Chapter 103 - Young Hawk

Chapter 103 - Young Hawk

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

The heavy rain fell in torrents.

Early the next morning, all the students arrived at the training room drenched.

Outside the window was a gloomy and uneasy curtain of rain, thunder and lightning streaking across and coloring the walls a sudden grim white.

The students had all been soaked in the rain on the way over. The sound of water dripping in the training hall went on and on, the water gathering into puddles on the floor amidst the dull buzzing sound of conversation.

Until the main door that led into the front of the hall opened.

“Eh, it’s not Instructor Arjun?” A trainee who was sitting in the front row looked up.

According to the brochure, the second day of training would include a lecture regarding successful training by Instructor Arjun, a well-known training consultant at Floating City base.

The person who’d come out waved, “It’s all chicken soup advice, it doesn’t matter who says it! Instructor Arjun had to temporarily attend to something urgent… Alright, let’s look at the handout! Success is a science. Participating in our training is like exchanging a small amount of tuition fees for a shortcut to success––”

At the back of the classroom, Wu Jin froze for a moment.

Not only Arjun; several high-level people from Floating Base seemed to have all disappeared into the storm.

From beside him, Wen Lin inquired in a low voice, “Little Witch, what’s the matter?”

Wu Jin shook his head, but his heart started beating faster.

Even he couldn’t say what was wrong.

When he opened up the terminal for the 12th time to find that there had still been no reply to his message from the big boss, Wu Jin fell silent for a long time before quickly looking up Red in his address book.

He pressed send.

Floating City military base, L2 underground laboratory.

The values shown by the instruments were still abnormal, beyond the warning threshold. Almost all of the researchers from the entire laboratory were present, and there were more than 10 people crowded into the room, but it was so quiet that they could hear a pin drop.

One door away, someone was arguing fiercely, “It’s the equipment that’s been tampered with––”

“The investigation lasted all night. From two weeks ago until now, all the monitoring and substance monitoring confirmed that nobody had ever come in.”

“The equipment is normal? Then Brother Wei wouldn’t have had an accident at this step!”

The solemn faced Mao Dongqing who was standing to the side interjected, “Which step.”

Researcher Song gritted his teeth, “The step of immersion into memories––the one that is most likely to trap the patient in their subconscious.”

The silence was as cold as ice.

Researcher Song looked up again and made up his mind, “This can’t go on, I have to go in.”

Spare equipment was moved up from the armory and placed next to Wei Shi. After repeated testing, they were connected and started up. Researcher Song entered the second device, and the green indicator light lit up a long time later.

Mao Dongqing watched on silently, the green veins in the back of his hand prominent where it was clenched tight on the back of the chair.

The fourth course of treatment was not to ‘divert’, but to ‘recreate’. It didn’t look into the future and only focused on the past.

The instrument’s waves forced the subject to face their innermost fears––

If there was no fear, then it would present the patient’s most disgusting memory.

What Researcher Song had to do was to enter the memories of the trapped Wei Shi.

Beside him, the researcher reported to Mao Dongqing in a low voice, “Head Researcher Song has performed support therapy twice before and has a high degree of thought synchronization. As long as Head Researcher Song can go in, he’ll be able to bring out Brother Wei––”

A red light flashed suddenly, and the two lab researchers were stunned before hurriedly shutting down the synchronization between Researcher Song and Wei Shi.

There was a thump from within the instrument, and Researcher Song came out covering his left rib. His face was pale, and his stomach was churning.

“I was forced out.” He spoke with difficulty, “I couldn’t get in, Brother Wei resisted me very strongly. Inside,” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and frowning, “It was foggy, grey, and smelly, like there were people burning sulfur and coarse coal. I could see an iron tower and a gate.”

“It was this door that I couldn’t get through.”

Mao Dongqing’s hand clenched even tighter, the sinews appearing to be on the verge of bursting out, “What was on the door.”

Researcher Song paused, turning even paler as he searched through the last part of his memories, “On the door… there was an iron chain. The chain was rusty… and there was a sign.”

“A sign!” He suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air, “The 9th Federal Research Base.”

He looked at Mao Dongqing.

Mao Dongqing nodded, “I remember. The 9th Federal Research Base, also known as the R-Code military base, the genetic weaponry R&D base. Go out, I’ll go in.”

