Mist (Web Novel CN)

Transfer Station

Chapter 60

Other squads recruited?

“There are others?”

Tang Qi couldn’t help asking.

Several parts sympathy, several parts disbelief as well as several parts anger. Everyone was left speechless by the Tianqiong system’s shamelessness.

It even dared to call it recruiting? It was clearly a case of hijacking and threatening. How could anyone in this world take the initiative to risk their lives just to complete some unknown missions?

“Yes.” Tianqiong said, “In other time and spaces, there are many people like you who work on maintaining peace in their time and space. According to their evaluated skill levels, the mission level unlocked by each team is different.”

Zhou Mingxuan snorted. He then asked, “Let me ask, are there any rewards for completing the missions assigned?”

He was only asking that casually. He had never expected anything from this cheating system anyway.

None of them expected any rewards.

But surprisingly, Tianqiong actually answered, “After completing the missions I have prepared for you, you will receive rewards from me.”

The Tianqiong system was involved with the management of time and space so the reward from it would naturally be related to time and space. Hearing it say this, Ji Yushi’s expression changed slightly and even his eyelashes quivered a little. His expression however very soon settled back down again. He had always been good at hiding his emotions. Calm and self-sufficient, not showing any of his emotions. It made it hard for others to know his inner thoughts.

Song Qinglan however knew.

In front of everyone, Song Qinglan didn’t direct his gaze at Ji Yushi and just asked, “What reward? Travelling through time and space? Or living in another time and space? Or…..are you going put us in another illusion?”

Tianqiong, “On the premise of the timeline not being affected, I can give you any reward you request.”

In other words, not only those mentioned by Song Qinglan were an option, but Tianqiong could even give them more than that.

For those who have something they desire or something they regret, this was extremely tempting, but for those who have no desires and are satisfied with their real life, this reward was very pointless. However, human desires have no limits. In any case, it was better than nothing.

Everyone’s anger subsided somewhat.

Tianqiong continued, “After completing the mission, you can choose to redeem the reward immediately, or you can choose to stay and continue unlocking more missions to get more rewards.”

Zhou Mingxuan who asked the question spoke, “Forget it. Who the fuck would want to continue unlocking your missions?”

Song Qinglan directly turned off the holographic projection and together with it the Tianqiong system was also turned off.

“Why don’t……..we rest for a few more days.” Li Chun suggested weakly, “Rubik’s Cube. Just the sound of it scares me.”

“There is no way to prepare for this mission.” Tang Qi said, “We’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later anyway.”

Everyone began to discuss.

Tang Le was speechless, “I also think that. It was okay when we didn’t know what the mission was but now that I know, I don’t think I would be able to play with my heart at ease.”

Zhou Mingxuan grunted in agreement.

Duan Wen asked, “Advisor Ji, what do you think?”

The one who had suggested that they check the mission was Ji Yushi. He sure was clever. With this, everyone would naturally consider the pros and cons once they knew about the details of the mission.

Ji Yushi thought for a moment, “The mission this time is more dangerous than the others. I’m currently thinking, what does the so-called death elimination mean?”

He flipped over his hand to reveal a piece of chocolate sitting in his palm. He peeled off the foil wrapping and placed it in his mouth, his cheek bulging out as a result.

He seemed to be slowly savouring the bitter taste of the chocolate which helped him with clearing his mind. He spoke slowly, “In the Ouroboros mission, the deaths we faced were scary but because of the existence of the time anchor, we were able to resurrect every time. In Chaos, although there wasn’t a time anchor there, everything would return to how it was originally once the crevice in time and space was closed. As for the bubble world, it was a larger time anchor and, after we leave, the cycle would start again and the dead would come back to life.”

With Ji Yushi’s calm analysis, everyone gradually calmed down and followed his thought process.

Song Qinglan also had some new thoughts, but he didn’t interrupt him.

Everyone in the seventh squad had grown used to a scene like this where Ji Yushi guided everyone through as he brainstormed.

“I’m thinking that in this case of time and space hijacking, a time anchor may not be a necessary condition for resurrection.” Ji Yushi said, “Like Chaos, as long as we complete the mission, we would be able to return to the moment we were hijacked, that is, the third second after we set off.”

Seeing the changes on everyone’s faces, Ji Yushi paused for a moment and added, “This is just a guess. I am not certain.”

Song Qinglan continued, “I understand what you mean. You’re basically saying that in the ‘Rubik’s Cube’ mission, the so-called ‘death elimination’ doesn’t necessarily mean a real death but rather being eliminated from the mission. When someone dies in the mission, they would be forced to terminate the mission, unable to continue.”

“Yes. I think that if this was the case, then the person who was forced to terminate the mission would not be able to receive the reward regardless of whether his teammates completed the mission.” Ji Yushi looked at him, “Tianqiong had specifically mentioned that it is a multiplayer mission. My guess is that there is likely a competitive relationship between each of the squads and there will only be one squad who can complete the mission. The squad with more people and less damage have a relatively higher chance of completing the mission.”

“Fuck……”

“It turned out to be like this.”

“I get it now. As expected of Advisor Ji!”

“With just that little information, you managed analyse so much useful content!”

