Chapter Ch108.2 - Aftereffects

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Memories rose up from his mind. Perhaps because he’d taken too much medicine, but Wu Jin felt like he was telling someone else’s story. He was clearly very familiar with the memories, but he could strip away the feelings and feel only a strange, dull pain.

“I saw… a door. I was locked inside the door and watched the researchers from the R-Code Base come in and out.”

Researcher Song and Mao Dongqing exchanged glances, then nodded and confirmed, “It’s Brother Wei’s memory. It’s possibly from the first transformation.”

Wu Jin continued, “I saw him… Wei Shi walked past the door.”

The pen that Researcher Song was using to take notes paused, and he looked surprised, “You saw Brother Wei in Brother Wei’s memories? Is the subconscious overlapping? This is very rare––at least, I’ve never encountered it. What does the door look like?”

Wu Jin tried to think, “Grey brown.”

“What kind of texture? Any decorative pattern? Was it hollow or––”

“Iron door, very heavy. Diamond pattern, diamond pattern inlaid with a circle in the middle.” Wu Jin exhaled in a sigh, “Like… eyes.”

There was a bang.

Even Researcher Song was shocked and turned towards Mao Dongqing at the same time. The Floating City law enforcement marshal’s ever-stable arm seemed to suddenly tremble, breaking the teacup that had been placed at the corner of the table.

Mao Dongqing stood up abruptly and took away Researcher Song’s notes, “Ask later. For now, let Little Witch rest first.”

Researcher Song was dazed for a while before finally nodding hesitantly, “I still suggest that Little Witch should accept psychological counselling before entering the subconscious again––but his condition is better than I expected.”

In fact, it was better than all the other similar cases he’d taken over.

Not only had Wu Jin resisted the emotional lock, he’d also been able to easily gain Wei Shi’s trust––Wu Jin seemed born for emotional lock guidance.

He looked at Wu Jin, “It becomes easier after getting through this stage. After Brother Wei’s second transformation, you can take advantage of the stress to bring him out directly. The faster he undergoes the transformation, the better––of course, you have to remember that the most important thing you have to take care of is yourself.”

“You and Brother Wei are both patients.”

Two hours later.

When the machine started up again, Researcher Song watched as Wu Jin entered and let out a sigh, “I’m going to get some sleep for the second half of the night. You’ll keep watch?”

Mao Dongqing nodded.

After Researcher Song left, Mao Dongqing took out the consultation notes from the session just now.

He didn’t hesitate to feed them into the shredder.

He sat there in silence for a long time before opening a communication, “I need all the data that wasn’t destroyed in the R-Code Base from back then, yes, encrypted and sent to the laboratory.”

The instrument buzzed, and Wu Jin slowly opened his eyes.

There was the clang of bells in the dormitory, and Wei Shi, who was fiddling with something, ran over in surprise. In his blurred vision, Wu Jin could see that a clean path had been cleared out on the messy ground.

Wei Shi had long legs and had no problem stepping over hurdles.

Wu Jin was the only one who was short and couldn’t see the light clearly.

The youth was clearly clumsy and awkward when it came to tidying up.

Most of the pots and pans were tossed beneath the bed, and the cupboards were stuffed too full to be closed properly. Wei Shi was carefully sewing together a crooked eye mask for Wu Jin to put on.

The needle and thread was the same as that of the stitched characters in Mao Qiukui’s little padded jacket––it seemed the big boss had also snatched away the needle and thread.

“Iron powder, zircon, activated charcoal.” Wei Shi helped adjust the eye mask for Wu Jin, “After adding some water, it will heat up. Close your eyes. I’ll hold and carry you wherever we need to go.”

Wu Jin nodded obediently, “How long did I sleep for?”

Wei Shi: “Not long.”

Wu Jin: “Wei Shi! Did you not sleep&#k2026;”

Wei Shi was serious, “I slept!”

Wu Jin: “Your eyes are red!”

Wei Shi rubbed at his eyes casually and could guess that his eyes were bloodshot. He glanced at Wu Jin and suddenly said, “I’ll also use the mask.”

Wu Jin was about to take it off for him, but Wei Shi leaned over instead. He lined himself up with the outside of the little shortie’s eye mask, and their noses bumped together.

