Chapter 89: Looking

Zhang Yuanxin, who had crafted the boiler engine, stood outside the shelter, holding in his hand the compact three-cylinder engine shimmering with a faint metallic luster.
The surroundings were desolate, with no one paying him any attention. Even his assistants had dwindled to just one.
His heart, which had calmed slightly, was now completely dead.
“Hand it over,” said the sole remaining assistant.
“Pointless,” Zhang Yuanxin sighed.
After a faint light showed on his chest, outlining the engine’s form, he smirked coldly and tucked it into his pocket.
Then, a golden phantom emerged from his body.
“Get lost!”
The assistant was taken aback, then grew furious: “Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but a thief, stealing from others…”
Zhang Yuanxin kicked and broke his leg bone, and the man fell to the ground screaming in pain.
“If there’s no room for me here, there’s plenty elsewhere.”
Amid the bustling chatter from outside the shed area, hearing that people were returning, Zhang Yuanxin hurriedly dashed out. After taking just two steps, he turned back, kicked over the box that still had a bit of liquid left, and then ran out again.
……
Near a low shrub, Ning Yang, who was searching for usable wood with Zuo Feixian, picked up a stone. “This stone is pretty clean—it can be used for some kind of construction.”
“Not bad. But Chief Ning, I feel like you don’t really have a clear aim today. What exactly are you trying to find materials for?”
“Haha, for new goods, of course! I’m preparing a catalog, including some everyday items. I’ll show it to you when we get back.”
A subtle line suddenly emerged from the void beside him, shooting toward his chest.
The smile that had been lingering on Ning Yang’s face gradually faded. He furrowed his brow, much like he had done most of the time over the past three years.
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Feixian straightened up.
After a dozen seconds of silence, having digested the information passed to him, Ning Yang forced a smile and said, “That bastard Zhang Yuanxin ran off with the created engine of lost consciousness.”
Master Zuo was utterly shocked.
He couldn’t quite equate Zhang Yuanxin with the phrase “ran off.”
Regaining his composure, Zuo Feixian said in disbelief, “What about Captain Jia? And all those people—are they just sitting around doing nothing? How could he let him get away?”
Upon hearing this, the two bodyguards beside Ning Yang were also incredulous, but even more shocking was the camp chief’s next words.
“Because they went after the thieves. Master Zuo, sorry, but you might need to work a bit more and craft another water well engine.”
Zuo Feixian had a feeling of foreboding.
He felt that the man before him was about to drop a bombshell.
“Explain yourself clearly, what do you mean by ‘another’ one? You’re not scheming something, are you?”
“Well, you see… the Recollection Engine you made has been stolen. Captain Jia and the others chased the thief, and Zhang Yuanxin took that chance to make a run for it.”
Zuo Feixian felt as though a thunderclap had gone off.
“Did you catch them?”
“No, he got away. The other guy’s geometry tactic.” Ning Yang felt deeply ashamed.
Thankfully, he had brought Master Zuo out today, otherwise, if the Jiazijian camp were that strong and tried to forcibly abduct Master Zuo, he couldn’t have stopped them.
“Let’s head back, Master Zuo. Tell me what materials you need, and I’ll have them prepared for you right away.”
“Let me check.” The model on Zuo Feixian’s chest flashed, fading into the air as it disappeared, but no one responded.
The other party must be contacting someone else.
Ning Yang frowned, suddenly struck by an absurd thought.
“Master Zuo, don’t mess around. I won’t do anything to you. Just tell me the materials, give me the details, and I’ll prepare everything. Got it?”
Hearing Ning Yang’s somewhat impatient tone, Zuo Feixian grew annoyed.
“I’ve told you several times, I’m not the creator. Ning Yang, do you think I’m the kind of person who enjoys making jokes like this? I’ve stressed it many times already.”
Ning Yang’s face changed color.
His heart suddenly lost its footing entirely.
“You… are still talking nonsense to me at a time like this?”
“That man won’t let me reveal he made it, and I can’t reach him right now—the line is busy!”
Zuǒ Fēixián paced angrily, hands on his hips, turning his head to exhale a heavy breath of foul air. “But the Mindfall Engine really wasn’t built by me, and that boiler neither—damn it! Now both are gone at once!”
Níng Yáng felt as if the sky were falling and the earth were caving in.
Seeing the other man’s state, Zuǒ Fēixián’s anger subsided a little. “It’s fine. I’ll ask him about it when we get back. Making these two things is a piece of cake for him.”
“Oh… oh, right.”
Dazed and muddle-headed, Níng Yáng followed the chin-up, chest-out Zuǒ Fēixián as they walked forward.
As he walked, he said, “Do you mean that Master has actually been in our shed area all along?”
“Yes, he, well.”
“Oh.” Ning Yang finally let out a sigh of relief.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a strained smile, “That truly is, truly a reclusive master. I promise I won’t ask who he is. Just learn well from him.”
“That’s good.” Zuo Feixian nodded.
