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(最后的厂牌  LAST CREW) His Story: [MAN ONWIRE] 周怀夜 Zhou Huaiye Translation Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

*Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Welcome to another round of Ran’s whims Evan brainrot, extended. *CEO man’s future tag will be #CEO ONWIRE *THEY RAP WELL!!!

"Before meeting you, he was the one who bore the name of [Hero]”

He never wanted to become a Hero, never expected to be associated with greatness. The wings of the Devil shields the night skies of the city, bestowing destruction upon the emotionless world beneath before light peaks.

The 24th of December, the Year 2100. Christmas Eve.

Dark clouds have hovered above the skies of 000 City for a good two months now.

A year ago, on this very Christmas Eve. The last Thousand City Conference of the 21st Century was going to be held in 000 City. Everyone present was overwhelmed with joy as they looked forward to the arrival of "The New Chapter of Mankind".

However, the emotions of this City have been concealed by the cold buildings all around on this night of the year. Every sliver of light is a luxury in this silent, pale, steel tomb of a City. And at the very top of it all, on the top floor of PAINK’s Headquarters, located at the very heart of the City——

Zhou Huaiye was waiting on an important document in the vast, but very empty office.

There was only a small light lit on the long table, made of solid wood, before him. He laces his fingers together, crossing them before him as he places his arms on the table, pressing the tip of his nose against his knuckles.

His usually sharp and indifferent eyes were now rimmed with red. Was it anger? Or sadness? His dark blue eyes were dark and clouded, as if obscured by dark clouds that would soon break out in heavy torrential rains and howling winds.

Zhou Huaiye swivelled his chair around, looking out of the window overlooking the City. All the pedestrians that made an occasional appearance out on the streets had emotionless faces.

He turned the ring sitting on his index finger, a little on edge. The sound of metal chafing skin was infinitely amplified in the deathly silence of the office.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

The phone that sat to the side gives an untimely ring in this subtle moment of silence, sounding especially shrill to the ears.

Zhou Huaiye took one glance at the screen before closing his eyes once more. He straightened back up, turning the ring on his index finger back around to face upwards, and leaned back in his chair.

Gone were the pain, doom, and gloom, in his eyes when he opened them again. There was even a hint of a smile playing at his lips when he answered the call.

He crossed his fingers together, naturally resting them against the top of his crossed legs, preparing for the start of this important conversation.

"You're in quite the jolly mood." The man on the other end of the line, someone who had been deemed "perfect", took the initiative to speak.

"Several of the new drug production lines that I've had my eye on for a long time now will finally change hands tomorrow. They will be falling into the hands of the right people." Zhou Huaiye casually picked up the wineglass beside him, holding it up. 

He appeared seemingly at ease as he laid back in his chair, but his eyes never once left X's face.

"I've also just heard of that piece of news. Hence, I'm here to congratulate you. Now, there will no longer be anyone capable of threatening PAINK's position in the Pharmaceutical Industry." X waved a printed document in the air on the other side of the line.

A hint of something flickered past his eyes, his facade was broken. However, he made no move to cover it up, only leaning back in his chair, taking a sip of his wine.

He then crossed both of his arms before his chest, expressing his dissatisfaction. “And here, I thought that my confidentiality measures were doing quite well in being infallible.”

X seemingly disregarded the hostility that was apparent in Zhou Huaiye’s voice, or perhaps he was deliberately making a display of his never-seen-before lenience and generosity. 

“Our Emotion Suppressing Chip is based on your Gr-0. It only became a success thanks to your research and development it. I’m even willing to share with you our Emotion Suppressing Chip’s production methods if it means that we can avoid unnecessary trouble in the future.” “In light of that, do remember that we’re always comrades and not enemies.”

Zhou Huaiye aptly adjusted his sitting posture, calming his hackles that had risen with hostility by collapsing his hands back together. “Surely, you aren’t just here to congratulate me, am I right?”

“The congratulatory message is merely the icing on top of the cake.” X crossed his hands together, casting a scrutinizing look at him through the screen.

“If you are willing to join Zenith’s latest project regarding the upgrading of the Emotion Suppressing Chip...”

Beep beep—

The beep of the notification denoting a new incoming report interrupted X’s business proposal. Zhou Huaiye turned around at the sound, noting that the thing of utmost importance that he’d been waiting on had finally arrived.

“It’s Christmas Eve. Are your subordinates still working on the Eve of Christmas?” X’s lips curled in amusement, the reason behind indiscernible.

