. “
“Memory? ” Yang Zicang looked towards the door.
……
On the corridor.
Two people in ordinary jackets beside Zorro moved a somewhat strange machine to the doorway.
He glanced at the two gazes inside that seemed to be staring intently, frowning as he touched this thing that looked like it had been painted.
The back of this thing had a semi-arched bulge; its overall shape was quite peculiar. But in its middle was a screen, and beside it were many mechanical devices that defied description.
“What kind of thing is this a display for? ” Zorro said suspiciously.
“Display? ” This crowd at the door, along with Ang Jins inside the room, pondered over this term.
“Quite an apt name, but it should probably be a general term for a broad category. “
From this words of the Fogfolk, the natives immediately recognized his extensive knowledge.
This made their once-excited hearts suddenly feel a bit bashful. It turned out that he could grasp the general idea with just a single glance.
All in all, this special “television ” was nearly three times larger than the one Mortaf had brought.
It was quickly set up inside the ward.
The power for both the governmental key units and the hospital was supplied exclusively by the power plant. Therefore, with Yang Zicang’s approval, these people were able to easily borrow power from the hospital’s electrical distribution box.
“Mr. Ambassador, this is the device I mentioned on the road that can fully play silent films. Beside it is the unit used to synchronize the sound. “
On the small table next to the machine sat a specialized frame for movie film reels, along with a compact phonographic needle reader.
At this moment, Yang Zicang’s heart was surging with mixed emotions.
Could this truly be a television rigged together by a local, and had it not been corrupted into an evil entity?
As Mortaf placed his hand on the switch, a familiar male voice suddenly rang out at the entrance: “Wait! “
Everyone turned around—a beautiful woman stood at the door, breathing heavily as if she had sprinted up the stairs. Beside her was the familiar-faced Lénó, who wore wire-rimmed glasses.
“Yao Xiao…? ” Yang Zicang looked at her.
The woman panted as she walked in and faced Yang Zicang, whose body was wrapped in bandages. “I, I… are you okay? “
Reno also caught his breath as he walked into the house. Seeing the envoy’s vehicles and people carrying things outside the yard when he arrived, he got very nervous and ran in, afraid that a moment’s delay would cause something to go wrong.
The professor Motáv, eager to start the machine, hesitated and looked toward the ambassador. Ang Jins saw Yang Zicang’s expression and signaled the seasoned researcher to calm down for now.
“What are you here for? “
“I came to… ” Yao Xiaoqin knew Yang Zicang might be very cold toward her, but she never expected to find herself in a situation like this. She let out a faint, self-deprecating laugh, glanced around, then slightly raised her chin and said:
“I heard you were receiving the key for removal shut recovery treatment plan adjustment cycles doctor schedule results, so I hurried over to take care of you. “
Even if it was a lie, Yang Zicang felt a slight warmth in his heart, but it didn’t spark any other thoughts in his mind.
Laino touched his forehead, looking somewhat frantically at the machines and the group of people in the room.
This atmosphere… goodness, what kind of terrible thing had he gotten himself into?
That thing was definitely what they were using as a demonstration for the guy on the bed. He felt a surge of inexplicable anger towards His Lordship the Senior Prince. Look at what Stefan and his people were doing, and you have me doing this.
They used cutting-edge technology to attract people into giving them investment and protection, but the only things you’ve given me are some inexplicable orders and a woman from the Wubang Region.
Hearing Yao Xiaoqin sit down beside the bed and murmur something to Yang Buchen, Leno gave a tight, insincere smile as he walked over to stand next to Ang Jins.
“Ambassador, what the hell is this thing you’ve got here? “
“We are currently conducting a demonstration. “
Ang Jins was feeling deeply frustrated. There was no way the armed guards from his own hospital detachment could possibly be enough to block this troupe of well-wishers from coming in.
He cast an anxious glance at Motov, whose face had lit up with a spark of joy. The man had clearly already recognized that the visitor was a fellow diplomat from another nation.
