Chapter 65#

Gears of Fate 07#

The bed in the dormitory was not spacious, but Yu Feichen’s adolescent body was not fully grown, and Anfield was even more slender; the two people and one rabbit were barely sufficient.

When he woke up, he had already forgotten what dreams he had had, only remembering fragmented content and chaotic, intense emotions. When his consciousness returned, Anfield was still sleeping against his chest, his blonde hair scattered on his shoulders, rising and falling with his shallow breathing. At some point, his right hand had firmly gripped Anfield’s left arm, looking like it had been for a long time; the pale skin was pressed into a bruised red area.

Yu Feichen recalled the events of last night, like a building block with a wrong step; once he woke up, there was no way to start over. Driven by emotions, that matter he wanted to solve cleanly was lightly glossed over, the impending giant stone turning into a lingering thorn that wouldn’t go away. Stuck in the middle, he didn’t know how to treat Anfield next.

In the end, he couldn’t do anything to Anfield anyway. He admitted that he cared for that officer as he missed that hometown, and also thought Anfield and Ludwig were not bad; this was equivalent to handing a handle to Anfield, who could manipulate him.

He didn’t like being manipulated, yet he found the rabbit cute.

Rarely, he actually experienced a dilemma. Since he couldn’t think it through, he set it aside for now. Instead, Anfield no longer had that lethargy symptom from the temple; he could actually sleep so peacefully beside someone else. Was it because he was sure that the person he brought out himself wasn’t dangerous? But the thought of maltreating animals in his heart had not subsided.

When Anfield woke up, he met Yu Feichen’s thoughtful gaze; the obsidian-like pupils were dark and heavy, with no kindness. He thought in his heart that it was clearly fine last night, so why was it overcast again today? Could it be that people nowadays are exceptionally hard to coax?

So Anfield tried saying: “Good morning.”

Yu Feichen’s expression softened slightly: “It’s not early.”

Anfield got up at the right time, the soft quilt sliding off his body, and he smoothed his disheveled hair.

Yu Feichen placed the rabbit to one side, watching this scene. The person who was so distant in his memory that his face was blurred was now breathing and moving in front of him in the flesh—and had even come forward of his own accord. He felt it was unreal, yet not bad.

His efficiency when in a good mood was a bit higher than usual. He quickly finished washing up, straightened his clothes and appearance, and put on his coat. It was only then that Anfield slowly walked to the mirror and got a small knot stuck while combing his hair, pulling it down with the comb, attempting a violent untangling.

Yu Feichen watched, thinking Anfield’s action was quite ridiculous, not at all like someone who had always kept long hair. If he did this every day, a head of smooth long hair would soon be ruined.

Anfield continued. Yu Feichen had to walk behind him and say: “Give it to me.”

Anfield obediently handed the comb to him. The place where it was knotted was a small curl at the end; curly hair is indeed easier to get stuck than straight hair. He didn’t know which house’s knowledge ball had such useless information stuffed into it that it surfaced in his mind.

The knot was quickly combed out, and Anfield actually had no intention of taking back the comb. Yu Feichen’s attitude was suddenly a bit perfunctory. While continuing, he asked him: “How did you know I came to the Gate of Eternal Night?”

According to what this person confessed last night, it was because he knew someone he had brought back before had entered the Gate of Eternal Night, and he followed because he was worried.

Anfield’s answer was not sincere: “You were brought back by me.”

Yu Feichen: “Where are your teammates?”

Since he was someone who traveled through the Gate of Eternal Night, he presumably had his own teammates.

Anfield was silent for a few seconds. During these seconds, Yu Feichen finished combing his hair. To avoid more work, he shifted to the side, maintaining a strict one-meter distance from this person.

Anfield said: “They have their own things.”

Yu Feichen thought: how hard for you, having to take care of yourself. He thought for a while, looked at Anfield in the mirror, and asked again: “After returning to the Paradise…”

Pretending not to recognize for three consecutive dungeons was because he didn’t intend to enter dungeons like this long-term. But now that it had been pointed out, Anfield thought for a while and said: “After Resurrection Day, I will find you.”

After washing up, Anfield put on his cloak and walked out with Yu Feichen. Before leaving the door, he took a look at Yu Feichen and concluded that this person’s mood was already peaceful and happy.

So Anfield asked: “Why were you able to recognize me?”

The one-meter distance between Yu Feichen and Anfield had at some point been declared invalid; he was almost side-by-side with Anfield. Hearing this question, he looked down at him. The blonde youth was elegant and noble, seemingly not caring about anything. But since it was the second time asking this question, it proved he really wanted to know.

So he was even more determined to say: “I don’t want to say.”

Anfield frowned. Yu Feichen found it interesting.

Back in the temple, when Ludwig was sleeping unconsciously, he had let Bai Song look there. Bai Song didn’t see anything and only made one conclusion: Why pay attention to His Holiness the Pope’s lower eyelashes? Brother Yu, you have a problem. Although he could see this tear mole in Anfield’s eye that others couldn’t see—even Anfield himself didn’t seem to know—he also didn’t know why he could see it.

Perhaps Anfield was also a member of that so-called Land of Holy Redemption, Langdon Warren, and had once followed the trend of dotting a tear mole, and that tear mole just happened to catch his eye.

So he leaned over and said in Anfield’s ear: “Think about it yourself.”

