Chapter 39: 005

【With all due respect…】

【You have repeatedly watched this one hundred and eighty-nine times already. Even if you watch it ten thousand more times, nothing will change…】

【Or could it be that you are indeed…】

Before the electronic voice could finish its sentence, a tall man in a hooded cloak, standing in the corner, halted his steps and retorted within his consciousness.

【Stop, stop, stop…】

【I was just checking if I had my lines memorized correctly, alright?!】

After several carefully escalating meetings, Lucas had perfectly recited all his lines during their last encounter. One had to know, he had never spoken to anyone in such a gentle tone before.

Accustomed to plundering, this was the first time he had ever wanted to try saving someone. His motivation was so intense he almost wished he could shoulder every single matter himself.

Having meticulously studied the laws of this Small World, he was now outside the Heterogeneous Management Association in the provincial capital adjacent to Chunhui City, about to enter.

The fact that Wu Cisheng’s condition remained undiscovered for so long could only mean there was definitely a problem within the Heterogeneous Management Association itself. But where the problem lay was unknown, so he had to start investigating from the nearest provincial capital.

He thought to himself, if negotiation worked, great. But if it didn’t, what were the odds he could use the threat of force?

He carefully observed the Heterogeneous Humans coming and going around him. Or rather, this world called them Sentinels and Guides?

Back in Chunhui City, everyone he saw was an ordinary person. But in the Heterogeneous Management Association’s district, the increase in Sentinels and Guides was immediately noticeable.

Occasionally, he could even see some Spirit Bodies leisurely sunbathing beside their owners. He suddenly and inevitably thought of Wu Cisheng’s Spirit Body.

The Little White Weasel… what did it look like?

【By the way, has his Affection for me increased?】 He paused, then added, 【Don’t misunderstand, I’m just curious.】

【Affection has not increased.】

【……】

【It even dropped by 1 point.】

The man, who stood there like a towering, majestic mountain, suddenly froze. His sharply defined face was filled with a bewildered, helpless look.

【……】

Meanwhile, in the footage the System broadcasted in real-time, Wu Cisheng was just getting off work and had just met up with his partner…

The moment he walked out of the building with his partner, greeting colleagues on the road, arriving at the parking lot and holding his partner’s arm to get into the passenger seat—Wu Cisheng clearly felt that prying gaze again.

He acted as if he had heard nothing.

In the driver’s seat, his partner turned on the car’s heater and cupped Wu Cisheng’s slightly cold hand in his warm palm to warm it up. “Are your hands still cold?”

The cologne the man wore was still the same one Wu Cisheng had casually complimented before. After the car door closed, the vehicle was filled with a fresh, natural ocean scent.

“The weather has been too cold lately. How about you take a few days off and rest at home?” his partner asked cautiously, seeking Wu Cisheng’s opinion. “Alright?”

“It’s manageable, not that cold.”

Wu Cisheng gave a vague, noncommittal reply.

His partner seemed to want to say more, but Wu Cisheng withdrew his hand, fumbled to roll down the car window a little, and silently faced outside, breathing the fresh air.

“Let’s head back then.”

“Mm.”

The rest of the drive was silent.

A while later, Wu Cisheng suddenly sensed something was wrong. The usual two-to-three-minute drive had stretched to ten minutes today. Why hadn’t the car stopped yet?

His partner’s explanation was: “The usual road had some traffic, I took a different route. We’re almost there.”

“Oh…” Wu Cisheng replied.

A strange, eerie atmosphere spread inside the car. A peculiar thought crept into Wu Cisheng’s mind. Could it be that Cheng Yuan already knew something?

He suppressed his unease and waited to see how things would unfold.

Fortunately, as his partner had said, the car soon pulled into a parking garage. He hadn’t lied; the familiar electronic prompt sound also confirmed this for Wu Cisheng.

Before getting out, his partner suddenly called Wu Cisheng’s name and leaned over to thoughtfully unbuckle his seatbelt. “Cisheng, we’re home.”

Once in a familiar place, Wu Cisheng relied less on his white cane. Using only muscle memory, he walked like an ordinary person. Approaching the door, he said, “Cheng Yuan, how long have we known each other?”

