Chapter 79

When Miguel rubbed his sore waist and opened his blurry eyes, the first thought that crossed the black-haired young man’s mind was that he had fucking dreamed again.

The classroom was lively, with girls busy texting on their phones and boys laughing and discussing something. He looked up and saw a projector clattering away, playing the famous movie Pirates of the Caribbean, the latest installment. On the big screen, countless beautiful mermaids were slowly rising from the depths of the sea. They had no fangs, each one a stunning beauty, singing in English instead of the German song praising the dead that seemed deeply imprinted in his mind.

Yes, Miguel had woken up, and upon waking, he found himself sitting in a university classroom.

It wasn’t summer outside, and there was no sound of cicadas. Wiping the drool off his face, he stared expressionlessly out the clean window at the thick snowflakes falling from the gray, overcast sky. Through the snow, he blinked and successfully caught a glimpse of his own face in the window, filled with confusion.

“This snow doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon,” a familiar voice mumbled beside him. “When we go back to the dorm later, our dorm god wants us to bring him a pack of instant noodles. He wants the Master Kong Spicy Beef flavor. He says the Old Pickled Mustard Greens is the worst instant noodles in the world—”

Instant noodles?

Instant noodles.

Having lived on bread and fish for so long, Miguel finally reacted. He turned his sore neck and found his dormmate, Old Second, sitting beside him, head down, solving problems while muttering incessantly. After waiting for a while and getting no response, the boy with a tiger tooth looked up and, upon meeting Miguel’s dazed eyes, grinned, “Hey? Little Luo Chenzhou, you okay? Hmm, doesn’t look like it. Class is over, you know?”

Luo Chenzhou?

How many months had it been since someone called that name in such a clear and proper tone?

The black-haired young man froze in place. In front of him, Old Second’s familiar yet unfamiliar face swayed back and forth. The navigator thought to himself that in all the dreams he’d had, that tiger tooth had never looked so 3D before…

At the front of the classroom, the mermaids in the movie began their attack. Chaos ensued as countless men were dragged into the depths by those terrifying creatures—Did we lose that many people? …No, before the mermaids attacked, Caesar had ordered a fire attack to cut off their retreat.

“…”

“Showing movies during the break, if the higher-ups saw this, they’d skin these idiots—Never mind them, Old Fourth, come look at this problem. In this WTAS07 diagram, what does the solid circle mean again… Oh, and this FWPN diagram, is the center of the tropical cyclone here or here? …They both look the same, damn it, who the hell made this question… Old Fourth?—Hey? Luo Chenzhou?”

The tip of a ballpoint pen lifted Miguel’s chin. The black-haired young man raised his eyelids and found Old Second’s baby face filled with curiosity. He leaned in, raised an eyebrow, and called again, “Luo Chenzhou—Why are you glaring at me? Did you sleep yourself stupid?”

“Old Second? Lu Jiajia?”

“Yeah, your grandpa. I told you not to call me by my real name until I convince my parents to change it.”

“…”

Even after leaving the classroom, the icy north wind mixed with snowflakes cut into his face with vivid, three-dimensional pain. Miguel still couldn’t snap out of it… Now he had to face an extremely difficult question: Miguel or Luo Chenzhou?

The school was the same school, just covered in silver snow. The cafeteria was the same cafeteria, with overpriced, terrible food. The dorm was the same dorm, on the sixth floor, with no elevator. The bed was the same bed, like a dog’s nest, the blanket hadn’t been folded since the first day of school.

“Dorm leader, who’s our Marine Meteorology professor?”

“Old Xu. Aren’t you his darling little prodigy?” A greasy head popped out from the mosquito net on the bed, eyes glowing green from playing DOTA. “What’s wrong with you? Did sleeping through class make you stupid? At least you know the way back to the dorm and didn’t wander into the next building to get eaten by wolves—Old Second, you didn’t take good care of your little brother!”

Old Second: “Screw you!”

Miguel: “Where’s Caesar?”

Dorm leader’s head disappeared back into the mosquito net. Amid the clattering of the keyboard, dorm leader’s annoying voice rang out, “Who? The one who swept through Gaul, Germania, and Britain, conquered Rome, defeated Pompey, and established a dictatorship?”

