Chapter 35 Desert Ruins - 9 Tang Bufan and Lu Yi face to face...
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi sat facing each other at the folding table, both looking down at the bracelet whose screen had gone black in silence.
"Evelyn... burned out?" Tang Bufan asked anxiously.
"It's just a damaged chip, it shouldn't have that much power." Although Lu Yi said this, he wasn't sure himself, so he reached out and pressed the side of the bracelet.
Three seconds later, the black bracelet lit up again.
Both of them breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Hello, Louis," Evelyn greeted Lu Yi after restarting.
"Is the other party's encryption technology very complex?" Lu Yi asked Evelyn, frowning.
“Yes.” Evelyn reported to Lu Yi: “During the cracking process, the data I generated created a virus that attacked me. If this beacon had not been damaged, my cracking just now would have exposed us.”
Although Tang Bufan didn't understand code, he knew that this encryption technology was very malicious, as it could actually allow the cracker to generate a virus on its own.
Lu Yi sighed: "It seems that the other side's network technology far surpasses that of the Western Federation."
Although humans are physically inferior to orcs, they are superior in science and technology. The scientists who betrayed us were from the genetic engineering group, so orcs can only barely keep up with humans in genetic science, while they are far inferior to humans in cutting-edge fields such as weapons science, aerospace, and medical chemistry.
“Louis, the West District Underground City Academy of Sciences should be able to crack it,” Evelyn suddenly said, her voice gentle as she asked Lu Yi, “Should we contact Miss Kate? She’s a researcher in the Academy’s Network Engineering Department and she’s also in love with you; she should be willing to help.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Bufan glanced at Lu Yi with a somewhat concerned look.
Lu Yi subconsciously looked at him too, and their eyes met. For some reason, he felt a little guilty.
“No need to contact her,” Lu Yi said immediately, as if explaining, “I’m not that close to Miss Kate.”
“Okay, Lu Yi.” Evelyn understood, and then told the two, “Although I was unable to successfully crack their encryption, I obtained their organization’s name.”
Lu Yi and Tang Bufan immediately perked up.
"What's your name?"
"The Rebooter".
The Rebooters? Tang Bufan then realized that Evelinka was pronouncing the word "Reboot" as the name of the other organization.
Considering that Tang Bufan was a time traveler, Lu Yi explained to him, "The resistance faction is divided into many organizations. For example, the organization my mother belongs to is called 'Beast Hunters'."
"I know this." Tang Bufan, being a member of the resistance faction, had already learned about it from Uncle Wolf and Eberron.
Lu Yi then looked at Evelyn: "There's no information about this organization in the Western Federation's database, right?"
"Yes, Louis."
Lu Yi understood, so he reached out and pushed the charred chip to Tang Bufan: "Teacher, keep the chip. We've now basically confirmed that this resistance organization comes from the East District Underground City. Let's go to the East first."
Tang Bufan nodded, reached for the chip, glanced at the time—it was almost four in the afternoon—and urged Lu Yi:
"Go take a shower and change your clothes. We'll fill up our water tank and then we'll be on our way."
Lu nodded, got up and walked towards the bathroom, while Tang Bufan took the chip to the shelf, thought for a moment, took out the worn-out children's canvas backpack from the bottom oilcloth box, unzipped the side and put the chip inside.
"Teacher, I forgot to bring my clothes..." Lu Yi's voice suddenly came from the bathroom, accompanied by the sound of shower water: "Could you get them for me?"
"..." Tang Bufan then walked back to the iron bunk bed, squatted down, pulled out Lu Yi's clothes box, and gave him a vest and sweatpants.
"I've put it on the kitchen counter. Just open the door and get it yourself," Tang Bufan said evasively. "I'm going to wash my dirty clothes by the pond."
Be careful.
"Know."
Tang Bufan then took the dirty clothes he had changed out of during this time into a wicker basket and went out. The golden desert sun shone in through the several broken holes, and a beam of light shone on the pool of water, making that area shimmer like a fairy tale.
Tang Bufan put down his basket and looked at the oasis hidden in the mothership with a sigh. He thought to himself that if he didn't have to go to the East District, this place would be perfect for living in seclusion. It was so beautiful that he was reluctant to leave.
There were already rooms all around, so there was no need to build any more houses. This huge oasis was his and Lu Yi's "courtyard".
Tang Bufan smiled, but despite his thoughts, he obediently lowered his head and started washing the clothes.
As dusk fell, the RV, now fully watered, slowly drove out of the mothership down the sand dune, and the air temperature had noticeably risen by five or six degrees.
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi sat in the driver's seat, eating and watching the road at the same time in order to save time.
The RV drove along the edge of the mothership's massive wreckage. Since it was confirmed that the sand in this area was solid, Lu Yi didn't need to go out and scout ahead for the time being.
"Brother Kai, can you find the tire tracks on Anderson's motorcycle?" Lu Yi asked Brother Kai while chewing on raw meat. "We can follow behind him."
The route Anderson took was absolutely safe.
“Anderson left at eight in the morning, so the tire tracks should have been covered by the sand,” Kai replied. “Besides, his motorcycle was too fast for the RV to keep up.”
"He's probably already out of the desert by now," Tang Bufan complained, holding his salad bowl. "We just arrived at the mothership, and he's been inside for two days already. No wonder he won't follow us."
