Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 65: 65. The Link to the Outer World

This time, the girl wasn’t wearing a formal suit but something more casual instead.

She had on a loose-fitting white sweater, a long pleated skirt underneath, and a pair of little leather shoes.

When she sat down there, Qing Chen could see her slender legs wrapped in white socks.

It seemed that she had changed into attire she was more accustomed to.

Jindai Kongyin no longer seemed restless, but was quietly observing Qing Chen with her large eyes, which looked as if they could speak, seriously taking in the youth’s appearance.

Qing Chen sat down across from her, the two separated by an iron table.

The gray metallic walls surrounded them, bleak LED strip lighting above, but for some reason, the originally somewhat gloomy environment seemed somewhat refreshed by Jindai Kongyin’s presence.

Actually, the girl wasn’t particularly beautiful, but after looking at her for a while, you would feel extremely comfortable, as if basking in the sunlight.

Qing Chen hesitated before asking, “Why have you come?”

“To see you, to bring you some food,” Jindai Kongyin said, picking up a small cloth bag from beside the chair which contained a thermal lunch box, more exquisite than the one Ye Wan had.

Qing Chen silently opened the lunch box, which was neatly filled with three pieces of nigiri sushi and a side of beef bowl.

Jindai Kongyin said, “I asked around, the prison food doesn’t seem very good, so I made you something.”

Qing Chen asked, “Aren’t you afraid I’m a convict?”

“I know you’re on a mission,” Jindai Kongyin said with a smile.

“I’m curious, we don’t seem that close, certainly not close enough to visit me in prison every day,” Qing Chen said calmly.

Although it was nice to be cared for, Qing Chen never believed in unconditional love in this world.

This was the World Within, and she was a Time Traveler; from these two points alone, it was destined that the first thing Qing Chen felt upon seeing her was not affinity, but caution.

After a moment’s thought, Jindai Kongyin spoke softly, “This time I came to City No. 18 with my elders. They asked me to interact more with you, and… being with them is somewhat uncomfortable.”

The two fell into silence, and Qing Chen picked up the chopsticks prepared by the girl, silently finishing all the food in the lunch box.

It had to be said that the girl’s cooking skills were very good.

Then, they fell into silence once more.

Throughout this time, Jindai Kongyin’s gaze never left the youth, until the end of the thirty-minute visit.

So much so that even Qing Chen, who faced such a formidable array last night without panic, became somewhat restless.

At that moment, Jindai Kongyin muttered softly, “他の「裏世界」の人と同じように,粗野で野蛮なのではないでしょうか.”

“What did you say?” Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

“Nothing, it’s a language only our clan understands,” Jindai Kongyin smiled and stood up, “Well then, Qing Chen, see you next time.”

The girl seemed to have gotten used to their silence, and the game of speaking a language the other couldn’t understand, revealing her small thoughts, seemed to bring her joy as well.

…

At the same time.

Lin Xiaoxiao, who was sitting bored in the reading area, lamented that ever since the boss required Qing Chen to conceal his identity, the prison seemed to have lost some of its fun.

He wanted to chat with Qing Chen, but they all had to pretend to be indifferent.

He wanted to chat with Ye Wan, but Mother Ye’s personality was such that you couldn’t get a peep out of her all day.

This made Lin Xiaoxiao feel a wave of loneliness…

As for Guo Huchan… he wished that baldy would stay far away from him.

Just then, the alloy gate next to the square slowly lifted, and two Mechanical Prison Guards were seen escorting Liu Dezhu back to the square.

“Damn,” Lin Xiaoxiao slapped his forehead, feeling like he had forgotten something.

According to the prison’s punishment rules, today was the day Liu Dezhu was supposed to finish his solitary confinement.

But the problem was, Liu Dezhu couldn’t come back because Lin Xiaoxiao knew he couldn’t let the kid see Qing Chen’s face!

“Boss, this guy can’t be released,” he said to Uncle Li Dong.

Uncle Li Dong lifted his gaze from the chessboard, then said, “Then lock him up again, we’ll talk about it tonight.”

No sooner had he spoken than the two Mechanical Prison Guards directly escorted Liu Dezhu away from the alloy gate and towards solitary confinement.

No one knew how Uncle Li Dong managed that, nor did anyone know who had heard Uncle Li Dong’s command and then issued the order to the Mechanical Prison Guards.

Just like no one knew how he managed to leave City No. 18’s prison.

Liu Dezhu, the mechanical prison guard, was suspended in the air by his legs, and he roared, “Wait, wasn’t I supposed to be put back in the square? What’s this about, why am I being put in solitary confinement again? What crime have I committed?”

