第一百五十一章 霄干事
The clouds drifted slowly, the wind rustled through the treetops, and the green leaves roared in a cacophony.
流云缓缓移动，风吹过树梢，绿叶们响起大片哗哗声。
“Mr. Zicang, what are you doing?”
“子藏先生，你在做什么？”
Teacher Chen curiously watched Yang Zicang, who was tinkering with a small furnace behind the wooden cabin.
陈老师好奇的看着木屋后方的杨子藏在摆弄着个小熔炉。
“Counterfeiting money, iron ‘copper coins.’”
“造假币，铁‘铜钱’。”
“What a rare word.” Little Liu walked over and crouched down to watch Yang Zicang’s movements. “I find you seem to know a little bit of everything—digging, cutting trees, setting up tents, and now making money.”
“好稀罕的词。”小刘走过来蹲着看杨子藏的动作，“我发现你好像什么都会点，挖地砍树搭帐篷，现在还能造钱。”
“What can I say? If you’d lived with cavemen in the World of Emblem-stamps for thousands of years, you’d know too.”
“没办法，你要是在邮徽世界跟原始人待上几千年，你也会。”
“Thousands of years…” Little Liu shuddered. He looked at his teacher. “Old Chen, why don’t you help the shed master? Don’t you know how to do this?”
“几千年…”小刘打了个寒颤，他望向自己的老师，“老陈，你帮下棚主呗，你不是会这个吗？”
“Get out, get out,” Teacher Chen waved his hand as if shooing a stray dog. “This little punk has no respect for his elders.”
“去去去，”陈老师赶小狗似的挥挥手，“小兔崽子说话没大没小的。”
This wasn’t the first time Teacher Chen had seen Yang Zicang make these things. He somewhat understood that Yang Zicang could use them to store timings, so he helped with carving the molds.
陈老师已不是第一次见杨子藏造这东西，有些明白杨子藏能靠这玩意儿存储时序，于是自己也帮着刻模具。
The two of them set to work together, and in less than two days, a compact manual “stamping” machine was added to the camp. Watching these skillful maneuvers, Yang Zicang mused that it was normal for human civilization to sometimes make no progress for millennia, as it often clung to ingrained thinking—like himself, for example.
两人一起忙活起来，不到两天营地便多出套小巧的手动小“冲压”机，看着这娴熟的制造动作，杨子藏感叹有时候人类文明几千年都没点进步，也是正常的，因为一直沿用的是固有思维——比如自己。
“This looks much better.” Teacher Chen gazed contentedly at the cooled iron coins before him.
“这样就好看很多了。”陈老师满意的看着眼前冷却的铁币。
After the molten iron had fully solidified and cooled, Yang Zicang poured out a few iron coins from the compressed mold. Though not extremely durable without quenching, they were more than sufficient for storing temporal sequences.
铁汁完全凝固冷却后，杨子藏从压实的模具里倒出几枚铁币，没有淬火的它虽不算非常牢固，但用来存储时序绰绰有余。
He crushed the energy orb.
能量球捏爆。
[Lifespan Bank activated.]
[寿命银行发动。]
A shimmering glow quickly emerged on the iron coins, and in an instant, they held over nine thousand years of extra lifespan.
铁币上迅速诞生莹莹辉光，转眼这里面便已蕴含九千多年的额外寿命。
{Zicang, there’s something I need to tell you.}
{子藏，有件事我要告诉你。}
A channel of Mental Link from Zhu Yin came through.
逐银的心灵链接线条传来。
Yang Zicang straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
杨子藏直起身擦了擦额头的汗。
“Has Ms. Maiya sent word?”
“麦蚜女士有消息了？”
{She’s almost back, but this isn’t about her—it’s about the “Chief Editor.” His subordinates have recently appeared in the Lost-Frequency Lands, seemingly carrying out some actions. I just learned that, aside from the Lost-Frequency Inn, two other locations for secret intelligence trading have also been wiped out. At the last spot, someone saw an entity calling itself the Editor’s Pen.}
{她快回来了，但这件事不是关于她，而是“主编”。他的下属最近在失频之地出现，似乎在进行什么动作，刚刚我得知，除了失频客栈，另外两处进行秘密情报交易的地方也被覆灭了。最后一处有人见到自称为主编之笔的存在。}
“The Chief Editor!”
