Deus Ex Machina: Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“What?” Ying Si shouted again, “Didn’t they say the super stealth function was guaranteed to keep us undetected?”

“Who told you that?” Feng Mang was equally surprised, his hands rapidly operating the system. “Check for malfunctions and pinpoint the source of the attack.”

“The left engine is 82% damaged,” the system began reporting. “There is an unidentified aircraft within a three-kilometer range. The source of the damage does not belong to this aircraft. The spaceship needs to land within two hours. Searching for the optimal landing site.”

“Is it someone from Sanctum?” Feng Mang asked Yang Jin. “Could they have caught up with us?” As soon as he said this, everyone turned their gaze toward Zhan Feng.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t know anything,” Zhan Feng responded. “If you don’t trust me, you can throw me out.”

“You think I don’t want to?” Ying Si said.

“Eradicating all witnesses is their standard practice. Even if Xiao Feng wasn’t here, they would still come after us,” Yang Jin said. “How many places can we land at now?”

Feng Mang replied, “Our best landing area is the Taze Oasis—open terrain and sparsely populated…”

“No, we’re not going there.” Yang Jin seized control from Feng Mang. “Fan Fan, take over the spaceship’s system.”

“Okay.” The spaceship’s system had no resistance against such an advanced intelligent terminal.

“What are you planning?” Feng Mang exclaimed.

“Activate combat defense mode and locate the tracker,” Yang Jin calmly instructed. “Prepare to fire in three seconds.” This was originally Feng Mang’s travel spaceship, used for traversing space. It had excellent cargo capacity but wasn’t a combat-grade vessel, and its weaponry wasn’t configured for the highest level.

But it was sufficient.

After Yang Jin issued the command, everyone silently counted down the three seconds in their minds. Three, two, one… The unidentified tracker on the screen disappeared.

“Target neutralized,” Fan Fan reported.

“We should jettison the damaged engine to reduce weight,” Feng Mang suggested.

“No, we don’t need to,” Yang Jin said. “Fan Fan, calculate the remaining fuel and plot a course to Aurora.”

“Are you crazy?” Feng Mang shouted. Even Bai Yunci couldn’t help but ask, “Aurora?”

“Course plotted,” Fan Fan announced. “Propulsion speed set to one-thousandth of light speed. We will arrive in one minute. Confirm execution?”

“Conf—” Yang Jin began, but Feng Mang quickly interrupted, grabbing hold of Yang Jin. “Did I hear that right? Aurora? Aurora is the largest city in the world, with the highest population density and most concentrated world trade. You’re planning to land there? Have you lost your mind? That’s practically walking into a trap!”

“Calm down.” Yang Jin patted Feng Mang. “The most dangerous place is the safest place, isn’t it? By the way, do you have any business in Aurora?”

“You…” Feng Mang retorted, exasperated. “My spaceship only has a space travel license. The intercontinental entry permit has expired. We might get shot down by the Intercontinental Alliance while we’re still over the North Atlantic, and traveling at one-thousandth of light speed within a continent is considered speeding. I’m telling you, I’m a respectable person…”

“I know the Intercontinental Alliance well,” Yang Jin interrupted. “I’ll handle it.”

Bai Yunci came over and asked, “Wait, weren’t you planning not to contact them? Now you’re going to inform them that you’re entering? And you’re even going to the city where the Intercontinental Alliance headquarters is located? Aren’t you afraid they’ll arrest you for violating regulations?”

“Fan Fan, forge an entry permit for us,” Yang Jin said directly. “And new identities, you know what to do.”

Fan Fan responded, “I wasn’t exactly designed to be a fake ID maker.”

The spaceship entered Aurora’s airspace in stealth mode. Thanks to their well-prepared entry documentation, they encountered little resistance upon arrival. The citizens of Aurora, being accustomed to such things, weren’t particularly curious about the mysterious trail of smoke that appeared in the sky, not even bothering to take pictures to post on social media.

Unless aliens were invading Earth, life for everyone remained as uneventful as ever. And they knew full well that there were no such things as aliens.

Life was so dull, there wasn’t even a twist.

“I suspect you’re just using me as a cash cow,” Feng Mang grumbled as he disembarked from the spaceship, walking into the building with some displeasure.

“You chose to join us,” Yang Jin replied. “And you never mentioned that your so-called business in Aurora was in a skyscraper right in the city center!”

Their spaceship was docked on the rooftop helipad of one of Aurora’s tallest buildings, offering a panoramic view of the entire city.