Miguel: “…”

“First thing after waking up is to look for Old Xu, the second is to look for a man who’s been dead for hundreds of years. Are you really okay?—I know you’re fine. Go, make me some noodles and bring them to me—”

“You’re eating in bed?”

“Yeah, I’m eating in bed. I’m going to die in this bed, I’m hibernating.”

Right.

This wasn’t on a ship, there were no waves to rock it from side to side. The dorm was built on solid cement pillars driven deep into the ground, and he, standing firmly, was in a building six stories above the ground.

The noodle soup wouldn’t spill.

In the dorm leader’s bold declaration, Miguel… no, Luo Chenzhou seemed to realize a fact. He had somehow, inadvertently, returned to his own world.

Old Third: “Old Fourth, Comrade Luo Chenzhou, I solemnly warn you, if you keep spacing out, I might accidentally throw you off the building. You’re on cleaning duty today, got it? Did you take out the trash? Did you fetch the hot water? The floor needs sweeping—”

Old Second: “I feel like I’m witnessing school bullying right before my eyes.”

Dorm leader: “Come on, you little punk, I’m gonna tear down your temple this time. Shadow Fiend, huh? I’ll make sure you never see the big lifesteal skill again—”

Miguel: “Cleaning? …Oh.”

Old Third: “Look, he said ‘Oh.'”

Old Second: “I don’t care if you all die.”

From this moment on, Miguel returned to his world.

This world had everything he was supposed to have: dormmates, classrooms, bunk beds, computers, airplanes, and his parents and younger brother thousands of miles away.

The only thing missing was Big Dog.

The man he had named Big Dog, who was actually tall and handsome, loved to act tough, enjoyed bullying others, and was good at being unreasonable and following his whims, yet somehow had a legion of loyal, die-hard fans.

“…”

The ringing of a phone pulled the black-haired young man’s thoughts back to reality. The vibration came from his pocket. He rummaged around and pulled out a phone he hadn’t seen in what felt like eight lifetimes and thought he’d never see again. The caller ID read: Mother Empress.

Luo Chenzhou answered the phone and listened to his mom complain about his dad drinking, about his younger brother scoring only sixty on his math midterm, about how her legs were hurting again because of the cold. Miguel responded while giving advice to the complaining housewife: control Dad’s finances, cut off little brother’s allowance until he scores eighty on his next test, Aunt Chen next door has finished making the medicinal wine, I told you to go get it a long time ago, how could you forget?

Luo Chenzhou held the phone, his palm sweaty. He opened his laptop and started typing one-handed into Google, searching for Caesar’s name. The search results showed: Julius Caesar was an outstanding military commander and politician in the late Roman Republic. In 60 BC, he secretly formed the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus, then became the governor of Gaul, spending eight years conquering all of Gaul (roughly modern-day France), and even attacked Germania and Britain…

Then there were all sorts of random Caesars.

None of them were pirates.

And none of them were German.

“Mom, I’ve got something to do. Yeah, I’ll call you later. And, I really miss you… No, I’ve got enough money, I really miss you… Gross? Can’t you be a bit more romantic, damn it—Alright, alright, bye, bye—”

Luo Chenzhou hung up the phone. Sitting in his chair, he took a deep breath—only to find that he couldn’t take in much air. His breathing became heavy and labored, so much so that his chest ached. Rubbing his equally sore eyes, the black-haired young man slammed the laptop shut with a loud clap. He paused, then, unsatisfied, yanked out the network cable and power cord.

The top student Lu Jiajia poked his head out from his desk and said, “Old Fourth, are you declaring war on the world?”

That night, there was a small dorm party to celebrate the dorm leader successfully harassing the punk who had beaten him ten times in a row until he rage-quit the channel.

Old Third Dong Ming somehow brought back a lot of alcohol, yellow, white, and red, lined up in a row. They locked the door and illegally cooked a Little Sheep Hot Pot in the dorm. Luo Chenzhou didn’t eat much, but he drank all the yellow, white, and red alcohol, eventually holding a bottle and singing a song that no one in the dorm could understand—

Someone died young,

The half-mast flag no longer flies.

As is the sailors’ custom,

The body was wrapped in a sail—

…

Dorm leader, who had some knowledge: “Holy shit? German!”

Old Third, who knew nothing: “Besides the ten Southeast Asian countries, he knows German too? That’s unfair!”

