When Ji Mingzhu came down from the cockpit of the Phoenix Redeemer, Wei La’s innocent expression showed a hint of surprise.
“Hello, you’re so small,” Wei La said to Ji Mingzhu.
Ji Mingzhu: “?”
Do you even realize what you’re saying?
“Oh, not like that…” Wei La noticed Ji Mingzhu’s displeased expression and quickly added, “I mean, you look very young… The pilots I’ve seen before were not this young.”
Ji Mingzhu was puzzled, “You’ve seen other pilots?”
“Yes.” Wei La nodded, “There were several uncles who used to visit us frequently, mainly to see my grandpa. But I haven’t seen them in the past few months; maybe they’re busy with work… Every time they came, they brought me delicious food. It’s been a while since I had something tasty…”
The little girl was a bit talkative, and she kept talking non-stop. Even if Ji Mingzhu didn’t respond much, she didn’t feel the awkward silence and continued on her own.
“Axiu, activate the KSC system and be on alert in the vicinity.”
“Understood.”
Ji Mingzhu didn’t lower his guard; instead, he had Axiu connect to the Phoenix Redeemer’s KSC system. When he jumped down from the Thunder Division building earlier, Axiu used the KSC system to remotely control the Phoenix Redeemer to catch him.
The KSC system developed by Lu Yan Tower unexpectedly matched perfectly with Axiu. Initially, the KSC system only had the function of remotely calling the mecha and had a single route, but with Axiu coordinating, it could temporarily take over the mecha’s action planning route, greatly enhancing its practicality.
In case of danger, Axiu could quickly control the Phoenix Redeemer to come over and support within a short time. This was also the confidence Ji Mingzhu had in walking alone with Wei La.
The two walked through the small town, surrounded by silence as if it were an empty city. However, Ji Mingzhu knew that countless pairs of aberrant eyes were peering at them from the corners. Not far behind, he saw the two Ruminant Hounds from before cautiously following at a distance.
“They are very well-behaved,” Wei La suddenly said.
“Who?”
“Bubu, Koala, Duoduo, and Mud Spot…” Wei La listed a string of names that sounded like pet names.
Ji Mingzhu found it somewhat unbelievable. “You’ve given them names?”
“Yes, they are my friends.” Wei La turned around and said earnestly, “They don’t attack people as long as you don’t provoke them actively. Earlier, they thought you had hostility towards me, so they attacked you… Please don’t hurt them, okay?”
Ji Mingzhu even doubted whether the aberrants Wei La referred to were entirely different from the aberrants in his understanding.
Aberrants are known for their cruelty and immense hostility towards humans—a well-known fact. They seem to have an inherent desire for destruction, and even though humans have retreated to the Twelve Satellite Cities, most of the wilderness in the world has been left to aberrants as their habitat. Nevertheless, aberrants still occasionally launch attacks on human cities, posing a significant threat to human habitation safety.
Therefore, Ji Mingzhu was surprised by all this because the aberrants here not only seemed as peaceful as Wei La described, but they also appeared to understand Wei La’s words. Moreover, they actively protected the little girl in front of them, which was completely different from typical aberrants.
Halfway through, they reached an abandoned seaside harbor.
“Wait for me,” Wei La said to Ji Mingzhu.
Before Ji Mingzhu could react, Wei La walked towards the seaside.
Ji Mingzhu was about to warn her about the danger because the sea was mostly a gathering place for high-level aberrants. Many Catastrophe and Disaster-level aberrants, due to their massive size, needed to consume a considerable amount of energy to counteract the gravity on land, so they usually resided in the sea.
However, seeing Wei La’s familiar appearance, indicating she often lived in this area, Ji Mingzhu thought for a moment and held back his cautionary words.
After a while, Wei La ran back, holding her shoes in her hands and a torn plastic bag with crabs, sandworms, and tunicates inside.
“Do you usually eat these things?” Ji Mingzhu asked curiously.
“Yes.” Wei La nodded. “Every time we come, we can find a lot of food. More than enough to last for a long time.”
“Don’t you think it’s dangerous?”
