He gently knocked on the door, but there was no response. Xu Le glanced at the green indicator beside the door in confusion. After confirming that the kid was still in the room, he knocked even harder, but there was still no response. Xu Le couldn't help but feel nervous. Could it be that something happened to that kid and he fainted? He suddenly remembered that the soundproofing materials in the H1 area were extremely high quality. Could it be that even the sound of knocking on the door couldn't be heard?
He frowned and went straight back to his room. He took out the backpack that he had hidden in the deepest part of the storage box and walked back to the door of the other room.
The contents of the backpack were randomly dumped on the ground. The metal tools and components collided with the elastic ground and made a strange sound. Xu Le didn't stop at all. He began to pick up the tools and began to dismantle the lock. Every time he practiced in the room, he would habitually lock the door from the inside. He knew that the lock of this door was an antique structure. It wasn't the sensor door that was commonly seen in the Federation. If the person inside didn't open it, it would be difficult for the person outside to open it.
Fortunately, Xu Le had been hanging around with Li Wei and the others since he was young. Although he didn't do too many illegal things, he still did a lot of searching for empty rooms in the Clock Tower Street. He had his own way of unlocking things. After learning from Uncle Feng Yu for a full four years, anything related to metal structures didn't seem to be difficult for him. In this aspect, he was born with a certain kind of sharp judgment and solving ability.
The sound of springs and motors continuously rang and stopped. The self-powered tools continued to dismantle the lock, making bursts of noise. These sounds echoed in the quiet H1 area and were particularly harsh to the ears. Xu Le's forehead was already breaking out in cold sweat. The tools in his hands were constantly changing, destroying those complicated structures. The worry in his heart grew stronger and stronger. Because even such a big commotion didn't cause the kid in the room to react at all, it seemed that something had really happened to him.
With a hiss, the chip's Y-group line was connected. The last three metal parts of the lock sprang open. The door of the room retracted into the alloy wall, revealing a spacious space that was extremely similar to the room Xu Le stayed in every night. On the far wall was a platform. On the platform hung a black M-series prototype mecha. More than ten data and current transmission belts of various colours connected it to the exit in the wall.
Xu Le did not linger on this very familiar scene for long. He casually tossed his tools to the ground and rushed in the direction of the mecha. This was because he immediately saw a person with a full head of black hair leaning against the mecha's cockpit. From that posture, it was clear that his body was completely devoid of energy. He should have already fallen unconscious.
The seemingly long distance was covered in a flash by Xu Le's running. Just like when he had scaled the Federation's electronic wall back then, he nimbly climbed up the gap between the metal parts of the mecha's mechanical legs like an ape, not taking the proper route at all.
Using his fastest speed to climb into the cockpit, Xu Le carefully helped the skinny youth to sit upright. He brought his face close to the youth's nose and mouth, pressing his fingers lightly against the youth's carotid artery. Only after confirming that the person's heartbeat and breathing were still normal did he relax slightly. Panting heavily, he thought to himself that the youth was probably just unconscious and should be easy to deal with. He just didn't understand why this guy had suddenly fainted.
Using his palm to lightly pat the youth's face, Xu Le shouted anxiously, "Wake up, wake up."
The skinny youth's face was very pale. Being lightly patted twice by Xu Le actually caused an unhealthy flush to appear on his cheeks. Xu Le frowned, thinking that it was probably too late to call the school's hospital. Besides, those doctors probably did not have the authority to enter Area H and Area H1. He looked around, and his gaze fell on the fastening strap of the mecha's cockpit. Without even thinking, his right hand tugged at the middle of the strap. With a muffled grunt, he followed his will and felt a sudden heat at the back of his waist. That strange force traveled along with the slight tremors under his skin to his palm, and he pulled hard.
With a crisp snap, the super elastic fibre fastening strap that could hold the pilot's body in place under the high intensity of the mecha's movements snapped into two under Xu Le's normal hand.
Using the fastening strap to tie the skinny youth to his back, Xu Le cautiously but quickly climbed down from the tall mecha and landed on the ground. The moment his feet touched the ground, he rushed out of the door. He did not know what kind of illness this fellow had to have caused him to faint here for no reason. He did not dare to be careless — he needed to send the other to the hospital as quickly as possible.
…
…
Carrying the skinny youth on his back, Xu Le passed through the room door and ran past the waiting room. One of the two alloy doors leading from Area H1 to Area H opened. Extremely worried and anxious, he suddenly heard a weak voice ring out from behind him. It was somewhat unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar.
"Where are you taking me?"
"To the hospital." Xu Le did not turn around, replying instinctively. Only then did he realize that the person on his back had already woken up. Pleasantly surprised, he stopped in his tracks.
"Put me down." The voice of the youth on his back was still weak, but it still sounded like an order, not allowing for rejection.