“主编！”
Yang Zicang suddenly recalled that voice from before—how could he have completely forgotten about the Chief Editor?
杨子藏豁然想起之前的那道声音，自己怎么把主编的事情给完全忘记了。
“Are his subordinates conducting a purge?”
“是他的下属在进行清理？”
Amid the bewildered looks from those nearby, Yang Zicang let out an exclamation.
在身旁人诧异的眼神中，杨子藏一下惊呼出声。
Suddenly, Yang Zicang felt a gaze locked onto him, and the few people beside him turned their heads to look toward the edge of the woods. There, on a small scenic patch of land, stood a strikingly handsome young man whose beauty was almost enchanting, appearing as if from nowhere.
忽地，杨子藏感受到一道视线射来，身边几人都转头看向树林旁。只见一小片幕景地中，不知何时已经站着道帅气到妖艳的男士身影。
The boy’s lips were pale, his eyes flickering with a golden radiance. Dressed in a gray suit with his hair parted, he seemed to step out of a mystical, ethereal world brimming with spiritual energy.
那位少年唇色苍淡，两眼闪动金色辉光，身着灰西装的他梳着分头，仿佛从充满灵气的仙灵世界走出。
“Hello, Yang Zicang,” he said, speaking the human language.
“你好，杨子藏。”他说着人类的语言。
Though he bore a human appearance, Yang Zicang was certain he wasn’t human—no one could be so exquisitely crafted.
虽然这就是人类外形，但杨子藏敢肯定他不是人类，没有人长得如此精致。
Beside the young man walked another figure, also in a suit, his face bearing a scalding burn-like mark. He spoke in a low, deep voice:
少年身侧走来位同样身穿西服，脸庞有着烧红烙印般的人，他沉闷地道：
“Members of the big client cargo team, this before you is the honored executive of Valley Wind Illusion Realm from Lost Illusion Company, with the esteemed title Lord Xiao.”
“大甲方货队的诸位。你们眼前这位是遗失幻境公司：谷风幻境的尊贵干事，尊号霄先生。”
Lord Xiao wore a faint smile as he looked at Lyu Zhi and the others, who seemed somewhat at a loss:
霄先生挂着淡淡笑意看向有点不知所措的吕志等人道：
“You can take me as a genuine reporter. I want to record your past experience fighting against the Correction Officer.”
“你可以把我当成真正的记者，我想来记录些，你当初与校正官战斗的经历。”
Yang Zicang felt a tremor in his heart, striving to maintain a composed tone:
杨子藏心中颤动，他努力维持郑重的语气到：
“Of course.”
“当然可以。”
The young man glanced at the surrounding terrain: “Do you have any future plans for this landscape?”
少年看向这附近的地皮：“对于这些地貌，未来你有什么规划吗。”
“We plan to build a new shed area here. In the future, it can sustain the daily needs of dozens of people year-round.”
“我们要将这里建设为一个新的棚区，未来这里可以常年提供数十人的日常生活所需。”
{Ah, naughty Yang.}
{呀，坏坏杨。}
Yang Zicang looked up. The small light sphere appeared with a sharp, shrill voice.
杨子藏抬头。小光团带着尖尖的声音出现。
{I suggest the celebrity seeks help desperately.}
{我建议名人最好寻求帮助。}
[As the Great Quadrilateral, I perceive that the elite journalist team is focusing on the existence of “Pen and Finger.”]
[作为伟大的四边形，我感知到，精英记者团在关注着“笔与指”的存在。]
Small silhouettes appeared one after another above their heads.
小小的身影们陆续出现在头顶。
{We can’t record it, big shot—can’t see it.}
{我们没法记录它，大人物，看不见。}
“What’s going on?” these journalists suddenly appeared, “What can’t the big shot see?”
