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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, glitterypanda

nThe two people were a male-female pair. The one who’d spoken was the male.

nThe boy had a pair of docile puppy-dog eyes, while the girl’s appearance was as light as a jasmine, very delicate and pretty, with a head of curly hair tied up into a high ponytail. Even though they had an undisguisable proudness to them, their overall temperament couldn’t be considered mean.

nChi Xiaochi looked the two people from head to toe, asking Ji Zuoshan, “What do you think?”

nJi Zuoshan could hardly conceal the excitement in his voice, “Very good. ……Look at the girl’s hand.”

nChi Xiaochi looked over as per his directions. “En.” Very pretty.

nJi Zuoshan, “I probed them with my spiritual energy. The bracelet on her wrist corresponds to a mecha specialised for weapons.”

nChi Xiaochi, “……En.”

nJi Zuoshan then said, “Look at the guy’s bracelet, he uses a mecha specialised for agility.”

nChi Xiaochi, “……” Very good, seems like he’s planning on being someone totally indifferent towards sex.

nRosie glanced at them, then asked Chi Xiaochi, “I don’t mind. You?”

nChi Xiaochi nodded. “Just don’t drag us down.”

nThe boy smiled, revealing his dimples. “We won’t. Let us introduce ourselves, my name is Wang Xizhou. This is my jiejie……”

nThe girl eyed Chi Xiaochi carefully, then nodded her head slightly and said, “Wang Xiaoqing.”

nLike that, their team formation could be considered complete.

nChi Xiaochi went off to register their team, while Rosie sat down on a nearby rock, a single earbud in her ear. She opened a box of milk and started drinking it slowly, not planning on chatting with her two new teammates.

nThey would have no lack of time on the road, so there was no need to rush.

nThe brother and sister from the Wang family weren’t in a hurry to get closer either, huddling together to talk amongst themselves.

nWang Xizhou was very happy. If he had a tail, it would be wagging. “This is great, I thought it would be really difficult.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “We’ve only pulled up a connection. Dajie wants us to get on good terms with him.”

nWang Xizhou’s tail drooped. “……Oh.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “Dajie said that the South Road Army wants him no matter what. It’s up to you now.”

nWang Xizhou was a little troubled. “I feel like he’s really hard to talk to…… He’s fierce, like our dad.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “Before you expect a genius to have a good temper, you should expect pigs to fly.”

nWang Xizhou acted cute, “Jie……”

nWang Xiaoqing was quick to toss this hot potato back to him, “It’s not my problem. I’m just here to complete the task.”

nWang Xizhou wilted, blinking up at her.

nWang Xiaoqing shot him a look, thinking that their older sister getting their dumb younger brother to recruit people was really too effective.

nHowever, she was still a bit dissatisfied, “But I don’t think that the partner he brought is all that reliable.”

nWang Xizhou, “Ah?”

nWang Xiaoqing, “That sissy boy next to him……”

nThen, she gave Rosie a subconscious glance.

nWho would’ve thought that Rosie would be looking back at her, as if she’d heard what she’d said. When their gazes met, her blue eyes curved slightly.

nWang Xiaoqing was a little embarrassed, and turned away.

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nRosie looked down at herself, and found that to facilitate combat, she’d worn a binder, and put on a camo vest.

n……Hah, no wonder.

nShe ran her index finger along her shorn, inch-short hair, and swept her knuckles along the silver, lizard-shaped earring on her right ear, finding it a little interesting.

nChi Xiaochi made his way back through the crowd, holding a piece of paper.

nRosie asked him, “When do we set off?”

nChi Xiaochi flashed the piece of paper he’d’d randomly drawn in his hand. “Four o’ clock.”

nFar away, Zhan Yanchao’s eyebrows relaxed.

nWhen Ji Zuoshan’s group left, heading to a room to rest, he squeezed through the crowd, snatching other people’s papers over for a look without an explanation. When he found that they didn’t fit his requirements, he shoved the paper back at them, leaving a confused person to mentally scold “probably crazy”.

nWith some effort, he caught a team leaving at 4:15. He opened his mouth and asked, “Is your team still short of people?”

nThese four clearly all knew each other, shaking their heads as one and saying, “We’re not.”

nAccording to the rules, they needed to register their team before having the person who registered draw the piece of paper telling them when to set off. Expecting them to swap out team members just before the battle was truly not conscientious.

nBut how would Zhan Yanchao be willing to let this chance go? He did his best to sell himself, “I use a specialised mecha. I can fight very well.”

nWhen had he, Second Young Master Zhan, done something so demeaning? Before he’d even finished speaking, his face turned red.

nUnexpectedly, the four still shook their heads.

nZhan Yanchao’s face was practically about to catch fire. He kept chasing after them. “I’m Zhan Yanchao. Have you heard of me before?”

nThe four people didn’t even look at him, directly leaving.

nZhan Yanchao roughly rubbed his cheeks, wanting to cover up the redness of his face, but was patted heavily on the shoulder from behind. “You’re Zhan Yanchao?”

