第四十三章 闪动的波噪
Zorro grinned like he saw it coming and said jokingly, “How about let’s come clean how much ‘some’ you found on your part of ‘some’ Virtual Zero Sequence means. That way I’ll know the size of gap between our two groups.”
佐罗摆着副我早已看穿的表情坏笑道，“先说说，你的一点‘虚零时序’是多少，我看看咱们两个组的差距有多大。”
“Hmm.” Yang Zicang rested one arm on the table in front of him while his other hand stroked his chin. He took a close look at the person before him, who had been borrowing his name for so long yet was meeting him for the first time. After a moment’s thought, the circle and quadrilateral on the young man’s chest lit up.
“嗯。”杨子藏一只手横在胸前的桌子上，一只手摸着下巴。他细看了眼身前这借用自己名头许久，却第一次相见的人。想了想，青年胸前的圆环与四边形亮起。
[I want to invest 100,000N of full-authority Virtual Zero Sequence for Zorro.]
[我想为佐罗投资100000N全权虚零时序。]
Zorro was so startled that he almost toppled backward off the stone pier. He leaned over the desk and stared at the circle on Yang Zicang’s chest, grinding his teeth. “You bastard! Where did you get so much Virtual Zero Sequence?!”
佐罗震惊得一下差点从石墩上仰倒在地，他伏在桌面上瞪着杨子藏胸前的圆环切齿道，“你这个家伙！哪里搞来这么多虚零时序的啊！”
“It’s a reward for challenging the ‘Psi-kat Cassette.’”
“挑战‘念力卡带’后送的。”
“Psi-kat Cassette?”
“念力卡带？”
“Uh-huh.” The circle on Yang Zicang’s chest faded away as he briefly recounted the details of his challenge from two days ago.
“嗯哼。”杨子藏胸前的圆环隐去，将前两天的挑战内容简略道来。
“Psychic game cartridges? And a hidden level?”
“念力游戏卡带？还隐藏关？”
After hearing this, Zorro was stunned, pressing his face against the stone to cool down, muttering:
佐罗听完后目瞪口呆的将脸贴到了石头上来降温，哼哼着道：
“I thought when you said ‘a little bit of Virtual Zero Sequence,’ you really meant it was just a little. Hah, how awful—this is the first time in ages I’ve handed someone the chance to show off right to my face.”
“我还以为，你这家伙说的一点虚零时序，真的是一点。嗐，糟糕啊，这么久我还是第一次主动给别人装逼的机会。”
“Heh, serves you right for selling my engine without permission. That’ll teach you to underestimate your boss’s strength. Hey, don’t you dare use my name to pull tricks from now on.”
“呵，谁让你小子私自做主卖的我引擎的，让你小看你老板的实力。喂，你以后可别借我名头扯虎皮拉大旗了。”
“Tch.” Zorro eyed Yang Zicang sidelong, sizing him up, before saying, “Fine. You wanted to know about ‘Virtual Zero Sequence,’ right? As the name suggests, it’s related to the ‘Virtual Zero’ bloodline.”
“切。”佐罗斜着眼打量了杨子藏一眼，“行吧。你不是想知道‘虚零时序’的情报吗，顾名思义跟‘虚零’血脉有关。”
“Another bloodline?” Yang Zicang’s brow furrowed slightly. “Just how many bloodlines are there? Oh, never mind.”
“又一种血脉？”杨子藏的眉头微蹙，“到底多少种血脉。噢，别说。”
“Hmph, the literature archive isn’t as comprehensive as you think. Records on bloodlines are scarce. However, there’s one place that’s somewhat related to the ‘Virtual Zero Bloodline,’” Zorro pointed to the chessboard on the table. “Take a look at this.”
“呵，文献库没有你想得那么全面，血脉的记录少得很。不过有个地方却跟‘虚零血脉’有点关系，”佐罗指向桌面上的棋盘，“你看这个。”
“This is Go?”
