Crimson Hub Town.
Inside the monitoring room, in front of rows of protruding screen devices, several people turned to look at Vice Town Leader Yao Tong.
This man listened with a dark expression to the voices of the Time-Shift Gang coming from the screen.
“Vice Town Leader… are you going to do something?”
The vice town leader gripped the back of the chair tightly, his fingers digging in hard.
Another employee on the chair said, “Boss, actually, staying here, we hear all sorts of conspiracies and schemes almost every day. Some are so filthy that words can’t describe them. If we were to interfere with every single one, I’m afraid even if everyone took on this job, there still wouldn’t be enough people to fire.”
“I know,” Yao Tong let out a long breath, quickly composing himself. “I just admire that kid a bit—it hasn’t clouded my judgment yet.”
The few people in the room nodded. They were all afraid that Yao Tong might fail to hold back and leak the secrets he’d heard at an inopportune moment, which would cause them all very serious trouble.
……
In Silver Pivot Hub.
The employees in the observation room exchanged glances of confusion, then looked behind the chair, where there was nothing but floor tiles, a long table, and a brass typewriter atop it.
No one was here tonight; all were out, extremely busy.
“I know what you’re all thinking. Remember the rules.”
The man at the far left of the seats turned his head, casting a serious glance at the others around him.
“But… that’s Yang Zicang, the one who just saved the Lost Frequency Land.”
One person spoke with a hint of worry: “I don’t know if, after contacting Yang Zicang, I’ll have enough time to tell him this news before I’m sent back to my original city.”
The man on the left lowered his voice a notch and said:
“Don’t you forget how great a price we paid to get to these seats. Do you want to go back to that precarious life, and even drag everyone else into that miserable existence? I won’t let that kind of person off the hook.”
“That’s right, don’t get any wild ideas. You wouldn’t succeed anyway—Hub Town reacts very fast.”
The group exchanged glances, nodded gloomily, and then each turned their attention to the screens they were responsible for.
Only one young man—
Sitting in the sixth chair, he clenched his fists, his whole body trembling slightly.
“He’s the hero who saved everyone…”
His heart was tormented, and he muttered softly under his breath.
“He risked everything… fighting desperately to save his comrades right under the noses of such powerful beings…”
Behind this group, against the wall, the brass typewriter on the side table sat quietly.
As the young man struggled internally, the ‘A’ key on the typewriter sank slightly.
“I… I…” He suddenly dropped his shoulders, exhaled, and silently resolved in his heart, “Forget it.”
The typewriter keys slowly rose again, returning to their original positions. At the same time, the F key tapped lightly on its own, followed by the number 6.
……
That night, after checking on the unconscious Morrie, Yang Zicang took leave of Boboli to pick up Lyv Zhi, who had undergone prosthetic surgery.
“Come play with us once you’ve picked him up.”
Boboli said as he opened the door.
“I’ve only got about three hours left. Maybe in a couple of days.”
“Even as a big star, can’t you spare some time in town?”
Yang Zicang let out a laugh. “Sure, I’ve gained the right to enter town directly, but that’s not really who I am.”
“Hahahaha.”
Boboli joined in with laughter.
Of course, he knew full well that among the countless people from the Land of Lost Frequency who had toiled hard for so long to build their fame, the one who ended up as the big star—everyone had witnessed it firsthand.
“Come on, I’ll walk you out, and grab a little cake from Crispy Crunch House for your tent-mates on the way.”
Thump. The wooden door shut.
After the footsteps of Boboli and Yang Zicang had faded away downstairs, the scruffy-bearded man on the iron cot, who had been fast asleep, slowly opened his eyes.
“Big star?”
It seemed Yang Zicang had done something else over the past couple of days, Morrie mused.
But he didn’t feel like looking into it.
Thousands of years of experience had now blurred into an unreal dream. At this moment, with reality and rationality restored, Morrie’s mind was full of Julia and that choice.
“Change, or not?”
He felt the whole world had suddenly turned into a vortex of worry, and he stood at its very center.
“Will Yang Zicang lose the model, and will I join a new team? Why would my future self sacrifice herself to save him?”
After waiting for more than ten minutes, he heard Boboli’s footsteps outside the house; the boy was still in the mood to hum a tune.
The bedroom door swung open, and Boboli, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, immediately saw the man sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at him with a deep, intense gaze.
“Wow, Brother Morrie, you’re finally awake!”
Morrie nodded.
Overjoyed, Boboli was about to notify Yang Zicang, but Morrie said, “Don’t tell anyone for now. I want to stay quiet for a few days.”
“Why?” the boy put down the pastries he had bought and stepped into the room.
A troubled look flashed across Morrie’s face.
“Let’s take a few days to slow down. I need some peace and quiet to think things over.”
Boboli nodded.
“Alright, stay quiet then. But don’t do anything reckless. If the future isn’t too serious, don’t try to change it. After all, no matter how bad something is, it’s never worse than losing your life.”
“Yeah, life is the most important thing.” Morrie stood up and walked to the window. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned his head: “You… you know the price of changing the future through that phone call?”
“Yeah, while you were unconscious, we asked Mr. Zhu Yin and Lady Maiya.”
Morrie was taken aback. “Deputy Town Lead Zhu Yin knows too? What do you mean? How long have I been out?”
“Over half a month.”
A look of shock and dread crossed Morrie’s face. “What! That long!”
He rushed forward two steps and asked anxiously, “Is Yang Zicang… is he okay?”
Boboli chuckled, “See, as finance, he didn’t even say a word before slipping off on vacation. Might have caused trouble, huh? Ha, relax though. There was a big danger the day before yesterday, but it’s already been safely resolved.”
“Danger? Oh, that’s good.”
Danger… Could they have already clashed with the Shi Qian team? Morrie felt a bit uneasy.
“Did he make any new friends? Someone named…”
Morrie swallowed the name “Chu Jun” just as it reached the tip of his tongue.
“Hmm, I did meet some new people, but most of them got to know each other after a fight. Let me count… probably at least a dozen or twenty.”
“A dozen or twenty!”
Morrie turned his head to the teenage boy beside him, who was several heads shorter.
“We not only made many new friends but also saved a lot of people.”
“Ah, what exactly did you guys do?”
Could “Shiqian” be the head of some shed area?
Boppoli let out a chuckle, finally managing to divert Morrie’s attention a bit from the daze caused by that phone call.
“Guess what? We witnessed a battle of gods, and we also uncovered the top secret about the origins of the Lost Frequencies Land.”
“What?! What did you guys do?”
Boppoli raised his arm and shouted loudly:
“That’s right, our Puming Group has saved the world once!”
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