nZhan Yanchao turned his head.

nTwo of the four people were well-dressed, wearing ankle-high boots and energy bracelets connected to specialised mechas on their wrists. With one look, you could tell that they were rich young masters with superior family backgrounds. Meanwhile, the other two were tall and strong, but acted very courteous and submissive, with lowered gazes, wanting nothing more than to bury their heads into their chests. The energy bracelets on their wrists were extremely common, the pattern indicating training mechas.

n……Human sacrifices and their masters.

nAfter evaluating the identities of the four, Zhan Yanchao asked, “When are you setting off?”

nThe person who started the conversation had a square face. He raised his chin. “I’m the one asking. You’re that Zhan Yanchao? From the no. 1 mecha academy in District 23?”

nZhan Yanchao endured, “En.”

nSquare face was amused. “Yo, Young Master Zhan can’t find a partner, that’s truly a rare sight.”

nZhan Yanchao, “……” Yo my ass.

nHe forced down the violent urge to strike out with his whip. His words were forced out from between his teeth, “When are you setting off?”

nSquare face waved the paper in his hand. “3:50.”

nThe other rich young master was garishly made-up, especially his head full of hair gel, smeared all over especially evenly, making his hair immovable even in the eight winds.

nHe winked and said, “I never thought that the rumoured Second Master Zhan would also want to borrow Ji Zuoshan’s easterly wind. You have the same idea that we did.”

nZhan Yanchao’s fists clenched until they let out a muffled crack.

nHe forced out, “Which one of you am I swapping with?”

nHair gel guy considered both human sacrifices like choosing between beasts of burden. He pushed one of them out by the shoulder. “You, get lost, go find someone else.”

nThen, he spoke to Square Face, all smiles, “This one’s not useful. Let’s have Second Young Master Zhan replace him, it’s just nice.”

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nZhan Yanchao lowered his head slightly to hide his already increasingly warped expression.

nThe other human sacrifice who had been allowed to stay hurriedly ran to the registration office, crossed out one of their names, and changed it to Zhan Yanchao’s name.

nZhan Yanchao didn’t want to speak even a single word more to his new partners. He just stared off in the direction Ji Zuoshan had disappeared in. Only after thinking about how he would be able to set off together with him in a while did his mood get a little better.

nAfter sleeping all the way until 3:40 in the morning, Chi Xiaochi was woken up by 061. After some simple washing up, he went to the preparation room and put on Blue.

nHe met up with the Wang siblings at the set off point. When Wang Xiaoqing, clad in a camo heavy-duty heavily armed mecha, saw the dark blue, ordinary training mecha walk over, she started to speak, stopped, then opened her mouth again.

nWang Xizhou was very fast to speak. “Mister Ji, you don’t have a specialised mecha?”

nChi Xiaochi said indifferently, “Don’t need one.”

nWang siblings, “……” I give your posturing full marks.

n061 thought, really cute.

nThey set out from the south, heading north.

nThis place was adjacent to a desert, and a little further ahead was an oasis.

nNot long after entering the training area, a strong sense of desolation slowly fell upon them.

n“The Scar” before dawn was tinted with a light green-gray. The sand blowing in the wind buffeted the visualiser, creating rising and falling grainy signals. Due to their senses being shared with their mechas, the smell of roasting dirt in the day directly went up their noses. The wind was cool, but brought with it a gritty feeling, entering their hearts and turning into an outstanding suppressed frustration, making people feel inexplicably jittery.

nAfter discussing it with Ji Zuoshan, Chi Xiaochi simply gave his orders. “Rosie and Xiaoqing will be in charge of drawing the map, and Xiao Lü and I will be in charge of investigating our surroundings.

nWang Xizhuo, dressed in a pale green, mantis-shaped mecha, “……”

nWang Xiaoqing’s voice sounded from her mecha. “Where’s our destination?”

nThere was still some time before six. Were they going to keep going or find a place to rest?

nWang Xizhuo said, “Of course it’s the oasis. With this distance, we’ll probably be able to reach it in about an hour and a half, and we’ll even be able to rest for thirty minutes after that.”

nBefore his words fell, Wang Xiaoqing’s expression changed slightly. She barked out at a half-raised sand dune, “Who’s there?!”

nWith a clang, a six-barreled miniature grenade launcher extruded from her right arm.

nShe aimed with her arm, and lightly pressed down on the launch button with her fingertip. If it was a Zerg and it dared to come out, its head would be blown off in the next second.

nSeeing that the situation wasn’t good, the people on the other side immediately scrambled out. “It’s me, we’re humans.”

nAt a glance, Chi Xiaochi recognised who that black combat mecha amongst them belonged to. He didn’t speak.

nSquare Face, in his mecha, smiled brightly and said, “It must be fate that we happened to meet. Why don’t we partner up and move together?”

nChi Xiaochi saw that the crevices of their mechas were filled with sand. Clearly, they had been crouching there for a long time.

