Rubik's Cube

By Carl Bent

In the year 0956 of the Earth's calendar, a substance called "black stone" was discovered for the first time by human beings, and its powerful physical properties were far beyond human comprehension. 0976, when the Tesseract, a humanoid combat vehicle constructed of black stone, was born, people realized that the era of gunpowder was over. The e

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donna Gaskin
• Release date: Feb 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869321435

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Rubik's Cube

Copyright © 2024 by Carl Bent

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-8693-2143-5

Cover designed by Carl Bent

Edited by Carl Bent

Rubik's Cube

Chapter 1 (above): The Last Peace

    May 10, 1018, Earth's calendar

    A high school campus in the Republic of China

    The breeze gently blew through the branches, the campus is in full bloom in the red leaf plum petals blowing up, flying scattered petals in the warm sun fluttering, as if a light pink spring rain. After the wind, the petals also have fallen to the ground, but there are a few of them continue to float aimlessly in the air, leisurely from the half-open window into a classroom.

    However the classroom was so quiet ----- even though it was just an ordinary working day, it was so quiet that even the petals falling to the ground might be heard. That warm atmosphere of spring coupled with the catalyst of the breeze caused almost all of the students in the entire classroom to be struck down by sleep and slumped unconscious on their desks.

    Because it was the last class and also a self-study class, the teacher in charge of the class naturally did not have any obligation to wake them up, what's more, the teacher himself had already collapsed on the podium, joining the army of dream butterflies.

    Although the classroom was filled with a strong sense of sleep, in the back row of the classroom by the window, a brown-haired boy looked particularly energetic. More anxious than energetic, he seems to be having trouble with the final question of his GCSE simulation paper on Rubik's Cube and Physics, and the piles of sketch paper on his desk indicate the enormity of his task. Not being able to find the right answer seems to be a very distressing thing for him, so much so that he forgot the warm spring breeze, ignored the sunshine that makes people fall asleep, and even more so, he did not notice a few pure white flower petals gently floating down to the desk.

    Not long after, the soothing and loud bell rang in the quiet campus, and the time of the big clock tower in the center of the campus pointed at 4:45 pm, which was the common time for the end of the school day in China. The students, who had just been sleeping like dead pigs, jumped up from their seats as if they were electrified the moment they heard the bell, skillfully picked up their already organized school bags, and without even a hint of tiredness, walked towards the school gate, chatting and laughing with each other. It only took less than a minute for the campus to change from silent to full of people, this kind of scene, like magic, maybe only in the country of China can have the honor to see.

    However, the young man by the window still seemed to have not finished his battle, repeated calculations many times to arrive at the answer and the standard answer is still quite a lot of differences, he even inwardly muttered to himself, doubt the correctness of the answer. Just as he was thinking hard, he suddenly felt something on his shoulder.

    Yo, still FIGHTING, class president-sama?

    The teenager raised his head and found a teenager who had already prepared his school bag and was about the same age as him standing at his side, except that he had blonde hair and also had a plane head that students usually didn't wear, coupled with light green pupils, and there was probably no better explanation for him to be able to be so at ease in a country where high school makeup was strictly forbidden than being an international student from another country.

    The brown haired teenager sighed and said Don't keep calling me class president, how many times have I said I have a name, please. Call me `Zhenhan`, okay? Don't use bad Chinese on me. Even though the teenager who called himself Zhenhan threw out tons of complaints about the name calling in a short period of time, his eyes as well as his hands still didn't leave the test paper, But it's just right to come over here ah Roy, and by the way, help me to see if there's something wrong with this question.

    OK, OK. since you are the one who came to ask me that can't be helped, who asked us to be friends! Ah, also, although I am French, but since I am now in the country of China, it is necessary to .... call it entering the country according to your saying. So when in the country, please also call me 'Zhu Laoshi' it, both reflect the Chinese culture, but also show that I am a westerner, what a noble name! Ahahahahahaha After saying that, Roy then gladly reached out and picked up the paper, and began to scrutinize the questions.

    After saying something Roy is full of self-consciousness without any difficulty, on the contrary, the real cold facial expression twisted, with a mixture of sympathy and surprised expression staring at Roy, he really know what is going on in Chinese? Does he really know what Chinese is all about? Does he really know the meaning of Zhu Laoshi? At this moment, the countless questions and complaints in Zhenhan's heart turned into thousands of strange-looking four-legged animals, speeding across the boundless prairie. Despite the fact that there were many points that could be spat out, True Cold chose to remain silent for the time being in order not to get into a pointless name calling discussion contest with Roy. In lieu of that, he backhandedly pulled his water cup out of the bag behind his seat and poured water into the lid, In short, I feel that the person who wrote the paper is just intending to make things difficult for me, and I, for one, have to solve the questions today. I really cold today even if it is not go home, starve to death, die outside, jump from here, but also will not go now! After saying that, he works tea-like took a sip of water in the lid of the cup.

