MC Creative Mode: Wholesale Perpetual Motion Machine

Chapter 298 Intertwined Past and Future

Fang Zheng opened his mouth: "%#+×..."

Just like before, his answer still didn't convey the message accurately. It was like a cognitive filter or a simple signal mismatch. This was probably because the old man, Zhang Kun's deceased grandfather, didn't understand Fang Zheng's explanation at all.

It seems that, just as Zhang Kun's incantation and rituals dispelled the smartphones, the people we've seen so far all seem to have a passive ability to refuse to understand events beyond their comprehension.

"Never mind..." Fang Zheng shook his head and turned to look out the window again.

Just outside the train station, where one could see a few lights in the nearby villages and towns, everything suddenly turned pitch black, with only a few moonlight and starlight scattered across the desolate plain.

Is this a return to the past, or an arrival in another similar world?
"It doesn't matter..."

In any case, no matter what form the process takes or how long or short it takes, everything Founder will do has already been completely completed while interacting with unfamiliar sets and unfamiliar logical systems.

As a projection of his personality, the process that Fang Zheng experienced was merely a dispensable manifestation.

"You're Zhang Kun's grandfather, right?" Fang Zheng asked.

“Yes,” the old man looked around the aisle, not seeing his grandson, and simply took out two pieces of malt candy wrapped in glutinous rice paper from his pocket and stuffed them into Fang Zheng’s hands. “Have a piece of candy. Are you a new friend of Xiao Gouzi’s? That rascal, I told him not to wander around on the train, and I just took a nap, and he’s off playing somewhere again.”

"Never mind, nothing will happen to him, let him be..." After saying that, he adjusted his posture and continued to doze off.

It's clear that Zhang Kun's grandfather and Zhang Kun look quite alike, probably because of their similarly tall and robust physiques and shamanic status. On this bustling and chaotic train, they are like bears who don't need to worry about being attacked by cats or dogs; they remain calm and composed even in places where ordinary people need to be extremely careful.

Watching the old man fall asleep, Fang Zheng got up and walked into the corridor. After walking a few steps away from the old man, he did not notice any change in the surrounding scenery.

"Has time, or the world, really changed?"

"But wasn't I with Zhang Kun? Why has the perspective suddenly switched?" Fang Zheng asked, somewhat puzzled.

This phenomenon has occurred several times so far.

Fang Zheng's first scene after arriving in this world was a desolate wilderness, filled with all sorts of twisted and bizarre shadows, a nighttime wasteland that was hard to describe.

That place was probably a world viewed solely from the perspective of the cat-faced old woman. Apart from the cat-faced old woman and Zhang Kun's little niece whom she had captured, Fang Zheng did not discover any other life at all.

After defeating the cat-faced old woman, the desolate wilderness twisted and turned until Zhang Kun arrived. Fang Zheng then entered a completely new, seemingly normal perspective and they went to Tuanjie Village together.

Later, in Tuanjie Village, Fang Zheng was unable to leave through normal movement. While wandering around the village, he discovered a dried weasel corpse in a local temple, and thus discovered another perspective that resembled a cultivation world.

But after leaving Tuanjietun and heading to the train station, the interweaving of many different perspectives became more frequent. Zhang Kun was like an anchor point; Fang Zheng had to be close enough to him to be able to exist stably within his world.

Until just now, Fang Zheng was very close to Zhang Kun, so why did the scene suddenly change, and he arrived at what seemed to be the time when Zhang Kun took his first train ride as a teenager?
Was it a swap between Fang Zheng and the young Zhang Kun, or something else?
Clang, clang...

The green train on the track kept moving without stopping, and before we knew it, it had traveled a long distance and entered a deep tunnel.

The tunnel was pitch black, a stark contrast to the wilderness where one could still glimpse the faint light of stars and moon.

Only a few carriages emitted a dim, yellowish glow from oil lamps, barely illuminating a small area, flickering like will-o'-the-wisps.

In the dim light, the figures of various pieces of luggage and pedestrians appeared somewhat distorted and swaying. The faint conversations of the few passengers who were still awake became indistinct, like whispers in one's ear; no matter how hard one listened, nothing could be grasped.

"Ah!" Fang Zheng was leisurely strolling down the aisle, intending to look for the boy Zhang Kun, when suddenly a piercing scream broke the silence of the carriage.

"What happened?"

"What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?! Can't a person get some sleep?!"

"Has a thief come?"

Many passengers in the carriage were startled awake. They instinctively touched their luggage and then immediately looked in the dim light toward the source of the sound.

"Outside the window, someone was watching me just now!" A middle-aged woman in a window seat clutched her chest, panting heavily, and pointed to the darkness outside the window, clearly terrified.

"What's the big deal? Don't overreact!" a young man wearing glasses said impatiently. "Are you having a nightmare, or are you seeing things in the window? We're in a tunnel right now. How could there be anyone in a tunnel? Honestly, scaring people can kill you!"

