Chapter 1035: Chapter 1035: Salvage
There are many painful things in the world, but I think one of them must be suddenly experiencing insomnia while holding a child to sleep. As a responsible and caring dad, you dare not move because there are only two types of creatures in the world that are not easy to coax: one is a naughty kid, and the other is the kid’s mom. You see, a naughty kid even comes before their mom, and if this kid doesn’t have a mom, it’s twice as hard to coax them.
This insomnia tormented me for the whole night…
Of course, if you ask if there’s anything more painful in the world than suddenly experiencing insomnia while holding a child, I’ll tell you, there is: it’s when you finally fall asleep, and the child in your arms wakes up, wide awake…
I was only able to drift off into a half-asleep state when the sky was barely brightening. It felt like just a few minutes had passed when the bed started to shake, and then the sound of Mercury Lamp’s loud shouting pierced my ears: “Idiot! Get up! Come downstairs for breakfast!”
Blurred and muddled, I opened my eyes to find it was already bright outside. The doll girl, with her hair tousled, was sitting on my chest. Her deep rose-red eyes were sparkling, looking full of energy: “Hey, why do you look so exhausted?”
“I suffered from insomnia last night,” I yawned, not genuinely tired but just used to a normal human’s routine. Suddenly not sleeping much for an entire night felt weird, “Judging by how you look, you slept quite well.”
“Even an idiot can suffer from insomnia?” Mercury Lamp tilted her body and jumped off the bed. Only then did I notice she was wearing a new princess dress today, probably bought when we went out yesterday. Needless to say, it was from a Barbie doll set, “Alright then, let’s have breakfast first. After eating, you can come back and sleep for a while. Skipping breakfast isn’t an option…”
Her nagging demeanor really resembles a precocious daughter lecturing her lazy dad. I clicked my tongue, trying to recall what exactly happened last night that suddenly led to insomnia. I only remember Mercury Lamp telling me about her experiences, and then… it seemed like I suddenly heard some inexplicable things about the other side, signals, and bridge building. Did I really lose sleep over those few hallucinated words?
When I went downstairs for breakfast, I casually mentioned my insomnia to everyone. The general consensus was: even someone with a lack of common sense can experience insomnia. This view was undoubtedly first suggested by the rash Mercury Lamp, gaining enthusiastic response from many. It’s really frustrating. Sandora was the only one who took it seriously; she also found my insomnia strange. As a Void Creature, my spirit has long mutated beyond any theoretical model, and the possibility of external interference is zero. This means, as long as my biological clock decides to sleep, not even the apocalypse could make me lose sleep for a second. Thus, my insomnia last night was worth studying, but she could study nothing out of it: I only remember vaguely hearing three words, and I’m not even sure now if those words were said by Mercury Lamp or if I misheard them (the little doll doesn’t remember saying anything last night; she spoke a lot in a jumble, plus one of her main traits is that she never remembers what she says before sleeping at night). With just this bit of information, Sandora couldn’t analyze anything. However, Qianqian had her own ideas; she thought it might be related to the Void Cataclysm again…
And then everyone ignored her. Ever since linking the Abyss mutation to the Void Cataclysm and stirring up panic, Qianqian has formed a habit, linking everything to the Void Cataclysm, acting all nervously.
After breakfast, Lan came to bid farewell, saying she was returning to stay with Yukari Yakumo for a few days.
“I’ve been here for a long time and I’m a bit worried about Lord Zi over there.” The fox said with a smile, holding two small bundles, with the collar she wore just yesterday around her neck – looking quite conspicuous, “I’ve brought gifts for Lord Zi and Lady Ling Meng, and will take them over at once. It’s really been a bit of an intrusion these days, and I truly thank you for your care.”
I raised an eyebrow: “Why does it sound like you’re not coming back?” Mind you, it would be quite a pity if the fox didn’t return. The house would miss a shoe cleaner, I’d miss a warm-footed blanket, Qianqian would miss a fox dog, Little Baobao would miss a plush toy, Xiao Qian would miss a Sister Fox, and randomly one of us in the family would miss a pillow… Uh, suddenly I’m worried that Lan might be escaping.
Thinking of this, I instinctively reached out and touched Lan’s head, and the fox girl’s ears twitched instantly: she thought I was going to touch her ears. “Uh, it’s been hard on you these days in our house…”
Lan looked puzzled, almost with a question mark on her head, for she didn’t know where my thoughts were going, and continued from my previous question: “Of course not, I’ll be back soon. Hey, have I been staying here too long…”
“No, no,” I hurriedly waved my hand, embarrassed to admit how my thoughts wandered to so many impolite things, “Just tell Ling Meng to occasionally take care of those monsters, especially that drunkard Cui Xiang. Last time she got drunk at the Gold-Edged Rose and almost fought with Yang Guo, and she even said: ‘I’ll let you use one hand!’ You know how hurtful that is. Also, pass a message to Zi that I don’t mind her sleeping during work hours or at the duty post, or even sleeping straight until after work. But carrying a Simmons mattress into the venue at the Hub Management Center during meetings is a bit inappropriate – although the work is done well, can she consider the boss’s face just a little?”
