Chapter 80
Zhang Zhiyin followed Dr. Yates and Dayi into the core area of the laboratory.
The room wasn’t small, but it was densely stacked with various instruments, desks, and computers. There was a space in the center that was separated from the surroundings by a special transparent material. Within it was a foundation that was as tall as half a person and a sphere made of unknown object with a diameter of about half a meter was placed on it.
Dayi pointed to the ball and said, “The original data group of yn427 is all stored there, then it got its own consciousness and began to run around.”
Zhang Zhiyin looked at the unknown sphere, lowered his eyes and nodded.
Dr. Yates personally brought him forward, performed an iris and fingerprint verification, entered passwords and a set of instructions. The transparent shield slid up to reveal a door suitable for one person to pass through. The space inside the protective cover was narrow. Yates beckoned Zhang Zhiyin to go in while he and Dayi would wait outside.
Zhang Zhiyin stood in front of the door and frowned. He then looked at Dr. Yates. “What do you want me to do?”
Yates spread his hands. “Do whatever you want, maybe talk to it? To be honest, I have no idea. The only thing I can confirm is that if you want him to exist, then he won’t ever disappear.”
Zhang Zhiyin breathed out and walked in slowly.
This was the place he didn’t understand, a field he didn’t know at all, but they said that Yin Nian was produced here.
It really is a miracle, for Yates and them, but for him, it was even more so.
Zhang Zhiyin looked up at the dome, lowered his head, and finally focused his eyes on the strange ball-shaped unidentified object. Slowly, he put his hand on it.
“Yin Nian… you promised me…,”
He muttered softly.
All of a sudden, the hall suddenly darkened, and then it immediately returned to its original brightness, but the electric currents were still very unstable. The bright incandescent lamp on the ceiling made a “whoosh” sound as it flickered violently.
Dayi looked at the ceiling and swallowed his saliva. “It’s him. He’s really back… Only yn can cause such energy fluctuations… “
In response, he quickly shouted to the other staff, “Shut down other energy equipment! Only maintain Class A energy supply!”
With a buzz, the hall was shrouded in complete darkness. Only the instruments and equipment within Zhang Zhiyin’s protective cover were still running, emitting a faint white light.
Zhang Zhiyin seemed to have no awareness of anything around him. He seemed to be immersed in his own world. In front of his eyes and brain, all these were what he and Yin Nian have experienced. In <Tomorrow>’s game, the dusty but full of emotions chocolate laboratory; in Hope Base where he held hands with him as he led him through the sand dunes in the virtual battlefield; Baiyin Station 7, when he pretended to be Shang Si and fought with him side by side, inadvertently protecting him from behind; in the villain base camp, he coaxed him when he was a kitten, holding him in the palm of his hands as if he were a pearl… Frame by frame, scene by scene, as if it was yesterday flashed vividly in his mind.
Dr. Yates’s mouth was wide open as he looked at Zhang Zhiyin in the central halo before muttering to himself, “Heavens, why didn’t I think… It turns out that the human body can transmit information like this… “
Dayi looked over at him. “Doctor?”
The old man gently closed his eyes and a smile broke out at the corner of his lips.
“He backed himself up in his heart.
“Yi, you see, he has no feelings, but unexpectedly, he seems to be more affectionate than anyone else. We should stop interfering with him this time round. He is a more perfect and powerful creation than us. We are not qualified.”
Dr. Yates opened his eyes and looked at Dayi warmly. “You, Philip, including me from before, has never truly recognise and understand this problem. From the point of view of a man who couldn’t see the bigger picture, the judgement we have made based on what we saw would all be incorrect. We don’t know him and we can try to understand him, however we don’t have the right to intervene.”
Dayi frowned as he nodded. He then asked another question, “Will there be any problems with regards to the yn427 that has restored from this backup? I mean, as compared to before. I’m worried about Zhiyin.”
