Vol·11 [Desperado]

Fifteen hours later--

--Bu Liuxing groggily woke up in the warm bed of the crew lounge.

The attendant had prepared a toothbrush, a towel, and a basin of hot water for him. After he finished washing up, he was to find his travel companions in the carriage.

A Xing quickly thanked them and learned from the attendant about his sudden unconsciousness.

Many passengers, like A Xing, had fainted after the mission ended. The attendants would carry these passengers back to the lounge and safeguard their luggage--

--These passengers had overdrawn their mental energy in the high-pressure environment. Upon returning to a safe environment, their brains would suddenly shut down.

At this moment, A Xing silently took notes.

"The total duration of the two knight duels should be around twenty-eight minutes, no more than thirty-five minutes at most. My Shining Stone was glowing during this time. Beyond that, I would fall asleep. I need to be careful next time-- if I fall asleep in a dangerous environment, Ming Ge will go crazy with worry."

When A Xing returned to the carriage, he saw Jiang Xueming and Teacher Victor leaning against the window, silently resting with their eyes closed.

So he greeted them enthusiastically, "Hey! Ming Ge! I'm back!"

Jiang Xueming nodded, didn't speak, and gently patted the seat, motioning for A Xing to sit down.

As soon as A Xing sat down, he wanted to ask Teacher Victor what his zodiac sign was. But seeing Teacher Victor's serious expression, he stopped himself and skipped the fun part.

With the three of them gathered, Xue Ming and Victor began discussing their destination, continuing from their previous conversation.

Jiang Xueming took out his notebook and phone, asking A Xing to put his phone on recording mode as well.

As the two "couple phones" were placed on the table, Teacher Victor's expression changed slightly, and he seemed about to ask something.

To clear up any misunderstanding, Jiang Xueming immediately raised his hand, displaying his "straight man's heart" on his ring finger.

"I have a attendant who I have a good relationship with."

Victor casually asked, "Is this attendant your fiancée?"

Jiang Xueming shook his head, "Not to that extent. She's a blind date arranged by the station, but we don't seem to be a good match."

"Ming Ge, the recording is on. You'll have to give an account to Seventh Brother later. All investigation records must be handed over to our attendant," Bu Liuxing shouted.

Jiang Xueming scratched his head, looking confused, wondering if he had said something wrong.

"I didn't mean anything else. I consider these rings a testament to the friendship between an employer and an attendant. Old Spirit insisted on making the rings to fit my ring finger, to be honest. Oh. You."

Bu Liuxing pouted and kept making a bell-shaking gesture, as if afraid Ming Ge wouldn't understand-- he tried to mouth the words silently.

"I think Seventh Brother is lusting after you! She's a visual-oriented love-brain. If you hurt her feelings in the recording by explicitly saying you won't host a banquet for her in front of the elders, she might get angry and resent you out of love the next time you shake your bell for help, making you host a banquet in front of the elders."

"I~~~~~ don't plan to get married for now," Jiang Xueming made a sharp turn and brought the topic back, "Let's not talk about this. Teacher, shall we talk about that dead puppet mechanism from last time?"

Victor placed his hands on the table, playing with a pen, and looked out at the deep darkness outside the window. This was different from the illuminated zone after the Twilight Pass; there was no strange sun here.

"Let's talk."

Jiang Xueming responded by opening his logbook, taking out a pencil, and getting into work mode.

"What was the dead puppet mechanism before? Have you looked into it, Teacher?"

"It's classified as Beta-level secret. Only those related to it, such as Senior Veteran Passengers, senior engineers or researchers at the station, and some armed personnel from the command center can know. Others are not allowed to access this core secret."

"Can you tell me a little bit of background? Why can't we know?"

"Because you are still too weak, and your thoughts are too scattered. If I were to give you some background, as I said before, I asked BOSS if there was a region in the underground world similar to the boundary between life and death, if there was anything half-alive, so I could write my next book. He recommended this place to me-- anything related to life itself is full of temptation. If you know too much, you won't be able to handle it."

"Teacher Victor, you said 'recommended,' not directly suggested, right? Does that mean this place doesn't entirely belong to BOSS? And you need an introduction?"

"You are truly insightful, Jiang Xueming."

"Please answer these questions clearly."

"Yes, I need a letter of introduction from BOSS to enter the deepest part of the dead puppet mechanism. It is heavily guarded. I saw at least four inner city barracks, all equipped with informationized troops. This letter allows me to enter the core area to investigate the special creatures that exist between life and death."

Victor paused for a moment, seemingly choosing his words carefully, afraid of violating BOSS's Beta-level confidentiality agreement.

