Saving Unpermitted

Chapter 52: Operation Exercise

At this point, Shu Jun had grown accustomed to seeing the ‘other self’ in his dreams—strictly speaking, it was a disguise of ‘a part of Sigma’ pretending to be him.

This time, the dream scene changed, and the spacious apartment turned into the small apartment where he had lived in his childhood. Outside the window was a void of pitch-black darkness, and Sigma stood silently at the door, still wearing its terrifying appearance.

Shu Jun glanced at it, too lazy to speak, treating it as a strangely aesthetic modern decoration.

Soon, he nostalgically wandered around the apartment, with shadows of the past everywhere—he and another child ran around the room, sharing snacks based on the results of their races, lying together on the balcony to feel the breeze, or making a mess of the furniture to build an unconventional secret base. Two small pots of bellflowers squeezed into a corner, full of vitality. Looking back now, he had indeed been taking care of them since then.

This narrow apartment had never made him feel so special. Looking back now, perhaps Smoke was the only true thing from his childhood.

Sighing, Shu Jun sat on the sofa. In his memory, the sofa had always been large. He remembered it clearly—one night, they were both tired from playing and didn’t want to set up the bed, so they squeezed onto the sofa and spent the night together. When they woke up the next day, Smoke’s head was resting on his chest, sleeping soundly.

Now, as he sat on it again, it felt fragile and cramped.

Despite knowing it was a dream, Shu Jun’s gaze softened.

Sigma at the door: “…”

It had intended to bring some excitement, but who would have thought that Shu Jun would start reminiscing instead? Unwilling to be ignored, it spread its erosion. Blood-red, foul-smelling threads started crawling along the floor. Shu Jun let those threads entangle him, enduring the negative emotions transmitted through them without changing his expression.

Early adaptation was for the best; the real Sigma would only become stronger. Looking at it from another perspective, as long as his will remained firm enough, this was a good opportunity for practice.

Soaked in negative emotions throughout the night, Shu Jun woke up the next day feeling like he had been marinating in them.

He even smelled his own arm to make sure that the putrid stench didn’t exist in reality. Zhu Yanchen, as usual, had gotten up early and was working at the desk. Shu Jun jumped off the bed and only then realized that warm water for washing up was already prepared and the toothbrush cup was in its most convenient spot.

After a night of accumulating negative emotions, most of it dissipated instantly at this moment. Shu Jun turned his head—Marshal Zhu was sitting at the desk; his hands had already recovered, and his beautiful fingers slid across the screen. Sensing Shu Jun’s gaze, Zhu Yanchen turned his head, visibly softening his expression.

The two locked eyes for a moment, and Shu Jun felt an inexplicable sense of warmth in the air.

He raised the corners of his mouth, raised the rinsing cup toward Zhu Yanchen, and made a toasting gesture. The latter chuckled, turned his head, and continued with his work.

“I’ve figured it out,” Ai Xiaoxiao declared during breakfast.

Shu Jun was eating a steamed bun when he heard that and nearly choked on it. “Really?!”

Ai Xiaoxiao slowly turned towards him, her gaze scanning him up and down with a complex mix of emotions. Shu Jun felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny and rubbed his cheek. “The medicine was made so quickly. Dr. Ai is truly impressive…”

“No need to flatter.” Ai Xiaoxiao continued staring at Shu Jun, her tone peculiar. “It was inspired by Zhu Yanchen.”

Zhu Yanchen calmly drank his porridge, lifting the bowl to cover most of his face.

“I won’t be able to make any medicine in the short term. The efficacy verification and mass production will both take time. It was fine before, but now that Luo Duan has run away, by the time this medicine is ready, the daylilies will have frozen into popsicles*.”

*Metaphor referring to something that will take an extremely long time to happen or be accomplished.

When it came to business matters, Ai Xiaoxiao was always efficient.

“So, I’ve decided to take inspiration from Zhu Yanchen’s approach—combining drug control with the use of erosion. It may be less efficient but more reliable in terms of safety.”

“Erosion surgery?” Shu Jun paused with his chopsticks in midair.

“Yes. Sigma asked Luo Duan to erode the brain control in order to obtain its characteristics and remove the shock in the brain… I thought, hasn’t your erosion also nibbled on brain fragments? They should recognize the taste.”

“So?” Shu Jun took a small bite of the steamed bun.

“So, you can use erosion to infiltrate a player’s body and accurately erode that part of the brain, similar to Sigma’s approach.”

Shu Jun’s expression changed. “That’s impossible; their bodies can’t handle it.”

“That’s where the drug control comes in.” Ai Xiaoxiao tapped her tea egg. “I happen to have a type of medicine that has excellent purification effects, but it’s too damaging to the body. Humans use it as a last resort, equivalent to choosing a slow death instead of a disease, enduring ten times the suffering, and only living two more days… But for a synthetic human, short-term use won’t be a problem.”

“How did you get this kind of medicine?” Shu Jun frowned.

Ai’s Clinic didn’t discriminate against customers, but human clients were the majority. Developing new medicines was incredibly difficult, and even if they specialized in making money from synthetic humans, short-term use wouldn’t solve the fundamental problem and had no future prospects.

