Deus Ex Machina: Chapter 34

Chapter 34

“Yixi!” Ying Si shouted, “Where are you going? It’s dangerous up ahead!” He hadn’t fully recovered from the explosion when he saw Shi Yixi recklessly running toward the blast site, moving so fast it seemed like pure instinct, without a second thought. Ying Si, whose abilities weren’t physical, tried to chase him as fast as he could, but it was futile. Luckily, Dalia was also running after him.

“Dalia! Hurry up!” Ying Si was out of breath, having no more energy to keep running. He gasped into the communicator, asking Feng Mang, “Wh…what do we do? Yixi ran over! That idiot…what’s he thinking? Is that Yang Jin guy still in there? He…” He wanted to ask if Yang Jin was still alive, but given the current situation, the chances seemed slim.

“I don’t know,” Feng Mang, sounding unusually calm, seemed too shocked to panic. “Zhan Feng? Dr. Bai… are you both okay?”

A coughing fit came from the other end, and Bai Yunci responded, “Almost died.”

Feng Mang asked, “Can you tell us your situation?”

“When I was approaching the building, it suddenly exploded, and I got caught in the blast and crashed.” Zhan Feng said, “Right now, I’m probably the closest to the explosion site, but the whole building’s been leveled. Yang Jin… Yang Jin still hasn’t come out.”

The signal to Yang Jin’s communicator had completely cut off. Everyone knew what that meant, but no one wanted to say it.

“Stop!” Dalia shouted, “Xixi! Stop!”

Shi Yixi didn’t seem to hear her and kept running desperately forward. Dalia, feeling her strength wane, gritted her teeth and used all her energy to catch up. With a leap, she tackled Shi Yixi to the ground. They rolled several times, and Dalia, now straddling him, slapped Shi Yixi across the face and yelled, “Stop it!”

Shi Yixi blinked, dazed, and said, “He’s still in there.”

“The building’s blown to pieces! No one could survive that!” Dalia said. “It’s too dangerous there, you can’t go.”

“No.” Shi Yixi replied calmly, “He can. I can feel it, he’s not dead.”

Dalia asked, “So you’re going to save him?”

Shi Yixi nodded.

“Forget it!” Dalia delivered a hard punch to Shi Yixi’s head, knocking him out cold, then hoisted him up and started walking back.

Ying Si was there to meet them, astonished to see Dalia carrying Shi Yixi. He rushed over and asked, “You…”

“He wouldn’t come with me, so I had no choice.” Dalia explained, “Yixi says Yang Jin is still alive. He felt it.”

Ying Si thought for a moment, then said, “…When Qianfan was destroyed, Yixi and I were there. Everyone else died, but Yang Jin survived. So…so…”

Dalia glanced back at the explosion site, now a hellish landscape of flames and debris. Rescue workers were still rushing to the scene, but the damage was beyond measure. All they could do was try to prevent further disaster.

Aurora, this modern metropolis, had turned into a living hell that night. News of the catastrophe was spreading across the world, with every screen displaying the terrifying scenes.

“So what can we do?” Dalia asked. “There’s nothing we can do. We promised the blind lunatic we’d keep ourselves safe. Let’s go back.”

Ying Si nodded.

Zhan Feng quickly found Bai Yunci through the thick smoke. There was no one else left there, and Bai Yunci had injected himself with a coagulant painkiller, stabilizing his condition for now.

“How are you?” Bai Yunci asked Zhan Feng.

“Not bad, at least the helicopter didn’t explode.” Zhan Feng’s gaze turned toward the distant ruins. “He didn’t make it out.”

“Yeah,” Bai Yunci replied.

Zhan Feng turned back to look at Bai Yunci with a questioning expression. Bai Yunci shook his head and said, “No point in a futile effort. Save your strength.”

Hearing that, Zhan Feng lowered his eyes, then slowly glanced one last time at the wreckage. Finally, he turned to Bai Yunci with determination and said, “Retreat.”

Yang Jin was groggy, his mind constantly disturbed by an indistinguishable white noise that clouded his consciousness. He vaguely remembered a flash of white light before his eyes; he knew it was an explosion, but what happened afterward, he couldn’t recall.

This feeling was oddly familiar.

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious in the darkness, but just when he thought he’d never wake up, he heard unfamiliar voices.

“Cell regeneration monitoring, normal.”

“Life cycle monitoring, normal.”

“Muscle function reduced to the lowest level.”

“Consciousness awakening in five minutes.”

