Chapter 170
Wen Jiafei, however, still didn’t seem to want to open up. “It’s nothing. Maybe the part-time job these past two days was too tiring. Don’t worry.”
“Really?” Shen Shuyu asked. He still felt Wen Jiafei had something on his mind, but given his temperamentāShen Shuyu had asked several times and he still wouldn’t speakāhe was probably determined not to let him know.
It seemed he needed to observe more.
While Shen Shuyu was spacing out, Wen Jiafei asked, “So what is the item you want to get?”
Shen Shuyu snapped back to reality, almost forgetting the main business.
He said, “Come look.”
He walked quickly to the coffee table, kneeled on one knee, pulled open a drawer on the side, and took out the box furthest inside.
Wen Jiafei walked over too, watching Shen Shuyu open the box and take out the item insideāa goldfish keychain.
Shen Shuyu placed the keychain in Wen Jiafei’s hand. “Pick it up and look.”
Wen Jiafei obediently picked up the keychain and looked at it. There was flowing light on it.
Shen Shuyu opened the oval video again and handed it to Wen Jiafei. “Look, is it the same?”
Wen Jiafei said, “This is the gift Shen Xili gave you back then?”
Shen Shuyu nodded. “Yes. When I saw this video before, I felt it was very familiar but couldn’t recall it no matter what. Only when you handed me the key just now did I realize it was this keychain.”
Wen Jiafei compared them carefully, then put down the keychain. “No wonder.”
“No wonder what?” Shen Shuyu asked.
Wen Jiafei said, “Do you remember the day we got the Mother Bug? When Shen Xili and I left, he specifically asked you about the keychain.”
Shen Shuyu recalled. “I remember. I didn’t think much of it at the time, thinking it was really just an ordinary keychain.”
Wen Jiafei nodded. “Yes.”
He had thought the same just now.
Shen Shuyu took back the keychain. “Although I don’t know why he chose to give it to me, at least he can be saved now. I’ll message that person to tell me the address.”
However, Wen Jiafei stopped him. Shen Shuyu looked at Wen Jiafei in confusion. “What?”
Wen Jiafei asked, “Things aren’t that simple.”
Shen Shuyu put down the terminal. Wen Jiafei said, “If you give the item to them, they might not keep their promise to release Shen Xili. I feel there’s a ninety percent chance they’ll kill both you and him. The remaining ten percent is you two turning the tables on them.”
Turn the tables?
If it were just Zhong, maybe the two of them working together would be feasible. But now, it was unclear how many people the other side had or what their combat power was. Moreover, Shen Xili was injured.
Shen Shuyu lowered his eyes to the terminal. He opened the video again, looking at Shen Xili’s injured appearance, pursing his lips in silence.
Seeing this, Wen Jiafei hesitantly placed his hand on Shen Shuyu’s shoulder and patted it lightly twice. “Don’t be too sad.”
Shen Shuyu shook his head. “I’m not sad. I’m just thinking, why would Zhong and his companions care so much about this… keychain? Is there some secret inside?”
Wen Jiafei hesitated again and again before asking, “Do you know Zhong’s true identity?”
Shen Shuyu looked at Wen Jiafei, not rushing to answer. “You know?”
Wen Jiafei chuckled lightly. “It seems you know.”
Shen Shuyu pursed his lips. “My brother found some information and told me.”
Wen Jiafei asked again, “What about Shen Xili’s?”
Shen Xili’s?
Actually, Shen Shuyu had vague guesses when he had the dream, but since Shen Xili didn’t say anything, he couldn’t ask. Plus, with the confession, he was even more embarrassed to ask.
Shen Shuyu fell silent. He looked at the terminal again before saying, “Guessed, but don’t know the specifics.”
After speaking, he looked at Wen Jiafei again. “Do you know something? If you know something, you can say it directly.”
Wen Jiafei considered for a moment. Indeed, now was not the time to hide things. He said, “The day we extracted the Mother Bug, I asked Shen Xili. His identity is the same as Zhong’s.”
Shen Shuyu froze. He knew from the dream that Zhong was a member of the Star Thieves, but he hadn’t expected Shen Xili to have been one in the past too!
This wasn’t in the novel. Only now did Shen Shuyu vaguely understand what ‘plot outside the plot’ meant.
He quickly calmed down and asked Wen Jiafei, “Then do you know about Star Pirates?”
