MASG chapter 114

 

Mo An felt a bit messed up.

It wasn’t just him who thought so; Lao Gui held the same view. When he came to his senses, he was already standing there, but it took him a while to get used to the virtual world. The moment he saw Mo An and Xia Yu, he exchanged a look with Mo An. The two warriors, who had fought bloody battles in the real world, felt uncomfortable and confused. Then their whole bodies went numb.

Why was it so quiet?

Why was it so peaceful?

Why did it have to be this kind of world?

Lao Gui had read more books than Mo An and understood more clearly how this environment had come to be. A very long time ago, coastal towns and island cities on Earth looked exactly like this. Nuwa must have used them as the prototype for the AI, creating a false sense of goodness and beauty.

Lao Gui looked at Xia Yu again. His heart was filled with both a sense of stability and a pang of sadness, and these two emotions repeatedly crushed his heart. Like Mo An, all of Lao Gui’s fantasies about the virtual world stemmed from his opposition to Nuwa. At the moment of connection, he was very worried that they would end up in a city like Qingyao City and that Xia Yu would turn into an enemy.

Nuwa might brainwash Xia Yu, causing them to turn against each other. There would be no chance of relief in this lifetime. If that happened, they would be unable to take Xia Yu away.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen… Although Xia Yu had only lived here for six months, he seemed very happy. He had a harmonious family and had even found the younger sister he had longed for. Lao Gui looked at the deep blue sky. All the modern technology he and Mo An were familiar with had disappeared, and they would have to slowly return to how things were several hundred years ago.

“Hello! I’ll open the door!” Xia Yu had already rushed over to open it. “Sorry to keep you waiting… what should I call you?”

The gate to the fence opened. There was only one step between Lao Gui and Xia Yu. He smiled, still treating Xia Yu as the pitiful child he had known in the past, and his voice trembled slightly.

“Just call me Lao Gui. Everyone calls me that,” said Lao Gui. The Xia Yu in front of him overlapped with the child who had come to the middle layer on the first day to seek survival. The only difference was that Xia Yu’s eyes were a normal color here.

They were no longer watery-colored, just ordinary black. When the light shifted and brushed past them, they turned tea-brown. These were the most ordinary eyes.

“Lao Gui… Lao Gui? Your name is really easy to remember.” Xia Yu led him into the courtyard, unable to stop himself from taking a few extra looks. It was so strange. This person should be a complete stranger to him. Why was he looking at him like that? Why was he looking so intensely?

After bringing him inside, Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li took charge of the interview, which, for the time being, had nothing to do with the three kids. Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao went upstairs to pack their schoolbags. As a “transfer student on the first day,” Mo An was completely clueless and couldn’t find any key points. He simply stood by “Dad and Mom,” helping them interview Lao Gui.

Mm, interviewing his own old friend Lao Gui.

Lao Gui’s expression became more and more complicated. What, kid, you even became my superior?

“The general situation is like this: Food and lodging are included, with two days off a week. You can also go out to work with the fishing boats occasionally. It’s not very hard,” Zhang Mingqiao explained.

Lao Gui nodded. As a mercenary who often went to electronically decayed zones to clean up messes, this was the first time he had accepted such a simple, straightforward job. The work was too easy—feeding the fish, cleaning the fish ponds, and going out to sea to fish. In fact, these tasks didn’t require anyone to be hired at all. But there was no way around it. Ling Shi made Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li hire someone, and they had to comply.

“For any other questions, you can discuss them with my wife. Let her show you the work environment. Life here is very easygoing—maybe too easygoing and boring. Please forgive us,” said Zhang Mingqiao, standing up first. “Sorry, I need to send the kids to school first. We’ll draw up the contract when we come back.”

“Okay, okay, no problem.” Lao Gui stood up and shook hands with his boss. “This is your son?”

Zhang Mingqiao patted Mo An on the shoulder and introduced him proudly. “Yes, his name is Mo An. He used to live in Qingyao City, but now he’s living with us. He’s not used to life here yet; he’s never lived in a coastal city before. If you see him going into the sea, be sure to remind him. Don’t let him think the sea isn’t dangerous. Wait, Xiao An, can you swim?”

The mermaid son, Mo An, shook his head. “No, swimming is really hard.”

“I’ll teach you another day,” said Zhang Mingqiao guiltily. “I didn’t spend enough time with you before… It was Dad who neglected you. I’ll make it up to you properly in the future.”

Mo An frowned slightly. Faced with a “father’s” concern, he felt at a loss. The father-son relationship in human society was completely different from that of mermaids. Would he actually regret not spending enough time with him? How should he respond now?

“Oh, it’s fine.” In the end, Mo An responded dryly. He did his best. As for parental love, he still couldn’t sense it.

Soon, the brother and sister in school uniforms came downstairs, each carrying a backpack. Mo An stood at the bottom of the stairs as if in a dream, watching Xia Yu step down one stair at a time until he stood by his side. Compared to when they first met, Mo An’s breathing had steadied considerably, but his heart still pounded intensely, making it impossible for him to be completely calm.

This kind of Xia Yu was also something he had never seen before.

“Let’s go,” said Xia Yu, who had already walked up to him.

“Okay… let’s go.” Mo An nodded stiffly. This time, he managed to control himself and not go up and hug him.

