Chapter 185 - Jumping Machine
Chapter 185 - Jumping Machine
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The Crosson Show’s sixth elimination match, haunted house instance exit.
It was dark, and the dust filled their noses.
Their foreheads separated, and Wei Shi tilted his head to look at Wu Jin, his eyes sharp like an unsheathed blade––
Like an eagle taking one last look at its territory before being banished away.
Rough fingertips rubbed against Wu Jin’s cheek and neck, like a feather blade hovering around its territory... then paused over the healed bite mark on his neck and rubbed slightly at it.
Wei Shi’s actions paused, and his tone was furious, “He gnawed on you?”
Wu Jin, who was still immersed in sadness, “......”
Wu Jin turned on sophistry mode instantly and explained, “No! It’s not gnawing! It’s kind of just a bite movement made by teeth with little force...”
Wu Jin stopped suddenly.
Wrong.
The bite marks had been healed completely with the genetic repair agent a few months ago. Little Wei had never seen or touched it, and there was only one possibility––
He’d recalled the memory of Big Wei gnawing at his neck.
Wu Jin: “!!!”
Wait a minute! Wasn’t he recalling his own memories!
After this tossing about, Wu Jin’s IQ finally went online again. The confused, messy thought of ‘my childhood sweetheart and I are being forced to break up, and when we meet again, I’ll already have become a new mom’ was completely swept clean.
Wu Jin corrected him quickly, “You’re not disappearing, just...”
It’s just that your schizophrenia is going to be cured!
Wu Jin quickly took out medicine and bandages from his backpack and skillfully bandaged up the big boss. Little Wei raised his chin, his expression angry and stubborn.
Wu Jin soon realized that Little Wei had been present for over 30 seconds. The originally crazy switching of the subconscious had finally stabilized. Wei Shi’s long legs were curled up, his gaze sometimes fierce and sometimes confused. It was probably that he didn’t know whether he’d been the one to gnaw on Wu Jin’s neck, or if it was Big Wei, or if Wu Jin himself had somehow twisted his head 180 degrees to do it himself.
Wei Shi’s 16 year old and 27 year old memories had slowly begun to fuse together.
Wu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He also didn’t know when the big boss would be able to return to normal, but based on the current situation, he could be basically considered useless. What else could he do? He should protect his own little and big spouse that he’d married and taken home!
They could hear the sounds of fierce fighting from inside the instance, but it likely wouldn’t take Jingyi very long to complete the task. Based on Caesar’s behavioral patterns, he could likely even help them count the money even after being sold as a sacrifice by Jingyi, and the scent of blood hadn’t yet dissipated from the narrow exit tunnel.
“Let’s go first,” Wu Jin said decisively and helped pull up the injured big boss, “Jingyi will be coming out soon.”
Two bullets plus a minimal instance clearance time gap had made Wei Shi’s combat power useless. Jingyi was sure to make a profit without much risk.
Wu Jin had no resources for another fight against Zuo Botang. What he could do instead was to clear the elimination match with the big boss as soon as possible.
On their right wrists, the watch showed that there were only two groups, Wu Jin’s group included, who’d finished five entertainment facilities.
Wei Shi was propped up by Wu Jin and walked forward two steps before forcibly pulling away and using the wall for support to stand up straight.
It seemed that all genetically modified people weren’t afraid of pain. Shao Yu had an innate gift for it, but Wei Shi managed it through sheer willpower and was extremely strict about controlling his own body.
Seeing this, Wu Jin gently held the big boss’s hand&#k2013;&#k2013;and was soon held in return by a dry and rough palm.
The two of them walked through the long exit corridor.
The corridors were filled with Mayan murals that were covered with lime. The sacrificial offerings were given to the sun god, and the citizens worked and polished stone and bone utensils beneath the god’s blessing, while their chiefs would take the young warriors out to explore the rainforest.
Wu Jin led the young big boss along and explained the situation, broadening his understanding of the unknown outside of the R-Code Base and imperceptibly helping him restore his memory, “The corridor bypasses the central control area. The style for every survival show is different, and the Crosson Show uses a standard layout with a central axis, similar to the ancient mechanism with pillars in the middle, eight paths in the side, and...”
Near the end of the corridor was an incomplete Mayan map. ‘Maya’ was a misnomer given by later generations, but in fact, the Mayan people called themselves the ‘maize people’.
