Daily Disposable Persona - CH 94
The scenes flashed by, whether Zong Yan remembered them clearly or not, until he found the black notebook, entered MU, traveled from London back to Jiangzhou, and finally arrived in New York.
The two stood side by side on the streets of New York City.
After such a tumultuous event, much of the infrastructure in New York as well as many buildings had been extensively damaged. Toppled utility poles abounded on the streets, and the windows of skyscrapers had shattered into pieces. Much of the glass had been destroyed by fighter jets, while other damage was caused by sonic booms and high pressure air currents.
They hadn’t yet reached the end of the timeline.
The gray-haired evil god still held the hand of the younger evil god, strolling leisurely through the city. The light was warm and yellow, like that cast by a paper lantern.
As they walked, the intersection that had been torn apart by a large pit was leveled and filled in by fire trucks; the asphalt streets were repaved, and the smashed shops were cleaned up and put back in order. The formerly deserted Fifth Avenue returned to normal. People from all over the world arrived once again with luxury shopping bags in hand.
White collar workers in Queens hurried to the subway; Brooklynites gathered on corners to smoke illegal cigarettes; upper class ladies in Manhattan sat in fancy cafes with little poodles on their laps, talking to each other about the season’s new arrivals.
It was still winter in New York. Heavy snow fell down like goose feathers, and the ground was covered in a layer of white frost.
The two evil gods didn’t step down from the river of the timeline, nor did they leave any footprints in the snow.
Everything was beautiful.
Humans were good at rebuilding after a disaster. Even if this species encountered a world-class calamity, they didn’t give up hope.
For humans, hope would blossom in the ruins.
“Here we are.”
When they reached the door of the world-famous Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue, the Lord of Time and Space came to a halt.
Zong Yan looked up. He could see the classic robin’s-egg blue jewelry boxes through the window of Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn once stood here wearing a little black dress with a piece of bread in her hand, looking forward to the day she could live a life of high society luxury.
“What time is it?”
He realized they didn’t seem to have arrived just after Mordiggian and Ghroth retreated. Looking at the speed of the reconstruction, it appeared some time had passed.
“It’s been half a month since you left. Your high school classes seem to have resumed.”
Vacation for senior three students was supposed to end earlier than that of ordinary freshmen and sophomores, not to mention that Spring Festival came early this year, in January. It made sense that winter break had already ended.
“Ah?” Zong Yan was surprised. “Then I’ve been missing for half a month?”
“Logically, that’s the case,” said Yog. “The time you experienced in prehistory must be exchanged with time in the modern era. The rate at which time flows isn’t equal, therefore it’s necessary for you to lose this half month of time. Otherwise it will lead to the collapse of your personal timeline.”
“All right.” Zong Yan pressed his lips together.
Going missing for half a month was a big deal, especially at such a critical moment.
There was no way Mordiggian or Ghroth would have retreated without a good reason. He didn’t know if MU would link their departure with his disappearance.
But… no one would ever believe an ordinary high school student had saved the world from an unspeakable evil god, right?
The young evil god thought rather guiltily.
After reaching the end of the correct timeline, the gleaming river beneath their feet began to slowly melt away.
Luminous points of light surrounded them.
Time was an inherent property of space, and it penetrated both ancient and modern times.
Suddenly Zong Yan had an idea.
Since he could see the past, couldn’t he also see… the future?
He followed his thoughts automatically, gazing into the far end of the time axis.
There was a deep, unfathomable fog, as if someone had cast a magic spell that shrouded everything.
Zong Yan had no idea that even the great Lord of the Gate couldn’t see his future. Like a normal high school boy, he was overwhelmingly curious about the most basic aspects of his future life.
Then he saw it.
His dark golden eyes pierced through the fog that even Yog couldn’t probe, and quietly peeked into the future of “Zong Yan”.
Thanks to the superb eyesight of an evil god, he was able to see everything in the dark room.
The black-haired teen was lying down in the darkness, with a head of ink-black hair fanned out behind him. A few drops of sweat clung to his white skin, combined with the bright red of skin that couldn’t stop flushing, like the shadow of the serpent in the Garden of Eden that breathes scarlet words of seduction, tempting innocents into the abyss.
“Ah, softer… softer…”
The young man lifted his head, his neck curving like a swan, and his spine arched gracefully.
Tears were already seeping from the corners of his eyes, and his lips and teeth were slightly open, like a weakened fish gasping for water.
“As you wish.”
The eyes of the other evil god slowly darkened. He threaded his fingers with those of the teen, and slowly and methodically sank himself down.
Evil gods couldn’t experience the physical sensation of pleasure. The Lord of the Gate just liked to see his human reveal this confused, disheveled expression.
In the middle of this maneuver, the gray-haired evil god suddenly lifted his eyes. He stared directly back at the dark golden gaze peering at him from the “past”.
He hooked the corners of his mouth.
—
The author has something to say:
To respond to the comment section discussing why Bubbles suddenly became enlightened, please note what happened previously. Bubbles split a sliver of his divine consciousness, and thought about the problem for a few hundred million years.
If after billions of years he still can’t figure it out, he’d better just give up, there won’t be any CP _(:з」∠)_
TL Notes:
A little late, but it’s a double update! ゚・✿ヾ╲(。◕‿◕。)╱✿・゚
(I know I promised before, I didn’t forget)
This chapter is a little shorter, but the previous chapter was a little longer, so it evens out
I have a little more line editing to do and will remove this sentence when it’s done (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥
leveled again and filled in by fire trucks – 消防车的填补之下重新恢复了平整 – I’m not sure what the author had in mind. This isn’t something people do with fire trucks afaik (speaking as the daughter of a firefighter)
with a piece of bread in her hand – 手里拿着面包站在这里 – This is from the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s
he’d better just give up – from 那祂也就洗洗睡吧 – “then He will wash up and sleep ba“
CP – “couple”, a romantic pairing
Transliterated names, titles, and places—new in this chapter:
Tiffany – 蒂芙尼 – Dìfúní
Audrey Hepburn – 奥黛丽·赫本
[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]