The wind blowing through the buildings made the coats of the few people standing on the ground, who were only wearing long-sleeved jackets, flap horizontally. These office workers who hadn’t evacuated shrank their necks and crossed their arms, waiting for the professionals to arrive.
On the intact corridor steps outside the building.
Li Aimin, wearing an old wine-red jacket with his hands crossed in front of him, pressed down on his clothes that had lost their zipper to prevent them from flapping around randomly in the wind.
He looked up, surveyed the room he was in, and then glanced left and right along the corridor—an area of rock floor and brick wall spanning only seventy or eighty meters. Beyond that lay a mess of collapsed buildings.
Li Aimin’s eyes moved around through his mask, following the upper edge of the corridor.
Ahead, several walls of equal height had lost their roofs, and on the further soft and collapsed ground, the figure of a person with broad shoulders, his thick-patterned jacket tied back, stood with arms crossed, a black-hilted sword strapped to his back.
“That’s amazing… “
As Li Aimin’s voice just faded, Ruan Wenxiong and Cheng Yunze, who were sizing up the place with their eyes, heard a young man with short brown hair beside them speak up with a light laugh:
“That guy did it. “
“That guy? ” Li Aimin’s expression shifted slightly.
“No way! ” Ruan Wenxiong, who had already taken a couple of looks at the figure carrying the sword, muttered under his breath.
“His swordsmanship is the strongest here, ” the young man said with a smile. “Because those moves are naturally his own. “
Then, with a nod of his chin, he gestured toward a few crumbled walls nearby.
“Fresh cuts, just made. “
Hearing this, Li Aimin and Ruan Wenxiong both widened their eyes. As Cheng Yunze set aside his contemplative gaze, the two of them carefully scanned their surroundings from left to right.
“Wow! So enemies have been here? “
As he spoke, Li Aimin was about to take a few quick steps forward down the stairs. “Is this the expert from our association! “
Ruan Wenxiong let out a light hiss and was about to follow down when he saw the lieutenant in the uniform of the Army of the Kingdom of Heivenzike, standing just a couple of steps from the staircase, extend an arm to block their way as they tried to move.
“Sorry, gentlemen, please stay here for now and don’t come over. “
“Is there still danger? “
The army lieutenant looked toward the young man in the corridor. The man sighed and explained:
“It’s not danger. He’s just making sure no details here are tampered with before the Kingdom of Heivenzike’s officials send over forensic experts. “
“Well… I’ve really learned something there. ” Li Aimin nodded in strong agreement. “So, after a fight, you can still do stuff like that. “
He then turned his head to look at the two men beside him who weren’t too bothered by the wind, yawned, and said,
“So, uh, if all three of us go find the Chairman, doesn’t that seem a bit of an overreaction? I’ll head back to the hotel, write down what we heard to give to him. Then I’ll stay inside and protect the old man. How about it? “
The Army Lieutenant glanced over at Li Aimin.
“I’m afraid we can’t wait that long, ” Cheng Yunze said beside him. “But sending all three of us does seem a bit excessive, indeed. “
Ruan Wenxiong said, “How about we just wait for President Yang Buchen to come back and tell him the whole story together then? “
“Ah, whatever you decide. I’m worried about the old man, so I’ll head back to the hotel first. “
Seeing that the masked Li Aimin didn’t plan to go out, Cheng Yunze nodded.
“Since we’re all part of this, leaving a written version of the story at the hotel will make it quicker for everyone to share information about it later. “
“Don’t worry, ” said Li Aimin with a faint smile, swiping two fingers sideways near his black short hair as he turned and walked inside.
Ruan Wenxiong shifted his footing in the wind, then suddenly thought of something, turned, and ran back to the door yelling, “Hey, remember to write just the story! Don’t write anything else down! “
“Got it, got it! “
……
Upon returning to the hotel, Li Aimin once again felt the gentle atmosphere, which made his weary, wandering mood relax a little.
“See you later, you two. “
Waving goodbye to the two people in the room, Li Aimin clicked the door shut and swiftly moved to the first floor.
Manager Muse still stood silently behind the counter, like an old ornament that had been placed there for a long time. But when he saw someone appear at the staircase on the lobby level, his gaze shifted and swept over alertly.
“Hey, where are they? ” Li Aimin craned his neck and asked.
“Mr. Mortav seems very interested in the train of Science Demons. So they’re outside on the open ground, discussing and exchanging ideas about the vehicle’s structure. “
Walking down the stairs, Li Aimin tilted his head and leaned slightly, trying to get a look at the situation outside the hall door on the opposite side, but he couldn’t make anything out from here.
Giving up, he walked over to the counter. “Sir, could you lend me some paper? I need to write down some information and leave it here for our chairman. “
The hotel manager naturally took out a plain stack of paper from under the counter, the color of which was different from the rough grass paper used for filling in the registration book earlier.
“If it’s just for ordinary note-taking, this notebook will do. As a member of the association involved in hotel management, these supplies can be charged to your chairman’s expense account. “
“Oh, does he need to pay for this? “
“No, he doesn’t. “
The manager then fell silent, but after a pause of two or three seconds, he said calmly:
“But as a visiting traveler, you have the right to know that the payment slips of our Hotel Travel can also be used as records. “
He took out some other travel charge slips from Hotel Travel, printed with page frames.
