Earth’s Redemption: Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Communist Youth League Enrollment

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake 

Cheng Yuxue jumped down from the tree.

After he landed, Ning Buwen discovered that there was actually a bird’s nest on the large tree, big enough to accommodate an adult man. He immediately turned his surprised gaze toward Cheng Yuxue.

This was definitely a “nest” Cheng Yuxue made himself.

“Do you like it?” Cheng Yuxue asked, clearly pleased with Ning Buwen’s recognition of his work. “If you like it, I can make another one for you, but this nest is my private property, and you can’t go up there.”

“No, thanks.” Although Ning Buwen had known that Cheng Yuxue wasn’t normal mentally for a long time, seeing him living in a bird’s nest was still a huge shock.

“How can such a small tree accommodate you?” Ning Buwen couldn’t help but ask.

The tree in front of him appeared to be only about ten years old. It wasn’t very large. He could probably climb it, but lying in it was basically a dream.

“There’s someone in the First Legion with an attribute called [Object Strengthening]. I asked him to help me enhance the tree’s ability to withstand attacks, so it can’t be knocked down even by a rocket launcher,” Cheng Yuxue explained matter-of-factly.

…

It seemed like Ning Buwen had suddenly understood why the other Legions were so annoyed with Cheng Yuxue. Just look at what he had done.

Asking an elite to strengthen a tree so you could build a bird’s nest? If this were posted on a forum, it would probably generate thousands of comments!

“Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. Have you moved all your things here?” Cheng Yuxue glanced at Ning Buwen, lowered his head, and reached out to pick up Xiao Xin. “It looks like you’ve gained a few pounds. You’ve put on some weight.”

The way he lowered his head and held Xiao Xin in his arms was exactly the same as in the “Spirit Summoning” instance.

As long as Cheng Yuxue was willing to disguise himself, he could make anyone in the world like him.

Xiao Xin licked Cheng Yuxue’s hand in a very servile manner.

“I’ve moved in.” Ning Buwen looked away unconsciously. “Xiao Xin hasn’t had a bath in several days.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yuxue immediately let Xiao Xin go.

Haha, you’re quite clean.

“King, the task you assigned has been completed. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be off,” the captain of the security team said, his demeanor subservient. He wished his tall figure could shrink to one meter three, so his presence wouldn’t be so noticeable.

“Off you go,” Cheng Yuxue waved his hand, speaking briskly. “We’ll handle the rest ourselves.”

“Thank you, King.” The captain, hearing Cheng Yuxue’s response, immediately bowed and swiftly disappeared, vanishing like smoke.

Ning Buwen reached out, but didn’t even manage to brush the corner of his clothes.

He had to have been running too fast.

“I don’t really understand.” Ning Buwen was helpless. “I can tell that you don’t really like me, you’re just curious about me. If you’re just curious, do you really need to go this far?”

“Hmm…” Cheng Yuxue replied with a playful look on his face. “I don’t know if I like you or not, but I can feel that you and I are essentially the same kind of person. If I had to say something, it’s probably the difference between a rough stone and a polished diamond. There’s still a layer of disguise on you.”

“I’m not sick.” Ning Buwen held his breath and finally said three words.

In fact, he had a lot of unpleasant things to say, but he was afraid that saying them would make Cheng Yuxue even more excited, so he had to hold back.

“Many people are sick but don’t realize it,” Cheng Yuxue shrugged. “I know my thinking is different from yours, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing for me to be like this.”

After saying that, Cheng Yuxue climbed up the tree again and lay down in the bird’s nest he had carefully made. “I’m a little tired. Go to your room by yourself and don’t disturb me.”

Ning Buwen felt that Cheng Yuxue seemed a little angry, but not quite.

Cheng Yuxue didn’t seem like the kind of person who would get angry over something like this.

Ning Buwen was deep in thought when he saw Xiao Xin squatting beside him, looking at him with a wronged expression. He instantly realized.

He was really stubborn.

Why do I care so much about Cheng Yuxue?

No, I don’t want to.

It has nothing to do with me.

“Okay.” Ning Buwen said, and the speed at which smoke left his heels was no slower than that of the security captain.

Cheng Yuxue poked his head out of the bird’s nest and saw the backs of the man and dog quickly disappearing.

The bird’s nest where he slept was actually very exquisite.

Almost everything was woven with feathers from monsters in game instances, and its level of  comfort was probably several times higher than the best mattresses from before the apocalypse. Just this one nest was enough to pay off Ning Buwen’s ten-year debt.

