In the evening, a gigantic blanket appeared above the bustling tent district.
Many people were gathered there, having just held a grand ceremonial rite nearby.
“Look up in the sky—there’s something flying.”
“It’s the cargo chief from Major Company A.”
The shadow fell as the immense blanket descended.
Yang Zicang jumped directly from the air, slowing his descent at the moment of landing, his feet touching the ground lightly before the blanket swiftly retracted and fell as a silk shawl or cape.
“Wow, so cool.”
Some ladies on the ground had stars in their eyes.
Yang Zicang had no intention of showing off, but whenever he took the train, he would inevitably develop a fever and have nightmares at night. Though he could recover using Crystal Perception, it still required over an hour of meditation, which was quite troublesome.
Besides, Xiao Machao had wandered off somewhere by now.
The silk scarf landed precisely in his hand. It was perfect in every way, except that it became a girl’s accessory when reverting to its original form.
“Oh, Master Zicang, your esteemed presence, your esteemed presence.”
A chubby man trotted out from a newly built house, walking quickly with short steps.
“Are you alone, Captain Zicang? Didn’t a female companion tag along?”
“I have no female companion, just me alone. Scribe Zhang, and everyone, please don’t be so formal. Just call me Xiao Yang or Zicang.”
His real name was already exposed, so Yang Zicang no longer bothered with nicknames.
“Oh, I’ve adopted a goddaughter, as beautiful as a celestial being, very considerate. I’ll introduce her to Master Zicang shortly.”
Yang Zicang smiled helplessly. “That’s not necessary.”
The surrounding people welcomed him warmly; Yang Zicang turned his head and spotted Li Shangxiang among the crowd, who waved at him with a smile.
……
Inside Hub Town.
Morrie, who had been sleeping for several days, used a healing-type ability sphere to restore his body, then went out to eat with Boboli.
“Delicacy House, let’s go here. It’s a newly opened restaurant, and they say their soup has nourishing properties that will help with your recovery.”
“I’m pretty much recovered already.”
“If you were truly recovered, your complexion wouldn’t be so pale. The healing sphere only treats your body; it won’t immediately restore your vitality. Come on.”
The expensive and delicious food was brought out quickly, and the two ate and chatted.
After Morrie asked again about Yang Zicang’s recent affairs, his unease grew stronger. According to what was said over the phone, Yang Zicang had lost his model not long ago, and now it was almost mid-July—he could lose his model at any time.
But, was he really going to do this?
Changing the future meant his own death, and he didn’t even know what had happened to Julia.
“What’s wrong with you now?”
Boboli’s light blue eyes swept over him.
“You look uneasy even while eating. Were you listening to what I just said? I said I’ve been pressured by a lot of people lately to exchange training contracts.”
“Sigh.” Morrie put down his chopsticks. “I wonder what Yang Zicang is doing right now.”
“Having dinner with Shi Qian.”
“Cough.” Morrie, who had just swallowed a sip of tea, nearly choked. “Shi Qian?”
“Yeah. Oh, I hadn’t gotten around to telling you about Shi Qian before; I was too busy boasting about your ability sphere. Actually, Shi Qian is an organization.”
Morrie stared at Boboli, feeling as if the boy across the table had multiple afterimages; he could barely catch what was said, and only this phrase echoed in his mind—
——Shiqian is an organization.
So the news he knew about the future was actually told to him by Boboli?
Morrie lowered his head, his eyes wide open, listening to each heart-crushing, breath-stopping word as they came.
“This time… the Shiqian team… really helped out…”
Boboli’s way of holding chopsticks was peculiar but nimble; as he picked up food, he said, “They stole key body parts of several Star Miao masters while invisible and hidden.”
“Invisible? Hidden? The one who attacked your Elder Yang last time?”
“No, the ability is exactly the same, but it’s a different person. He’s a kind-hearted guy, helped Zicang big bro many times.”
Morrie struggled to speak, “A different person…”
Fragments of sound reached his ears one after another. Morrie felt dizzy; he stood up, swayed slightly in his steps.
“Hey?”
“I… need to step out…”
Morrie muttered, walking unsteadily toward the door, “It’s real, they can steal models…” Lost in thought, he pushed the door open and ran straight into a few people.
“Are you blind walking around? Psycho.”
“Oh, isn’t this Alexander.”
Morrie didn’t even register the shouts around him; he just wanted to go anywhere, escape, get away from Boboli, and avoid hearing any news about Yang Zicang.
He frantically thought of Julia’s face and the tender affection she had shown him.
Scenes of their past acquaintance, moments of travel, and the experience of journeying together to a new country for work…
“Lost the model? So what. I’ll send new creations for you into the Lost Frequency Land. Maybe you’ll turn into a Quadrilateral and even get stronger…”
“Hey, I’m talking to you, can’t you hear me?!”