“Grandpa says if we can only see the dangerous side of nature, we won’t be able to survive.” Wei La said with her tender voice, “Nature doesn’t favor anyone. All living beings live equally. We’ve been surviving like this, coming to Tang Feng Bay every month, and it provides us with enough food for a long time.”
“Tang Feng Bay, is that the name you gave it?” Ji Mingzhu asked curiously.
“No, it was originally called that.”
“Do you know its name?”
“I don’t know, but my grandpa does.” Wei La said, “He is a historian and knows a lot of things.”
The waves surged up with a “whoosh,” bringing up white foam, and the salty sea breeze blew in. Wei La opened her arms, saying, “It feels so comfortable—”
The history before the advent of the Sky City was like a fog, and many historical documents from the old era could no longer be found. This included the names of the former cities, leaving behind only fragmentary information. For most people struggling with survival, studying history had no practical significance.
This could be observed in the architecture of Shangjing City. Many buildings incorporated ancient elements, but these ancient elements were used very loosely, like a hodgepodge. Due to the lack of understanding of true history, people combined these excavated ancient elements at will, considering it a trend. Thus, this eclectic blend of ancient style and cyberpunk aesthetics resulted in a sense of incongruity.
Hearing that Wei La’s grandfather was a historian, Ji Mingzhu became interested and couldn’t wait to meet him. A rare scholar who studied history might know some real historical information, and this was something Ji Mingzhu was eager to learn about.
“We’re here!”
About twenty minutes later, the two arrived on the other side of the dilapidated town, where a house with lights came into view. The style resembled a courtyard and seemed to have undergone some post-renovation. Compared to the surrounding houses that had become ruins, this house looked more like a place where people lived. There were even a few red lanterns hanging at the entrance.
In Ji Mingzhu’s era, such houses were common, but he hadn’t seen any in the Satellite City. Seeing this house now, Ji Mingzhu felt a bit surreal, as if he glimpsed his past era through it.
“Grandpa, Dad, Mom, I’m back!”
Wei La pushed open the door and cheerfully shouted, “I brought a guest!”
Ji Mingzhu followed Wei La inside.
Several people were sitting in the room. One was an elderly man with a pair of eyes covered by adhesive-taped glasses, looking very kind and gentle. Sitting next to him were two men. One of them, judging by his appearance, should be Wei La’s father, with some resemblance between their features. The other was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, resembling a wanderer.
“Dinner is almost ready; go wash your hands quickly.”
There was the sound of burning firewood in the kitchen, and the smoke from cooking wafted into the room, accompanied by the urging voice of a middle-aged woman.
The old man sitting down raised his head, pushed his glasses, and looked somewhat surprised, “What day is it today? We rarely see anyone for months, and two guests come today.”
“Huh?”
Wei La looked at the unfamiliar middle-aged man inside and exclaimed, “Grandpa, do you also have guests?”
She spread her hands, introducing to Ji Mingzhu, “This is someone I met in town. He came with a mech and, seeing me with Bubu and the others, thought I was in danger, so he came to rescue me.”
“Are Bubu and the others okay?” the old man asked with concern.
“They’re fine, but it seems Mud got hit and thrown by the mech, quite badly.”
“No worries, they are tough; they’ll be fine in a while.” The old man smiled and then looked at Ji Mingzhu. “You came from the Satellite City, right?”
“Yes, sorry for the disturbance.” Ji Mingzhu politely bowed to him. “My name is Ji Mingzhu, and I came from Shangjing City.”
“And who is this?” Wei La looked at the unfamiliar man, curious.
“This is…”
Wei La’s father was about to introduce him, but the stranger, the middle-aged man, preemptively spoke, “I’m Wang Wen, your father’s friend .”
“Oh…”
Wei La scratched her head. “Hello, Uncle Wang.”
For some reason, Ji Mingzhu felt that this middle-aged man named Wang Wen had looked at him several times when he entered, and there was a hint of flicker in his eyes.
As if he knew Ji Mingzhu.
But Ji Mingzhu had never seen him before.
Could he also be from Shangjing City?
As a Titan pilot, Ji Mingzhu had quite a reputation in Shangjing City. Although the Star-Making Movement organized by the Calamity Control Bureau ultimately failed, it made most of the people in Shangjing City aware of him. If the other person also came from Shangjing City, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to know Ji Mingzhu.
