WP Chapter 2 - Departure (2)

Translator: Deyonna

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Departure (2)

As the head of the logistics department on the ship "Faust," Heaney considered Jiang Che the most troublesome person he had ever managed.

"It's just beef and pickled greens flatbread!" Heaney shouted. "One flatbread!"

Jiang Che was furious. "It was my flatbread!"

"You've talked to me more today than in the entire past month," Heaney said. "All for a flatbread!"

"That was beef and pickled greens flatbread!" Jiang Che grabbed Heaney by the collar. "The ship doesn't stock pickled greens! I can't have pickled greens anymore!"

Heaney yelled, "There's no picked greens, but there's top-grade marbled beef!"

Jiang Che immediately said, "Then compensate me with a piece."

When Heaney thought about it afterward, he always felt something hadn't quite added up.

But by then, Jiang Che had taken a jin* of marbled beef and happily returned to his tool room.

*500 grams

There were three cleaners on the Faust, and Jiang Che was the youngest, the least senior, and the one who spoke the least.

His accent was completely different from everyone else's here. When asked where he was from, he would smile mysteriously and refuse to answer.

It had taken humanity decades to reach Marseille from Earth, and several hundred years had passed from arriving at Marseille to the present. Over that vast stretch of time, some languages had disappeared, while others had merged with one another to produce new tongues. Jiang Che's pronunciation was peculiar, and he had drawn everyone's attention during his onboarding training, but his résumé was perfectly normal, and Jiang Che himself refused to say anything, so they all assumed he came from some undeveloped mountain village and felt inferior about his strangely rustic accent, afraid to speak.

Jiang Che didn't care about any of that.

He finished a bland nutritional meal in the staff dining area, declined his colleagues' invitation to go drinking, and returned to his tool room.

Since he was an extra person on the ship and couldn't be assigned to the already-full staff dormitories, they had given him a small tool room in the storage hold.

Jiang Che changed his clothes, washed his hands, and began preparing the beef Heaney had given him.

By this time, the escort ships from Marseille had completed their mission and begun their return voyage. The Faust slowly accelerated, leaving the range of Marseille's gravitational field.

Meanwhile, Faust's captain, Pygmy, found the people he'd arranged to go drinking with. He set the ship to autopilot, instructed the navigator and first officer to keep an eye on things, and then cheerfully joined the drinking party.

Jiang Che heard some sounds outside his door, but when he opened it to check, there was nothing there.

The storage locker on the Faust's first level was very quiet, with all kinds of goods stored in their categorized places, and the refrigeration unit in the farthest corner giving off wisps of cold air.

Jiang Che made a quick round but found no one.

He returned to his room. The boiling water had just finished cooking the beef.

Marbled beef was rare. Jiang Che couldn't bear to eat it all at once, and he hadn't figured out how he wanted to eat it, so he first sliced off a piece, planning to make a little snack.

He fished the beef out of the water and let it cool, then quickly cut it into shreds with a sharp knife. He poured out the hot water, added a finger's depth of oil to the pan, and waited with great patience for the oil to heat to a rolling boil before placing the beef shreds in one by one, frying them until they were slightly dried.

Oil was as precious as marbled beef, so he didn't dare use much, just a shallow pool at the bottom of the pan. Using chopsticks, he pressed the beef strips one by one into the oil, frying them until they sizzled and crackled.

Fresh meat had this advantage: even without any seasoning, just frying it in oil made the aroma come alive, surging up into his nose in waves.

Jiang Che took a few deep breaths, quite satisfied with himself, and turned off the heat.

Rummaging through the cabinet, he found sugar, salt, and his own homemade dried tangerine peel powder. Jiang Che carefully sprinkled these three things over the beef strips, then stirred them evenly with chopsticks.

The beef strips were still hot, and the dried tangerine peel powder, salt, and sugar were toasted into flavor, making the beef's aroma even more intense.

Jiang Che poured the used frying oil back into a container, set the beef strips on the table to cool, and turned to put the remaining half block of beef into the refrigeration unit in the corner.

He had planned tonight's entertainment: eating shredded beef while sneaking up to the fourth floor to play cards and listen to music.

But the shredded beef on the table was already gone.

Jiang Che was dumbfounded. The refrigeration unit was quite far, but his round trip had taken at most five minutes. There was no one else in the storage bay. How could the shredded beef strips have disappeared?

He didn't believe in gods or ghosts, but at this moment he thought of that missing beef and pickled greens flatbread.

"Brother Jiang, it's not that I won't give it to you, but according to regulations, surveillance footage can only be accessed by Pygmy," the security officer told Jiang Che after a long discussion. "Pygmy went drinking."

Jiang Che asked for Pygmy's location and strode through the outermost ring corridor of the Faust, taking a shortcut to find Pygmy. There was a thief on the ship—even if they were only stealing food—and Jiang Che considered the situation very serious.

The Faust was a ship primarily tasked with travel trips, so aside from the storage bay on the first floor, the five floors above were all designed with transparent ring corridors. From the corridors, one could view the cosmic scenery surrounding the ship without any blind spots, making them the most popular spots on the Faust.

