Our Reality

Chapter 75

[1456.06.17 03:30:21]

Three white capsules suddenly appeared on the transmission platform.

The hatches opened. Three figures in black combat uniforms with the number ‘7’ written on their chests exited from the capsules.

In the quiet but busy third command centre, someone let out a scream high enough to shatter glass.

Immediately afterwards, all the people working there swarmed over and exclaimed happily.

“It’s the seventh squad!”

“The seventh squad is back!!!”

“Ahhhh!!!! The seventh squad is back!!”

“Why are there only three?”

“Hurry and notify the commander-in-chief and Chief Wang!”

Two minutes later, amidst the fuss, three more capsules quietly appeared on the transmission platform.

Inside the capsule, the transparent panels lit up.

In this slightly dazzling light, Song Qinglan saw the robotic arm pass over a bag of nutrient solution. He received it and took a few sips. Before the nausea could fade, a notice appeared on the panel.

[Welcome, Song Qinglan. Welcome back to Tianqiong.]

[Congratulations, you have completed 13 A-level missions, 21 B-level missions, 2 Super S-level mission and one S-level mission. Current rating: ***.]

The rating was displayed as garbled characters. The system seemed to be having difficulty calculating it. The screen then changed: [Current rating: To be determined.]

After looking at those numbers, Song Qinglan allowed the robotic arm to take the nutrient solution away and then proceeded to remove the safety belts and open the capsule hatch.

“Cap Song!”

“Cap Song!!”

Teammates and staff hurried over one after another.

Li Chun and Zhou Mingxuan who had arrived together with Song Qinglan also came out from their capsules.

Everyone’s excitement was rather overwhelming. The staff quickly arrived at the scene and began to do preliminary physical checks on them one by one.

Wearing a tank top, Song Qinglan lowered himself slightly for them to measure his blood pressure and pulse and swept his eyes across the crowd. He saw Li Chun and Zhou Mingxuan who came back with him as well as Tang Qi, Tang Le and Duan Wen who came back earlier than them. All that was missing was a certain tall and slender figure.

His heart sank. Song Qinglan checked the room again and then looked back at the transmission platform.

Six capsules sat quietly on the platform.

Zhou Mingxuan also noticed this, “Where’s Advisor Ji?”

Duan Wen: “Advisor Ji?!”

Tang Le said, “Fuck, didn’t we come back together? Where did Advisor Ji go?”

“Hurry and check! Is he still on his way here?”

“Reporting! It is found that the seventh squad is still missing a member!”

“Entering search mode. Time coordinates of the last transition is required!”

“…….”

Ji Yushi however did not return.

*

The seventh squad which had disappeared for an entire month had returned. It caused a great ruckus throughout Tianqiong.

This was especially the case after the news that only six of the seven teammates returned spread like wildfire. It resulted in an unprecedented amount of discussion.

Where the seventh squad went, why only six returned, and what happened to Ji Yushi who was recruited from Ning City….These topics were all being discussed amongst the people in Tianqiong.

Unlike last time when they were intercepted and returned to the bubble world, this time they were sent back by Tianqiong so the physical conditions of the members of the seventh squad were still good. After they completed their preliminary checks, they were asked to return to their respective rooms to rest.

Everyone understood that this process was just like how it was in the bubble world. This arrangement also had another meaning: They had the right to go home only after they cooperate and explained everything they had experienced, and also complete a psychological assessment.

As the leader, Song Qinglan wasn’t allowed to rest. As soon as he returned to Tianqiong, he was forced to have a three-hour conversation with the Inspectors.

In the Inspector’s office.

After Song Qinglan finished his fourth glass of water, the sky outside was already completely bright.

The blinds were opened by an assistant, sending blinding rays into Song Qinglan’s eyes.

It had been a long time since he saw the sunlight in the real world. It was dazzling but he didn’t make any attempt to block it.

The Inspector had rushed over early in the morning. He clearly hadn’t had enough sleep but because the seventh squad’s return had helped set down a stone that had been weighing on their minds, his attitude was a lot more amiable than usual. He even wanted to let Song Qinglan return to rest as soon as possible.

Just before the conversation was over, he asked Song Qinglan, “Do you know why we discovered your disappearance so quickly?”

Generally speaking, Inspectors would only intervene with the investigation when Guardians lose contact more than twenty-four hours since the anticipated mission completion time. Song Qinglan however knew that their disappearance was discovered on the day of their departure on May 17th and the third command centre had since been working hard trying to locate them.

But perhaps it was because they were successfully intercepted once by the bubble world, the so-called ‘Tianqiong of all eras’ had changed a few things up and concealed their coordinates, making it difficult for the Inspectors to find anything.

The room was well air-conditioned. Song Qinglan wore a dress shirt given by the Inspector.

He hadn’t had the time to shave, and this kind of top didn’t help soften the sharp and unruly air he gave off.