The youth couldn’t keep his Adam’s apple from shifting.

Wei Shi made a muffled sound, “Done.”

Wu Jin: “No…”

Wei Shi: “It’s done when I say it’s done! Close your eyes and don’t move. I can see your eyelashes shaking!”

Wu Jin argued, “I didn’t open my eyes!”

Wei Shi coughed and analyzed it himself, “Then it’s because your eyelashes are too long!” They curved and hooked into him! “Enough, let’s go out. We’re going to the training room today!”

The youth skillfully put on shoes and pants for Wu Jin, then walked quickly to the training room with the little shortie in his arms. Unlike the Crosson Show where shooting ranges could be seen everywhere, the ones in the R-Code Base were a precious ‘resource to be traded for’.

Wei Shi handed in the green cards, then set Wu Jin down on the floor on top of the blanket. The little shortie’s soft hands stroked the blanket, as though feeling out his own fixed position.

Wei Shi stuffed him with a pair of earplugs and a bag of small goldfish biscuits, “Good.”

With that, the youth turned away, taking off his training jacket and picking up the gun.

The 15, 16 year old Wei Shi had only touched a gun a few times. He only had three strips of bullets and shot very slowly. Unlike 10 years later when he’d already mastered the equipment, the youth of today still handled the gun like he was handling an enemy.

Wei Shi narrowed his eyes, straightened his back, and carefully pulled the trigger after estimating the trajectory––

Wu Jin quietly tugged down his eye mask.

In his blurry field of view, the big boss’s body seemed suffused with a weak light. The dim light reflected off several places, and it should be the moisture from his sweat.

After each shot, Wei Shi would close his eyes and review the trajectory of the bullet. The youth frowned, and it was obvious that the static ring number didn’t satisfy him. Half an hour later, the youth came to crouch down in front of Wu Jin.

Wu Jin quickly put the eye mask back on and waited obediently for the big boss to take it off himself.

“How come you didn’t eat the biscuits?” Wei Shi frowned.

Wu Jin looked at him with rounded eyes. It seemed that the big boss was born for guns. When he came down from the target shooting position, his entire person was sharp and determined, creating a contradictory temperament––

It was like a sword that had just come out of its sheath.

Wu Jin picked up a small biscuit and stuffed it into Wei Shi’s mouth.

The youth’s neck abruptly turned red as he criticized harshly, “How can you be so overly familiar? Forget it––come here.”

Wei Shi took Wu Jin’s hand and tugged the unsteady little dwarf to the target shooting position. “Every time I shoot, you’ll eat a goldfish biscuit. Two if I hit the 9th ring, and three for the 10th ring. Am I clear?”

Wu Jin nodded repeatedly, then turned to look at the big boss’s gun.

Wei Shi immediately offered it up to him like a treasure, “Careful. Don’t press it randomly! It’s dangerous, you know––fine, if you really want to touch it, I’ll let you touch the trigger. I’ll hold it for you.”

A soft little hand was placed on the trigger. Wei Shi covered him anxiously from behind, the youth half kneeling on the ground. He held Wu Jin in his arms from this position, and there was suddenly a stir deep in his memories.

It was as though this scene had already happened before, but he just couldn’t remember it.

Wu Jin rested quietly in his arms.

Their postures coincided perfectly with memory.

“Even a monkey can kill people with this.” The big boss raised his eyebrows in the Crosson arena––

The little monkey paused then held the hand of the youth behind him. Wei Shi stared, his eyes huge. He’d told the little shortie to touch the gun, not himself!

Wu Jin spoke softly, “Relax your shoulders.”

Relax your shoulders––this had been the command the man had given against his neck back in the White Moonlight training room.

The young Wei Shi in the R-Code Base paused, then followed Wu Jin’s instructions to control his shoulders and arms.

Maintain your center of gravity. In the Floating City training base, the man had held the gun for Wu Jin, his military boots pressed against a pair of quivering little white shoes.

Wu Jin used his small feet to signal the big boss to separate his legs, “Center of gravity.”

He slowly supported the big boss’s right hand, “Shoot.”

