nycdaug Chapter 44 The Shame of Fireworks
Chapter 44 The Shame of Fireworks
After practicing all night, Zhou Yuan had mastered the throwing technique of the light cone.
The effect was immediate. Before Sambo could even react after discovering the light cone, the long-accumulated light cone spun and pierced into his skull.
Sambo was struck as if by lightning, and his body suddenly collapsed.
His eyes were unfocused, his facial expressions began to change constantly, and tears slid down his cheeks, whether from laughter or tears, it was hard to tell.
"Zhou Yuan, what are you doing!" Xi'er exclaimed in surprise. "Sangbo, he..."
"Personal grudges," Zhou Yuan replied casually, moving closer to Sang Bo.
This light cone added a lot of negative emotions to Zhou Yuan, and just creating it consumed 30% of his strength.
However, compared to last time, the results were not as significant, possibly because Sambo was already on guard. Last time, Sambo was hit by the light cone and couldn't move at all, but this time he was able to react when someone approached and his eyes subconsciously looked over.
Fortunately, none of this mattered. Zhou Yuan walked up to the immobile Sangbo, leaned close to his ear, and whispered:
"Although I don't know what you're trying to do, please don't block my way, thank you."
Sambo's eyes trembled; it was unclear whether he had heard a word.
"Okay, let's go."
After issuing the warning, Zhou Yuan planned to leave. Despite having helped Sang Bo, Zhou Yuan couldn't bring himself to kill him.
The group followed the furnace core to the upper area, and then, under the cover of night, sneaked to the outside of Hiluva's mechanical house.
"Quickly, come in quickly," Hiluva said in a low voice as soon as she received the message, opening the door immediately.
After everyone had gone inside, she observed from outside for a while before closing the door and drawing all the curtains.
"Phew, thank goodness you guys arrived late, otherwise you would have run into my brother." She patted her chest, as if she had escaped a disaster.
"Jepard? He's here too?" Zhou Yuan's heart jumped again.
Wasn't Jepard just an imposter? Why would she approach Shiluva?
“Yes, he brought Bronya here and insisted on taking the damaged ‘barrier’ with him,” Hilva explained. “It’s strange, though, why are you all up at dawn? Don’t you sleep?”
“There’s likely something wrong with Jepard right now,” Zhou Yuan asked seriously. “Did you notice anything strange when you were with him just now?”
"The only strange thing is that he insisted on taking the barrier that wasn't even repaired yet; he usually treasures it so much," Hiluva chuckled.
"However, the situation on the front lines is critical, and there's no guarantee that we won't be in urgent need of anything."
Barriers... What would fireworks need that for?
Zhou Yuan shook his head, putting all other thoughts aside. Why bother with all that? He'd just give him a shot and be done with it.
"Putting that aside for now, is the star core restraint device ready?"
“Here it is,” Hiluva said, walking behind the counter and lifting a half-meter-tall block machine from below.
The machine resembles a backpack, with long ropes fixed to both sides for easy carrying.
The electronic components and pipes inside are numerous and complex. A thick wire extends from the main body and connects to a long rod with a force generator at the head.
The overall structure is like a sprayer.
"A star core restraint device?" Xing, recalling the star core within her body, stared at Zhou Yuan with her amber eyes, and asked in surprise, "You actually play with something this perverse?"
"What are you thinking?!" Zhou Yuan was so angry he wanted to elbow Xing right then and there. "What kind of time is this?!"
Dan Heng asked, "If I'm not mistaken, its function should be similar to the one used by Uncle Yang and the others?"
“Yes,” Zhou Yuan nodded, “but this can only restrain the star core for a short time.”
"My idea is to use it to control the star core and prevent the star core energy from exploding at critical moments."
"I see," Dan Heng nodded.
"I never expected you to be so intelligent and resourceful. You are truly like a celestial being descended to earth, a rising star on earth," March 7th said solemnly.
Zhou Yuan glanced at her suspiciously: "Are you really March?"
"I found it online!" Seeing the strange looks people were giving him, March 7th readily admitted it.
Oh, that's not surprising.
"I've already assembled it, all that's missing is the power source." Hiluva opened the small round hole on the basket.
Zhou Yuan immediately understood and took out a jar of earth marrow extract he had obtained from Swarona from his bag and poured it in.
Hiluwa pressed the long lever switch, and orange-yellow sparks immediately appeared at the head of the lever.
"There shouldn't be any problems."
Considering that he would need to use all his strength to deal with Hanabi later, Zhou Yuan entrusted the important task of the Star Core Restraint Device to Dan Heng.
There's nothing we can do; he's the strongest, after all.
"We're about to set off." After getting directions to the location of the star core from Hilvana, Zhou Yuan and the others bid farewell to Hilvana.