A strange numbness buzzed through Yang Jin’s head, like a current surging through his brain. He abruptly opened his eyes. The harsh, cold white light blinded him, and for a moment, he couldn’t see anything. Slowly, the surroundings took on clearer shapes, and the sound of electronic equipment buzzed in his ears. Several masked figures surrounded him in eerie silence, not speaking a word.

As his other senses gradually returned, Yang Jin realized he was completely naked, his body connected to numerous tubes of varying sizes, with an oxygen mask sealed over his mouth. He had a vague sense of consciousness but no strength at all, unable to move—like meat on a chopping block.

“You…,” Yang Jin weakly asked, “who are you?”

No one answered him.

Yang Jin closed his eyes, trying to gather his strength, but it was futile.

“Muscle function restored to ten percent,” one of the masked figures reported, while the others diligently recorded data. The one reporting then asked, “Should we suppress the increase to twenty percent? It might be dangerous.”

“No need for now,” a cold voice above Yang Jin’s head replied.

Yang Jin couldn’t move and couldn’t see the person directly above him, but the voice sounded familiar.

“The primary biological activity sample has been collected,” the voice continued. “Let him go back to sleep.”

An instrument began beeping, and just as Yang Jin felt he was about to visualize the owner of the voice, he plunged into darkness and passed out again.

When Shi Yixi opened his eyes, his head felt as if it had been struck by a rock. Then he realized he was in Feng Mang’s hall, where a few people stood around, their expressions grim, not paying attention to him.

Outside, daylight had broken, and the rain pattered down steadily. The city of Aurora was shrouded in dark clouds.

The clouds weighed heavier on people’s hearts.

Shi Yixi felt dazed, fragmented memories of the events from the previous night flickering in his mind, distant like a dream—so far that for a moment, he wondered if it had all been a nightmare. But daylight had come, and nothing had changed. Yang Jin would suddenly appear in the crowd, cracking some absurd joke.

No, Yang Jin was gone.

Shi Yixi shot up from the sofa, finally drawing the attention of those around him. Ying Si rushed over and asked, “How are you?”

“What… what are you all doing?” Shi Yixi asked, “Where is Yang Jin?” Even though he knew the answer in his heart, he couldn’t help but ask again.

Zhan Feng and Bai Yunci exchanged uncertain glances, not knowing how to respond. Feng Mang could only shrug regretfully and say, “The rescue team got the situation under control by dawn, but there’s no useful information from the search. Yang Jin, he… might be…”

“He’s still alive,” Shi Yixi stood up and said.

Feng Mang said, “How could anyone survive that?” He wanted to bring Shi Yixi back to reality, but Bai Yunci interrupted, walking up to Shi Yixi and seriously asking, “Is that what you feel, or did he tell you?”

“Feel,” Shi Yixi scratched his head, “I don’t know, it’s like he can’t tell me anything, but I can feel it…”

Bai Yunci asked, “Feel what?”

Shi Yixi described, “It’s like there’s a string in my heart, still connected, not broken.” He paused, then continued, “Qianfan’s destruction was far worse than this, yet Yang Jin didn’t die. He crawled out of the rubble himself. Ying Si and I saw it with our own eyes.”

Ying Si nodded in agreement.

No one else present knew the exact details of that day. Even when Yang Jin had briefly mentioned it to Bai Yunci, he had glossed over the unimportant parts, so no one had ever questioned why he alone had survived.

Could it be just that his body is stronger than most? No matter how powerful a person is, they are still flesh and blood—unable to withstand absolute destruction.

“How is that possible?” Feng Mang, a firm believer in science, raised an objection. “Humans are just humans, not made of steel and iron. How could he have survived? Yixi, I know you respect Yang Jin a lot, and I understand you’re upset, but being upset doesn’t mean you can start fantasizing. This… it goes against the basic rules of the material world.”

Shi Yixi explained, “I have no reason to lie to you.”

“If Yixi says he’s alive, then he’s alive,” Bai Yunci said, tapping Shi Yixi’s temple with his finger. He then asked Feng Mang, “Basic rules of the material world? How do you explain what’s happened here?”

“I…” Feng Mang stammered, “That’s different… These things in quantum physics are already absurd in themselves.”

“But they exist and have actually happened,” Bai Yunci countered.

The conversation between these two geniuses in their respective fields felt elusive. Zhan Feng, completely puzzled, asked, “What are you two talking about? Lao Bai, why do you believe Yang Jin isn’t dead just because Yixi says so?”