    After flirting with each other just now, Roy suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared incredulously at a certain place on the paper and shifted his gaze back and forth between Zhenhan and the title, then he sighed and looked helplessly at Zhenhan, who was sipping water, and opened his mouth, Zhenhan ah ....

    Hmm? Makan was drinking water, so he responded with a nasal voice.

    Why does 1+3 equal 9?

    As soon as he heard this, Zhenhan suddenly kept his movements motionless as if he was petrified, and after a brief moment of stiffness as soon as he snatched the paper from Roy's hands and fixed his eyes on it, he realized with a jolt that he had scribbled the 3 so scribblingly in the easiest part of the question that he mistook it for an 8, and that he hadn't checked for this kind of basic calculations .....

    ........

    Pfft ！！！！！！！！

    Makan's head instantly turned a standard 90°c towards the window and a mouthful of old blood spurted out, of course, since blood isn't that easy to spurt so it was replaced with water that he hadn't yet drank.

    After quickly coming back to his senses, Makan arched his back and wiped the corners of his mouth with his cuffs, and in the process, he supercharged a handful of the rolls on the table and put them into his book bag, lifted them towards the pull tabs on the bag, and slammed them towards the back of Roy, who was still standing dumbfounded in his position.

    Let's go. Don't stand there.

    Said Zhenhan took out the bread bought between classes, this is the product of the school afternoon just baked, so it is not completely cold, Zhenhan opened his mouth wide and fiercely gnawed a mouthful, could not help but exclaimed really fragrant!

Chapter 1 (Medium): The Last Peace

    Finally, Makan sort of ended his study mode, and Roy chatted with each other about nothing more than topics of interest to ordinary male high school students.

    On the flip side, TONIGHT do you have any plans to watch SAQ?

    Tonight? Tomorrow at 2:30 a.m., right? Of course I'll watch it. I'm not a human being if I don't.

    That's right, it's the fourth season of a first-class production.

    I said ..... Where the hell are you from?

    One hundred percents french, of course.

    Then speak French ......

    Pulling some irrelevant topics, the two teenagers suddenly felt a burst of shade, they looked up, the original unconsciously two people have walked to the school's entrance, near the entrance there is a huge sycamore tree several hundred years old, although in the fall after the pruning, but after a spring growth has been quite a size, inadvertently in the campus for the people in and out of the shade. And it's not just the branches and leaves that grow in the spring, the sycamore also grows countless flowers, which come down in the breeze, like snow.

    Although the scene was so beautiful, the flying flakes were a headache for any party present, and the flakes that could suddenly float into the eyes at any time were the enemy of most humans. In order to prevent his eyes from becoming a victim of this beautiful scenery, Zhenhan used his hand to cover his forehead and slowly cast his eyes downward. Under the huge sycamore tree was the school's administration building, which was made up of two large blocks spliced together from left to right, and between the two blocks there were interconnected corridors on the two floors from the third floor onwards, forming a huge arch-like structure for students as well as vehicles to pass underneath, and because the school claimed to have a hundred years of history, the seal character City No. 4 Middle School was also specially engraved on the two pillars of the entrance of the school. As the school claimed to have a hundred years of history, it also deliberately carved the seal script characters of City No. 4 High School on the first two gate pillars in front of the school, only that the students and staffs who were coming out of the gate had no time to look at it.

    Makan, who was inwardly mocking the carving of the doorpost, suddenly realized that in front of the doorpost on the left side there was a skinny girl wearing the school's uniform and skirt, who was leaning against the doorpost and not moving, and stood out in the crowd of people who kept moving.

    Alas .... True Cold sighed and muttered in a low voice Is this guy again .....

    Ignoring Roy, who was loudly expressing his opinion with his eyes closed, Makan took his own steps into the crowd and squeezed in front of the doorpost. True Chill slightly straightened his sports school uniform that was squeezed by the crowd to the point of being half unzipped, and then walked to the girl's front, True Chill sized her up while muttering to himself Only 5'6, pear blossom hair, although it is considered to be a beauty girl but her face is a bit round, and the most crucial thing is that ..... True cold said here, a little helplessly shook his head, at the same time straightened his right hand palm, as a hand knife shape raised even fell asleep standing!" After saying this, True Cold then swung his hand knife down, gently slashing down towards the top of that girl's head.

    The moment Makan's sword struck, the girl's head nodded slightly, and she let out a breathless ah in response.

    Looks like this is about as awake as it gets .... But how on earth did this guy manage to fall asleep standing up near a crowd?!

    True Cold silently spat out. But since this kind of question usually didn't get any reliable answers, True Cold had no choice but to ask his most basic query.

    Lan ...... What are you doing ....

    It hurts ........

    However the young girl known as Ran clearly didn't pick up on Makan's words, still indignant over the knock on the head, and was now protesting to Makan with her head held in both hands.

    Come on, if that's pain, then I've beaten that Roy guy to death more times than I can count.