“怎么回事。”这些记者突然就出现了，“大人物看不见什么？”
Mr. Xiao withdrew his gaze from Yang Zicang’s few tents and wooden cabins. Facing these journalists, he appeared quite calm.
霄先生的视线从杨子藏的几间帐篷与木屋上收回。面对这些出现的记者，他显得很是淡然。
“Relax; by that, they mean that due to my presence, Hub Town can’t see this place.”
“放心，它们的意思是，因为我的存在，所以枢纽镇看不见这里。”
He looked at Yang Zicang: “In my past professional experience, there was a role that you longed for but couldn’t obtain—namely, the progression prop for creating model lines.”
他看向杨子藏：“在我曾经的职业经历中，有你所期待而未能获得的职务，那便是制作模型线条的升频道具。”
This man snapped his fingers, and the energy at his fingertips dissipated, from which a thing emerged—a dark, crystalline object resembling a missing model, with a golden dashed line inside.
这人指头一弹，指尖能量溃散，从中浮现出个东西，是一枚类似失念模型的暗沉晶体，里面有着根金色的虚线。
Luo Bin, who came out of the tent, gasped, “That’s it! The prop that can provide a chance to upgrade model lines.”
从帐篷中出来的洛宾呼吸一滞，“就是它，能提供一次晋升模型线条机会的道具。”
Zuo Feixian and the others were already awed by these sudden arrivals, as the annihilating energy on them strongly resembled the moon-shadow creature from last time. Yet even that creature’s energy fluctuations paled in comparison to the person before them.
左非闲等人早已被这些突然出现的人震慑，因为他身上幻灭的能量非常像上次出现的月影怪物。但即便是那样的怪物，其能量波动跟眼前之人相比也逊色。
Yang Zicang narrowed his gaze—what was the newcomer’s true purpose?
杨子藏目光一拧，来者的目的到底是什么。
Mr. Xiao put the item away.
霄先生将东西收回。
“I heard you tried to join the Lost Illusion Company, just to become a staff member responsible for burying it, in order to obtain the intersecting space code for its burial and thus acquire this prop in the city—am I right?”
“听说你试图加入遗失幻境公司，就为了成为埋藏它的工作人员，以此获取埋藏它的交错空间编码，好在城市中进入获得该道具，对吗？”
“I’ve given up on that plan,” Yang Zicang said cautiously.
杨子藏斟酌的道：“那种打算我已经放弃了。”
He shot a meaningful glance at Teacher Chen, signaling him to flee. Well aware of what this meant, Teacher Chen was already pulling Little Liu back while contacting the others via Mental Link, urging them to get out of there quickly.
他对身旁陈老师递着眼色，让他们赶紧溜。陈老师哪里不知道这意思，早就一边拉着小刘往后跑去，一边用心灵链接联系其他几人赶紧跑路。
Suddenly, Mr. Xiao turned his gaze toward Lyu Zhi, who was clutching the statue and planning to retreat.
突然，霄先生转眸盯向抱着雕像打算先撤的吕志。
“Stop. Put down what you’re holding.”
“停下，放下你手上的东西。”
Everyone felt the atmosphere turn icy in an instant, as if a storm was brewing.
众人感觉气氛瞬间冰冷，仿佛有风暴在蕴量。
A flicker of realization crossed Yang Zicang’s face. “Your target is it?”
杨子藏略有恍然，“你的目标是它？”
Hearing this, Lyu Zhi held the relic of Qin Meng even tighter—it was the only proof that his friend had ever existed in this world.
闻听此言，抱着秦蒙遗物的吕志更是不敢放下，这个是证明自己好友在世上存在过的唯一的东西了。
“You still won’t obey? I told you to put it down, or I will begin evaluating your contribution points. Declaring: anyone with insufficient contributions will have the authority to be cleansed.”
“还不照做吗！我让你放下，否则我将开始校量你的贡献值。声明，贡献不足者，我将有权对其进行清理。”
“Wha—what?” Lyu Zhi felt as if he was locked onto by a malevolent dragon, breaking out in a cold sweat from head to toe.