Hearing this question, Song Qinglan narrowed his eyes in the dazzling sunlight. His expression showed no signs of fatigue.

One would even believe that he would be able to win easily if he went straight to the combat arena after completing all those missions.

“Relax.” The Inspector laughed. He then gave him the answer, “We discovered your disappearances so quickly because of your phone call.”

Song Qinglan remembered.

“No more than a few seconds after you set off, Chief Wang who was still in the command centre received a call.” The chief Inspector said, “The caller was you.”

In the bubble world, at the very final moment before they were able to escape….

Ji Yushi had dialled Chief Wang’s number.

The Inspector said, “We searched your locker but found that your phone was still turned off. How could someone in the midst of traversing make a phone call? Fortunately, this was nothing compared to all the other strange things that have happened since the establishment of Tianqiong.”

Time and space.

The era where Tianqiong was brought to the world and the era where humanity mastered the art of traversing through time and space. It was also the time where people like them who work for Tianqiong started to appear.

“So we firmly believed that we will be able to find you sooner or later.” The Inspector asked his final question, “Cap Song, where do you think Ji Yushi went?”

Song Qinglan crossed his arms and answered calmly, “I don’t know.”

The Inspector said, “Then let me tell you this. Ji Yushi joining Tianqiong was something he had aimed for since a long time ago. He came here with a purpose but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough points and also didn’t pass the psychological evaluation. Of course, his performance had always been very good, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility of him forcibly staying in another time and space. If you know what is going on, we hope that you can cooperate so that we can get him to return as soon as possible.”

This was an indirect warning.

No matter how Song Qinglan answered, Tianqiong would still send out Inspectors to that year to track Ji Yushi down.

If Song Qinglan could tell them earlier, they would be able to stop Ji Yushi before anything happened.

“You should have already seen the mission rating notice? After completing the missions, each of us receive a reward. The reward is to go to any time and space with the condition that the timeline is not affected.” Song Qinglan said, “That is a reward given to us by a Tianqiong with a higher authority…..Perhaps the people above should spend some time understanding its authority and not let it continue hijacking people since we don’t need such rewards.”

To the people here, they had only disappeared for a month.

But for the seventh squad, their real time experience far exceeded that.

Song Qinglan spoke politely but also not very courteously, “But don’t worry. I believe Advisor Ji will not do anything that will disturb the timeline.”

*

Leaving the Inspector’s office, Song Qinglan’s expression was dark.

He passed by the brightly lit Tianqiong base, passed by the transmission cabin and passed by many offices.

With his long legs and tall height, he walked at a quick pace. Along the way, he ran into many colleagues.

Those who liked to gossip quickly retreated when they saw his unpleasant expression. Knowing that the seventh squad had returned with one member missing, they only dared to briefly give him a greeting.

Chief Wang stood at the end of the corridor. Wearing a pearl-white coloured suit and a pair of heels, she clearly had been waiting for a while.

“Xiao Song!”

Seeing him come, Chief Wang stretched out both arms.

Song Qinglan leaned down and hugged her, “Chief Wang.”

Not Professor Wang in the bubble world, but the real Chief Wang.

For a moment, Song Qinglan felt like a lifetime had passed.

Chief Wang comfortingly patted his back. When they separated, her eyes were already red. It was unknown if she was comforting Song Qinglan or comforting herself.

The sentimentality of this middle-aged female leader made Song Qinglan’s heart feel warm. His tense expression relaxed considerably.

“Thanks for your hard work. After hearing the news of your return, I rushed to Tianqiong to see you.” Chief Wang said, “This is the first time you needed to deal with the Inspectors after all this time. They are all like this. Regardless of whether or not you need to rest, they will insist on following the set protocols before letting you go.”

Song Qinglan nodded, “I understand.”

Chief Wang had watched over Song Qinglan’s growth for many years and knew his temper well. She had rushed over early in the morning because she feared that he wouldn’t cooperate.

But it seemed that so far everything was going well especially since Song Qinglan was let out.

Chief Wang gathered herself up and spoke gently, “The news has already been sent out. Your family will be notified separately. There are however a lot of matters that will need to be dealt with in the coming days. You will be able to go home after everything is done.”

This was the usual procedure.

Song Qinglan also understood this.

But Chief Wang continued, “It’s just that from Xiao Ji’s side….We are unable to explain this matter to his family for the time being. It’s a bit difficult to explain.”

Chief Wang wasn’t Ji Yushi’s direct superior, nor did she manage the Inspectors, so she didn’t know anything about Ji Yushi’s private affairs let alone his wish to return to that year.

For her, she was more worried about something happening to Ji Yushi or him becoming trapped in a time and space somewhere.

Song Qinglan was silent for a while. He then said, “I’m here to contact Chief Lin.”