nRosie sneered and greeted Zhan Yanchao in the other group. “Zhan. It really is fate.”

nZhan Yanchao didn’t react to Rosie’s barb, staring straight at Ji Zuoshan’s mecha, only to find that his attention wasn’t on him.

nWang Xiaoqing really looked down on this group, but knew that interacting with them would only disgust herself, so she simply didn’t speak.

nThey saw that they’d successfully latched on to Ji Zuoshan and his group, but Hair Gel Guy and the others didn’t get the time to celebrate before hearing Ji Zuoshan open his mouth and say coldly to the Wang Xizhou next to him, “See, some people might use specialised mechas, but they’re still trash.”

nHearing this, Square Face and Hair Gel Guy’s faces turned into a mix of white and green, but they couldn’t act up and could only silently remember this slight.

nWhen they set off once more, Wang Xizhou whispered into Chi Xiaochi’s ear, “Ji-dage, aren’t you being too fierce?”

nChi Xiaochi didn’t even blink. “When you speak to humans, you use human speech, but when you see ghosts, what’s the point of using human words?”

nIn private, he complained to 061, “…..Really gave me a fright. Don’t they know that humans too can scare others to death?”

n061 laughed.

n……A shocked Chi Xiaochi was also very cute.

nHalf an hour faster than Wang Xizhou had predicted, the group arrived at the oasis.

nChi Xiaochi didn’t agree with settling down by the lake. The Wang siblings listened to him, taking off their mechas at a certain distance from the lake, planning on resting, but the two young masters had been whinging the entire way. After taking off their mechas, they went to the side of the lake to drink and bathe, and the remaining human sacrifice dutifully followed after them. Seeing that the sky was getting brighter, Rosie didn’t plan to sleep, setting out to study the forest and see if there was any interesting flora or fauna.

nChi Xiaochi also walked out of his mecha and put Blue on standby mode. Ignoring the distant Zhan Yanchao’s faintly discernible gaze, he lay down on the spot.

nBlue broke a flower off a tall tree he didn’t recognise and tucked it behind Chi Xiaochi’s ear, while it sat down next to Chi Xiaochi.

n061 said, “Sleep for a while. You’ll be sleeping late today.”

nChi Xiaochi said, “When I think about how we’re going to go out, I’m a little excited.”

n……Are you a little kid going on a spring school excursion?

n061 let out a gentle laugh, soft, yet deep, making one’s ears itch.

n061 said, “When the sun rises, I’ll wake you up.”

nChi Xiaochi, “I can’t sleep.”

n061, “I can read to you?”

nChi Xiaochi thought for a moment. “Sing to me.”

n061 couldn’t help but laugh. “……Alright. What do you want to hear?”

nAfter picking the song, however, Chi Xiaochi didn’t go to sleep, rather beginning to shake his leg to the melody.

nHalfway through the song, 061 couldn’t quite take it any more. “Don’t shake, go to sleep.”

nChi Xiaochi’s childishness flared up again. “I want to shake.”

n“It’s not like it’s a good habit,” 061 said, “Don’t lead Xiao Ji astray.”

nChi Xiaochi asked the person in question, “Will you be led astray?”

nJi Zuoshan “yi”-ed, then obediently answered, “I won’t.”

nChi Xiaochi spread his hands, indicating that he had won.

n061 said helplessly, “How can you sleep like this?”

nChi Xiaochi raised a long leg, a mischievous smile on his face. “If you hold it down it won’t shake anymore.”

n061’s ears instantly flushed red. “……”

nBut before he could think any further about that, Blue moved, and at the same time, 061 also received a foreboding signal.

nHe said, “……There’s something in the lake.”

nChi Xiaochi immediately put away all his improper expressions, turned over and sat up, staring at the lake surface that was sparkling, as if there were starry fishing boat lights glittering atop it.

nThe Ji Zuoshan in his body asked, “What is it?”

n061’s voice became colder. “What exactly it is isn’t clear yet. But it’s alive.”

n“How many are there?”

n“One.”

nClearly it was just one, but Ji Zuoshan couldn’t hear 061’s voice relax even by a bit.

nHe seemed to come to a realisation. “……How big is it?”

n“Half the size of the lake.” 061 looked at the two youths playing in the water, splashing it on the human sacrifice with reckless abandon. He said in a low voice, “It’s…… been woken up.”

nThe author has something to say:

nToday I had overtime, so it’s still the lonely 3k whale qwq

nTomorrow I’ll try to be a 6k whale~

nLiu-laoshi’s already evolved from a gentleman to a gentle♂man

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nsere: flirting on an outing i see… sorry y’all for the late edits (baum: it’s actually my fault orz)

npanda: likewise

nbaum: 3k whale? more like 4k whale T T I really envy those tlers with projects with chapter wordcounts of 2k or less. That sounds like such a dream orz

nAlso Big Whale did manage to be a 6k (more like 7k) whale for the next chap, so it’ll be split in two as per usual~

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