"I cannot describe the appearance of this creature, nor can I tell you what it is, but it has many, many subordinates. These subordinates can affect us humans. In short, before your bodies and minds have [broken through the cocoon and transformed into butterflies], it is best not to try to explore deeper unknown territories."

Jiang Xueming nodded and continued to ask.

"Is this your first time here?"

"I cannot say. I can only tell you that it is not my first time."

"Will you bring any necessary combat equipment and items?"

"A light source is very important. The ability to fight in the dark is also very important. Sometimes you cannot trust your own eyes; you must rely on your nose and ears to discern spiritual calamities."

"So, besides a WALKMAN, White Lady coffee, a club, and the Shining Stone, you won't bring anything else?"

"Yes, armed employees will equip me with weapons. I can shoot, but if I have to deal with monsters, the ammunition for light weapons will likely be useless. Even bullets like the .50 AE, used for hunting large animals, would be hard-pressed to cause effective damage. Heavy weapons like main battle tanks or self-propelled artillery cannot be deployed in complex and extreme terrain. By the time the cannons are set up, these cunning beasts would have already fled deeper into the underground world-- I can only rely on clubs and the Shining Stone, along with my will, to fight them."

"Why don't you wear Spirit Clothes?"

"Sixteen years ago, the station didn't issue Spirit Clothes either. Back then, many passengers died on investigation missions. Repeatedly entering and exiting the same area, and the stimulation from many ancient artifacts or spiritual objects drove them mad-- the morbidity and mortality rates for newcomers were very high. Thus, this procurement plan was initiated to provide a sort of swaddling for ordinary passengers. But for us Senior Veteran Passengers, Spirit Clothes are just a restraint. Have you ever seen an adult walk around town wearing a child's split-crotch pants?"

"Victor, I suspect you're mocking me."

"Jiang Xueming, I didn't mean that. It's just a metaphor. I really like your flamboyant fashion sense; it's full of vitality."

Jiang Xueming peered into Teacher Victor's eyes. The intense gaze didn't seem like he was lying.

The manual for Spirit Clothes states that while they protect passengers from the trauma of psychic shock, they also weaken the passenger's psychic abilities.

Perhaps for Senior Passengers, sharp psychic senses are more important than anything else in high-pressure, high-risk unfamiliar environments. After all, any sudden disaster in such an environment is fatal, and psychic abilities must not be dulled.

There's another thing. Teacher Victor just said that this Spirit Clothes procurement plan started sixteen years ago. But this writer looks very young—there are no wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, no forehead lines when he occasionally raises his eyebrows, no gray hair, and no dark circles under his eyes. He looks no older than twenty-five at most.

Could it be that this writer started writing books to earn money at the age of twelve or thirteen and came to the underground world to adventure?

Impossible.

No matter how brave a chuunibyou teenager is, they wouldn't be this brave.

Although Jiang Xueming was extremely curious, he suppressed this curiosity for the time being. After all, asking about personal matters in the underground world is extremely offensive and rude—hunters usually do the same.

"Teacher, we're about to get off the train. I'll summarize what we've discussed, see if you've missed anything." Jiang Xueming propped up his notebook and turned it towards Victor. "We're going to a place of complete darkness, a place that was once a key facility of the station, but later experienced a change and became a simplified, unknown block."

Victor nodded. "Yes."

Jiang Xueming continued, "Based on your description, it should be a city. Why this city was built here, and what its main function was, you can't tell us directly due to the confidentiality agreement—but the block you're in and the block we're investigating are not far apart, right?"

Victor nodded. "Yes, perhaps if you encounter difficulties, I can help—of course, provided I don't encounter difficulties myself."

Jiang Xueming continued, "It's a place where life and death intersect. This is all the information we have for now."

"The rest of the investigation will be handled by your safety officers," Victor said, relieved to be freed from Jiang Xueming's interrogation pressure. Frankly, he felt like he was facing a reader demanding updates, unable to spoil anything due to the confidentiality agreement, yet also unable to disappoint the reader. "After all, I don't know which area, which street, or which building you're going to—the station does a very good job of maintaining confidentiality."

"I think it's to prevent Armadillo Hunters from committing random acts of violence among different batches of passengers disembarking from the same station. This point-to-point, one-on-one management method is very safe but extremely labor-intensive. Thank you for your guidance, I have no further questions, teacher." Jiang Xueming was about to put away his notebook when that strong curiosity resurfaced in his mind.

He really couldn't imagine how the twelve-year-old Victor had the energy to venture into the depths of the underground for such a thrilling life while simultaneously creating stories.

If Victor's creative method had always been to pursue [realistic] experiences from beginning to end, writing down what he saw and heard into his works—this would have been an impossible task for the twelve-year-old Victor.

