Chapter Sixty-Two: From Different Worlds

Zhou the Half-Immortal suddenly smiled, flicked his fingers, and tossed out a copper coin.

Gao the Second snatched it, examined it, and placed it in front of Gao Ning.

"This is the thing that brought me here. Unfortunately, it only works once, and it lets you in but not out. To avoid surviving in a world as miserable as dog shit, I could only choose to join the Mysterious Train.

Though this place is good, I still love my hometown Baoding, even though it’s still under Japanese occupation!"

As he spoke, Zhou the Half-Immortal sighed.

Gao Ning and Liang Bing were both stunned, and asked in unison, "Which year are you from?"

Zhou the Half-Immortal looked a bit confused: "What do you mean, which year? 1937, of course!"

Gao Ning and Liang Bing turned to each other and asked, "Which year are you from?"—twice, at the same time.

"2019!"

"2007!"

As soon as the words fell, the garden pavilion became quiet again, with all three digesting this sudden, shocking revelation.

After a long moment, Liang Bing said, "I think we need to have a proper talk."

"That’s not urgent. I have a question! Even though I can’t quite recall when 'Elysium Space' was released, it was definitely after 2000. Zhou the Half-Immortal, how did you know this world has universal medical pods?" Gao Ning asked.

"The movie!" Zhou the Half-Immortal seemed puzzled. "I remember it was a new release about half a year ago. They said it was the first ever sound sci-fi film in history. For a while, the theaters were packed with rich folks waving money for tickets.

At the time, I was staying as a guest in a wealthy household. They needed my help, so they respectfully gave me two tickets. That’s how I saw it. Is there a problem?"

Gao Ning shook his head and looked at Liang Bing.

Liang Bing said, "I remember clearly—this was the first movie I saw after graduating high school, back in '97!"

Gao Ning pressed, "The year Hong Kong was returned?"

Liang Bing was surprised, "Didn’t Hong Kong return in '57?"

Zhou the Half-Immortal was bewildered: "Hong Kong was lost? When? Wasn’t it the second base for the Qiong Navy?"

The three fell silent once more.

No need to argue—it was clear that even the course of history differed. It seemed the three of them came from entirely separate timelines.

Gao Ning narrowed his eyes, studying Zhou the Half-Immortal carefully.

Or perhaps, they were from different cinematic universes.

No wonder Zhou the Half-Immortal always felt a bit familiar, and Liang Bing was almost unnaturally beautiful, like a movie heroine.

Of course, it was just a guess, with no evidence yet.

He picked up the copper coin from the table and examined it repeatedly.

It was a Qianlong Tongbao coin; the front was completely corroded with green patina, but the reverse was smooth, clean, and gleamed as if freshly minted.

Such a strange contrast made the coin even more peculiar.

Gao Ning also noticed that the patina seemed to spread in an uncanny way, constantly encroaching on the shiny side.

Just a moment’s distraction, and he sensed the corroded edge had grown a little wider.

Interesting.

He told Gao the Second to put the coin away, then said, "After all this, I think we all have some guesses, but now isn’t the time. Let’s finish the mission and discuss everything after.

Zhou the Half-Immortal, tell me your divination from today."

"Eh?" Zhou the Half-Immortal was surprised, then smiled, "Impressive. You even know I did a midnight divination in my room?"

"Spare the nonsense, just give the result," Gao Ning said, tossing a pale pink macaron into his mouth.

Zhou the Half-Immortal intoned, "I got the Gradual Progress hexagram. This is an unusual one—Gen over Xun. Gen is mountain, Xun is wood. Wood on a mountain grows gradually, and as it does, the mountain rises. This is a process of steady advancement, not haste.

The image: 'A fine bird is lucky to escape the cage, avoids disaster, displays power, finds fortune, and travels freely in all directions.'

So there’s no need to worry—this journey will surely go smoothly!"

Liang Bing sneered, "That’s a fortune for yourself, isn’t it?"

Zhou the Half-Immortal waved, "Hey, how could that be? Aren’t we all in the same boat? If I’m lucky, so are we all."

Liang Bing said, "A reading is just for reference. We still need to be careful."

Gao Ning said, "Of course. Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong!"

After more than half a month of constant summoning, the paratrooper unit had grown to over thirty-six men. If nothing else, there would be no problems with security.

As night fell, Panda drove a truck slowly into the manor.

His companion in the passenger seat rolled down the window, exchanged a greeting with the nearby guard, then told Panda to drive to the end of the line.

Max hid behind the cab’s rest area.

With his exoskeleton armor, his mobility had increased greatly, but his weight had doubled, making it a bit awkward to conceal himself.

He lifted a corner of the curtain and quickly surveyed the scene.

"There’s something off about the number of guards here."

"Recently, the number of manor guards has been rising—every two or three days, another five or six are added, and their patrols have grown even more thorough.

Back when we delivered goods before, you could sneak onto the lawn when the guards weren’t looking. Not anymore—every few dozen meters there’s a group of armed sentries.

And I heard the owner of the recycling plant recently bought a defense system from the resort and had it installed near the villa. If anything unusual is detected, a protective counterattack is triggered immediately!"

The white man in the passenger seat explained, his face showing envy—clearly, he too longed for this life above the masses.

Panda grew nervous, "With security this tight, can our plan work?"

The white man shrugged, "Let’s give it a shot!"

Panda nearly snorted in frustration—so it wasn’t your life on the line?

Max suddenly sat up straight. "Panda, get ready—thirty seconds to go!"

"Got it!" Panda replied, jumped out, and pulled a mountain bike from beneath the chassis.

The abrupt movement caught the guards’ attention, but before they could react, a truck ahead exploded with a deafening roar.

Flames shot into the sky, and countless parts were hurled upward by the blast, scattering like a rain of metal blossoms.

The commotion immediately drew everyone’s focus.

Just then, a streak of red flashed overhead. A luxurious, entirely red shuttlecraft appeared in the sky, descending slowly.

Panda and Max sprang into action—one on the mountain bike, the other in his exoskeleton—charging straight for the small plaza before the villa.

As the shuttlecraft descended, a group of well-dressed, high-society types strolled out of the villa. Panda’s blood surged with excitement.

The opportunity was right in front of him, the protagonist was at his side, and with the halo effect, there was no battle that couldn’t be won, no fortress that couldn’t be taken. The mission’s reward was as good as his!