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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Neng had never been so invested in something before. He had inadvertently overheard Han Ming mention that the gadget resembling a guitar case was a time control device, and he couldn't help but feel an urge to touch it.
"Don't mess with it."
Zhong Neng withdrew his hand, feeling restless. He still wanted to plead, "Han Ming, just satisfy me this once. Brother, I want to see what this thing really is."
"This is a time controller. How should I explain it to you?" Han Ming pointed to a row of numerical keys on the side of the box and said, "These are for year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. If you want to go to the year 2020, you just turn the numbers to 2020, set the month, day, hour, minute, and second, and press here to confirm."
"Is that for real? That's amazing!" Upon hearing Han Ming's words, Zhong Neng was even more eager to try it out. He longed to return to the time when he and his brother were apart, to find him again.
"That's not possible; you can't go."
"Why not?"
"Because you're lacking a certain element."
"I'm as fit as a horse; how could I be lacking anything?" Zhong Neng replied in confusion.
"That's one of the reasons why you haven't achieved your dreams. There are many things you don't understand." Han Ming packed up the box. He didn't want to waste time explaining things to Zhong Neng; the more he explained, the more tangled things might become.
"Fine, I don't even know what kind of element you're talking about. If I don't have it, then I don't have it! When do you plan to leave?"
"Tomorrow." Han Ming locked the keypad and clapped his hands. "Nair is leaving; I need to hurry back and clarify things with my girlfriend."
"Alright then, safe travels." Zhong Neng sighed and said, "I still have to endure and wait for someone."
"Who are you waiting for?"
"A Weirdo Old Man. Those jars and bottles are all left by him. He gave me some money and helped me buy this house before leaving, saying he would come back one day to collect these things. But he hasn't returned since."
A Weirdo Old Man? Han Ming wondered privately.
"I have to get going; I saw thick smoke coming from West Blockage Stone yesterday and need to check it out. Hey, guess what?" As Zhong Neng spoke, his eyes sparkled with excitement as he asked Han Ming.
"What happened?"
"Two cars came from the city and crashed into that roadblock. Boom! The cars were wrecked and people died."
"Damn, why didn't you tell me?"
"You dove straight into that dark room and didn't come out, so you didn't know anything. At that time, so many people in town went to see it, and I went too."
"Were there any casualties?"
"Yes, but strangely, only two people died in one car. The other car had no fatalities, and I didn't see any survivors either. The equipment inside the car was completely destroyed. I thought about piecing together parts from both cars to see if I could make one functional vehicle."
"Let's go, take me to see what kind of cars they were." Han Ming picked up a box and urged Zhong Neng.
Zhong Neng rode a beat-up motorcycle, but it was still good for carrying someone.
"Your bike is worse than mine."
"You have a motorcycle too?"
"Yeah, an old antique." Han Ming mounted the motorcycle, holding the box tightly.
They sped along the road and returned to Zhong Neng's home. As the roll-up door opened with a clatter, Han Ming saw the wreckage of two dilapidated cars. However, he recognized one of them; he walked up to it, examined it closely, and then climbed inside to check the internal equipment.
"I know the owner of this car."
"Who?"
"It's Zhong Xuan's car."
"His? We share the same surname?"
"Yes."
Zhong Neng was taken aback for a moment before looking up at Han Ming and saying, "The people in that car should be alive. I saw a trail of footprints and drag marks moving north at the roadblock."
"North? Isn't that the Nuclear Radiation zone? Wouldn't that be suicide?"
"Yeah, that's exactly it. We didn't delve deeper to check."
Han Ming suddenly felt a wave of anxiety. If that car belonged to Zhong Xuan, what was he doing heading north? And who else could be with him?
"Zhong Neng, how about we go take a look?"
Zhong Neng didn't hesitate and replied boldly, "Sure, let's embark on an adventure to the Nuclear Radiation zone."
"Alright, let's gear up to avoid skin damage."
"It shouldn't be that serious; it's been years since the Nuclear War. Other regions of Earth have returned to normal, except for that place, which is just a vast, white desert. Some say if you cross the desert, you can reach another country."
"How can we trust such legends? Are we setting off right away?"
"Okay."
With that, Han Ming and Zhong Neng hopped into the car and sped off toward the northwest Desert Ocean. Han Ming's mind was troubled by the thought that the footprints seen at the roadblock might belong to Fang Shanshan and Xiao Qiang.
This was the only explanation that made sense for why Zhong Xuan would risk going to Ocean Desert—either he was protecting Xiao Qiang as they left or something terrible had happened in the city.
But why hadn't Xiao Qiang come to find him in town? The bumpy road did not allow Han Ming's thoughts to pause. After a while of chaotic thinking, they had already navigated several ridges and were about to descend into the roadblock area.
At that moment, a sleek EN Concept Car suddenly came racing down from the opposite mountain path. The motorcycle barely missed colliding with the concept car, screeching to a halt with an ear-piercing sound.
Zhong Neng cursed angrily, "What the hell is going on?"
"Concept transformation," Han Ming exclaimed in surprise.
The concept car did not stop due to Zhong Neng's curses; instead, it revved its engine and sped away, kicking up a cloud of gray dust that enveloped Zhong Neng and his companion's masks, leaving them covered in a white haze.
"How incredibly rude, coming from a big city," Zhong Neng spat out the dust that had blown into his mouth. He raised an eyebrow and felt guilty for cursing in front of Han Ming, quickly adding, "Hey, hey, I was talking about that thing just now."
Han Ming chuckled in confusion, "Don't you find it strange? That car just took the route we were heading."
A motorcycle could never match the speed of the EN Concept Car. By the time Han Ming and Zhong Neng reached the checkpoint, they only saw a series of footprints alongside numerous tire tracks that had recently been added.
It seemed that the car they had seen earlier was just one of many. Someone had driven into the restricted area ahead of them to search for Zhong Xuan and the others. Han Ming's heart grew heavier as he longed to find Zhong Xuan and see Fang Shanshan and Xiao Qiang.
Zhong Xuan was tired; Nair helped him off the lounge chair. "I'll walk myself," he insisted stubbornly, slowly making his way to a large rock where he leaned against the stone wall and sat down.
Zhong Xuan reminisced about his days in the army and the carefree times at the police station, with his most profound memories being of his younger brother and parents.
A car sped towards them like a gust of wind. Inside was Zhong Xuan's nemesis, a colleague poised to take over Zhong Xuan's position as captain, Zhou Yihai.
Zhou Yihai arrived alone, his gloomy face displaying a complex expression. "Lao Zhonghuan, just wait for me... Hey hey..." His gold-capped teeth glinted coldly, and his deep-set eyes seemed to harbor dark currents swirling within, flashing with cold light and an ominous killing intent.
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