MORIC - Chapter 150

Chapter 150: Your Mom Is Here

Chi Yueshan was awakened by the sound of children's laughter.

She opened her eyes to find herself lying on a long stone bench. The Zerg were gone, as was the strange, dizzying sound.

There was no chaotic snowstorm; instead, it was dusk, the setting sun as red as blood.

And no Xi Zhoumeng.

She shot to her feet, which only provoked even more exaggerated laughter from the group of children.

"That big sister is wearing so much. Isn't it summer right now?"

"Hahaha, she even has a fur collar. It must be so hot."

"But she has green eyes, like glass marbles! Is she a monster?"

"You're so lame. The new transfer student in our class has green eyes too!"

Chi Yueshan looked around in a daze. She seemed to be in a public place. The small park had high green coverage, and ahead was a lake shimmering in the sunlight, with tourists enjoying themselves on plastic duck-shaped boats.

Farther away were low-lying residential houses and a range of not-so-tall mountains.

Where on earth was this place?

The children, boys and girls alike, were dressed in short sleeves. After a burst of giggles, they prepared to run off again.

Chi Yueshan reached out and stopped a little girl, crouching down to ask her, "Little sister, where is this place?"

Asking like this was indeed a bit strange. Chi Yueshan's thoughts were on Xi Zhoumeng, who had been with her.

She rephrased her question: "Have you seen an older sister who was with me? She's about this tall, with golden hair."

The little girl wore a floral dress, and her hair was cut into a severe cap that hugged her head, giving her a rather unkempt appearance.

She was very anxious to rejoin her friends.

"No!"

Chi Yueshan asked, "Have I been sitting here alone for a long time?"

The little girl shook her head. "We saw you sitting here, not moving at all, when we came to get our ball."

Chi Yueshan felt she wouldn't get any more information and let go of her hand.

The coat she was wearing was a gift from Sheng Yangkui, and there was still candy in the pocket.

Chi Yueshan initially wanted to give the child a piece, but then decided against it, worried her family might think it was dangerous.

The surroundings were noisy, and the wind carried the scent of a hot summer.

Chi Yueshan's face was very hot, as if from the sun.

Is this a dream?

Unlikely.

Chi Yueshan's head was still very dizzy. She sat back down on the bench.

She lowered her head. Everything here was unfamiliar, so unfamiliar it filled her with dread.

After all, her comm wouldn't turn on either.

Even the faint, intermittent perception from her AO bond with Xi Zhoumeng seemed to have vanished.

It was completely useless in this world.

She remained silent for a long while, suddenly thinking of the dreams she'd had.

Could this world be that world?

Chi Yueshan realized that since getting to know Xi Zhoumeng, much of the resilience she had when she was alone had faded.

If she had never met Xi Zhoumeng, never received such affection, this situation wouldn't be so difficult to endure.

Outside this park-like area were streets and houses. The text on the signs was not much different from her world, but it lacked the touch of technology, instead possessing a simple, unadorned charm.

Her clothes were out of season. She took off her coat and walked aimlessly along the roadside.

She had no idea where Xi Zhoumeng had gone. That magnetic field fluctuation could traverse space, so could Xi Zhoumeng be in a different world?

What should she do then?

Chi Yueshan took a deep breath, then pulled herself together the next second.

She found a public electronic device by the road and began to research this world.

Chi Yueshan never expected that she, who was already a worker, would have a dream-self in what seemed to be another dimension who was also a worker, and now her dimension-traveling self would have to work as well.

It was simply too cruel.

The soreness from the AO bond wasn't as intense, and Chi Yueshan couldn't afford to worry about her body right now.

Even though, by rights, she needed to take a large amount of nutritional supplements.

In a new place, the quickest way to find a job was through temporary gigs.

Her mechanical skills seemed useless in this world, but Chi Yueshan also had extensive experience with short-term jobs.

By evening, she had successfully found a cleaning job.

She had no identification, so even though she was articulate, she couldn't work as a receptionist or cashier.

Chi Yueshan wasn't the least bit angry.

The restaurant was on a busy street and was incredibly busy at night.

Chi Yueshan at least managed to get a meal. The boss was a nice person and had a kind face that Chi Yueshan found comforting.