So Jiang Xueming still asked.

"Teacher Victor, I have a very, very, very immature idea, and it might offend you."

Victor squinted, anger on his face. "Don't call me 'you' with respect."

Jiang Xueming immediately corrected himself. "I have a question that might offend you, and I'd like to ask for your advice."

Victor was nonchalant. "You can try to offend me."

"How old are you?" Jiang Xueming regretted it as soon as he asked—mentioning his age caused Victor's face to show a very complex expression.

How complex was it?

On his young face, the corners of his mouth twitched unnaturally, and his emerald-green eyes immediately turned dim, losing their previous vibrancy.

It wasn't anger, but rather a sense of melancholy and disappointment at the relentless passage of time.

Jiang Xueming quickly comforted him. "It's okay if you don't want to answer."

"Did you. Just hear me say all those things?" Victor waved his hand, unwilling to meet Jiang Xueming's gaze. He just looked out at the boundless darkness, his eyes slowly regaining their luster, reflecting the cold headlights of the carriage. "When I mentioned the Spirit Clothes procurement sixteen years ago—you were guessing my real age?"

"Yes," Jiang Xueming didn't intend to lie, he just told the truth. "Teacher, you look very young."

"Because I am an immortal anomaly," Victor shifted his gaze back, staring intently at the two young people in front of him. "I am a [Desperado], just as the word implies—I should have died long, long ago."

A Xing took a deep breath. "Teacher, do you mean you ate Tang Monk's flesh? You've achieved immortality?"

"You can understand it that way," Victor shrugged indifferently, leaning back in his chair. Revealing his inner secret felt like a release.

"Then how old are you, teacher?" Jiang Xueming's questions were piling up. "Can I see your passenger ID?"

"No!" Victor suddenly glared at Jiang Xueming, then his attitude instantly shifted back to being indifferent, explaining casually, "Honestly, I'm a bit annoyed, and I don't want to say more—let's talk about something light! Children, let's talk about something light, would you like to hear my story?"

"Wow!" A Xing quickly leaned forward, looking like a curious baby.

Jiang Xueming put everything away, ready to listen attentively.

The story began.

"In 1810, a noble family from the old era made a fortune. Four years after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, they moved to a small place to make a living—Austria wasn't called Austria back then. This couple had a big baby boy."

"That boy was named David · Victor."

"He learned to ride horses, shoot arrows, fire guns, and hunt. Finally, he fell in love with writing. At the age of twenty-four, just like you, Bu Liuxing, he went to prison, for the exact same reason. To experience life."

"He wanted to write more realistic stories and made an agreement with the prison warden to personally experience the hardships of prison life and share the suffering with other inmates."

"However, the warden secretly played a trick, changing David's fake crime to a real one, and he was beheaded six months later. The warden intended to use this method to extort a ransom from David's family."

"David was very angry, not because the warden was extorting money from his family, but because other criminals didn't have the opportunity to buy their way out—if David used this privilege, he wouldn't be able to experience real prison life."

"And so it was. During his time serving as a hostage, he received various privileges from the guards. His food and drink were specially provided—all the prison guards were afraid that this 'meal ticket' would be mistreated in the cell."

"During his imprisonment, he suffered greatly. The poor and vicious criminals banded together, evading the guards' surveillance, and arbitrarily beat this 'person above others' in private."

"The more the warden cherished this 'meal ticket,' the more the criminals wanted to tear him to pieces."

"Fortunately, he survived. Not only did he survive, but he was also quite capable of fighting—"

"David would share his meals with his fellow inmates, even though these criminals had beaten him. He wanted to eat the same food as his inmates, so he could write about it."

"David would share his clothes with his fellow inmates, even though these criminals had beaten him. He wanted to wear the same clothes as his inmates, so he could write about it."

"David was willing to be whipped alongside escaped criminals because these experiences could be written into his book."

"There were also inmates who were illiterate, and David would write letters for them, sending them back to their hometowns."

"Little David himself didn't know that, without realizing it, he had become an idol to criminals, a leader."

"Perhaps it was empathy and sympathy, coupled with the infectious power of intense homesickness from letters from home, but little David didn't want to be an idol at all. He wished to have genuine conversations with his friends, not to always hear the timid and fearful 'you'."

"In the mouths of his friends, David·Victor became the great writer Victor."

"People didn't even know what crime such a person had committed to end up in prison, facing execution."

"They didn't want little David to die, so they first chopped off the warden's head, and then enlisted the help of the prison's top performer, an elder brother, to find someone to execute the judge who passed the sentence."