“I’ll go with you,” Hiluva said seriously. “I know the terrain of the Iron Guard Fortress better than you do.”
The Iron Guard Restricted Area is a necessary route to Everwinter Ridge on the regular route. It's possible that Jepard, whom Zhou Yuan is looking for, might have run into the Iron Guard Restricted Area, so the group won't bypass it.
“I’m going to make a move against Jepard in a bit. Are you sure you want to come along?” Zhou Yuan asked.
He had made his decision: it would be better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free; he would not allow Hanabi any opportunity to interfere with him.
“Although I don’t know what you mean, I’ve already thought it through,” Silva forced a smile. “Besides, even if the Jepard from earlier was fake, I still need to know where the real Jepard went, right?”
“...Alright, you come along too.” Zhou Yuan nodded.
Once everyone was ready, they quietly left the city under the cover of night and entered the Iron Guard restricted area.
The pale moonlight shone on the snow, barely illuminating the scene before us.
The group walked down a long, narrow corridor, with no one in sight and only the whistling of the wind. Here, they weren't afraid of being discovered, and their tense hearts relaxed slightly.
"Zhou Yuan, what do you mean by saying Jepard has a problem?" Seele sniffed, wrapped in a thick cotton coat.
The temperature difference between the upper and lower floors was too great, and the girl who loves wearing hot pants caught a cold after a while.
Seeing everyone gathered around, Zhou Yuan shared some of his conjectures:
“Jepard is probably like me now,” Zhou Yuan said, lifting a corner of his mask for the first time in front of Seele, revealing his true face. “He wears a mask on the outside, and no one knows his true face.”
“Yesterday morning, when I came up to get the money for the materials from Hiluva, I saw fire falling from the sky, just like when we first came to this planet.”
In order to conceal his true situation, Zhou Yuan fabricated a scene of fireworks descending.
“Then last night, I saw Jepard come to the lower district and make a deal with Sambo.”
"Think about it, is it normal for a garrison officer to make a deal with an antiquities dealer he's wanted?"
“But… he could also be going to buy information,” Hilva instinctively defended her brother. “There was a huge tremor underground yesterday, and given that Bronya is in the lower levels, it’s quite possible that Cocolia sent him down to investigate.”
Actually, Zhou Yuan had also made this conjecture before Sangbo took out the "mutually guaranteed destruction button," but the button completely overturned all of this.
Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "I trust my judgment. The current Jepard is being played by Sambo's friends, and they are plotting a dangerous scheme against Beloberg."
"To ensure he doesn't disrupt my plans, I need to keep him in line for a day."
“If Jepard is a fake, doesn’t that mean Bronya is in danger right now?” Seele asked.
"That's why we need to deal with the star core quickly, rescue Cocolia, and then use her power to search for it."
The group continued forward, and March 7th quietly approached Zhou Yuan:
"Hey, isn't this a bit too serious? The atmosphere in the team is kind of weird."
"Then I'll try to be gentler in my tone?" Zhou Yuan forced a smile.
Although he was prepared to face Cocolia, the appearance of Hanabi brought new variables, and he was really having a headache facing this masked fool.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Yuan sent a message to Dr. Juejue: "Doctor, is the device ready?"
Several messages went unanswered, like stones sinking into the sea.
Zhou Yuan's face fell; he was no longer able to smile.
Damn it! What's going on?! A series of misfortunes made Zhou Yuan curse meaninglessly in his heart.
"Dr. Digg has had an accident?"
He couldn't help but reach up and rub his forehead.
"Um, Zhou Yuan, are you alright?" San Yueqi asked hurriedly when she saw that Zhou Yuan's face looked strange. "Your face is as black as the bottom of a pot!"
"It's okay, let's keep going."
Zhou Yuan calmed himself down and followed Shiluwa deeper into the area.
At this time, most of the guards in the penalty area were resting, with only a few guards guarding the joints. With everyone's concerted efforts, they reached the exit of the penalty area without attracting any attention.
However, Jepard has still not been found by anyone.
"What should we do?" Xing asked from the side, "Should we just flip over?"
"Let's go."
With no trace of "Jepard" in the Iron Guard restricted area, Zhou Yuan couldn't worry about that now. His top priority was to deal with the Star Core. As for the rest, he would just have to take it one step at a time.
......
After Zhou Yuan carried Xing over the towering wall, everyone had left the restricted area and stepped into a truly desolate place.
The closer you get to the star's core, the more severe the rift erosion becomes, and this is especially true here.
Almost every few dozen meters, you can see dark cracks standing out brightly in the swirling snow, from which strange-looking monsters emerge from time to time.
"A creation from a rift... Do you think I might have one of these inside me too?"