Wen Jiafei said, “They are actually very mysterious. I’ve read some information recorded online. It’s all from captured criminals. According to their confessions, we only know that the people in the organization are all heinous villains who fear nothing. To convince them, one can only beat them into submission one by one with fists.”
But the records were from decades or even centuries ago. There were no recent ones, so there was no starting point for news about Shen Xili.
Shen Shuyu’s face was solemn. His first reaction was, “You go back to school. Don’t get involved.”
“Are you really going alone? You don’t care even if you die there?” Wen Jiafei’s voice rose significantly, looking somewhat composed. He blurted out, “Do you really like Shen Xili that much?”
Shen Shuyu was still connecting with the System. Hearing Wen Jiafei’s words, he quickly interrupted the connection.
He asked, “What?”
Wen Jiafei realized his loss of composure at this moment. He said, “Sorry, nothing. I spoke too much.”
“No.” A lightbulb suddenly went off in Shen Shuyu’s head. He seemed to know why Wen Jiafei was unhappy today.
He thought for a moment, then lowered his head and grabbed the fabric of his clothes. “Shen Xili and I aren’t what you think.”
Not what he thought?
Shen Shuyu sighed. “I can’t tell you everything specific yet, but don’t misunderstand. There’s really nothing between Shen Xili and me.”
Wen Jiafei looked at Shen Shuyu quietly. Shen Shuyu extended his hand. “I swear, really. Believe me.”
Only then did Wen Jiafei say “Oh.” “Understood.”
He felt the sourness that had been in his heart all day vanish completely.
Since Shen Shuyu said there was nothing, then there should really be… nothing, right?
Shen Shuyu caught something in these three words, but Wen Jiafei quickly said, “Let’s think about how to handle this matter first.”
Shen Shuyu pulled back his temporarily wandering thoughts. rubbing the keychain pendant, he asked, “Now that we know what this flowing light looks like, can we forge one to give them?”
The Star Thieves sent people to look for this thing one after another. To avoid it being found, Shen Xili specifically transferred it to him.
Just thinking with his toes, this thing must be very important.
Wen Jiafei said, “Let me think.”
While Wen Jiafei was thinking, Shen Shuyu continued to connect with the System in his mind.
The System said: [Host, sorry, I haven’t found Shen Xili yet.]
The System was about to feel autistic. This feeling was exactly the same as when it couldn’t contact Shen Shuyu before. The only difference was that it could use means to forcibly find Shen Shuyu, but it couldn’t forcibly find Shen Xili.
Shen Shuyu heard the aggrieved tone in its mechanical voice. He said: [It’s fine. Help me look at this keychain in my hand first. Can you replicate it?]
The System scanned it a few times: [Shape is doable. The light on it can only be imitated to sixty or seventy percent likeness.]
Sixty or seventy percent likeness was good enough.
Shen Shuyu asked: [Then roughly when can you replicate it?]
The System said: [It will take at least ten minutes. Host, do you need it replicated?]
[Need it!] Shen Shuyu said: [Go make it for me quickly. I need it urgently.]
The System had never dropped the ball in this regard. After agreeing to Shen Shuyu, it went to work.
Having solved one thing, Shen Shuyu said to Wen Jiafei, “I think we can’t sit and wait for death.”
Wen Jiafei looked at him. “Do you have any ideas?”
Shen Shuyu said, “Giving this can only be the last resort. We still have to find where Shen Xili is.”
Wen Jiafei had the same intention, but the key problem now was, where exactly to look for Shen Xili?
He said, “Show me the video sent by the other party again.”
Shen Shuyu nodded and opened his terminal again. Shen Xili was tied to a chair, head lowered, covered in blood.
Wen Jiafei pursed his lips and zoomed in bit by bit. He felt Shen Xili would leave them some clues.
Just then, Shen Shuyu beside him suddenly said, “Wait!”
Wen Jiafei stopped his hand dragging the photo. He turned his head slightly and saw Shen Shuyu leaning in, filling his senses with the faint scent of mountain camellia.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shen Shuyu pointed at Shen Xili’s wrist. “Is he wearing the watch we uniformly wore during the Survival Battle?”
Wen Jiafei zoomed in on that spot. Although the light wasn’t bright, one could still see the familiar watch on the left wrist.
The two looked at each other and said in unison, “Positioning!”
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