DDT - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: Interstellar ABO (5)

After a two-hour flight, the mecha soon entered the southern continent of Moon Star. Since there were no military bases on such a remote planet, the local powers-that-be focused their resources on consolidating the ground, paying little attention to the airspace. As a result, the high-flying mecha went completely unnoticed.

Following its pre-set route, the mecha bypassed several larger cities before gradually decelerating and stopping in the eastern suburbs of the southern continent's central city.

There was a dense forest in the eastern suburbs. When the mecha reached its destination, Yi Shuhan took over the controls using the light screen.

The mecha lowered its altitude, circled the forest twice, and found a suitable clearing to land steadily on the ground.

Chi Chi was still sleeping soundly in her seat. If Yi Shuhan hadn't been so worried about her injuries, she really wouldn't have had the heart to wake her.

Yi Shuhan reached out and gently patted Chi Chi's shoulder. "Chi Chi? Wake up?"

Perhaps because this body was so severely injured, Chi Junluo was groggy and couldn't quite wake up.

Yi Shuhan saw Chi Chi's eyes flutter open, dull and lifeless. That, combined with her pale face and bloodless lips, sent another pang of heartache through her.

Helping Chi Chi sit up, Yi Shuhan retrieved a cup of hot water from the mecha's reserve compartment and helped her take a few sips.

Once Chi Junluo was more or less awake, Yi Shuhan explained again that they had arrived outside the central city of the southern continent. Since the people of Moon Star couldn't see the mecha, they had to leave it and call a car to get into the city.

Chi Junluo's mind cleared. She understood that Yi Shuhan was planning to take her to a hospital for treatment and that they were now just outside the city. She also finally learned that this giant humanoid machine was called a mecha. Although she was still in a state of utter confusion, she could only take things one step at a time.

She followed the beautiful girl out of the mecha and watched as she tapped the light screen a few times. The mecha's lights dimmed, and the sound of its operation ceased. It seemed to be powered down.

Immediately after, Chi Junluo saw the girl place her hand on the mecha's body. The next second, the towering mecha vanished from before their eyes.

What kind of advanced technology was this? Chi Junluo's eyes widened in astonishment.

After stowing the mecha, Yi Shuhan turned to see Chi Chi's astonished face. Although she felt this version of Chi Chi seemed much more dazed and foolish, unlike her usual calm and clever self, it was still better than her being unconscious or dead.

Yi Shuhan forced herself to think optimistically, then carefully took Chi Chi's uninjured right hand and slowly led her toward the main road in the forest.

As they walked, Chi Chi remained quiet and made no unnecessary movements. Yi Shuhan knew Chi Chi couldn't speak right now, so she started talking herself.

"Chi Chi, you just saw it. The last time we met, I mentioned that the space storage technology I've been researching for years was about to be successfully developed," Yi Shuhan said, raising her right arm. Chi Junluo saw her pull up her sleeve, revealing a thin device on her right forearm that resembled a piece of armor. Six indicator lights on the device were lit, but it didn't look particularly special. Yi Shuhan continued, "Space storage technology is something the Alliance's Space Monitoring Bureau has always wanted to master, but clearly, they don't have the talent for it. I was the one who developed it."

Seeing Chi Chi's bewildered expression, Yi Shuhan decided not to explain the theories and ideas behind her research. Chi Chi's mind wasn't working well right now; saying too much might be overwhelming for her. If it gave her a headache or something, she would feel terrible for a long time.

"I haven't named this space storage device yet. I'd just successfully developed it when I heard the news of your disappearance. It scared me to death."

Listening to the girl chattering beside her, Chi Junluo couldn't voice her own thoughts and could only try her best to process everything in her mind.

"After more than two thousand tests and continuous improvements, this device is now extremely stable. There are ten indicator lights on it," Yi Shuhan said, pointing to the lit and unlit lights. "The ten lights represent ten separate spaces. The six that are lit mean they already contain something. The ones that aren't lit are empty."

Yi Shuhan held her right arm out flat. In the next instant, a much smaller device, also resembling a piece of armor, appeared in her hand. Yi Shuhan took Chi Junluo's relatively uninjured right hand and secured the much more miniature-looking space storage device onto it.

The mini-device had only three indicator lights, two of which were lit.

Chi Junluo moved her right hand. She didn't know what material the device was made of, but she could barely feel its weight. It was lighter than a watch.

Yi Shuhan held Chi Junluo's hand and pointed to the mini-device, giving a simple introduction. "I designed this one specifically for you during my research. It's lightweight and won't interfere with your fighting, Chi Chi. It's only divided into three small spaces. In space number one is the latest mecha I designed. I was originally planning to improve it a bit more, but then you got into trouble, so I put it in here and brought it for you. Space number two contains some of your favorite weapons, both large and small. But your identity can't be exposed right now, so don't take these things out for the time being."

Chi Junluo was completely baffled. What did she mean by "won't interfere with your fighting, Chi Chi"? What did she mean by "your favorite weapons, both large and small"?

