DDT - Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Interstellar ABO (22)

Even the longest documentary has a moment when it ends.

When the words 【The End】, filled with an ancient air, appeared on the light screen, the entire documentary finally drew to a close.

Rows of elegant credits scrolled up from the bottom of the screen, most of them in the Han characters Chi Junluo was familiar with.

Over the course of more than four hours, someone like Chi Junluo, who hadn't been to a movie theater or watched a film in many years and had fallen behind the times, was clearly unable to sit still. During that time, perhaps due to nervousness or the overly serious atmosphere, Chi Junluo went to the restroom three times. She had assumed the Omega girl would quietly continue watching, but unexpectedly, this Omega from the Yi family stubbornly paused the film, insisting on waiting for her to return before continuing. In the Omega girl's own words,

"This is the best-shot and best-edited documentary I've ever seen. Although it's several hundred years old, it's the one that most closely depicts the history of Blue Star from that era. Every single frame is incredibly important, and I don't want Chi Chi to miss such brilliant scenes."

Feeling that her frequent trips to the restroom were unfairly interrupting the Omega girl's viewing experience, Chi Junluo forced herself to remain frozen in one position on the spacious sofa for the final hour.

The documentary was over, but Yi Shuhan remained seated, motionless, her eyes fixed intently on the ending credits.

Another six or seven minutes passed. After the last line of credits finished scrolling, the entire floor was slowly bathed in warm yellow light. The light screen vanished into the air. A waiting attendant walked over quietly and tidied up the table and sofa, which were hardly messy to begin with.

Yi Shuhan wore a look of longing, as if she hadn't had her fill. She briefly explained that there were originally supposed to be two parts to this documentary, but the director had insufficient funding at the time and faced obstruction from some unknown forces, so the project was ultimately abandoned.

Hearing the regret in Yi Shuhan's tone, Chi Junluo picked up the iced drink the attendant had just replaced and took a few sips to calm her nerves.

As she listened to the Omega beside her chatter on about how she had watched this documentary no less than ten times, knew the names of the cast, crew, and behind-the-scenes staff by heart, and could even recite which companies had sponsored it, Chi Junluo nearly spat out her drink.

However, even for someone like Chi Junluo who didn't particularly enjoy documentaries, this one hadn't been as dull and tedious as she had imagined. Aside from being a bit too long, it was indeed well-made. It also gave Chi Junluo a basic understanding of some of the conditions on Blue Star back then, so it could be considered a small gain.

The blackout shades on the floor's windows slowly retracted. The sky outside had already darkened. A dozen or so attendants were methodically decorating the SS02 floor. During this, an Omega attendant with a light step approached them and asked in a soft, gentle voice if they could temporarily partition off the sofa area. Chi Junluo had no idea why they needed to be isolated right after watching a movie, but Yi Shuhan clearly knew what the attendants were doing. She gave a slight nod; this was also part of her plan.

A beautiful light screen unfolded around the sofa, and unfamiliar music began to play. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but it wasn't grating either. It did have a somewhat relaxing effect.

The two of them leaned back on the sofa. Faced with this sudden period of leisure with nothing urgent to do, neither of them seemed to know what to do. Chi Junluo, especially, kept lifting her glass to take small sips of her iced drink.

Within the enclosure of the musical light screen, the atmosphere gradually grew subtle. Chi Junluo could feel her heart secretly starting to beat faster. She gulped down a large mouthful of her iced drink, the cold shock traveling down and alleviating her nameless anxiety.

Recalling the task the Omega girl had asked for her help with before they set out, Chi Junluo secretly mobilized the two forces within her body. The Power of the Heavenly Dao was colorless and odorless, but the power she herself carried was far too dazzling. If a conflict were to arise later, perhaps she should first use the Power of the Heavenly Dao she had collected before?