Zhang Mingqiao was driving. Xia Xiaoxiao was accustomed to sitting in the front passenger seat. In the backseat, only Mo An and Xia Yu sat.

Mo An kept glancing over with his peripheral vision. In his opinion, Xia Yu had many sides, but never like this. He was very fresh and relaxed, with only happiness and no pressure of survival.

In real life, Xia Yu was really too tired. He had never lived for himself. He was exhausted from worrying about others, worrying about not having enough points, and worrying about the collapse of the real world.

Now, he wore a white T-shirt, blue-and-white shorts, white sneakers, and a baseball cap. A section of his calf was exposed as he sat next to Mo An drinking lemonade. An electronic watch adorned his left wrist. When he noticed Mo An’s gaze, he smiled gently, put down the bottle, and wiped the moisture from the corner of his mouth.

“You keep looking at me. Are you nervous?” Xia Yu asked.

Hearing this, Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head. “He’s not nervous at all. He hugged you the moment you met.”

“That’s because the two brothers get along well and click,” Zhang Mingqiao explained, summing it up as the two kids having compatible personalities, which was exactly what he liked to see. “You even knocked him over.”

“I already apologized.” Xia Xiaoxiao reached into her pocket and tossed Mo An a piece of chocolate. “Sea salt flavor. Consider it compensation.”

“Thank you.” Mo An accepted the apology. He had never eaten chocolate before. It didn’t seem to exist in the real world, probably similar to an energy bar.

Zhang Mingqiao glanced at him through the rearview mirror and said, “It definitely takes time to adapt to a new environment. When Dad first came here, I was confused for a while, too. There’s only one high school on this island. Don’t worry; the academic pressure here isn’t as intense as in Qingyao City. From now on, the three of you will go to and from school together and look out for each other.”

“Yeah, normally we all ride bikes. Today is your first day, so Dad drove us,” said Xia Yu, wanting his younger brother to adapt quickly. “After school today, I’ll go with you to buy a bike. Can you ride?”

A bicycle? What was that? Mo An pretended to understand and shook his head. “No, but I’ve always wanted to learn.”

“Then I’ll teach you.” Xia Yu took a bottle of homemade lemonade out of his backpack and handed it to Mo An.

Mo An gripped the glass bottle. He was the only person in the car who didn’t fit in. He had no idea what “high school,” “academic pressure,” or “bicycles” meant. His previous life consisted only of survival, training, and electronic corruption. Once a person relaxed, time seemed to move very slowly, and outside the window was scenery he had never appreciated before.

It was so good. At least Xia Yu hadn’t suffered here.

More than ten minutes later, Zhang Mingqiao parked the car at the gate of a middle school. It was past morning reading time, and the first class was in session, so the environment was extremely quiet. As soon as they entered the school, Mo An began observing the new environment, noticing the rubber flooring under his feet at the same time.

“This rubber track was replaced this year,” Xia Yu said. “That side is the junior high section; this side is the high school section. The farthest area is the gymnasium and swimming pool. Our school’s strongest programs are basketball and swimming. I’ll accompany you to learn more later.”

“Bro, why are you treating him like a little kid? Hahaha!” Xia Xiaoxiao laughed, with a broad stretch of green trees behind her.

“Yeah, why am I treating him like a kid? That’s so strange.” Xia Yu laughed along with his sister.

Because you were the one who raised me from the state of a child to this big. Mo An knew this well but could only press that deep longing into his heart.

Zhang Mingqiao led the kids into the teaching building and went straight to the principal’s office. While he negotiated with the principal, the kids sat in the hallway and chatted. Mo An was only responsible for listening. He listened as Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao talked about the school sports meet, the music festival, the fireworks festival, and the goldfish market on the island. Every word was unfamiliar to him.

This world was way too new!

“All done.” Half an hour later, Zhang Mingqiao emerged from the principal’s office, having finished the student registration procedures for Mo An. “Now, I’ll take Mo An to the 12th grade office to let him choose a class. Xiao Yu, take Xiaoxiao to class first.”

“Okay.” Xia Yu took his phone out of his pocket. “Mo An, let’s add each other’s contact information. Later, tell me what class you have. I’ll come find you after class. I’ll have lunch with you at noon.”

“Okay.” Mo An obediently reached into his pocket and found that it was empty.

Did Ling Shi not give him a communication device?

“What’s wrong?” Xia Yu noticed Mo An’s awkwardness.

“Nothing, nothing.” Mo An waved his hand and thought seriously for a moment. “I think I lost it.”

“Lost what?” Xia Yu asked again.

Mo An’s Adam’s apple rolled repeatedly. “The thing in your hand.”

Ling Shi’s permissions were restricted, so she hadn’t transmitted information about this virtual world to Mo An’s brain. He didn’t even know what Xia Yu had taken out was called. Xia Yu looked down and suddenly understood. “You lost your phone?”

“Did you leave it in the car?” Xia Xiaoxiao asked, turning back.

“I don’t know, but it shouldn’t be in the car. How much does a phone cost?” Mo An couldn’t take a single step without Xia Yu’s help. However, before he could respond, a piercing metallic sound rang out, much like the wailing of buildings in Yukun City.

The sound activated Mo An’s body. Having been in a tense combat state for a long time, he wrapped his arms around Xia Yu’s waist. Amid the sound of the high school class bell, he leaped out of the third-floor window while holding Xia Yu.

Run! Mo An had only one thought: Run!