“No,” Feng Mang corrected Yang Jin, “This is just one of my properties, but it was the most suitable place to land. Would you rather have landed in the suburban villa area? I don’t want to get chased by the neighbor’s dog.” He chuckled and continued, “Besides, aren’t superheroes supposed to be this conspicuous?”

Yang Jin said, “Stop indulging in your strange fantasies; you should watch fewer movies. Is there anyone else here?”

Feng Mang shook his head. “No.”

Technically, this was an office building he had recently completed, which he had planned to lease or sell in a few months. However, it was now being repurposed ahead of schedule. Fortunately, the facilities were fully operational, so they wouldn’t encounter issues like a lack of electricity.

“The two floors below are guest rooms. I’ve granted you all access, so feel free to stay wherever you like.” Feng Mang simultaneously handled multiple tasks; the lighting in the room began to adjust, automatically filtering out the intense UV rays that came from being so high up, setting the light to a comfortable level. The once-transparent glass walls darkened, becoming the color of solid walls.

A machine on a nearby workstation whirred for a moment before a small robot emerged, carrying a perfectly brewed cup of hot coffee to Feng Mang.

He took a sip and, somewhat dissatisfied, remarked, “It seems I need to tweak the settings a bit more.”

“Cut the chatter,” Yang Jin said. “You, Little Trash, and Xiao Feng, come over here. Lao Bai, you keep an eye on Shi Yixi, and we’ll regroup later.”

“What about me?” Dalia asked.

“You?” Yang Jin replied, “Do whatever you want.”

Dalia shot a glare at Yang Jin before following Bai Yunci to keep Shi Yixi company.

“Why are you following me?” Bai Yunci asked her.

“I’m not following you,” Dalia replied. “I’m protecting Xi Xi.”

Bai Yunci was baffled, and Dalia continued, “Don’t think I don’t know why you’re so concerned about Xi Xi. You just want to use him as an experimental subject, right?”

“…” Bai Yunci didn’t know how to respond.

The roof of the landing platform opened up, sparing everyone from working in the open air. Several mechanical arms began to disassemble the spaceship, suspending it halfway to facilitate observation.

“Strange,” Feng Mang said as he walked out from underneath the spaceship, picking up a coffee from the table. “This isn’t typical weapon damage. The entire damaged area looks more like it was cut by an extremely sharp blade, not blasted.”

“What could be that sharp?” Ying Si reached out to touch the cut surface. “The engine can withstand the high-temperature ions produced by fusion; what could cut through it?”

Feng Mang kindly corrected Ying Si’s misunderstanding: “The high-temperature ions from fusion are expelled from the reaction chamber and provide thrust. This is fundamental for achieving light-speed or faster-than-light travel. This thing doesn’t reflect the material density and resistance of the engine. Don’t confuse two different standards, got it?”

Ying Si nodded, thinking for a moment, then said, “But when we were attacked, we didn’t even get a warning. What could approach us so stealthily and complete the attack before the engine’s high temperatures melted it?”

Still pondering, Zhan Feng spoke up: “It’s a nano-blade.”

“Exactly!” Feng Mang exclaimed, realizing the answer. “How could I have not thought of that earlier?”

Yang Jin also reacted, recalling the nano-needles used when he first encountered Bai Yunci, which had stealthily hit the aircraft. If the cutting surface was made larger… that scenario slowly began to emerge in Yang Jin’s mind.

“Damn, don’t tell me it’s another weapon you’re selling!” Ying Si clearly made the connection and asked Feng Mang. “Do you want world peace or global warfare? Why do you always cause us trouble?”

“Of course, I want world peace!” Feng Mang said. “Young man, I advise you to respect the seniors who teach you knowledge.”

Ying Si stuck out his tongue at him.

“This isn’t some cutting-edge technology,” Zhan Feng ignored their argument and slowly traced the cut surface of the engine. “The application scenarios and range are very broad. A single cut doesn’t provide much useful information. However, this size of a cut isn’t something the unidentified aircraft from today could have made. Haven’t we already known this? So, the question is, are the attackers and the aircraft from the same side?”

“Uncertain,” Yang Jin shook his head.

Zhan Feng continued, “If there’s no direct link between these two, it’s also impossible to determine any direct connection between the Sanctum and this incident. All your previous speculations are based on the logic of ‘we just had a conflict with the Sanctum, so they have a motive to hunt us down.’ However, people are always full of logical blind spots. Speculation and conjecture are based on emotional and vague conditions, and they prove nothing.”