    After saying that, Zhenhan pointed to the side of Roy who was still desperately struggling to come over in the crowd, obviously, the Chinese characteristic of school dismissal is not something that foreigners can adapt to so easily, and Roy's situation may indeed be not good. However, what's not good is the situation of Zhenhan now, at this time in the crowded school hours, and the city they are studying in the fourth high school is located in the scenic area, if in this kind of place on the back of the infamous violence against the girls, light is the rest of the classmates indifference and contempt, heavy is to have to consider the rumors are added to the vinegar as something like: Zhenhan on the sleeping girl to move their hands and feet. A kind of vicious incident, then he may also have to make a lot of effort to prove his innocence to the school leadership.

    Just now ..... Lan closed his eyes again, as if trying to remember something, I think I heard something very rude .....

    You're sleepy and delusional.

    In order to muddle Ran through as quickly as possible, and for the sake of his own life, Zenkan reached out his hand and perfunctorily patted Ran's head gently. Ran, on the other hand, lowered her head slightly for some reason and smiled slightly with her eyes closed.

    Yo, you guys are really CLOSE! Just as that happened, Roy's voice rang out. If it isn't Suzuran-san! Makan you're really a PROFICIENT ah Having just squeezed out from the pile of people, Roy couldn't even catch his breath in a lousy way before he saw the scene that intrigued him.

    In the face of the international friend's intrigued speculation, Makan turned to him and explained

    With that guy it's just a childhood friend and a better relationship, you French love to overthink everything ..... Crap! What the hell are you wearing?!

    Just as Makan turns his head to explain to Roy, he suddenly realizes that Roy is wearing a large framed swimming goggle on his head, and the strong visual impact nearly renders him incoherent.

    "It's just to prevent the sycamore wadding from flying into my eyes ah, I'm so CLEVER! Any difficulty has a way to cope with it calmly, that's the power of french! This is the power of french!

    I'm sorry, it's a dereliction of duty on my part to have such fools, and I'm sorry for society to know such people ......

    Unable to look directly at the smug Roy, Makan covered his eyes in shame and gave up struggling . At that moment, Makan suddenly felt a gentle tug on the corner of his shirt, he turned his head to look and realized that Lan was tugging on his shirt and pointing at Roy with his other hand

    Friends ......? Lan asked slowly, sobering up a little at the sight of the bickering between the two teens.

    I don't know him, Makan said very seriously, in a decisive tone.

    I didn't realize the MONITOR was so cold-blooded, but never mind, I'll leave you two alone, I'll go first, au revoir!

    Despite the fact that Roy spoke French for the only time all day, Makan continued to pretend he didn't recognize him, and he wasn't about to turn his head even as Roy waved at them.

    As the surging and rushing crowd kept charging out, Roy disappeared into the sea of people within a few seconds. Zhenhan then looked around and confirmed that Roy had already embarked on his journey home, finally let out a sigh of relief, and then walked in the direction of his own home, unlike most people who flocked to the bus station and subway entrance, Zhenhan walked three or four kilometers home every day as a small exercise after studying, so he was far away from the crowds along the way and hardly bumped into any people. However, before he could take a step, he felt another tug on his back, and he didn't have to think about it, it could only be Lan.

    What else is going on, Lan?

    Back together...

    Ugh?!!!

    Makan heard his childhood friend's somewhat unusual statement and made a strange noise of surprise. Ran's health was not good to begin with, and she had always been transported in a special car, but she did not expect to offer to walk back today.

    Makan was at a loss for words at Ran's sudden invitation.

    Uh... Even if you say that all of a sudden, you don't want to rush, do you?

    In the face of Makan's question, Ran made a gesture of posing her hands to show off Hiroshi's biceps, revealing an athletic pose that didn't match her skinny body, and with a tilt of her head, she said, No problem at all...?

    Finally, unable to withstand Ran's soft words, Makan gave in and nodded to Ran

    Never mind, do what you like, I give up struggling.

    After receiving Zenkan's permission, Lan's face gradually overflowed with smiles, jogging to keep up with Zenkan and telling him about the interesting things that had happened during this period of time. I don't know why, but even today, Zenkhan didn't seem to have the usual speed of a race walker, maybe it was just a coincidence? Makan was walking just about as fast as Ran, and besides, he himself had a stern statement about it:

    Don't get any ideas, it's not to take care of this guy that I'm going so slow

Chapter 1 (below): The Last Peace

    Why don't your parents pick you up today?

    Makan asked Lan, who was stepping on the floor tile grid in a crooked manner, to the side. Although Lan had a special car to take her home every day, to put it bluntly, Lan's family wasn't particularly wealthy, and the so-called special car was merely their family's private car.

    Mom and Dad had some work today and won't be back until tomorrow.

