Chapter 48: 47

Chapter 47: Burst of The Signal Fire 

No wonder Zhu Yanchen never mentioned that they were friends before Shu Jun recovered his memories.

They met too early, and the reality before them was too heavy. What could Marshal Zhu even say? ‘We said good night to each other every day when we were young, so you have to trust me?’

As he imagined Zhu Yanchen saying this with a straight face in his head, the half-sleepy Shu Jun felt like laughing a little.

Although his memories hadn’t entirely returned, he remembered the trivial things they did together. Simply put, everything was so naive it was laughable. But they did make a difference — the boring memories were filled with fire, gradually warming up its surroundings.

He once had such a special friend.

Shu Jun felt a tinge of sourness in his heart. He didn’t understand it sixteen years ago, but now, he could guess why Haze cried that night.

Sixteen years later, this person seemed to have put on a new shell, yet his familiar aura was still inside. The memories were still incomplete, and Shu Jun would obviously not be so naive to let go of his defence. However, at this moment, the pain in his chest was real.

Shu Jun finally gathered his strength to move his chest and heave a long sigh. He tried to move his sore arms and circled them around Zhu Yanchen’s back.

“You woke up?” Zhu Yanchen asked, his voice carrying a very subtle hint of tension.

“You got a lot bigger.” After everything slowed down, Shu Jun’s spirits recovered quickly. “Back then, I could hug you with one arm and could even spin you a few rounds.”

Zhu Yanchen: “……” 

It was dark and cold around them, but the atmosphere didn’t feel gloomy at all.

The moment Shu Jun spoke, Monday quickly recognised his voice and started to howl in the most agonising manner. Shu Jun didn’t let go of Zhu Yanchen, simply burying his face on the man’s shoulder and remaining there for a while.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t speak. He stretched out his hand, and the ragged remnants of his gloves slid across the back of Shu Jun’s neck.

“Let’s go back.”

“Shouldn’t we hug to celebrate a long-awaited reunion?”

“……” Zhu Yanchen was silent for a few seconds. “We can celebrate the long-awaited reunion, but you should put on your clothes first.”

Shu Jun realised that he was almost naked and Zhu Yanchen’s clothes weren’t very neat. There was nothing about their current images that seemed correct.

As a lot of his memories came back, Shu Jun originally thought that he would adapt to this kind of physical contact. Back then, he helped and gave Haze lots of guidance with physical training, so blows and hugs between the two kids were indispensable. At that time, he was never restrained or awkward in any way — the friendship between two kids of eleven years old and twelve years old was like water, so pure that nothing else could mix up with it.

It was certain that Marshal Zhu was his childhood best friend, and all his question marks could finally vapourise. Their compatible personalities came from them being in each other’s company days and nights, and the feeling of closeness came from the nostalgia of a long-awaited reunion. There was no ambiguity. Everything was their subconsciousness playing mischief.

 ……Shu Jun wanted to think so, but the reality was completely beyond his control.

Something didn’t seem right.

Not only did he fail to feel like water, but he also sensed something incredibly strange. The touch between the two of them felt scorching hot. As the contrasts brought about by his memories came to enlightenment and being a totally healthy, functional adult, Shu Jun instantly realised the problem — that dangerous romantic hint didn’t die down, rather, it even became angrier.

This is killing me.

Shu Jun took a few deep breaths to calm his heartbeat: “Okay, wait a moment, I’ll just put my arms into a bit of practice.”

As he said so, he reached out and his palm touched the Erosion Marsh on the side. The Mirror Eorion Marsh’s control of its ability was much better than Sweet Vanguard, for the erosive substance slowly climbed onto his arm, mimicking a decent protective suit.

After that, Shu Jun pulled Monday up, and the erosive substance went around the upper part of the sword body, turning into a wide strip of cloth that wrapped around the sword and blocking its screaming mouth. Confirming that he had no problem controlling the marsh, Shu Jun turned around to repair Zhu Yanchen’s clothes.

But this ‘imitation’ ability went wrong with Zhu Yanchen.

Not wanting to be pulled into Zhu Yanchen’s ‘dictatorship’, the erosive substance continuously struggled against Shu Jun, making the clothes made of erosive substance simply hover above Marshal Zhu’s skin. For a second, the protective suit looked more like a spacesuit, and Marshal Zhu looked like he was about to float.

“Let’s bear with it for now first.” Shu Jun withdrew the ability, himself half wanting to laugh and half wanting to cry.

Zhu Yanchen picked up the broken face mask, his gaze extremely soft: “Uhm.”

Shu Jun stood up first, then stretched out his hand to Zhu Yanchen: “As for how much I remember… A Yan, ‘How about we stop here today? Let’s go home first’.”

