Chapter 117: The Sea of Wandering 10
Perhaps due to occupational conditioning, Qing Gang’s first reaction upon seeing “The King” was to think of Zhuang Ningyu. Captain Zhuang, the only Emperor of the Order Maintenance Department! Since he had nothing else to do, he even turned around, attempting to explain the reasoning to his colleague from the Capital Team beside him. The result? The other party repeatedly signaled: We know, we all know.
The news that Zhuang Ningyu was to be transferred to the capital had circulated turbulently for quite a while, but later fizzled out with no further updates. The specific reasons remained unclear. So, some busybodies specifically went to ask Ren Bing, figuring that since he was in Jincheng, he at least had the advantage of proximity. As a result, the always clear-headed Team Leader Ren was unexpectedly vague. And once things became vague, everyone’s curiosity piqued even more. They doubled their efforts, asking around everywhere until finally, they found a kind soul willing to divulge a thing or two—
Comrade Liu Xiaoyang, Vice Captain of the Third Action Zone of the Jincheng Order Maintenance Department, a loyal fan of Captain Zhuang, and the owner of five sets of beautiful wedding photos, stated: “Because you guys only offered Captain Zhuang a high salary and a bright future. But us? Besides the high salary and bright future, we also provide premium lemonade, comfortable cotton slippers, ergonomic chairs, desktop humidifiers, daily small green plants, crystal aroma stones, and stress-relief toys! Furthermore, if Captain Zhuang needs 24-hour on-call door-to-door service in the future, we can do that too. Whether it’s sweeping, mopping, cooking, washing dishes, plumbing repairs, manicures, eyelash extensions, SPA healing, hair washing, or massages—no problem at all.”
The Capital Team asked in shock: “Ah this… do policies allow this?”
Liu Xiaoyang asked back, even more shocked: “What does this have to do with policies? Every single thing we do for Captain Zhuang is out of love! Is your Capital Team planning to poach Captain Zhuang by only giving money and not love?”
Capital Team: “Of course not, of course not.”
They had love too, but love that included 24-hour on-call door-to-door service might be slightly difficult. Later on, with the public revelation of his romance with Yi Ke, poaching him became even harder. After all, the other party wasn’t just an S-class evolutionary and a super cool handsome guy, but also the son of the richest man in Jincheng. It sounded like he couldn’t stoop to a “spouse placement” job like a librarian. But for other positions, firstly, there were no vacancies. Secondly, even if there were, Yi Ke would only be harder to poach than Zhuang Ningyu. He was likely tied to quite a bit of sponsorship from the Yi Group. Plus, Huo Ting had always been strong-handed; poaching two S-class evolutionaries from him at once would have a success probability comparable to Mars crashing into the Moon.
With the timing, geography, and people all against them, the Capital Team could only regretfully give up for the time being, leaving behind legends of the Jincheng Team’s ubiquitous sycophancy among colleagues. Now, looking at the nameplates for “King” and “Queen,” perhaps influenced by Qing Gang’s bad example, they also felt it should be Zhuang Ningyu and Yi Ke. So they turned their gaze to Ye Jiaoyue: “Captain Ye, we heard Fu Han and Captain Zhuang are friends?”
“They know each other,” Ye Jiaoyue nodded. “But Captain Zhuang and Little Yi are on sick leave, and we can’t transmit any signals out.”
Although the Action Team carried the latest ultra-high-speed signal transmission equipment developed by the Capital Research Team upon entering the Rules Zone, and external satellite support was in place, the signal remained consistently weak—a flickering half-bar. The transmission speed was as slow as returning to the 2G era; messages on the screen were still slowly buffering, looking like they might not successfully send even by next year.
Counting on Captain Zhuang and Little Yi to descend from the sky was unlikely. Zhong Mu propped her chin on one hand, twirling a silver fork between her fingers, and proposed another line of thought: “Is it possible that the positions of King and Queen belong to Fu Han and his bodyguard? They entered the Rules Zone first, claimed these two identities, and then left the banquet hall temporarily for some reason?”
“That’s also possible. Since the game can’t start now and we can’t enter other rooms, let’s explore the island first.” Ye Jiaoyue stood up. “Maybe we’ll find the other two players.”
The monster butler stood at the door. Seeing everyone wanting to leave, he didn’t stop them but greeted them politely and stepped aside to make way.
White mist rose and fell like atomized milk, carrying a fishy smell and dampness as it permeated between the pitch-black reefs. It felt chilly hitting one’s body.