“这是围棋？”
“Yes, but since it was carved by a certain ‘steward’ from this world, it’s slightly different from Earth’s version. It has twenty lines. Ha, that’s right—they play Go by placing stones inside the grid cells.”
“是的，但毕竟是这边世界的一位‘管事’刻的，跟地球稍微有点变化，它有二十条线。哈，没错，他们下围棋往格子里下。”
Yang Zicang asked curiously, “So, how does this relate to ‘Virtual Zero’?”
杨子藏好奇道，“然后呢，跟‘虚零’又有什么关系。”
“That steward left a rule: anyone who beats him in a game and is willing to pay a hundred years of Chrono—or Virtual Zero Chrono—can head to the ruins of ‘City 11’ to spend their vacation.”
“那位管事留下了个规矩，那便是下赢他之人，且愿意支付一百年时序或虚零时序，就可以前往‘11号城’的遗迹进行假期的消耗。”
Yang Zicang’s heart tensed up at once.
杨子藏的心一下紧张起来。
“Go to the city? Without having to resign!”
“去城市？不需要离职吗！”
“That’s right, no need to resign. And you can even communicate directly with friends outside. The only condition is that you can’t reveal any intel from here, otherwise you’ll be sent back immediately and lose the right to ever enter again.”
“对，不需要离职，甚至在那儿能与外界的朋友直接交流。只是不能暴露这里的情报，否则立即回来且永远没有进入的资格。”
To think he could go out without quitting! Over the past few days, Yang Zicang had already tried and confirmed that he couldn’t contact the outside world at all, not even communicate with Big Star Xiao Machao. But if he could enter “City 11,” then couldn’t he use the “Big Star” to travel to the Land of Lost Frequencies anytime?
居然不离职就能外出！这些天杨子藏早就试过，完全没法与外界联系，连与大明星小马超沟通都不行。可若能进入“11号城”，那不是随时可以通过“大明星”去往失频之地了吗。
Yang Zicang looked at this chessboard.
杨子藏看向这副棋盘。
But he knew absolutely nothing about Go!
但自己对围棋可谓是一窍不通啊！
[I, the Great Quadrilateral, am pondering whether, if I could go to “City 11” at any time, I could temporarily put off resigning.]
[我，伟大的四边形在思索，如果能随时前往“11号城”，是否就暂时不用离职。]
But after playing two games of chess using the manifested psychic chess pieces on the board, Yang Zicang looked dejected and told Zorro to continue the game here while he took a look around. Because even though the psychic hand left by that steward had opened with a move on the star point, he was no match at all.
但通过棋盘化现的念力棋子下了两把后，杨子藏一脸丧气的让佐罗在这里继续对弈，而自己则在周围转转。因为哪怕那位管事留下的念力之手开局落天元，自己也根本不是对手。
Not just in terms of skill, but even in chess mastery, the difference was like that between a professor and a kindergarten student.
不光实力，就连棋艺上，也完全是教授与幼儿园选手的区别。
For now, the plan of winning against it to go to “City 11” and return to the Lost Frequency Land seemed impossible to achieve.
短时间内靠赢它前往“11号城”，回到失频之地的打算算是没办法实现了。
Sighing with frustration, Yang Zicang shoved both hands into his jacket pockets and walked through the mist floating above the ground. Suddenly, amidst several towering rocks in the distance, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a figure silently standing there, almost blending in with the color of the earth.
杨子藏唉声叹气的两手兜在衣服包内，行走在漂浮地面的雾霭中。忽地他看到远处几块耸立的岩石间，似有一道快要与大地色泽融为一体的身影在静静伫立。
“Doesn’t look like an afterimage?”
“不像是残影？”
As Yang Zicang tried to tell if it was a strange rock, this tall figure turned its head to glance in his direction. Then it leaped up, transforming into a mottled bird resembling a black stork, which flapped its wings and disappeared with a whoosh into the void of the same hue.
