Thrive in Catastrophe

Chapter 24 The Fallen or The Light


The dual system was already stressing him out, yet at the same time, Xiao Yan’s mind was continuously disrupted by the 'Interrupter'. Recollecting and reforming his string of thoughts that were destroyed, he had to force himself to think faster, straining his brain to the extent, as the speed of destruction increases. He altered the calculation function of the terminal while finding a possible way to maintain the processing of his brain.




This is battle. He has to predict the block the opponent wishes to destroy before it happens and strengthen that part of his mind in defense.




"Eleven minutes to the base," the system prompted.




The one minute pa.s.sed felt like a century.




Meanwhile, a solemn voice of a woman sounded, "This is the Research Base 2, pilot, please state your ID."




"X-Xiao Yan…… ID1665… W-We've encountered the 'Interrupter'…… the dual system was overloaded……"




In the Base 2 control room, the liaison officer contacted the person-in-charge immediately —— Colonel Shen Bing.




"Colonel, this is liaison officer from line one, report for an emergency!"




"Hnm," a low and cold voice of a man replied.




"The aircraft K388, departed from Base 14 to our base is now been single-piloted and the pilot is not Captain John and Captain Din."




"Who's the pilot?"




"It's an apprentice from the Central Science Academy, Xiao Yan, ID1665."




"Is he on the pa.s.senger list then?"




"Yes."




"They've encountered the 'Interrupter'?"




"Yes. Xiao Yan is now operating both engine systems alone. If the entrance to the base is permitted, should we send in technical reinforcements?"




"A puny little apprentice, capable of controlling both engine systems, while defending the infiltration of the 'Interrupter' at the same time. I do not see the need for reinforcement, or in fact, why do I have the feeling that no one here has the capability to reinforce him? Check the processing speed of his brain within the accessing terminal."




Three seconds after, the liaison officer stuttered, "Colonel…… I-It's… t-three trillion megahertz……"




There was a waver in Colonel Shen Bing's eyes.




"Connect me to Xiao Yan."




Meanwhile, Xiao Yan was mentally strained and was gritting his teeth in agony. The speed and knowledge possessed by the 'Interrupter' were beyond his expectation, as his mental fortresses continue to collapse one layer after another.




"h.e.l.lo Xiao Yan, I'm Colonel Shen Bing, the commander of Base 2."




"…… Colonel…… I can't hold on any longer…… Please h-"




"My apologies, but it is still incapable of me to send in any technical reinforcements for support at the moment."




Shen Bing said plainly, as though what Xiao Yan is facing now is just a piece of cake.




"Colonel! You've got to be kidding! There're two mentally entrapped captains and twelve apprentices on this aircraft! We ar-"




Xiao Yan was furious. Immediately, the 'Interrupter' took his emotional instability as an opportunity and infiltrate into his subconscious level. Xiao Yan turned to defend almost at the same time he felt the opponent's attack. He would have ended up like the two seniors for he had reacted a second late.




The technical reinforcement mentioned, is to have a third person surfing into a terminal and take Xiao Yan's place in controlling the systems from afar, as well as helping him to fend away infiltration.




"Calm down, Xiao Yan. Once we provide you any technical reinforcements, the 'Interrupter' that hacked into your brain will notice for sure. As long as you could hold on until you enter the base, we will sever the terminal connection immediately and a part of the opponent’s data will be left in your brain. And that will be a valuable resource for us to know more about the Tides Organisation."




"What if… I failed…?"




"You'll crash."




"Because we're just students, so our lives mean nothing to you, is it!" Xiao Yan questioned through his teeth.




The two words 'you'll crash' left his mouth so blatantly. He better not let me have the chance to see him or I'm definitely gonna punch him so hard in his face!




"Well, I'm not certain about the others but based on your brain power and terminal processing speed, you are a very precious resource to us."




Resource? I'm a freaking living human being!




Although Xiao Yan is yet to be a real soldier, he could imagine the ruthlessness and hypocrisy of the military. Which is why Xiao Yan couldn't be bothered to put the effort in obtaining an A cla.s.s grading in order to enter the military main division like everyone else. He sees all of it as a pool of quagmire, he's going to die for dealing with these hypocrites every single day!