“Oh my, so many guests today?”
A middle-aged woman peeked out from the kitchen, rubbing her apron. “Luckily, I made some extra food. Wei La, you chat with the guests for a while; dinner will be ready soon.”
“Okay!” Wei La cheerfully replied, pulling over a chair from the side and placing it on the ground. She said to Ji Mingzhu, “Come, have a seat, don’t be shy.”
“Sorry for the intrusion.”
Perhaps due to living in seclusion for years, this family seemed to have no guard against outsiders. Instead, they were quite enthusiastic towards Ji Mingzhu, the outsider who came with a mech.
Although Ji Mingzhu had many questions, out of politeness, he didn’t directly ask the old man in front of him. Instead, he obediently sat down.
“How old are you?” The old man asked Ji Mingzhu with a smiling expression, sounding like an elder inquiring about a relative’s child.
“Eighteen,” Ji Mingzhu replied.
If you counted the time spent in cryosleep, he was far older than eighteen, maybe even hundreds or thousands of years. He wasn’t sure of his true age.
“Did you come here with your mech?”
“Yes.”
“Young people are so daring; to venture into the wilderness alone at such a young age, your piloting skills must be impressive.” The old man sighed, his expression reminiscing about the past. “It’s great. When I was young, I wanted to be a mech pilot too, but unfortunately, I lacked talent. No school was willing to accept me. In the end, I got into a small, rundown school and ended up studying history, something no one wanted.”
The old man was quite talkative, much like Wei La.
Ji Mingzhu listened quietly, while also discreetly observing Wang Wen on the other side.
Wang Wen seemed to notice Ji Mingzhu’s gaze, so he picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip of water.
Ji Mingzhu always felt a strange familiarity in the other’s demeanor. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind.
“Huo Zai,” Ji Mingzhu suddenly spoke up.
“Pffft—”
Wang Wen, who was drinking water, suddenly sprayed it out.
Ji Mingzhu narrowed his eyes. “It’s really you.”
When Ji Mingzhu came down from the cockpit of the Phoenix Redeemer, Wei La’s innocent expression showed a hint of surprise.
“Hello, you’re so small,” Wei La said to Ji Mingzhu.
Ji Mingzhu: “?”
Do you even realize what you’re saying?
“Oh, not like that…” Wei La noticed Ji Mingzhu’s displeased expression and quickly added, “I mean, you look very young… The pilots I’ve seen before were not this young.”
Ji Mingzhu was puzzled, “You’ve seen other pilots?”
“Yes.” Wei La nodded, “There were several uncles who used to visit us frequently, mainly to see my grandpa. But I haven’t seen them in the past few months; maybe they’re busy with work… Every time they came, they brought me delicious food. It’s been a while since I had something tasty…”
The little girl was a bit talkative, and she kept talking non-stop. Even if Ji Mingzhu didn’t respond much, she didn’t feel the awkward silence and continued on her own.
“Axiu, activate the KSC system and be on alert in the vicinity.”
“Understood.”
Ji Mingzhu didn’t lower his guard; instead, he had Axiu connect to the Phoenix Redeemer’s KSC system. When he jumped down from the Thunder Division building earlier, Axiu used the KSC system to remotely control the Phoenix Redeemer to catch him.
The KSC system developed by Lu Yan Tower unexpectedly matched perfectly with Axiu. Initially, the KSC system only had the function of remotely calling the mecha and had a single route, but with Axiu coordinating, it could temporarily take over the mecha’s action planning route, greatly enhancing its practicality.
In case of danger, Axiu could quickly control the Phoenix Redeemer to come over and support within a short time. This was also the confidence Ji Mingzhu had in walking alone with Wei La.
The two walked through the small town, surrounded by silence as if it were an empty city. However, Ji Mingzhu knew that countless pairs of aberrant eyes were peering at them from the corners. Not far behind, he saw the two Ruminant Hounds from before cautiously following at a distance.
“They are very well-behaved,” Wei La suddenly said.
“Who?”
“Bubu, Koala, Duoduo, and Mud Spot…” Wei La listed a string of names that sounded like pet names.