正在杨子藏分辨那是否是怪石的时候，这道高耸的身影转过头往这方位看了眼一眼，随后一腾而起化为只羽翼斑驳类似黑鹳的鸟儿，呼呼消失在同样色调的虚空之中。
Yang Zicang stared, stunned. The face that had looked over just now was like a mask made of a mix of metal and stone.
杨子藏愣了愣。刚才那张望来的脸，居然是如混杂了金属与岩石所制的面具一般。
After making sure it had left, Yang Zicang walked over.
确定它已经离开后，杨子藏迈步走了过去。
[I wonder what that thing was just now.]
[我在怀疑，刚才那是什么东西。]
He stood near where that person had been standing. From these rocks, ahead lay a slope gradually extending for several kilometers, with dense gray mist churning below. Further away was the boundless Death Mist.
他站在那人所站立的附近。从这几块岩石看去，前方是缓缓延伸至数千米之外的坡地，下方浓重的灰色雾气弥漫。更远处则是一望无际的死雾。
……
……
Hong Haocheng moved nimbly between buildings, like a humanoid cheetah. But as the halos in his eyes faded, this extremely agile movement gradually slowed down.
洪灏承灵动地穿行在一栋栋建筑中，宛若人形猎豹。但随着他目光中光圈的消散，这极其灵动的动作也逐渐降低。
“The limit of my bloodline ability is only ten minutes.”
“血脉能力的极限只有十分钟。”
Fatigue surged from deep within his body and soul. After resting for a while, Hong Haocheng climbed to the second floor of a building with a broken staircase and followed the structure up to the fourth floor. This was already the highest floor of this weed-covered building.
身体与灵魂深处涌现疲惫感。休息了会，洪灏承爬上层断掉楼梯的楼房二楼，并顺着它来到四楼之上。这里已经是这栋长满杂草的建筑的最高层了。
“Heh, you’re here after all.”
“哼哼，你果然在这里。”
He looked at the small Bound Spirit forty meters away, which was sitting under the wall with only its head sticking out. After resting for another twenty minutes or so, sensing the Bound Spirit beginning to stir, the Boy cautiously opened his eyes.
他看向四十多米外，坐靠在墙壁下，露出个头的小型地缚之灵。又休息二十多分钟后，感受到那地缚之灵起身的动静，少年小心翼翼张眼。
A faint earth-yellow halo once again lit up within his pupils.
他的瞳孔中再次亮起这抹细亮的土黄光圈。
[Soul Traveler First Ring, Mark of Life.]
[灵魂旅者第一环，生息之迹。]
Before the Bound Spirit, which was gradually standing up, simplistic traces and trajectory lines began to appear in Hong Haocheng’s glowing eyes.
那逐渐起身的地缚之灵背后，简单的轨迹线条逐渐出现在光圈亮起的洪灏承眼中。
“I’ve stalked you for a full three days, and it’s almost done.”
“跟了你整整三天，终于快完成了。”
This was Hong Haocheng’s first time trying to use the obtained “Route Sketches” to map the terrain the other party had traveled, without devouring its “Navigational Tracks.”
这是洪灏承第一次尝试在不吃掉对方“航迹”的情况下，花费已经获得的“航线绘线”来获得对方所走过的地形。
It’s really not easy to find a loner like this suitable for mapping on an island. Only for a short period each day does Hong Haocheng get to see it wander to the fringes, and factoring in his own rest time, the actual time available for mapping is quite limited.
要在岛上找到这么一个适合绘制图的落单的家伙，真是不容易。洪灏承每天只有很少的时间才能够看到它走到比较边缘的地带，算上自己的休息时间，真正用来绘制地图的时间并不多。
After three whole days, spending nearly five hundred kilometers of sail-ink tracking, he was finally close to completely observing it in full. This was largely thanks to most of its trajectory overlapping with his previously obtained “Bound Spirit,” saving him a significant amount of tracking resource.
