The Universe Jumper Prologue
Prologue
When the shell detonated, the chandelier in the bar shook slightly.
The Whiskey glass on the bar table jolted up a couple of times, and the liquid inside sloshed around, but did not spill out. From the window, the light of the far away fire could be vaguely seen. The fire illuminated the houses on the hill, revealing its sharp outlines. Along the coastline, there was also a wisp of sea water lit up, and its fuzzy orange-yellow shimmer was smeared across the junction of the beach and the waves.
The deep sea in the distance was still plunged in pitch darkness. It was quiet and majestic with the gloom of a giant beast devouring it.
The young man really wanted to pick up his glass cup, but he held back and didn't move.
This was already the third fire tonight.
This twenty-six or twenty-seven years old man was named Jiang Liu1. He appeared neat and handsome, with a fair complexion, narrow cheeks, and slightly curled medium-length hair. The first three buttons on his floral shirt were left undone, and he wore star-shaped stud earrings on his ears. With a nonchalant smile at the corner of his mouth, his eyes wandered around as he watched the guests come and go, He was the type to make everyone feel emotionally stirred with his good-looking appearance. If he wasn't still talking to the person in the hologram projection, he would have picked up the cup and poured the remaining bourbon down his throat. He resisted the urge anyway, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
A bright blue light was on his left forearm. Upon closer inspection, the light emanated from a tattoo that resembled a vine. It circled around his wrist, and from a distance, it looked like a bracelet. At the source of the blue light, an image was projected outwards. At this moment, on the table in front of Jiang Liu, there was the projection of a middle-aged woman’s beautiful face. She had her hair meticulously tied behind her head, and her eyebrows were slightly raised, making her brimming with a professional air.
Jiang Liu had trouble hearing what his mother was saying. On one hand, it was because of the noise from the bombing in the distance, and the music and the rowdiness of the nearby bar. On the other hand, it was because he had formed a subconscious habit of spacing out when he talked to his mother. It was as if he had transparent glass covers around his ears, and as he waded through the streams of speech, not a single word could leak in. When he listened to his mother, he was able to sense the quietness of a vacuum space.
He adjusted his earphones. His earphones looked like ear cuffs and studs from a distance, and even it even appeared a little enchanting. However, even after adjusting the volume, her words still didn’t enter his mind.
Human lives were short, and so much time was wasted on communicating with each other, Jiang Liu thought to himself.
There was another shelling, and the dark glass wall reflected the orange light.
"Okay, I see." Jiang Liu said.
"This time, you have to agree. You will get on the plane at six tomorrow morning. This is not a trivial matter or some game!" His mother said, "It took me half a day’s effort to get your second uncle to apply for a no-fly zone pass from Brussels just for you. You have no choice but to agree. Do you hear that?"
"I heard it, I heard it." Jiang Liu said.
"The target of this bombing is really close to you this time! It would be deadly if you don't leave!" His mother stared at him, "I'm not kidding."
"Okay, okay, no more kidding." Jiang Liu said.
"Also, your father has been very angry recently. You know he doesn't like your involvement in secret affairs. Be careful."
"Got it."
The words he exchanged with his parents always seemed to come from an automatic answering machine in his body. He was always talking, but not really talking. He couldn't recall when he entered this mode. Perhaps at the age of twelve? Maybe ten? Maybe even earlier. It may be because his older siblings always answered their parents' questions enthusiastically. During those breakfasts at the dinner table: "How can we mitigate the negative impacts of the changes in exchange rates?", "Balance asset allocation and buy the underlying issuer's convertible securities for hedging purposes." "Improve macroeconomics big data research." "What do you think, Jiang Liu? "Huh, I agree." And so on. Whenever this happened, Jiang Liu never wanted to talk. He crossed his feet over his knee rebelliously and lowered his head to browse the Internet. His brother and sister were there anyway. He was used to this already.
Jiang Liu heard the hollowness of his own voice; it was like a voice simulated by artificial intelligence. He wanted to grab the cup beside him and his eyes couldn't help but glance over. Just one sip of the icy bourbon was enough.
"Also," at the end, his mother said while staring at him with her shining dark eyes. It was as if she wanted to see through him using the same stare she used on the malicious investors at every company's board of directors meetings. "Don't you dare think that I don't know what you’re up to. Stop getting involved with all kinds of random dubious people. If you become friends with the wrong people, watch me come back and break your legs."
"Okay, okay, just leave me alone." Jiang Liu hung up the call.
Seeing that he hung up the call, the bartender slowly made his way to Jiang Liu. He was a kind, friendly uncle in his fifties, who appeared to have an interesting mixture of Asian and Caucasian ancestry.
