Chapter 4: The Shocking Deception

The so-called good fortune of having one’s misfortune washed away after traveling through time ultimately did not befall Wen Luan.

What skill does driving a bus count as? The White Whale Galaxy has no cars, only flying saucers. Forget about operating systems, even the current writing system is incomprehensible to Wen Luan.

The red-haired beauty from the Household Registration Office sadly informed him that the kingdom had no need for the “lost technology” Wen Luan was skilled in, nor were there any suitable job arrangements for him. According to regulations, they could only provide temporary accommodation and food supplies for one month on an obligation basis.

“What about language schools? How are the course fees calculated?” Wen Luan pressed further. “Even if I’m expected to find work myself, at least provide me with a translator!”

That red-haired beauty looked at him in surprise. “Sorry, there is no such provision in the regulations. In fact, you don’t need to worry. Ninety-nine percent of lost individuals will eventually return to their original timeline. You just need to lie in your room and wait for ‘re-loss’.”

“…”

Is this really not a joke?

Wen Luan’s mouth twitched, struggling to force out a sincere smile. “I am very curious about how that one percent who failed to successfully return managed to survive on Deep Blue.”

“This, is their individual ability issue, I find it very difficult to explain, sir.”

The red-haired beauty stood up with a smile, and placed something resembling a silver wristwatch on the table:

“This is your temporary residence permit for Deep Blue Star, which can also serve as a house key, food ration collection certificate, and a simple city map with English annotations. Now, please follow me.”

At the end of the corridor was a grand hall adorned luxuriously, still in the style of Western European courts, but the doorways were hung with at least dozens of metal plaques, upon which “Lost Persons Temporary Residence” was written in various scripts. Wen Luan even saw the legendary cuneiform and oracle bone script.

If what the city patrol officer and registrar said was true, then among those swept here by the spatial rifts, people from every nation and era truly were represented.

Setting aside everything else, just considering that his neighbors might include French nobles or guardsmen from Athens’ polis was enough to challenge Wen Luan’s nerves. He unconsciously felt that the most suitable sign for this building wasn’t “Lost Persons Temporary Residence,” but rather “Asylum for the Insane.”

“The fourth room on the first floor. Thank you for your cooperation, sir. May you lose yourself soon.”

Wen Luan was speechless, his veins pulsing.

This tone is really very much like saying: may you get lost early, may you go missing soon, thank you for your cooperation.

Yet he couldn’t argue back. Even if Deep Blue Star’s technology was advanced, its living standards developed, he only wanted to return to Meteorite Town to continue driving his bus and living in his dilapidated house.

Wen Luan looked at this temporary residence with caution.

Something was off.

His doubts reached their peak when the wristwatch automatically opened the fourth bedroom door, and he saw the furnishings inside clearly.

Smooth floor tiles, open space, the furnishings were just like hotels from the 21st century, even down to being an entire suite. The outermost part had tables, chairs, and leather sofas made of unknown materials, while where the bed should be inside, there was a two-meter-long silver metal cabin.

Although the urban patrol officer had expressed his disgust towards transmigrators as thoroughly as possible, his disgust was also because Deep Blue Star treated transmigrators too well.

Look at this room: in an age where even beds can be lifted into museums as antiques, they have actually imitated the furnishings from Wen Luan’s time as his temporary residence.

This spacious hall has six floors, with no fewer than thirty rooms; could each have a different style? Does a country expend such effort just to accommodate these suddenly appearing time travelers, pampering them before sending them back?

Even fools wouldn’t believe it!

Wen Luan wasn’t a scientist, nor was he an artist; one could say he had little value as a person, but he believed those Athenian guards were even less likely to bring any benefits to these future governments. Deep Blue Star had no reason to treat them preferentially.

Could this be an enormous scam?

Were the time travelers not sent back through time, but secretly killed or experimented upon instead? The time travelers originally appeared mysteriously, so their equally mysterious disappearances would raise no suspicions.

The more Wen Luan thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

He cast a wary eye on the silver metal cabin in the bedroom. Regardless of whether that was what people slept in during this era, he decided not to approach it—since all other furniture had been replicated, why was the bed alone spared?

Wen Luan cautiously wandered around the room. He didn’t see any suspicious objects resembling spray nozzles, but those things could be completely hidden within the walls, releasing toxic or anaesthetic gases at any time to make him lose consciousness.

He must leave as soon as possible!

Wen Luan pulled open the room door, then stopped his footsteps.

He looked at the watch-like object on his hand, intending to throw it away, but he was still wearing sleep clothes. If he walked onto Deep Blue Star’s streets like this, he would be immediately sent back here!

The room’s wardrobe did indeed contain several pieces of clothing with styles similar to those of passersby on the road, along with shoes, but Wen Luan dared not wear them.

If his suspicions were true, then it would be normal for the watch and clothes to have signal transmitters. No government could possibly allow a group of time travelers to wander freely on their country’s streets.

Wait for the food delivery person to come. The clothes on that guy should be safe. With luck, I might even snatch a translator.

Wen Luan silently prayed to God that the one responsible for delivering food here wasn’t a robot.

Suddenly, an exaggerated voice sounded in Wen Luan’s ear:

“What a rare sight, I see what, a neighbor!”

Wen Luan swiftly turned his head, startled to find a man standing at his door wearing a felt hat, with a brass bullet belt slung over his shoulder, denim trousers and high leather boots, and a yellow cloth tied around his neck.

He exaggeratedly laughed at Wen Luan and spread his arms wide to indicate his harmless nature.

Wen Luan’s gaze fell on the revolver holstered in its leather holster at this fellow’s waist.