Chi Junluo remembered what she had previously looked up on the Star Network about the use of mental power. Since she had nothing to do right now, and the Omega girl had said her mental power had recovered quite a bit, she might as well give it a try. After all, she was in another world. The Heavenly Dao had mentioned before that frequently using the Power of the Heavenly Dao, which didn't belong to this world, could easily lead to being discovered and rejected by the world she was in. She had no leads on her mission yet; she couldn't afford to be kicked out for being too arrogant. With the Heavenly Dao not by her side, if she were thrown out of this world, she had no idea what kind of fate would await her. She couldn't act rashly.

While her mind wandered, Chi Junluo mobilized the mental power in her brain, slowly drawing it out. It was a strange sensation, as if she had split into two. One part was her original perspective from within her body, while the other floated in the air along with her externalized mental power.

She tried to lift a water glass from beside her and bring it to her lips. After taking a slightly clumsy sip and placing the glass back down, Chi Junluo felt a distinct mental fatigue.

Yi Shuhan had been paying close attention to her Chi Chi's every move. Seeing her lips turn a little pale, she knew that Chi Junluo's mental power hadn't fully recovered and she had overexerted herself. She quickly stopped her. "Chi Chi, your mental power hasn't recovered yet. Don't release it externally, or your brain could easily suffer secondary damage."

Chi Junluo froze for a moment. Before her mind could even process it, her body subconsciously yanked her mental power back into her brain.

Chi Junluo touched her head. Before she could think about it in detail, she noticed the music within the isolating light screen gradually fading. The screen rippled like a calm water surface that had been touched, then it slowly became transparent before disappearing completely.

The area outside the light screen had been completely transformed, a testament to the convenience brought by this world's advanced technology.

Because this building was the very core of Blue Star Haitian, and also its tallest, Chi Junluo could clearly see the twinkling stars in the deep blue sky outside through the surrounding windows. It was a different vista from the one on Moon Star.

This floor truly had an excellent view, but…

Chi Junluo looked at the room's furnishings. Though she tried her best to restrain herself, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly. She bit her lower lip, quickly schooling her expression back to normal before anyone could notice.

The room was dim and unlit. Unless one's gaze was fixed on Chi Junluo's face, no one would have noticed her complex expression.

The two followed a guiding attendant to a long dining table. It was obvious that this incredibly long table had just been assembled. It was covered with a noble purple lace tablecloth that draped perfectly to the floor. A long conveyor belt, also in a deep purple style, ran down the center of the table. On it, steaming hot, exquisite dishes slowly rotated on their own while also moving along the belt around the table.

The entire hall was filled with music of a very strange rhythm and tone. It even had a raspy quality from time to time, as if someone who hadn't eaten in years was dying while scraping away at a few rusted strings.

If it were just that, it might have been better. But paired with the dozens of ghastly white, tall, slender candles on the table, any previous descriptions of elegant purple, floor-length lace, and exquisite cuisine completely vanished.

She didn't know what materials the people of this world used to make these white candles, but they all flickered with eerie blue flames. The flames were long and thin, swaying and flickering in the darkness.

Chi Junluo felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine. The attendant was leading her toward the other end of the long table. Chi Junluo stopped in her tracks, a look of confusion on her face beneath the mask as she looked at Yi Shuhan.

Yi Shuhan was already seated at her end of the table. Having received the finest education from a top-tier family since childhood, the young heiress of the Yi family exuded the air of the highest aristocratic class. She elegantly lifted her head slightly and asked in a soft, gentle tone, "Chi Chi, is there a problem?"

Chi Junluo hesitated for a second. The attendant beside her immediately handed her a light screen. On it, she expressed her question with some tact. "Isn't this distance a bit far?" She had never sat so far away when eating with a friend before…

A faint sense of unwillingness rose in her heart, but it vanished just as quickly.

Yi Shuhan nodded slightly, a beautiful smile gracing her lips as she offered her Chi Chi a simple explanation. "An ancient person from the Blue Star era once said that distance creates beauty."