Zhu Yanchen took Shu Jun’s hand. Behind the broken mask, those pitch-black eyes were full of vitality.

A hurricane rose in an instant, and the shattered erosive substance rotated around the two of them. Shu Jun hugged Zhu Yanchen’s waist tightly, and the two flew into the sky. Under the clouds, Zhu Yanchen closed his eyes and comfortably took a rest, his whole body emanating a feeling of content. Shu Jun unfolded a wind shield without saying a word. His speed wasn’t as fast as before, but it had never been this stable.

The return journey took less than an hour, and during that time, Shu Jun thought about a lot of things. From Zhu Yanchen’s experience over the years to the path they would take in the future.

And the tugging in his heart he felt earlier.

It might be an impulse, or it might be a misguided thought formed due to the suspension bridge effect1. But his heart did race faster. Perhaps it was a mixture of heartache and longing.

This conclusion was too shocking. Without his permission, Shu Jun’s heart jumped to his throat, and he almost choked. At this moment, the two were very close, and the blood began to hit his brain like mad. As though the other man’s body temperature was charged with electric current, Shu Jun felt half of his body so numb that he could hardly think clearly.

Fortunately, Captain Shu had been through the worst adversity and was able to quickly suppress these anomalies. Zhu Yanchen was his cherished friend, and his strongest partner ever. Now that the other man was treating him as a friend, it would be hard for him to do something inappropriate in such a dire situation.

But liking a person was simply liking a person. Shu Jun didn’t plan to forcefully press that romantic seedling to death. After the fog between them cleared, the two would get along normally. As for whether he would water the seedling or completely uproot it later, let’s leave it to fate.

Thinking of this, he silently thickened the wind shield to prevent the tired Marshal Zhu from being blown by the wind.

But Shu Jun wasn’t the only one whose mind had been crashed by such turbulent waves.

The moment he was hugged by Shu Jun earlier, Zhu Yanchen also felt that something wasn’t quite right. The other man had remembered so many things, which was obviously something to be happy about. But this time he not only felt that it wasn’t enough, he even had an explicable feeling of losing something —

Shu Jun’s attitude was obviously how one should treat a friend. Zhu Yanchen had looked forward to this day, but when the other man hugged him so frankly, he was slightly unhappy.

This wasn’t what he wanted.

Zhu Yanchen quietly hooked his arm around Shu Jun’s back. When Shu Jun remembers everything, what kind of expression would he make?

His emotions towards people around him were like vines that densely climbed up his entire life. Having mixed with so many things, such emotions gradually turned into an uncontrollable desire.

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As the assertive man he always was, he didn’t intend to allow this desire to spread — otherwise, even if Shu Jun reciprocated his feelings, he wouldn’t be able to tell whether the other party was sincerely willing to or had to submit to him in order to maintain their partnership.

They had a lot of time ahead, and he happened to have a lot of patience.

At the border of the erosion zone, the Blackbird frontline team had already returned to the camp.

Yu Jin was still dumbstruck, but Hu Yan had found an excuse to cover everything up. The deputy captain is still reliable after all, Shu Jun almost burst into tears.

“There was something wrong with the mission just now, and an official had come to adjust it. For an official, it’s normal to use his strongest ability. You’re asking where the NPCs are? Wait a minute, maybe they’ll be back in a while, maybe. Maybe there’s a follow-up plot because we didn’t do the mission very well…” As Shu Jun stepped into the camp, Hu Yan’s expression was solemn, but inside, he was cheering quietly.

“We found an abandoned mud sled on the road.” Taking advantage of his NPC identity, Shu Jun made up a story. “A Yan didn’t come aboard because he was worried about me… I fell into the marsh and almost couldn’t make it.”

With a numb expression, Yu Jin listened to Shu Jun’s story, his eyes not leaving Shu Jun for even an instant.

“When we left, the official was still trying to control the Erosion Marsh. I don’t know what happened after that. Please excuse me, I’m going back to the tent first. Let me change my clothes, then we’ll talk.”

Seeing the two walk into the NPCs’ tent, Yu Jin wanted to step in to seek an explanation, but unexpectedly, Zhu Yanchen stopped him and shook his head solemnly.

What’s wrong, it’s just a man changing clothes and I’m not even allowed to watch? But since the impact of knowing that two players had turned into NPCs was too much of a blow, Yu Jin didn’t bother to argue and simply waited outside the tent.

But indeed, it was really hard to look at — since the purifier was turned on in the tent, not long after Shu Jun stepped in, half of his temporary clothes made of erosive substance evaporated. Shu Jun neatly changed into his protective clothing, wrapped his sword up and signalled the two people outside the tent to come in.