“Just make sure to keep it safe and be careful it doesn’t get snatched. “
As he spoke, this travel charge slip, which was about the size of a larger ordinary book, was placed next to the somewhat rough, white plain paper.
“What does that mean? Can it be traded? “
“Exactly so. ” Manager Muse’s arm, with a touch of elegance, was steadily withdrawn from the counter.
Li Aimin clicked his tongue twice and placed his hand on the piece of paper. “Wow, no wonder that guy, the chairman, is called the chairman. “
He grunted softly in his chest, crossed his arms and placed his hands on his waist, his eyes flickering left and right between the two types of paper.
Then, Li Aimin, wearing his old coat, looked up:
“Speaking of which, boss, how do you make this paper? Can you teach me? “
“Of course, you can. “
Manager Muse responded with a smile.
“It’s just that you’ll find it a bit difficult to make. “
Within two minutes, Li Aimin let out a sigh, walked out of the front door of Hotel Travel holding several pale white sheets of paper along with two beige-colored travel charge slips.
He glanced at the flowerbeds on both sides and the fields stretching out into the distance under the overcast sky. As they extended further outward, those fields appeared hazier in texture, with many still planted with crops and vegetables.
At that moment, in the relatively spacious courtyard, the nightmare train, half-illusory and half-solid, came to a halt on the ground. Motav, looking a bit absent-minded, crouched silently beneath its wheels, tilting his head upward to inspect its underbelly.
When Li Aimin emerged, the nightmare train’s locomotive tilted slightly to look over, showing an unusual flicker of thought.
“You’re back? ” Motav exclaimed with an “ah, ” springing back to his feet and turning to ask urgently, “What’s it like out there? Chairman Yang Buchen—how far is he from us? “
“Not too far, actually. He’s a few dozen kilometers from Talco, but a stretch of seawater and river channels separates us. “
“I heard you two were caught up in a lot over the past couple of days. Is the world still safe? “
“Mm, perfectly safe, ” Li Aimin reassured, patting the shoulder of the much shorter, older Motav. Then he cast a glance at the train and added:
“Great scientist, regarding this nightmare train, I recommend you steer clear of researching it for now. Keeping your own cognitive security intact is what matters most. “
“Without curiosity, no new technology ever emerges, ” Motav said, standing on the cracked old bricks. He looked a bit puzzled as he chuckled, and asked, “What, is there a cognitive risk in it? “
“Ha-ha-ha. ” Li Aimin swung his arm and waved the paper in his hand: “Not really. I’m just going upstairs to write some things down. “
He pointed toward the train.
“You should go in first and get some good rest. You didn’t sleep well last night. “
Motav, indeed looking rather tousled, turned around to glance inside the inn, then looked back and said:
“Well then. I’ll go inside and ask those two people in the rooms. By the way, it’s 203 and 303, right? “
“And also 405. ” Li Aimin finished speaking and walked towards the train. “Hey, big guy, can you understand the stories those guys were telling? “
The demon train thought for a moment.
{If there’s something I can’t understand, I could ask many people. }
Mortav, wearing a knee-length coat, swayed his shoulders and walked into the inn.
After stepping onto the train, Li Aimin found a seat and sat down casually. “The content of this story actually has something to do with saving the end of the world. Hmm… And it’s told by a few ghosts. “
The carriage fell silent for two seconds. In the quiet, the train’s voice sounded:
{Did something very dangerous happen in this world today? }
“Ah, yes. ” Li Aimin lifted his head a little. “Anyway, there’s no way I can handle it. I wonder if Chairman Yang and the others can produce more glorious lights, or even flashes. “
The train continued to be silent for a moment.
{Actually, this Chairman Yang you’re talking about has already saved the earth once. }
“Oh? “
{Mm, along with everyone else, he also saved a city once. }
Li Aimin’s pen paused. “What? “
He didn’t hear the train continuing to speak, but suddenly felt the carriage shift slightly as it slowly began moving forward.
Li Aimin stood up.
“Hey, what are you doing? “
{Mm, I’ve heard their plan clearly. I just need one person to explain what this matter is about. }
Wearing a worn-out burgundy red coat, Li Aimin’s dark eyes opened wide. His body swayed slightly to the side. “Hey! ” With a swoosh, a glowing light door appeared ahead of the train.
The carriage sped rapidly straight through the light door.
“Whoa! ” The young man inside the carriage firmly grabbed onto the handrail.
Inside the hotel lobby, as the train outside slid by at high speed, Motav glanced around the quiet hall for a moment before walking forward towards the front desk.
The manager standing behind looked up. After glancing toward the door, his gaze met the man with messy hair now approaching with a bold, confident stride.
“Hello there, great scientist sir. “
“Haha, what great scientist am I? ” Motav laughed as he leaned in, resting his arm on the counter, and looked appraisingly around at the interior decorations.
Leave a Reply