Old Second, who was deep in thought: “Ever since he woke up from sleeping through Data Theory class, he’s leveled up.”

Old Third: “Dorm leader, what’s he singing about?”

Dorm leader: “Something about a body, something about a cross—Isn’t he a staunch supporter of the Communist Party of China? Did he join a cult?”

Luo Chenzhou: “I didn’t!”

Dorm leader, Old Second, Old Third: “…”

Luo Chenzhou stood up, raised a finger, and declared with crossed eyes, “I’m back!”

Dorm leader: “Okay, okay, you’re back. Welcome back—Old Third? Carry your little brother to bed. If he kicks and knocks over my Little Sheep Hot Pot, who’s gonna take responsibility—”

Pushing up his glasses, the helpless Old Third Dong Ming threw the drunk man back onto his bed. Lu Jiajia got up and kindly made him a hot towel. Climbing onto the bed, he almost slipped and fell from the second floor. The dorm echoed with the top student’s shout—

“Holy shit, we’re just eating Little Sheep Hot Pot. Luo Chenzhou, why the hell are you crying?”

Luo Chenzhou: “You’re the one crying.”

Lu Jiajia: “Want me to get you a mirror? Your snot’s coming out. Don’t talk, you’re gonna eat it—You ate it, okay, you ate it—What are you crying about, kid? What did Old Xu do to you?”

Luo Chenzhou: “I’m back.”

Lu Jiajia: “Did Old Xu dump you?”

Luo Chenzhou: “I want to call my mom.”

Lu Jiajia: “…Fine, you asked for it. Dorm leader, give him his phone, call his mom, and let’s watch him get chewed out. That’ll make me feel better—”

Luo Chenzhou grabbed the phone and rolled over. He lay on the bed, suddenly as quiet as a dead dog.

No one knew what was going on. The others in the dorm only heard this man, a year younger than them, curled up on his bed, speaking in a low voice, murmuring a lot into the phone.

For example, Mom, I really miss you.

For example, Mom, how did I just come back like this, just like I inexplicably left.

The longest thing he said was, Mom, tell my brother to study hard. His brother never saw a score below ninety in elementary school. Tell Dad to drink less, health and longevity are the foundation of revolution. And, did you get the medicinal wine? If you did, have Dad rub it on your knees, it’ll stop the pain.

…

Mom, I’m sorry, I have to go back. I have to go back.

…

I love you, but I can’t live in a world that has completely erased him.

In his daze, Luo Chenzhou thought he heard Lu Jiajia’s voice—

“Brother, you just got back, and you’re leaving again?”

“Yeah.”

“I knew you couldn’t let go.”

“Yeah.”

“Then go, who the hell can stop you—”

“Wipe the snot off your face, you’re so ugly, you might get your salary docked.”

Yeah.

Yeah?

Salary docked?

Wait.

Since when did your voice get so deep, sexy, and full of male charm, Lu Jiajia?

…My head hurts, the dorm bed is shaking, is it an earthquake? Stop shaking, damn it, I’m gonna puke—

“Awake? Trash.”

Miguel opened his eyes. He was lying on the familiar, pure white bedsheet, surrounded by the swaying light of a kerosene lamp, dimmed intentionally.

Wind Fury.

The shirtless man sat by his bed, carefully examining a dagger in the faint light—a dagger with three top-quality sapphires and eighteen first-grade cat’s eyes. It had a name: Ghost Slayer.

“The edge is chipped, trash,” the man said, heartbrokenly examining his ruined treasure, not looking up. “You shouldn’t have messed with it. Mermaid bones are hard; no one’s ever thought to gut them.”

…

There was no response for a while. Slightly puzzled, the man turned his head, only to suddenly meet the bright black eyes of the black-haired young man lying in bed. At this moment, the navigator was staring at him, dazed.

The man frowned: “Blind?”

Miguel raised his hand and accurately poked the man’s bandaged wound on his waist with his index finger.

Caesar sucked in a sharp breath, threw Ghost Slayer aside, and grabbed the black-haired young man’s jaw with force. He narrowed his eyes dangerously and asked, “Are you insane?”

Finally, for the first time since waking up, the navigator’s face broke into a bright smile. His voice was hoarse, his words labored, but he smiled at his Big Dog, satisfied to feel the warmth from the man’s hard muscles under his fingertips—

“HEY, MAN! HERO BACK.”