    It seemed that Ran had come fully to his senses after a moment's exercise, and uttered complete semantically coherent sentences indicating the reason for what had happened. But Makan and Lan had already seen this kind of thing before, ever since they were kids, Lan's parents had been traveling for a few days every three days without returning, and at that time Lan was still unable to take care of herself, so she often boarded at Makan's house because of her parents' familiarity, but in the past few years with the company's growth, this kind of thing hadn't happened any more, it was better to say that even if there was still a similar situation now, to ask an eighteen year old girl to spend the night at the home of a boy of the same age, how can you think of it, it's still an unlikely thing, isn't it?

    Little True ..... Surprisingly, this time Ran initiated the conversation toward Makan.

    ?!!! After hearing Ran address him, Zenkan immediately turned to Ran and protested with an agitated expression, Didn't we agree a long time ago not to call me by that nickname anymore! Please, please, at least don't say it on the street! As he said that, True Cold was almost ready to kneel down for Lan.

    Let me fill you in .....

    Huh? What did you say?!

    ---- Isn t it over yet? ---- Zhenhan realized that there was always something wrong with his childhood friend s actions today.

    Little . . em..... Where does Makan rank in school now?

    Ranking, huh? About a hundred and something out of four hundred or so. What's up with that?

    Ran's sudden question about his studies really puzzled Makan.

    This is not going to work yet, at least the top of the school .... At least top 50 in the school ..... About .......

    Lan muttered in a low voice. Indeed, Zhenhan himself also knew very well that the City No. 4 High School they were attending was not a major school, but just an ordinary high school, and if he wanted to enter the National University of Science and Technology, which he was most interested in, to study the Rubik's Cube, it would be impossible to do so without having a fairly high ranking.

    ......

    Anyway, with all the self-study classes today, surely the homework is already done, right? So it's better to let me review it for you, it's a free lesson provided by the number one student in the whole school, hmmmmmmmm~ taking advantage of Makan's hesitation, Ran seized the moment to unleash another wave of attack.

    Indeed, just because a school's students are not good on average doesn't mean that all of them are not good. Especially this one, who is standing on a pedestal in front of Zhenhan's eyes. The number one she was talking about was the real number one, and the scary thing was that it wasn't just at the school level, but even at the municipal and provincial level. For Zhenhan, being able to listen to the learning methods of the provincial champion was indeed a choice that had a hundred benefits and no harm.

    Well then, thanks.

    After much deliberation, Makan agreed to Ran's suggestion, having entered his senior year of high school there was no reason for him to pass up any opportunity to increase his knowledge. But just as he agreed, there seemed to be a sudden hint of cunning in Ran's smile, but as Makan began to pay attention to Ran again, she changed back to her usual self.

    Because Lan claimed halfway home to pick up some notes and tutorials, the two headed first to the neighborhood where Lan's family lived. Although Lan's family wasn't rich, it could be considered at the top of the middle class, so the neighborhoods Lan lived in were equipped with the most advanced set of intelligent AI management systems. While waiting for Lan to go upstairs to pick up her textbooks, Zhenhan looked around at the busy machinery, and couldn't help but marvel at the rapid development of technology, dreaming of the day that he could live in a place like this as well.

    Actually, there's always a way...

    Makan was still thinking about the future when Ran had unknowingly appeared and

    Makoto is really good at understanding as always, you can read it all by the expression

    Ever since agreeing to let Ran tutor him in his studies, Ran had been in an inexplicably good mood, really confusing Makan.

    What way?

    Zenkan, who was still holding out for a better life in his fantasies, hurriedly asked.

    The 'way' to get you in here is standing right in front of you.

    Lan puffed out his chest, proudly.

    What does that mean? However, Makan didn't understand the connotation of what Lan said at all, and froze dumbfounded in place.

    Seeing the puzzled look on Makan's face, Ran had to sigh as well

    After all these years, Shin is still so slow na .....

    With that said, Lan tapped a few times on the electronically operated screen at the entrance to the cell, and within seconds, a carrying machine appeared behind Lan leading two large suitcases.

    So this is the textbook you were talking about?! Makan's eyes widened in disbelief that anyone would have so many textbooks and notes that they would have to carry them in a suitcase. Makan opened one of the suitcases to check it out, however, just as Ran had claimed before, it was full of notebooks that Ran had sat on full of notes as well as textbooks. Could ..... Is this the world of the strong, then Makan closed the lid of the suitcase with a shudder.

    Come on Makoto, let's get going, it's getting dark Ran, who was waiting on the side, started to urge Makoto and took a step towards Makoto's house on her own. For Ran, who used to go to Makoto's house almost every day, even though she hadn't visited for a few years, Makoto was pretty sure that her memories would still allow her to arrive at her door perfectly.

    Hey! What about these two big boxes!?

    All~ all~ to~ you~ la~ said Ran, even jogging.

    Hey! Wait for me you guy!

    Left alone, Makan had to pick up two huge suitcases, shouting helplessly as he set off on his heavy journey home.

    .......

    .......

    Hoo-ha... Hoo-ha... After carrying the two suitcases for nearly a kilometer, Makan collapsed on the floor of his living room, gasping for breath. If it wasn't for the uneven road surface caused by the excavation of a new subway line nearby, he wouldn't have had to pick up the suitcases that he could pull along.

