Hey! Control Yourself! - Chapter 20.1

Chapter 20.1: Ultimate Pleasure.

“Oh? A problem in that department?”

At the Fifth Level branch, the Divine Healing department assistant glanced cautiously at the captain, then at Shen Ji. As expected, regardless of the era, people were embarrassed to express and found it difficult to speak about such matters.

Shen Ji no longer cared; as long as he could see his father, anything was fine.

“However, Mr. Shen Yue went to the space station a few days ago and won’t be back for at least half a month. Besides, you must book an appointment with Teacher Shen in advance, and the current queue stretches into next year,” the assistant said apologetically.

“Forget it.”

Shen Ji was already exhausted, staying awake only on the adrenaline of potentially seeing his old man. Hearing this, he could no longer hold out.

Captain Q, thinking Shen Ji was losing confidence, quickly tried to persuade him: “Uh, actually, the other Divine Healers are very capable too. Why not give it a try?”

“…No need.” Shen Ji silently brushed the captain’s hand off his shoulder.

The captain raised an eyebrow. “Alright then, follow me.”

“Where to?”

“To find the Minister of the International Union, Mr. Shen Yi.”

Gaya Space Station.

The current Gaya space station was mature and massive in scale; a colossal spaceship could be seen docked at the space port from a distance.

Shen Ji stood by a porthole on the outer perimeter of the station, gazing at the vast greenery of planet Gaya. Above the atmosphere, tiny motes of dust and volcanic ash floated—a hazy world of minute particles, entirely different from the blue sky and white clouds seen from the ground.

The captain led him to an office with a plaque that read: Office of the Minister of the International Union.

“The person you’re looking for has arrived,” Captain Q said to the person inside before withdrawing.

Shen Ji then saw his rarely-met second uncle in the flesh—the man in the space military uniform, Shen Yi.

Before the Gaya apocalypse, when people had yet to realize danger was imminent, Shen Yi had bucked all opposition to propose using the entire nation’s resources to develop escape ships. Now, the threat of the apocalypse had arrived, validating Shen Yi’s predictions.

Humanity was currently shrouded in the terror of the end times, with all nations cooperating to build escape vessels. As the Minister of the International Union, how did he have time for a “completely unrelated” stranger?

Unless his second uncle had the ability to foresee the future.

Shen Ji looked at the man and tentatively called out: “Second Uncle?”

Shen Yi’s expression was one of profound gravity and a raised eyebrow.

“…” It seemed the current Shen Yi truly didn’t know him yet. Shen Ji felt speechless at his own situation.

Shen Yi pulled out a wanted poster. “Mr. Shen, is this you?”

Shen Ji took the sheet.

“Shen Ji, SS-Class Wanted Fugitive. Major crimes. Previously held in Swamp Prison before escaping with several inmates. Informants should notify relevant departments. Bounty for capture: 4 million Crystal Credits.”

The notice was several years old—dated 4212. He was currently in 4218, making this a six-year-old warrant. His photo on it was already blurred.

“What does this prove? I think this portrait looks quite a bit like you, too.” Shen Ji intentionally acted thick-skinned with his uncle. After all, wasn’t it said that most Gaya humans were face-blind? They both had black hair and black eyes, not to mention their natural resemblance.

“Don’t worry, I just want to invite you to stay at the space station for a bit.” Shen Yi pressed a hand on his shoulder. “There are some problems that need you to solve.”

“What problems?”

“When you came up, you saw it—the atmosphere looks nothing like what you see from the ground.” Shen Yi explained, “Because the first meteorite impact caused volcanic eruptions, the resulting ash affected the atmosphere. To soothe the public, we had to use sky-canopy projections to create a virtual sky.”

“The first meteorite? Are you saying there will be a second and a third?”

Shen Yi nodded. “Gaya is located in an unstable meteorite belt, so impacts are frequent. The largest meteorite disaster will reach Gaya in ten years. By then, Gaya will no longer be fit for human habitation. Fortunately, our ship technology is maturing.”

“Then why bring me here? How can I help?”

“Since you’re already at the space station, you should know what I want.” Shen Yi looked at him with a deep gaze containing a hint of a warning.