“什，什么。”吕志赫然感觉被一头恶龙锁定，从头到尾都在冒着冷汗。
“What’s the use of this statue that warranted you making a special trip here?” Yang Zicang asked urgently.
杨子藏急切道，“这雕像有什么用，直得你专门来一趟？”
At these words, Lyu Zhi gritted his teeth, turned around, and bolted.
吕志闻听此言，一咬牙，转身便跑。
“Hmph!”
“哼！”
Mr. Xiao’s expression darkened, and his companion immediately barked in fury, a resounding voice echoing in everyone’s minds:
霄干事脸色微嗔，他身旁之人顿时愤怒着开口，一道浑厚的声音在众人心中响起：
{Evaluation begins. Dajia Construction Crew, historical reputation value: 415 points.}
{校量开始，大甲方筑货队，历史名气值为415分。}
{Target: Lyu Zhi. Contribution: less than one-tenth.}
{校量目标吕志，贡献度不足十分之一。}
{Assessment: F-class member of Dajia.}
{评价为大甲方F级成员。}
{You are now qualified for cleansing.}
{你已具备被清理资格。}
Lyu Zhi felt his own model’s telepathic voice echo in his chest.
吕志胸中响起自己模型的心念声。
[I am already qualified to be cleansed.]
[我已具备被清理资格。]
“What?”
“什么？”
Sir Xiao raised his arm, pointing straight ahead as energy rippled and flashed at his fingertips.
霄先生抬起臂膀手指直伸，指尖能量波动爆闪。
“Lyu Zhi!” The circular ring on Yang Zicang’s chest appeared quickly.
“吕志！”杨子藏胸前圆环快速浮现。
Bang! Lyu Zhi’s legs turned into a bloody mist under the torrent of chaotic energy that shot toward him. “Ah!”
嘭！吕志的双腿在疾射而来的混沌能量线中化为血雾，“啊！”
Yang Zicang was stunned for a moment, then a surge of rage rushed to his brain. He kicked off the ground fiercely, his figure flickering as he moved.
杨子藏愣了下，随后一股怒气上涌至大脑，脚下猛地飞蹬带起身形闪动。
Slap! The young man, who had not yet fallen to the ground, and the sculpture suddenly turned mid-air and landed in Yang Zicang’s arms. He looked up, staring intently at the boy with the thinnest traces of color on his lips.
啪！还未坠地的青年与雕塑突地拐过弯落在杨子藏怀中，他抬头紧紧盯着远处嘴唇色泽淡薄的少年。
Sir Xiao clapped his hands and praised, “Not bad, quite quick reflexes. I’m curious—how fast would your model have to be to make it impossible for you to alter their trajectories in time? According to the reporter’s records…”
霄先生拍掌称赞道：“还不错嘛，反应挺迅速。我很好奇，的你模型要面对多快的速度才来不及扭转它们的轨迹？根据记者的记录…”
He stepped forward and turned his head with a smile. “When that controlled innocent’s head was blown apart by your friend, you should have been fast enough to save him, right?”
他扶手走了走，转头笑道：“之前那被控制的无辜者被你朋友刺爆脑袋时，你应该来得及救下那人的对吧。”
{Yang Zicang, don’t act rashly.}
{杨子藏，不要冲动。}
Luo Bin’s voice rang out anxiously.
洛宾的声音焦急的出现。
“Brother Jiazi… I…” Lyu Zhi coughed blood from his mouth as he lay in the young man’s arms. Yang Zicang quickly pulled out the healing ability sphere he had brought for use on him.
“甲子…哥，我…”倒在青年怀中的吕志口中吐着鲜血，杨子藏快速摸出随身携带的治疗能力球为他使用。
“It’s okay. I’ll get you the best doctor.”
“没事，我会为你请最好的大夫。”
“My legs… they’re gone. Even the best doctor can’t make me stand again… In this world… I can’t protect my friends, and I can’t even protect myself…”
“腿…没了，就算是最好的大夫，也没办法让我再站起来…这个世界…我保不住我朋友，也保不住我自己…”
Yang Zicang set the person down, picked up the statue from his arms, and asked Mr. Xiao with anger: “Why do you want it?”