His frown remained tightened as he asked about his worries. “What do we do if this yn427 returns to being cold toward humans? What if he doesn’t care about Zhang Zhiyin at all? Not only is it impossible to ask him to help destroy the drug, but… He will do more harm than good.”
Yates sighed. “We can only see as we go along. This is the only way.”
All of a sudden, Dayi rushed to the central protective cover, and at the same time he turned around and shouted, “Doctor, Zhang Zhiyin has fainted!”
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When Zhang Zhiyin woke up, he found himself in a strange room. Dayi and Dr. Yates were infront of him.
Dr. Yates smiled and said to him, “You’re fine, it’s just that you have received too much information and energy waves at one go and got overwhelmed. This is my lounge. You can rest as much as you like.”
Zhang Zhiyin opened his mouth and asked with difficulty, “What about him?”
Dr. Yates and Dayi looked at each other, and in the end, it was Dayi who told him, “There are both good news and bad news. Well, the good news is that your Yin Nian is officially back. The bad news is that we don’t know where he is now. We haven’t been able to track him since a long time ago.”
Zhang Zhiyin moved his mouth but didn’t speak.
Dayi retracted his eyes, thought for a moment, and continued, “Zhiyin, I hope you are prepared. Yn could find out any news in the world at any moment, so there’s no way that he wouldn’t know where you are. However, he didn’t show up in front of you at the first moment, that is to say, something must have changed. I couldn’t be sure about the extent of the change until he shows up, but before all this is confirmed, don’t raise your hopes too high that he will be your Yin Nian.”
Zhang Zhiyin closed his eyes and nodded.
He had stayed here for three days but didn’t receive any information about Yin Nian. The people in Dr Yates’s lab could only vaguely catch glimpses of yn427, and they inferred from these faint clues that, just like when he had first gained self-consciousness, yn427 was wandering around again. No one knew his purpose. Maybe he didn’t have any purpose at all.
On the fourth day, Zhang Zhiyin returned home.
All the way back home, he was looking forward to seeing the man sitting on the sofa and waiting for him just like usual. But he did not dare to hope too much, fearing that it would only end up in disappointment.
The key went into the door with a click. Zhang Zhiyin pushed the door open and breathed softly.
Everything was as empty and cold as when he left. Only Yin Xiaoxiang, who had been ignored for several days, heard the sound and rubbed against him, nestling softly at Zhang Zhiyin’s ankle.
Zhang Zhiyin closed the door and locked it. He bent over and picked up the cat before sitting on the sofa.
He left in a hurry so he didn’t bring much luggage, likewise, he was too lazy to pack at this time. He just sat there and did nothing.
He had no choice. His lover came back, but not back home. No one knew exactly where he was, let alone catching him. Zhang Zhiyin didn’t know what had happened to Yin Nian.
So he fell asleep on the sofa and didn’t even bother to change his clothes.
When he woke up, his bedside was still empty, the only thing that changed was his location.
This was Yin Nian’s new home that he had arranged for them in the alliance headquarters but he was the only one in it.
Before Zhang Zhiyin could continue to feel sad or think about what to do next, a man rushed in with a grave expression.
It’s Xiao Jin.
He said, “Captain, I know that Dr. Yin’s situation is making you very anxious, but there are other important things you need to deal with right now.”
Zhang Zhiyin looked up at him.
Xiao Jin said, “The main force of Yu Huo Base deployed by Dr. Y has come back. It should be to complete the task. They’re leading a group of advanced-level zombies to Bilu City, Bronze Station 5 is seeking for immediate assistance!”
Bilu City was the last battle that Thunder Unit had won before returning to headquarters, and it was also the most critical part of the third safety layer of the alliance. Bronze Station 5 was very friendly with all the members of the Thunder Unit. Zhang Zhiyin could not let it be.
He grabbed the uniform jacket next to him. “Call the whole team, we’ll depart right away.”
When he got in the car, he was still thinking of this sudden movement of Yu Huo Base could be related to Yin Nian? Did this mean that Yin Nian was also in the world… He just needed to find Dr. Y?