“The Second Legion isn’t bad.” Cheng Yuxue said to himself. “I hope he can live longer.”

“Others laugh at me for being too crazy, I laugh at them for not seeing through me.”

As Cheng Yuxue spoke, he started laughing. “People from the old days were more interesting to talk to.”

Perhaps he thought of something, Cheng Yuxue slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

He liked this bird’s nest very much and enjoyed the feeling of being a bird occasionally.

The artificial sunlight soon disappeared, replaced by artificial moonlight.

But even if it was fake moonlight, it was still breathtakingly beautiful when it shone on Cheng Yuxue’s face.

Quiet and beautiful.

Soon, a ferocious beast slowly walked over from behind the hospital, lay down under the tree, and waited for its owner to wake up.

Ning Buwen’s ward was very ordinary, with just a bed, table, chair, cabinet, and a few books on the desk, all of which were philosophy books.

Simply put, Ward 002 felt more like a home than the house Ning Buwen had rented before.

“Now that we’re here, we should make the best of it, Xiao Xin. We’ll be living here from now on.”

“Woof.”

“Do you think Cheng Yuxue is angry?” Ning Buwen pinched Xiao Xin’s ear, “If he’s really angry, what do you think we should do?”

“Woof.”

“Oh, I’m so stupid, you can’t talk.” Ning Buwen sighed, “I’m so annoyed. I’ll report to the Second Legion tomorrow and go to Pandora to challenge it early.”

“Woof.”

“I’m not sick.” Ning Buwen pinched Xiao Xin’s fat belly again, “No, I’ll take you to take a bath.”

“Woof——”

“You have to wash even if you don’t want to!”

The base of the Second Legion was right next to the First Legion, only half an hour away by car. The security team had its own private cars, so they assumed the corresponding driver duties.

“Hey, aren’t you staying in the ward?” The security guard acting as the driver looked a little confused, “Why did you come out from the small garden next to it?”

The green belt next to the hospital was Cheng Yuxue’s small garden, in which were various monsters and magical plants he had brought out from instances. Sometimes, when he felt like it, he just slept in the garden. They usually don’t dare get close.

“No, I just got lost.” Ning Buwen said calmly, “Is the King awake?”

“We don’t know. We don’t dare ask about his whereabouts, and we can’t find them out. Players of his level can definitely enter and exit Pandora at any time. Sometimes it’s common for him not to come back for ten days or half a month.” The security driver said indifferently, “You’ll get used to it. The King likes to torment people, but he usually won’t kill them. At most, they’ll stay in the hospital for a year or two.”

Even so, that was already scary.

“Nevermind, could you please take me to the Second Legion?”

“This is my mission, get in the car.”

The Second Legion’s office was a skyscraper.

The offices of the Legions were almost the same. There are several floors dedicated to classes and accommodation, and one for the cafeteria. It was almost like a small society; self-sufficient. The families of the Legion members live in some houses near the building and aren’t allowed to go into the office building. If they rashly break in, they’ll only get killed.

Fortunately, Ning Buwen had already contacted the Second Legion beforehand, so there was a special person to pick him up this time.

After joining the Legion, Ning Buwen learned through messages sent by the Legion representative that the establishment of each Legion required finding a Military Establishment Order in a Pandora instance. Only with this token could they get the recognition of Pandora and successfully establish a Legion. That was why they had always been a super main Legion with forty-nine subsidiary Legions.

As one of the subsidiary groups of the Pangu Legion, the Second Legion naturally also had a few permissions. For example, after creating a team and inputting the team name, its members would be guaranteed to be assigned to the same team, without needing special binding items. In emergencies, the deputy captain or captain could directly enter the game to rescue their team members. 

The information didn’t mention much about what else was there. You’d know that only after you’re promoted.

“You came at an unfortunate time. One of our teams sent out a distress signal. The instance has temporarily mutated and the difficulty doubled, so the captain went straight into the instance to rescue them.” The team member guiding Ning Buwen said this with some concern, “But your matters have been arranged. The captain thinks highly of you, so you don’t need to attend classes. You’ll be grouped with the newcomers from the last few batches who’ve already received training, and will head straight into Pandora.”

“How many new people joined?” Ning Buwen asked curiously.

“There are about four, including you, it makes five. Our teams usually have between five and eight people.” The guide replied, “But there is one person in this team that you need to pay attention to.”

“Who?”

“This team’s serial number is 818. The captain is Liang Fei. He’s been through five instances. He was originally from the Twenty Sixth Legion and was poached by our staff. He’s very capable, and you can trust him. The other two were originally from other Legions and are good people. The last one was redeemed by our captain from prison.”