“In this damned place, encountering a new face who isn’t wrapped in white bed sheets but rather dressed in clothes and pants, it truly is too delightful!” This man had a very handsome appearance, with deep-set eyes and a head of curly black hair; he could be considered quite charming.

His attire was something every American could instantly recognize:

Western Cowboy!

In the 19th century, during the history of America’s western expansion, these heroes astride horses were just like the image from Hollywood movies, and even in appearance they didn’t fall short compared to big-name stars.

“Hello,” Wen Luan said dryly, unsure how to address the person before him.

For all he knew, the other might be several decades older than his deceased father.

“Are you just arriving today? Friend, I’ve been living here for ten days already, without cattle, without beer, without girls with beautiful faces and fiery figures! This is simply hell. Even worse, my previous neighbor was a bastard who only wore bed sheets and didn’t speak human language!” The handsome cowboy waved his arms, shouting angrily.

His physique was strong, muscles powerful.

Once upon a time, western cowboys needed to use ropes to secure cattle by their necks, drive and take care of herds. Wen Luan could only regretfully abandon the idea of planning to acquire this guy’s revolver.

Since it hadn’t been taken away or destroyed by the urban patrol officers, does this mean that in the eyes of the people here, revolvers are no more dangerous than fruit knives or steel forks?

Wen Luan’s heart sank heavily, the situation was grim.

“If there were beer, I’d really like to treat you to a drink here…” This cowboy walked into the room with ease, he examined the surrounding furnishings, then let out another sigh, “An extremely wonderful house, looks like where those southern plantation owners lived. Ah, friend, where did you come from?”

“AD 2010.”

“My God!” The cowboy hastily asked, “Have you heard of the famous name Joan Wilson? I am one of Texas’ most renowned cowboys; perhaps even a hundred years from now my name will still be circulating.”

“Uh, sorry…” Wen Luan could only look at him regretfully, “I’m not very familiar with these things.”

“What do you do?” The cowboy leaned against the door frame, his high boots rhythmically stomping on the floor tiles as he casually asked.

“Just an ordinary person in a small town.”

“Tsk tsk.” The cowboy shook his head, raising his index finger, “This identity isn’t impressive at all… Not novel,” he whispered softly.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing.” Just as the cowboy finished speaking, a tall man passed by the doorway. He held a long spear in one hand, shield in the other, and was draped in a single white cloth. One shoulder and his entire back were exposed, revealing firm, fair skin coated with what seemed like olive oil. As his muscles rippled and stretched, they appeared strikingly enticing.

The cowboy swiftly kicked the room door shut with a clean, decisive motion.

“Antiquity Greece, Athens, they should have rotted away with their ruins…” “‘Shameless’ (this word is vague, only he himself can hear it), truly terrible. I think you wouldn’t want to talk to him, friend, let’s chat about this novel era!”

“Do you have a translator?”

“What do you need that for?”

Wen Luan’s eyes flickered briefly; he couldn’t reveal his actual plan, so cunningly he made a concession: “If we had a translator, along with a suitable set of clothes, we could secretly slip out and go look at the streets. I think what we’d see would be much more interesting.”

“Great idea!” The cowboy immediately sidled up to Wen Luan, his eyes sparkling. “A grand adventure once, my blood is boiling.”

He suddenly wrinkled his nose, giving Wen Luan a strange look, but quickly he showed an expression of realization, giving Wen Luan a thumbs-up. “Your ideas… preparation (whispering) is truly too thorough, even better than mine. ‘How come there isn’t even a whiff?’ (mumbling)!”

“A whiff?” Wen Luan frowned.

The cowboy’s expression changed as he immediately patted Wen Luan on the shoulder, laughing heartily, “Yes, there is beautiful air outside; I would rot here if I stayed any longer. Come on, what are we waiting for, my friend!”

What followed was like a play. Two staff members investigating the temporary residence situation of missing persons came over, and the cowboy knocked them unconscious with his gun from behind the door. They smoothly changed clothes and successfully slipped out through the corridor from the Deep Blue Star Household Registration Management Office building.

Even the only trouble they encountered was not knowing how to put on clothes, which wasted a lot of time.

Outside, dense fog still prevailed, and the light was weak.

“Let’s adventure separately,” Wen Luan suggested.

The cowboy looked at him deeply, then nodded with a smile, “Excellent, I was thinking the same.”

He walked away humming a tune, and Wen Luan stared at his figure for a few seconds before also disappearing in the thick fog.

Half an hour later, the cowboy chuckled as he dodged the furious shouts of the city patrol officers, darted into an alleyway, strolled leisurely onto the road near the Deep Blue Star Household Registration Management Office building, and muttered to himself ostentatiously, “This place looks very familiar! It seems I’ve come back around…”

His voice came to an abrupt stop.

In the mist, a silver wristwatch lay on the ground.

This thing had one exactly like it in the cowboy’s hand.

“Why did he throw this away? Latest script?” The cowboy mumbled vaguely, “Surprising victory? Without his perspective recorded performance, all advantages are lost!”

As he thought, slowly, the expression on the cowboy’s face completely changed:

“Satan! Could he really be a missing person?!”

The cowboy tore off his own wristwatch, and the nails on five fingers unexpectedly lengthened at a speed visible to the naked eye. With a flick of his nail on the watch, a red button magically appeared. The cowboy growled at the button in disbelief, “A missing person has truly appeared on Deep Blue Star! Damn, no wonder I didn’t smell even the slightest trace of vampire scent from him! I even thought it was some family’s latest technology…*** Oh, no, no, how could I say such uncultured words? In the name of Satan, quickly send people to capture him, he is really a time-space traveler! Such a thing has never happened before, truly damn it!”

---

Translated using Omni Literary Translator.