Chapter 9: Aspirations
Night fell, and a few scattered stars hid behind the thin clouds. Pedestrians on the street were sparse, and the dim yellow streetlights flickered on one by one.
Li Nanyi parked his bike and returned to the employee dormitory. Yesterday, the last employee had moved out to share an apartment with his girlfriend, so the six-person dormitory was now occupied only by him, feeling empty.
After a quick shower, he rolled onto the bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and curled up on the inner side of the bunk. Intermittent sounds came from next door; it seemed like the guy in the next dorm was on a phone call. The soundproofing here was poor, so the voice was a bit loud and noisy, but Li Nanyi was exhausted to the extreme. He reached out to turn off the light, his consciousness gradually dimming amidst the somewhat noisy chatter from next door.
As the last wisp of consciousness fell into dreamland, he vaguely heard a long, resonant sound, as if someone was blowing a horn in a very distant place.
A wasteland under the moon, a crackling bonfire. The dark silhouette of a church stood in the distance, its carved stained-glass windows emitting colorful light. People held torches high, dressed in medieval-style leather clothes and equipped with short swords. They shouted, crossing the firelight and shadows, running towards the end of the road. At the end of the full moon, atop that towering peak, a peculiar giant tree connected heaven and earth. A priest began to pray, bells echoed, and on the giant tree, a pair of eyes hidden in the darkness looked over. Those vertical pupils were crimson.
The full moon sank, and the peak collapsed.
The whole world plunged into a frenzy of brilliant colors. Weightlessness struck under his feet, and Li Nanyi opened his eyes abruptly. The dim yellow streetlights outside the window had been turned off. The morning street was bustling with activity. The aroma of food wafted in, voices were clamorous, and the sound of carts rolling across the ground could be heard.
He rubbed his messy hair, thinking wildly about the chaotic scenes in his dream. He pressed his phone, unlocked the screen. It was still early, but he could no longer fall asleep.
As usual, he delivered takeout to the SkyNet Building. Li Nanyi looked up at the high floors of the building. Lu Xiuan must be very busy right now. Office workers were like ants; through the glass windows, people could be seen coming and going on every floor.
He sighed helplessly. Even if he became a righteous hero saving the world, he still had to deal with life every day. Although they had promised an allowance, who could say for sure how long this hero career would last?
Danger would disappear one day. Times moved forward, and heroes would be forgotten sooner or later. When the tide receded, he would still have to return to his own life. Yan Hengze didn’t worry about his livelihood, and Xiang Zhengming had his parents to help him, but he could only look after himself and find a way to make a living.
Even though he had been busy with the exhibition hall all night the night before, he had to continue working early the next morning. After all, bosses didn’t reason with you.
It was almost time to get off work, and some employees were already coming out carrying briefcases. Li Nanyi wiped away his sweat, parked his bike, found a bench by the flower bed, and sat down, planning to rest a bit before eating.
He hadn’t slept well at night and hadn’t eaten lunch at noon. His head started to feel a bit dizzy again, so he simply closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair to recover.
Lu Xiuan shook his hands and walked straight toward the familiar young man leaning on the bench at the company entrance. He raised his eyebrows, sighing when he saw him from upstairs. They really had fate, bumping into each other again and again.
Since it just happened to be off-work time, he specially came down to say hello.
Lu Xiuan approached and saw that his complexion wasn’t very good. His brows were furrowed, eyes tightly closed, looking restless.
Could it be low blood sugar again?
“Xiaoyi?”
He called out softly twice, then reached out and gently nudged Li Nanyi’s shoulder.
The familiar voice rang in his ears after a long time. Li Nanyi opened his eyes in a daze. A shadow blocked the sunlight, and the person in front of him was plated with a golden edge by the sun, making even his silhouette much gentler. The worry in those eyes under the gold-rimmed glasses was almost overflowing.
Ah, I should have gone to eat dinner first. I’m so hungry I’m hallucinating. Li Nanyi blinked, staring straight at Lu Xiuan in front of him.
“Pfft.”