Shen Ji naturally didn’t understand. “I should know? There is no ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’.” Of course, since his uncle didn’t know him yet, he had to forgive him and couldn’t snap back.

“Seven years ago—the year before that warrant, you broke into an underground experimental city. Dozens of high-impact experimental results were hidden there. You killed over a dozen scientists and countless guards to seize a batch of data. Among them was a report on the research and development of materials for the outer hull of spacecraft. That is the material we need.”

Shen Ji sat opposite him, finding it absurd. “You’re saying I ran into an underground lab and stole the materials you need?”

Shen Yi opened a holographic screen. “Actually, it was an illegal experimental city. It’s highly likely that followers of the Great God Cult were developing these things. You smashed the facility, causing many labs and projects to be exposed. Only then did we realize the Cult and the wealthy had long been developing tools to escape Gaya.”

The more Shen Ji heard, the more amusing it became. “You’re saying I specifically went to some underground lab in the middle of nowhere and killed a bunch of people just for some lab materials? You’ve probably got the wrong person. It was likely just someone else with black hair and eyes.”

Please—the interstellar era had already begun deep-space navigation. His mentors back at school wouldn’t assign a task to find ancient spacecraft hull materials.

“Gaya people are face-blind, but not all of them. For example, we in the Shen family do not suffer from face-blindness.”

Shen Ji was surprised; so the Gaya people knew they had a face-blindness issue.

“We’ve been looking for you all these years, but you seemed to vanish into thin air. If the Fifth Level hadn’t messaged me yesterday, I would have thought you were dead.”

Shen Ji looked at the screen. Among thousands of images and documents, he saw a flash of mermaid pictures. He opened the file, revealing a vast array of materials regarding mermaid experiments. The horrific images caused a wave of dizziness and discomfort; even the usually detached Shen Ji couldn’t bear to look closely.

“They were all mermaids.”

Shen Yi didn’t understand why he was so shocked. “Didn’t you see these details with your own eyes back then?”

“Is that so? Can humans really be this cruel?”

Shen Yi’s face was grim. “This is only a small part. There are even more unpublishable images. Is there anything in this world more cruel than a human?”

“Ridiculous. Aren’t mermaids supposed to be protected by the government?”

Shen Yi closed his eyes and sighed. “In recent years, governments have used all human resources to deal with the apocalypse. When the first meteorite hit, human society was in turmoil for four years. High officials and the wealthy engaged in retaliatory hedonism, making the massacre of mermaids even more reckless and frenzied. By the time the government reacted, mermaids were near extinction.”

Shen Ji flipped through old photos of the lab, his heart suddenly tightening.

“The Great God Cult will eventually be destroyed at the hands of Shaxing and Sheng Lu. The priority now is that material. Tell me where it is.”

Shen Ji looked at him. “I want to help the Gaya people through this, but I don’t have the material you mentioned. Not right now, whether you believe it or not.”

Shen Yi smiled slightly. “Right, I heard you’re looking for Shen Yue to treat some… problems of yours? Let’s make a deal.”

Shen Ji: “I’m not sick.”

Shen Yi laughed. “Shen Yue is my brother. If you produce the material, I’ll have my brother personally ensure you are cured. How about it?”

“…I’m not sick.”

“He’s quite busy; too many people want his treatment. You’d be waiting until next year. Hand over the material, and I guarantee you’ll see him tomorrow.”

Shen Ji looked at the talkative Shen Yi: “…”

Will you just listen to me for once? The filter he had for his second uncle as a child was shattering. He wanted to shake Shen Yi awake and roar: Which eye of yours sees me as being sick in ‘that’ way?!

“Well?” Shen Yi was still watching him.

“Ten days, or a month at most.” Based on the machine’s operation, he had to stay in this timeline for a while before the mentor pulled them back.

“You only need to tell me where you hid the materials.”

Shen Ji smiled helplessly. His uncle wouldn’t believe him, but how could he explain? Even if he was going to travel back to hide it, he had to pick a spot first. No… wait… he was stuck in a linear thinking trap. Why did he have to hide it first to know the location? Why did cause have to precede effect?

Past, future, and present were all him. He could know the result first and then create the cause. If he truly had taken the materials and hidden them, and the “current” him knew this, then the “later” him could travel back and place them in that exact spot. Thus, the item would be there now.