Was this original body a soldier? And her identity couldn't be exposed? Was she a spy?

Chi Junluo memorized the way the girl taught her to use the storage device, thinking to herself that once they got to the hospital and settled down, she had to find a way to understand what kind of world this was.

Listening to Yi Shuhan's chatter, the two of them unknowingly reached the main road in the forest.

Yi Shuhan raised her hand to look at her light screen, muttering, "Almost there, almost there." Less than two minutes later, Chi Junluo heard a strange-sounding music approaching from a distance. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw a strange-looking object, like a flying vehicle, fly over from the distance and then stop steadily in front of them, not very high off the ground. Chi Junluo looked at the vehicle hovering more than half a meter in the air and felt like a complete country bumpkin.

In the world where she had grown up, she had read a manga called Doraemon. There was a chapter where Nobita and Doraemon used a time machine to bring someone from ancient times to the modern era. She could now personally experience how that person must have felt seeing a television and cars speeding down the road. With all her scientific knowledge, she couldn't explain how these things could hover in mid-air without making a sound, how a tiny device could hold such a huge mecha, or how the mecha and this flying vehicle could soar freely through the sky.

Especially when the two futuristic people in front of her called this flying-vehicle-like thing a "taxi," Chi Junluo felt even more bewildered.

After Yi Shuhan confirmed the information with the driver, she secretly observed Chi Chi standing beside her. Seeing her look of shock and confusion, Yi Shuhan was certain that Chi Chi had really become simple-minded. She was reacting to taking a car as if she'd never seen one before, as if she'd lost even the most basic common sense.

She led the dazed Chi Chi into the suburban-line taxi for the central city. After the door closed, the driver didn't say much and flew the car directly toward the city center hospital. Yi Shuhan's attention was entirely on Chi Chi, who had been staring out the window at the scenery ever since she got in.

Watching the "cars," as the girl called them, flying all over the sky, Chi Junluo felt nervous.

Flying at such a density, wouldn't collisions be common?

And those bizarrely shaped buildings looked incredibly distorted, as if they could collapse or fall apart at any moment. Fortunately, so far, the people she had seen looked very much like people, and their sense of fashion wasn't too different from her own era.

What she also found strange was that she could recognize most of the characters she saw along the way—they were the familiar Chinese characters. The words she'd faintly heard the driver and the girl who saved her speaking were also Mandarin. She vaguely remembered hearing something about the southern and eastern hemispheres as she was dozing off in the mecha seat. Could it be that in the distant future, the China of this world had unified the entire planet?

Although Chi Junluo's knowledge was currently limited to Moon Star, her guesses were not far from the truth.

While driving the taxi, the driver was secretly observing the two passengers in the back seat through a small surveillance screen on his control panel. Not a sound came from the back through the bone-conduction headset on the driver's head.

These two passengers were certainly quiet.

They were still a few minutes away from the central hospital. The driver had observed them enough. Anyone with slightly stronger mental power would have long since discovered his snooping, but these two passengers in the back showed no reaction at all. It seemed they were just…

Yi Shuhan carefully analyzed Chi Junluo's expression. Chi Junluo was looking at the scenery outside the window like a three or four-year-old child on their first car ride, her eyes filled with curiosity and novelty.

She sighed inwardly and reached out to gently stroke Chi Chi's head. "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Chi Junluo pulled her gaze back and shook her head.

As Chi Junluo turned her head, the driver finally saw her face on the surveillance video. The left side was covered in a hideous, charred black scar. It startled the driver so much he almost cursed out loud. He found the face vaguely familiar, but the scar was so large that he couldn't remember where he had seen her.

The taxi stopped at the hospital entrance. The Western Star Region was relatively backward, and people here preferred to pay with cash. Yi Shuhan, who was used to Star Network payments on the Main Star, was surprised to find they only accepted cash here.

She didn't have much of a concept of cash. The fare was 375 Blue Star coins. Yi Shuhan had never used Blue Star coins on the Main Star, where a taxi ride could easily cost a dozen or so Purple Star coins. The denomination of Blue Star coins was too small, and she hadn't seen many people use them. Now, she just thought that the prices on a remote Class 2 planet were indeed very low. Yi Shuhan reached into a pocket of the overcoat she had lent to Chi Chi, pulled out a Purple Star coin, and handed it to the driver. The driver looked at the Purple Star coin, glanced secretly at the back seat again, and pulled out a few crumpled Blue Star coins to give to Yi Shuhan. Yi Shuhan was in a hurry to get Chi Chi to the hospital and couldn't be bothered to count. She stuffed the coins into her pocket, quickly led Chi Chi out of the car, and headed for the hospital.

Seeing them leave, the driver piloted the taxi into the air and headed elsewhere. He used his light screen to send out a short message: "Central Hospital. One disabled Beta, one pretty Omega. Mental power levels both below A-rank. Not Moon Star locals, should be from the Central Star Region. No luggage, no companions. You can make a move." Attached to the message were two photos—clear close-ups of Yi Shuhan and Chi Junluo's faces.

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