Chapter 37

Chapter 37

The open house at Military Region 6616 lasted for three days.

During this period, cadets were permitted to leave the fortress to visit family and friends or engage in free activities.

Bai Luming’s reappearance on Screw Street drew warm greetings from his neighbors, who seemed genuinely surprised he hadn’t been eliminated in the first round and unanimously offered their encouragement.

Bai Luming fully resonated with their sentiments—after all, even he hadn’t expected his military career to continue.

Returning to the repair shop, Bai Luming once again lifted the roll-up gate, causing a thick layer of dust to shake loose from above. Fortunately, he moved nimbly, avoiding getting his freshly changed cadet uniform dirty.

He turned around and saw the tall figure standing under the shade of a tree in the distance.

He Yilan had clearly been waiting purposefully, only stepping forward at a leisurely pace after the literal "dust had settled." He bent slightly as he passed under the roll-up gate, gracefully moving past Bai Luming and into the repair shop.

Bai Luming: "..."

A few months of training clearly hadn’t worn away this man’s deeply ingrained fastidiousness.

After being closed for so long, the repair shop was filled with the acrid smell of rust and machine oil mixed together.

As the lights clicked on all at once, a dim glow filled the warehouse.

Bai Luming tossed the keys in his hand onto the table and made an "after you" gesture. "As promised, a one-day tour of the repair shop. Feel free to look around."

He Yilan glanced at his expression of complete indifference. "What about you?"

"Me?" Bai Luming innocently spread his hands, adopting a tone of resignation. "With this place as empty as it is, you can pretty much see everything at a glance. Anything worth noticing would’ve been noticed long ago. Why wait until now?"

He Yilan didn’t comment on the answer, nor did he mind Bai Luming’s gaze, which felt as intrusive as a security camera fixed firmly on him. He looked around the repair shop as if no one else was there but found nothing particularly unusual.

When the door to the repair bay opened, an even more pungent smell wafted out.

He Yilan paused for a moment, frowning, before stepping inside. A soft, ambiguous chuckle reached his ears.

He glanced back at Bai Luming, who had followed him in at some point, and invited him. "If you’re interested, you could help search."

"Are you inviting me?" Bai Luming followed He Yilan into the repair bay, his eyes scanning the familiar surroundings. He smiled teasingly. "Look together? If I actually find something, who does it belong to?"

He Yilan: "You, of course."

The almost immediate reply made Bai Luming raise a surprised eyebrow. "That generous?"

He Yilan said calmly, "Believe it or not, my purpose here was only to confirm the existence of 'Eternal Day,' nothing more. As for whether to acquire this technology or how to acquire it, I believe I have the ability to offer terms attractive enough to convince its owner."

After a moment of eye contact, Bai Luming smiled. "Just that last sentence alone sounds incredibly appealing."

"Besides, even if I found it first, would you really let me take it so easily?" He Yilan smiled back. "After all, in our deal, you only agreed to let me 'look around.' You’ve been watching from the sidelines all this time, hoping to see me struggle in vain, right? Now that you’ve had your fill, isn’t it about time you took some action?"

When they had discussed their so-called "deal" earlier, Bai Luming had indeed played some word games.

Looking around was one thing, but if the "Eternal Day" technology were actually found, he had no intention of letting He Yilan take it without putting up a fight—especially if it came down to strength.

Now that his small trick had been exposed, Bai Luming didn't seem flustered at all. He merely smiled, unperturbed. "I’m glad you have such a profound understanding of the ownership of imperial property. But, I quite enjoy watching you busy yourself pointlessly. What should I do?"

He Yilan looked at him calmly. "After we return, I’ll handle the dorm cleaning for a month. Will that make you willing to join the search?"

Bai Luming appreciated He Yilan’s intelligence. Satisfied, he rolled up his sleeves. "Since you put it that way, I’ll join in reluctantly."

He really wasn’t worried that He Yilan would find anything.

After all, the "Eternal Day" technology wasn’t some instruction manual you could buy off the street. If it really existed, Old Lu wouldn’t have left it lying around where any random customer could see it.

As for where it was actually kept…

Bai Luming walked over to the wooden table in the middle of the repair bay.

The messy stack of blueprints on it had yellowed with age, and many dried-out pens were scattered haphazardly across the surface. Years of use had left the tabletop covered in random marks.

He stood there silently for a moment before suddenly turning and walking toward the cabinet against the wall.