Ji Mingzhu found it somewhat unbelievable. “You’ve given them names?”
“Yes, they are my friends.” Wei La turned around and said earnestly, “They don’t attack people as long as you don’t provoke them actively. Earlier, they thought you had hostility towards me, so they attacked you… Please don’t hurt them, okay?”
Ji Mingzhu even doubted whether the aberrants Wei La referred to were entirely different from the aberrants in his understanding.
Aberrants are known for their cruelty and immense hostility towards humans—a well-known fact. They seem to have an inherent desire for destruction, and even though humans have retreated to the Twelve Satellite Cities, most of the wilderness in the world has been left to aberrants as their habitat. Nevertheless, aberrants still occasionally launch attacks on human cities, posing a significant threat to human habitation safety.
Therefore, Ji Mingzhu was surprised by all this because the aberrants here not only seemed as peaceful as Wei La described, but they also appeared to understand Wei La’s words. Moreover, they actively protected the little girl in front of them, which was completely different from typical aberrants.
Halfway through, they reached an abandoned seaside harbor.
“Wait for me,” Wei La said to Ji Mingzhu.
Before Ji Mingzhu could react, Wei La walked towards the seaside.
Ji Mingzhu was about to warn her about the danger because the sea was mostly a gathering place for high-level aberrants. Many Catastrophe and Disaster-level aberrants, due to their massive size, needed to consume a considerable amount of energy to counteract the gravity on land, so they usually resided in the sea.
However, seeing Wei La’s familiar appearance, indicating she often lived in this area, Ji Mingzhu thought for a moment and held back his cautionary words.
After a while, Wei La ran back, holding her shoes in her hands and a torn plastic bag with crabs, sandworms, and tunicates inside.
“Do you usually eat these things?” Ji Mingzhu asked curiously.
“Yes.” Wei La nodded. “Every time we come, we can find a lot of food. More than enough to last for a long time.”
“Don’t you think it’s dangerous?”
“Grandpa says if we can only see the dangerous side of nature, we won’t be able to survive.” Wei La said with her tender voice, “Nature doesn’t favor anyone. All living beings live equally. We’ve been surviving like this, coming to Tang Feng Bay every month, and it provides us with enough food for a long time.”
“Tang Feng Bay, is that the name you gave it?” Ji Mingzhu asked curiously.
“No, it was originally called that.”
“Do you know its name?”
“I don’t know, but my grandpa does.” Wei La said, “He is a historian and knows a lot of things.”
The waves surged up with a “whoosh,” bringing up white foam, and the salty sea breeze blew in. Wei La opened her arms, saying, “It feels so comfortable—”
The history before the advent of the Sky City was like a fog, and many historical documents from the old era could no longer be found. This included the names of the former cities, leaving behind only fragmentary information. For most people struggling with survival, studying history had no practical significance.
This could be observed in the architecture of Shangjing City. Many buildings incorporated ancient elements, but these ancient elements were used very loosely, like a hodgepodge. Due to the lack of understanding of true history, people combined these excavated ancient elements at will, considering it a trend. Thus, this eclectic blend of ancient style and cyberpunk aesthetics resulted in a sense of incongruity.
Hearing that Wei La’s grandfather was a historian, Ji Mingzhu became interested and couldn’t wait to meet him. A rare scholar who studied history might know some real historical information, and this was something Ji Mingzhu was eager to learn about.
“We’re here!”
About twenty minutes later, the two arrived on the other side of the dilapidated town, where a house with lights came into view. The style resembled a courtyard and seemed to have undergone some post-renovation. Compared to the surrounding houses that had become ruins, this house looked more like a place where people lived. There were even a few red lanterns hanging at the entrance.
In Ji Mingzhu’s era, such houses were common, but he hadn’t seen any in the Satellite City. Seeing this house now, Ji Mingzhu felt a bit surreal, as if he glimpsed his past era through it.
“Grandpa, Dad, Mom, I’m back!”
Wei La pushed open the door and cheerfully shouted, “I brought a guest!”
Ji Mingzhu followed Wei La inside.