Compared to Anderson's light motorcycle, the two-person RV was incredibly slow.
Lu placed the plate of meat on the counter and raised his wrist: "I'll ask Evelyn if she marked Anderson's route."
After he finished speaking, he pressed the side of the bracelet.
"How about you shut down Evelyn after we get out of the desert?" Tang Bufan tried to ask.
"Then my father probably guessed that I was going to the Eastern Federation." Lu Yi was very afraid of being caught and taken back.
Although his father hasn't taken any action yet, Lu Yi doesn't think he'll let him off so easily.
Evelyn activated her device and located Anderson's position. Sure enough, he was already quite far away from the two of them. During the day, it had followed Lu Yi and Tang Bufan to the mothership and severed its connection with the Western Federation satellite, so it had not recorded Anderson's movement path.
“I can request Anderson’s movement path from the Federal Database Master,” Evelyn said to Lu Yi.
“No, the mainframe will report this to my father.” Lu Yi refused, sighed, and helplessly shut down Evelyn.
It seems that he is the only one who can scout ahead.
Lu Yi picked up the plate on the front desk and continued eating his dinner when he suddenly noticed that Tang Bufan was looking at him with a strange expression.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yi touched his face anxiously.
Tang Bufan hesitated for a moment, but after a while, he still asked.
"Why would the Federal Database's mastermind report to your father?" Tang Bufan poked at the salad with diced meat with his fork, looking at the orc boy in front of him with concern.
Lu Yi was stunned, only then realizing that his words had exposed his identity, and his eyes began to dart away.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Tang Bufan hesitated for a moment and then told him, "Anderson told me before... that if I married you, I would go from being a wanted criminal to becoming the First Lady of the Western Federation... The First Lady refers to the wife of the head of state, right?"
Although Tang Bufan's brain was gradually being eroded by the toxins, he hadn't become a complete idiot.
"..." Lu Yi blushed with embarrassment. Now he could only confess to Tang Bufan: "Yes, my father... is the current head of the Western Federation."
Although Tang Bufan had already guessed it, he still couldn't help but be amazed to receive a definite answer from him.
"Wow..." He didn't know what to say for a moment. He held the large salad bowl and poked at it with his fork before jokingly saying, "I heard that the orc leader is a hereditary position. Rather than a leader, he's more like a king. You're actually a real little prince, aren't you?"
"Teacher, please don't say that..." Lu Yi said with a mix of shyness and confusion: "I don't think family inheritance is a good thing. Although orcs value bloodlines and our family's bloodline is relatively strong, it doesn't guarantee that every generation will have enough wisdom to manage the Federation well."
"You are very wise!" Tang Bufan genuinely felt that Lu Yi had been very well-educated: "You are definitely capable of managing the Federation well!"
Lu Yi fell silent. The blush on his face faded, and he looked down at the raw meat on the plate, becoming somewhat melancholy.
Tang Bufan then realized that he had been too rigid and had said something annoying.
"I'm sorry." Tang Bufan apologized to him in a low voice, carefully looking at the orc boy who was unhappy because of him: "I didn't mean to persuade you to go back. I was just sincerely praising you and expressing my admiration... because I'm just an ordinary person. I suddenly found out that you are the youngest son of the leader and may become the future leader of the Western Federation, so I got a little excited... I'm sorry."
Upon hearing his apology and explanation, Lu Yi's expression softened considerably. She then asked him in a retaliatory manner, "Does the teacher want to be the First Lady?"
Tang Bufan was stunned. He paused for two seconds before saying, "No."
"...You did think about it just now, didn't you?" Lu Yi exposed him.
Tang Bufan put down his fork, raised his hand to cover his face, and blushed: "I'm sorry... this promotion is too tempting..."
He wailed in shame, "I'm clearly a man... Now I understand how those men who date rich women feel."
Seeing his embarrassed expression, Lu Yi couldn't help but laugh, and his mood instantly improved.
“It’s only natural.” Lu Yi smiled, telling him not to be embarrassed: “After I found out that you are a time traveler, I think you are even more special.”
Tang Bufan finally lowered his hand from his face, but he was still very embarrassed.
"I'm supposed to be a teacher, yet I couldn't resist the temptation of status and wanted to live off you." Tang Bufan deeply reflected on himself.
"So, are you going to marry me?" Lu Yi continued to tease him.
"Get lost!" Tang Bufan glared at him angrily and said irritably, "Children are not allowed to tease adults."
Lu Yi couldn't help but laugh again. Looking at Tang Bufan, whose cheeks were slightly flushed with shame, he suddenly thought that Tang Bufan looked very handsome and his face was not so pale anymore.
So, do you want to or not?
"Is this never going to end?" Tang Bufan rolled his eyes.
"Do you want to?" Lu Yi really wanted to know.
"I don't want to—!" Tang Bufan was annoyed by him. Just then, the RV had driven out of the edge of the mothership, so he pressed the button on the glass screen and opened the door on Lu Yi's side: "I'll teach you to ask again. Get out and scout ahead!"
"Oh..." Lu Yi finally understood what it meant to ask for trouble.
As Kai Ge had predicted, after crossing the Hotan River, an underground river, the two did not encounter any more quicksand areas.
After two days and three nights, at dawn on the third day, the RV drove over the last stretch of yellow sand, its thick wheels rolling onto the hard, barren ground.
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