Chapter 1378: Coming of Age
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Early in the morning, Xia Fan hefted some metal alloy armor and strolled along in the deep and large ancient tomb.
The weather was very cold, reaching -34 degrees. Even the air coming out from his breath was rapidly turning into transparent icy droplets.
However, Xia Fan was only wearing a white short singlet as well as thin, high-strength fiber sweatpants. He wore a pair of standard combat boots, and was unaffected by the cold in the slightest.
The swaddled baby of yesterday was now a hale and hearty youth.
Xia Fei was a bit on the skinny side, but he was muscular. His cheeks were flushed with health and his eyes were still large. With a slight curl of his lips, he looked like he was smiling despite being expressionless. But when he really smiled, it was as refreshing as a spring’s breeze.
!!
Living with the scoundrels here in this ancient tomb, no matter how tough and boring life usually was, as long as they saw Xia Fan, they would immediately be affected by the boy’s sunniness, inexplicably finding themselves in a good mood.
“Morning, Xia Fan!”
“Morning fisherman grandpa!”
“Why are you carrying the armor and not wearing it?”
“Machinist grandpa got the measurements wrong, and there are cracks in the joints of the protective layer after wearing it for a few days, so I need to get it repaired.”
“So I see. The machinist sure is careless. To think he would still make such calculation errors even with that half-mechanical brain of his. Quick, go on then.”
Everyone that encountered Xia Fan would always greet him warmly, and Xia Fan would respond to each and every one of them courteously.
Being able to greet Xia Fan early in the morning made everyone happy. Everybody carried on with their own business with big smiles on their faces. It was also all thanks to the boy Xia Fan for existing, as ever since that day he arrived here on the Holy Tomb planet, the gloominess that hung over the place gradually dissipated, and their lives were enriched with a bit of joy.
—
Pushing open the door into the machinist’s workshop, Xia Fan saw there were scattered alloy parts all over the room, while the machinist himself was using a laser welder to repair a fusion reactor in the corner.
Xia Fan placed the broken war armor on the repair platform as the machinist stopped his work and made his way over.
“What’s wrong with the armor?”
“It’s broken.”
“Again?” The machinist’s mechanical eye widened, nonplussed. “Rascal, did you damage it on purpose? How could it require repairing after only wearing it for a few times?”
Xia Fan smiled, “Machinist grandpa, this isn’t my fault!”
Shrugging, Xia Fan took out a water-based pen and began writing on the alloy wall of the workshop. It was an extremely complicated formula, and the machinist slowly squinted, his mechanical brain quickly doing the calculations for Xia Fan’s data.
“Look here,” Xia Fan pointed at the wall filled with complicated numbers and said, “This is the conclusion I came to last night. The main portions of the war armor are fine, but the metal stress has a 0.07% error with the position of the active connecting joints.”
Realization dawned on the machinist and he nodded, “Since you’ve already discovered the problem, then how do you suppose we need to correct it?”
Xia Fan nodded and wrote down an even more complex formula. Not only did it contain stress-testing algorithms, there was even a long series of logical functions.
Tossing the pen to the side, Xia Fan flashed his bright smile and said to the machinist, “Covering the active connecting joints with a layer of carbon could offset the impact from external environmental changes toward the metal stress.
“Keep up the good work, machinist grandpa. Your skills are the best in the field, and I’m sure you can perfect the armor even further!” Xia Fan said as he flashed him a thumbs-up gesture.
“Child, you’ve sure got quite a way with words. I’ll give it a shot, but I won’t guarantee anything!” The machinist seemed to be grumbling, though his face was already lit up with a smile.
As always, the natural closeness Xia Fan demonstrated, as well as his bright voice, always made the machinist feel very at ease. Even if Xia Fan was making some harsh request, he would always be willing to help the boy see it through.
Xia Fan smiled and walked away. Though the sun was gone from the workshop, the machinist could still hear Xia Fan cheerfully calling him grandpa.
The machinist could feel himself completely re-invigorated as he took apart the broken war armor and picked up his tools.
That was when the room inside the workshop burst open. This was the machinist’s bedroom, and he would usually be found asleep inside, guarding his pile of metal junk.
