Chapter 312: Chapter 312: Canât Go Back Anymore
Translator: 549690339
A while ago.
Around 6:00 P.M. on New Yearâs Eve.
A black GMC van was cruising steadily on a main road in Peng City.
The interior of the van had been radically modified, with only one seat remaining, which was significantly larger than the original and clearly customized.
All the other space was filled with various kinds of equipment. There were two parallel screens on the partition at the front, beneath which were numerous control buttons and levers.
Even more equipment was stored in the space at the back, with rows of micro and mini unmanned drones placed in fixed positions.
The âpersonâ covered in a web-like golden luster âskinâ, sitting in that single seat and watching the data on the screen was Mr. Liang.
After reading the data, Mr. Liang pressed the communication key linking to the driverâs cabin: âOld Xie, once youâve dropped me off, you can have a day off.â
Upon hearing this harsh, gruff voice, the driver was silent for a moment before answering, âMr. Liang, I donât need a day off. I have⊠I have no idea what I would do if I had the time off.â
Mr. Liang suggested, âI can give you an extra two days off, maybe you can visit your family.â
The driver replied, âNo need, Mr. Liang. They canât recognize me as I am now. If we canât recognize each other, thereâs no point just lingering. Itâs meaningless. But as long as I can watch them on the surveillance videos you arranged, knowing they are doing well is enough.â
Mr. Liang pondered for a moment, then asked, âOld Xie, how long have you been working for me?â
âIncluding today, it has been 2093 days,â Old Xie answered without hesitation.
âOver five years already. Arenât you feeling tired?â, asked Mr. Liang.
Again, Old Xie remained silent for a while before confessing, âYou gave me a new life. If it wasnât for you, I would probably still be paralyzed in bed, a living dead, needing others to look after my every need and burdening my family. You enabled me to stand up again and also helped to take care of my family. The only meaning for the second half of my life is to serve you.â
Mr. Liang released the communication key and opened a small window on the partition leading to the driverâs cabin. Leaning back in his plush and large chair, his voice like metal grating against metal rang out through the small window, âHave you ever wondered why I became like this, and what is it that Iâm really doing?â
This time, Old Xie swiftly retorted, âI havenât been to school much, Iâm not very well-educated and donât know the deep secrets. But seeing so many PhDs, graduate students, and even professors working for you, I believe what you do must be significant. Since I donât understand, I simply follow your directions.â
Mr. Liang began to laugh silently, his mouth splitting into a grin that stretched to his ears.
Shortly after, the black van entered the underground parking lot of a high-rise building. The vehicle headed directly to the lowest level, a parking lot that was solely and entirely occupied by Mr. Liang.
However, there were no guards at the entrance of this level. It was an automated barrier. When the surveillance camera had scanned the license plate, Old Xie lowered the window to let a scanner, attached to a metal arm, scan his face. One second later, the scanner retracted, and the massive barrier rose steadily.
The parking lot on the lowest level seemed much smaller due to the various modified vehicles, drones, and other equipment. Scattered around the place were a few maintenance crews dealing with the drones. However, from the structure of the adjacent area, it was evident that there were large segments of enclosed space on this level.
The van parked in front of a private elevator. Old Xie got out of the van and, after opening the vanâs rear door, carried a suitcase to the elevator waiting area.
Old Xie was a large middle-aged man, with a broad face and a sturdy build, and the face littered with worm-like scars gave off an intimidating presence. However, the way he walked exuded a weirdly uncoordinated mood.
A moment later, a sound echoed from the elevator beside Old Xie. The elevator doors opened and soft footsteps could be heard.
Old Xie placed the suitcase in the elevator, then stepped out and bowed slightly in front of the elevator doors.
The elevator doors slowly closed, and it started descendingâapparently, this was not the bottom-most level of the building.
From the start to finish, Old Xie never saw Mr. Liang getting off the vehicle. But he knew for certain that Mr. Liang had taken the elevatorâonly Mr. Liang was allowed inside this elevator.
Naturally, he also knew that in most cases, Mr. Liang was âinvisibleâ.
After the elevator descended, Old Xie got back into the van and tidied up before heading to a room in the basementâthis was one of his designated rooms. This was where he waited whenever Mr. Liang came to this place.
