Chapter 175 Holding the Tai'a Axe Upside Down (12)
This was a secret signal known only to her and Shu Changyan.
He once said that if one day she and Pines were to go against each other, he would take all the blame and would not let her face everything alone.
Shu Changyan always keeps his word and never goes back on his word.
That being said, what exactly did he do? Zhao showed no mercy and completely exposed Shu Changyan's highly confidential personal information, seemingly quite angry.
Erice snapped out of her daze and lowered her voice: "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Allen replied, equally confused.
Isn't that so-and-so...? Oh, so he's the one who carries out Pines's will, no wonder.
Allen stared at the screen for a while before finally looking away: "There's a signal in the intercity zone now, hmm... let me check, I forgot to charge my device."
Eric took out his terminal, which was in power-saving mode, flipped through it, and said in a strange voice, "The Union Building has been vandalized."
Only a few blurry photos from a distance circulated online, showing the Union Building's iconic rings broken in half and lying on the ground.
Although there has been no official report so far, the culprit is self-evident given the sudden arrest warrant.
While she was instigating a mutiny in the new land, Shu Changyan single-handedly restrained the superhumans in the main capital, doing her a great favor inadvertently.
"I'm leaving this place to you." Shu Ningmiao looked at the ruins of the high wall that still stood there.
After Pigne's retreat, he did not immediately stop the counterattack. Some opportunities, once missed, are gone forever. With the people of the new land freed from their shackles, it would be difficult for Pigne to rebuild the isolation zone: "...the internment camps must continue to be built, and the Self-Defense Forces must maintain order."
Eric nodded, took her sleeve, and hesitated before asking, "Are you going to find him?"
"No," Shu Ningmiao replied distractedly, "He will come looking for me. I need to go to Pingyi. Can you contact a ship that goes to Pingyi?"
"You're going to Pingyi now?!" Allen raised his voice. "Who would go to such a run-down place these days?"
"Me," Shu Ningmiao replied.
Allen frowned: "I've never heard of any boats going to Pingyi from Xindi. Even if you start recruiting people now, you might not be able to succeed... There's no one to steer. The waters near Pingyi are polluted and very dangerous. Nobody wants to sail. Where can you go if you build a boat yourself? It all depends on which way the wind is blowing today."
But flying wouldn't work either, there were no flights. She did have a private plane, but taking off from the Penelope airspace required applying to the Penelope air traffic control center, and applying for one would just be asking for trouble for herself.
Shu Ningmiao thought for a moment: "Do you recognize any of these ships?"
Allen sensed something sinister in her familiar tone: "Impossible! I would never recommend a kidnapping target to you."
Upon hearing this, Shu Ningmiao didn't say another word and turned to leave. All of Alan's words of advice stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back down.
The fact that the person on the wanted poster was Shu Changyan relieved a lot of her pressure. She walked straight into the commercial street of Yingjian District. Most of the shops were open. No matter what happened, people still had to make a living.
She bought a new mask and hat to cover her face, and then randomly bought a terminal on the street. She turned it on, hoping to find someone to ask about the situation, but found that she couldn't even remember her own terminal number.
The police arrived late, but the citizens and newcomers were mixed together, making it impossible to use force to suppress them, and the high wall separating them was even more difficult to rebuild.
The previous suppression of public opinion regarding the Manla disease was too forceful, and now the backlash is erupting, with a large majority of people actually supporting the construction of a new asylum.
Standing at the corner of a busy street, she held her terminal and read through the current public opinion in Pinheit, pondering how to get a boat to Pingyi.
She was being too presumptuous; it's normal that no one wants to go to Pingyi.
Do I have to swim there...?
Shu Ningmiao opened the map and used her finger to estimate the distance between Xindi and Pingyi, pointing to the blue area between them.
A very soft laugh came from the side.
As if sensing something, she slowly raised her head and saw a person wearing the same mask and hat as her, standing quietly behind her, watching for who knows how long.
Those were still her bright blue eyes, but there was a hint of weariness and hardship in her expression.
Their eyes met.
Shu Ningmiao called out to him in a steady voice, "...Brother."
He stepped forward, simply reaching out his hands to gently cup her face: "You've lost so much weight."
Shu Ningmiao lowered her head, pressing all her weight onto his palm: "No."
It was a typical parental exaggeration. Shu Ningmiao felt that she wasn't as miserable as he made it sound. Shu Changyan still smiled, reached out and pulled her into his arms, wrapped his arms around her back, and buried his head to gently rub his chin against her cheek.
The hustle and bustle of the street corner gradually faded into distant background noise.
He carried the familiar scent of rust, mixed with the smell of travel-worn clothes. Through her clothes, she could feel his hand moving slowly across her back, soothingly touching every bone.
After a long while, Shu Changyan asked her, "Is your hand alright?"
"It's nothing." As soon as he asked, she knew he knew about what had happened in Pigne, otherwise he wouldn't have gone straight to the United Building: "What's the situation now? Has Zhao taken over as representative?"
“His arm has been reattached, but he can’t move it for now.” Shu Changyan said in a low voice, “Zhao’s purpose is not to be a representative. Representatives are too constrained. Kovina is now recommending him to be the new consul of Pinne. Half of the council has already agreed. Now is a critical moment.”
"Oh, no wonder you're so furious."
Shu Ningmiao thought of Manbinie's wanted poster and paused: "So, you are now wanted."