He Yilan’s gaze followed Bai Luming as he retrieved a key from the corner of the cabinet, returned to the wooden table, sat down, and unlocked the drawer.

Inside was a worn-out leather-bound notebook.

He Yilan stepped closer and looked down, catching sight of the flamboyant handwriting inside. The entries appeared to be records of the repair shop’s business operations.

He asked, "What is this?"

Bai Luming flipped through the notebook quickly without looking up. "Old Lu had a habit of recording job details separately in this notebook. All the records from the repair shop over the past few years should be here."

As he spoke, his page-turning slowed, and his gaze paused. "This is the one."

Following Bai Luming’s line of sight, He Yilan saw an entry in the notebook. The handwriting was just as casual as the others, but unlike the rest, this entry from eight years ago didn't have any notation indicating the order had been completed.

He Yilan frowned slightly and reached for it, but just then, Bai Luming suddenly stood up. "Then let’s go—"

As he turned instinctively, his lips brushed against He Yilan’s earlobe in that split second of movement, cutting him off mid-sentence.

He Yilan’s outstretched hand froze mid-air.

The air seemed to grow suddenly heated.

The entire room went silent as if paused. After a moment, He Yilan slowly turned his head. At such close range, his thin lips nearly touched Bai Luming’s.

Their eyes met, their breaths almost intertwining as he spoke. "Go what?"

Bai Luming swiftly stood up, casually kicked the chair that had fallen near his feet aside, and decisively put a safe distance between himself and the man before him. "—Go check the warehouse now."

He Yilan’s gaze lowered, lingering on Bai Luming’s lips for a moment, whether intentionally or not, as a slight smile touched his lips. "Alright."

Bai Luming caught the direction of his gaze and that subtle curve of his lips. As he turned away, he couldn’t help but lightly lick the corner of his mouth.

Though the lingering sensation was somewhat inexplicable, he had to admit—the earlobe was indeed quite soft.

Under Bai Luming’s guidance, He Yilan discovered that this ordinary-looking little repair shop actually hid a basement.

He watched as Bai Luming operated the control panel. Amid the grating sound of rusted machinery, a micro-mech was pushed out from the depths of the warehouse by a mechanical arm.

Bai Luming walked over and climbed directly into the dust-covered cockpit.

The move was so abrupt that He Yilan took two steps forward but didn’t have time to stop him. He could only frown. "It’s best to run diagnostics before using abandoned mechs that haven’t been operational for years."

"It’s fine," came Bai Luming’s muffled voice from the half-open cockpit hatch. "I’m just checking something. I don’t plan to activate it."

He Yilan: "Checking what?"

Bai Luming didn’t hide it. "If you hadn’t come, I might not have remembered this. Before Old Lu left, he repeatedly reminded me to take good care of the repair shop. He specifically told me to focus on clearing out unfinished orders from the past ten years. Aside from Pei Suqi’s order, the only other thing left is this mech. If there’s really something here…"

At this point, he abruptly changed the subject: "Oh, there really is something? No wonder he kept talking about some family heirloom code back then—turns out it was meant for this."

As soon as he finished speaking, he entered a string of code, and something ejected from the mech’s chip bay.

Seeing that Bai Luming had opened the mech hatch, He Yilan reached out to steady him. Once Bai Luming was out and standing firmly, He Yilan glanced at the object in his hand: "A memory slot?"

Bai Luming replied, "Yeah, let’s go back and read it."

By the time they emerged from the warehouse, both were covered in a pungent smell, but neither paid it any mind. After pulling down the rolling door, they returned to the computer desk.

Bai Luming sat down in the chair and inserted the memory slot into the corresponding port on the computer tower.

He Yilan leaned forward, one hand braced against the desk, his attention fixed on the computer screen.

A moment later, the memory slot was successfully read, and an encrypted folder appeared on the screen.

Next to the folder was an equally encrypted video file, named "Four-digit password, only three tries~" — it seemed deliberately mischievous.

Bai Luming looked exasperated: "...Still playing such childish games, huh."

While complaining, he entered four digits, and a prompt immediately popped up indicating the password was correct.

Bai Luming clicked into the video file, and a familiar figure appeared on the screen.

It was Lu Wuchen.

The video had clearly been recorded in the same warehouse they had just been in. Lu Wuchen had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking quite pleased.