Lan’s expression was stiff, and even her tail froze in mid-air: “…Uh, okay… okay.”
Xiao Xue also came over to say a reluctant goodbye to Lan, only smiling after the latter promised to come back in a few days, then grabbing the fox’s tail and rubbing it: “Haha, well, when you came from the future, I’ve been with you since childhood, you are the babysitter for me and Xiao Qian. Sister Fox, come back soon, I’ll teach you how to knit Chinese knots with your tail…”
Lan, hearing this, turned and bolted without a second thought, moving so fast it was like the rumors say: swish, a streak of yellow light flashed and she was gone…
Qianqian snuggled next to me and nudged my arm with her head: “What do you think will happen when Yukari Yakumo sees the collar on Lan’s neck?”
“She’ll see it, she’ll see it. You see, Visca has a bell around her neck too.” As soon as I finished speaking, Visca beside me happily shook her head, the bell on her neck jingling. She loves this little toy, although Pandora looked down on it.
Qianqian gave me a cautious look: “But didn’t you notice there are words on the collar? It reads ‘Chen Jun’s’…”
Me: “…Auntie, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
“Also, among the gifts she prepared for Zi, there’s a pack of dog biscuits…”
I lay on the table, face stiff: with the fox’s speed and the convenience of space transmission, she probably has already met up with Zi by now, so there’s no time to do anything about it. Soon all the monsters will know their new landlord is a weirdo who keeps a fox fairy girl as a pet dog. Oh, right, among the monsters, there’s Shime Maru Wen, so I can consider it known worldwide…
Just as I started considering whether I needed to kill everyone involved, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a small blue figure flash past the kitchen door, prompting me to slap my forehead: “Chiruno!”
The blue figure fell from the air, then rushed over quickly, shouting: “I didn’t steal the cake, I wasn’t the one who knocked over the soy sauce bottle in the kitchen, I was there to deliver frozen tofu to the kitchen – alright, what’s up?”
Me: “…” Is this one’s lack of common sense getting worse?
“Where did you go yesterday? You were nowhere to be seen all day.”
While talking, I skillfully plucked an ice wing from Chiruno’s back, stirred it in the orange juice beside me to chill it, and then put it back in one smooth motion. The ice fairy didn’t even realize it. I suddenly felt particularly guilty—after Yakumo Lan, do I now have another poor being treated as a bizarre item?
Ah well, since the day she became a fridge at my house, this guy has been reduced to a household appliance…
“I went to play with Big Sauce! And then… then found someone to duel, huh? Who did I duel again? Why can’t I remember…”
Oh dear, who has this poor child been fighting with? Did she get beaten up so badly she’s lost her memory?
Chiruno is technically one of the house guests, but her presence is truly low. The main reason is her role in the house is that of an appliance, primarily responsible for providing cold drinks to everyone—so, since November rolled around, she’s had basically no presence at all. Moreover, she doesn’t interact much with the household members, freely taking on the role of a household appliance contentedly, bolting off to Avalon to play with her friends for half a day during her breaks, coming and going as she pleases without a care, not even realizing she’s living in someone else’s house. Over time, half the people in the house forgot there was even an elf living there. Later, Anwina thought Chiruno should have something to do, but it was obviously unrealistic to continue freezing popsicles and acting as an air conditioner (I’d emphasize here, Chiruno is a magical creature who dares to go out on the street with an ice cream tub on her head in a blizzard, not realizing winter has come even after three months of unsold popsicles), so our Maid Chief lent Chiruno to the kitchen, making her responsible for food preservation and making frozen tofu.
As a result, we now only remember Quan’er Jiu when we want to eat frozen tofu.
“This is for you.”
I pulled out a paper box from my personal space and handed it to Chiruno. “Yesterday everyone in the house went out to have fun, and when we split up… uh, distributed the gifts, you weren’t home, so I kept this for you.”
“A gift?” Chiruno stared blankly at the box in her hand, looking very puzzled, then her eyes suddenly lit up. “A gift? For me? I have a gift too? Really? Not lying?”
How love-deprived is this poor child usually…
“What is this?” Chiruno happily took the paper box. This gift was brought back by my Big Sister; probably only such a meticulous person would remember we still have such a silly resident, oh right, Anwina should remember too: she greets Chiruno every day when making meals, after all Chiruno is the kitchen freezer.
“A shaved ice machine.” I demonstrated the small machine to Chiruno. “It can turn large ice blocks into fine ice flowers. Little Baobao modified it for you; it uses special energy now, doesn’t need electricity. You like making all kinds of cold drinks, right, this is better than you…”
Before I finished speaking, Chiruno was already tinkering with the portable ice shaver, eyes gleaming with happiness. “Ahaha, what an amazing thing, I’ll take this. It can grind ice cubes, oh… Let me try…”
Then she casually broke off an ice wing from her back and stuffed it into the shaved ice machine, gesturing and asking me, “Is it this green button?”