    Xiao Zhen good, can not lie on the ground will catch a cold .... Lan squatted aside and stroked True Cold's head and said.

    It's not thanks to you, Makan didn't think that this perpetrator would have the face to comfort him, And, hey, stop it, Makan struggled to get up from the ground with all the strength he had left in his body, dusting Ran's hands off in the process. Makan's home was very simple, just like the neighborhood he was in. This house was the housing that the military assigned to their families, and ever since Zenkhan's father had been assigned this house twenty years ago, Zenkhan's family had been living here, except that now it was just the two of them. True Cold looked up at the wall clock, the hour hand was already almost pointing to the 7 o'clock position, True Cold didn't realize that he actually wasted so much time on the road today.

    What a miscalculation, I can't believe it's already that late, let's eat first. True cold proposed. After all, let's not worry about ourselves, if we let this delicate teacher starve in class, we really don't know if it will cause any trouble.

    Well, then I'll organize the books I brought for backup ..... With that, Lan dragged one of the boxes towards Makan's room.

    I'm going to go make dinner first then, Makan shouted loudly in the direction of his room, afraid that Ran wouldn't hear him.

    After that, the screen of the cell phone that Makan had put aside suddenly flashed, and Makan picked it up to take a look at it, and it was displaying Incoming (Lan): ok(w).

    This guy, is he already too lazy to even shout ....

    Makan was already powerless to spit, he only wanted to know how this kind of guy got to the top of the province .....

    After about ten minutes or so, Makan finished the dishes for today's dinner with the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator. Because Lan hadn't even said hello beforehand, even though Makan had used up all the ingredients, he had only managed to make three dishes that were barely enough for two people to eat.

    After bringing the food to the table, Makan served two separate bowls of freshly cooked rice from the overpressure pot and placed them at each end of the empty 4-person table. After everything was ready, Makan called out, Lan! Come out and eat!

    However, after a shout, Makan didn't hear any response from Lan. Makan was wondering what had happened and took off his apron with the intention of going in to find out, when he saw Lan walking out of the room in a daze dragging a pillow with her.

    You didn't fall asleep again, did you?! Makan couldn't believe his eyes, after only ten minutes, he didn't know how Ran managed to finish organizing a large box of books and fall asleep at the same time, such a difficult task.

    No ..... I didn't twist .... Though Ran did her best to deny Makan's accusation, her muffled enunciation and the sleepy bubbles that were rising above her head all pointed to the fact that she had just fallen asleep.

    Calm, calm, calm; that's what this childhood friend of mine is all about, that's what she's all about, that's what she's all about

    After brainwashing his insides multiple times, Makan once again gave up on arguing with Ran and snatched the pillow Ran was dragging with her, placing it on the couch before dragging the fuzzy-conscious Ran to the restroom to forcefully wash her face to clear her head.

    Sitting on the dining table, Lan seemed to be a little disgruntled about being too far away from Zhenhan, and tried to sit on a stool near Zhenhan, but Zhenhan had packed other stools in advance, so Lan could only sit down resentfully.

    How are the aunts and uncles these days? Lan asked, looking at the empty house. After all, Lan hadn't been in contact with Makan's family for several years, and since being assigned to the experimental class, she didn't even always run into each other between classes, so she knew nothing about Makan's current family situation.

    Ah, nothing much. My father that thing divorced my mother the year before last and married the daughter of a high-ranking official as his wife, and hasn't visited us since. Mother has been hospitalized in a coma since last year, and she hasn't woken up yet ..... But my father that guy, even so, has not gone to see mother once ...... Zhenhan had never been the kind of person who liked to publicize things about his family to outsiders, and the family's change of heart was even more so, and whenever anyone had asked about it over the past few years, he had always tried to find a way to put it off, and Ran had been the first outsider to learn about these things. But perhaps in Zhenhan's heart, despite being somewhat estranged, Lan was already half of his family. Speaking of this, Zhenhan couldn't help but recall the days that had depressed him over the years.

    Xiao Zhen ...... Finally, Lan's voice pulled Zhenhan back to reality, and he realized with a jolt that the bamboo chopsticks he was holding in his hands had unknowingly been pinched in two by himself.

    Makoto, I'm sorry ....... Ran lowered her head in apology, smoothly doing a semi-standard flattened, bowed head bully on the dining room table. I didn't realize that this was the kind of life that Makan had been experiencing these past few years, and if she could have known that ahead of time, Ran definitely wouldn't have asked that kind of question even if she'd slept through it.

    Ah it's okay, anyway let's eat first, otherwise it's going to get cold Seeing Lan a bit self-condemning, Zhenhan hurriedly helped her to divert her attention, after all, from the past, Lan this guy is the kind of person who won't even squeak out a broken bone as soon as she starts eating. Here, scrambled eggs with tomato, wasn't it your favorite food before

    Now too, oh~ Ran, who had been blaming herself earlier, suddenly threw her worries out the window and struggled to pivot to clip the scrambled eggs with tomatoes in the center of the table.