Chi Junluo was momentarily dazzled by the sudden smile and found herself dazedly following the attendant to the separate seat at the opposite end of the long table. An Omega attendant bent down to pull out her chair. After sitting down, Chi Junluo made a simple adjustment to the chair herself. The attendant set out her tableware and then retreated behind her.

Yi Shuhan had been watching her Chi Chi the whole time. Seeing Chi Junluo habitually adjust the chair, she sighed inwardly. In this era, technology was so advanced that almost all daily necessities were smart devices. At home, everything from the movement and transformation of an entire room or bed, down to a toothbrush or a towel, could move on its own.

But a few years ago, she had been fortunate enough to be invited to the house where Chi Chi lived alone. Almost everything inside was a specially customized, ordinary object without smart technology. The dining table and coffee table were placed where they should be. The chairs were tucked under the table. When it was time to eat, either Chi Chi and she had to pull them out by hand, or they had to use their mental power to drag them out. It was unlike at her home or her research institute, where a soft call or a simple command on her light screen would make a chair fly over, and all they had to do was sit down.

Apart from Chi Chi's light screen, one could hardly find any technological object in her home that was in step with the times. Although being at Chi Chi's house was clearly not as convenient as being at her research institute, just being with Chi Chi, and even being invited into her home as a guest, was an incredibly happy thing for Yi Shuhan. Yi Shuhan sighed to herself. It was a pity she had come to her senses too late and missed out on so much interesting and joyful life.

She had once asked Chi Chi why she liked such an inconvenient lifestyle, but she only received an uninformative answer. Chi Chi had said, "This is what makes me feel like things are real."

So many years had passed. Yi Shuhan had gradually replaced many of the original smart technologies in her research institute with specially customized, ordinary objects. From small things like water glasses and towels to large ones like chairs and tables, they had all become "inanimate objects" that couldn't keep up with the era's technology. Gradually, Yi Shuhan herself got used to doing these small tasks that occasionally required her own hands. But as for the "real feeling" Chi Chi spoke of, she had never understood it. She wasn't the type to pester someone for an answer when it was clear they didn't want to talk. Seeing that Chi Chi obviously didn't want to mention the topic again, she never asked about it later. Only now did she realize that she had been waiting for the day Chi Chi would be willing to explain it to her personally.

Now Chi Chi had amnesia, but seeing the recovery speed of her brain and body, perhaps she could regain her previous memories and remember her. Although Yi Shuhan hadn't shown anything unusual these past few days, she had been enduring an unspeakable torment inside. She didn't know why she had such a strange thought, but she was incredibly, incredibly worried that the Chi Chi before her, while still in the same body, had been replaced by someone else inside.

Yi Shuhan had no idea why she had such an absurd thought, but the panic deep within her was something she couldn't shake.

Chi Chi had lost her memory, unable to recall anything from the past. She had even forgotten the most basic common knowledge, unable to use the simplest daily items. A strong intuition and panic from the bottom of her heart forced her to secretly watch Chi Chi's every move whenever they were alone. From the small detail of how Chi Chi's fingers liked to tap, to her reaction upon seeing certain items they had made together, or her most direct and genuine reaction to seeing something for the first time. To larger things like Chi Chi's posture when walking, her handwriting, or the way she moved her chair just now, which she had just observed. These were all tiny movements that only became habits over a long time. The Chi Chi before her was indeed very similar to the somewhat taciturn Chi Chi in her memory. The details almost all matched up; they were habits ingrained in her very bones.

If Yi Shuhan's thoughts were known to Chi Junluo or the currently absent Heavenly Dao, they might have guessed that some of the things Chi Junluo had done to the heroine in previous worlds, and everything that followed, had been indirectly transmitted to the heroine before her through the contracted soul fragments, carved deep into the heroine's soul.

Seeing Chi Chi seated, Yi Shuhan thought about how everything that was meant to happen between them already had. All she had to do was stay by her Chi Chi's side, wait for her to slowly recover her memories, and then, in the rest of their lives where Chi Chi trusted her enough, she would be willing to share her secrets and merge herself into her very blood and bones.