"Listen, although all forms of thoughts will be materialised through the terminal system, it all depends on how you think and form in your mind."




"Bulls.h.i.t!"




Even a kindergartener knows that!




"The way you form your thoughts will determine how you will be decimated by the 'Interrupter'."




With that said, Shen Bing was disconnected.




Xiao Yan nearly went rampant. That was a freaking hint for him?!




I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die because of that son of a b*tch Colonel! That cold-blooded lunatic!




Xiao Yan was awfully stressed out from the endless process of reforming and demolishing of the garrisons in his brain.




In the end, he let off all the defending walls that he has created, the whole cha.s.sis crumbled, while he began imagining himself hovering high up in the air, looking down upon a forest.




The greens spread towards the horizon, whispering to each other in the wind.




All of a sudden, seedlings began to sprout conspicuously between the tree veins, whilst in the next minute, a blaze of fire encircled the soaring trees and turning them into a firestorm in seconds. Subsequently, the blaze was engulfed by a gigantic wave, turning the land, the world, into an ocean.




Xiao Yan disa.s.sembled all the information, dispersing them to every corner of his mind and keeping track of their structure in his own unique way so that he could retrieve, converge and have them sent out anytime he wants in the deep ocean.




In just seconds, all the data were out of their ordinary order after a disturbance in the sea water.




Thus, Xiao Yan was forced to trail after the info he needs, while with the 'Interrupter' chasing close behind his back. Every minute, every second, was a calamity.




In the meantime, Shen Bing was standing within the control center, staring at the approaching aircraft with his arms folded.




"Open the base hatch."




"Yes, Colonel."




The liaison officer did as she was told and looked at the continuously lowering aircraft in concern. As expected, the height of the aircraft has fallen below the parallel line of the opened hatch.




"Colonel?" The liaison officer turned back. They still have a chance to save them if they provide their reinforcements now.




"Just a moment," Shen Bing narrowed his eyes.




40 meters……




30 meters……




The aircraft continues to fall.




"Colonel!" The liaison officer turned back once again. She's a soldier, and the people struggling with their lives out there are her comrades.




There was an upturn on the corner of Shen Bing's mouth.




The officer turned around to have a look at the screen, only to see the aircraft that was diving down to its end seconds ago, soaring up in an almost perpendicular manner, and when it's less than five meters away, it regained parallel with the hatch and zoomed into the aircraft pa.s.sageway.




"Cut off all data transfer, enter the isolated mode," Shen Bing gave orders.




"Roger!"




As darkness falls, every apprentice in the cabin has their eyes shut tight, bracing for their last moment.




From the perpendicular flight to the abrupt landing, all seems to happen in an instant.




"Why is it all dark in here…… did we crash……"




"……what's happening……"




"Where on earth are we?"




Lily tried to push off her safety equipment but it won't even budge, which means that the aircraft has lost all its electric power.




"Xiao Yao —— Xiao Yan, are you in there —— Xiao Yan!" Lily began yelling.




The light above them lit up suddenly, and all of them squint their eyes to the sudden brightness. As they are getting used to the light, they heard the cabin door open.




Several officers stood by the cabin door, leading is a man in his late twenties, with a neat black short hair and a cold piercing gaze that made the students shuddered in anxiousness.




"I'm the commander of Base 2, Colonel Shen Bing."




With that, Shen Bing gave a perfect salute to the shaken apprentices and before they come to their senses, Shen Bing signaled with a lift of his chin as two officers with a major epaulet opened the door to the c.o.c.kpit and connect to the terminal.




Lily had a clear view of Xiao Yan sitting on the pilot seat with his head lowered, still had the terminal connector equipped. And clearly, the terminal that the two officers are connecting to is not the aircraft's terminal but to Xiao Yan's brain.




"What are you trying to do! What's wrong with Xiao Yan!"




She tried to rush over but was blocked off by another officer standing by the door.




Shen Bing glanced at  Lily and gave a disdainful hmph, "Welcome to Base 2, I believe it's been a long day for all of you. There will be a feast for you tonight, I hope you have a good time."