“These are brand new, high-end technologies, ” Motov chimed in from beside them.
“Brand new… High-end technologies? ” Leno pinched the frame of Jin’s glasses and carefully examined the device’s exterior.
Yao Xiaoqin, who had been speaking softly and tenderly to Yang Zicang, caught this remark. She turned her head to look over. She studied the object on the table with a discerning eye, her brow crinkling slightly. Turning back, she asked, “Chairman… what is this thing? It seems like you all care about it quite a lot? “
Yang Zicang gazed at her face. Her skin seemed much smoother and fairer now, and her lips, coated with a layer of pale pink lipstick, looked wonderfully moist.
“Perhaps we’re not the only ones who care about it, ” Yang Zicang replied softly.
“Still upset with me? ” Yao Xiaoqin’s tender hand placed itself gently onto his own, their fingers quietly interlocking. “Then why don’t we take a look at this brand new piece of tech together? “
She turned her head, her expression growing slightly more dignified. “Good sirs, would you be so kind as to demonstrate your latest research for my friend? ” she said.
At this uttering, two people quickly ran in from the door, pulling something out from their bag. It was a large roll of film.
“This is a film reel we borrowed from the cinematheque, but tonight will mark a groundbreaking endeavor. “
At the same time, another person took out a gramophone record. They both got to work, mounting the roll of film on the machine, then fixing the gramophone record onto the designated machine’s lower component.
The whole assembly looked like it integrated a screen display, film projector, and gramophone into one device.
Motafu and a tall man stood beside the machine, looking both nervous and confident.
The tall man glanced at the contraption beside him. They had already tested this system recently, and it was without any problems, so as long as they controlled the timing during the playback, the sound and picture shouldn’t be too mismatched.
After adjusting the film reel that had been played several times and the angle and scale of the phonograph record for the accompanying sound, he nodded to Mortaf.
“Mr. Hero, and everyone. ” Mortaf’s voice was loud as he raised his hand. “Next up is our newly developed projection system! I declare that, as of today, silent films will have their own sound. “
With that, he flipped the switch, and the two of them walked off to the side.
The machine began to operate.
Even though this was a very ancient technology, in such an atmosphere, Yao Xiaoqin and Yang Zicang still felt a unique ambience pervading the room. Sensing the light touch on his palm, Yang Zicang released his hand and withdrew it.
— “Beep-beep-beep~ Ding-ding-ding~“
The gradually brightening picture trembled slightly, but captions and musical accompaniment began to appear.
Attracted by the commotion, the nurses by the door gasped twice in surprise. Two children, seeing this spectacle for the first time, hopped and cheered at the entrance. An atmosphere of excitement gradually filled the room and the hallway.
— “Your Grace, such a turncoat who forgets honor at the sight of profit is unworthy to be our family’s representative. A loyal House of Holy Awn—even if it’s merely a messenger—must be as imposing as a lion…“
“Who did the dubbing for this?” a nurse at the door asked. The others remained awkwardly silent. A little girl then spoke up: “It was Dad who did the voices. We wrote the lines together too.“
“You’ve completely replaced the content of this film with the Steffen people, haven’t you?“
“……“
— “Oh my heavens, that’s the 42-type four-wheel car unique to the Kingdom of Heivenzike! How could it appear here, and in such numbers?“
— “Who knows? Probably here to pay tribute.“
“Now who wrote that intertitle?” A man who’d just arrived to check the power box stared incredulously for two seconds before getting thoroughly riled up. “For fuck’s sake, that’s our own Way of the Single Wing!“
The murmurs from the doorway reached Yao Xiaoqin’s ears, and she chuckled softly to herself.
Although these lines were completely fabricated, like writing a story based on pictures, causing Ang Jins’s face to be utterly unable to suppress the cringe that made him want to dig his toes into the ground, he glanced at the Grand Duchy’s diplomat beside him and felt a bit relieved.