That would be more than enough to satisfy Yi Shuhan.

The eerie music still drifted through the entire floor. The exquisite dishes continued their slow rotation. An attendant brought over a bottle of expensive wine and poured it into vintage-style goblets, the sound of the alcohol hitting the bottom of the glass was a pleasant clink.

Then the attendants melted into the darkness. The eerie music took a sharp turn, and a draft swept through the windows of the entire floor. The massive private room, which had been dim and lit only by starlight, was suddenly illuminated by hundreds of candelabras. The eerie blue candlelight bathed the luxurious and empty room in a blue glow. Because the candelabras themselves didn't provide much light, Chi Junluo felt as if she were in a futuristic, super-era graveyard, with countless will-o'-the-wisps floating around her, starlight shining from above, and ghostly flames dancing beside her.

Fortunately, Chi Junluo could be considered a "battle-hardened" and peculiar transmigrator. She had, after all, been a zombie and a ghost for a while. Although the current scene made her slightly uncomfortable, she could still maintain her composure.

The flickering blue flames on the point-like candelabras that resembled will-o'-the-wisps, the hair-raising background music, and the long table that separated Chi Junluo and Yi Shuhan. Occasionally, Omega attendants with smiles that seemed cast from the same mold would glide past in the distance, their footsteps inaudible, but their dark silhouettes could be faintly seen drifting back and forth in the vast room.

Chi Junluo had no doubt that this was a method people in the future, with their highly developed technology, used to seek thrills. Dining in a terrifying environment was indeed quite stimulating. It must be some kind of special themed package in this world, right?

With a sense of reverence amidst Yi Shuhan's suddenly impossibly elegant atmosphere, Chi Junluo had a thrilling dinner. Aside from the horror-themed setting, it had to be said that Chi Junluo ate quite heartily. This was the most sumptuous meal she'd had since arriving in this world. From the appetizers to the side dishes, the main course, and the staple food, every single one was perfect in color, aroma, and taste. They were exquisite and delicious, and the portions were just right—not too much, not too little. After eating dozens of dishes, she didn't even feel too full. Chi Junluo naturally didn't understand the mystery behind it. After the two raised their glasses for the last time and drained the low-alcohol fine wine, this themed dinner of the future world, in Chi Junluo's eyes, finally came to an end.

After washing and drying their hands in basins brought by the attendants, they were guided back to the lounge area. After-dinner snacks to aid digestion and perfectly tempered drinks were already prepared on either side of the sofa.

With a faint sound, the candelabras in the room were extinguished one by one and transported back to their original places. The lights in the room slowly brightened in sequence. By the time Chi Junluo and Yi Shuhan had adjusted to the light, the room had returned to its initial splendor. The intricate patterns on the walls were slowly changing, and only then did Chi Junluo notice several small beasts that the attendants had brought into the room at some point. The small beasts looked very similar to the cats Chi Junluo knew, only slightly larger and with more fur.

Yi Shuhan followed Chi Junluo's gaze, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "Chi Chi, don't they look just like cats?"

Chi Junluo didn't know that ancient pets like cats and dogs had long since disappeared from the pets of this era, and that terms like "cat" and "dog" were rarely mentioned by anyone outside of academic circles. She just subconsciously nodded in agreement with what Yi Shuhan said.

Yi Shuhan said no more, but her heart gradually settled. After her meticulous analysis, her Chi Chi was still her Chi Chi. This time, all she had to do was stay by Chi Chi's side and not let her leave her so easily again.

After resting on the sofa for a while, Yi Shuhan checked the time. It was about time for her and her Chi Chi to go and capture the traitor who had dared to harm and threaten her beloved Chi Chi, and who had also betrayed the Yi family.

Yi Shuhan thought back to the Star Network's hottest candlelight dinner they just had, and her heart mentally checked off a huge box. "Plan Two: Have the most popular romantic candlelight dinner on the entire Star Network with the person I love."

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