Faced with Chi Yueshan's hesitation and inability to produce an ID, she assumed she was one of those girls from the news who had run away from home to escape an arranged marriage, and she repeatedly confirmed that she was an adult.

Chi Yueshan thought to herself: You're already letting me work without an ID, do you really care if I'm an adult?

But she didn't dare say it. Finding a job had been hard enough.

At least the restaurant would let her eat her fill.

The previous cleaner had left in a hurry, taking many of the cleaning supplies with them and freeing up a two-square-meter closet.

The boss was furious, but seeing that Chi Yueshan had nowhere to live and was looking expectantly at the closet, she hesitated for a long while, probably thinking it was too small herself.

Chi Yueshan had a flashback to her days of living in a cage home in the Lower World.

Her face was naturally lively, and her smile could cheer up even someone in a bad mood.

There were many different ethnicities in this world, with various eye and hair colors. Chi Yueshan's green eyes were actually quite fashionable at the moment.

This planet was not the one her dream-self had reached after passing through the turbulence caused by the magnetic field fluctuation.

But it was part of the ZR-Galaxy, and the distance to the main star required a fifteen-hour starship journey.

So far away.

Could Xi Zhoumeng be there?

If that's true, I have to start saving money again.

The starship fares here were very expensive. Combined with the long journey, if Chi Yueshan continued as a cleaner, she would need to not eat for four years and three months to afford a ticket.

Before that, she would also need an interstellar travel permit, which also cost a sum of money.

What's more, Chi Yueshan had no identification at all right now.

On the first night, Chi Yueshan suffered from insomnia.

In the small, unlit closet, she used the light from the streetlamp outside to write plans on a piece of paper.

Plan: A, B, C, D, E, F.

The more she wrote, the more frustrated she became.

She completely lacked the kind of determination she had when she was saving money alone after Zhou Fengqin's death.

It's just, I miss Xi Zhoumeng so much.

I miss her scent, her embrace, the way she looks at me, and the gentleness of her kisses.

Should I not have turned back?

No, no, no regrets. After all, if I hadn't turned back, that person would have stubbornly gone to test it out anyway.

What else is that person hiding from me? If Pingping hadn't let it slip that Xi Zhoumeng gave me the invitation for the intern selection at Dr. Duan's research institute, and if I hadn't dreamed about my past life now… was it a past life? My experiences.

I still can't connect the dots.

Good grief, so you all knew, and I was the only one in the dark.

If it weren't for this, I would definitely be waiting outside for a more ethereal and uncertain return of Xi Zhoumeng.

I'd rather take the initiative and face all the unknowns with her.

But.

But why did it turn out like this?

Working isn't scary, and saving money isn't scary, but being lonely is just awful.

The Xi Zhoumeng of the past, who came to my world all alone, how did she endure these emotions?

The small restaurant in the bustling city stayed open until two in the morning, but there were still food stalls on the street that hadn't closed.

The weather was hot, and many people were still sitting at white plastic tables, drinking and chatting. Drunken voices, and the sound of motorcycles speeding past.

Young couples walked together, and a little girl made a scene in the busy market because her dog refused to go home from their walk.

This was a world without secondary genders, without comms, where technology seemed to have regressed by a hundred years.

But there were still holographic advertisements and high-end, mass-produced service robots.

It was just that the populace still preferred this kind of life, cuddling in the summer night breeze, clinking glasses amidst the aroma of barbecue.

Chi Yueshan leaned against the side of her bed, her thoughts drifting to the party after the Final Ball.

It seemed just as lively.

Recalling it now felt like it happened a very, very long time ago.

If Xi Zhoumeng came to this world, she wouldn't be a young miss anymore. How would she survive?

And she wouldn't have her privileges anymore.

Her final piercing wound must have hurt a lot. Where did she end up?

…

As Chi Yueshan disappeared from sight, Xi Shuang was on the verge of going mad. "Why?"

Her leg had been reattached, and while it looked normal at a glance, it had many hidden injuries. Her face was now deathly pale. "They're in so much danger…"

Ling Xun grabbed Xi Shuang's hand. "Cousin, Senior Xi is different."

She said, "Have you been dreaming, or thinking of situations that are different from the present?"

Wen Xinghuo's mecha was on a planet covered in white snow, far from the mechanical training grounds. Her fuel was about to run out, and the warning alarm was shrill.