Lu Xiuan looked at his dazed appearance, a chuckle rolling out of his throat. Sometimes he felt Li Nanyi was really interesting. Usually, he looked tempered, always slightly hunching his back, but when something happened, he was vigilant and guarded, posing as if ready to attack at any time. Like a stubborn and silent rabbit, kicking the ground fiercely when angry.
“Are you okay?”
Lu Xiuan reached out and waved twice in front of his eyes. The flickering light made him completely awake. Thinking this was too coincidental, he hurriedly sat up straight to explain: “I’m fine, I was just leaning back to rest a bit.”
Lu Xiuan was bending over, and Li Nanyi suddenly sat up straight. The distance between the two closed rapidly. His forehead almost hit Lu Xiuan’s chin. He could see the fine fuzz on his face clearly and even smell the faint, cold fragrance on him.
Li Nanyi froze for a moment, then leaned back against the chair in embarrassment, smiling apologetically, and then moved to the side. Lu Xiuan took the opportunity to sit down beside him.
He stared at his dark pupils, tilted his head slightly, and teased: “Let me guess, you didn’t eat lunch today?”
“I ate, ah…”
Lu Xiuan narrowed his eyes, his smile deepening as he pressed: “Really?”
For some reason, meeting his gaze, Li Nanyi felt inexplicably guilty. He leaned back, looked away, and answered in a low voice.
“Mhm, so you ate. You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? How about I treat you?”
“No need, my evening break is about to end. I have to start work in twenty minutes.”
Li Nanyi shook his head. To be honest, he really wanted to go; the empty feeling in his stomach wasn’t pleasant. But he couldn’t. He had only intended to lean back for a moment, who knew he would accidentally fall asleep. It seemed he would have to work on an empty stomach again tonight. Hopefully, his blood sugar could hold up.
“You still work the night shift? Why do you work so hard?” Lu Xiuan clicked his tongue. He had seen hardworking people, but never anyone as desperate as him. Every time he saw him, he was either working or on his way to work.
“Do you think I look like I’m just drifting through life?”
“How could I? I think you are living very earnestly.”
Li Nanyi smiled and sighed: “Everyone I’ve met thinks I’m drifting, asking why I don’t find a proper job. This society has a low tolerance for error, and I have no one to fall back on.”
“I have my own ideas. I want to work hard to save money and then open a photography studio, realizing my dream from childhood.”
“Does it seem strange that someone like me, whose life is a mess, dares to talk about dreams?”
Lu Xiuan put his hands in his pockets and looked at the endlessly flowing Yujiang River in the distance: “Having dreams is great. You are working hard to approach your dream, what’s strange about that?”
“Is that so,” Li Nanyi also looked over, his eyes revealing determination and yearning. “Since I was little, I yearned to become a photographer, recording everything I see. Although this job is tiring and troublesome now, it is helping me move towards my dream step by step.”
Those storms and obstacles encountered on the road to realizing ideals should be regarded as a kind of honing; there is no need to dwell on them.
Whether it was the scenery along the way, people’s joyous smiles, the lazy cat at the street corner, or the mundane fireworks visible everywhere, he loved them from the bottom of his heart. He liked to capture those fleeting, precious moments.
Half of the setting sun sank below the horizon, and the streetlights lit up early.
Lu Xiuan tilted his head and saw his dark eyes quenched with light. His words were sonorous and firm, his face shining with brilliance. Realizing he wasn’t joking, the strings of his heart were plucked.
Not such a grand ideal, but unexpectedly very suitable for him.
“Haha, a nice ideal. I thought you would say something like getting rich overnight or winning the lottery. Everyone has dreams like that.”
Lu Xiuan shrugged his shoulders.
“Actually, I have another dream.”
Lu Xiuan raised his eyebrows: “Hmm, what is it?”
Li Nanyi spoke jokingly: “I hope for world peace, and no more monster attacks. What about you? Do you have any ideals?”
Lu Xiuan thought, the corners of his mouth hooking up, and slowly spat out words: “I don’t have any ideals…”
He looked at Li Nanyi, smiling warmly: “If I really have to say, then—I hope all your wishes can come true.”