“From prison?” Ning Buwen almost thought he had heard it wrong. The first three were normal, so why did the last one change so suddenly?

“He’s a prisoner from before the apocalypse. He seems to have committed a financial crime. Our captain thought he was a good fit for the game, so he used his authority to redeem him. He’s a guarantee for you newcomers.” The guide was used to it. Almost every newcomer would be curious. “The captain said that as long as the prisoner trains and protects more newcomers, his sentence will be reduced.”

This could barely be considered a benefit.

The world had become like this now. Except for heinous criminals, other prisoners could get their sentences reduced by participating in the Pandora Game. Otherwise, where would there be so much manpower and resources to take care of these prisoners? Moreover, Pandora has dragged prisoners to game instances before. Instead of waiting for these prisoners to use Pandora to unlock their attributes and escape from prison, it was better to supervise them in advance and make contributions to this society.

However, someone who needed the authority of the Second Legion’s commander to redeem them has most likely not committed ordinary economic crimes.

Ning Buwen quickly recalled the corresponding criminal’s name in his mind to see if he could match it.

“Did his sentence get reduced?”

“Well…it’s increased instead. He entered Pandora with a few new teams before. He was complained about because he acted too independently. If you hadn’t come, we would have planned to send him to the slammer to serve his sentence again.” The guide looked helpless.

“What does this have to do with me?” Ning Buwen had no idea what was going on.

“Because he’s someone you know,” the guide said as he pushed open the door. “According to our investigation, you two came from the same welfare home, so the captain said it’s most appropriate to hand it over to you.”

Ha?

But my orphanage has been in operation for at least several decades, with so many children coming in every year. To me, what’s the difference between a child from the orphanage and a stranger?

“That’s it. Goodbye.” The guide said simply and immediately left.

Ning Buwen walked into the room and saw two men and one woman.

“Hello, you must be Ning Buwen, right? I heard you have an S rating, and that your whole group got invitations. You’re a genius among geniuses.” An ordinary man with a medium build and average looks came up and took the initiative to shake Ning Buwen’s hand. “I’m Liang Fei, the captain of our Team 818 for the time being. These two are Cao Qiu and Wen Duoduo.”

Cao Qiu was a girl who looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years old. She had a pretty face, a pair of big eyes that looked very watery, and a small dimple on her cheek, which made her look very cute.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a handsome guy. Hello, I’m Cao Qiu.”

The other boy had very long bangs, pale skin, and overly red lips. He looked like some kind of nocturnal creature. His self-introduction consisted of just three words, “Wen Duoduo.”

“Hello, I’m Ning Buwen. Thank you for your guidance.” Ning Buwen also greeted them. After saying that, Ning Buwen looked around the room again to make sure there was no fifth person. “I heard there should be another person.”

“He just went to the bathroom and should be back soon.” Cao Qiu smiled. “The captain said you two knew each other before, so I felt relieved. I’m not very good at getting along with him.”

“Wait, I may not know him.” Ning Buwen interrupted Cao Qiu, “I heard we’re from the same orphanage, but there were many children in the orphanage, and every year a group of children left and a group of children arrived. So I may not know him…”

“Ning! Bu! Wen!”

The door was kicked open.

Ning Buwen heard someone shout his name and instinctively turned his head.

He immediately saw someone charging toward him.

“Watch out!” Liang Fei couldn’t help but exclaim.

Ning Buwen’s reaction was much quicker than Liang Fei’s words. As soon as he saw the shadow, his body instinctively lowered, and he slid out of the way.

The person missed.

“Woof.” Xiao Xin immediately lunged at the person who tried to attack its master, biting onto his arm and not letting go.

“Let go of me!” The man tried to shake Xiao Xin off.

“Xiao Xin, let him go,” Ning Buwen said, looking at the man for a moment, feeling a sense of familiarity.

Reluctantly, Xiao Xin released its grip.

“You’ve gotten bold? Letting a dog bite me?” The man was furious. “If you have the guts, challenge me one-on-one. What kind of hero sends a dog to do their dirty work?”

“Why don’t you talk about what kind of hero you are, sneaking up on me?” Ning Buwen wasn’t the least bit polite.

“You got caught off guard because you’re useless,” the man sneered. “I didn’t expect you to still be alive and even join the Second Legion. It seems like fate’s giving me the chance to get revenge.”

“Wait, wait,” Ning Buwen interrupted. “Can I ask who you are?”