Once again facing Pinheit's pursuit, fate takes a turn and overlaps with the previous timeline. Seemingly unchanged, everything has been completely altered.
“I went back to the old house in Xindi to change into my uniform. The people who came with me are all gone. He can’t spare any more hands.” Shu Changyan tidied her hair, which was ruffled by the wind.
He emerged unscathed, his expression calm, not even a twitch of his brow, showing no sign of panic: "No problem."
Shu Ningmiao looked at him and said, "Even if there are problems, I will protect you."
Shu Changyan's gaze fell heavily and gently on her skin, his eyes slowing down as he lowered them.
"Are you hungry?" he suddenly asked.
The narrow alleyway was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways. The dilapidated old building was just another ordinary building among the countless cramped buildings in the new district, and a complex stench of oil filled the air.
This old building was Shu Changyan's residence before he left Xindi, but it was not unfamiliar to her. In the previous cycle, Shu Changyan took her on a months-long escape, and in the end, in order to find out the truth about her death, they returned here to stay temporarily.
The room had been tidied up by Shu Changyan. She sat obediently in a chair, looking at the hazy moon outside the window. It felt so familiar, yet so strange.
Inside the house, Shu Changyan, sleeves half-rolled up, bent over to light a fire. Outside the window, choking fumes filled the air. The isolation zone outside the new land had been removed, but many people still lived there; it was their home.
Before Shu Changyan asked her, she hadn't considered what to eat or where to stay that night. She would either sleep in a guest room at the orphanage or simply sit and rest fully clothed in the makeshift factory built by Prometheus and the Self-Defense Forces.
Cleaning the house, which hadn't been lived in for years, had already taken up too much time. Shu Changyan quickly made dinner, dried his hands, and listened to her talk.
Shu Ningmiao told him Weston's speculation.
Her primary goal now is to go to Pingyi. As for the mess that Binie is in, Zhao can deal with it himself. Whether he wants to be the emperor or the regent, it's all just pointless fuss.
There is no cure for Manra disease. Sooner or later, as Wei Shengqianheng wished, the entire planet will die of the disease and return to Pandora.
Thanks to him stopping Pandora in her body during the previous playthrough, she was able to get a second chance. Otherwise, the sword strike on the ring that day would have cut more than just his arm.
Shu Changyan listened quietly, picked up the soup, and said, "There is a person who is a born helmsman."
He only mentioned it briefly, but Shu Ningmiao immediately understood. A person who can control the wind is naturally the overlord of the sea, a born helmsman. Xiao Jiang had mentioned to her in casual conversation that she had sailed alone from Mengdan to Phine, a truly extraordinary experience.
She thought for a moment and asked Shu Changyan, "Did you see her at the United Building?"
“She was following Zhao.” Shu Changyan said calmly, “I saw that she had no will to fight, so I didn’t let her follow and cut the ring.”
"...If all else fails, I can also use my wind control ability."
Shu Ningmiao didn't interfere with Xiao Jiang's intentions, and pondered, "We're still missing a boat."
“I know that the owner of the fish trap used to run a human smuggling business, and he should still have boats there.”
The underground fighting arena in the new land is where talented children fight, and those who perform well may be noticed by noblemen from Pinheis who come to watch the performance out of curiosity.
It would be good if they could get a boat first. The two talked for a while and then headed over.
It was already completely dark outside. At this hour, ordinary people in the new town wouldn't dare to wander around outside, but they had no such worries at all. As if taking a walk to digest their food, they groped their way towards the original location of the underground cage in the dark.
The underground cage was built in a way that was much better than Prometheus's temporary base; the steps were smooth and even when you stepped on them.
There was no one on the arena, no spectators, only a few children huddled together warily, staring at them fiercely like beasts.
The main customers of the ground cage were nobles from Pinhes. After the new land was completely sealed off, business here must have declined a lot, and now it is completely closed.
Shu Ningmiao didn't know if the boss was still there. She saw Shu Changyan kick the side wall of the arena with his knee. The side wall shook and kicked open another door. The area under this door was even more luxurious, with neon lights shining inside.
Shu Changyan grabbed her wrist: "Don't go in yet, there's nothing to see inside."
The sound of the door being kicked open was loud enough for the people below to hear. Shu Ningmiao took two steps back with his force. A few seconds later, a fat man with a bare upper body and wearing only shorts squeezed up from below. He had sausage lips, a face full of acne scars, and smelled of fish.
Shu Ningmiao held her breath.
Shu Changyan spoke up for her indifferently: "We want to buy a boat."
This fat man had seen it all. Just by looking at the two men's posture and aura, he knew they were no ordinary people. His questioning expression immediately disappeared, and he looked incredibly amiable: "Why are so many people asking for boats today? I do have some spare boats, but I stopped doing the business of touting people a long time ago. I only had one boat, and I just sold it."
Shu Ningmiao held up one finger: "I'll give you ten times the money."
As soon as she left Pinne, the Shu family's accounts were frozen, but she had more than one account, so she could still withdraw the money.
The fat man laughed and said, "I didn't take any money, and I'm not short of money. Do you know what the new place lacks most? It's entertainment, of course. My underground signal network is all maintained by this guy, so don't make things difficult for me."
Shu Ningmiao frowned. What a coincidence that someone else also needed a boat. Where were they going?
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