There was a bang.

The top record refreshed. 8th ring.

Wei Shi stared at Wu Jin in amazement, then abruptly hugged him like he was afraid Wu Jin would slip away from between his fingers.

The little shortie raised his head and smiled as he rubbed against his neck.

Time slowly went by. Wu Jin dozed on and off in the training room. Every time he woke up, he could hear the sound of slow gunshots––he moved his blanket to the scoreboard, squinted, and saw that the target scores were soaring all the way up.

By the end of the day, Wu Jin looked at his own hands via the lights from a dim street lamp.

He could feel himself slowly recovering.

Wei Shi was overjoyed, but still insisted on removing the little shortie’s clothing and pants and helping him wash up. When they went to bed, he also covered him up with the quilt and tucked him in.

Wu Jin was wrapped up tight in the quilt, and he didn’t know how the big boss dealt with the temperature––he was pressed together with him and so hot that he was sweating everywhere.

The youth gestured between himself and Wu Jin’s small body, “You eat too little.”

Wu Jin opened his eyes wide, “It’s like you’re weighing up the meat and ribs!”

Wei Shi’s face was blank as he tried to scare him, “Yes, if you don’t eat properly, you’ll be eaten.”

During the morning of the next day, the schedule for the second round of transformation was released. All applicants had to pass through an examination to determine the direction of their transformation––

The application time for Wei Shi was shorter than any of the other genetically modified students, so he could only seize every opportunity he had to work hard.

The youth was almost completely immersed in the gun room. He went from missing completely , to an average of 4th ring, 7th ring then 9th ring.

He had a shocking level of talent, but he also had worked harder than anyone else Wu Jin had ever seen.

That night.

Wu Jin fell asleep. Wei Shi woke up on time, tucked the other person back in, and headed straight to the training room.

Floating City laboratory.

Wu Jin covered up his stomach and came out of the machine, “Prepare to bring Brother Wei out––give me another copy of the stress response data.”

Inside the training room, Wei Shi stared at the target position and suddenly turned off the light and tried to snipe from memory. His forehead was full of sweat from the precise calculation required and the lack of reference coordinates.

Researcher Song stopped Wu Jin, “Don’t look. I’ll read it out for you.”

Wu Jin nodded and thanked him, then listened quietly. His brows were slightly furrowed as he thought quickly, and then he raised his head slightly, “Wait a minute, this segment of training…”

Early morning.

Wu Jin slowly opened his eyes.

Wei Shi, who’d only just returned from the training room, yawned. “I slept well last night.”

The little shortie’s eyes were curved from his smile, “Me too!”

Wei Shi skillfully helped him put on his shoes, “Today is the assessment day.”

Wu Jin immediately cheered for the big boss.

Wei Shi tied up the shoelaces for Wu Jin and suddenly said, “Wait for me.”

I will earn all the glory for you––to protect you and obtain revenge for you.

“Alright.” Wei Shi stood up, patted Wu Jin’s head, and tipped his chin up.

Wu Jin: “??”

Wei Shi stiffened his neck, “Show me.”

Wu Jin immediately squeaked and said, “Big brother, you can do it! Big brother, go go go––”

Wei Shi: “……”

Before leaving, the youth suddenly turned back, “In the future––”

Wu Jin raised his head.

Wei Shi tried to keep calm, “In the future… when you aren’t crying, can I… kiss you like last time?”

Wu Jin froze and thought of how the youth had been red-eyed as he kissed away his tears after the emotional lock.

Wei Shi clenched his fist, “Because, I’ve thought it through, and I’m never going to let you cry again in this lifetime!”

Wu Jin burst out laughing.

The youth seemed to see his acquiescence and leaned in awkwardly.

The little shortie glowed in his field of vision.

He gently dropped a dry kiss on Wu Jin’s cheek.

After that, the youth quickly jumped up, hitting his head against the bedpost.

“I-I’m going first. Wait for me––”

Wait for me.

Wu Jin waved to him and stared in the direction of the youth’s departure with his eyes and eyebrows curved. When he was so far in the distance that he could no longer hear the youth’s footsteps, he turned and connected the communication.

“I’m preparing to bring him out.”