“It’s a long story. Back in Sand City, to let Shi Yixi infiltrate the Inner City, we once did something,” Bai Yunci began to explain the principle, but Feng Mang coughed, reminding him, “No need for that much detail, just summarize the conclusion.” He shot a glance at Shi Yixi while saying this.

Bai Yunci got the hint and gave a brief, high-level explanation to help Zhan Feng understand the situation without delving into specifics. After listening, Zhan Feng thought it over carefully and said, “It was indeed a risky yet highly creative experiment.”

Ying Si whispered to Dalia, “Scientists are all crazy. He just called that creative—shouldn’t it be called twisted?”

Dalia replied, “How should I know?”

Their conversation was quickly drowned out by Feng Mang, who raised his voice, “But how do you explain the rescue team’s report that no life signs were detected?”

“He…” Shi Yixi lowered his head slightly, as if trying to sense something, “He’s not there anymore…”

“Huh?” Feng Mang was shocked.

Shi Yixi continued, “He’s in a faraway place… no, not very far. But it’s so faint, I can’t quite tell where.”

Zhan Feng said, “He must have been taken by someone.”

“So, this was planned?” Bai Yunci asked.

“Yang Jin told me to find the third drone, but I couldn’t find it after searching for a long time,” Zhan Feng looked out the window, “Then, the building exploded. There are two possibilities: one, Yang Jin accidentally encountered that drone; the other possibility…”

Bai Yunci finished the thought, “We didn’t need to find the drone, because it would come to us… or, to Yang Jin.”

Zhan Feng sighed, “There’s no way to prove a direct connection to the latter.”

“That’s not the point!” Feng Mang interjected. “The important thing is, if Yang Jin is still alive and was taken, who took him? And how do we find him?”

Shi Yixi walked over to the window, gazing at the ruins in the center of the city from a distance. A cordon had been set up around the area, and not far away, the Intercontinental Alliance’s headquarters had activated its highest-level alert system. Screens of all sizes on the streets were broadcasting news reports about last night’s events. In an era of peace, such an attack was considered terrifying, yet no organization had claimed responsibility. The conflicts that had once occurred in the shadows were now dragged into the light, revealing to those basking in the sun of peace that the world was, in fact, in a terrible state. People had been living in an illusionary dream.

One moment, it was all songs and celebration; the next, it had turned into hell. The people of this extravagant city were accustomed to their indulgent lives. They had an immense confidence in humanity’s technological civilization. This was the most developed place in the world, with the most advanced technology and trade networks. It was a place where any disturbance would have far-reaching consequences. Neither the good nor the bad wanted to see this city wounded.

People had every reason to believe that Aurora could continue to shine in the sunlight.

But the confidence they had built over decades was utterly destroyed by this one explosion.

In the face of destruction, they were powerless, left only to cry out in despair.

The news anchors on TV kept asking, “In this moment of crisis, where are our heroes? Why has there been no response from Qianfan? Why has the Intercontinental Alliance not yet released any emergency plans?”

“They would never announce Qianfan’s demise at a time like this,” Bai Yunci commented.

“This explosion,” Shi Yixi said calmly, “feels very much like Qianfan.”

Ying Si walked over as well, adding, “Now that you mention it… it really does feel like it.”

Their conversation triggered a realization among the others. Bai Yunci and Feng Mang simultaneously said, “The Sanctuary?” Then everyone turned to look at Zhan Feng.

Suddenly becoming the center of attention didn’t make Zhan Feng uncomfortable. He simply chuckled coldly and asked, “What are you all looking at me for?”

Feng Mang said, “You’re the only one here with ties to the Sanctuary.”

“No, it has nothing to do with me,” Zhan Feng responded. “I don’t know anything. And besides, why would I want to harm Yang Jin?”

Bai Yunci, lost in thought, said, “Maybe they just found us. Right now, the most urgent thing is to find Yang Jin. The Sanctuary hates him to the core. If he’s still alive… his situation might be worse than death.” He turned to Shi Yixi and asked, “Yixi, can you sense anything else?”

Shi Yixi lightly placed his hand on the glass, closed his eyes, and whispered, “It feels like he’s sleeping.”

Zhan Feng stood up and said, “Feng Mang, access the records for all transportation in Aurora. The city has traffic restrictions in place right now, so it’s not easy to move a person like Yang Jin. If we can’t find him, we’ll search for the Sanctuary’s base in Aurora.”

“No problem,” Feng Mang immediately went into work mode.

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