This time it was Marshal Zhu’s turn to change clothes. Although his clothes were made of real cloth, Shu Jun couldn’t help but block Yu Jin’s sight.

Yu Jin: “……I know you can’t help it, but let me pass this time. I’m talking serious business here.”

Captain Shu had always had thick skin, so he accepted the first half of Yu Jin’s sentence with a completely unflinching expression: “Do ask.”

In a way, Yu Jin represented the people in the border settlement. The encounter between the three of them was a sort of rarely-seen fate, not to mention that Yu Jin had a pleasant personality and was a very good partner. It was just that this person was a lowest-rank sort of soldier, one who only appreciated strength. It was more effective to show him power in the crudest way than to smooth-talk him.

“Who are you guys really?” Yu Jin went straight to the point. “Someone at Blackbird asked just now, and I roughly made up something. Now, it’s my turn to ask you two.” 

“It’s a long story.” Shu Jun took a sip of water. “But the two of us have met before…”

……

Half an hour later, Yu Jin got out of the tent. His face had turned into a shade of fluorescent-yellow, which was particularly matching with his hair colour.

Of course, it was impossible for Shu Jun to tell him the whole story, and Zhu Yanchen’s identity couldn’t be revealed. Using the reputation that he was a top-rank player who luckily survived a mission and his strength as the main point of conviction, he tried to reason with Yu Jin. The result was that, by the time his mouth was about to go dry from too much talking, Yu Jin’s expression was tangled in distress.

Zhu Yanchen only added two sentences: “The coalition government intends to increase the production of synthesised humans, and by then, you’ll be the first batch of unemployed people. You know this better than me.”

He straightened the cuffs of his new clothes, his gaze solemn.

“If there’s a conflict between the coalition government and the players, you’ll also be the first batch to be sent to the battlefield to stimulate conflict. Is this what you want?”

Shu Jun, who has been trying to be euphemistic: “……”

Yu Jin stood there and sighed for a long moment. A while later, he reached out and tightly squeezed the other two’s hands, then left the tent with a sorrowful expression.

“Regarding Hu Yan’s report, should I intervene? After all, the story he’ll tell about the ‘NPCs’ will affect a lot of people, so just in case…” 

“It’s okay.” Zhu Yanchen shook his head. “Let him report as he wants. I know how the higher-ups will make their judgement.”

Saying so, he carefully touched Shu Jun’s forehead: “The most urgent thing now is to go back to Y City and check your physical condition as soon as possible. At present, your memory recovery is likely to be related to the two recent battles…”

“Hm hm…” Shu Jun took pleasure in the warmth on his forehead. “But before that, I still have to explain to Hu Yan.”

“About what?”

“About my hair and eyes. They aren’t my deliberate visual effects. This look of mine is [Erosion]’s arrangement.”

“……”

Soon after, Y City, the Headquarters.

Yi Ning looked at the report in front of him, his brows almost entangling together like a pastry twist.

The Blackbird team’s report was quite strange — this time, the Erosion Marsh’s ability was extremely unusual. And a mysterious ‘official’ appeared in the report. That person seemed to have multiple abilities, but no one could see his face.

According to the witnesses from Blackbird, the man’s weapon appeared to be a pitch-black mace that released strange noises. However, the two players were extremely weak, so their testimony couldn’t be fully reliable.

After that, the NPCs that escaped also submitted a report, only mentioning that the person was abnormal in appearance and didn’t look like a human being. They only tried to flee for their lives and didn’t pay attention to more details.

In terms of the final result, the strange Erosion Marsh vanished, but the whole event was odd.

“Let me see it. The Blackbird team’s report will be made public sooner or later anyway, let’s see it now.”

A hand stretched out in front of Yi Ning, obviously carrying an aggressive intent, but Luo Duan’s face seemed particularly gentle.

“……Also, you seem distressed.”

Recently, Luo Duan had been coming to see him more and more frequently. Yi Ning had hidden all the sensitive information, but this captain maintained very respectable behaviours, and the suggestions he gave were very useful, so Yi Ning couldn’t just chase Luo Duan out.

God knows why Luo Duan’s injury heals so slowly. Maybe I should ask Dr. Ai to have a look.

“Go ahead.” Yi Ning nodded and acquiesced to Luo Duan’s actions.

“Thank you.” Luo Duan smiled. “These NPCs are very interesting. Next time when the Groundwater team has a mission, can I invite them?”

“As long as they are willing to… By the way, I have to go to the theater tomorrow afternoon. The Xia family will organise a gig to celebrate Zhu Yanchen’s return. I must be there — You don’t have to come tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Luo Duan’s smile became even more obvious. “I’ll probably come for a bit, I’ll be free anyway. How should I say it, any plan will never happen as fast as the changes, am I right?”

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