第八十九章 “你看什么。”
Zhang Yuanxin, who had crafted the boiler engine, stood outside the shelter, holding in his hand the compact three-cylinder engine shimmering with a faint metallic luster.
炼制出锅炉引擎的张远信站在棚子外，手中拖着那个带着些许金属色泽的小巧三缸引擎。
The surroundings were desolate, with no one paying him any attention. Even his assistants had dwindled to just one.
周围冷冷清清的，没有人在意自己，甚至助手都走得只剩一个人。
His heart, which had calmed slightly, was now completely dead.
他略微冷静了点的心彻底死了。
“Hand it over,” said the sole remaining assistant.
“把它交出来。”剩下的唯一一个助手道。
“Pointless,” Zhang Yuanxin sighed.
“没意思。”张远信叹了口气。
After a faint light showed on his chest, outlining the engine’s form, he smirked coldly and tucked it into his pocket.
他胸前闪烁出模型的折线后，冷笑着将引擎收入衣兜。
Then, a golden phantom emerged from his body.
随后，他身上冒出金色的虚影。
“Get lost!”
“滚开!”
The assistant was taken aback, then grew furious: “Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but a thief, stealing from others…”
助手一愣，随即恼怒：“你也配？你这个只晓得窃取别人东西的…”
Zhang Yuanxin kicked and broke his leg bone, and the man fell to the ground screaming in pain.
张远信一脚踢断了他的腿骨，这人惨叫着倒在地上。
“If there’s no room for me here, there’s plenty elsewhere.”
“此处不留爷，自有留爷处。”
Amid the bustling chatter from outside the shed area, hearing that people were returning, Zhang Yuanxin hurriedly dashed out. After taking just two steps, he turned back, kicked over the box that still had a bit of liquid left, and then ran out again.
棚区外传来熙熙攘攘的说话声，听到人们回来了，张远信赶紧跑了出去，刚跑两步，他回头将那还剩小半液体的盒子一脚踢翻，才再次跑了出去。
……
……
Near a low shrub, Ning Yang, who was searching for usable wood with Zuo Feixian, picked up a stone. “This stone is pretty clean—it can be used for some kind of construction.”
一处低矮灌木丛附近，跟左非闲寻找着可用木材的宁洋捡起块石头.“这块石头挺干净的，可以用来砌点什么。”
“Not bad. But Chief Ning, I feel like you don’t really have a clear aim today. What exactly are you trying to find materials for?”
“还行，不过宁棚主，我看你今儿都没什么目的似的，你到底是想选什么东西的材料啊。”
“Haha, for new goods, of course! I’m preparing a catalog, including some everyday items. I’ll show it to you when we get back.”
“哈哈哈，当然是新的货物啊，我准备了一个单目，包括些普通日用品，等回去后我给你看。”
A subtle line suddenly emerged from the void beside him, shooting toward his chest.
细微折线自身旁虚空中突然冒出，射向胸口。
The smile that had been lingering on Ning Yang’s face gradually faded. He furrowed his brow, much like he had done most of the time over the past three years.
脸上一直挂着喜色的宁洋笑容逐渐消失，他如曾经三年中的大多数时间一样，皱起了眉头。
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Feixian straightened up.
“怎么了？”左非闲直起身。
After a dozen seconds of silence, having digested the information passed to him, Ning Yang forced a smile and said, “That bastard Zhang Yuanxin ran off with the created engine of lost consciousness.”
宁洋沉默了十几秒，消化了对方的汇报后，才有点强撑的笑道：“张远信那畜生，带着造出来的失念引擎跑了。”
Master Zuo was utterly shocked.
左大师震惊不已。
He couldn’t quite equate Zhang Yuanxin with the phrase “ran off.”
他有点不能将张远信和“跑了”这个词划上等号。
Regaining his composure, Zuo Feixian said in disbelief, “What about Captain Jia? And all those people—are they just sitting around doing nothing? How could he let him get away?”
回过味来后，左非闲满脸不信的道：“贾队长呢，还有那么多人都是吃干饭的？还能让他给跑了？”
Upon hearing this, the two bodyguards beside Ning Yang were also incredulous, but even more shocking was the camp chief’s next words.
宁洋身边两个跟着充当保镖的听到这话，也是满脸的不信，但更震惊的是棚主接下来的话。
“Because they went after the thieves. Master Zuo, sorry, but you might need to work a bit more and craft another water well engine.”
“因为他们去追小偷了。左师傅，不好意思啊，可能要再幸苦你一下，再做个水井引擎。”
Zuo Feixian had a feeling of foreboding.