“By the way,” Zuo Feixian casually asked, “Who was that thief? So many people went after him and couldn’t catch him. He must be pretty formidable, right?”
Ning Yang’s heart tightened.
“Ahem, that thief was a spy who came to our shed area a few days ago.”
“A spy? Oh, oh wait, a few days ago? Huh, you mean the one from that quadrilateral you just mentioned, the one you shooed away?”
Zuo Feixian stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked the camp leader up and down, scrutinizing him intently.
Ning Yang touched his face. “What are you looking at?”
“Don’t tell me that thief is from the Jiazi sector.”
“Yeah, you guessed it, — odds are it’s him.”
“Guessed it, and odds are, huh…”
Zuo Feixian suddenly clutched his stomach.
“My stomach hurts. You guys go on ahead; I need to take a leak.”
With that, he pressed down on his pants and ducked into the bushes to squat down.
……
Dark clouds drifted and billowed slowly.
Wang Chong and the others stood there in a daze, following along beside him as they walked forward, all of them looking shocked and afraid to speak.
“Brother, do you still want to play the good guy?”
The hearts of the group on the barren plains leaped in unison, turning toward Xu Xiuchuan, who seemed to have lost his marbles.
Yang Zicang cast a glance at Xu Xiuchuan, whose pants were hanging loosely around his waist.
The atmosphere froze.
Xu Xiuchuan initially thought he’d just bagged another joke to tell, but now he dared not bring it up again.
Beside him, Fan Xiuyun stepped in to lighten the mood. “Where are we headed next, Brother Yang?”
Over the endless black earth, a chilly wind swirled past.
“Sightseeing.”
……
By the time Ning Yang realized that Master Zuo had already made a break for it, more than ten minutes had passed.
Within that patch of bushes, there was no sign of him to be found anymore.
Instead, Ning Yang felt a sense of calm wash over him, his inner turmoil settling without a ripple.
Back in the shed area, the silent encampment chief went straight to examine the makeshift shelter Zhang Yuanxin had used and the people he had injured; fortunately, they only suffered fractures.
A heavy atmosphere pervaded the entire settlement. Many were busy hauling water from the well, storing the precious sweet water before it disappeared by the next day.
“Yang ge, we really messed with someone tough this time…”
“He smashed the plank in one go with his left-handed swing, and the air was packed with golden light everywhere you looked.”
Captain Jia had shed all the reserve that usually came with his title as security leader. With him setting the tone, everyone chimed in with their grievances.
“He even called us useless, said he’d flip over the lid of your ancestors’ coffins.”
“Those guys didn’t just humiliate us—they said we wouldn’t have built the well or the boiler without them.”
“So what if he’s a master? Someday, I’ll be a master too.”
Roused from his indifference, Ning Yang looked over.
The skinny man in the crowd noticed the chief’s gaze and instantly lost his nerve: “I… I’ll never be a master…”
Captain Jia searched for where Zuo Feixian had gone.
“Brother Ning, where’s Old Zuo?”
A sudden dizziness struck Ning Yang’s head.
“Hey, Ning ge? You okay?”
Captain Jia reached out with concern as Ning Yang’s steps suddenly turned staggered and unsteady.
Ning Yang took a few shuffling steps, brushed past the person beside him, and focused on his own hut, as well as the stone dwelling next door that belonged to Master Zuo.
“Master Zuo… had matters to attend to… left for a few days.” Ning Yang said somewhat dazedly.
He had already understood who Master Zuo was talking about. But he didn’t want to admit it… How could it be that person? If he could build wells… why would he stay squatting in his own shed area? Surely the main greenhouse area would treat him as an honored guest?
Ning Yang tried to redirect his thoughts… the backdrop set said “scenery and blueprint”… Yes, and that scenerio (ring) which might be used to create blueprints.
“Let’s coordinate the timing… prepare for two days from now…”
Suddenly, a commotion stirred among the crowd as the encampment chief collapsed to the ground and passed out.
……
Meanwhile, out on distant wasteland, Yang Zicang was holding the supply requisition letter in his hands, hesitant.
“Oh well, to be noticed by them sooner, I’ll just follow the manual. Keep it safe… Isn’t it just about getting famous quickly?”
Yang Zicang chose to use the supply requisition letter and form a goods delivery team headed for the hub settlement (Pivot Town).
By registering the goods delivery team with the letter, the group gained two extra slots for members who could communicate with the outside world. From then on, he no longer needed to handle all info exchange with the outside and the hub settlement solely on his own.
The moment Yang Zicang’s avatar registered the goods team using the letter, a telepathic voice resonated.
[Your weekly reputation (infamy) score has exceeded 10; it currently stands at 15.]
A muted voice intruded, and at the same time, a vision of a medieval town shrouded in silver-white mist formed in his mind, as if the voice were the town itself conversing with him.
[You have registered a goods delivery team.]
Yang Zicang almost slapped himself.
Why didn’t you say so even a second earlier!