Xiang Zhengming was playing games on his phone with great joy. Yan Hengze glanced at him with disdain, turning his chair to ask Zhong Yi: “Zhong Yi, where is that gloomy bitter melon face? He didn’t come today?”
“Nanyi has work to do today. You think everyone is as idle as you?”
“I, where am I idle? Saving the world is my proper job!”
Yan Hengze raised his index finger, righteously defending himself.
“Besides, they said they’d give him a salary, yet he still runs off to work part-time. I really don’t understand.”
Zhong Yi: “Yeah, although I don’t understand either, we have to respect his choice no matter what. Young master, just because you don’t work doesn’t mean you can stop others from working. Not everyone has your conditions.”
“Well, it’s still better than this guy who comes to play games!”
Seeing Zhong Yi’s speechless look, his finger tilted, pointing directly at Xiang Zhengming who was playing games. Suddenly pulled into the fray, Xiang Zhengming finished his last game, putting down his phone only after the word “win” appeared on the screen.
He turned his head and ruffled his newly permed curly hair: “Hey, young master, I’m not like you. At least I’ve worked before, much better than a young master like you who never touches spring water with ten fingers!”
He still held a grudge about being mocked last time.
“What did you say?”
“I said you only know how to rely on your dad!”
“Do you want to fight!”
“Fight then, who’s afraid of you!”
“Alright, enough! I called you here to talk business, not to argue. Shut up, both of you.”
Zhong Yi pinched the bridge of her nose with a headache: “According to the data collected by the mechas, the analysis shows that the xenomorph in the museum is named Bilal, a female snake-shaped Yelaire. Her abilities include creating dreams, devouring dreams, and creating illusions.”
“Ah, that alien monster is a fe-female?”
“What’s wrong with being female?”
Zhong Yi glared at him.
“Nothing, nothing, you continue.”
Xiang Zhengming waved his hand at her, palms open and pushing forward.
“The Yelaire race went extinct in an unprecedented natural disaster. Currently, there are over a dozen known awakened xenomorphs. They arrived on Earth very early. According to investigations, many monsters in Norse mythology are related to them. For example, Bilal has great similarities with the World Serpent Jormungandr in Norse mythology.”
“And their frequent appearance and activity are to obtain four ‘Cocoons’ that fell from the World Tree. What the World Tree is is currently unknown; maybe it’s some symbolic sign. But last time, what they took from the museum was a ‘Cocoon’ that was treated as a cultural relic after being unearthed.”
An image of a gray-black egg-shaped object carved with strange patterns appeared on the screen.
Zhong Yi faced them: “This contains a lot of important information about the Yelaire, and possibly things that can affect humanity. Maybe that’s why they snatch the Cocoons. We now have an additional mission, which is—to do our best to snatch the ‘Cocoons’ from them.”
“Then what is the domain they talked about last time?”
Xiang Zhengming looked up at the Cocoon. Zhong Yi took a deep breath and said: “It’s an innate ability of theirs. As Bilal said, within the domain, they are kings over everything. But don’t be afraid, because your mechas have magnetic fields that can restrain domains, so your actions won’t be too restricted.”
“Understood? I will send the remaining information to Nanyi via comms. Now you two follow me to the training ground. Future battles will be tougher; you must strengthen your training.”
Zhong Yi led the two deeper inside. On the stairs, Qin Dayu watched the departing young people with burning eyes, nodding secretly.
Li Nanyi clenched his palm. The name smeared on his palm that day seemed to still retain warmth. His pocket was bulging with the bread Lu Xiuan gave him; the man had insisted he eat it. He rode his bike into the traffic.
He just felt that today’s setting sun was perfectly dim and yellow, and his luck wasn’t bad either.
Lu Xiuan returned to the office, rubbing his fingertips, and looked at the figure sitting against the venetian blinds. That shadow slowly raised its head, the crimson in its eyes impossible to ignore.
Lu Xiuan spoke calmly: “Lakumu, for the Cocoon you guard, Bilal sacrificed herself.”
“…”
“It’s time to act. Eden has given the location of the next Cocoon. This time, you go with Ximo.”
After a long time, the figure in the corner stood up, a rumbling sound erupting from its throat: “…Understood.”
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