    Hey, look at this guy. He's really still just as good as the kids.

    Looking at Lan, who kept pouring eggdrops into her bowl, Zhenhan couldn't help but laugh out loud. Finally, half of Lan's bowl had been filled with egg flowers, and even piled up a small mountain. Looking at the egg flowers that could not be put down any more, Lan just had to eliminate some first. So she picked up a large piece of egg flower and quickly stuffed it into her mouth. The moment the egg flower was in her mouth, Lan's eyes, which were usually almost half-closed, suddenly opened wide, as if flashing with a burst of light, and she randomly swept away the egg flower in the bowl with the momentum of an autumn wind, and after taking a deep breath, she stared at Zhenhan, who was petrified with astonishment, and said earnestly:

    Shin, get married!

    Makan was stunned at first, then smiled awkwardly, How old are you to still be making jokes. Eat your food, or I'll take it all away, he said, stretching out his hand to clip away some of the few eggs left on the plate, accompanied by Lan's miserable wailing and begging for mercy, the dinner was finally over in a mess. Incidentally, later on, Makan contributed his own eggs for breakfast for the next few days, and re-scrambled a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes for Lan.

    Makoto was now staring blankly at the books Ran had brought with her. Just now, he had witnessed something far beyond his comprehension: Ran was using her cell phone to chat with her classmates at the same time as teaching him the problem, and even more unbelievable was that at the same time, she was also working on an extra-thick high-math exercise book, which Makoto had never heard of before... Makoto thought that Ran would not be able to answer his question right away, but Ran turned her attention away from her cell phone and talked about her next idea without a pause... .....

    Maybe... This is the world of the strong, right? ......

    Makan had already made this exclamation for the second time in just a few hours, and he sincerely doubted that having Ran tutor him in the methods he had learned would fill the holes in his own self-confidence.

    By the time Zhenhan packed up his books, the moon was already high in the branches outside the window, and the high clock reminded people that it was already past nine o'clock. True cold thought back to today's various encounters, suddenly feel exhausted, stood up and stretched a lazy waist, turned his head to the about to fall asleep Lan said Lan, time is running out, go back.

    After muttering something vaguely as he was forcibly dragged out of his sleep, Ran shuffled out of the door of Makan's house, dragging the suitcase full of study materials with him, slamming the door behind him with a bang.

    Although Lan had sort of gone out, Makan sat alone in the living room, always feeling that there was something wrong .... He looked around, and after a careful search, he suddenly realized that there was another of Lan's suitcases lying on the living room couch!

    Just as Zhenhan was hurriedly pulling out his cell phone and preparing to call Lan, there was a knock on the living room door, and Zhenhan rushed over to open the door, and sure enough, it was Lan, who had also noticed that a suitcase was missing, and had circled back on her own. Makan had long been used to his childhood friend's erratic behavior, and he pushed the other suitcase, which was already on the doorstep, towards Lan and said, This is it, right?

    Seeing her missing case, Ran gave a quick nod. Makan looked out the window it was already almost dark and asked Ran Anyway, there's nothing more to do, let me take you back

    However, to Makan's surprise, Ran raised the STOP sign to him like a traffic cop, pushed the original case he took towards Makan's house, pulled on another case and ran into the bathroom of Makan's house and locked the door.

    Makan had thought about the scene where Lan denied his opinion, but he had not expected such a strange unfolding. Even if Lan wanted to go to the restroom, there was no need to drag another box in, and what exactly was inside that box was a complete unknown to Makhan, and coupled with Lan's strange behavior today, he developed an ominous feeling.

    This guy, he wouldn't want to cause any mischief... True Cold whispered to himself.

    Unfortunately, True Cold's words were prophetic. When the door clicked open, Makan knew that today's bad luck wasn't over yet.

    Stop! Makan shouted, calling out to Ran, who was slowly moving toward Makan's room in a full set of furry pajamas, What do you want!

    Keys .... Forgot it at home ..... Lan stared at Makan with an innocent look on his face, and although Makan understood the situation, once someone, especially Lan's parents, found out about something like letting a girl of his class live at home, he might have to spend the rest of his life in jail. So, a strong desire to survive drove him to dial Ran's father's number.

    Hello? Uncle Suzu, it's Makan.

    Oh, Xiao Zhen, what's the matter in the middle of the night, came the voice of a kindly middle-aged man from the other side of the phone.

    That ..... Can I trouble you to pick up Lan?

    But her mother and I are out of town right now, why are you suddenly saying that? Uncle Suzuki's tone was very cordial, as if he didn't treat Zhenhan as an outsider at all

    It may be a little hard to believe .... but your daughter forgot her keys at home and is now lugging two large suitcases with the intention of spending the night at my place...