Xing killed a monster with a single blow and asked Zhou Yuan.
“Yes, hurry up and find a toilet to poop them out.” Zhou Yuan nodded speechlessly.
As they advanced, they heard the sound of clashing weapons from the side. They exchanged glances, decisively turned, and ran towards the source of the sound.
As they drew closer, the group finally saw the two sides locked in combat through the wind and snow.
On one side were three Rift Monsters wielding ice axes, and on the other side was Jepard, whom Zhou Yuan had been longing for!
He was seen kneeling on one knee, using his shoulder to brace against the "barrier" that resembled a violin case, trying to withstand the attack, but it seemed he could barely hold on.
"Brother!"
Zhou Yuan had no time to stop it. Seeing Jepard in danger, Hilva immediately ran forward to try to attract the monster's attention.
Having no other choice, Zhou Yuan led everyone to rush forward and destroy the Rift Monster.
“…Brother, are you…are you alright?” Hiluva stepped forward and helped Jepard up.
"It's alright, sister." Jepard smiled at Shiluva, then turned his gaze to Zhou Yuan and the others.
"What do you wanted criminals want? Did you force me and my sister to lead the way for you?" His gaze lingered on Zhou Yuan for a moment, subtly.
“No need for further words,” Zhou Yuan had been preparing for this for a long time. He stepped forward, approached Jepard, his hand twitching behind his back. “I’ll deal with him.”
"Wait, wait, wait!!" Hiluva quickly blocked Zhou Yuan from getting closer.
She said to Zhou Yuan, "Please let me ask him one question, okay? Just one!"
Zhou Yuan stopped what he was doing, which was taken as tacit agreement.
Hiluva turned her head, nervously pressing her hand to her chest: "Little brother, forget everything else, just answer one question for your sister, okay? Do you remember when you first beat me?"
Jepard frowned, his eyes filled with disappointment, and he did not give a direct answer:
"Sister, you actually ended up with a group of wanted criminals, you..."
“Jepard!” Hiluva interrupted Jepard.
Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice was almost pleading: "Please, answer this question... okay? You clearly remember."
"You said you would never forget..."
Jepard sighed, his tone softening: "Sister, now is not the time to talk about this."
"Is there even a need to ask?" Seeing that Jepard kept avoiding the question, Zhou Yuan already had the answer in his mind and asked Shiluwa.
“No…no need.” Hiluva lowered her head and slowly backed away.
Jepard's gaze returned to Zhou Yuan, his tone filled with anger: "Outsider, you seem to have been trying to sow discord between my sister and me. What exactly do you want?"
"Not bad." Zhou Yuan smiled and slowly approached, his hand casually touching the back of his head.
"Wait for Zhou Yuan!" Seeing this, Jepard's expression changed drastically. He reached out to block the two, about to speak, "I..."
But it was too late. Frustrated, Zhou Yuan became reckless, and a cone of light, consuming all of his power, instantly condensed and drew a beautiful arc towards Jepard.
The light cone hit, and Jepard stopped moving; he was stuck.
It was as if the pause button had been pressed; I just stood there with my arms outstretched, completely still.
Perhaps because Hanabi had experienced too much and the negative memories were too overwhelming, she was even worse than Sambo, unable to blink.
Zhou Yuan lost all his strength and staggered a few steps before leaning on Jepard to steady himself.
But this behavior, under Joo Won's superb acting skills, seems more like a victor's provocation.
Looking at Jepard, who was motionless and like a statue, Zhou Yuan suddenly felt a sense of unease.
"In this way, we can't see the opponent's reaction, which diminishes the joy of victory."
"And why didn't it revert back? What a waste of a golden opportunity..."
However, it was a good thing that the fireworks had been brought under control. Zhou Yuan leaned close to her ear, not caring whether she could hear him or not:
"If there's a next time, it won't be as simple as it is now."
The next moment, tears of humiliation streamed down the sculpted face of "Jepard".
"Hahaha, just stay put." Zhou Yuan laughed with satisfaction, patted "Jepard's" cheek, pushed him to the ground, and covered him with a thick coat.
Seeing that Xiluwa looked unwell, Zhou Yuan comforted her:
"Don't worry, I know Sambo. With him involved, Jepard is definitely still alive. As long as we solve the Star Core problem, we'll dig three feet into the ground to find him."
"Ok."
“Let’s go,” Zhou Yuan said.
The group continued their journey towards Yongdong Ridge. This time, without any worries, they moved exceptionally fast, reaching the foot of Yongdong Ridge in just half an hour.
Then, Zhou Yuan saw that the snow on the mountaintop had melted, and a huge object with flames spewing from its chest stood to the side, as if separating heaven and earth.
The creation engine has been activated.