左非闲有种不详的预感。
He felt that the man before him was about to drop a bombshell.
他感觉眼前这人好像要给自己来个大新闻。
“Explain yourself clearly, what do you mean by ‘another’ one? You’re not scheming something, are you?”
“你把话说清楚，什么叫‘再’做个？你们该不会在搞什么吧。”
“Well, you see… the Recollection Engine you made has been stolen. Captain Jia and the others chased the thief, and Zhang Yuanxin took that chance to make a run for it.”
“嗯，就是…你制作的失念引擎被人偷了，贾队他们去追小偷，就被张远信逮着了机会跑了。”
Zuo Feixian felt as though a thunderclap had gone off.
左非闲只觉得有闷雷划过。
“Did you catch them?”
“那你们抓到人了吗？”
“No, he got away. The other guy’s geometry tactic.” Ning Yang felt deeply ashamed.
“没有，给他跑了，对方是四边形。”宁洋很惭愧。
Thankfully, he had brought Master Zuo out today, otherwise, if the Jiazijian camp were that strong and tried to forcibly abduct Master Zuo, he couldn’t have stopped them.
还好自己今天把左大师带出来，否则甲子间真那么强，要强行掳走左大师，自己也拦不住。
“Let’s head back, Master Zuo. Tell me what materials you need, and I’ll have them prepared for you right away.”
“我们回去吧，左大师你说说材料，我马上命人去给你准备。”
“Let me check.” The model on Zuo Feixian’s chest flashed, fading into the air as it disappeared, but no one responded.
“我问问。”左非闲胸前模型闪动，折现窜入空气消失，却没有人回应。
The other party must be contacting someone else.
对方应该在跟别的人联系。
Ning Yang frowned, suddenly struck by an absurd thought.
宁洋皱了皱眉，他突然升起个荒诞的想法。
“Master Zuo, don’t mess around. I won’t do anything to you. Just tell me the materials, give me the details, and I’ll prepare everything. Got it?”
“左师傅，别闹了，我不会对你怎么样，你就直说材料，有哪些细节告诉我，我给你准备就好，知道了吗？”
Hearing Ning Yang’s somewhat impatient tone, Zuo Feixian grew annoyed.
听到宁洋有点不耐烦的话，左非闲也恼怒了。
“I’ve told you several times, I’m not the creator. Ning Yang, do you think I’m the kind of person who enjoys making jokes like this? I’ve stressed it many times already.”
“给你说了好几次，我不是制作者。宁洋，你觉得我是喜欢开这种玩笑的人吗？我已经强调很多次了。”
Ning Yang’s face changed color.
宁洋脸色一变。
His heart suddenly lost its footing entirely.
他整个心都突然没了着落。
“You… are still talking nonsense to me at a time like this?”
“你，这个时候还跟我说胡话？”
“That man won’t let me reveal he made it, and I can’t reach him right now—the line is busy!”
“那个人不让我说是他造出来的，我这会联系不到他，占线！”
Zuǒ Fēixián paced angrily, hands on his hips, turning his head to exhale a heavy breath of foul air. “But the Mindfall Engine really wasn’t built by me, and that boiler neither—damn it! Now both are gone at once!”
左非闲气愤的叉着腰，扭头吐着浊气，“但失念引擎还真不是我给弄的，包括那锅炉，妈的！这下两个一起没了！”
Níng Yáng felt as if the sky were falling and the earth were caving in.
宁洋觉得天塌地陷一般。
Seeing the other man’s state, Zuǒ Fēixián’s anger subsided a little. “It’s fine. I’ll ask him about it when we get back. Making these two things is a piece of cake for him.”
瞧见这家伙的模样，左非闲气消了点：“没事，等回去我问问他就好，做这两个东西对他来说易如反掌。”
“Oh… oh, right.”
“噢，哦哦。”
Dazed and muddle-headed, Níng Yáng followed the chin-up, chest-out Zuǒ Fēixián as they walked forward.
宁洋有点昏头昏脑的跟着昂首挺胸的左非闲往前走去。
As he walked, he said, “Do you mean that Master has actually been in our shed area all along?”
他边走边道：“你的意思是，那位大师傅其实一直在我们棚区？”
“Yes, he, well.”
“是啊，他，嗯。”
“Oh.” Ning Yang finally let out a sigh of relief.
“噢。”宁洋终于松了口气。
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with a strained smile, “That truly is, truly a reclusive master. I promise I won’t ask who he is. Just learn well from him.”
他擦了擦额头的虚汗，吃力笑道：“那还真是，真是个高人，我保证不过问他是谁，你跟他好好学就是了。”
“That’s good.” Zuo Feixian nodded.