The bartender put the fifth cup of bourbon in front of Jiang Liu, smiled and said, "One more drink?"
"Forget it." Jiang Liu waved his hand, but he felt a deep regret the moment the bartender took the alcohol away. So he called him back again, "I'll get another glass. One more glass won’t matter.”
Drinking another glass might mean that there will be one less drink, Jiang Liu thought. He believed in the news brought by his mother. His parents’ networks in Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia were synchronizing news every second to ensure that his family’s global business would not be affected by the war. Therefore, the news from his mother is most likely true and it probably came from some dignitaries in the Atlantic Alliance. Jiang Liu was convinced that such secret news was unheard of to these people in front of him, who indulged in alcohol and chitchat.They were still engrossed with playing around every night. But for some reason, he had a feeling that these people must also be aware of these things to some extent. From the moment they stayed on this island where the three military frontiers crossed, they were fully aware of this prospect. It was just a matter of time.
Jiang Liu has been in Hawaii for about 32 months. He had been to these islands before when he was young, but it was a vacation with his parents and older siblings. His only impression of the islands was the swimming pool, and the blue sea and silver sand of the five-star hotel. When he was a child, he never realized the significance of these islands as battle points for war; these islands were like bone-in meat for several of the major alliances.
"Davy," Jiang Liu said to the bartender, "help me send me a message tonight. Say that the fight for the Pacific islands has intensified and the conflict will escalate immediately. Let all of the people on the island immediately make preparations to protect their family and friends, and try to move underground."
"Okay." The bartender nodded, "How about the source of the news?"
"Don't mention me. Just write... the director of the Atlantic Trade Union."
The bartender nodded, indicating that he understood, and then he continued to ask another question with a seemingly casual tone, "Tycoon, why don't you want to go home?"
Jiang Liu knew that the bartender had heard the conversation between himself and his mother. "I don't have a home. My parents' home is not considered my home." He continued, "...In this world, where is considered home? Originally, there was a short period of time where I sort of wanted to settle down at a place, but now I feel that I can't find a place like that. Everywhere I stay is just temporary. Tell me, would you call that ‘home’? The physical body is nothing but a skin vessel for temporary stay. Live here for a while, then change to another place, and then eventually, everything ends with death."
The bartender gently took back the half empty glass cup that Jiang Liu had left, and he spoke with a mild tone, "You're drunk, you should go dance instead."
Jiang Liu still wanted to grab the Whiskey glass, but the bartender blocked him with his forearm. He said softly, "Don't drink anymore, hurry up and go dance."
Jiang Liu's hand stayed in the air for three seconds before he finally dropped it back down. Go dance, Jiang Liu said to himself. If there were three peaceful days left on this island, it was better to fill the three days with music and dance.
The inner room of the bar was a dance floor. The super sound-absorbing walls contained the music within the inner room and the outside world couldn’t hear any clues of its existence. One would be enveloped by the sound of deafening loud dance music only when the door was opened. In the sound of such dance music, even if there was a sudden explosion outside, almost nothing could be heard in the room.
The rich layers of electronic dance music swept away every dancing person like dark clouds and tornadoes. Music flowed around, mingling with the space-time illusion created in this MR2 space, and shaking people up over and over again. For a moment, the illusion displayed in the room became an endless vacuum, and everyone experienced a sense of weightlessness. Jiang Liu felt like he was engulfed by the air current and had flown to the edge of the universe. For a long time, he did not notice the new message displayed on the collar of his shirt.
When he finally noticed the bright blue flash on his collar, his head was already a little dizzy. The power of alcohol began to brew slowly inside him. He danced to the rhythm of the dance music, and while he stomped his feet to the beat, he opened the message. His vision was slightly hazy, and he couldn't see the text. The blue text showed the departure time: February 8, 2180, 21:38.
Jiang Liu didn't care at first.
He danced for another while, then he left the dance floor with a red-haired girl in his arms. He swayed as he walked. He had his hand placed on the girl's shoulder, but his arm did not surround her like she was his girlfriend, but more like a buddy from his sports team. The red-haired girl was also tall. With high heels on, she was almost as tall as Jiang Liu. Her pair of long legs were exposed under very short shorts. Jiang Liu's hands did not stay put. As he walked, he touched the girl's cheeks and ears, and the girl openly kissed his cheek. Every time Jiang Liu came to this bar, he would take away an unknown girl. This was a silent agreement between this bar and him.
Suddenly, the blue light on his collar lit up again. This time, Jiang Liu pressed the connect button. It was Du Yi’bo, his family’s butler. Ever since he was a child, Jiang Liu referred to him as Uncle Bo.