But no matter how much he struggled, he was ultimately taken back to the solitary cell…

Liu Dezhu felt rather dejected inside.

For a modern person, a day without the ability to communicate with the outside world, without a cell phone, without games, was simply too hard to bear.

Liu Dezhu really wanted to end it all, but he couldn’t.

Every time the countdown to time travel ended, he would be forcefully pulled into the Inner World by the world’s rules and then spend several days in prison.

He never imagined that at such a young age, he would bear all that he shouldn’t have to bear.

Suddenly, the alloy gate in front of him opened, and in the hollow and dim corridor stood someone wearing a Cat Mask, silently watching him.

“Who… are you?” Liu Dezhu hesitated for a moment; he was somewhat afraid, but upon closer inspection, he saw that the other person didn’t have any weapons, and still held a prison reader in their hand.

This was the prison’s third Time Traveler, Liu Dezhu realized.

Qing Chen slowly stepped into the solitary cell, and with a hydraulic release sound, the alloy gate slowly closed behind him.

“What do you want to do?!” Liu Dezhu felt a surge of fear in the enclosed space.

After a few seconds of silence, Qing Chen slowly wrote a message on the reader: “I saw the news; you’ve been mistaken for me.”

Liu Dezhu’s eyes widened: “Big brother, I didn’t mean to steal your thunder. I’ve made up my mind, I’ll never boast again. When I get out, I’ll admit that I’m not the Time Traveler Jian Sheng encountered.”

Qing Chen wrote on the reader: “No need.”

“Ah?” Liu Dezhu thought, following his own logic, that he had taken the limelight from this mysterious figure, which is why they might be unhappy, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

He thought for a moment, then asked weakly, “Then what do you want to do, big brother?”

“Admit it publicly,” Qing Chen answered with the reader.

“No no no,” Liu Dezhu’s head shook like a rattle-drum: “I’m already scared of being harassed. Big brother, you don’t know, I live on the second floor, and the day before yesterday, I forgot to close the blinds while showering, and when I turned around, I saw someone on the building across with a camera pointing at me! Also, when I was cycling home, there were paparazzi following me in a car, complaining I was riding too slowly and saying I should go faster for a better shot!”

Qing Chen ignored his complaints and responded on the reader: “Do you know how many years your sentence is? It wasn’t dictated by me, it was sentenced by Court No. 18 of the Inner World.”

Liu Dezhu was startled; he indeed didn’t know the specifics of his sentence, having been in prison ever since he arrived.

Qing Chen wrote on the reader: “99 years and seven months.”

Liu Dezhu: “???”

Qing Chen explained: “According to the news, you’ve committed robbery, theft, smuggling, drug trafficking, and attempted murder, with cumulative punishment for multiple crimes.”

“Damn!” Liu Dezhu nearly threw up at that moment.

At this time, Qing Chen also pulled up the news of his trial on the reader, which belonged to Uncle Li Dong, hence had the authority to read the news.

Liu Dezhu dumbly watched the reader, which clearly stated his deeds and mentioned that it was the longest sentence in City No. 18 in the past two years.

He felt somewhat desperate, having harbored a sliver of hope that after enduring for a while and serving his sentence, everything would be fine.

Qing Chen continued to write: “Of course, I think…”

Suddenly, Liu Dezhu asked, “Big brother, you always use writing to communicate with me, afraid that I’ll recognize your voice, right? So, are you someone I know, or someone close to me?”

At that moment, Liu Dezhu showed his true intelligence, that of a person whose mind hadn’t been muddled by time travel, who had regained his normal human intellect after calming down in solitary.

Qing Chen looked at him coldly, and then spoke from beneath the mask: “That’s not important. What’s important is that Uncle Li Dong and I believe that you were set up by the Society to take the blame. The World Within Society often does this; after the Federal Public Security Management Committee catches wind of them, they randomly pick an unlucky person to shoulder all the blame.”

In an instant, Liu Dezhu felt that the other’s presence had changed, as had their momentum.

An invisible pressure made it involuntarily hard to breathe normally.

The voice was somewhat androgynous but very captivating.

Liu Dezhu pondered; if he had heard this voice before, he would definitely have remembered it.

But there was no such recollection in his memory.

Qing Chen asked, “Now that you’ve heard my voice, can we continue communicating?”

“Sorry, big brother, it was my misunderstanding,” Liu Dezhu’s demeanor weakened again.

Qing Chen looked down at Liu Dezhu: “I came to see you to make a deal. You will impersonate me, and I will help you clear the charges.”

He had first shattered Liu Dezhu’s hopes, and now he was offering them back.

He did so because Liu Dezhu, as of now, could completely become his link to the Outer World.

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