Zhou Huaiye made no move to hide or conceal anything. He openly clicked on the file, opening it up under X’s watch. This was just a compiled analysis report on the profits of a couple of the drug production lines.

“Well, I’m most certainly expecting to see more people coming by to congratulate PAINK tomorrow. And as for that new project of yours—”

Zhou Huaiye’s smile was reflected in X’s eyes; it was not only was it oozing self-confidence, but it was also a little conceited. “I have no use for the Emotion Suppressing Chip, so as to speak. It is of no commercial value to me, and neither do I wish to do any more of these sort of arduous and thankless tasks in the name of ‘public interest’.”

“Now that’s truly a pity.” X feigned his regret at the notion. “And here, you could have been a Hero again.”

“I’ve already earned the status of ‘Hero’ once.” Zhou Huaiye pointed to the financial report. “People will always remember my company, PAINK, and the ground-breaking contribution that my Gr-0 has brought to the Medical World.”

"I wish you success in your endeavours. And, a merry Christmas to you."

"Thank you." Zhou Huaiye smiled pleasantly at having received the reply that denoted the end of the conversation, pressing the button in his phone to end the call.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

The pleasant smile that had been on his face disappears the very same moment X's visage does. 

He reopens the document he'd just received earlier. Inputting a password revealed another two documents within the file. He opens the first one, quickly skimming through it. It was a sheet, packed full of information. The gears in his head whirled to life as he repeated the motion like clockwork, again and again for a couple more times, before he hit the end of the sheet.

There were many columns to the table that presented themselves on the sheet, detailing the most basic information of all individuals whose profiles had been recorded. They were of different ages, different genders; yet, they all had the same look of fear on their face, and the same hometown, TFZ-007.

It was the one and only area that the raw material needed to produce Gr-0 could be mined.

And the human experimentation that this sheet came from had also started at around the same time that the very same mining area was officially classified as a City.

Of course, it also coincided with the time when Zhou Huaiye, the pharmaceutical research and development genius, was promoted and placed on a pedestal by 000 City itself when he successfully optimized the production of Gr-0.

He tried his hardest to still the tremor of his fingers.

The sender, going by the name of “Nuts”, had attached an encrypted message for him at the bottom of the sheet. “The list is still being updated.”

The list was yet to be completed; and his sins, never-ending.

He lowered his head, harshly pressing his forehead against his prominent knuckles. There was something seemingly starting to protrude out from his back, rising and falling with his every breath.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window before him laid the usual cold and bustling city. However, he bowed his head towards it in a manner that was almost humble, almost regretful.

Zhou Huaiye's jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a line so thin that it went white.

He cannot lose control yet.

He closed the first document and opened the second.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

Only coordinates were written within. “127°16′E, 31°18′N”

Zhou Huaiye only realized that it was snowing out when he left PAINK's HQ.

The sereneness of the City in the snow faintly reminded him of how this holiday night used to go…

Whenever it was snowing, the lively crowds would flock under the array of colourful lights. The whole City, lively and alive, bathed in warm lights and dancing shadows.

However, in a year, all of that is nought but a mere distant memory of the past.

Zhou Huaiye let out a long and deep sigh as he turned and walked into the shadows of the City.

A black silhouette stands atop the highest tower in the City. Looking from the tower down below, 000 City was akin to a cold rock. The night turns the entire City into a black hole after the lights of a thousand over houses are dimmed, swallowing the gazes of anyone who dared set eyes on it.

The wind brings along a message; of the rumbling that was approaching, closer and closer. It reverberated in his ears, reminding him of how close his target is. And in another ten seconds or so, a huge transport vehicle made up of many hard metal cargo compartments attached to it comes into view. According to the fixed route in which it traverses, it should continue travelling at high speeds along the opposite transportation passageway after coming out of the airborne expressway.

However, under his silent gaze, the transport vehicle makes a sharp turn, careening towards the concrete pillars of the expressway. A second before the transporting truck made impact, the ground below the pillar suddenly sank to reveal a hidden tunnel.

Granted, the entrance to the tunnel sealed itself back up as soon as the truck went in, turning into hard ground with nary a flaw.

A pair of huge wings sprout from the figure above the tower. Black feathers flutter in the night sky. The cool lights from the City were like revolving lanterns, illuminating the devilish face of the man, caged within his black wings.

His face could not be made out clearly in the inky darkness, but he had a pair of particularly intimidating eyes. It was as if they held the darkness and sins of the entire world within their depths.