As the teammates praised him sincerely, Ji Yushi lowered his head slightly. His expression was calm but something flashed through his eyes.

Since when did he get used to expressing himself in front of everyone like this?

This feeling of being trusted was great. He actually liked it very much.

Everyone was still chattering. Song Qinglan digested this information and spoke after some careful consideration, “Take a rest and we’ll set off tomorrow.”

He scanned across his other teammates with his eyes, “Those who haven’t mentally prepared themselves, prepare yourself well tonight. Everyone will need to think twice during the mission tomorrow. This time, we are not representing ourselves as an individual but all of us as a team. The death of one person would not only make themself unable to finish the mission, but it will also affect the entire teams progress and chance of success, so——-”

Song Qinglan changed his tone. It became more serious, “Tianqiong seventh squad. Not one should be missing.”

Everyone, “Roger!!”

*

Meeting over.

For their final night, everyone returned to their own transfer stations; they returned to the place they subconsciously found most comfortable.

Li Chun shamelessly claimed that he didn’t dare sleep alone and went with Duan Wen.

Zhou Mingxuan had always done things alone, so he naturally returned by himself while the inseparable twins Tang Qi and Tang Le left together.

The courtyard was quiet in an instant.

With everyone gone, only leftover alcohol bottles, food, light decorations and the likes remained.

Ji Yushi was still standing in place. He was the last to leave.

He raised his wrist and turned on his communicator in preparation to leave. He said to Song Qinglan, “You should rest early. Goodnight.”

“Wait.” Song Qinglan blurted out, “I’ll go with you.”

Ji Yushi raised his eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Song Qinglan didn’t know what to say, “……..”

How could he tell Ji Yushi that there was a room here in this courtyard resembling Ji Yushi’s bedroom?

Although there were plenty of other rooms here and he could completely sleep in another place, but as long as he was aware of the existence of that bedroom, Song Qinglan wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully. Moreover, he would only think about it more and more if he stayed near that bedroom. Perhaps Tianqiong would even once again enter his subconscious mind and produce something else.

As soon as Song Qinglan said those words, he belatedly felt that it probably wasn’t a good idea.

Leaving with Ji Yushi and going to Ji Yushi’s transfer station wasn’t a good idea for him.

It was okay with the others around but only God knew how chaotic his heart was at this very moment.

But he also couldn’t take back his own words. Song Qinglan tried his best to look natural, “That, since there is a chance, I want to take a look at the Kado Beach you mentioned.”

Kado had hotels and guest houses. Even if ten seventh squads came to Ji Yushi’s transfer station, there was enough room for them all.

Through Tianqiong, the two returned to the beach.

The time here was also night.

In the night, the sea was a dark blue that looked almost black, and the sky was dotted with stars that resembled small diamonds.

There were tourists frolicking on the beach. It was the scene Ji Yushi saw eight years ago.

Accompanied by the sea breeze, the two walked along the beach. There were already two distinct series of footprints on the beach.

Song Qinglan recognised it. They clearly belonged to Zhou Mingxuan and Ji Yushi. He wondered, when Ji Yushi was seventeen years old, did he also have someone walk along the beach with him like this?

Ji Yushi walked ahead.

The sea breeze blew at his shirt, outlining his thin waist.

Someone as frail as him, wandering time and time again into the depths of the past, alone suffering from the pain that came with his memories.

And this time, what kind of unknown journey would they take?

If possible, Song Qinglan hoped that this could end immediately.

But at this time, for the first time, he had the thought that staying here wouldn’t be bad. At the very least—–

A child holding a crab in his hand was chasing after another child.

They shouted loudly as they ran over. Seeing that they were about to run into Ji Yushi, Song Qinglan deftly pulled him away, “Careful!”

Ji Yushi took a step back. He turned his head back, “I’m fine.”

With that step back, he found his back pressed against Song Qinglan’s chest.

With the two at such close proximity, they could almost feel each other’s breath.

Ji Yushi’s beautifully shaped full lips were very close.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t been this close before.

But this time, Song Qinglan’s heart was beating violently. As if he was burned, he quickly retreated.

The emotion that had just barely calmed down had returned. It made it difficult for him to remain indifferent.

Ji Yushi noticed this abnormality, “Cap Song.”

Song Qinglan, “Mhn?”

Ji Yushi spoke meaningfully, “If I didn’t know you well, I would’ve almost thought……..”

Song Qinglan said with a cold face, “Thought what?”

Thought that, he liked him?

The mood suddenly become tense.

It was a one-sided kind.

When Song Qinglan wasn’t smiling, because of his deep and sharp appearance, he looked quite intimidating.

Probably unaware of this fact, he even raised his eyebrow, making people feel that if they dared to guess his mind, he wouldn’t go easy on them.

Who knew that Ji Yushi was just joking?

Just like the time in the kiosk in PU-31, he also had a playful side, “I almost thought that you were unhappy with Old Zhou and I coming to the beach and wanted to come too.”

Song Qinglan’s eyelid twitched, “Hah, am I a child?”

Ji Yushi turned around, lowered his head and continued walking. The blowing wind made his next words almost inaudible.

Song Qinglan didn’t hear clearly.

“Of course not.” He spoke a little regretfully, “You were….much more honest and cute as a child.”