As soon as he spoke, he greeted them familiarly, as though certain that only Bai Luming would ever see this video: "Well, looks like you finally remembered the old man’s last words and came to take over the repair shop. Or maybe you came for some other reason. But whatever the case, one thing’s for sure—by the time you see this, Lu Ming, I should already be gone."

Hearing this, He Yilan couldn’t help but glance down.

What met his eyes was Bai Luming’s faint, unchanged smile, his expression revealing no extra emotion.

It was a kind of calm detachment He Yilan rarely understood.

"As you can see now, the repair shop is just an afterthought. What’s really in this folder is what I truly left for you."

"「Eternal Day」. By the time you find this, you might have already heard about how groundbreaking this technology is—but it’s fine if you haven’t. Just know that the purpose of 「Eternal Day」 is to serve as a permanent 「Dawn」 in the darkness. It’s a technology significant enough to shape humanity’s future—my life’s greatest invention. And precisely because of that, I’ve never been able to decide where it truly belongs."

"But if nothing’s gone wrong, then soon—or maybe it’s already happening—countless people will be chasing after it, no matter the cost."

"Honestly, I’d rather they didn’t find it."

Lu Wuchen chuckled softly, a trace of wistfulness in his expression. "I came to this planet in the first place to escape those annoying folks with different ideals. I’d even thought about taking this tech with me when I die and setting off a fireworks show across the stars—a real 「Eternal Day」, so to speak. I just never thought that at the end… heh!"

Here, he suddenly looked deeply into the screen, as if piercing through time to meet Bai Luming’s gaze: "Anyway, I, Old Lu, have no regrets in this life. I’m leaving this video just to give you something to remember me by—so you don’t suddenly miss me in the middle of the night and end up secretly crying under the covers."

Bai Luming couldn’t help but laugh at this: "How can someone be this narcissistic even after death?"

As if hearing the comment from outside, Lu Wuchen wagged his index finger slowly: "Don’t try to slander me. However narcissistic I may be, I’ve always had the capital to back it up."

He glanced downward, as if checking the time: "Alright, I’ve rambled enough. Long story short—this tech of mine is incredible, and a lot of shady people will covet it. Handled properly, it could benefit all of humanity. But if it’s mishandled, it could become a disaster. I’m not joking—this is serious."

Lu Wuchen cleared his throat softly: "So, at the end of this video, what I want to say is: I’m glad that in the final chapter of my life, I’ve finally settled my last lingering concern. I left it here for you to find so you’d understand my far-reaching intentions—and to bear witness. Witness—"

The shot suddenly zoomed in, switching to a look of deep satisfaction on Lu Wuchen’s face: "Witness that I’ve finally found the best possible home for 「Eternal Day」."

He waved through the screen: "Oh, and I highly recommend—「Dawn」 is pretty great too. Feel free to look into it when you have time. That’s all the important stuff. So, goodbye now, my dear, good, son."

Bai Luming raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing something was off.

The next moment, as Lu Wuchen’s words ended, the entire computer tower began to vibrate without warning.

Realizing what was happening, Bai Luming immediately exited the video playback and saw a row of huge, glaring exclamation marks appear on the desktop.

A prominent countdown timer appeared over the encrypted folder, already down to its last few seconds.

Bai Luming suddenly understood why Lu Wuchen had kept checking the time during the recording—from the moment the memory slot was read, the folder had entered a self-destruct countdown.

Bai Luming: "?"

All this elaborate setup from Lu Wuchen—just to lure him here to watch a fireworks show live?

As the countdown was about to end, Bai Luming almost instinctively reached for the tower, trying to pull out the memory slot.

But before his fingers could touch it, someone suddenly grabbed him, pulling him back in a heavy leap.

He Yilan’s embrace carried a familiar scent, holding him tightly.

Then—"Boom——!"

A massive explosion erupted inside the enclosed repair shop. Thick smoke billowed, leaving only flickering flames on the computer tower and the charred, blackened surface of the wooden computer desk.

When Bai Luming looked up again, this was the scene that greeted him: "Why did you stop me?"

He Yilan frowned as he stood up, recalling Bai Luming’s earlier actions, and looked him over from head to toe: "Why did I stop you? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Just thought I’d try to save it," Bai Luming said, his gaze fixed on the completely destroyed corner of the repair shop, his brow also furrowed. "Well, now it’s done. This 「Eternal Day」 technology…"

He Yilan’s calm reply came, as though he were merely stating a mundane accident: "Yeah, it blew up."