"This time, little David and his friends had committed a greater sin. With their execution date approaching, old master Victor, to save his son's life, built a magnificent theater for Vienna."

"To celebrate this, little David and all the criminals in the area were granted a chance at bail."

"Victor's family was plunged into massive debt, transforming from billionaires to owing millions. Little David had no choice but to leave his homeland and flee to America to work for the Pacific Railway Company, to write and labor to repay his parents' debts—just like you, Jiang Xueming, you once had to repay your parents' debts. On this journey, David met a Chinese man and an Englishman. That's another story, likely a very, very long one."

The story ended.

The train was slowing down--

--The city was getting closer.

In the darkness, one could faintly see the basic electrification facilities of satellite towns and railway signal lights.

They had been abandoned for a very, very long time; no residents lived here anymore.

The city's high walls, dam entrances, and watchtowers stood tall. The underground river and internal circulation waterway system were incredibly advanced, appearing like a fortress built for survival after a thermonuclear war.

Far, far in the distance, the vast cliff face was illuminated by the city lights.

The station was drawing nearer, and the red flags in the pilot's hands and the station master's whistle could be seen and heard.

The two youngsters, Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing, remained lost in Mr. Victor's story.

They didn't know if what this Senior Passenger said was true or false. Perhaps the story was just a beautiful fairy tale spun by the writer.

Yet, there were still a few questions, a lingering reluctance.

Jiang Xueming was a practical person; he needed to grasp the main points.

"Teacher Victor, according to you, you should be two hundred years old. How did you live so long?"

Victor played coy and brushed it off: "You only ask my age. Why I could live so long is another story. I charge money for my stories. Everyone's life, their own story, is often the hardest to write—and time is running out."

Jiang Xueming wanted to press further: "Then what do you know about BOSS? It said its name was 'Ao Hen' (Arrogant and Ruthless). I..."

David·Victor remained silent, simply looking at Xue Ming, his gaze filled with infinite tenderness, as if to say, "Please, my curious little darling, I have to go to work now."

The teacher took out his pen and wrote his phone number in Jiang Xueming's notebook, then said no more. He held up six fingers with one hand, gently shaking it by his ear—meaning, "Keep in touch when you have time."

As the announcer's sweet voice echoed.

The three of them, carrying their bags, alighted from the train. They walked along the platform, heading further away, no one speaking.

At the crowded security checkpoint, they were diverted by six unfeeling gates.

From afar--

--Bu Liuxing, with pursed lips and tears welling up, remembered he hadn't properly thanked the teacher. He shouted hoarsely.

"Teacher! Teacher!—Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

A Xing didn't know what to say. He just searched his mind for amusement, for filler, trying to capture the fleeting moments of this chance encounter on his journey by taking photos with his phone, attempting to turn the instant into eternity.

Victor turned around, as agile as ever, and smiled at the camera, also shouting loudly: "The final match might take a long time! It will last a lifetime—you two youngsters! I hope we always meet by chance on the train! Whoever doesn't show up loses!"

"Okay! I won't admit defeat!" A Xing shouted loudly. "Teacher! Don't worry! If I have children! I definitely won't let them write books! If they dare to write! I'll break their legs! No matter how rich the family is, we can't squander it like this!"

"Hahahaha!" Victor burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"

A Xing kept wiping his tears. He couldn't wipe both eyes with one hand while carrying his bag, so Xue Ming helped him wipe the other.

"Teacher! What's your zodiac sign?!"

Victor didn't answer, nor did he say goodbye.

He disappeared in a flash.

Jiang Xueming thought carefully, his journal in hand, silently recording.

"Teacher Victor gave us many, many precious gifts."

"When we first met him, he didn't seem like an easy person to deal with."

"But after spending time together, one can't help but sigh. It feels like in just twenty hours, we've formed an inseparable friendship."

"If what he said is true, that two hundred years ago he was one of the Three Musketeers, adventuring in the American West with two companions, building railways in the desert, red rock Gobi. Perhaps the things he didn't want to mention, the secret to longevity he didn't want to speak of, are related to the two friends he mentioned. The end of the story, like this diversion gate—"

"—David·Victor bid a farewell of unknown fate to his two companions."

The two stopped before the gate.

Bu Liuxing: "Actually, there was something just now that confused me greatly from the story Teacher told."

Jiang Xueming: "Me too. I guess we're thinking about the same thing."

Bu Liuxing: "We never handed the journal to Mr. David."

Jiang Xueming: "Why did he know A Xing wanted to go to jail?"

Bu Liuxing: "Why did Teacher know that big brother Xue Ming had to repay his parents' debts?"

They both shuddered at the thought.

--They decided not to think about it anymore.