“那就好。”左非闲点点头。
“By the way,” Zuo Feixian casually asked, “Who was that thief? So many people went after him and couldn’t catch him. He must be pretty formidable, right?”
“对了。”左非闲随口问道：“那小偷是什么人啊，那么多人去抓都没抓到，应该很厉害吧。”
Ning Yang’s heart tightened.
宁洋心中拎了拎。
“Ahem, that thief was a spy who came to our shed area a few days ago.”
“咳嗯，那个小偷是前几天来我们棚区的间谍。”
“A spy? Oh, oh wait, a few days ago? Huh, you mean the one from that quadrilateral you just mentioned, the one you shooed away?”
“间谍？哦，哦等下，前几天？噢，你刚刚说什么四边形，被你哄出去了？”
Zuo Feixian stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked the camp leader up and down, scrutinizing him intently.
左非闲停下脚步，转过身来，上下细细打量着身旁的棚主。
Ning Yang touched his face. “What are you looking at?”
宁洋摸了摸自己的脸：“你看什么。”
“Don’t tell me that thief is from the Jiazi sector.”
“不会要告诉我，那个小偷是甲子间吧。”
“Yeah, you guessed it, — odds are it’s him.”
“嗯，你猜对了，八成就是他。”
“Guessed it, and odds are, huh…”
“猜对了，还八成，唔…”
Zuo Feixian suddenly clutched his stomach.
左非闲突然捂着小腹。
“My stomach hurts. You guys go on ahead; I need to take a leak.”
“我肚子疼，你们在前面等我，我去方便下。”
With that, he pressed down on his pants and ducked into the bushes to squat down.
说完他搂着裤子进灌木丛蹲下。
……
……
Dark clouds drifted and billowed slowly.
阴云四溢，缓缓流荡。
Wang Chong and the others stood there in a daze, following along beside him as they walked forward, all of them looking shocked and afraid to speak.
王翀等人怔怔地跟在这道身影旁往前走去，各个神色巨变，不敢言语。
“Brother, do you still want to play the good guy?”
“哥，你还要当好人吗？”
The hearts of the group on the barren plains leaped in unison, turning toward Xu Xiuchuan, who seemed to have lost his marbles.
荒原上的几人心头齐齐一跳，看向不知哪根筋不对的徐秀川。
Yang Zicang cast a glance at Xu Xiuchuan, whose pants were hanging loosely around his waist.
杨子藏瞟了身旁裤腰松垮垮的徐秀川一眼。
The atmosphere froze.
气氛一肃。
Xu Xiuchuan initially thought he’d just bagged another joke to tell, but now he dared not bring it up again.
徐秀川本觉得自己多了个笑话素材，不过这下他再也不敢提这嘴了。
Beside him, Fan Xiuyun stepped in to lighten the mood. “Where are we headed next, Brother Yang?”
旁边范修云缓和气氛般地问：“我们接下来是去哪呀？杨哥。”
Over the endless black earth, a chilly wind swirled past.
一望无际的黑土地上，萧瑟的风打着旋儿吹过。
“Sightseeing.”
“旅游。”
……
……
By the time Ning Yang realized that Master Zuo had already made a break for it, more than ten minutes had passed.
当宁洋意识到左大师已经跑掉后，早已过去了十几分钟。
Within that patch of bushes, there was no sign of him to be found anymore.
那片灌木丛内哪里还能看到他的身影。
Instead, Ning Yang felt a sense of calm wash over him, his inner turmoil settling without a ripple.
宁洋反而感觉身心平静，内心毫无波澜。
Back in the shed area, the silent encampment chief went straight to examine the makeshift shelter Zhang Yuanxin had used and the people he had injured; fortunately, they only suffered fractures.
回到棚区后，一言不发的棚主首先去看了张远信用过的手工作棚，以及被他打伤的人，还好只是骨折。
A heavy atmosphere pervaded the entire settlement. Many were busy hauling water from the well, storing the precious sweet water before it disappeared by the next day.
整个聚集地内，弥漫着沉重的气氛，好些人忙着在水井里打水，储备来之不易的甘泉，它明天就会消失了。
“Yang ge, we really messed with someone tough this time…”
“洋哥，这次的确是惹到硬茬子了…”
“He smashed the plank in one go with his left-handed swing, and the air was packed with golden light everywhere you looked.”
“甲子间把木板一下就打碎了，空中铺天盖地的全是金光。”
Captain Jia had shed all the reserve that usually came with his title as security leader. With him setting the tone, everyone chimed in with their grievances.