"Yeah, yeah, I was sleeping soundly and you almost scared me to death!" other passengers chimed in. "Hey, is this some kind of pickpocketing incident? Can't you sleep anymore?" The flight attendant, who had been woken up, walked over impatiently.

"What? A dark shadow was seen watching you from outside the window..." After understanding the situation, the flight attendant's expression changed slightly. She glanced at the older woman, coughed, and went to close the curtains. "Didn't I tell you to close all the curtains and windows? Hurry up and leave..."

"But..." The middle-aged woman glanced out the window with lingering fear, but seeing the impatient looks from the other passengers, she shut her mouth.

The flight attendant hurried away, his face growing increasingly grim. Fang Zheng could hear him muttering under his breath, "Damn it, this is the sixth time this month. God help me, God help me, please don't let anything happen..."

The noisy carriage quickly returned to silence. Fang Zheng quietly peeked out the window through a corner of the curtain, but it was still pitch black, and he didn't see the so-called dark figure.

"Hey! Kid, if you want to live, don't look outside." Suddenly, someone whispered behind Fang Zheng, and the curtains were pulled shut.

"Zhang Kun?" Fang Zheng turned his head and saw that it was indeed Zhang Kun. However, compared to his thirties, the young Zhang Kun was only 1.8 meters tall and not as burly as he would later become, and his face still had a youthful look.

"You know me?" Young Zhang Kun scratched his head. "Are you also from around Tuanjie Village?"

"No, I just know your future self," Fang Zheng replied.

"The future me? What nonsense..." Zhang Kun scratched his head. "Never mind, let me give you a friendly reminder: children's eyes are more sensitive than adults'. No matter where you see strange shadows or anything that feels odd at night, never go near them."

"There are so many filthy things, they're just meant to harm people. If you stare at them and get hurt by those things, you'll either die or lose your soul and become an idiot. Then you'll just be left to drool and become a village guard."

(Oh, this young Zhang Kun, can he hear what I'm saying?)
(Why is he impotent in his thirties? Is it due to different cognitive issues at different ages?)
"What are you doing here? Your grandfather was just looking for you," Fang Zheng asked casually.

"My grandpa wants to see me?" Zhang Kun scoffed, raising his thick arm. "Honestly, my grandpa just loves to discipline me. I'm a grown man, as strong as an ox, what's he afraid of me getting into trouble for?"

"As for what I'm doing..." Zhang Kun, the boy, said in a low voice with a hint of excitement on his face, "Don't tell my grandpa, I think I just spotted some human traffickers!"

He even looked somewhat excited, his eyes darting around as if constantly checking if anyone was watching him.

Perhaps because he had made Fang Zheng the object of his boasting, he clenched his fist and said, "Look, look, my fist is as big as a clay pot! Don't even mention mere human traffickers, even if a few armed bandits come, I can take down three of them with one punch!"

"Oh," Fang Zheng asked casually, "Now that you've discovered the human traffickers, aren't you going to tell your grandfather or the train police, or are you planning to go after them yourself?"

Zhang Kun said smugly, "Why would I tell them? I'm going to be a shaman! Even if my family's Black Spirit protects me, my fists are as big as sandbags, one punch and I can break an iron rod. What do I have to fear from human traffickers! I'll catch a few human traffickers with my bare hands, and then our team will have to hold a separate commendation ceremony for me. That's what you call awesome! If I tell them, I'll have to share the credit with them, how boring!"

After saying that, Zhang Kun's nose twitched like a dog's as he stared at Fang Zheng and said again, "You seem to be quite capable too, right? Want to join me? I've found the human traffickers, but it seems I haven't found them all. You look pretty smart; help me find the rest, and I'll give you a share of the credit."

"I'm not interested in any credit, but catching human traffickers is no problem, and I don't need to go with you." Fang Zheng shook his head and nodded, then pulled Zhang Kun to another carriage.

He walked over to two people who appeared to be asleep but were actually vigilantly observing their surroundings, and quickly slapped them twice.

"Bang! Bang!" After two dull thuds, the two human traffickers fell off their seats with cries of pain, their screams waking up the other passengers.

The train police rushed over again, only to see Fang Zheng reach out and rip open a luggage bag, revealing an unconscious woman inside.

"Shoot the flower!"

"It's Hanako! How did they find this kid?"

"Heh, if you dare to do this job of flower-picking, you'll be fed peanuts in a couple of days!"

The awakened passengers began to discuss the incident, and passengers from the next carriage also heard the noise and rushed over to watch as the two swindlers, who had been found to have a lot of anesthetic drugs, were handcuffed.

After a brief commotion, Zhang Kun returned to his seat and called Fang Zheng over for a chat.

Looking at Zhang Kun's grandfather, who was still dozing off, and young Zhang Kun, who was talking excitedly, Fang Zheng tilted his head and thought for a moment.

Given the different levels of understanding Zhang Kun had during his childhood and middle age, would he react differently to that shadowy figure?

Then he said, "By the way, the future you I know is also on a train, preparing to deal with a shadowy murder case. Would you be interested in giving it a try...?"

(End of this chapter)