Lily and all the apprentices were forced out from the cabin. Before Lily could protest, the person beside her held her back.




"That's Shen Bing! We have to follow his orders!"




Shen Bing is the military research team elite amongst the Charles expatriates. He has been conducting external researches for almost six years, issued numbers of priceless research reports, and currently, the military is having plans to raise him to the t.i.tle of Major General. In front of a personage like him, an apprentice like them means nothing. No one would raise a brow even if Shen Bing tosses them off the base to feed the zombies.




Captain John and Captain Din were lifted off the aircraft.




Shen Bing's secretarial officer came to his side and murmured by his ear, "Colonel, we need someone with experiences on the 'Interrupters' to help them regain their normal cognition."




Shen Bing gave a quiet sigh, "So, you’re saying I have to do it myself?"




The secretarial officer paused for a moment but nodded in the end.




"I’m not entering anyone else's mind anymore. The subconscious of human is a terrifying place."




Shen Bing leaned against the door, staring at Xiao Yan's side profile.




"How's the information retrieval going?"




"Every tracks and information the 'Interrupter' left in his brain have been successfully retrieved."




"What about him? When will he wake up?"




"…… His brain power has been overloaded from data processing, and worst of he's encountered the-"




"Alright, the cause is apparent, what I want is the conclusion," Shen Bing interrupted in frustration.




"…… His conscious is now in the state of self-protection. Unless someone enters his mental conscious to a.s.sure him he's now safe, otherwise, he won't be waking up."




Shen Bing snorted, "So by the end of the day, this fellow was trapped by himself?"




"…… Yes."




"Still a rookie after all."




"Colonel…… At least Xiao Yan has helped us obtained this valuable information, could you…"  the secretarial officer suggested once again but swallowed back his words halfway when he saw Shen Bing's look.




"I said, I will not enter anyone else's mind ever again. If there really isn't a way, leave him be and wait until we send him back to Charles, there will be tons of elites there to wake him up!"




Leaving those words behind, Shen Bing turned around and left.


Written by Jiao Tang Dong Gua
Translated by Winly 風夜林
~~~ Chapter 25 King Kong Barbie ~~~


Note: *** So sorry for the late update, as many of you may know, there has been a tech issue going on on my site and no, it’s not something dangerous to access or whatsoever, it’s just some problem in the renewal the SSL certificate of the site. I’ve been nagging them since yesterday and FINALLY, they got fixed today. Seriously… you really have to be persistent with these people… ***




How have you been guys? I hope you had a great week. Sorry for the change in update schedule, actually I could have completed this chapter earlier on Sat.u.r.day (Malaysia time) but I was busying 'hunting' for up working attire that whole day, and as you can expect, shopping is a time-consuming activity, and tiring, to be honest. Finding clothes that fit, and to your liking, and suits your appearance, and applies to the company's dress code is a REAL challenge. Thankfully, I found some, and with a few mix and matches with the old ones, I'll be good to go! (Hopefully XD) .




Anyway, one more chap to go until we reach the summary chaps! (To be exact, Chap 25 is the first premium chap but, nevermind!) Hopefully, I can get the new chap updated quicker next weekend, depending on my workload of course, but there will definitely be an update! So don't you worry. =)




I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I was having some trouble in translating and making clear of what is happening in Xiao Yan's brain as he was fighting against the Interrupter, I hope you could get a grasp of it, coz lots of abstract 'mind actions' going on in this chapter. And a new character appearance, Shen Bing, another close friend of Heine, an important character to reflect Heine's 'inner feelings' to the readers. He may seem nasty from how he treats XY, but don't hate him, he has his stance. Now let's have a quick simple guess, who's gonna wake our sleeping 'prince' up from his deep slumber? (What an obvious question eh? XD)




Author's note:




Xiao Yan: Why on earth did I get my trapped?




Shen Bing: …… coz you're a dumb rookie.




Reeve & Mark: coz you’re waiting for Colonel to kiss you awake!




Maya: Bro, are you sure your dad only read you the ocean encyclopedia before bed and never once read you the story of 'Sleeping Beauty'?




A little support? ^.^