Chief Wang nodded and said, “When Old Lin heard you returned, he called to check. He had asked about him several times saying that his cat(s) are almost about to develop depression. Xiao Ji’s family are all scholars. His father is a professor at Ning City University and his older brother is a teacher. His major is even somewhat related to ours. It wouldn’t be difficult letting them understand the situation—–” (KKnotes: Again, there is no plural form in Chinese so they could be talking about one or more cats. Chief Wang is technically talking about the three cats but Song Qinglan still thinks that he only has one)

“Ji Yushi’s cat?”

Song Qinglan remembered that Ji Yushi had mentioned that he missed his cat(s) before he left. It seems that he probably didn’t miss them all that much since he still ended up running off.

“Yeah.” Chief Wang accompanied Song Qinglan to the stairs, “Said he raises three of them but due to some family matters, he couldn’t take care of them and sent one to Chief Lin’s place.”

Ji Yushi’s adoptive father was Chief Lin’s friend. Doing something like this wasn’t surprising.

But Chief Wang’s words made Song Qinglan feel that something didn’t seem right. This feeling however was only very fleeting.

After conversing a few more times, Chief Wang patted him on the back, “Shave your beard and rest up. You can head back.”

Why was everyone paying attention to his beard?

Song Qinglan didn’t have the time to take care of this. He strode straight to the seventh squad’s training ground. The five other teammates were also sitting there. It seemed that none of them were asleep.

“Cap Song.”

“What did the Inspectors call you to talk about?”

“Damn, why haven’t they gone to find Advisor Ji?!”

Everything they had experienced together made it seem like they had known each other for years.

None of the teammates weren’t worried about Ji Yushi. This was particularly so for Li Chun who was typically quite heartless. After knowing that it was because of himself that everyone had to return separately, he felt extremely guilty. Even if the difference between the two groups returning was only two minutes, he still felt that he was at fault — It was as if as long as Advisor Ji didn’t separate from Cap Song, something like this wouldn’t have happened.

Song Qinglan briefly gave everyone an idea of what they talked about and chose to leave out the part about Ji Yushi’s choice.

The small eyed Zhou Mingxuan who hadn’t spoken a word until now finally asked, “Cap Song, do you know where Advisor Ji may have gone?”

Everyone was surprised. Song Qinglan knew?

Song Qinglan didn’t deny it, but he also didn’t admit to it.

The others could tell from his expression that they shouldn’t continue asking about it but being someone who knew him too well, Zhou Mingxuan wasn’t afraid of him.

“When parting in the central block, you asked Advisor Ji to wait for you and said that there was something important you wanted him to consider seriously.” Zhou Mingxuan said, “If it weren’t for you saying ‘That year, I will go with you’, I would have thought that there was something going on between the two of you.”

“Fuck, the mood at that time did seem pretty gay.” Duan Wen commented, “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it.”

“Plus one.” Tang Le raised his hand.

“It didn’t seem like talking about business matters and instead more like pursing someone.” Even Tang Qi thought so, “I’ve seen Li Chun flirt with chicks. It was similar to that.”

Song Qinglan: “……”

The corners of Zhou Mingxuan’s lips twitched and he let out a laugh. He asked, “So did Advisor Ji redeem his reward and go to another time and space?”

Everyone quietened down.

Regardless of what choice Advisor Ji made, once the doors are closed, it was a matter that involved the seventh squad.

As long as Song Qinglan wanted to, he could deal with this group of people.

But none of them were idiots and they were also genuinely concerned about Ji Yushi. Song Qinglan could only vaguely let out a grunt.

Tang Qi said, “That can’t be. I thought Advisor Ji agreed to wait for Cap Song?”

Having mentioned this, everyone present recalled the moment before the parted.

Tang Le shook his head, “He didn’t agree at first, but it seemed like he later agreed.”

Duan Wen, “Said something like, hasolamu?”

Tang Le, “Yeah, that’s the one. Didn’t it mean something like hope everything goes well?!”

As everyone discussed noisily, Song Qinglan’s temples throbbed.

“You guys must have heard wrong.” At this moment, Li Chun who was squatting on the ground weakly raised his hand, “It’s just that……..Hasolamu, it means I like you.”

Everyone, “!!!”

In an instant, the training ground became so quiet, the sound of a pin falling to the ground could be heard.

Song Qinglan lowered the hand massaging his temples and stiffly turned his head, “What did you say?”

Li Chun looked at Song Qinglan and, recalling his captain’s PTSD, he said with a guilty conscience, “I was bored as hell back in the space capsule and I couldn’t spend the entire time partying, so I learnt a few words from Big Beard to use to flirt with chicks when I return.”

He then quickly added, “But how could Advisor Ji say that! I wasn’t there and I’m also a study slag….Your pronunciation isn’t accurate either so I’m sure I made a mistake!!”

KK has something to say:

!!!