“Almost four years.”

His partner answered quickly.

“Oh, it’s been that long already.” Wu Cisheng entered, placed his white cane in the corner, and sighed with an unreadable tone, “Time really flies.”

“Does it? I feel it’s passed so fast.” His partner quickly came to Wu Cisheng’s side, skillfully bent down to find his slippers, and helped him change into them. “It feels like four years went by in the blink of an eye…”

Wu Cisheng didn’t respond. He let his partner kneel to change his slippers, help him out of his coat and into comfortable home clothes, then guide him to sit on the sofa.

The sound of his partner’s footsteps, at times near, at times far, filled his ears. The TV was tuned to the channel he usually listened to. A beep sounded, likely from some kitchen appliance. There was also the sound of chopping…

Before long, the background noise faded, the footsteps drew closer, and the sofa beside him sank. The ocean scent approached, and Wu Cisheng felt a piece of fruit touch his lips.

He opened his mouth and ate it. It was a strawberry.

“Cisheng, I’ve been a bit busy the past few days. Let’s go out and have some fun at the end of the month? You haven’t taken your vacation time this month either, how about it?”

Wu Cisheng disliked being fed. He used a fork to spear the second piece himself. Though his partner made some small, helping movements, it was nothing significant.

Chewing the sweet, refreshing fruit, he gave another ambiguous answer: “We’ll see.”

This wasn’t out of character. Ever since Wu Cisheng started working as a call-in host for the Emotional Column, he had learned plenty of versatile, noncommittal conversational tactics during training.

Perhaps such vague words couldn’t solve any real problems, but compared to a clear-cut answer, this kind of phrasing allowed him to advance or retreat as needed, providing more room to maneuver if something went wrong.

His partner was used to it by now.

“Alright then. When you want to take a vacation, just tell me, and I’ll match your schedule.”

“Mm.”

Their life together seemed as ordinary as ever,

yet a sense of strangeness permeated everything.

In the middle of the night, Wu Cisheng suddenly woke up. His partner beside him was still asleep, breathing deeply and steadily. But before his eyes lay only nothingness. He didn’t know the exact time, nor could he judge by the light of the sky. He could only listen to the faint, rustling sounds outside the window.

He suddenly began to reminisce, trying to recall what the moon had looked like the last time he saw it in his memories. Had the leaves outside started falling already? It had just entered early autumn; surely they hadn’t all fallen so quickly yet?

His mind wandering through these chaotic thoughts, he unknowingly drifted back into a deep sleep. He dreamed again of memories from before he lost his sight, blurry yet vivid.

In the past, Wu Cisheng had been reluctant to dream of these things—the drop was always so crushing upon waking. But these past few days, he kept dreaming of them, over and over.

This time, in the dream, he opened his eyes wide, gazing at everything around him with longing, yearning, almost greed.

It seemed he had returned to the inside of the Capital Tower, back to his spirited, confident self at eighteen, back to when his optic nerves hadn’t yet necrosed. Those vague, blurry shapes of light and shadow seemed to come from another world.

He wished the dream would last longer, just a little longer.

The whole dream felt unreal and ethereal. The sea flowed through the sky, and clouds grew upon the ground. Twinkling stars surrounded him, making his entire body feel weightless. Amidst it all, a blurry figure appeared.

In the dream, Wu Cisheng was extremely vigilant, keeping his distance, very far away, refusing to let him approach. Yet that person kept closing in, offering him an ingratiating smile.

The person’s facial features were indistinguishable, as if separated by a pane of frosted glass.

But strangely, the Wu Cisheng in the dream was absolutely certain that this person was the partner standing by his side in reality.

The man kept speaking to Wu Cisheng, his lips constantly moving, his expression urgent. But the Wu Cisheng in the dream couldn’t hear a single word. It wasn’t until the familiar alarm clock rang that he finally understood what the other was saying.

He said: “I came from another world. You have no idea what I gave up for you…”

He said: “I love you…”

He said: “I really do love you so much…”

He said: “Don’t look at me like that…”

Chunhui City’s geographical location was actually quite good, with convenient transportation and affordable living costs. As its name implied, the neighboring province’s climate was mild; even the coldest part of the year was never truly frigid.