Xi Shuang froze for a moment. "Dreaming? Situations different from the present?"

Ling Xun nodded. "For example, me not attending Guyun Academy, or me dying by suicide, or for example…"

Sheng Yangkui turned her head in shock.

Xi Shuang exclaimed, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Ling Xun had grown up with her. Xi Shuang knew what she was thinking with just a frown.

They were not sisters by blood, but they had been inseparable since childhood.

"You remember too."

Ling Xun said with certainty.

Xi Shuang instinctively thought of those extra memories, including Ling Xun in a wheelchair, Ling Xun's farewell, Ling Xun's suicide note.

She could only treat it as a dream. She had to treat it as a dream.

If it wasn't a dream, how terrifying would that be?

Xi Shuang instinctively retorted, "No."

But Ling Xun let out a laugh. "In your past life, I died very early. If not for a small mistake at the end."

"Senior Xi should have been in time to save you."

Wen Xinghuo turned off the mecha's voice alerts. Although the timing was poor, she felt a bit targeted.

Everyone else seemed to have memories of a past life or the future.

She was still completely in the dark.

Perhaps her dejection was a bit too obvious, as Sheng Yangkui took her hand.

The Omega princess silently turned and asked the cousins—who were still arguing about possibilities despite nearly being short of limbs—

"In your past lives, was Xi Zhoumeng the same as she is now?"

Ling Xun replied, "That's what I dreamed of, but the me in the dream probably never met Senior Xi, since I was a useless Alpha…"

Xi Shuang pulled her into an embrace. "Don't you dare say that."

The current Ling Xun was so weak, almost identical to the one in Xi Shuang's extra memories.

Her own panic almost drowned Ling Xun, but she herself was completely unaware of it.

Xi Shuang said, "Anyway, the you now is still alive, an Alpha who can pilot a mecha, and you're with me."

After saying that, she turned to Sheng Yangkui. "Xi Zhoumeng has always been this damn way. In the last life, she was an A pretending to be an O, and in this life, she's still an A pretending to be an O! Damn it, and she succeeded. If only I had dreamed of the past sooner."

Her voice almost cracked, completely worthy of a feature on a true-crime exposé show.

Sheng Yangkui also wilted. "My past life was different from yours."

Xi Shuang and Ling Xun both looked up and let out a "Huh?"

The little Omega princess pursed her lips. "But in my past life, Ling Xun still… and you too, Xi Shuang… in the end, only Xinghuo was left."

Ling Xun said, "From what I've dreamed of so far, the reason we can have this life is because of a spatial reboot enabled by Senior Xi's ability."

She coughed twice, finding it incredible herself. "If it's true, Senior Xi is the savior."

Xi Shuang was still worried about Xi Zhoumeng and Chi Yueshan. "If she's really that amazing, she could have just wiped out the Zerg. Why would she be afraid of running out of fuel?"

Sheng Yangkui thought of Xi Zhoumeng's ability to resist the Zerg's mental invasion and nodded. "Senior Xi doesn't seem like someone who does things she's not confident about."

Wen Xinghuo took a deep breath. The one who was clueless but had grown up with Xi Zhoumeng in every life spoke up—

"Don't forget, she's also a bit rebellious."

Xi Shuang: …

She thought of the incident where Xi Zhoumeng bought out an entire brand just because someone copied her style.

Sheng Yangkui, on the other hand, was optimistic. "Yueshan went with her, so Senior Xi will definitely be more reliable."

Although it was absurd, Sheng Yangkui still believed there was a bond between the two that went beyond their AO secondary genders.

The next second, a behemoth landed in front of them. Xi Shuang shouted, "Don't tell me it's happening again?"

Wen Xinghuo's fuel was almost gone, so she couldn't retreat quickly, but this time it wasn't the Zerg.

Xi Mingguang had arrived with the Expeditionary Force.

This mecha army methodically slaughtered the surrounding low-grade Zerg, but the commander never expected to find only Wen Xinghuo's mecha at the scene.

Xi Mingguang opened a communication channel with Wen Xinghuo. She asked—

"Where is Zhoumeng?"

Wen Xinghuo was suddenly a little afraid of this commander, who was usually not difficult to talk to.

For a moment, the three Alphas present cowered like quails.

Sheng Yangkui spoke softly—

"She and Yueshan disappeared."

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