“Show me the imaging around the lab.”

Shen Yi opened the display, and the room turned into a projection of a desolate ruin. Shen Ji zoomed in, clicking on a dense forest nearby, hearing birdsong and the rustle of leaves. This should be the woods outside the underground lab.

Shen Ji said, “I think I know where I hid it. I’ll take you there.” He hoped something was actually there.

The lab was in Country D of Gaya. Shen Yi went with him personally, along with two famous space scientists. They took a shuttle from the space station. Passing through the virtual atmospheric layers, they went from the murky sky to the virtual blue sky and white clouds.

Shen Yi’s expression was solemn. “Gaya is about to exhaust her last energy. Even without the final meteorite, how much longer can this atmosphere last? Without the ships, Gaya humanity will perish forever.”

Affected by the gravity of his tone, Shen Ji said, “Gaya civilization will not perish. One day, planet Gaya will regain her beauty.”

In the interstellar world 100,000 years later, Gaya was not only beautiful and teeming with life but was a territory the Federation and Empire fought over.

Shen Yi smiled. “I’ve already told my brother. He’s at another station. Once we have the material, I’ll take you to him myself.”

Underground Experimental City Site, Forest.

This forest had not been developed into a town. Because many had died there, many horror legends circulated, and almost no ordinary people came.

Shen Ji walked through the dense woods, thinking: If I hid something, I should have made a visible mark. Right… a mermaid tail.

Eventually, on the eastern side of a low slope, Shen Ji found a mermaid tail mark. Beneath a stone crack near the ground, he found a bundle wrapped in fiber material. The bag was covered in dust and moss. Whether the results Shen Yi got from testing this were correct, he wouldn’t know. Regardless, as soon as Shen Ji got back on the shuttle, he couldn’t help but fall asleep.

When he woke up, he didn’t open his eyes. His head was still heavy—pure sleep deprivation. He used his mental energy to sense his surroundings. The light in the room was dim; it should be the following night. He could feel himself lying on a soft bed in a room of about thirty square meters. This was likely the room behind Shen Yi’s office; the air carried Shen Yi’s scent.

As an Enigma, he was sensitive to the scent of another Enigma. The presence of a relative allowed Shen Ji to relax for the first time in a while. He didn’t even want to open his eyes; he felt he could sleep longer. But innate vigilance allowed his mental energy to expand like a balloon.

There was a chandelier above, a plant on the nightstand, a window to the left, and to the right…

Yes, someone was on the right. His mental energy probed the figure. Judging by the build, it was likely his uncle. He was sitting on a leather sofa nearby—leather shoes, trousers, legs crossed with the right over the left, right hand on his knee, left elbow on the armrest.

Shen Ji found the posture familiar.

Then a light chuckle came—a familiar, pathological atmosphere.

The groggy Shen Ji snapped his eyes open and looked over. A pair of pomegranate-red eyes crashed into his sight.

“Touching me like that with your mental energy… it makes me feel quite uncomfortable.” Sheng Lu pressed his tongue against his upper lip, making a sharp clicking sound.

“Are you okay? Mental energy is just mental energy, how is that ‘touching’ you?”

“It wasn’t enough,” Sheng Lu said with an expression of regret.

“…How did you get in?” This was Shen Yi’s room. No matter how powerful Sheng Lu was, he couldn’t just ignore the International Union.

Sheng Lu stood up, his long hair falling behind him from the sofa. “I walked in using my feet.”

From the Kayat Forest to the space station, then a 10,000-kilometer shuttle trip with his uncle to Country D, and finally into this room—how did Sheng Lu know?

Shen Ji was suspicious. “You haven’t been stalking me this whole time, have you?”

Sheng Lu tilted his head and opened his arms as if admitting it.

Shen Ji lay back on the bed, arm over his forehead. He had truly encountered a demon. In that split second, a weight landed on him—Sheng Lu was already sitting on his waist. The speed caught Shen Ji completely off guard.

“Is it polite to sit on someone?” Shen Ji’s forehead twitched.

“Why would you think I’m a polite person?” Sheng Lu leaned down, his hair sliding down to frame Shen Ji’s face.

“Get off.” Shen Ji looked at him coldly.