Its only drawback was its small size and small permanent population. By staying indoors and simply sitting at his radio station, occasionally listening to channels on traffic, civilian affairs, entertainment, and economics, and taking listener calls, Wu Cisheng could basically grasp all the major and minor happenings in the city.

Today, the local radio station was still abuzz with discussion about Heterogeneous Humans.

The host first broadcasted a document released by the Heterogeneous Management Association the previous month, then meticulously analyzed important aspects of each clause, along with its future implications.

“We believe that the full integration of the populace will be the general trend moving forward. The current increase in infrastructure projects is in preparation for this, aiming to drive progress for everyone within the next five years…”

Since they were somewhat affiliated with the official line, the host was relatively cautious in their wording. Switching to the next channel, Wu Cisheng caught a live interview with an ordinary citizen.

“Full integration, my ass! Five years, five years, and another five years—how many five-year plans have passed, huh? I say they’re just using any old excuse to ask for money!”

Even through the audio alone, the anger and contempt in the citizen’s voice were palpable.

The mutations had first been reported from the front lines. The initial discovery period was marked by an explosive rate of spread, a time known as the famous Outbreak Phase. Whether through self-injection of reagent needles or natural evolution, advancing was remarkably easy.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon slowed significantly after reaching a certain tipping point. Natural Awakenings and evolution became rare, while the continuously required reagent injections were extremely expensive.

Many uninformed ordinary people simply assumed this was the Heterogeneous Management Association’s doing behind the scenes, believing they were the ones preventing them from Awakening and evolving.

While inside The Tower, Wu Cisheng had studied this phenomenon, which was termed “Punctuated Equilibrium” in biology.

The theory of Punctuated Equilibrium posits that the biological evolution process alternates between short periods of rapid change and long periods of stability and stasis.

Rapid evolutionary phases only occur during specific periods, such as when organisms face new environmental pressures or a major ecological crisis emerges.

And now, they were considered to be in a “peaceful period” right? Naturally, it was unlikely for easy, rapid Awakenings and evolution like in the past.

This was all knowledge easily accessible with a bit of attention. But on the radio, the airwaves were already filled with unbearable vulgarities and conspiracy theories.

After all, the brutal memories of warfare had gradually faded from the public’s mind over time. Coupled with the fact that many current tasks of Heterogeneous Humans were carried out in secrecy, in the minds of many ordinary people with no direct contact, those few “Celebrity Guides” and “Celebrity Sentinels” who did nothing but eat, drink, and have fun represented the daily lives of all Heterogeneous Humans.

As a genuine Guide himself, Wu Cisheng listened without flinching to their various curses and wild imaginations about The Tower, including the age-old question:

‘They say Guides and Sentinels both have a Spirit Body invisible to ordinary people, supposedly in the shape of an animal. What does it really look like? What does it feel like?’

Honestly… there wasn’t much to feel.

Wu Cisheng had also indulged in all kinds of imaginings before his Awakening. After Awakening, he discovered it wasn’t as complicated as he’d thought.

The Spirit Body was literally a part of one’s own body. Under normal circumstances, how could there be rejection from the main body? As for “abnormal circumstances,” the probability was simply too, too small—practically negligible.

If he had to describe what a Spirit Body felt like… it was like having an extra pair of hands grown within the body, or an evolved pair of wings, a tail.

Whenever its owner thought or obsessed over something, it would be outwardly expressed through the Spirit Body.

As for how proficiently an owner controlled their Spirit Body, or how coordinated their synergy was, that all depended on each individual’s innate talent and comprehension.

Back when he was in the Capital Tower, Wu Cisheng had been the top student there, the fastest to adapt to his Spirit Body and master its control.

Not only that, he had even co-authored the Tower’s new edition textbooks, teaching newcomers how to rapidly adapt to their Spirit Body, establish communication, and so on.