Ying Si was very displeased with Zhan Feng’s words, which felt like deliberate mockery and provocation to him. It seemed like he was intentionally showing off without any concrete evidence. He immediately aligned himself with Feng Mang: “I think it’s your exposed information, right? How can you prove you’re not here as an undercover agent? And now you’re spouting ambiguous comments? Are you out of your mind? If you have the guts, tell us everything you know! Show some sincerity if you’re going to surrender! Don’t act like a god who knows everything and looks down on others. If I had been working for the enemy for so long, I’d know everything too! Who do you think you are?”

Zhan Feng said, “I can’t prove anything. If you think I’m untrustworthy, just ignore what I say.” He then looked at Yang Jin.

Yang Jin pulled Ying Si aside and said, “Don’t be disrespectful. Xiao Feng is very professional in this area; he wouldn’t deceive us, nor is there any need for him to.”

“‘Xiao Feng’?” Ying Si was completely enraged, pushing Yang Jin. “I’ve tolerated this for a long time! Just because you have a good relationship with him doesn’t mean I do! Why should you control me? He used strange drugs on Yi Xi, turning him into what he is now. It’s already very generous of me not to have confronted him about it. Yang, I advise you not to push your luck! I don’t care how you handle things; he’s your friend, but Yi Xi isn’t? Yi Xi is even your student! He trusts you so much, and yet…” Ying Si paused for a moment, then continued, “You protect your friend, so I’ll protect mine. I now believe that Zhan Feng is a time bomb and a malicious traitor. If he stays in front of me, I’ll criticize him every day. Have the guts to tear my mouth apart if you dare!”

He roared like a small lion showing its teeth in defiance, unwilling to yield even if he couldn’t match a powerful opponent. He raised his head defiantly, and his fingers clutching Yang Jin’s collar made cracking sounds from the pressure.

“Ying Si, calm down,” Feng Mang, unsure why Ying Si suddenly went off, said in a more composed manner. He had always had a relatively stable personality, in contrast to Ying Si’s quick temper. While he occasionally teased Ying Si, he preferred to avoid intense confrontations. “Yang Jin didn’t mean it like that. Calm down and talk things over. Would you like some coffee? I’ll make you a latte. Milk and sugar help to stabilize your mood…”

“You get lost too!” Ying Si, who despised people who were too accommodating, shouted. “All of you, get lost! You’re driving me crazy!”

He told others to get lost but stomped out himself, each step heavy and forceful, as if trying to stamp through the floor. Feng Mang, feeling helpless, said to Yang Jin, “I’ll go check on him. Don’t let him smash anything in his rage. You… you guys keep talking…” With that, he quickly ran off, not sure if he was genuinely going to check on Ying Si or just looking for an excuse to escape the explosive situation.

Everything was like a storm, coming quickly and leaving just as fast. Only Yang Jin and Zhan Feng remained, sinking into an eerie silence, unsure of what to say to each other.

Zhan Feng suddenly chuckled softly. Yang Jin looked at him, and Zhan Feng said, “You see, no one really wants to believe me. I’m not even sure if the pursuit was from the Sanctum. Keeping me around does make me a ticking time bomb.”

“I believe you,” Yang Jin repeated. “Always.”

Zhan Feng said, “But I haven’t told you everything.”

“It’s just a matter of time,” Yang Jin said, stepping closer and patting Zhan Feng’s shoulder. “Some things are simple from the perspective of justice and fairness, but they’re complex from a human perspective. Even though we know the choice we made was the best one at the time, I still harbor a deep sense of guilt towards you. If I had arrived just one second earlier, maybe the outcome would have been different.” His face was very close to Zhan Feng’s, the closest he had ever been. Zhan Feng slightly lowered his eyes, his expression touched. A small, faint reddish mole was nestled in the center of his slightly furrowed brow—so small and subtle that it would have been almost imperceptible from afar.

The memory overlapped with eight years ago, except that at that time, the spot in the center of his brow had been stained with the blood of a bullet wound.

“But Yang Jin,” Zhan Feng looked up, “have you ever considered that maybe everything isn’t as we imagine it to be?”

TN:

Yang Jin you’re really irritating me ah! 8 years! You haven’t seen the dude for 8 f*cking years, within which he was part of a terrorist group, then he drugs your teammate, and you’ll “always” believe him. All this after you dragged these kids into your mission! And the way Xi Xi trusts you even with his life! You literally slept with him(with him probably not even realizing what was going on) even though it was strictly for the job…BUT STILL! This is so illogical for someone of your caliber! You’re a f*cking Qianfan elite operative. You can’t just blindly trust someone out of guilt and nostalgia dafuq.

Ehemm sorry for that irrational rant.

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