The room was simply furnished with a bed, a table, a chair, and a cabinet, though all of them exuded a certain quality. The table could be raised and lowered electronically and adjusted at multiple angles. The chair was ergonomically designed, and due to efficient ventilation, the air in the room was fresh.
He sat in the chair, woke up the sleeping computer, opened software on the desktop, and a nine-grid control interface, like that of a surveillance system, appeared.
He clicked on one of the windows, where a video of two teenagers playing XBOX on a TV was playing. Judging from their dialogue, they appeared to be brothers. The room they were in was well-decorated, with high-end electronics, suggesting they were living comfortably.
Old Xie watched the two boys play, then saw them called over to the dining table by a middle-aged woman to eat. He switched to another window for a different angle, revealing the presence of three elderly peopleâthe boysâ grandparentsâat the dining table.
Watching this large family enjoying a reunion dinner, a New Yearâs feast, a smile unconsciously twitched at the corner of Old Xieâs mouth, softening the fierce aura on his face.
Reaching the bottom-most floor in the dedicated elevator, the doors opened, and the figure of Mr. Liang reappeared.
Compared to the parking lot before, this place was a little more spacious, almost half the size of a football field. The ceiling was lined with large rectangular white grilles that resembled gigantic bricks. When all the lights were on, the various pieces of equipment that filled the space appeared very futuristic-like a superheroâs base from a movie.
However, apart from Mr. Liang, no one else was here, giving the place a cold and desolate feeling.
Mr. Liang carried his suitcase to the central operation table and sat down. He opened the box and took out a wooden rabbit carving covered in damage and placed it at the edge of the platform like an ornament.
At the same time, several screens dropped down from the ceiling, each displaying live feeds from drones operating in different corners of the country or surveillance footage from inside buildings.
The screens showed the specific situations of various teams still at work, including Fang Pingfangâs team spending New Yearâs Eve in a villa near Wushu Mountain. However, the video was transmitted from a drone above the villa, rather than the inside.
But by switching to infrared thermal-imaging mode, the positions of the people moving near the windows could be seen.
Indeed, if he wished to, he could also activate the microphones on the devices carried by the team members inside, and monitor their conversations directly. But he chose not to do so.
The surveillance footage on one of the screens suddenly disappeared, replaced by a video call request. This was an internal communication system used by people like Fang Pingfang, Mijoe, and other key researchers and heads of the secret divisions of Divine Technology to contact him. A special piece of hardware was needed to use this system.
However, the person requesting the video call now was not any of his subordinates in the secret divisions, but the big boss of Divine TechnologyâLu Chengâan.
Mr. Liang hesitated for a moment before accepting the call.
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Of course, as with his communications with Fang Pingfang and others, he could see the other party, but they could not see him.
On the screen, an elder with dyed black hair, neatly groomed, emanating an aura of authority popped up. He frowned slightly at the camera, âAh Liang, turn on your video too.â
Mr. Liangâs unpleasant voice replied, âNo need, you should know what I look like nowâ
On the screen, the founder of Divine Technology fell silent, then said, âAh Liang, tonight is New Yearâs Eve.â
âI know,â said Mr. Liang.
Both sides lapsed into silence once again.
Half a minute later, Lu Chengâan sighed, âAh Liang, come back and celebrate with us.â
Mr. Liangâs gaze shifted from Lu Chengâanâs video. His eyeless eyes looked at a blank screen. Reflecting his current appearance due to the lighting, his voice became somewhat low, even more unpleasant to hear.
âItâs too late, I canât go back.â
Lu Chengâanâs expression tightened. He said after a moment, âOccasionally⊠come back to visit your mom.â
âI have her picture,â said Mr. Liang.
âYou know what I meanâŠâ
âAshes and photos are both just tokens of remembrance for her, thereâs not much difference.â Mr. Liangâs silhouette suddenly disappeared from the seat, entering an invisible state. Even though he hadnât turned on his own camera, Lu Chengâan couldnât see him.