贾队长再也没了平日里安保队长的矜持，有他起头，众人七嘴八舌诉苦。
“He even called us useless, said he’d flip over the lid of your ancestors’ coffins.”
“他还说我们是废物，要掀棚主你祖宗的棺材板。”
“Those guys didn’t just humiliate us—they said we wouldn’t have built the well or the boiler without them.”
“那些家伙不光羞辱我们，还说没他们我们都做不出来水井和锅炉。”
“So what if he’s a master? Someday, I’ll be a master too.”
“高手了不起啊，迟早我也是高手。”
Roused from his indifference, Ning Yang looked over.
一直不为所动的宁洋看去。
The skinny man in the crowd noticed the chief’s gaze and instantly lost his nerve: “I… I’ll never be a master…”
那个人群中的瘦子被棚主一看，顿时气势就蔫了：“我…我成不了高手…”
Captain Jia searched for where Zuo Feixian had gone.
贾队拿眼睛寻找左非闲的身影。
“Brother Ning, where’s Old Zuo?”
“宁哥儿，老左呢？”
A sudden dizziness struck Ning Yang’s head.
宁洋忽然感觉脑袋一阵眩晕。
“Hey, Ning ge? You okay?”
“喂，宁哥？”
Captain Jia reached out with concern as Ning Yang’s steps suddenly turned staggered and unsteady.
贾队看着宁洋突然有点虚浮的脚步，关心的伸手道。
Ning Yang took a few shuffling steps, brushed past the person beside him, and focused on his own hut, as well as the stone dwelling next door that belonged to Master Zuo.
宁洋挪了两步，拨开身边的人，看向自己的屋子，以及旁边那间属于左大师的石屋。
“Master Zuo… had matters to attend to… left for a few days.” Ning Yang said somewhat dazedly.
“左大师，有事…离开几天。”宁洋有点茫然的道。
He had already understood who Master Zuo was talking about. But he didn’t want to admit it… How could it be that person? If he could build wells… why would he stay squatting in his own shed area? Surely the main greenhouse area would treat him as an honored guest?
他已经明白左大师说的人是谁了。但他不愿承认…怎么可能会是那个人，他会做水井的话…蹲在自己的棚区做什么？自有大棚区视他为座上宾啊？
Ning Yang tried to redirect his thoughts… the backdrop set said “scenery and blueprint”… Yes, and that scenerio (ring) which might be used to create blueprints.
宁洋努力让自己的心思转移…货队说的幕景与蓝图…对，还有那个可能制作蓝图的幕景。
“Let’s coordinate the timing… prepare for two days from now…”
“我们凑凑时序，准备过两天的…”
Suddenly, a commotion stirred among the crowd as the encampment chief collapsed to the ground and passed out.
突然人群一阵骚动，棚主一头栽倒在地，晕了过去。
……
……
Meanwhile, out on distant wasteland, Yang Zicang was holding the supply requisition letter in his hands, hesitant.
与此同时，远处行走在荒原上，杨子藏正将订货函拿在手中犹豫不决。
“Oh well, to be noticed by them sooner, I’ll just follow the manual. Keep it safe… Isn’t it just about getting famous quickly?”
“罢了，为了早点被那里关注到，就按手册说的来吧，保险点…不就是尽快出名嘛。”
Yang Zicang chose to use the supply requisition letter and form a goods delivery team headed for the hub settlement (Pivot Town).
杨子藏选择将订货函使用，创建为枢纽镇供货的筑货队。
By registering the goods delivery team with the letter, the group gained two extra slots for members who could communicate with the outside world. From then on, he no longer needed to handle all info exchange with the outside and the hub settlement solely on his own.
通过订货函注册筑货队后，货队多出两名能与外界联系的队员名额。以后也就不需要只靠自己来与外界和枢纽镇传递信息了。
The moment Yang Zicang’s avatar registered the goods team using the letter, a telepathic voice resonated.
在杨子藏模型通过订货函注册完货队的瞬间，一到心念声响起。
[Your weekly reputation (infamy) score has exceeded 10; it currently stands at 15.]
[你本周的名气值已超过10，当前为15。]
A muted voice intruded, and at the same time, a vision of a medieval town shrouded in silver-white mist formed in his mind, as if the voice were the town itself conversing with him.
晦暗的声音传来，同时心中浮现座被银白色雾气笼罩的中世纪城镇的画面，仿佛这声音是这座城在与自己对话。
[You have registered a goods delivery team.]
[你注册了筑货队。]
Yang Zicang almost slapped himself.
杨子藏差点给自己一巴掌。
Why didn’t you say so even a second earlier!
你早说哪怕一秒啊！