The expression on the man next to him was the absolute image of the sky falling down.
“Such technology isn’t durable, right?” Motters said triumphantly.
The electric light flickered unsteadily twice. The man tending the electrical box by the door took a look. Though a bit reluctant to miss the show, he still grabbed his tools and headed toward the fuse box, intending to check if a wire connection had touched the adjacent cable.
“The machine you demonstrated to me before didn’t have so many components. Why was that smaller one able to project images directly?” Ambassador Kings asked.
“Oh, actually, there was only a short piece of film in that one. Because it was small, we embedded the sound directly onto the film.“
Motters turned his head to look at the machine beside him. “But for a super-long film lasting over forty minutes like this, we can’t do it that way. To begin with, we don’t have the equipment to shoot and produce film of such length, nor do we dare to carry out large-scale modification and research.“
“That’s true.“
The sound of conversation murmured low beneath the film’s projection. More and more people gathered at the doorway, and all the idle nursing staff in the private hospital had already rushed over, craning on their tiptoes to watch.
Ang Jins watched the playing footage and the intense focus of the crowd, and a sense of relief gradually rose in his heart. If Stedfen possessed such technology, even if he couldn’t get the person in the bed, he should still be able to attract other Fogfolk known as Radiance-lighters’ attention.
“I’ve seen this movie at the cinema, but I never thought it would look this amazing with sound added. “
“So magical… This is science… “
“It’s a shame, there must be so many good things we’ll never get to see. “
“I wonder how such a technology is achieved. “
“It’s simple. Just record the sound, and play it alongside the film with a phonograph. “
Mortafe, inside the room, turned to the people discussing by the doorway and chuckled: “If it were just playing them together, that would be too simple. “
“Are there other technologies involved? ” Rainer asked beside him.
“At first, we really were just playing them together. But recently we improved the technology. With a few minor tweaks, we can now synchronize the sound and the visuals much more precisely. “
Mortafe looked at the playback system with satisfaction.
“Now, it’s no longer merely a projector and a phonograph… “
Slam! The electrical lights in the entire room and the lights in the courtyard flickered wildly.
A faint, strange aura began to emerge around them. The image on the screen wavered, and the record’s pitch started to distort.
{…The one being praised… is me… }
Yang Zicang’s eyes snapped wide open.
On the playing machine, the air trembled like flickering frames, and a faint smell of burning copper wire from the high temperature emerged. Gurgle… The film suddenly spun forward a few rounds rapidly, then, as if grasped by an invisible force, began to reverse!
“Watch out! “
“It’s a monster! “
Ang Jins grabbed the stunned Mortaf by the shoulder and yanked hard.
The disc playing the sound by the screen suddenly sliced through a groove at high speed with aswoosh, a portion of the scattering tape rapidly wrapping around it. Like a solitary wheel racing along a transversely cut narrow black path, it sheared through the air with a harsh wind, darting toward the other projectionist whose eyes were wide with shock.
Yang Zicang swiftly extended a folded line of defense; at that moment, Zorro kicked off the ground, a fierce red ethereal flame materializing in his hand.
Boom!
A gunshot rang out. The disc, which had almost grazed the man’s scalp, was struck and sent spinning under the impact of the red bullet speeding out.
Zorro charged in right after, smashing his fist into the main body of the machine with awham.
{Eeeeek~ }
A gloomy, piercing shriek echoed in the hearts of everyone in the room, like nails scratching glass, making their hearts feel as if they were being torn apart.
Several nurses screamed “Ah! ” and covered their ears as they bolted toward the corridor exit. The crowd at the door instantly fell into chaos; two children, terrified, clung to the legs and waists of the adults beside them, their eyes filled with inexplicable panic and bewilderment.
With a clatter, the machine, whose exterior had already begun to shift in color and luster, was knocked to the ground. It twitched and twisted a couple of times as if something alive were inside. As Ang Jins approached, his eyes glowing with three rings of light, he stepped down on it, finally ending its life.