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed the man’s shoulders, yanking him around. Morrie turned his head to look, his absent-minded pupils finally focusing.
“Xiao Yushan?”
“So you still recognize me, huh. *I’m* the one who brought you into Hubtown. But now when we cross paths, you can’t even say hello? Why are you still hanging around here anyway? Where did you get your Ordinal Rates?”
“My Ordinal Rates…” Morrie hesitated for a moment. “Earned them right here.”
Only he himself understood how desperate he had been back then. But in the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
All thanks to that Wish Charm.
Yes, it was all thanks to the Wish Charm.
“Heh.”
Xiao Yushan let out a contemptuous smirk.
“Last time I saw you coming out of Springsby Road. Seemed like you were doing alright for yourself.”
“I don’t live there anymore.”
“Ooh, coming to eat at Culinary Finery now, are we?”
One of the men in the group spoke with a laugh, addressing Morrie.
“I’ve heard rent in a place like that is two to three hundred Ordinal Rates a month, plus the deduction of three hundred years at the end of the month, *plus* your living expenses. Are you planning to have yourself a ball before you kick the bucket or something?”
Morrie turned to leave, but was yanked back again.
Pointing at his own clothes, Xiao Yushan said, “You bumped into me just now. Didn’t see that? It’s dirty.”
When Xiao Yushan learned that the guy he had kicked out of the team had actually been living in Hub Town for almost half a year, he was genuinely surprised.
With a Timeline Weapon, if you minimize offsetting the timeline principal, stabilizing an A-grade area would yield at least thirty to forty thousand timelines. But when distributed among dozens of team members, after exchanging for resources, purchasing supplies, equipment, and low-level Timeline Weapons, everyone was still barely getting by, with no one daring to indulge in luxury.
Yet here he was, renting a large mansion for months, and even living better by the day.
After pondering for a long time, Xiao Yushan suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
The only possibility: that foreigner had held back some treasures.
……
A few more people walked over from the road in a group, all familiar faces—former teammates.
Morrie looked at them, and several greeted him. After all, they were people he had once fought alongside, not all of them were sneering.
“Yushan-ge.”
“Let’s just go into our private room. This guy looks a bit out of sorts; let’s just let him be.”
Seeing their captain deliberately picking a quarrel, one of his teammates tried to dissuade him.
Boppoli came running out.
“Leave? Sure, it’s fine if you pay me for this outfit—what do you say? Custom-made, ten thousand timelines.”
At this, not only Boppoli and Morrie were taken aback, but his teammates and passersby near the entrance were also stunned.
“What’s wrong with you? This suit of yours is worth at most a dozen timelines,” someone from the crowd remarked.
“Captain, don’t you think that’s a bit much? We’ve shed blood together on missions.” The team members also tried to reason with him, baffled as to what grudge the former deputy captain held against this man.
Morrie frowned, staring at Xiao Yushan.
This man was about his height, but carried a far more imposing aura.
“Alexander, I know exactly what kind of person you are, and I know precisely what your abilities are. For the entire team to come into town for a team-building event today is heavens giving me the chance to run into you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Morrie’s eyes flickered with gloom. With a swift movement, he slipped out of Xiao Yushan’s grip like a loach.
“Oh, so you’ve learned some martial arts now, have you?”
“What do I mean? Are you seriously asking me that? Pay me the chrono-credits. To put it more plainly, give me back the damn chrono-credits!”
“Give them back?”
Boboli stepped up next to Morrie. Although he was a full head shorter, he planted his hands on his hips with considerable flair.
“Give back your grandmother’s head! The chrono-credits were earned by us! Wait—Morrie owes you chrono-credits? Hah, you must be joking.”
Boboli looked the group up and down.
Indeed, the duo’s attire was strikingly fashionable, making them seem like city slickers appraising country bumpkins compared to this team, who had just traveled several tens of li from the city for a team-building event at the hub town.
Xiao Yushan’s face immediately flushed with anger.
After all, he was the deputy captain of a large squad capable of stabilizing A-class rifts, and already qualified to become a captain. Few people even paid attention to the old captain anymore.
Right now, he was being humiliated by a half-grown kid in town, right in front of so many people.
The red-haired youth stepped forward and said, “Boy, even though this is Hub Town, getting hit still hurts. I advise you to show some respect to our captain.”
“I advise you, show some respect to our captain!” Boboli said with measured emphasis.
“Your captain?”
Everyone’s eyes shifted to him, then to Morrie.
Morrie opened his mouth—he seemed to indeed be a captain after all.
“What’s our team called again?” He uttered instinctively, blurting it out to Boboli.
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