The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

After Commander Leng finished speaking, the plane began to shake more and more violently. He quickly returned to his seat and fastened his seatbelt. Then, an announcement came over the intercom: "We are about to make an emergency landing at sea. Prepare according to previous training."

"Are you kidding me? Is this a drill? There are patients here." Luo Yifei shouted into the loudspeaker.

"This isn't a drill. Help him bend down," Commander Leng replied from the front, as the plane was rapidly descending.

With the help of Xi Wei and Luo Yifei, I bent down and placed my hands on the seat in front of me.

……

When I woke up, I was already in the newly built dormitory on that secret island in the South China Sea. Luo Yifei was sitting at his desk playing a computer game. It was the game called "Deceive the Heavens and Cross the Sea" without me even having to think about it.

I tried moving my body and surprisingly, I no longer felt weak.

"Luo Yifei," I called out to him. He was clearly too engrossed in the game.

"you're awake."

"That goes without saying. So, what's the situation now? I think the plane made an emergency landing."

“That’s right, you’ve been asleep for three days. The wing of the plane we were on was struck by lightning that day. The plane made an emergency landing on the sea. The captain tragically died, and the others were injured to varying degrees. You and the others were taken to the island’s medical clinic for treatment. All 24 people went to the medical clinic and were all sent back to their dormitories a day later. When I was rescuing people, I clearly saw one person with blood streaming down his leg, a truly gruesome sight, but he was able to run after leaving the medical clinic.”

"Oh, um." I nodded, then asked, "So what have you been doing these past few days?"

"It's nothing, just three days, one triathlon each day. I was the fastest, by the way," Luo Yifei replied with a smug look on his face.

"Three consecutive days of triathlons." I expressed my surprise, but quickly calmed down. These days, anything is possible; there's no need to make a fuss. Then I asked, "Full marathon or half marathon?"

"Of course, the whole journey. What's the point of half a journey?"

After hearing Luo Yifei's answer, I decided to end the topic. So I looked at the computer and asked if I saw another identical one next to it. Luo Yifei noticed my gaze and said, "How about it? Not bad, right? I picked it for you, definitely the last one. But I think their budget might be a bit tight; the options they gave us were only above average, not the best. The phone options are pretty good, all engineering prototypes, not the mass-produced kind. Almost everyone chose this kind—a full-screen, 100% screen on the entire front. Some people even chose a big brick, with screens on both sides, but it's too bulky."

Luo Yifei pulled out his phone, and the two models were exactly the same. I could only change the subject again: "Are you still playing that game?"

"Yes, three days ago, the day our plane crashed, this game completed its final upgrade. The next day was National Day, and everyone was on holiday. Logically, that game studio should have also had a 7-day holiday. However, this game has been confirmed to be an electronic model of Planet Z, so the relevant national departments requested them to provide more information. But, by October 2nd, none of them could be found; they seemed to have vanished into thin air. There is no footage of them leaving the studio on September 30th on the surveillance cameras."

Hearing Luo Yifei's words, I suddenly became interested. I asked eagerly, "And then what happened?"

"Some netizens followed a trail by looking at a few pictures left by the game studio on the 'Dust' game forum. They found that those people were likely in the famous tourist attraction—the deserted island. Guess what happened next?" Luo Yifei left the rest of the story as a mystery.

"Tell me quickly." I was really eager to know what happened next.

"This just happened yesterday. Yesterday morning, our neighboring country to the east issued a series of earthquake warnings, and in the afternoon, the earthquake struck. Now, only half of their territory remains. The United Nations is currently discussing whether various countries should accept their refugees. Of course, that's not the main point."

"So what's the key point? What about the people at the game studio?"

"Our country issued an earthquake warning about the deserted island on National Day and suspended all tours to the island. On the morning of October 3rd, when our eastern neighbor issued an earthquake warning, we had already evacuated most of the island's residents. After the earthquake that afternoon, only a central reef remained. Coincidentally, yesterday afternoon, the island nation B to the west also issued an earthquake warning. This morning, B was in chaos, with everyone fleeing to the European continent. There wasn't this much chaos when the news about extraterrestrials was announced recently. I wonder if it's because Planet Z is still in the era of cold weapons. On National Day, the country held a military parade to boost national morale, and everyone gradually calmed down. But then yesterday's earthquake wiped out half of that eastern country. Now everyone is basically panicking. We were supposed to go for training this morning, but after yesterday's incident, there's a meeting today. It's probably about whether our island is safe and whether we should transfer us to an aircraft carrier."

An aircraft carrier is similar to the Kunpeng bird of the Xuan Tian Continent.

"Are you done talking?" I asked.

“Yes, that’s all. That’s all I know.” Luo Yifei glanced at me, as if he suddenly understood something: “By the way, Ye Xuehan didn’t come, and neither did Nan Tian. We tried to contact them, but there was no news. Their phones are not on the server.”

"Oh." I probably had no expression at the time.

Just then, a message arrived on each of the two phones. Luo Yifei handed me my phone.

I opened my phone, and the text message read: "Shen Lixi, the days ahead will be the most difficult for not only the entire country, but for the entire planet. The United Nations has reached a consensus that all countries must unite to resist extraterrestrial forces. I hope that my son and I can fight side by side to protect our country and our planet. Also, please take care of your diet and clothing. —Shen Cheng"

"Shen Lixi, do you think the United Nations could have reached an agreement if it weren't for this earthquake?" Luo Yifei asked me this question after reading the text message.

I was taken aback by Luo Yifei's question and didn't know how to answer. So, thinking of changing the subject again, I asked, "I was unconscious for three days, how come I didn't starve to death?"

"Oh, the infirmary brought you nutritional fluids a couple of days ago. But they didn't bring any yesterday, so the doctor asked me to feed you. You know, it's kind of weird for a guy like me to feed another guy. So I had to ask those girls over there to take turns feeding you."

"what?"

“Yesterday morning, when Su An was feeding you milk and bread, she just pried your mouth open and poured it in. The worst part is, you didn't even try to swallow, and the milk spilled everywhere. I watched as you almost choked to death. So, I had no choice but to let Chang Xi feed you. She fed you all three meals yesterday and this morning. Tell me, how are you going to thank me for all this sacrifice I've made for you?”

"Well, when the world is at peace again, I'll definitely buy you a gift to thank you and your sister-in-law properly."

"What sister-in-law?"

"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, is that enough?"

"No, given the current situation, I've given up all hope. You know about what happened between her and me."

"Then why don't you change your penguin profile picture? The thing is, she hasn't changed hers either. Tell me, who can't tell that you two are 'matching profile pictures'?"

"That's the same profile picture she's always used; she's probably too lazy to change it. I'm not changing mine because I painstakingly photoshopped a picture with similar colors and elements to hers, and I can't bear to part with it."

"To be honest, I just can't bear to part with it," I said with a smile.

"No, I mean, the first picture that took a long time to Photoshop."

"An explanation is just a cover-up."

"Oh, by the way, the last update to that game was related to VR. The higher-ups are paying a lot of attention to this game. General Ma said that we'll all be equipped with VR devices in the next couple of days." This time it was Luo Yifei's turn to change the subject.