The revolver in Yao Xiaoqin’s hand still emitted wisps of smoke.
She turned, parting her crimson lips slightly, and said to Yang Zicang, “I knew you’d coordinate with me. “
“Oh no, the circuit manager, he… ” a man exclaimed, running over in panic.
By the time the people here and the hospital’s security guards rushed over, that electrician was already in front of the distribution box, his body pierced by wires covered with dim patterns, his skin wrinkled like that of an old man.
……
The demonstration had failed. Unable to get a word in edgewise, Leino left the hospital alone after temporarily handling some matters here. For now, he was relieved. It seemed that Stefin, whom he had always remembered as omnipotent, wasn’t entirely invincible after all—at least when faced with this bizarre era, they, too, had their limitations in stride.
This was not something one person or one nation could change. Nor was it something a sudden, emerging new technology could alter.
In the hospital room, Ang Jins crouched down, repeatedly examining the machine.
Mortaf, looking as if he had lost his soul, sat slumped in a chair against the wall, his head drooping.
Yang Zicang had seen this kind of expression before on the face of another researcher who was working independently in private halfway in his studies.
“I’ve caused a huge mess… “
“This isn’t entirely your fault. ” Ang Jins stood up. “It’s also my fault for making a decision without proper investigation. I’ll cover the losses here. “
Mortaf looked up, “I, I didn’t mean it that way… ” Then he fell silent. Such compensation for a death was indeed something he could not afford.
Ambassador Kings held a fragment of the nightmare residue: “My apologies, Mr. Buchen. I deeply regret this. Originally, I believed it was a newly unearthed technology worth protecting. But before it could bring joy to people’s lives like the televisions spoken of in ancient legends, this tragic incident occurred. “
“Did you originally intend for our guild leader to help ensure it was safely preserved? ” Yao Xiaoqin stepped forward to ask.
“Yes, I had even started drafting a proposal on the way here, recommending that the committee begin a ‘silent’ review of its production data. “
“Silent translation? ” Mortaf looked up, confusion written on his face as he gazed at the gentleman radiating a unique presence.
“Yes. As you know, in history, whenever more than thirty, at most fifty people thoroughly understood a single man-made object and perfectly matched it to a specific artifact from a former era, that object—once vanished with the continent into the river of history—would transform into a demon. “
“This… ” Mortoff seemed somewhat puzzled.
Ang Jins swept his gaze over the person on the hospital bed, then at Zorro, who had walked back to the doorway, and said:
“The reason the Golden Shell Federation’s jet planes became mighty demons only on the day of their public ribbon-cutting was precisely because, prior to that, the manufacturing of each of their components was conducted under extreme secrecy. “
Everyone in the room stared wide-eyed at Ang Jins’s towering figure. He lowered his head and said:
“Precisely because of that secrecy. That era never fully knew everything about it. I suppose that’s why it could never equate our language and script with the science and technology recorded in the lost languages and scripts of antiquity. “
Language, script…
“And exactly because of that, we conceived this plan—a scheme to pass down the technologies usable in this era to the future. “
The Secret Box was not just about storing materials in a box and finding someone to protect it, as simple as that.
As Ambassador Jins’s voice echoed through the ward, the civilian researcher Mortoff conjured in his mind the outline of a plan—one too fuzzy but seemingly within reach, like a thin veil ready to be pierced.
Language, script… secrecy, disclosure…
In truth, the blueprint of that plan was already taking shape inside his mind.
But he was unwilling to believe it.
Was this possible?
This… is this really possible?
Mortaf lifted his head, staring wide-eyed and murmuring, “This… is it really possible? “
A language that could never be made public.
Corresponding to one Secret Box.
“It’s possible. “
Ang Jins nodded:
“Because the ‘Silent Sage’ project has been ongoing for over five centuries now. “
Leave a Reply