整整三天，耗费了接近五百公里的航迹绘线，自己才快要完整将它的全部看清。这还多亏了其中大部分是与之前获得的“地缚之灵”的轨迹是重叠的，算是省下了不少航迹。
The model on his chest flickered, and a red ring on it quickly outlined a slowly rotating triangle.
胸前模型闪动，红色的光环内快速勾勒出缓缓旋转的三角形。
[Scale Planning.]
[比例规划。]
[Position Expansion. I will draw the target’s life trajectory using a 100:1 scale.]
[格位展开，我将以100:1比例尺绘制目标人生轨迹。]
The moment he fully perceived the lines behind the Bound Spirit, a rough sketch of an incomplete map took shape rapidly.
完整看清地缚之灵背后的线条瞬间，快速构现出一副残缺地图的模样。
It was the topography of this area!
是这片区域的地形！
“Success. Finally, ha!” Hong Haocheng rejoiced.
“成功了，终于，哈！”洪灏承大喜。
The boy raised his fingertip, red threads shimmering as a model made of folded lines mid-air formed a translucent map.
少年竖起指尖，红色丝线闪动，指尖浮现出副折线构成的光幕地图。
After taking a detailed look, he lifted his head and gazed at the depths of the island, two to three li away. He had never been there, but now he knew all its terrain.
他细看了一眼后，抬头望向两三里外的岛屿深处。虽然没有去过，但他已经知道了那里的所有地形。
……
……
That morning, Yang Zicang, who had already made the decision to switch groups in the last couple of days, felt a mix of relief and heavy-heartedness.
早上，这两天已经做好换组决定的杨子藏，心中既轻松又有点沉重。
Retreating in disgrace like this, how shameful…
自己就要这样灰溜溜的跑掉了吗，真丢人啊…
Jiaoma seemed to sense something; all morning, she kept lifting her head and staring in his direction, forcing Yang Zicang to keep his head bowed even lower.
娇玛像是预感到了什么，一上午都不时抬头盯着这边，让杨子藏不得不将头埋得更低。
After a short rest, Yang Zicang placed his hand back on the Luminous Tube on the desk and closed his eyes in meditation, sensing the blurry phantoms within the chaotic wavebands. In recent days, his mind had grown increasingly attuned to the influence of these wavebands, gradually experiencing a sense of calm and emptiness, as if he were situated amidst the treetops of a vast forest—an utterly comfortable sensation.
休息了会儿，杨子藏继续将手放在桌上的辉光管，闭目冥想感受混乱波段中的模糊幻影。这几日，他的精神越来越能在这些波段的影响下，也逐渐感受到平静而空旷、仿若置身林海树巅般的舒适。
This was the powerful effect of the “Mental Power Circulation Pattern.”
这就是“精神力运转纹路”的强大效果。
Yang Zicang felt that he was on the verge of reaching the second-tier ninth-ring level of mental power intensity. Just as his consciousness began to involuntarily drift into distraction, a dark glint suddenly streaked across his awareness, accompanied by a smattering of mental noise.
杨子藏觉得，自己似乎即将到达二环九阶的精神力强度了。正当他的意识不由自主变得走神之际，忽地一道暗黑的闪光带着些许精神噪音划过。
Startled, Yang Zicang immediately channeled all his attention into capturing that fleeting blip of wave-noise, determined to lock onto it firmly.
杨子藏赫然一惊，立即将所有注意力全部投入，势要将这道一闪划过的波噪牢牢锁死。
“I don’t know what you are, but as long as I can see you clearly, there’s no way you’re getting away!”
“虽然不知道你是什么东西，但，只要我能看清你，就绝对跑不了！”
The waveband causing such abrupt disturbance was undoubtedly of no low level! The distorted scene, which moved to swiftly withdraw, weaved its way out among countless chaotic spots and rays of light. Through the crystal device, Yang Zicang’s mind swiftly pursued it.