Researcher Song’s eyes were red, and he could barely catch his breath, “Are you crazy? I can’t get in, and you think you can?”

Mao Dongqing: “I have an impression of the base. Let me try.”

Researcher Song swallowed hard and rejected him flatly, “Impossible. Even I can’t get in. How can you get in as an Extroversion A? Even if you can get in, are you planning to fight against Brother Wei until you both self-destruct? Until both of you are brain dead?” He reprimanded him sternly, “His mind strongly rejects outside interference. Even if you know the base, do you dare say that you know Brother Wei?”

“An Extroversion A can’t go in. Even a C can’t get in. That iron gate is the barrier to his consciousness. Nobody would be willing to expose their most vulnerable consciousness to others.”

Mao Dongqing interrupted him coldly, “Solution.”

The man stood in front of the young researcher, and his aura was forceful, “I just need you to tell me how to solve it.”

Researcher Song’s lips moved, and he finally gritted his teeth before saying, “… Go look for someone.”

When the lights that left no shadows in the room were turned on again, the few researchers walked outside and gathered together silently in the corridor. Almost all the top officials of the Floating City base were there––six law enforcement officers, Arjun, the captain of the guards, and the deputy administrative chief.

“We need to find a person, or a certain type of person at the base. Extroversion E, one who has gone through professional training and has strong resistance against psychological pressure.”

“There are 3,077 people in the base, of which only 12 are registered as extroversion E. All of them are non-combatants. Outside the base…”

Arjun suddenly thought of something, “A few weeks ago, we also received an Extroversion E student at the special training base. The staff mentioned it to me.”

Researcher Song shook his head, “Limit it to the military bases.”

Mao Dongqing spoke indifferently, “Have everyone who meets the requirements come here.”

Researcher Song froze for a moment, “Those outside the base won’t voluntarily enter the laboratory equipment even if they’re Extroversion E…”

Mao Dongqing’s face was expressionless, “If they don’t want to go in, we’ll just force them in at gunpoint.”

Five minutes later, several suspension cars went out into the rainstorm. The alarm bell rang out three times, and Floating City’s base immediately entered a wartime state of alert.

“What’s the matter––” One of the guards that had been assembled for the emergency asked nervously.

“Those whose names are called out, step out. Also,” Captain Ye paused, “The base is completely sealed off and under martial law. Go and find all the monitoring data from the past two weeks.”

“There’s been a break-in at the lab.”

The rain continued to pour down.

Dark clouds, heavy rain, and dense fog almost caused the entire Floating City to topple over. Mao Dongqing walked along the corridor, and Researcher Song finally spoke up, “You…”

Mao Dongqing nodded, accepted the guinea pig from his assistant, and the left hand that had been clenched tight loosened up slightly.

The guinea pig sniffed the blood in the palm of his hand and tried to retreat, but eventually still chose to rub against Mao Dongqing’s hand.

Outside the corridor, beneath the eaves was a man who’d been squatting there for a long time––Red.

“Brother!” He stiffened his neck, his limbs flying everywhere in a flurry. He didn’t know if he should hang up or pick up the call, and after a long night of waiting, his hair was already in a mess, “Brother, say, do you think Brother Wei’s family members have a right to know…”

Researcher Song paused for a moment, “––What family members?”

Mao Dongqing suddenly opened his mouth, and a light converged in his eyes, “Wu Jin? He’s here in Floating City?”

The Floating special training base.

The students who were in training rooms and the ones attacking dynamic targets were dug out one after another for a so-called psychological test.

Caesar directly greeted Wu Jin with a hug, “What questions are these? Select one of the following segments and stretch it out as a shooting line? What’s a shooting line? Ah, Little Witch––”

Caesar hesitated. He could sense that Wu Jin wasn’t in a good state despite the masks that separated them.

The two instructors on the stage also looked solemn.

The special training base guaranteed the privacy of each student. They only knew that the Extroversion E student from a few weeks ago had come back for further training, but they couldn’t pick them out from among the sea of pure white masks.

All the way until Wu Jin handed in his test.

Both of them were relieved at the same time and were just planning to trick him away when the door to the classroom was pushed open with force from the outside.

