Chosen: Beyond Fate

“Still...” Tong Hua circled Horsey several times before asking curiously, “Can this thing actually be driven on public roads?”

Ji Jue nodded. “It can. At least, that’s what the traffic police said.”

Tong Hua blinked. “They didn’t stop you?”

Ji Jue flashed her a smug grin. “They couldn’t catch up.”

Unlike the perpetually innocent and sharp-minded young lady that Tong Hua was, Wen Wen simply chuckled, shaking her head as she took another drag on her cigarette. She was about to tell him not to be too reckless, that if anything went wrong, he should remember to run. Looking at him now... Yeah, there was absolutely no need to worry about him.

Noticing more and more people looking their way, she couldn't keep slacking off any longer. She waved him off and said, “Alright, alright. Have a safe trip, kid.”

“Thanks.” Ji Jue grinned. After one last look back, he swung a leg onto Horsey's footboard. Amid the puttering roar of its engines, the armored senior mobility vehicle sped off in grand fashion.

***

By the time he reached the Security Bureau’s designated assembly point, the vehicle ahead of him had just departed.

As Ji Jue pulled in, he spotted Professor Ye, who had been escorted there by several officials. The professor sat calmly in a chair, reading a newspaper. Beside her sat the familiar thermos. She looked no different from usual. Ye Xian looked composed and completely at ease, as though she were still sitting quietly in her own workshop.

Unlike Ji Jue, who had practically driven an entire arsenal over, she hadn’t brought a thing. Her hands were empty, save for the familiar ornament hanging from the handle of her thermos. It was an exquisitely carved sphere of countless nested layers, each intricate mechanism rotating silently within the next.

It was the devil’s work ball. That item alone was worth more than what Ji Jue had on him and everything loaded onto his vehicle combined.

Ji Jue hopped out of Horsey. “Professor, I’m here. Hey, Mr. Ball! Long time no see!”

The ball merely rotated its spirit matter once, as though returning the greeting, and then ignored him.

Ye Xian lowered her newspaper and glanced at Ji Jue... and then at Horsey behind him. She seemed at a loss for words[1]. “You’ve really made quite a lot of... additions.”

She’d expected Ji Jue to come up with something unconventional. Even so, this exceeded her imagination.

Seriously, only you could pull this off. Every single time there’s hands-on work involved, you somehow manage to produce things that make people question reality.

She didn’t even need the devil’s work ball to scan the vehicle. A casual sweep of her spirit matter was enough for her to sense the insane amount of questionable engineering and brute-force improvisation poured into it. The homemade simplified armor had been painstakingly fabricated from composite steel to mimic tank plating, the chassis and suspension had been Pacifier-modified, and then there was that heap of random odds and ends stuffed inside the cargo compartment.

But the most alarming part was...

“I’m not even going to ask what that launcher and those extremely suspicious-looking devices are for.” Her gaze settled on a corner of the cargo bed. For perhaps the first time in a long while, she looked genuinely impressed. “Where exactly did you get this much incendiary explosive? Are you not afraid of blowing yourself to bits?”

When she’d handed him the permit, she’d already had a nagging feeling that she was letting a tiger back into the mountains[2]. But now, seeing him show up with what looked suspiciously like an entire demolition team’s inventory loaded onto a single truck, she suddenly found herself thinking, This kid cannot be allowed to go unchecked no matter what. Otherwise, I’ll never be able to show my face in academic circles again.

“No, no, it’s not that much. I just made a little extra. Just a tiny bit.” Ji Jue held up two fingers, pinching them together to indicate how much. “When I was making it, it seemed pretty stable. Keep it at a low temperature and put it behind two layers of protection, and it’s actually quite safe as long as it doesn’t explode.”

Right. As long as it doesn’t explode. By that logic, as long as he’s not dead, he’s perfectly fine and healthy. If it won’t kill him, he’ll push it until it nearly does.

For a fleeting moment, Ye Xian was tempted to tell him, “Once we're outside, don't tell anyone you’re my student.”

Unfortunately, his name was already on the official roster. If this menace pulled another one of his stunts during the operation, she’d probably die of embarrassment. Unless she dealt with the problem herself and expelled him.

“Don’t judge it by the rough exterior,” Ji Jue said proudly, patting Horsey’s armored body. “The inside’s actually really comfortable. Professor, why don’t you give it a try?”

He thumped his chest confidently. “I’ll be your personal driver. You can just relax the whole way. If your thermos shakes even once on the way, I’ll admit my driving skills aren’t good enough.”

“You can keep that luxury to yourself.” Ye Xian shook her head. She folded the newspaper, set it aside, and stood up, thermos in hand.

Someone in the distance seemed to notice her movements. Before long, a large motorhome rolled up in front of her. Its exterior was plain and unremarkable, but its interior was furnished with extravagant luxury.