杨子藏将人放下，拿起他怀中的雕像，带着怒气冲霄先生道：“你为什么要它。”
“The thing inside—you are not qualified to possess it.”
“那里面的东西，你们没资格拥有。”
“Is the Bloodline inside it?”
“难道里面有血脉？”
Yang Zicang stared at him: “Now, how about calculating my contribution and see for yourself?!”
杨子藏直视对方：“现在，你计算我的贡献看看？！”
Mr. Xiao stepped forward, his oppressive aura growing heavier, but the young man didn’t take a single step back; it was only Lyu Zhi on the ground who suffered.
霄先生往前走，身上的威压越来越重，但青年却一步都未后退，只是苦了地上的吕志。
“Yours doesn’t need calculation. But let me tell you—hand over these Rings of Bloodline to me now, and you will gain my friendship. Or you could choose to become my enemy and face my wrath.”
“你的不用计算，但我想告知你，现在将这几份血脉之环给我，将获得我的友谊。或者，你大可以成为我的敌人，接受我的怒火。”
“Do you think I don’t know? Since when could the Phantom Realm Company arbitrarily interfere with the development of the Disrupted Frequency Zones? Your power has grown so vast!”
“你以为我不知道吗，幻境公司从什么时候开始可以肆意干扰失频之地的发展了？你们的权力已经这么大了吗！”
Yang Zicang raised a coin shimmering with radiant light.
杨子藏举起莹莹辉光的钱币。
The woman behind the boy said, “Mr. Xiao, that seems to contain quite some time-sequences.”
少年身后的女人道：“霄先生，那里面似乎蕴含着许多时序。”
Magic patterns slowly rotated in Mr. Xiao’s gaze, and the number 9999N on the coin surfaced within his eyes.
霄先生的目光中魔纹缓缓旋转，钱币上数字9999N浮现在眸光中。
He stared at Yang Zicang for a long time.
他盯着杨子藏看了许久。
“You know quite a bit. Although these are all outdated accounts, you’re a notable figure whose individual reputation alone already exceeds 200 points. If you died like this, it would tarnish my reputation.”
“知道的挺多，虽然都是些陈年旧账，不过你是仅靠单人名气就已然超过两百分的名人。就这般死了，我的名声会很难听。”
Mr. Xiao raised his index finger.
他的食指竖起。
Energy rippled at the fingertip—boom!
指尖能量波动一闪，轰！
[Dispatching.]
[调度。]
[Suppressed by rank, the dispatch effect is minimal.]
[受格位压制，调度效果微弱。]
Whoosh! A wave of energy streaked through the air, shooting toward the people in the distance.
呼！能量波从空气中划过射向远方几人。
“No!” This time, an attempt to alter the trajectory failed. Yang Zicang stared in shock at the wave of death-like energy.
“不！”这次改变轨迹竟然失败了，杨子藏震惊的看向那道死亡般的波动。
[Domain Manifestation, Echelon One!]
[格位展现，个位！]
The quadrilateral veiled the surroundings in an instant.
四边形须臾笼罩四方。
The bodies of the running people suddenly changed; with a thud, the beam brushed past the scattering crowd and struck the ground, exploding.
跑动的几人身躯忽然变化，一声沉响，波纹擦着四散的众人射到地面爆炸。
“Ha, so this time, the trajectory of the target was changed—quite the sharp reaction.”
“呵，原来这次是改变了目标的轨迹，反应真快。”
Although it didn’t hit Teacher Chen and the others, the energy radiating from this single beam was enough to shred their clothes into scraps. Two wooden huts along the way were also instantly blown to pieces, leaving a mess of wood chips and debris.
虽然没有击中陈老师等人，但光是这道光线扩散出的能量，已经让他们的衣服崩成碎片，沿途两间木屋也瞬间被炸飞，一地木屑与垃圾。