    Hehe, Zhenhan ah .... Uncle Suzaku's tone suddenly became serious and grave, as if he was thinking about something, and Makan broke out in a cold sweat, lest Uncle Suzaku create some heavenly misunderstanding.

    ...........

    After a short silence, Uncle Suzu suddenly spoke up

    You kid is quite a set heh! It has the demeanor of your uncle me back in the day ah .... Uncle Suzu's tone was so full of joy and pride that Zenkan even wondered who was his biological child, himself or Ran.

    That, Uncle Suzaku, did you misunderstand something?

    Aiya, our daughter is so big indeed should also consider this aspect of the problem, my daughter will leave it to you ah, hahaha

    After the words were spoken, before Makan could say a few more words, the phone was hung up amidst Uncle Suzaku's loud laughter.

    ??? True Cold's explanation didn't even manage to interrupt Uncle Suzu's gushing exclamations, and he secretly resolved that in the future he would have to get a paternity test done for this family at his own expense.

    Looking at the hung up phone, Makan deeply felt his powerlessness as well as vulnerability. On the other hand, Ran, who had witnessed what had just happened, after realizing his victory from the expression on Makan's face, jumped to Makan's bed in a flash and got in.

    Hey! What are you doing?!

    Ignoring Makan's questioning, Ran lifted the other corner of the quilt and patted the bed, saying

    Makoto, come to bed .....

    Makan couldn't stand it any longer, and as soon as he barfed Ran from the bed, he carried her to the door, opened it, kicked it out, and slammed it heavily.

    However, within a few seconds, Makan heard a familiar knock, knock, knock on the door. Makan opened the door with an indifferent face and asked Ran with an indifferent face, What's wrong?

    Ran thought for a moment, then raised her head, stared at Makan, and said in a sincere tone It's okay to sleep under separate covers...

    BANG!!!

    Before Ran's words could play, Makan closed the door heavily again. As he had expected, however, Ran began to knock again and again. Makan was determined to ignore her, but Ran seemed to be tireless, knocking more and more frequently. Finally, in order not to disturb the neighbors, Makan had to open the door again, and as soon as he opened it, he saw Ran's serious expression again!

    Actually having a place for me to sleep would be fine Ran stated. Ran's offer was barely acceptable to Makan this time, so he asked

    There's only the couch. Is that acceptable?

    Lan nodded without thinking, and seeing that Lan really had nowhere else to go, Makan couldn't bear to see his childhood friend cowering in the corner of the building for the night, so with a sigh, he shouldered Lan up and transported her to her room, dropping her on the bed as soon as he could and tucking her in.

    I thought I was told to sleep on the couch .... Ran wondered to Makan

    Shivering, annoying, sleeping on the sofa is quite good, it is good in ....... Che really can not think of what to say, real cold perfunctory said a few sentences and closed the people, rolled a blanket towards the living room sofa.

    It's only 10:00 or so True Cold glanced at his phone screen and realized that there were still more than 4 hours before the SAQ he was going to watch aired, and couldn't help but sigh at the slow passage of time.

    Today stalled so many things to kill, hey True cold while sighing his encounter, while opening this age of high school students are playing the card game, clicked once ten consecutive summoning, but the draw out of the things are all three stars, the only four-star card is still only equipment cards. It clearly felt like it was already two o'clock after only playing the game for a short while, and Makan opened up the bibilili video site, and finally, at the light of two-thirty, he covered himself with a blanket and sank into a dreamy state as he lay down on the cramped couch.

Chapter 2 (above): The Collapsing Vortex

    Buy me a minute, just a minute!

    Zenkhan shouted to the two behind him, and after signaling to each other, Zenkhan angled the black sword in his hand, barely catching the monster's giant sword attack, then he shouted, SWITCH!

    True Cold stomped the ground hard as he snapped and flew backwards, in lieu of that, the two men who had just rested behind him rushed forward and began to fend off the monster's attacks. Retreating to the back, only then did True Cold see the monster's full appearance, with green eyes, demonic goat horns, and green flames spitting out of its mouth. True Cold had seen many strong enemies, but this was the first time he had seen such a powerful enemy. However, he let the other two of his companions block the onslaught for him not to witness the monster's full appearance, he called out his backpack and quickly rummaged through the many weapons.

    This is it! With a determined gleam in his eyes, True Cold took a big leap forward after equipping the weapon of his choice, even before the weapon's shape was loaded up

    Stand back! Zhenhan shouted, and at that moment, the monster's attention was also attracted by Zhenhan, terminating its entanglement with the others and swinging its giant blade to force its way towards Zhenhan.

    As the distance closed, it looked like True Cold was about to be struck by the giant blade, and just in the nick of time, he drew a second sword from the back of his fluttering black coat, and the two swords interlocked with each other, easily parrying the monster's attack.

    star beast stream!!! As Zhenhan hissed loudly, his twin swords were enveloped in azure light, pulling Zhenhan's body, he swung 16 consecutive slashes at the monster at a speed that was hard to catch with the naked eye, and in an instant, the monster, which possessed a few hp, transformed into countless photoelectricity that floated down on top of the arena's ground, emitting a sound like raindrops.