“Fourth Law Enforcement Marshal…” One of the instructors was shocked.

Wu Jin suddenly looked towards Mao Dongqing.

Mao Dongqing spoke very simply, “Come with me.”

Wu Jin’s gaze instantly focused, and his eyes were cold as he turned to follow Mao Dongqing.

The person who’d appeared was Mao Dongqing.

Not big boss, and not Red.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and not to think about that strange dream––

The training instructor ran after them, “Wait a minute, Mr Law Enforcement Officer, this is the trainee you were looking for.”

He handed the psychological evaluation report to Mao Dongqing.

Openness S, Stability S, Extroversion E, Pressure Bearing Capacity A. Preliminary training program: Dynamic target shooting, close combat. Retraining program: Close combat. Bound instructor card ID: 0001.

Mao Dongqing paused.

His fingers clenched again, but his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

“Thank you. I’ll be responsible for taking him away.”

From behind him, Caesar, who’d just finished copying the answers from Wu Jin’s test paper, stared at the scene for a long time before suddenly jumping up, “Holy shit, what’s the situation? This, this, this… are you guys abducting him or––”

The two instructors immediately tried to appease him, “No, no! Ahhhh, this is a very special easter egg activity that we have during special training sessions. If you answer the questions quickly and score well, you can receive extra lessons for free!”

Caesar: “Why isn’t it taught at the base?!”

The instructor: “Oh, this supplementary training is very special. They’ll even be taken to see the big yellow duck in Floating City’s moat.”

Caesar: “It’s strange that the duck didn’t get smashed or lose air in this heavy rain––”

The instructor was getting frustrated, “Alright, alright, calm down, classmate.” He looked down at the reader and froze for a second.

Caesar had copied all of Wu Jin’s answers, and his score was very similar.

The instructor was struck dumb with awe, “This, this trainee is also an Extroversion E…”

Inside the suspension car.

Rain constantly washed over the window as Mao Dongqing looked at Wu Jin.

Wu Jin spoke slowly, “Mr Law Enforcement Officer, I want to know what happened.”

Mao Dongqing: “I hope you’re prepared.”

Wu Jin fell silent and finally nodded.

Inside the grim atmosphere in the suspension car, the 4th Law Enforcement Marshal calmly explained what had happened last night. To his surprise, Wu Jin was calmer than he’d expected.

Only his face was wan and pale.

Mao Dongqing: “My first guess was that Brother Wei’s consciousness would be more receptive to you, but you happen to also be an Extroversion E.”

“However, even if you’re an Extroversion E, there’s still a certain danger in entering another person’s consciousness. I can’t guarantee your safety, and you can refuse.”

Wu Jin interrupted him and agreed immediately, “I want to go in.”

Mao Dongqing looked at him for a long time and said a soft ‘Thank you’.

The chubby guinea pig was offered to Wu Jin.

The youth didn’t refuse and held the guinea pig in silence, allowing its chubby little head to rub against his neck.

Mao Dongqing: “I want to tell you frankly. Just now––if you had refused, I would’ve still forced you to go in.”

Wu Jin looked out the window and didn’t seem to move at all.

Mao Dongqing: “Because he’s more important than anything else to Floating City. I’m telling you as a way of reassuring you. We will bring him back at all costs, me included.”

Wu Jin finally showed a reaction, nodding slightly to Mao Dongqing.

Floating City military base.

The door to the laboratory opened, and everyone looked over at Mao Dongqing who walked in first––

Then, there was Wu Jin who was covered in a rain poncho.

The black tarpaulin covered up most of the youth, but he casually took it off and tossed it out the door, the rain dripping down his training suit like a river. He looked straight at the lab equipment stationed at the center.

Researcher Song was stunned for a moment before coming back to his senses.

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Wu Jin. He watched the fourth episode of the Crosson Show broadcast, and he’d even done all the preparations.

Extroversion E wasn’t rare in the genetic transformation industry. For these genetically modified human-shaped weapons, they were the only ‘gifted ones’ who could enter the modified humans’ consciousness when they were in high-risk states.

They were the opposite of the ‘human-shaped weapons’; naive, introverted, and full of emotion. However, Wu Jin was different from what he’d imagined.