Me: “…” What a poor child… Has she been bullied so much that she’s used to breaking off her own ice wings to make shaved ice?
After fiddling around for a while, Chiruno finally succeeded in making ice flowers finer and more uniform than before, utterly delighted, while I gained a whole new understanding of this kid’s intelligence: the shaved ice machine only had a slot for ice blocks and a single button, and she researched it for fifteen minutes! How has she developed any independent living skills? How many times would she starve herself to death without anyone’s care?
“Chiruno likes this gift!” The ice fairy cheerfully waved the shaver, running circles around me, “You’re really nice, everyone is a good person…” It’s the first time I’ve seen someone handing out a good person card with AOE ability.
Just then, I suddenly saw Bubbles dragging Little Baobao walking past, the former holding her little head high with an arrogant demeanor, while the latter carried a small bag, muddled, dragged along by her mother, followed by Ji Shanshan, who also had a bag on her back. I was instantly shocked, “What are you lot up to?”
“Taking the kid to school, haven’t you seen that before?” Bubbles threw me a sideways glance. “As if I’d forget about it. I’ve already handled all the procedures for Little Baobao, today I’m taking her to the Imperial Military Academy for classes. Hmm, Jil is coming too, as a chaperone.”
“Can’t I not go?” Ji Shanshan looked pitifully at Bubbles, the latter instantly raising an eyebrow like a landlady of old society, “Fine, but until Little Baobao graduates, you’ll have to live on pickled vegetables and pancakes.”
This reminder from Bubbles suddenly made me recall the matter of Little Baobao’s enrollment, something that was initially discussed with me. We all knew that Little Baobao was a mutated Xyrin Host. She could induce super evolution in other Empire devices but couldn’t learn production skills a normal Xyrin Host should have. Additionally, possibly due to the same mutation, Little Baobao’s growth path veered oddly off course. At over three years old, she had learned many skills that kids fifteen or sixteen would have, but in terms of language, had just learned to call dad and mom. So Bubbles suggested sending the child to school, where being with other kids might help her personality mature faster. At first, we planned to send her to a preschool, to play with kids brought by heroic leaders of the Macro World, and we tried this—we had to abandon this idea because Little Baobao learned nothing except how to play even better. She even successfully coaxed seventy or eighty naughty kids to skip a whole day of classes, nearly causing a panic incident—we realized we couldn’t let a Xyrin Host with strong abilities mix with ordinary kids who lack self-control.
So in the end, Little Baobao was taken by her mother to the Imperial Military Academy enrollment office… This feels even more absurd!
This child can’t even speak properly and you send her to a military academy for classes? Learning statecraft while playing in the mud with prodigious geniuses from all worlds? Won’t she turn the whole military academy upside down?
However, before I could raise my doubt, Bubbles had already led her daughter and the nanny into the Teleportation Gate to Shadow City, and Sandora informed me of another matter more worthy of attention: “Ah Jun, the deep-diving ship has self-destructed.”
This news was immediately prioritized above all else, acquiring the highest precedence. My sister and Qianqian also realized this was the real deal, halting their chores. Soon, the whole family arrived at Shadow City and directly teleported through a dedicated passage to the border world conducting the deep dive experiment. When we arrived, Taville was already waiting there. Perhaps, she hadn’t left the test site for several days since the trial began.
Nobody questioned the deep-diving ship’s self-destruction; it was part of the plan. The deep-diving ships we are building now are disposable items with various severe flaws, having zero chance of returning—honestly, they don’t even store the navigation data needed for the return trip. The value of this prototype vessel lies not only in gathering data within the Abyss but also in testing how far the New Empire’s current deep-diving shipbuilding technology can go. It was bound to self-destruct, and what we aimed to find out was when it would do so.
After fully diving into the Abyss, the deep-diving ship severed all contact with the material world; no one knew what it encountered or if it had been destroyed. The only way to confirm the ship’s fate was to wait by the Abyss Gate for the signal from the “drifting bottle” to emerge. Only when this signal appeared could it be confirmed that the deep-diving ship was completely destroyed, and use the independent voyage log of the “drifting bottle” to ascertain the timeframe of the ship’s destruction.
From the start of the deep dive operation till today, five days have passed, and just a few minutes ago, the outpost standing guard outside the Abyss Gate received the first signal requesting salvage from a “drifting bottle” that successfully surfaced near the Abyss Gate. The “drifting bottle” is a safety database equipped with an independent engine; its return speed is slightly faster than its dive speed. According to calculations, the deep-diving ship disintegrated about a day and a half ago, meaning it endured in the Abyss for a total of three and a half days.
This isn’t a particularly commendable result, but not too bad either—because surviving three and a half days means it successfully crossed the boundary known as the watershed: the Abyss Shallow Layer Zone.
(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)