Since the Faust had now entered its nighttime sleep environment, there was no one on the fourth floor's ring corridor. Jiang Che, filled with anger, walked quickly. When he rounded the corner at the ship's bow, he suddenly got a fright.

Someone was smoking in the ring corridor.

It was a young man about his own age, with half-length black hair hastily tied back, standing tall and straight by the floor-to-ceiling transparent porthole, gazing into the distance with a cigarette clamped in his mouth.

Wisps of smoke curled upward, the smell especially strong in the enclosed environment.

At this moment, the Faust was traveling through the safe gaps between star systems. Outside the ship was a vast expanse of universe, starlight scattered near and far across the void billions of kilometers away. The glow of nebulae blazed, illuminating the young man's clean, handsome profile.

Jiang Che looked at him a couple more times. Just as he was about to walk past him, he really couldn't help himself and called out, turning his head: "Hello."

The young man turned around, took the cigarette from his mouth, and revealed a proper smile: "Hello."

Jiang Che felt he looked very familiar, but couldn't recall where he had seen him before.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the young man extended his hand. "You want an autograph, right? I'm not busy now. A photo together is fine too."

Jiang Che pointed at the surveillance camera overhead. "This isn't a smoking area."

The young man paused for a moment: "Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

He kept a smile on his face the whole time, making it impossible to dislike him.

"Five hundred yuan fine for smoking in a non-smoking area." This time it was Jiang Che's turn to extend his hand toward him. "Pay up."

The young man nodded with a smile and stubbed out the cigarette in his palm.

Jiang Che was startled. He could see the cigarette butt scorching the young man's palm, wisps of burnt smell rising from it.

"I don't have any money on me. You can ask my manager for it." The smile on the young man's face had completely vanished by now. He flicked his finger, tossing the cigarette butt at Jiang Che's face. Jiang Che dodged immediately, and the butt fell to the ground.

The young man brushed past him without another word.

Jiang Che picked up the cigarette butt, fury toward this thoroughly unpleasant person burning in his chest, and charged into the bar.

But Pygmy wasn't there.

"He's left." Heaney was drunk, his face flushed red. "Jiang, come, come, have a drink."

Jiang Che only ate a cherry perched on the rim of a glass. "Where did he go?"

"He's about to make his first subspace jump," Heaney said. "A subspace jump must be initiated by the captain, and the first one requires selecting the correct route for the jump."

The bar's broadcast was chattering away: "The science vessel heading to the Crab Claw Galaxy has completed sixty-three subspace jumps and is getting closer and closer to the galactic bulge. This time they've chosen Route 118, which is the closest of all known routes to the bulge. According to information released by the Science Bureau, this route is desolate and empty, very suitable for large fleets to pass through. They plan to continue deploying more science vessels to Route 118..."

Jiang Che slumped in dejection, spat out the cherry pit, and swallowed the flesh.

"What exactly is the galactic bulge?" he asked. "It sounds really strange."

Heaney shrugged. "I don't know, but all 123 previous expeditions failed. I heard a lot of people died. Jiang, do you know the legend of the graveyard on Route 118? They say ghost ships haunt Route 118. If you encounter..."

"Don't. I'm not interested. Please give me a plate of cherries," he said to the waiter. "No alcohol."

Pygmy returned to the captain's quarters, where his navigator and first officer were waiting for him.

"Marseille sent a message. Faust must make the subspace jump within ten minutes." The first officer reported to him. "Otherwise we'll miss the window."

Pygmy had drunk a great deal, and his gait was unsteady as he walked.

He waved his hand dismissively, cutting off the first officer's words: "I know, I know. You two, step back."

The captain needed to use a code to activate the subspace jump equipment and select the correct route.

"18... Route 18..." Pygmy entered the code, and a small keypad panel slid out from beneath the equipment console.

The navigator and first officer stepped back a few paces. They weren't allowed to watch.

But to be safe, the navigator reminded Pygmy once more: "Captain, we're taking Route 18."

Pygmy's hand hovered over the number panel as he roared in fury: "I know! Don't talk! Get out!"

The people behind him didn't dare make a sound, pressing themselves against the wall.

Pygmy moved his fingers and pressed the numbers.

His fingertips trembled, his movements somewhat hesitant and slow.

Three digits flashed up on the small screen above the number keypad: 118.

"Right... that's right." Pygmy nodded, pressing his fingerprint into the confirmation area. "Route 18."

The ship's broadcast sounded again.

[Attention, all personnel. Attention, all personnel. The first subspace jump will take place in 30 seconds. Please secure yourselves immediately and do not walk around. The countdown begins now: 30, 29...]

Jiang Che held two cherries and clinked glasses with Heaney. "Bon voyage."

Faust gave a gentle shudder, then vanished.

Author's Note:

The handsome Mr. Hitman (pointing at the beautiful young man smoking): He's already on stage, and it's still not my turn?

The young man (exhaling smoke): I have money. I bought my way into the production. Can you?

☰