“You don’t remember me?” The man seemed more surprised than Ning Buwen.

Should I remember him?

“You seem a bit familiar, but I really can’t recall,” Ning Buwen said, studying the man’s face but still coming up blank.

The man was quite handsome, the upright, righteous type. It was likely his appearance that helped him with financial fraud; otherwise, who would believe him and invest in his schemes?

“Ning Buwen, don’t you feel guilty?” The man was absolutely furious. “That name should’ve been mine! Back then you beat me in rock-paper-scissors and chose the name before me. Have you forgotten?”

Ning Buwen blinked, as if carefully recalling.

The orphanage.

“You were number four.”

“You were number five.”

“Wait, you’ll pick numbers in order. Whoever gets which number, that’s their name, got it?”

“Got it.” The kids all said in unison.

“Xiao Pan ¹, Xiao Pan.” A boy showed a toothy grin and poked the boy in front of him, “I don’t like number five. Let’s play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets number four, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Rock-paper-scissors, I win! Number four is mine. Here, you can have my number.”

“Waah, can I not switch?”

“Nope. You lost, you have to switch.”

…

“You picked number four and became Ning Buwen, while I got stuck with that useless name, An Buli.” The man—no, An Buli—had already rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight again. “Still don’t remember?”

With this reminder, Ning Buwen finally recalled.

Oh right, there was something like that.

“Ah, you’re that Xiao Pan! It’s been years, and you’ve done really well with your weight loss,” Ning Buwen smiled. “You’ve remembered all this time? I really admire your persistence. I totally forgot about it, haha.”

“This crappy name has been following me all the time. I can’t forget it even if I want to!” An Buli wanted to move forward, but was stopped by Liang Fei. “The hatred of someone stealing my name is irreconcilable!”

Ning Buwen scratched his ear and said, “You should accept the loss. Why do you blame me for your loss? I didn’t cheat.” After saying that, Ning Buwen turned to look at Liang Fei and said, “Captain, should we leave for the game instance? We’ve been wasting a long time here.”

“Yes, yes, it’s time to get ready.” Liang Fei also felt that he couldn’t let the two of them quarrel like this anymore, so he whispered, “An Buli, if you do it again, you’ll go back to your cell to continue serving your sentence. Are you sure you want to waste this last chance?”

An Buli slowly lowered his raised fist, looking unwilling.

Yes, this was his last chance, and he was meeting the person he had hated for so many years. How could he be willing to give up this opportunity to leave prison?

“Okay, I’ll give you face. I’ll come back to settle accounts after I clear the instance and get my probation period.”

Ning Buwen just smiled and said nothing.

A man who lost to him when he was a few years old, a man who was caught for fraud, would definitely not be his opponent even if he had a decent brain.

Ning Buwen had seen all kinds of storms and waves, while An Buli wasn’t even seaspray.

“Xiao Xin, you did a good job. I’ll give you a snack when I come back.” Ning Buwen touched Xiao Xin’s head and didn’t take An Buli seriously at all.

An Buli wanted to move forward again, but was held back by Liang Fei.

“The captain is quite reliable.” Ning Buwen pushed Wen Duoduo’s shoulder, “What do you say?”

Wen Duoduo glanced at Ning Buwen quietly and nodded.

“Let’s go.” Liang Fei saw that the two of them had stopped arguing, and silently wiped the sweat off his head, just praying that the two of them would not hold each other back in the instance. “There’s a special passage in our room, and we can go as long as the team is together. Come over quickly, it’s almost time.”

Ning Buwen, An Buli, Cao Qiu, Wen Duoduo and Liang Fei stood together.

“Members of Team 818 are here, prepare to teleport.” A mechanical voice sounded.

In an instant, he was surrounded by beams of light.

“As expected of the Legion, this treatment is really something. They even give a pre-teleport warning,” Ning Buwen thought back to when he was suddenly pulled in for the first time, and compared it to now. He couldn’t help but think joining an organization was the smartest decision he had ever made.

“Country bumpkin,” An Buli sneered.

The group quickly disappeared from the room.

A familiar scenery and a familiar customer service.

“Welcome to the Pandora Game.”

The author has something to say:

An Buli²: This name sounds awful.  

Ping Buguan³: You speak as if my name sounds really nice.  

Le( or Yue) Buting⁴: Hehe.

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Translator Notes

1. Little Fatty[↩]
2. calmy refusing to acknowledge/peacefully ignore[↩]
3. calmly be unconcerned[↩]
4. happily not listening[↩]