The door opened, and cool air-conditioning drifted out into the breeze, carrying a faint hint of fragrance. Inside, a bottle of champagne rested in an ice bucket. The ice cubes clinked softly against the glass, and a bead of condensation slowly trickled down the bottle.

One of the attendants waiting inside stepped forward to receive Ye Xian’s dust coat.

“There was an earthquake yesterday,” the attendant explained politely. “Our route has been changed, so the trip will take about half an hour longer than expected. You can get some rest after boarding, though the chef would like you to confirm the lunch menu first. Is this gentleman traveling with you?

Ji Jue’s eyes lit up. He reached out to lovingly stroke the motorhome, completely ignoring the furious beeping coming from Horsey behind him, and spoke in the awestruck tone of a country bumpkin seeing luxury for the first time. “Professor! Professor! Take me with you! Please!”

Ye Xian rubbed the bridge of her nose and let out a weary sigh. “Go drive your own car.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Ji Jue nodded obediently and accepted it without complaint.

BEEEEEP!

Only Horsey remained behind, its headlights widened in indignation as it glared at its unfaithful owner. Its little horn’s language was far from polite.

***

After waiting a few more minutes, the mighty convoy finally set off. It almost seemed as though everyone had been waiting specifically for Ye Xian and Ji Jue to arrive.

Escorted by the military, they drove out of Cliff City and followed the route that had already been opened up by earlier convoys, making their way grandly into the wilderness.

As the last traces of civilization faded behind them, the scenery outside became an endless procession of barren plains and rugged mountains. Naturally, the roads were nowhere near as well maintained as those inside the city, but they were at least flat enough for vehicles to pass through.

Thanks to his professor, Ji Jue ended up in one of the safest positions in the convoy, driving directly behind Ye Xian’s luxury motorhome and surrounded by military escorts at both the front and rear. Then again, even the most brazen wilderness bandits wouldn’t dare touch a convoy under military escort these days, even if they had ten times the courage necessary to pull off something like that.

What puzzled everyone, however, was that the armored, modified senior mobility vehicle in the middle of the convoy seemed to have a busted transmission. It kept shaking and jerking violently, yet it remained full of power, showing absolutely no signs of breaking down. No one had the faintest idea what the driver was doing.

Inside the car, an earnest stream of apologies and reassurance flowed without stopping.

“Come on, that was all just for show! Social obligations, that’s all it was. You’re obviously my favorite! Those junk cars don’t compare to you! You know me. Those flashy rides were the ones trying to seduce me. As if I’d fall for that! A motorhome? Not even a motorhome could compare! Just look at its suspension. Look at its chassis. How could it possibly compare to yours? Bigger doesn’t mean better! So, who’s the cutest little vehicle in the whole world? It’s Horsey, isn’t it?”

By the time Ji Jue finally managed to placate Horsey, his mouth was dry from talking. Only then did he get the chance to take a couple of sips of water. Sometimes, having a machine that was too intelligent wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

I’d better be more careful in the future. With this many dangerous explosives onboard, what if it gets so angry that it decides to set them all off and take me out with it?

At last, Ji Jue leaned back in his seat. The convoy droned on through the endless journey, and drowsiness gradually overtook him.

But just as he was about to drift off, Horsey slammed on the brakes. Ji Jue jolted awake, thinking Horsey was throwing another tantrum, but the emergency warning blared over the radio, alerting them of a disaster.

Ji Jue looked up at the sky. It was a clear, brilliant blue, with not a cloud in sight.

Then, a moment later, he finally felt it, a terrifying tremor that no suspension system could possibly absorb, and with it came a deafening boom.

Far away, among the mountain ranges, a towering column of smoke shot up into the sky, followed by the crack of gunfire.

The escorting airships overhead immediately began descending, their enormous shadows sweeping across the convoy as they surged toward the source of the disturbance. Echoing across the wilderness came a deafening shriek.

1. The RAW writes 表情仿佛复杂起来 which literally means "her expression seemed to become complicated," (a common phrase in Chinese novels.)

I translated it as "She seemed at a loss for words" because the phrase doesn't literally describe a specific facial expression. In Chinese, it often indicates that someone is feeling several emotions at once, such as disbelief, exasperation, amusement, and resignation, to the point that they don't know how to react.

Rendering it literally as "her expression became complicated" sounds unnatural in English, so I translated the underlying meaning and the reaction it conveys instead. ☜

2. 放虎归山 "Letting a tiger back into the mountains" is a Chinese idiom that literally means releasing a captured tiger back into the wild. Figuratively, it refers to letting an enemy or dangerous person go free, thereby leaving future trouble for oneself and potentially inviting endless disaster later on. ☜