Xu Le was taken aback for a moment. He unfastened the straps on his body and put the person down. Seeing that the other's face was still pale and somewhat abnormal, he quickly carried him into the waiting room and placed him on the sofa. Only then did Xu Le have the time to take a closer look at this face. He found that this was a rather delicate looking young male student. His eyes were still tightly shut, and his thin lips were tightly pressed together as if in pain. Below his eye sockets were two patches of unhealthy light green.
This was the first time Xu Le and Tai Zhiyuan had met. At that time, Tai Zhiyuan's eyes were tightly shut, in pain. Thus, from then on, in Xu Le's impression of Tai Zhiyuan, he was a sickly youth who was even younger than himself, looking very pitiful. This impression had been maintained for many years. No matter what kind of identity Tai Zhiyuan later became, Xu Le had always stubbornly thought of him this way.
"Let's go to the hospital first …" suggested Xu Le with concern as he looked at the youth with his eyes tightly shut.
Tai Zhiyuan slowly opened his eyes. Xu Le's words came to an abrupt halt. He had never thought that a youth's eyes could be so calm, so calm that they were like those of an old man who had already experienced countless years of vicissitudes. Although they still retained the youthful clarity, when Xu Le looked into his eyes, he always subconsciously thought that the other's eyes might never tremble in the slightest.
This was the gaze that came naturally from one's status, experience, and mentality when looking down on the Federation. This was the calmness that came from growing up in the Federation's largest and most ancient clan. This was a pair of eyes that only a truly important figure could have. However, Xu Le didn't understand this at all. He only felt that the other's eyes were calm and gentle, yet without a trace of warmth. They exuded an absolutely perfect sense of reserve and pride amidst kindness.
Xu Le scratched his head. He didn't want to think about why this kid's eyes were so gentle yet also made people feel fear. He said, "What happened?"
…
…
Tai Zhiyuan didn't expect that the first person he saw when he woke up would actually be that kid. He remained silent and didn't answer. His body had always been weak. His blood sugar was too low, and that problem had never shown any signs of improvement. Especially in recent years, he had been suffering from insomnia, which made him feel more and more tired by the day. Every night, he had to eat the supper that Butler Jin meticulously prepared to replenish his energy.
He had instructed Butler Jin not to prepare supper because he was already used to the kid in that room bringing him food every day. However, he hadn't expected that for the next four days, other than the bag of deep-fried dough cakes that Xu Le brought him on the second day, he hadn't eaten anything else. Tai Zhiyuan thought to himself with a headache. He seemed to have become a well-fed stray cat, used to certain things.
Tai Zhiyuan didn't want to interact too much with this young man in front of him, so much so that he didn't even want to see his face. However, now that they had finally met, he thought to himself angrily — if he hadn't lost to this novice in mecha operation and lost track of time, he wouldn't have fainted due to low blood sugar.
It was precisely because of these thoughts that a crack appeared in the poise that he usually maintained perfectly in front of his subordinates and retainers. He stared at the young student who was looking at him with concern, and said word by word, "I didn't faint, I just … fell asleep."
Xu Le obviously didn't believe this explanation. He laughed out loud and said, "You didn't wake up even after trying to pry open the door for so long? Unless you're a pig."
Tai Zhiyuan's expression darkened slightly. For someone of his status to be called a pig was truly unbearable. After a moment of silence, he said, "My blood sugar is a little low." Then he frowned and said, "You haven't prepared supper for several days in a row. That's the reason."
Xu Le had no responsibility or obligation to prepare supper for the other. If it had been anyone else, they would definitely have retorted sarcastically, but Xu Le felt that this really seemed to be his own fault. He had always been this kind of person, so he apologized somewhat guiltily.
Although they had in fact already communicated with each other through pen and paper for a long time, and had even spoken through the intercom and fought in the virtual world before, this was actually only the first time Xu Le and Tai Zhiyuan had met. They were two strangers with extremely different statuses, so at the beginning, the atmosphere between them had been somewhat awkward and strange. Until Tai Zhiyuan mentioned the two words' supper ', the atmosphere instantly became familiar and comfortable. It was as if the H1 building had suddenly become a blank piece of paper, and these two young people had become two sentences on the blank piece of paper.
Xu Le stood up and found a bottle of water and a pack of compressed high-calorie biscuits in the large pile of scattered things by the door.
After a piece of biscuit and a sip of water, Tai Zhiyuan's spirit was clearly much better. He smiled at Xu Le, then glanced at the high-calorie biscuits in his hand and said mockingly, "You seem to be able to find food by your side no matter when or where. You really are like a mouse."
Xu Le moved a chair to sit beside the sofa. Seeing that this kid was much more spirited, his mood also relaxed a lot. He sighed and replied, "Can't help it. I'm always hungry easily. If I don't carry some snacks by my side, there's no way I can survive."
"Right, we've known each other for so long, but I still don't know your name." He very sincerely extended his hand and said, "My name is Xu Le."
Of course Tai Zhiyuan knew that he was called Xu Le. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly extended his hand and said, "Tai Zhiyuan."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
