The vibration wasn't loud, but Yu Xi could still hear it in the quiet lounge. The instant the vibration started, Qin Chu could almost feel Levi's gaze turn towards him.
At that very moment, from Qin Chu's perspective, he could just see a staff member flash by in the window of the Cabinet Office building.
The finger pressing on the button hesitated almost imperceptibly for a moment.
But in that instant, the overlapping ripples on the chip immediately showed slight differences.
The surrounding space instantly vanished; people walking on the commercial street below and speeding aircraft were frozen in place, and the scene became blurred. Just like his experience on the first warship, Qin Chu was once again trapped in this state of spatial stillness.
Qin Chu subconsciously turned around to look for Levi, only to find that Levi was in the same state as him.
Qin Chu turned his head again, leaned against the windowsill, and rubbed his forehead.
This is not a mistake he would make.
Having spent so many years in the military, Qin Chu has always been decisive, whether in dangerous missions or maintaining order in peripheral star systems. He's encountered situations like this, where he has the attack button in hand, countless times, so he would never hesitate.
But this time is different.
He had absolutely no understanding of how the explosives were planted or their range of power.
And also, Levy...
Levi walked over to Qin Chu, glanced at the chip in Qin Chu's hand, and smiled: "What's wrong? Lost in thought?"
“…Mm.” Qin Chu nodded.
"Could it be that you're thinking about me?" Levi leaned in and kissed him.
That's absolutely true.
Qin Chu tapped the chip with his fingers: "Let's try again."
"Okay, don't worry, I won't rush you." Levi nodded.
He thought about what Qin Chu had said and was unsure whether he should turn away.
He turned and took two steps, then paused and said, "The explosives are planted on the nodes of the database. The area is not large, and you know the cabinet's buildings. The explosives won't exceed the database's range."
But Levy regretted it as soon as he finished speaking; the addition seemed a bit abrupt.
Qin Chu paused for a moment before nodding: "I know... I've seen the report."
Levy didn't say anything more, nodded, and walked a little further away.
There's no need to go that far.
Qin Chu glanced at him, then looked down and pressed the button on the back of the chip.
Unlike on the first warship, last time Levy made the right choice and they immediately changed the scene.
But this time, time has gone backwards.
Qin Chu watched as the pedestrians who had walked by earlier on the commercial street passed by again. He stared at the chip in his hand, knowing that he was about to experience another round of waiting.
This time, Levi was very quiet, and Qin Chu wouldn't make a mistake twice. He pressed the button when the ripples overlapped.
A flash of fire appeared before his eyes, and Qin Chu quickly felt that familiar dizziness again.
The dizziness seemed to have gotten a bit worse, so Qin Chu closed his eyes for a while before taking a look around.
He woke up outdoors this time, and when he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a wide-open view.
But something's strange. This isn't a trading place for space pirates, nor is it a public scenic area on a planet. It should be located in a well-landscaped residential area.
Qin Chu stood in the pavilion, from which he could just see a house.
After glancing at the house, Qin Chu did not make any rash moves, but instead turned around and looked around.
Levy is not here.
There was no personal terminal on his wrist. Qin Chu looked around and realized he was wearing the uniform of the Empire's First Military Academy. So, this meant that Levi was currently in the military academy?
When freshmen first entered the military academy, all devices that could access the internet were confiscated, so it seemed that searching for personal terminals on people was not feasible.
But he had to find a way to contact Levy.
Qin Chu frowned in thought, then turned his head and saw a middle-aged couple on the side path who seemed to be returning from the supermarket outside.
Qin Chu stepped forward: "Could I borrow your personal terminal for a moment? I need to contact my companion."
The middle-aged couple were taken aback when he stopped them, and both looked at him.
Qin Chu frowned.
That look was a bit strange. It didn't look like the look of someone asking for help from a stranger, nor did it look like the look of someone seeing an acquaintance. Instead, it seemed a bit wary.
The wife seemed hesitant, as if she wanted to say something, but the husband took off his personal terminal first, handed it to Qin Chu, and then gestured for his wife to leave first.
Qin Chu took the personal terminal, glanced in the direction his wife had left, and realized that they were residents of the house in front of him.
The middle-aged man was still staring at him. Qin Chu wasn't sure what this person's relationship was with him... or more accurately, with the current Levi. But in order to contact Levi first, he took out his personal terminal and dialed his own number.
This time, the call still couldn't be connected.
However, unlike last time, the call did not show as unreachable; instead, after ringing a few times, it went directly to the voicemail function.