They lived near the jungle where maize could be grown, and they fought with the rainforest for nearly 5000 years. In the last Mayan map from the 16th century, their explorations were infinitely close to the depths of the rainforest––
Just one step further, and they would have been able to reach their first mineral vein. Then, they would be able to unlock a new branch on the technology tree and turn their fate around, utilizing Maya’s unparalleled mathematics, physics, and astronomy knowledge.
Unfortunately, there was no ‘if’.
The final mural showed a fleet of monsters from the sea.
Wu Jin looked at the mural while Wei Shi looked at Wu Jin.
“What then.” Little Wei glanced at the mural that showed a story with a beginning but no end.
“The Spanish fleet.” Wu Jin explained, “Several dozen Spanish sailors killed the entire Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations. In order to establish their colony, they gave blankets used by smallpox patients as gifts to the natives.”
“––And then, the plague spread, and three civilizations were wiped out.”
In the last mural, the altar of the instance was destroyed, a cross was erected, and Mayan priests were transformed into demons that were burned by holy fire.
“So that’s how it was.” Wu Jin sighed emotionally, “The land of the demons. That’s why it’s a haunted house. After the spread of Catholicism from Spain to South America, the gods that had been worshipped here became considered heretical and demonic.”
Due to their differing beliefs, there were invasions and blood, and captives were dissected on the Mayan altars, while Mayan people who escaped the plague were burned as demons. In fact, the sun god, Quetzalcoatl, and the god from various Western beliefs may not have really accepted any of these blood offerings.
At last, the two of them soon came to the end of the corridor.
Wei Shi listened as Wu Jin finished the story, then turned to look at Wu Jin.
The soft little shortie was quickly rolling up his sleeves and lifting up his sweaty bangs. He skillfully checked over his combat protection gear, gun, and bullets. Finally, he put away the crossbow and blade, and hung them on his waist.
When Wu Jin looked up again, his aura was very restrained, and his eyes were bright and sharp.
Wei Shi stilled.
He was like a little cheetah ready for a hunt.
“Let’s go to the last itinerary item, the jumping machine.” Wu Jin was in high spirits, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to finish the game!”
Wei Shi stretched out his hand, his face expressionless as he stroked a hand over the small curls. The pain from his memories blending together in the depths of his consciousness reduced slightly.
Wu Jin who had just been full of determination as he made his proclamation immediately covered his head and reiterated, “Although I’m not that good at fighting, I can still fight a little. Aren’t you hurt? I’m going to take on responsibility for this family...”
Wei Shi: “Responsibility for this family?”
Wu Jin smiled and leaned in. Because his bangs had been pushed up, Wei Shi realized that the little shortie he’d domesticated was now a semi-grown adult.
Caught between childhood and youth, passionate and sharp.
Wei Shi’s gaze slid over every inch of Wu Jin.
There was no boundary between being domesticated and domesticating others.
Wu Jin took advantage of the fact that the big boss’s consciousness was stuck at 16 and pronounced arrogantly, “Let’s go!”
Defending the cub, last level!
The slanted jumping machine poked out straight from between the mountains in the distance, and the sun overhead meant that it cast an equally straight shadow.
As the sun set, the shadow gradually slanted and lengthened.
The jumping machine sat at the highest altitude amongst all the entertainment facilities.
On the ridge, there were streams gurgling as they flowed into the river, and the river twisted and branched through the main park before turning into the Nile River, the Euphrates River, and the Yarlung Zangbo River in the various civilization theme zones...
The place where it stood seemed to represent the beginning of the history of civilization.
As the sun rose and set, the straight and elongated shadow from the jumping machine became shorter, tilted, and then longer and more slanted––
Just like the shadow from a sundial.
Wu Jin checked over their equipment for the last time.
The youth went down on one knee and held down Little Wei, not allowing for any resistance as he pulled up the big boss’s combat trousers and applied bandages for his teammate.
The Crosson Show’s sixth elimination match, final item, the sundial.
Any civilization’s cognition of time began with the rising and setting of the sun. Pendulum clocks, hourglasses, water clocks, and fire clocks had origins that spread from all over the world, but nobody could trace the origin of the sundial.
It existed in the common history of all civilizations.