Until the incident with his eyes later. Several crucial nerves connecting his optic network became disordered and atrophied. Since a Spirit Body shares the same set of visual nerves as its owner, when his eyes went blind, his spirit body also became a little blind thing.

He could no longer see the appearance of the Little White Weasel as he used to; he could only sense its state. Likewise, the Little White Weasel was in the same position towards Wu Cisheng.

That was the nature of sharing the same root. It was precisely because of Wu Cisheng’s poor mental state in recent years that the Little White Weasel often fell into deep slumber, only being awakened occasionally when needed.

For example, when he was unsure if an obstacle ahead could be bypassed, or when he needed to use spiritual power, Wu Cisheng would briefly awaken the Little White Weasel.

A Spirit Body was, after all, the tangible manifestation of spiritual power. Wanting to know a Heterogeneous Human’s current state or mood? Just look at their Spirit Body.

Wu Cisheng’s Little White Weasel was small in stature, its eyes veiled with a layer of murky white opacity. Any other Heterogeneous Human could tell at a glance it was a pitiful little thing that couldn’t see.

Usually, it slept deep within Wu Cisheng’s sea of consciousness. But when Wu Cisheng needed it to investigate obstacles, it would immediately enter work mode.

Its tiny nose would twitch incessantly, sniffing the unfamiliar and unknown scents around it. Using its already small little paws, it would feel the ground, touch every object before it, testing for danger while simultaneously gauging the size and volume of the obstacle and calculating how many steps its master needed to take to bypass it.

Once confirmed, it would relay the obstacle’s information to its master through a special sensory method.

Ordinary people couldn’t see the Spirit Body. So in their eyes, Wu Cisheng could repeatedly navigate around obstacles and avoid holes both big and small, acting completely unlike a typical blind person.

“He must be faking it!”

Wu Cisheng was no stranger to such comments. But he honestly didn’t know how to explain how he “saw” obstacles, so he simply let them talk.

Bzzz bzzz bzzz…

The cell phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated several times. Wu Cisheng pulled it out and tapped the notification.

It was a message from a new friend. Their chat interface was completely blank, with no prior history. The contact name was also blank.

The other side sent a voice message.

“The progress is extremely smooth right now. I’ve already consolidated the evidence. The next step is to submit it and persuade the Heterogeneous Management Association to cooperate with the local Chunhui City authorities. We’ll be able to file a case very soon…”

It was that Sentinel.

The first time Wu Cisheng heard him speak, he hadn’t noticed it too clearly, assuming it was just his natural voice. It wasn’t until later, after meeting him more times and hearing him speak more often, that he realized.

Wu Cisheng noticed that only those rare, inadvertently rough tones revealed his true voice. Yet every time he spoke to Wu Cisheng, he never used that tone. Why force his voice like that?

Forget it. Maybe it was just a personal hobby. Wu Cisheng mused. Whatever peculiar quirks this Sentinel who appeared out of nowhere had, he was, ultimately, helping him.

He could be considered… an ally.

For now.

Wu Cisheng hadn’t heard the news he was waiting for from any Heterogeneous Management Association-related radio stations, but his expression remained unchanged.

Information flow between different circles and classes was very slow. Most events were only announced to the public after everything was settled and the dust had settled. Before the truth of the matter came to light, how could there be any leaks outside?!

Ding—

Another message arrived. There were just over ten minutes left until he got off work. Wu Cisheng tapped the new message, and a familiar voice came through his earpiece.

“Cisheng, are you off work yet? I happen to be in the neighboring district. How about I come pick you up now, alright?”

“What do you feel like eating for dinner tonight?”

There was some faint background noise in the audio clip. One sound was particularly familiar. Wu Cisheng distinctly heard a loudspeaker calling out: “Candied chestnuts! So fragrant!”

That vendor usually only roamed around the office buildings. In that case, today… he should be right downstairs.

Wu Cisheng didn’t reply. But the read receipt function built into the messaging app still let his partner on the other end know that Wu Cisheng had seen the message.

“I’ll be there soon.”

His partner’s voice sounded no different from usual. But in this voice message, perhaps he had rolled up the car window, as the sound of the candied chestnut vendor was slightly more muffled than in the last one.