Jincheng, Fuxing Gardens.
Zhuang Ningyu was standing on the bed, struggling to move a large moisture-proof box down from the top of the wardrobe. Summer had arrived, and he needed to take some seasonal clothes to Guanxing Building. Yi Ke sat by the bed watching him work, his gaze traveling down from his wife’s raised arms. The shirt was pulled up a section, revealing a slender, beautiful waist, a perky butt, and long legs. Beneath the slightly short loungewear pants were slender calves and ten toes gripping the mattress forcefully as he stood on tiptoes—a color full of vitality, showing he had been nourished well and healthily by Yi Ke himself.
How is my baby wife so perfect? He looks like he smells so good! Yi Ke was incomparably satisfied, shaking his head and clicking his tongue as he looked up, preparing to admire him lovingly from head to toe for a second time. However, he met a pair of icy eyes. Zhuang Ningyu held the huge moisture-proof box high with both hands, waiting to see when exactly he would react.
“Wifey, wifey, I was wrong!” Yi Ke launched himself up, rushing forward to take the box. “You can ‘Ah’ now, why didn’t you ‘Ah’ at me!”
‘Ah’ my ass, you caterpillar. Zhuang Ningyu flexed his sore wrist and packed the clothes into the suitcase with him. The open computer sat on the bedside table; the work system occasionally “dinged,” but they were all messages from colleagues in the command team remaining in Country G. Inside the white mist, silence still reigned. It had been exactly thirty hours since the Action Team entered the Rules Zone.
Thirty hours without restoring communication with the outside world. It seemed that the latest transmission equipment from the Research Team, touted as “Full-Domain Penetration, Instant Reach,” was just so-so. How dare they call it “Boundary Breaker.” Yi Ke wagged his finger: “Fortunately, our Minister Huo has eyes like torches and didn’t purchase the first batch at a high price!”
Zhuang Ningyu folded the T-shirts, but his mind was on another matter. The loss of contact certainly had reasons stemming from the Rules Zone itself, but there seemed to be another possibility. Fu Han’s business was in the information and communication industry, with very new technology. In other words, if he needed to, he should have the ability to cause some interference with the Boundary Breaker.
Yi Ke waved his hand in front of him: “Why are you spacing out?”
Zhuang Ningyu snapped back to reality. To avoid someone making a fuss and going werwerwer again, he chose to pretend nothing happened and lowered his head to continue folding clothes. The quality of the short-sleeved shirt bought during the 618 sale the year before last wasn’t great; after a year of washing, it was loose and baggy, and the collar was stretched wide. Yi Ke picked it up with both hands to admire carefully: “Wifey, this shirt is so sexy. Can you wear it for me tonight?”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and raised his hand to slap him. Yi Ke took the opportunity to grin and press his face against his palm, nuzzling like a puppy: “Just pack these, stop busyworking. If it’s not enough, I’ll buy you new ones. Come here and hug for a while first.”
So Zhuang Ningyu really hugged him for a while. Outside the window, the setting sun was going down. Because the Fuxing Gardens area was slated for demolition, most of the various small vendors had already moved away. The usual clamor was gone, leaving it somewhat deserted. He was actually quite a nostalgic person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have passed up new property developments back then, choosing instead to buy the adjacent unit to knock through, enduring the poor soundproofing, leaks, cracking walls, and other issues of an old community just to live steadily for so many years. Yet now, seeing the “moved out” reports pop up one after another in the community group chat, and seeing even Grandma Xiong being picked up by her daughter, he actually felt somewhat grateful for Yi Ke’s intrusion, allowing him to enter another new life painlessly and in a relatively comfortable state.
Yi Ke seemed to guess his thoughts, lowered his head to kiss him, and held him tighter.
He planned to give him a gift.
But he couldn’t say what it was just yet.
Dinner today was chosen at a newly opened steakhouse. The taste was excellent, the ambiance was great, and there was the salted egg yolk dessert Zhuang Ningyu loved. Yi Ke even requested the violinist to play “Air on the G String” for the whole room—mainly for his wife. It was very, very romantic. The only downside was the view outside the window; looking out, one could see the Jade Bird Pavilion, the building complex where Fu Dong lived.
This person’s movements had been closely monitored recently, and there were likely many colleagues around. Zhuang Ningyu just casually glanced downstairs and saw two familiar official vehicles. Yi Ke called the waiter, intending to show some care for his hard-working colleagues doing overtime by packing some food down for them later. But before he could even flip two pages of the menu, ear-piercing alarms rang out from outside!