“The jumping machine is the sundial’s pointer.” From behind them, sounds could be heard from the exit of the Mayan instance as Caesar was tossed out of the sacrificial passage. Wu Jin led the big boss along the path to the mountain at the back and spoke while walking, “We’ll climb up the mountain from here, sit on the jumping machine, and finish the competition. When we get out, I’ll take you to eat the handheld wrap that you haven’t eaten before!”
“There are many bunkers along the mountain road, so we don’t have to be worried about getting sniped by Jingyi. They’re still one facility short, but we still have to hurry up...”
Wei Shi listened to the little shortie chatter non-stop.
Perhaps because it was the last event in the game; Wu Jin didn’t attempt to save his strength at every moment. Instead, he was always focused on Wei Shi’s leg that had been bandaged up to stop the bleeding.
Wei Shi suddenly opened his mouth, “Why didn’t I go look for you earlier in the R-Code Base.”
Wu Jin patted the cub. How could he have looked for him? Should two little children whose combat effectiveness was at the lowest level try to escape together? And then get dragged back and destroyed together?
Wu Jin didn’t have to think about his reply, “Because I found you first.”
The setting sun shone over the mountains and the fields. Beneath the 80 meter high jumping machine, the two people shrank into shadows that were melting into each other.
The path from the main park to the back mountain was long and rugged.
Ten minutes later, Jingyi passed the Mayan instance and appeared at the exit of the haunted house. They were preparing to go up the mountain as well.
Wu Jin looked at the rankings, “There are at least four teams targeting the jumping machine––”
Wu Jin froze suddenly and lifted his head.
A harsh mechanical sound could be heard from near the top of the mountain. The originally dimmed decorative lights for the jumping machine flickered on, and a row of seats slowly rose up.
“Someone has started it!” Wu Jin quickly made arrangements, “I’ll go and take a look. Your leg is injured, so you should take it easy.”
Wei Shi raised his eyebrows and strode forward, sweeping a look full of disdain over his own wound.
Wu Jin: “......” Fine, it was Big Wei’s leg anyway. Little Wei didn’t feel distressed over it at all! Wait a minute, even if he didn’t feel distressed, it should still hurt!
However, the big boss moved very quickly, and they soon made their way through the dense forest and hid quietly behind a bunker. The jumping machine was just around the corner––
Every part of the 80 meter, red-colored entertainment facility was covered with totems, from the trees that surrounded the sun dial to the three-legged crow holding up the sun, to the beautiful Apollo and the Egyptian god Ra who stood in the scorching sun.
The entire machine was surrounded by supreme reverence and worship for the sun and its light.
“It’s the sundial.” Wu Jin concluded.
Beneath the jumping machine was a round marble square. There was a scale at the edge of the square that showed everything from pictographs to holy script to roman numerals and arabic numerals––
The jumping machine was located at the center of the circle.
The shadow that was cast by the sun was stuck at the moment of activation.
17:39.
Raphael’s teammate was sitting on the jumping machine and rising slowly.
Raphael, who was on the ground, was armed with a gun, and his back was against the bunker they were hiding behind––
Wu Jin gestured to Wei Shi.
“You shoot from here.”
Wu Jin quickly switched out the small caliber hunting bullet to a shrapnel bullet, “I’ll pull over his line of fire and force him out of the bunker. Find a chance to suppress him if he comes out. Change to a more natural stance––relax your shoulder and arms, right. It’ll be fine, I’ll take the pressure from the line of fire.”
Little Wei’s expression was cold, and it was clear that he didn’t agree. However, there were countless pieces of memories in his brain that hadn’t yet fused together that interfered with his thinking, and his leg injury might slow down his running speed.
In his confused memories, Wu Jin was sitting on a stump hugging his own head.
There was a Wu Jin who was holding a machine gun and was charging ahead.
There was Wu Jin who was feeding carrots to a rabbit.
The Wu Jin in front of him curved his eyes, smiled, and stretched out his fist.
Wei Shi finally raised up his own fist in response.
The two fists met in a fist bump.
Wu Jin picked up the gun, turned handsomely, and charged forth.
Juurensha: Yaaaay, Little Witch, support your family!
xiin: sorrry @[email protected] scheduling fail again. i think i’m bad with chapter/date numbers or something...