A blind old man walked out from inside. Though he had no vision, he nevertheless turned his head and faced the mathematical formula that Xia Fan had left on the wall.
“Were his calculations correct?” the blind old man asked in a hoarse voice.
“Absolutely!” the machinist answered, stopping what he was doing.
The old blind man nodded his head slightly, “What are your thoughts on Xia Fan’s standards right now? I’m referring to his knowledge with mechatronics, of course.”
The machinist replied earnestly, “I’m afraid his talent is already beyond my own. As for actual operation, he would still need a lot of training, but I think we all know that I’m not the only teacher he has, so he doesn’t have that much free time.”
Xia Fan’s life was busy and intense. He would have three classes to attend everyday; one each at noon, the afternoon, and at night, each lasting four hours. They would all be undertaken by different teachers, instructing him in learning different skills, which was why he did not have that much time to solely train in one particular subject. The best he could do was learn a bit of everything.
The blind old man nodded and said softly, “Very good.” With that, he began to leave.
The machinist furrowed his brow and then stopped him. “Blind man.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes. Actually, this is something that I’ve thought about for many years, but I still can’t make sense of it. Why is that fearsome skydome able to keep us all trapped in here?”
The blind old man shook his head, “How would I know the answer to such a thing?”
“You ought to know,” The machinist’s voice grew slightly louder as he continued. “Among us, though we all possess decent combat strength and skills, none of us would be targeted with such great fanfare.
“There’s only one possibility, and that is that among the seventy-nine of us here, someone’s special. This person is the one who caused this scary skydome, who must not be allowed to leave this Holy Tomb planet no matter what! The moment this person makes his or her way out and into the universe, they will bring about a great catastrophe!
“That is why this skydome exists. The reason isn’t to trap us all, but to trap someone among us, and you ought to be well aware who this person is.”
If Xia Fan was still here, he would definitely be extremely shocked. This huge skydome was of unparalleled strength. Could all that just be for the sake of trapping one person?
Was there such a need to create such a scary skydome all for the sake of one person?
The blind old man shrugged and did not give an answer, choosing to continue to make his way out.
“Please consider! Xia Fan is already ready!”
The blind old man paused in his footsteps and said without even turning his head back, “Whether Xia Fan is ready or not, your words don’t count. Only I can decide…”
With that, the blind old man walked away. He had no eyes, yet it seemed like he was able to see everything clearly. He very easily made his way through the room, despite the messy clutter of metal parts everywhere.
“That old monster!” the machinist sighed as he picked up the war armor Xia Fan had left behind.
…
With the cold winter over, a spring breeze picked up.
The tender grass saplings begin to grow in the wilderness outside the ancient tomb. Even further out in the mountains and forests, the ferocious beasts had ended their hibernation and began to come out and search for food. Whether it was the squirrels in the forests, the wild rabbits, or even the sour fruits found in the wild, the beasts were not picky after suffering for a whole winter. All they wanted was to fill their bellies.
On this spring day, the seventy-nine scoundrels who lived here in the ancient tomb were planning to throw a coming-of-age ceremony for Xia Fan.
They had no idea when his actual birthday was, so they picked that night when they first found Xia Fan as his ‘birthday’. In many places of the Ashen Moon Universe, sixteen was the custom day when they were acknowledged to be as adults, where relatives and friends would attend and give their congratulations, along with gifts.
Until now, Xia Fan had been living under one roof with the dancer couple, and they had been taking care of Xia Fan’s daily living needs.
But now, with him becoming an adult, it was tradition for him to begin living independently from today onward.
The room where Xia Fan would be staying had already been completed; it was right in the middle of the ancient tomb, not far from anyone else’s places.
Such an arrangement was so that it would be more convenient for Xia Fan to visit the homes of the others. Other things like food and things had long been arranged by the rest, and as the only child, it was hard to list out every preferential treatment Xia Fan had received. In short, he was completely doted on by everyone, in every way possible.
Xia Fan changed into a set of new clothes and left the ancient tomb.