After hanging up the call, Qin Chu glanced at the time and year again.
In the real world, Qin Chu is about to graduate from military academy this year and has been on missions all year. Therefore, this communication status should indicate that Levi has successfully switched to this scenario and is currently carrying out a mission.
Qin Chu felt a little relieved and returned the personal terminal to the middle-aged man in front of him.
He glanced down at the things in the middle-aged man's hands again. The man's wife had left in a hurry, leaving the things on the ground.
"Do you need me to help you carry your things back?" Qin Chu asked.
"No need," the middle-aged man replied curtly, picked up his things, and strode towards the house.
Chapter 129, The Sixth Story (13)
Qin Chu glanced at the middle-aged man, but did not insist. He simply nodded and returned to the pavilion.
In his sight, the middle-aged man, carrying several heavy bags, struggled towards the house with the small garden, and then closed the door.
Qin Chu noticed that the middle-aged man glanced in his direction again as he closed the door.
The door closed, and Qin Chu withdrew his gaze.
He was standing right here when he transitioned to this scene. From this angle, if Levy wasn't simply stopping to rest, then he could only be observing the house in front of him.
Qin Chu couldn't understand why Levy would observe such an ordinary middle-aged couple.
His judgment was correct; the couple had no special status or abilities, and normally Levy wouldn't be interested in ordinary people like them.
Without making any rash moves, Qin Chu sat down in a chair in the pavilion, his gaze still observing the houses opposite, while searching for the reason why he was staying there.
If it's a mission from a military academy, then he should have mission-related instructions on him.
However, military academy students must have a permit from the school to leave the campus according to regulations. But Levi had nothing on him, making it look like he was sneaking out of the school in the middle of the night.
Based on Qin Chu's understanding of Levi, this is probably the case.
But that makes it even harder to explain why Levy is here.
Qin Chu remembered that Levy once told him that he did not stay at the military academy voluntarily, but was controlled by the cabinet at the time.
After going through all that trouble to evade the military academy's patrols and surveillance, and finally managing to escape, shouldn't he be rushing to leave the capital? Why would he come to a place like this, observing these two people?
The couple didn't seem like they would help him; instead, they were inexplicably wary and hostile towards him.
After pondering the current situation, Qin Chu was still completely baffled.
Moreover, he is currently unable to contact Levy and has no way of obtaining information about the scene from Levy.
Levi is currently on a mission and shouldn't be able to contact him either. Besides, he doesn't even have a basic communicator on him right now.
With no other options, Qin Chu could only look around and wait.
There should be a point in this scenario where he needs to make a choice. Even without any information, he can simply wait until the choice is triggered and then consider it.
Time passed slowly.
The morning chill disappeared, and the sunlight became dazzling.
It should be lunchtime now. Qin Chu looked around at the other residents and could vaguely see families eating in the dining room through the windows.
However, the house in front of him was very quiet, and it was clear that the couple inside had not prepared lunch.
As Qin Chu sat in the pavilion observing, he noticed the curtains in the house fluttering, clearly indicating that the middle-aged couple inside were also observing him.
This action puzzled Qin Chu even more, but he was also quite certain that the person inside definitely had an unusual relationship with Levi.
Qin Chu's rare curiosity resurfaced slightly. He was very curious about what Levi had done during his time in the past to have become involved with this ordinary middle-aged couple.
The light overhead slowly shifted; it was past noon.
Still nothing happened that triggered a choice, and Qin Chu hesitated whether to go and take a look at the room across the street.
Just then, a loud "bang" came from the house, as if some furniture had collapsed.
Immediately following was the wife's exclamation.
Qin Chu stood up and walked out of the pavilion.
He frowned as he looked at the house. Although the couple probably didn't welcome him much, something was clearly wrong inside, and he should still go and check it out.
When Qin Chu reached the small garden of the house, he paused again, realizing that this seemed to be a choice related to Levy's actions.
In reality, would Levy take the initiative to knock on the door and offer help at this time?
It's highly unlikely.
Qin Chu pondered for a few seconds, then continued walking towards the door.
The moment he knocked on the door, that familiar dizziness struck again.
Qin Chu thought he had made the wrong choice, but when he opened his eyes he realized something was wrong.
There was no specific scene appearing before him, nor was it the feeling of being separated from the surrounding environment by a layer of fog when the space was still; instead, he was enveloped in a thick white fog.
Apart from himself, this space contains only scattered data streams.
Qin Chu suddenly thought of the previous scene. Before Levi came out of the bathroom, according to his description, he seemed to be in such a data space.