Several people were sitting in the room. One was an elderly man with a pair of eyes covered by adhesive-taped glasses, looking very kind and gentle. Sitting next to him were two men. One of them, judging by his appearance, should be Wei La’s father, with some resemblance between their features. The other was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, resembling a wanderer.
“Dinner is almost ready; go wash your hands quickly.”
There was the sound of burning firewood in the kitchen, and the smoke from cooking wafted into the room, accompanied by the urging voice of a middle-aged woman.
The old man sitting down raised his head, pushed his glasses, and looked somewhat surprised, “What day is it today? We rarely see anyone for months, and two guests come today.”
“Huh?”
Wei La looked at the unfamiliar middle-aged man inside and exclaimed, “Grandpa, do you also have guests?”
She spread her hands, introducing to Ji Mingzhu, “This is someone I met in town. He came with a mech and, seeing me with Bubu and the others, thought I was in danger, so he came to rescue me.”
“Are Bubu and the others okay?” the old man asked with concern.
“They’re fine, but it seems Mud got hit and thrown by the mech, quite badly.”
“No worries, they are tough; they’ll be fine in a while.” The old man smiled and then looked at Ji Mingzhu. “You came from the Satellite City, right?”
“Yes, sorry for the disturbance.” Ji Mingzhu politely bowed to him. “My name is Ji Mingzhu, and I came from Shangjing City.”
“And who is this?” Wei La looked at the unfamiliar man, curious.
“This is…”
Wei La’s father was about to introduce him, but the stranger, the middle-aged man, preemptively spoke, “I’m Wang Wen, your father’s friend .”
“Oh…”
Wei La scratched her head. “Hello, Uncle Wang.”
For some reason, Ji Mingzhu felt that this middle-aged man named Wang Wen had looked at him several times when he entered, and there was a hint of flicker in his eyes.
As if he knew Ji Mingzhu.
But Ji Mingzhu had never seen him before.
Could he also be from Shangjing City?
As a Titan pilot, Ji Mingzhu had quite a reputation in Shangjing City. Although the Star-Making Movement organized by the Calamity Control Bureau ultimately failed, it made most of the people in Shangjing City aware of him. If the other person also came from Shangjing City, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to know Ji Mingzhu.
“Oh my, so many guests today?”
A middle-aged woman peeked out from the kitchen, rubbing her apron. “Luckily, I made some extra food. Wei La, you chat with the guests for a while; dinner will be ready soon.”
“Okay!” Wei La cheerfully replied, pulling over a chair from the side and placing it on the ground. She said to Ji Mingzhu, “Come, have a seat, don’t be shy.”
“Sorry for the intrusion.”
Perhaps due to living in seclusion for years, this family seemed to have no guard against outsiders. Instead, they were quite enthusiastic towards Ji Mingzhu, the outsider who came with a mech.
Although Ji Mingzhu had many questions, out of politeness, he didn’t directly ask the old man in front of him. Instead, he obediently sat down.
“How old are you?” The old man asked Ji Mingzhu with a smiling expression, sounding like an elder inquiring about a relative’s child.
“Eighteen,” Ji Mingzhu replied.
If you counted the time spent in cryosleep, he was far older than eighteen, maybe even hundreds or thousands of years. He wasn’t sure of his true age.
“Did you come here with your mech?”
“Yes.”
“Young people are so daring; to venture into the wilderness alone at such a young age, your piloting skills must be impressive.” The old man sighed, his expression reminiscing about the past. “It’s great. When I was young, I wanted to be a mech pilot too, but unfortunately, I lacked talent. No school was willing to accept me. In the end, I got into a small, rundown school and ended up studying history, something no one wanted.”
The old man was quite talkative, much like Wei La.
Ji Mingzhu listened quietly, while also discreetly observing Wang Wen on the other side.
Wang Wen seemed to notice Ji Mingzhu’s gaze, so he picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip of water.
Ji Mingzhu always felt a strange familiarity in the other’s demeanor. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind.
“Huo Zai,” Ji Mingzhu suddenly spoke up.
“Pffft—”
Wang Wen, who was drinking water, suddenly sprayed it out.
Ji Mingzhu narrowed his eyes. “It’s really you.”