"You brat, why didn't you answer my call?!" Uncle Bo cursed as soon as he was connected.
"Uncle Bo," Jiang Liu showed a sweet, flattering drunken smile, "Save me some pride. I'm with a beautiful girl right now."
"Save what friggin 'pride! Your life is almost gone." Uncle Bo was still speaking angrily, "I'm on the plane, and I'll be in Hawaii in two hours. You'd better go home now, pack up, and leave with me once I arrive."
"Two hours?" Jiang Liu smiled and looked at the beauty beside him, "That’s not enough time! ... Why are you in such a rush? Wasn’t it supposed to be six o'clock tomorrow morning?"
"There's new intel. The air strike may be early in the morning and it would be too late to get out by then." Uncle Bo yelled out anxiously, "Also, didn't you ask me to monitor some sort of astronomical data for you last time? I have been recording it the entire time for you. In the past two days, a signal was detected, and it's also quite an unusual new signal. You should come back to see it as early as possible."
"What, what, what?" Jiang Liu felt as if his whole body was electrified, and he was no longer sleepy. He stood still and said, "Uncle Bo, come again?"
"Last time, you got me to track the data that girl named something Fan asked for. I checked it for you and there was a signal a few days ago. There should be a flying object entering..."
Jiang Liu let go of the girl in his hand and said to Uncle Bo, "I see. Now, help me adjust the data---the solar system data and the White Dwarf data. My family, and NASA; get them to help me adjust it. ...No, I can't wait anymore. I'll go home right now and have a look."
As he spoke, he waved to the girl he was holding in his arms just now, motioning goodbye to her. The girl stared at him with shock.
"Sorry," Jiang Liu hung up the phone and smiled apologetically, "There are some important scientific signals that I have to deal with. I'm sorry...Can you go home by yourself? I'll call you a taxi. Next time, I mean, next time when I come to Hawaii again, I will definitely treat you to dinner.... Yes, I’m an astronomer, hard to tell, right?"
When Jiang Liu returned to his apartment, he brought up the solar system's ultra-low frequency radio signals monitored by the satellite network on the wall of the room, and his heart began to race. It really came. His Adam's apple moved, and he was suddenly really thirsty. He was uncertain whether it was because of drinking too much, or because his nervous system was stimulated.
He waved both of his hands in the air and moved the data on the wall with hand gestures. It has been a long time since he searched for the data with such excitement. His movements were extremely fierce and fast. If an unaware person observed him from a distance, the person might think he was practicing some sort of strange martial arts with his open palms. He mobilized all the distributed computing power that could be used in the world, and he used his info filtering ability that he hadn't used for a long time. Finally, he breathed a sigh of satisfaction and sat on the sofa. After letting out a long breath, he took in a refreshing breath of air.
He couldn't help but think of Yun Fan's3 appearance---long hair, clean face, small nose, affectionate almond-shaped eyes, and a calm and firm expression. Her demeanor was clear and cool, as if she was transparent under the sun like dewdrops that would perish in the morning. At that time, he noticed her at first glance, but he didn't expect that she would ask astronomy questions, and he didn't expect that one day he would be really excited about her questions. It's fate, he thought.
Two hours later, Jiang Liu’s private jet hovered outside of his window on time, and the portable boarding aisle that extended out of the plane happened to rest on top of his balcony. Jiang Liu glanced at it and thought to himself: they sent this stupid old-schooled guy to pick me up, they must be afraid that I would run away if I piloted the plane. But he smiled again: but do they think that this would actually make it difficult for me?
He boarded the plane with a small suitcase. Everything in the cabin was as usual. There was a simulated forest beach scene, and there was fine white wine and truffle foie gras. Uncle Bo hurriedly took his suitcase and scolded him for losing contact with him recently.
Jiang Liu stretched out his hand and moved. The interference brought on by his fingertips came into effect. The radiation in the cabin became a resonance wave of alpha waves, and low-frequency repetitive chords were added to the music. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Uncle Bo and Luka, who was piloting the plane, to fall asleep groggily. Jiang Liu smiled and quietly asked the AI on the plane to change the destination from Zürich to Xi'an.
That was the address Yun Fan left him four months ago.
Jiang Liu 江流
His name can be literally translated into ‘flowing river’.
MR
Mixed reality
Yun Fan 云帆 Her name can be literally translated into “cloud sail”.
Looks interesting. Good start for a novel
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking it out!
DeleteAhhhhhhhhhhh! So cool to see it here!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your time in translating this for us un-fluent folks💜🥃
You're welcome, and thanks for reading!
DeleteI'm also so excited that the author is actually releasing it XD