    Although he managed to defeat the monster, True Cold was also exhausted and collapsed to the ground with two black eyes. At that moment, the white-clothed female swordsman who was traveling with him ran over, shook him, and said, True Cold, get up.

    Huh?! Makan felt himself suddenly regaining his strength and sat up at once, but when he opened his eyes, he realized that there was no fighting arena or monsters, and that he was sitting on a couch in the living room with a blanket on, and it was Ran, who had already woken up, who was shaking himself.

    Ah, dreaming about saq-related dreams again.

    Zenkan couldn't help but sigh. After reentering the real world, he yawned as he straightened his blankets, the bright sunlight outside the window reminded him that it was getting late, True Cold glanced at the wall clock, then his eyes widened as he darted towards the closet

    Isn't this late already? Lan what are you doing why don't you call me earlier! It's already past twelve ah!

    But it's Saturday oh? Ran said calmly as he stared at Makan, who was rummaging through his school uniform.

    ? Makan's movements stalled, indeed on second thought, it seemed like today was really a day off, I'm crazy about school Makan couldn't help but spit at himself. However, in this country's harsh education system, it was almost non-existent for people like Ran to have the time to care about anything other than studying.

    After Makan had haphazardly stuffed his uniform back into his locker, Ran spoke up

    Come and eat, Shin.

    Huh? You cooked? Makan didn't realize that this guy who was almost useless except for his studies could cook.

    Then how-else-was-this-ever-thing- Ran tugged angrily at the apron she was wearing, something the sleepy-eyed Makan had completely missed before, and it looked as if Ran had indeed cooked breakfast herself.

    Breakfast was not the smoking dark cuisine that Makan had expected, but rather very ordinary bread and fried eggs. After the two of them finished eating an unknown amount of lunch or breakfast, Makan received a text message from Uncle Suzaku, which was probably about the fact that he had returned.

    Finally saved! Makan breathed a long sigh of relief; he couldn't afford to do that if Uncle Suzaku was going to stay out of town for a few more days. After cleaning the dishes, Makan urged a reluctant Lan to organize her things and carried two large boxes downstairs for her. Only when the two of them reached the door, a very high-class looking business car stopped in front of them, and when Zhenhan was wondering if he was being targeted by the gangs, the car window slowly lowered.

    Yo, my daughter is giving you trouble.

    Heard his voice before he saw him, it couldn't be anyone else but Uncle Bell.

    It's filling in a lot of trouble True Cold replied truthfully. After a night of torture, True Cold no longer wanted to say anything polite.

    Ahahahaha, that's kinda embarrassing.

    It's nothing, it would have been a big help to get going faster After stuffing the two big boxes into the trunk, Makan had to busy himself with stuffing Lan into the car as well.

    Well, we'll be off then. Remember to come and play, too.

    Uh, ah, oh, okay, True Cold dealt with Uncle Suzu's invitation and finally coaxed the Suzu family back to their father and daughter. Finally clearing his mind, Makan remembered his family's refrigerator that had been ransacked last night, and if he couldn't survive on just water, he'd have to make a trip to the grocery store. So, True Cold headed to the nearby bus stop and caught a bus to the downtown supermarket.

    ......

    ......

    Damn... It's so heavy After checking out at the counter, Makan was carrying two large bags of food in both hands, one of which was fresh meat and vegetables, while the other was canned food, but regardless of what was actually inside, there was no doubt that they were not generally heavy. Why did I buy so many things!!!

    However the teenager's wail was soon drowned out in the hustle and bustle of the city's traffic, and in the fast-paced metropolis, no one would make any stops for you. Makan turned his shoulders twice with difficulty, endured the great weight on his arms, and took his steps home.

    Rather, it's how I've always been lifting heavy things for the past two days!

    True Cold remembered yesterday's encounter and couldn't help but silently spit inside. True Cold walked silently down the busy street, neon lights and electronically projected advertising slogans were flying in the sky and catching people's eyes, but at this moment, he just wanted to enjoy a moment of peace and have a lazy Sunday before school started next Monday. Makan kept his head down, not paying attention to the scene around him, maybe this moment of peace was what he needed the most.

    But he could never have imagined that his life would be on the opposite side of the road from peace.

    Without any warning, True Cold's cell phone suddenly rang at maximum volume. He did remember that he had put his cell phone on silent, but how could this embarrassing thing still happen in a public place? While secretly doubting his memory, True Cold pulled out his cell phone.

    Is it an orchid? Or is it an advertisement for sales promotion? In the end who is so nosy ah to die le ......?!!!!

    Before True Cold could finish cursing, he saw what was displayed on the screen:

    From: Government of the Republic (000000)

    The Garmis Federation has declared war on our country, and the nation has entered a state of war.

    Just this one short notification message made Zhenhan's brain instantly blanked out. He had been living in a peaceful era, and like