In just mere seconds, the gigantic black silhouette followed the vehicle into the tunnel.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

Inside the tunnel, cold strips of light continued their never-ending extend forwards. The "demon" kept as close to the ground as possible to maximise speed.

Just as he was about to reach the end of the truck, the black wings suddenly retracted a little, taking the form of wings shaped to glide. The man slips under the bottom of the truck, his wings slightly fluttering as he slips himself between the ground and the undercarriage of the car.

When he reaches the head of the truck, he abruptly unfurls his wings to their full span, leaping straight to the front of the truck's windscreen from beneath the undercarriage.

Under the icy lights, he mercilessly attaches the hooks atop his wings onto the front of the truck, like a demon straight from the depths of hell.

The truck had no driver. But, those eyes, so sharp and piercing that it was almost inhumane, were firmly fixated upon the window, like someone who was staring straight at their deepest, darkest sin.

The car's windscreen reflected Zhou Huaiye's countenance.

His huge wings took to the skies, flying upwards. The hook attached to the front of the vehicle lifts the entire truck into the air, its wheels leaving the ground. The pitch-black wings flapped, lifting and pulling the transport truck along with it. Its tires were still spinning.

Then, he lets go.

The truck flies across the tunnel, crashing violently into the walls of the hidden tunnel. A raging fire was ignited as the truck exploded into flames.

Zhou Huaiye stretched out his wings, hovering above the fire as he watched the metal boxes of the truck get swallowed up by the ravenous flames.

Stacks upon stacks, boxes upon boxes; those Emotion Suppressing Chips born from his sins burned, under his watchful gaze.

Cracks had appeared on the outer wall of the whole tunnel following the explosion.

In the span of a mere 10 seconds, the pressure of the water outside made the entire tunnel collapsed upon itself. The strips of cold light submerged, sinking into the deep sea.

The fire was extinguished, and the demon straight from the depths of hell had also returned to its domain, disappearing along with the blue abyss.

Everything disappeared without a trace.

⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  ◦∘ ━━━━━ ⊹

Zhou Huaiye now sits beneath the viaduct, where the river meets the sea, completely drenched.

Everything was so peaceful, it was almost as if the tunnel never collapsed. It was as if the explosion never happened, with how highly efficient the City continued to run.

He raises his head, looking at the towering bridge and the tall buildings all around him that rose to the skies. A sea of skyscrapers, threatening to swallow him whole at any given moment.

It was then that his phone sounded a notification. A message from nuts: "The transport route has been altered. Now searching for the new route."

The message automatically deleted itself a few seconds later.

Zhou Huaiye propped both of his hands behind his back, raising his head as he looked back above once more…

The snow stopped, and the light of dawn filtered down from the skies.

...Merry Christmas…

 ⊹ ━━━━━ ∘◦  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ CEO ONWIRE Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ◦∘ ━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

[tancong]

A Piece of Me (Chapter 3)

Square One

Once she woke up, Angela went to work. She first inspected the clipboard, her hair now flowing behind her freely since the band had slipped off during her rest. The thought made her frown a bit as she tied it back, not wanting to let it fall over her eyes while she worked, no matter that she was simply sitting there and reading at most.

After all, it had been quite secure when she woke up. Though she did not recall the condition of her hair when she had fallen, she figured that if she was operating on the field with her Valkyrie suit she would most likely have had her semi-pale blonde hair tied up with her usual silver ring-shaped band.

On the table close to her where the flowers laid in a neat vase, she soon spotted the band resting near her work tablet. Her Valkyrie suit was not there though, a fact that didn’t surprise her. It does make sense considering that it was a hospital after all. While the suit did not come with combat functions, it was still a combat armor meant for fieldwork. It was best to not bring it here. Something also told her that it needed repairs.

The thoughts of repairs brought her thoughts back to the cyborg that had left the room. If he had been on the same field as her, did he sustain damage to his suit as well? She had not noticed any sort of deep wound, though perhaps that was due to the haziness of her waking up. Regardless, why did he not remove his armor?

Angela set the clipboard back to its place hanging near the head of her bed once more, finding no new or interesting information despite her more extensive knowledge about medical reports. It was nothing that Genji had not told her, which included things on the clipboard that had not been easily deciphered due to its technical terms.

Then again, that did not surprise her. He was supposedly there when she had fallen after all. He probably saw firsthand the exact extent of the damage that she had taken. The rest … we, l it was probably explained to him by the doctor probably. Beyond that, she did not know how he could have deciphered such information. Unless he was a doctor or watched one work extensively she supposed. Though that sounded a bit unlikely considering that he was a combatant.