A tear mole had a problem; the root of it naturally lay not with the person who could see it, but with the person on whom the tear mole grew.

Anfield lowered his head slightly, a look of thought in his eyes. But this movement let Yu Feichen see that tear mole even more clearly.

Looking up again, he found that he and Anfie were the last to arrive; the others were already seated at the dining table.

“If you didn’t come, we were going to knock on the door.” Bai Song said while suspiciously sizing the two of them up.

Just now, when his Brother Yu lowered his head, there seemed to be a bit of a smile. This incredible thing had happened, enough to leave him dumbfounded.

And in just one short day, his Brother Yu had completely forgotten Pope Ludwig and walked together with a new beautiful youth, naming him Anfield—which made one feel something was wrong. But thinking about how he and Pope Ludwig were also just chance acquaintances in a dungeon, it seemed reasonable now.

However, in every dungeon, there’s always a good-looking older or younger brother who is very nice to Brother Yu. Why is that? Because he’s good-looking and reliable? Bai Song almost gave up thinking. He now held little hope for Yu Feichen; his moral standards had dropped to “not having two is fine.”

Bai Song kept sighing in his heart until his neck was twisted back to the front by Yu Feichen.

Before the meal started, a paper-carrying robot drove out from a corner, and a copper horn with a propeller flew out from the corner like a ghost, asking them to register their dormitory numbers.

After registration, breakfast was still the same black, red, and white water as in the evening. After everyone had finished drinking, Xue Xin said: “You guys say this is a dungeon, and we need to understand its structure and then look for a way to escape. After going back last night, I thought a lot. I don’t have much of a lead on the way to escape, but I think there’s a fatal problem with the operation of this fortress.”

Bai Song said: “Elaborate.”

“There are too many mechanical devices inside the fortress, but mechanical operation relies on energy, and the transmission process from machine to machine also consumes a huge amount of kinetic energy. The energy consumption of this place is terrifying. Energy in the steam era relied on coal to boil water, generating high-pressure steam, and then driving machinery. To get such a large fortress moving, it would probably take all the coal in the world to boil an ocean. If an entire world is composed of this kind of machine with terrifying energy consumption, then this place must be a place with extreme energy scarcity and severe pollution. We can start from here.”

“Correct,” Zheng Yuan said.

Vincent said: “You’re right, but we still need to obtain more information.”

Xue Xin: “Indeed. Do you guys have other ideas? Also, this place is clearly all machines, yet it calls itself a magic academy; I think this is also a point of contradiction.”

Ke An said: “I had insomnia. In the middle of the night, I felt the house moving.”

Ling Wei: “This humble one was meditating in deep thought late at night and also felt so.”

“The whole fortress is moving, and our rooms are part of it,” Yu Feichen said. “Don’t go out at night.”

They discussed for a long time, interspersed with Bai Song’s introduction to the fragment world. When the clock was about to point to the very top, the sound of a train whistle came, and the train they had taken yesterday arrived again.

“The school bus is here,” Chen Tong said. “Let’s go.”

The broadcast rang out: “Students, the second day’s classes are about to begin. Please board the bus in an orderly manner. Tip: please buckle up your safety latches~”

This time everyone was mentally prepared, and the screams weren’t as loud anymore. After stopping, they reached that large corridor from yesterday again.

“Students, we meet again! Next, please enter Classroom 5 to start the second day’s lessons. Tip: this is a very~ simple power course~”

The group walked toward Classroom 5, listening to Xue Xin along the way: “Power course… Could it be teaching us the principles of the steam engine? Converting thermal energy into kinetic energy. Or is it going to teach us how to boil water in a boiler?”

Walking into Classroom 5, a scene completely different from Classroom 1 appeared. Obviously, today they were neither learning steam engine principles nor how to boil water.

—In the empty classroom stood a pitch-black metal furnace connecting the floor to the ceiling. White steam smoke poured out frantically from the furnace mouth and was sent out of the classroom by tens of thousands of large three-leaf fans. Scalding heat waves came in waves from it as the center. A mysterious humming sound rang continuously inside.

The furnace mouth, however, was a pile of black and red crystals, like a large sand pile. Pushing them aside for a careful look, they were thumb-sized black or red translucent gems.

In front of the furnace, more than a dozen empty conveyor belts were rolling rapidly, their ends deep underground, extending to nowhere.

Chen Tong scratched his head: “What new tricks are they playing now?”

“Dear students, the second lesson—Power Course—officially begins~

Prerequisite knowledge: Rare two-colored crystals are refined in the magic conductor furnace. Red is ‘heat,’ and black is ‘motion.’ Red heat crystals will generate heat when held in the hand, and black motion crystals will vibrate when held in the hand; otherwise, they are rejects.

Course goal: Every time the magic conductor furnace produces refined products, please handle the refined materials promptly. Pick out heat crystals or motion crystals as required and put them on the conveyor belt. Rejects are harmful; please put them into the waste stone basket. Never put them on the conveyor belt~

Tip: The requirement of the conveyor belt changes every time the hour hand passes 15 degrees; the magic conductor furnace sends out a batch of refined products every time the hour hand passes 30 degrees. The requirement for the first 15-degree angle is: red heat crystals.

Class end time: The next time the hour hand is perpendicular to the ground~

Teaching finished, students, please complete your learning tasks seriously~”