Chapter 265: Returning Home

When Zhang Wenda left the maze of the Hippocampus and returned to the Left Hemisphere, he found it in utter chaos. The once-comfortable environment had become scorchingly hot, with a ball of fire in the sky searing the land below.

The Little Black Cats were frantically gathering materials, brewing clouds to extinguish the fire.

This time, however, it wasn't so easy. No matter how many clouds they brewed, the scorching flame in the sky only grew larger.

Amid the cries of the Little Black Cats, Zhang Wenda stepped out of the door.

Two hours later, Zhang Wenda was back in his bedroom.

He shut the door and didn't emerge for two days.

「Two days later.」

A knock came at the door. When a listless Zhang Wenda pushed it open, he saw Hu Maomao, Song Jianguo, his cousin Wang Xiaohua, and even 2826 standing on his doorstep.

Hu Maomao floated into the air, extending a right hand clad in a blue school uniform. She gently patted Zhang Wenda on the head, speaking as if to coax a child.

"Are you okay? Whatever's wrong, we can figure it out together. You have friends now. There's no need to bottle it all up by yourself."

Zhang Wenda's heart warmed at her words. "Why are you all here?"

"Jianguo said you'd died in your room and told us to come collect the body," said 2826, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

Song Jianguo, who was already on the living room sofa watching TV, wrinkled her nose and fanned the air. "It stinks, it stinks."

"I just got paid! You saved me last time, and I still haven't treated you to a meal. Let me take you out to eat!" Wang Xiaohua grabbed Zhang Wenda's wrist, pulling him out of the dark apartment.

Before Zhang Wenda could answer, the others had already half-pushed, half-dragged him out the door.

Wang Xiaohua treated them to Hunan cuisine. It was incredibly spicy but delicious. As the numbing heat filled his senses, the gloom in Zhang Wenda's heart began to dissipate.

"By the way, there's a C+ mission in two days. Want to join? It'd be good to get out and take your mind off things," Wang Xiaohua said, looking over at Song Jianguo, who was making a mess of her shrimp. She reached out to help her peel one.

Zhang Wenda raised the steel cup and downed a mouthful. It was the first time in his life he'd ever had alcohol. "I'm not going. I don't have the time right now."

Then he turned to 2826. "How have you been? Still running around playing spy for the Bureau?"

"Not anymore. I've been transferred back to Intelligence HQ, so we should be seeing more of each other." Zhang Wenda glanced at the completely indecipherable insignia on 2826's left breast before looking away.

"That's good. Stay at HQ. Don't go running wild out there. After all... you know?"

"What's that supposed to mean? We haven't seen each other in ages, and I've gotten stronger, you know!"

"Hey, don't get mad. I didn't say anything. We can hit the training grounds for a spar sometime." Zhang Wenda had to suppress a laugh as he looked at 2826's drone head.

Hu Maomao raised her cup and clinked it against Zhang Wenda's. "What happened this time? Did something go wrong?"

Zhang Wenda's expression stiffened at the question, but he just tilted his head back and drained his cup. "There was a problem. But now that you're all here, it's fine."

"What was troubling you so much?" Hu Maomao pressed.

"It's nothing. Just some things from the past. I'll handle it myself. Let's not talk about work while we're eating. That stuff is annoying enough as it is. No work talk today!" Zhang Wenda raised his cup again.

That night, everyone ate and drank to their heart's content. As if trying to forget something, Zhang Wenda downed cup after cup of hard liquor until he was completely wasted.

He was dragged back to his apartment by the group. Staring up at the upside-down figures of his friends on the ceiling, his mind began to drift.

He suddenly felt happy in that moment. Ever since he'd come from Thought Wave One to Thought Wave Two, happiness seemed to have become a rarity.

'Maybe this is the rule of Thought Wave Two,' he thought. 'An emotion like happiness just isn't supposed to exist here.'

'Something you could get just by eating a lollipop in Thought Wave One is practically impossible to find in Thought Wave Two.'

In a groggy haze, he was helped into bed, where he immediately passed out.

He slept soundly, finally making up for the sleep he had lost over the past two days.

「The next day.」

When he opened his eyes, he had completely recovered. The dejection from before was gone from his face.

Zhang Wenda sat up in bed. He calmly brushed his teeth and washed his face. After finishing the breakfast Maomao had prepared for him, he got dressed and headed for the door.

Seeing this, Song Jianguo put down her phone and the remote, shooting to her feet. "Where are we off to this time?"

Zhang Wenda pushed her right back down onto the sofa. "You're not going this time. Didn't I say I'd give you some time off? Today's your day off. Just stay here and relax."

"Well, that's great! So, where are you going all by yourself?"

Zhang Wenda didn't answer her question, simply leaving the apartment.

He went to the airport in Shanghai, calmly bought a ticket, and flew back to the pre-fab city where he had first arrived.

The city was still filled with towering skyscrapers, but everything from Thought Wave One was gone, changed beyond all recognition.

'If his memory served him right, their family's old apartment building had been demolished. Later on, their business had taken off, so they were no longer strapped for cash. They had even bought a 120-square-meter apartment.'

'He was a stranger to that home, though, having not lived there for long. Shortly after they moved in, he'd been sent to the Thunder King.'

After a twenty-minute walk down a road that was both familiar and strange, Zhang Wenda found himself standing before a residential complex.

The complex looked almost exactly as he remembered it, another pre-fab construction. The only difference was the carcass of a half-destroyed airplane resting in the center of the community.

He circled the area before finally stopping in front of a familiar building entrance. The ordinary, slowly opening elevator doors looked like the terrifying maw of an abyss.

Zhang Wenda took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself.

Even as he desperately tried to strangle the thoughts in his head, his mind seemed to run wild, sprouting one idea after another.

Zhang Wenda glanced around and walked toward a small convenience store nearby.

He bought an orange-flavored lollipop and popped it into his mouth. This time, however, it had no effect.

He spat the lollipop out. When he opened his mouth again, it was to place a white cigarette between his lips.

With a CLICK from his lighter, the cigarette ignited. Zhang Wenda took a deep drag and finally felt a little better.

Just then, Zhang Wenda caught sight of a mirror on the convenience store wall. In it, he saw a monster with a scythe—a red scythe monster.

Then, Zhang Wenda watched as the red scythe monster in the mirror opened its mouth and spoke to him.

"You're a grown-up now. You can't keep running away. You have to face them. For revenge! You must reclaim your blue!!"