“What happened?” Yi Ke pulled Zhuang Ningyu up, and the two hurried to the scene.
“Captain Zhuang, Little Yi.” A colleague glanced upstairs. “A Rules Zone has appeared in Fu Dong’s home.”
Zhuang Ningyu frowned. Currently, all Rules Zones were established on the foundation of “punishing evil and promoting good,” and the “evil” involved was related to human life the vast majority of the time. Creating a Rules Zone out of thin air was not feasible based on existing experience. Moreover, it contradicted the original concept of the Rules Zone’s appearance. After all, “It” never considered itself a game that could be easily manipulated, but a solemn moral court born only for “justice.”
So, it was a sure thing that a homicide had occurred in Fu Dong’s home. As for the relationship between the homicide and the Rules Zone… generally, the former came first, then the latter. But this one right now… Zhuang Ningyu glanced at Yi Ke. Yi Ke probed: “You mean, Fu Dong specifically killed someone to create a Rules Zone for himself?”
Zhuang Ningyu nodded. Behind Fu Dong was the Invisible Giant, and the Invisible Giant had been researching various ways to manipulate Rules Zones. This shouldn’t be a fantasy for them. Soon, the situation upstairs confirmed this speculation. The Action Team members couldn’t enter the Rules Zone. Other residents of Jade Bird Pavilion evacuated in panic. White mist spread continuously in all directions, quickly filling the entire room. From a distance, it looked like a solid block of tofu.
“Who is in the room?”
“Fu Dong and his wife, Song Qiaowei.”
Song Qiaowei had never entered a Rules Zone before. Standing in the empty white mist, she brushed off the damp moisture on her body with some disgust and asked her husband, “Aren’t there any cars here?”
“Liam said there would be,” Fu Dong said. “Let’s go, look around.”
“I really don’t understand why you listen to Liam. He’s just a lowly Number Seven.” Song Qiaowei stumbled after him, chattering incessantly. “Before, he bossed us around, making us think he was so capable. In the end, as soon as he showed his face, his whole arm was twisted off by that guy named Zhuang. His photo is still shamefully hanging on the international wanted list.”
“Do you think I want to deal with him?” Fu Dong looked back at his wife, frowning slightly. “Adam has had less and less contact with the Fu Corporation in the past two years; he’s almost given up on us. Although Liam is only the Invisible Giant’s Number Seven, he is the best contact we can strive for right now.”
Adam was the actual power holder of the Invisible Giant, Number One. Song Qiaowei fell silent for a moment but was still somewhat unwilling: “If we run away like this, what about the Fu Corporation?”
“Most of what needed to be transferred has already been transferred. What does the current Fu Corporation have besides that building?” Fu Dong continued walking forward. “Staying will only get us entangled tighter by the Order Maintenance Department. If we don’t leave now, they might go directly to the company to arrest us tomorrow. By then, it will be too late to leave.”
Song Qiaowei wrapped her cape tighter and stopped speaking. The two walked in the white mist for about half an hour but didn’t find any car. To be more precise, there was nothing here, like a void of chaos. There was only the increasingly wet, increasingly dense, salty wind.
Outside the Rules Zone, Zhuang Ningyu shook his head: I can’t get in.
Yi Ke held his hand tightly, actually breathing a sigh of relief.
The other colleagues looked at each other in dismay. Even Captain Zhuang can’t get in? Ah, this…
The Rules Zone at Jade Bird Pavilion and the one at Xinyin Biology could actually be classified into the same broad category: both were “man-made Rules Zones copied for self-preservation.” Since Xinyin Biology could exploit Zhang Yunxia’s bug, Jade Bird Pavilion should have a similar mechanism. It had to ensure that Fu Dong and Song Qiaowei could survive inside indefinitely for the copy to have meaning.
He Mo soon arrived with colleagues from the Research Team. Ever since Xinyin Biology created a Rules Zone that could “lock the door,” he had been researching how to “pick the lock.” Not expecting to completely dismantle the Rules Zone, but at least to allow free entry and exit. Now the team had summarized the basic logic and principles of breaching, perfect for a test run.
“Go back and rest.” He Mo patted Zhuang Ningyu on the shoulder. “There’s nothing for you to do here.”