Lu Chengâanâs brow furrowed, he asked, âAh Liang, are you still thinking⊠about bringing her back to life?â
âThe dead cannot be resurrected, I know. Even if itâs through genetic cloning to create another person, she still wouldnât be the same.â Mr. Liang paused slightly and then said, âI just want to control my own destiny.â
Lu Chengâan sighed deeply. After a long silence, he asked, âAh Liang⊠are you still my son?â
When there was no response after a long wait, Lu Chengâan ended the call in disappointment.
Mr. Liangâs figure gradually reappeared in the seat, all the images on the screens disappeared simultaneously, the screen ascended, and retracted back into the ceiling. ÆreeÏebnovel.Æom
Then he looked toward the center of the spacious room where a 3D holographic projection constructed from old video footage appeared. It was a video of a young couple celebrating the toddler sonâs birthday. The little boy appeared lively and adorable. The young couple, although not extraordinarily handsome or beautiful, had a remarkable demeanor and were being affectionate with their son.
Watching these scenes, Mr. Liangâs harsh voice, with a metallic grainy sound, resonated:
âI will always be your son.â
Star City, at Liu Shilingâs house.
After having a New Yearâs Eve dinner with only her daughter, Shilingâs mom couldnât help wiping away her tears while cleaning the dishes, telling herself that she mustnât cry.
Today, she had another argument with Shilingâs dad over the phone. She thought as long as the three of them were together it would be enough. They had already sold their previous house and could easily buy a new one in Star City. Compared to their former city, the housing prices in Star City are more reasonable.
With a house in place, everything else could be arranged easily. After Liu Shiling started primary school, she could also start working and earn money.
But Shilingâs dad was still clinging onto his former company and wanted to âstruggleâ a bit more, intended to pursue his previous career, so much so that he couldnât come back even for New Yearâs Eve dinner with his family.
This problem had already led to multiple arguments, one time even scaring their daughter into running away from home.
Thankfully, their daughter had become sensible now. After asking once in the evening, âisnât dad coming back?â and not receiving an answer, she didnât bring it up again.
After cleaning the dishes and tidying the kitchen, when Shilingâs mom returned to the living room, she was puzzled to see a small wooden board in the center of the room, a jar of sunflower seeds and a bottle of cola seated next to it, and her daughter was leaning by the shoe cabinet.
âLiu Shiling, why are you lounging around on the floor?â Shilingâs mom asked hastily.
Liu Shiling pointed at the small wooden board in the center of the living room, saying, âMom, thatâs your seat, prime location! Iâm about to show you a performance before the Spring Festival gala begins, sit quickly! Have some sunflower seeds, drink some cola!â
Shilingâs mom was stunned, she sat down awkwardly on the small wooden board that her daughter usually sat on, and almost fell over because it was so low to the ground that she had to quickly prop herself up on the floor to maintain balance.
âMom, are you sitting right? Get ready, Iâm about to start!â Liu Shiling shouted from behind the shoe cabinet.
âAlright, Iâm ready. What performance are you giving?â asked Shilingâs mom, completely at a loss.
âIâm performing a magic show⊠umm⊠paper man battle! Mom, youâre the first one to see!â Liu Shiling declared proudly.
Shilingâs mom chuckled slightly, her heart warmed. She knew this was her daughterâs attempt to cheer her up.
No matter how her daughterâs performance turns out, sheâd be happy with her considerate intentions.
âIâm starting!â
Liu Shiling said, placing a paper crane on the shoe cabinet, let go of her hand, and said seriously:
âA long, long time ago, there was a beautiful, adorable crane. Her name was Wang Zai, and she lived happily in Happy Valley!â
The paper crane looked different from a normally folded one, appearing plumper. The joint of each wing was resting on the shoe cabinet, providing support.
As Liu Shiling narrated, the paper crane on the shoe cabinet astonishingly started moving its wings from left to right, slowly shifting on the shoe cabinet.
âAhh?! Oh myâŠâ Shilingâs mom was taken aback, she subconsciously attempted to stand up, but given how low the wooden board was, she wasnât able to get up in one go and almost fell over again.
âMom, sit down properly and watch, Iâm performing!â Liu Shilingâs slightly dissatisfied voice sounded from behind the shoe cabinet.
âAlright, alright, Iâll watch properly.â Shilingâs mom could only comply and sit back down, looking wide-eyed at the chubby paper crane on the shoe cabinet, her maternal indulgence giving way to curiosity.