“Someone paid a hefty sum for a custom order, and I stumbled upon it*.” Ai Xiaoxiao glanced at Zhu Yanchen with a half-smile. “Don’t worry, I’ve conducted human experiments for fifteen years, so I know the effectiveness. Unfortunately, there’s only one fool who would choose a slow death. Otherwise, the data would be more accurate.”

*Unintentionally inserting a willow (无心插柳柳成荫) Idiom referring to a situation where someone achieves or receives recognition or success without actively seeking it. It implies that a person’s achievement or success happened inadvertently without deliberate effort. It comes from a story from the Spring and Autumn period in Chinese history where a man carved his name in a willow tree, expressing his feelings of longing for his hometown. Unexpectedly, this carving became famous, leaving behind his legacy.

Shu Jun looked at Zhu Yanchen beside him. “Is that medicine a canned milky-white powder that can be used directly on an Erosion Swamp?”

That was the weapon Zhu Yanchen had used to attack Sweet Edge’s temple. At the time, Shu Jun had been curious—usually, weapons with strong killing power wouldn’t be so crude. Now it seemed those cans weren’t weapon casings at all; they were innocent medicine bottles.

“Surname Zhu, do you have any idea how much one canister of medicine costs?! I worked so hard to prepare it for you, and you use it against an Erosion Swamp?!” Ai Xiaoxiao lamented with a pained expression.

“Ai Xiaoxiao.” Zhu Yanchen warned in a low voice. “Stick to business.”

“Huh? I think she’s talking about something important,” Shu Jun interjected. “Miss Ai, please continue.”

“In short, I have this medicine. You perform the surgery using the erosion substance and then immediately have the patient take the medicine to expel it. In theory, it won’t cause much harm—at most some physical weakness, and there won’t be any side effects.”

After all, Ai Xiaoxiao still recognized Zhu Yanchen as her boss and didn’t continue teasing him.

“I have a good amount of the medicine in stock. The problem lies with you. This is considered a surgery, and if you tremble too much, you might end up harming the patient’s brain. Later, I’ll give you a mannequin. If you can make the erosion substance crawl through specific points, that should be enough.”

According to the intelligence from the Old Fourth, the Blackbirds had returned to Y City to hand in their mission completion, while Yu Jin went back to the settlement to collect his reward. Shu Jun brought the mannequin and a large pack of medicine, and he and Zhu Yanchen directly returned to the border settlement.

They returned only after spending a night there, so Yu Jin wasn’t surprised at all.

“I explained to them that you two are my acquaintances and wanted to return to the settlement in advance to spend the night. Anyway, we’re out of the danger zone, and Captain Hu didn’t say anything. He just asked about the identification number of our settlement—Gray Claw, is that someone you know?”

“Yes,” Shu Jun didn’t deny it.

“Ah, that guy’s not bad.” Yu Jin shook his head and glanced questioningly at the mannequin. “I’ve collected your rewards; I’ll give them to you later. Now we’re partners, right? Let me ask directly, are both of you synthetic humans, including Smoke?”

“He is human.” Shu Jun smiled faintly. “How could a synthetic human infiltrate the Old Fourth?”

“That’s true. I was wondering why the Old Fourth put me in charge so quickly. But I can’t understand. Our settlement doesn’t have any proper fighting strength. What benefits can we gain from cooperating with you?”

“I can give you an example now, Mr. Yu,” Zhu Yanchen earnestly stated. “The Old Fourth merchants will have more frequent interactions in the near future. I request that you prepare more supplies in your capacity as the manager. I will provide the list of supplies and the funds, and make sure to keep separate records.”

Yu Jin narrowed his eyes. “From what you’re implying…”

“It’s been unstable lately,” Zhu Yanchen succinctly replied.

“Fine, anyway, my brain is like this. Even if you explain more, I won’t understand.” Yu Jin waved his hand. “You provide the money, and I’ll stockpile the supplies.”

“We have a testing ground, which used to be the ruins of a  small town. We can clear out some usable old buildings from there,” Zhu Yanchen continued. “As for the mechanical parts on the list, please find someone to assemble them into cleaning machines. We only need to clean the underground part.”

“Ah? The erosion in that area is quite severe. Can the machines even operate?”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“…Alright.” Yu Jin’s expression became more serious. “I won’t ask what you two are planning. I just hope that you can keep your promise and not let the people in the settlement suffer any losses. If you’re not using the land and resources, they should belong to us. As long as you can do that, I’m willing to help.”

“Certainly.”

After discussing the details with Yu Jin for a while, the two returned to the inn just at noon. Uncle Pan was napping behind the counter, so they quietly returned to their room without disturbing him.

Seeing the double bed, Shu Jun felt a sense of familiarity. He patted the pillow on the bed and was about to say something when he noticed Zhu Yanchen staring at the mannequin.

“Don’t look. I’m going to practice. I still have to go hunting tonight.”

After finishing breakfast, Shu Jun still felt hungry. Even though there was regular food to satisfy his hunger, he still wanted to hunt some mutant beasts for a meal. During this time, his hidden appetite for Zhu Yanchen hadn’t disappeared. Since discovering his feelings, his “appetite” had taken on an additional meaning, which he firmly suppressed in fear of losing control again.