This train of thinking brought her mind back to the cyborg who she has no memory of once more, compelling Angela to reach for the tablet that laid on the table by her bedside. She felt fine even when she had to reach a bit, making her feel glad that she felt healthy at least. By her self-diagnosis, she could probably leave by the next day if nothing strange occurs by then. As to her apparent memory loss, there really wasn’t anything that could be done, unfortunately.

She knew of this problem that happened with head injuries and trauma at times, though never finding an answer for it. It came down to simply luck in the end which determined what would be lost. For her, she lost memory for one person. On one hand, it seemed like a small price to pay for being alive compared to the potential of forgetting everything completely.

On the other, she felt a pit in her stomach that made her want to puke, as if she were falling down an endless dark well full of misery, despair, and hopelessness where she did not know what was right and there was no one there for her.

The tablet’s screen lit to life, displaying her lock screen and requesting her passcode input. She smiled gently, looking at the photo that she had on the screen. It was a picture dating back to when they had all been working together, back when things had been peaceful and they had been working together as an unstoppable task force for the sake of the world.

She could remember all their names until this day; Jack, Gabriel, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Winston, Lena, Ana, and Jesse were all in the commemorative photo that they had taken on the day of their Winston’s graduation from the academy. They were more than patients in the medic bay needing medical attention. They were more than just comrades who fought by her side on the most treacherous of battlefields.

Her eyes went over each face, recalling their name and her memory of them with a gentle smile on her lips. When she got to a figure who stood tall in the near distance from herself, a frown came onto her face. It was the confident figure of a cyborg man, the very same figure who had been by her bedside while she had been unconscious for all that time.

In the photo, she could not tell his emotions, unlike when he had been sitting next to her bed. To think that she could not remember him, not a single moment in all those years that Overwatch had been active and not a single one from after it went away. Her head ached a little, her chest tightening a bit as Angela pursed her lips, struggling and becoming increasingly frustrated as she could not.

She took a deep breath, her fist clenched, before closing her eyes and looking at the still figure on her lock screen with a sad expression on her face. She hated the fact that she could not recall him, not for anything that he has done for her.

Angela slapped her cheeks with both palms, leaving a small red mark on her otherwise velvety skin. The tablet was unlocked with a simple 7 digits passcode, allowing her access to all the medical documents that she had attained over the years. She shifted through them quickly with the search function, swiftly finding the file she was looking for.

“Genji Shimada, Male, 24 Years Old”

The soft pillow found itself in use once more as it was matted with bright blonde hair, its owner head laying down on the fluffy surface once more as it was brought up against the headboard and wall pressing up against it.

Angela took one glance at the display at the top right corner of the tablet, noting the digits that displayed 7 PM in a gentle white glow. She leaned back with a soft sigh as she mentally prepared herself for the reading that may span through dinner and into the night, settling into her bed reading mode as her body relaxed. Her arms and hands were the only things active in holding up the tablet and scrolling through the lengthy reports on everything that she had once recorded down about the young Shimada, her eyes perusing and soaking in every last word of detail that related in his file, as she did with every other patient.

Even if it wasn’t a personal diary, it’s a start to knowing the man once more. Just as she had once learned about him when she had first met him. She briefly wondered where he was at that moment, finding herself worrying over his emotional state. However, she brushed the thought out of her mind.

Even if she knew that there was nothing she could do right now that could possibly hope to help him in any way. Her presence might simply do more harm if she remained as clueless about the man as she had been when she had first woken up. To him, her visage was one that undoubtedly held many memories in his mind. It would be hard for anyone to be like so and to know that the other person no longer holds the same memories. Or any, for that matter.

For now, she only wished that he would be safe and that he would be ok. He was a strong and capable man, that she was sure of. He had held his posture and voice steady even after she had told him that she did not remember him, playing along and pretending as if he did not know her even while he was obviously hurting. It was a debt that she wanted to pay him back dearly, to return his kindness and strange desire to protect her from the guilt she was feeling now upon waking up.

However, she could not do that until she understood the situation and regained her memories about him first. No matter basic and no matter how old the information may be, they are all memories that had once colored him in her mind. For now, she could only do this until she can leave the hospital. While it was frustrating, she had to start somewhere.

Even if it meant returning to Square One.

To Be Continued

Chapter 1: Alive Chapter 1.5: Journal Entry 1 Chapter 2: Lost Chapter 2.5: Journal Entry 2

Chapter 3.5: Journal Entry 3 To Be Continued