Beneath the bright lamps, the pale youth was more like a scalpel, cutting straight into his field of vision.

Mao Dongqing stood with him.

This only represented one thing––Wu Jin, like him, was willing to do whatever it took to bring Wei Shi out.

Researcher Song stood up and strode over with large strides.

Wu Jin bowed his head and only said one thing, “I want to see him.”

The covering layer of the instrument slowly rose up, leaving only the three people in the laboratory––as well as Wei Shi, who lay there like he was sleeping.

The man’s eyebrows were twisted. He’d fallen into a nightmare that he couldn’t be extricated from under the bright, day-like lights. He was clearly able to reach the lights, but when his eyes were closed, he was cast in deep shadows.

Wu Jin looked at him quietly.

It was just like his dream.

When Wu Jin looked up again, his lips were bloodless, but he still asked Researcher Song very earnestly for instructions.

“The two instruments will be connected. When you’re ready, you’ll be able to enter Brother Wei’s consciousness.” Researcher Song explained, “I need you to prepare yourself mentally. Once you go in, your will will be dominated by his, and you will be forced to share emotions with him. You’ll also be dragged into the whirlpool of his memories.”

“It may be at any memory from any point in time. The only thing we know is the scene of his memories. The scene is the R-Code base.”

Wu Jin: “What do I need to do?”

Researcher Song: “Have him trust you and be willing to let you invade his consciousness, and then––bring him out.”

“Trust is a double-edged sword.” Researcher Song paused slightly and spoke solemnly, “If it’s not manipulated properly…”

Wu Jin looked at him.

Researcher Song: “You might also be left there.”

Wu Jin simply nodded.

Mao Dongqing looked at him with appreciation in his gaze. Without any further delay, Researcher Song quickly supplied Wu Jin with the information he’d collected. “Smoke and fog, an iron tower, an iron gate, eerie crying, and mechanical ruins piled inside the gate. The most important element is the door––we assailed it three times, but nobody could walk through it.”

“Try to get in, and don’t get totally immersed in the scene. We will be here to provide guidance.”

Wu Jin understood.

The lights on the second instrument turned on again, and the green light flashed.

Mao Dongqing looked at the pale green light.

The light would go out if Wu Jin succeeded and would turn red in warning if he failed.

Beside him, Researcher Song was doing the final preparations for Wu Jin, “Are you ready?”

The youth nodded, then suddenly turned back and walked over to the sleeping god.

He stooped down and kissed the man on the back of his cold hand before striding into the other instrument.

Cold probes pierced his skin. Wu Jin subconsciously covered his stomach, and his field of vision swirled.

His bone marrow seemed to be draining away, his muscles trembled uncontrollably, and there was darkness in front of his eyes. Wu Jin clenched his teeth and held on until his consciousness started to blur––

The first ray of light finally appeared.

Then the second, the third. The light converged, and he opened his eyes––

The grey air was choked with black smoke. Wu Jin was curled up weakly on the ground, and it took a long time before he could crawl back up.

Then, he almost flipped over.

His center of gravity was unstable.

Wu Jin held up his hands in a daze.

They were a little small.

His height had shrunk… he was probably only about 14 or 15 years old.

He stopped studying himself and tried to look forward.

Iron gate, rusty lock, the 9th Federal Research Base.

R-Code base.

Wu Jin slowly dragged his extremely unbalanced, small body to the iron gate, and his heart almost jumped up into his throat. This was precisely the door that he had to find a way in––

From inside the door, a gaze swept towards him.

Wu Jin looked over subconsciously and opened his eyes wide in surprise.

A 15 or 16 year old youth was squinting at him. His right hand was wounded, but his sleeves were still rolled up, and his left hand held a wooden stick the way one would hold a sword.

His pupils were dark and lightless, and the area around his eyebrows was much more tender than they would become 10 years later.

But they were still sharp when he raised his eyes.

Like a hawk in the mountains.

xiin: so… plot. There will be mentions of violence, (child?) abuse, genetic transformation and generally unhealthy environments. This marks the start of the ‘real plot’ and second half of the story~ the second half of the novel still has cool Crosson Show knockout matches, but it also has more ML, and more backstory (and real life progression).

Juurensha: Yessss, backstory time! Get him out of there, Little Witch!