“I’m afraid this won’t work.” Zhu Yanchen glanced at the points on the mannequin. “Even if you practice with it, real people breathe, and their bodies don’t remain completely still, so you won’t achieve the optimal effect.”

He glanced at the body model once again and took off his windbreaker. “Do it on me.”

“You… What…?” Shu Jun’s hand slipped, and instead of patting the pillow, he hit the edge of the bed.

“It’s better to practice on a live person.”

Zhu Yanchen started to unbutton his shirt while speaking calmly.

“First, practice accuracy. You only need to let the erosion crawl on the surface of my body; you don’t need to touch my brain. Second, I am immune to erosion. They won’t be able to invade me. Lastly, when faced with me, the erosion will resist vigorously, which is more conducive to practicing control.”

“Uh…” Shu Jun stood still, dumbfounded. By the time he reacted, Zhu Yanchen had already marked the practice points with a pen.

Red crosses scattered across his pale skin, rising and falling with each breath.

“You can start practicing now.” Zhu Yanchen, shirtless, sat at the end of the bed. He calmly opened his tablet screen and continued his research, clearly not intending to waste any time.

Shu Jun swallowed a mouthful of saliva, feeling that mixed appetite rise again. He pierced his lips with his teeth and took three whole seconds to suppress it.

“I understand,” he said softly.

The pitch-black erosion transformed into fine tendrils, slowly crawling up Zhu Yanchen’s skin like deformed vines. The contrast between black and white was exceptionally vivid, and Shu Jun could hear his own heartbeat clearly.

Damn, it really is a highly difficult exercise.

The threads passed over a red cross but failed to fully invade the intersecting point. Under Shu Jun’s force, the erosion tendril slid lightly over the skin, winding quietly and then returning.

The red crosses gradually became incomplete, and a few central points were successfully erased. This task was somewhat like embroidery; indeed, it required practice.

Despite countless threads caressing his upper body, Zhu Yanchen remained motionless.

“If you feel itchy, let me know,” Shu Jun said hesitantly. The scene before him was too ambiguous, and his thoughts gradually became muddled.

‘I must adjust the atmosphere,’ he thought.

“It’s fine,” Zhu Yanchen didn’t turn around and replied in a steady voice. “Just continue. Don’t be nervous.”

Don’t be nervous? His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his throat. Shu Jun took a few deep breaths; his back was soaked in sweat.

Aside from standing up to complete the red crosses, Zhu Yanchen sat on the bed until the sun went down. Shu Jun’s progress was astonishing—initially, the erosion tendril was crooked and lacked precision, but later, each stroke became accurate and direct.

Having grown accustomed to the sensory stimulation, Shu Jun’s hunger intensified several times, but his mood became more stable. That self-assurance of being in control returned once again, with only a small regret—

From start to finish, Zhu Yanchen sat steadily, without the slightest wavering.

From a certain perspective, this practice was ambiguous enough yet the other party had no reaction at all. Perhaps he truly saw him as just a friend. Shu Jun felt a slight sense of disappointment.

With this thought in mind, Shu Jun’s mischievous side emerged. Before completely retracting the erosion tendril, he intentionally left a thread and allowed it to slowly move, crawling across Zhu Yanchen’s neck, hooking onto his left ear from the root, and tracing along the contour.

He remembered well that Smoke’s ears were ticklish.

Sure enough, Marshal Zhu’s left ear turned red in an instant. His expression became peculiar as he turned around, grabbing Shu Jun’s wrist.

“Sorry, sorry, I saw you motionless—” Shu Jun immediately retracted the erosion tendril, raising both hands.

Zhu Yanchen scanned him from head to toe with an unfamiliar gaze. Shu Jun quickly adjusted his expression, straightened his posture, and decided to apologize sincerely—

Marshal Zhu leaned forward, his face coming a bit too close. He whispered near Shu Jun’s ear, “Stop messing around. I still have that pair of handcuffs.”

His voice was soft and his tone calm, so Shu Jun didn’t know whether this was a joke or a threat.

“I’ll go hunting now.” Shu Jun stood up abruptly. “I won’t dare anymore, I promise. I’ll catch a plump mutant beast, and we can roast it and eat it together later.”

Zhu Yanchen wiped his face slowly. “…We don’t have enough chili powder. I’ll go buy some.”

“Okay, okay, A’Yan, you know me well. Remember to get a few bottles of drinks.”

“Mm.”

Inside Y City.

The command center had an incident, so Yi Ning had been running around all day. Finally, as night fell, he dragged his tired steps back to the office.

To his surprise, there was a familiar figure there. Luo Duan was leaning against the sofa, reading a book. When he saw Yi Ning enter, he revealed a gentle smile.

“You’re back,” he said softly.

The author has something to say:

Shu Jun: I’m seducing him, but he’s not moved at all. Could it be that it’s really just friendship? (Referring to the erosion tendrils)

Marshal: I’m seducing him, but he’s not moved at all. Could it be that it’s really just friendship? (Referring to undressing)