Though there were not many people who lived under the sky dome, there were lights all around and it was very lively, all for the sake of Xia Fan’s coming-of-age ceremony. Everyone was already long prepared.
Xia Fan greeted everyone warmly. The dancer couple even shed quite a few tears, knowing that he was about to move out of their place.
The female dancer went on about just how small Xia Fan was back when, and that in a blink of an eye, he was now an adult. Similar, she was older as well; truly, time was a knife that only urged people along toward old age.
Xia Fan consoled the female dancer and lifted his head up toward the sky. Last night he had seen an extremely bright star up in the night sky, and that aroused his keen interest.
“That is no star, but a Chaos Stargate,” Rat grandpa stroked his beard and explained. “Come to think of it, it’s about time. The Holy Tomb planet orbits around the Chaos Stargate, coming in close proximity to it every fifteen years. In about two months’ time, you’ll be able to see the true face of the Chaos Stargate.
“It’s a spectacular sight! An extremely huge gate that’s even larger than an entire galaxy, and right in the center is a dazzling gleam, looking like a lake filled with colored gems.”
Xia Fan was startled, “To think there’s such a thing in the universe? I wonder just how a thing like the Chaos Stargate came to be!”
Rat grandpa was unamused, “The universe is vast and filled with wonders. It’s just a pity that we have this dome that restricts our freedom, so there’s no way for you to see the vast and wondrous world that lies beyond the Holy Tomb planet.”
“As for the Chaos Stargate… I can’t really explain it clearly, but just know that it is a very ancient existence. It seems to be even older than the Ashen Moon Universe. It’s even said that if anyone were to make it through the Chaos Stargate, they would enter a different realm. But from what I know, there’s a powerful barricade on the Chaos Stargate, and no one has been able to get through it.”
Xia Fan felt a little disappointed. It sounded rather fun to be able to visit another universe and have a look around. But since no one had been able to get past it, there was nothing he could do about it.
“What are you asking all this on such a joyous occasion?” Rat grandpa asked, narrowing his eyes.
Xia Fan smiled, “Nothing. I just have a sort of strange feeling toward it, that’s all.”
“What sort of feeling?” Rat grandpa asked.
“It’s nothing, really,” Xia Fan waved his hand dismissively. “Look, machinist grandpa is calling to us, so let’s hurry over now.”
—
On the clearing outside the ancient tomb, a large stone table and many chairs had been laid out. The chef was moving along, giving everybody their breakfast.
While others ate roasted meats and bread, oatmeal and fruit salads, only Xia Fei was eating a huge bowl of noodle soup.
“These are longevity noodles, made specially for you. I have been busy since the early hours of the morning making it!” The chef patted Xia Fan on his head with his greasy hand affectionately.
Xia Fan lifted his head up and flashed him a bright smile, “Thank you, chef grandpa!.”
“Good boy. What a good boy!” The corners of the chef’s eyes brimmed with tears. He wiped them with his hand and said, slightly choking up slightly, “It was worth all the effort just seeing you so happy! You’re about to become an adult, and so you must remember from today onward, don’t end up being like us. You must be a good person,” the chef lectured him.
“I will remember that,” Xia Fan nodded vigorously.
The situation was just that weird. They were very clearly a bunch of notorious scoundrels who were living in the ancient tomb, yet they wanted Xia Fan to become a good person that could hold up the heavens no matter what. It was perhaps the shared wish that all parents alive had.
“Good, good,” the chef hugged Xia Fan’s shoulder. “I still have to stay here to prepare for the banquet tonight. I won’t be going for the hunt later, so take care of yourself. If you really can’t do it…”
Xia Fan carried on his words, “If you really can’t do it, then use poison to kill them. I know.”
“What a good boy!” The chef shook his head with a sigh and left.
—
After they were done with breakfast, the doctor got up and looked all around, “If there’s nothing else, then let us head off now. The fisherman is already ready.”
“According to the rules, when a boy becomes a man, ten thousand beasts will kneel! Xia Fan today will take on ten thousand beasts today, and none of you are allowed to help him. After all, he is now a real man.”
The old blind man also got up and said the final words, “Then go. Don’t let the fisherman wait in anxiety any further!”