Zhuang Ningyu shook his head, but before he could speak, he was yanked away by Yi Ke. With so many colleagues around, struggling would be undignified. So he switched to auto-follow mode and got into the car as if nothing happened. Fine, going home it is.
“Do you know where you went wrong?” A familiar opening line.
And the mistake was also familiar. Zhuang Ningyu nodded cooperatively.
Yi Ke was so angry he wanted to laugh. Even now, his back was covered in a layer of cold sweat. Just a moment of inattention, exchanging two sentences with a colleague on-site, and when he turned around, he saw someone’s hand reaching into the white mist again—the same technique as touching the broken glass wall at Xinyin Biology some time ago. His soul was almost frightened out of his body, terrified that his wife would be gone again in the next instant.
But fortunately… from a work perspective, it didn’t seem right to say fortunately. But from a lover’s perspective, fortunately, he was rejected this time.
Zhuang Ningyu also felt his hand was a bit naughty; he really shouldn’t have touched it. If he wanted to touch, he should have grabbed an operational backpack first. Moreover, his separation anxiety hadn’t fully healed yet. So that probe just now was irresponsible to love, irresponsible to work, and irresponsible to his body. It could only be explained as professional habit defeating a waterlogged brain. It deserved criticism.
But Yi Ke didn’t criticize him further. Instead, he slammed on the gas, driving the car out of the parking lot. The start was fast, as if worried that if he stayed a second longer, new changes would occur.
Wind rushed into the car window. Zhuang Ningyu sat upright, displaying a very good attitude of admitting his mistake throughout the journey. But Yi Ke was unmoved. After returning home, he first refused to hold his wife’s hand in the elevator, then dodged his kiss upon entering the door, stating seriously: “Reflect on yourself properly for an hour… no, two hours. Come apologize to me after two hours.”
Zhuang Ningyu felt he truly knew he was wrong and didn’t need two hours. But if two hours were what the other party needed as part of the apology ritual, he could cooperate. So he stood in the entryway, watching helplessly as Yi Ke went upstairs alone. The other party even slammed the bedroom door shut with a “bang” and locked it.
A dampened silent door—how did he manage to make such a ghostly noise? Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t figure it out for a long time. Looking up at the wall clock, only five minutes had passed.
Another five minutes passed. The sounds of rushing water came from both the master bedroom’s bathroom and the guest bathroom simultaneously. Usually, Zhuang Ningyu used the master bath while Yi Ke used the one downstairs; today, it was reversed. Twenty minutes later, Zhuang Ningyu felt that if he kept showering, he’d probably soak into a silver ear fungus. Yet, there was still no movement outside the door. Said two hours, means two hours. Comrade Little Yi walks the talk.
Yi Ke hurriedly dried his hair and leaned against the pillow, flipping through a book—or rather, pretending to flip through a book. He really wasn’t in the mood to read; not a single word registered. His mind was still filled with that white mist and the hand reaching into it. The same scene repeated constantly before his eyes. Fear mixed with anxiety spread like an emotion, as if a hand were gripping his heart and trachea. He could never bear to speak harshly to him, and today was no exception. So he could only lock himself in the bedroom first, waiting for his messy brain to calm down before discussing this matter calmly and thoroughly.
But a knock-knock sound came from outside the door.
We agreed on two hours, and there’s still a large chunk left. Yi Ke turned a page, lying still with eyes slightly lowered, but his ears perked up involuntarily.
A few seconds later, a tiny sound came. Not knocking, nor cotton slippers walking away down the stairs, but a rustling sound of metal scraping against metal. Yi Ke frowned. Before he could realize what it was, the locked door had been picked open.
Zhuang Ningyu tossed the straightened paperclip aside and stood at the doorway, locking eyes with him as if nothing had happened.
The world was quiet for a few seconds.
Or maybe a dozen seconds.
Or perhaps twenty-something seconds.
In short, Yi Ke really took a very, very long time to react this time, finally recovering his language function amidst ringing ears.
“Wifey,” he said with difficulty. “First, that thing isn’t worn like that.”
Zhuang Ningyu was wearing a bathrobe, with that emerald necklace worth eight figures wrapped around his wrist.
“Second,” Yi Ke took a deep breath. “Last month, I just spent 18,800 yuan to upgrade this safe to an enhanced security system. They promised repeatedly that unless impacted by high-energy weapons like a nuclear bomb, it would absolutely not be breached by external force again.”
Zhuang Ningyu spread his hands. Yo-ho, then you were scammed.
