CAT Chapter 14: Fly Towards The Infernal Lava
by Abo DammenUnable to find a chance to continue flipping through the poetry collection, Ling Yi spent the entire afternoon somewhat distracted. Lin Si naturally noticed and asked on the way back, “Not happy?”
The little guy shook his head.
Lin Si squinted slightly. “Hm?”
Clearly, lying is a skill that improves with practice, and Ling Yi had no noteworthy experience in this area. But in a moment of inspiration, he replied earnestly, “I want to watch Peppa Pig!”
Lin Si’s lips curved into a smile. “No.”
Ling Yi huffed indignantly. “The Marshal said he orders you to let me watch it!”
“So you’ve learned to tattle to the Marshal, huh?” Lin Si draped his arm over Ling Yi’s shoulder. “Everyone on the ship knows my relationship with the Marshal is terrible.”
Ling Yi turned his gaze away, ignoring him.
Lin Si finally relented in a leisurely tone. “You can watch, but you’re not allowed to oink, jump around, or roll on the floor.”
Ling Yi nodded enthusiastically. “Okay!”
Lin Si released him. “Go watch in your room.”
Although delighted, Ling Yi’s mind still lingered on that poetry collection.
Lin Si never allowed work to pile up, so his evenings were always free—though he didn’t spend them on entertainment. Instead, he continued researching Ling Yi’s genetic samples.
Ling Yi naturally followed him to the lab. On one side was Lin Si diligently analyzing samples, on the other, a 3D hologram of Peppa Pig played.
Evening passed quickly. Noticing Ling Yi rubbing his sleepy eyes, Lin Si took him back to his room to prepare for bed.
Dressed in fuzzy pajamas, Ling Yi clung to Lin Si’s arm. Though drowsy, his little thoughts still lingered.
“Lin Si,” he asked, “is Earth like it is in the cartoons?”
“No,” Lin Si replied, turning off the light. “We lived mostly in cities, though many were abandoned later. Afterward, we settled in a dozen or so mega-cities.”
“Why were they abandoned?”
“We lived through many disasters. A lot of people died for various reasons, and the cities gradually emptied until we had to abandon them.”
Ling Yi leaned closer to Lin Si’s chest, his voice innocent yet puzzled. “Why did so many people die?”
Lin Si stroked his hair, his voice soft. “Human life is fragile and easily extinguished. Disease and war caused large-scale deaths.”
“What did you do when you were on Earth?” Ling Yi asked.
“I was a student for the first few years. After graduation, I continued doing research—like I’m doing now.”
“What were you researching?”
This time, Lin Si was silent for a long while. Just as Ling Yi was about to fall asleep, Lin Si finally said, “I studied a virus.”
The word sank into Ling Yi’s ears, jolting him awake. A virus—hadn’t the notes in the poetry collection mentioned being infected by a virus?
Tugging at Lin Si’s sleeve, Ling Yi asked, “Did you find anything in your research?”
He keenly sensed Lin Si’s hand on his hair pause for a moment.
“Don’t ask, baobao,” Lin Si’s voice sounded calm but repressed in the darkness. “Be good.”
Ling Yi felt a twinge of sadness. He could tell Lin Si was upset.
He wanted desperately to know why Lin Si was sad, but if asking would upset him further, Ling Yi would rather never ask again.
I won’t bring up Earth with Lin Si anymore, he thought. I’ll quietly finish reading the poetry collection to figure out what happened, but I won’t tell him. That way, if someone else tries to bring it up, I’ll stop them.
Having spent these past days with Lin Si, Ling Yi had learned that Lin Si was reasonable and didn’t dislike him. Plus, Lin Si even smiled when he acted cute. Hugging Lin Si tightly, Ling Yi said, “I get it… I won’t ask anymore. Don’t be mad, okay?”
“I’m not mad,” Lin Si patted his shoulder and back. “This is my own issue.”
He gently kissed Ling Yi’s forehead. “Sleep.”
Lin Si’s lips felt cool, but Ling Yi’s cheeks felt warm.
The next day, Ling Yi stuck to his promise. He came back every noon to nap with Lin Si. However, training grew more intense daily. Opportunities to find Lin Si or Zheng Shu when they weren’t in the office became impossible. Even reaching Zone 5 was out of the question, as he spent every afternoon in Zone 3.
Ling Yi ground his teeth. He would find a way!
Day by day, the ship finally stopped intermittently entering subspace, now advancing steadily through real-space. Their destination planet appeared before them—a red world.
Preparations for landing were in full swing. Excitement and tension filled the air—after so long, they would finally set foot on solid ground.
The day before landing, Ling Yi’s training was suspended. He stayed in Zone 6 with Lin Si, who was finalizing data. Lin Si worked swiftly, scanning documents line by line.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed.
“Bethy… go fetch a sample from Zone 5.”
Ling Yi, bouncing behind him, piped up, “You already sent Bethy out!”
Realizing this, Lin Si, pressed for time, had no choice but to send Ling Yi.
“I’ll message Zheng-ge. Go to Zone 5 and get the sample from him. Can you do that?”
Ling Yi nodded.
He had an excellent memory and followed the route perfectly. However, just before reaching the destination, Lin Si sent a short message: “Zheng-ge is tied up. Wait in his office for five minutes. Remember where it is?”
Ling Yi replied, “Got it,” his heart pounding.
That meant Zheng Shu’s office was empty!
He entered the domed lab area and pushed open the office door. As expected, no one was inside.
Ling Yi closed the door and approached the bookshelf. The poetry collection was no longer in its original spot.
Frowning, he searched the shelves but found nothing.
Finally, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar deep red among a pile of books on Zheng Shu’s desk.
So Zheng Shu had taken it to read.
Glancing at the time, Ling Yi saw he had about three minutes. He quickly retrieved the book and flipped to the place he remembered.
From the frenzied scrawl of “Lin Si shouldn’t be on the ship,” the handwriting became increasingly chaotic. “I can’t imagine—I can’t imagine what they’ve done. I only caught a glimpse, but it must have been Lin Si. But Lin Si had already refused the ship ticket. He chose to stay on Earth. I’ve been quarantined. I can’t talk to him. I can’t imagine—I can’t accept it. What did we do?”
Further down, the writing grew even more desperate and horrifying.
“Save me.”
And below that.
“Save them.”
The dense black text filled the pages—disordered cries of “Save them,” “Who will save them,” “Sin,” “Abandonment.”
Beneath this shadow of anguish lay the original poem:
“You live in immortal verses and dwell with time,
1“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
The poem’s beauty and gentleness formed an eerie contrast to the scribbled cries, chilling the reader.
Ling Yi flipped further. On the last few pages, the handwriting returned to its earlier calm, graceful elegance.
“Goodbye.”
That was all.
The page was blank, falling into a strange silence.
Author’s Note:
The poem at the end is from one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
The next chapter starts with the landing. The little baobao is growing up, and the mysteries will gradually be unveiled~
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