这样突兀动静的波段，等级绝对不低！那要快速划走的扭曲场景在无数混沌斑点、光线中穿插着离去，而通过晶体装置，杨子藏的精神快速跟进着它。
“It’s already been twenty-six days! I absolutely cannot leave here with zero results. Right here, you! Stop right now!”
“已经二十六天了！我绝对不能就这样挂零离开，就是你了，给我停下来！”
The Luminous Tube on the table flickered with violent fluctuations, like dense stacks of overlapping musical notes. This corner continuously reflected a shimmering radiance, its alternating flares and shadows illuminating Yang Zicang’s tightly shut eyelids.
桌上的辉光管闪动着剧烈的波动，犹如密密麻麻叠在一起的音谱。这个角落不断映现出闪烁的光芒，明暗生灭地照亮禁闭双目的杨子藏脸庞。
“This time, it seems promising.”
“这次好像有戏。”
Lao Xing walked over with his teacup, and Jiaoma also stood up and came over upon seeing this.
老邢端着茶杯走来，娇玛见状也起身走了过来。
“Such violent fluctuations, Zicang has been able to maintain them for so long.”
“好剧烈的波动，子藏居然能维持这么久嘢。”
In the Voidstream, Yang Zicang concentrated his mind, rapidly synchronizing with the targeted flash of light. Since he had no prior knowledge of that world’s environment or other information—not knowing where the thing belonged or what it looked like intact—he couldn’t shape his spirit into the corresponding “terrain” here to intercept it.
虚无之流中，杨子藏宁心精神，快速与被紧盯住的闪光同步着。既然自己未了解过关于那个世界的环境等信息，不知道对方到底是属于哪里，完整时是什么样。也就没办法让自己的精神在此地展现出那样的“地形”与之契合，将它截留。
So, he decided to let his spirit become it!
那就干脆，让自己的精神变成它！
Yang Zicang struggled to reshape his ethereal spiritual power, using the light he saw as a source of information, roughly outlining the image of the other by mimicking it.
杨子藏努力让自己飘渺的精神力开始变幻，以见到的光芒为信息源，依样画葫芦的勾勒出对方的模样。
“Hurry up!” he urged anxiously in his mind.
“赶快啊！”他心中焦急的道。
His consciousness had already begun to waver several times, a precursor to past many failures. Fortunately, he managed to roughly outline the silhouette of this black noise-like light.
自己的意识已经开始数次想要走神了，这是多次失败的前兆。还好，精神终于马马虎虎勾勒成了这道黑色光噪的轮廓。
Suddenly, waves as loud as the seething tide crashed in Yang Zicang’s Sea of Consciousness.
忽地，杨子藏的识海轰地翻滚起潮声般的巨浪。
[Based on the “Foundation Imprint’s” feedback, I have just reached the mental strength required to bear the “Second Stage, Ninth Level of the Cycle of Blood.”]
[根据“基识印记”的反馈，我刚刚到达了可以承载“血脉之环第二环，第九阶段”的精神等阶强度。]
And such an ascendance happened at this very moment!
居然在这个时候晋升了！
Yang Zicang was overjoyed inwardly. A surge of purer energy emerged within the spirit sea that he had just struggled to maintain.
杨子藏心中一喜，刚刚还难以坚持的精神之海中突地涌现一股更为精纯的能量。
At the same time, the Crystal Perception activated autonomously, and a faint cooling sensation spread over his entire body, soothing both his body and mind.
同时琉璃感知也自动运转了起来，自己全身都出现淡淡清凉感抚平着身心。
At the moment these more refined spiritual energies emerged, the distant, wavering black energy suddenly became clear in his eyes—it was formed by numerous overlapping topographical wrinkles, manifesting as a heap of garbage-like noisy interference.
在这些更精纯精神能量出现的瞬间，远处飘忽的黑色能量顿时在他眼中变得清晰起来——那是重叠的大量地形皱褶所形成的，一坨垃圾堆般的波噪显现。