夜里，不知不觉，思虑很多的杨子藏熟睡过去。
That night, without realizing it, Yang Zicang (杨子藏), burdened with many thoughts, fell into a deep sleep.
这一天太累了，精神刺激得非常虚弱。
The day had been too exhausting, his mind left extremely weak from the stimulation.
他的呼吸匀称，对睡眠就像婴儿一样贪婪。胸前的圆环微微闪烁着。
His breathing was steady, as greedy for sleep as a baby. The ring on his chest flickered faintly.
在月亮升到中天的时候，在意识中，它忽地张开，就像一轮小巧明月。
When the moon rose to its zenith, in his consciousness, it suddenly opened up, like a small, delicate moon.
梦中的杨子藏感觉自己在心中自言自语。
In his dream, Yang Zicang felt as if he were talking to himself in his heart.
[每日总结，平均每小时收获时序123.6N。]
[Daily summary: average hourly Time Sequence (时序) gained, 123.6N.]
[做为伟大的四边形，在最初的十二小时，我的表现极近完美。]
[As the great Quadrilateral (四边形), in the first twelve hours, my performance was nearly perfect.]
后面还有几道声音，但他已经将之忽略了，梦中的心念声比浮云还要模糊。
There were several more voices after that, but he had ignored them. The telepathic sounds in his dream were even fainter than floating clouds.
[因为今日每小时收益大于100N，所以获得一枚残存邮徽。我要使用吗？嗯，决策人格睡着了。]
[Because today’s hourly earnings exceeded 100N, I have obtained a Residual Postal Emblem (残存邮徽). Should I use it? Hmm, the decision-making personality is asleep.]
[作为伟大的四边形，我好奇这枚只能存在三天的邮徽能定位什么样的意识训练场…]
[As the great Quadrilateral, I wonder what kind of consciousness training ground this emblem, which only lasts three days, can locate…]
不知什么时候，杨子藏发现自己醒了——在梦中清醒了过来。
Sometime later, Yang Zicang found himself awake — awake within the dream.
疑惑的看了眼自己的双手。
He looked at his own hands in confusion.
他知道这不是现实，但如果这是梦，又太过真实。
He knew this wasn’t reality, but if it was a dream, it was too real.
此地是昏暗的古老街道，两边是岩石房屋。
This place was a dim, ancient street, flanked by stone houses.
一道道拖着双臂，耷拉着脑袋的身影在雾气中若隐若现。
Figures dragging their arms, heads drooping, appeared and disappeared in the mist.
“这是…是丧尸？”
“Is this… zombies?”
{人类的生命，三分之一时间浪费在睡梦之中。}
{Human life: one-third of it wasted in sleep.}
{在这里，睡梦之中也能训练。}
{Here, training can also happen in dreams.}
{这是对今日时薪超过100n的奖励，请享受。}
{This is a reward for today’s hourly wage exceeding 100N. Please enjoy.}
远处的丧尸们发现了多出来的杨子藏，它们慢吞吞转过身躯，破开迷雾而来。
The distant zombies noticed the newly appeared Yang Zicang. They slowly turned their bodies and came through the mist.
“啊啊真的是丧尸！”
“Ahh, they really are zombies!”
丧尸们用腐烂的嗓子嗷嗷叫着嘶哑的声音迈腿而来，阴森氛围笼罩整个街区。
The zombies let out hoarse cries from their rotten throats as they shuffled forward. A grim atmosphere enveloped the entire block.
“滚开啊，这东西也能叫享受？”
“Get away! This is what they call enjoyment?”
他往后跑去，前方一个拱棚，里面好像放有杂物，希望能在那里找到武器。
He ran back. Ahead was an arched shed that seemed to contain some clutter — he hoped to find a weapon there.
见到它们缓慢的动作，杨子藏强忍着心中的不适安慰自己道：“好像不算很危险。”
Seeing their slow movements, Yang Zicang suppressed his discomfort and reassured himself: “It doesn’t seem very dangerous.”
但下一秒，其中一具丧尸双腿弯曲，一蹦而起。
But the next second, one of the zombies bent its legs and leaped up.
它如蚂蚱般跳跃六七米远的距离唰地冲来。
It jumped like a grasshopper, covering six or seven meters in an instant, rushing toward him with a swish.
杨子藏目光中露出丝惊慌，他感觉自己的恐惧被放大了。
A hint of panic appeared in Yang Zicang’s eyes. He felt his fear had been amplified.
此刻没有模型给自己的精神影响，他有点怀念下午的疯癫感觉，至少那个时候的自己对许多危险信号都会自然忽视掉。
At this moment, without the mental influence of his Model, he almost missed that afternoon’s manic feeling — at least then, he would have naturally ignored many danger signals.
“时序！”
“Time Sequence!”
他喊道，胸口没有任何反应。
He shouted, but there was no response from his chest.
“调度！”
“Dispatching (调度)!”
嘭！丧尸落在自己身上。
Bang! The zombie landed on him.
模型的作用以及情绪影响都消失了。
The Model’s effects and emotional influence had both disappeared.
“啊！滚开啊！”
“Ah! Get off me!”
[我的精神正在崩溃。]
[My spirit is collapsing.]
恶心的双手掐住脖子，杨子藏感觉到疼痛、惊慌以及无助。
Disgusting hands grabbed his throat. Yang Zicang felt pain, panic, and helplessness.
“这是噩梦，这是噩梦！这不是真的！”
“This is a nightmare, a nightmare! This isn’t real!”
杨子藏不断给自己打着气，他的手在地上乱摸，也不知到摸到了什么坚硬的东西，握住它就一拳挥动，砸在丧尸头上。
Yang Zicang kept encouraging himself. His hand felt around on the ground and grabbed something hard. He gripped it and swung a punch, smashing it into the zombie’s head.
手中握着的是只刚刚被摔断的骨头手臂。
What he held in his hand was a freshly broken bone arm.
[我的勇气正在诞生。]
[My courage is being born.]
还好它们除了蹦跶的力气很大外，其它动作速度都比较慢。
Fortunately, aside from their great leaping strength, their other movements were relatively slow.
三具丧尸将自己压在身下后，其它的都迭在了最高处。
After three zombies had pinned him down, the others piled on top.
“好痛。”
“It hurts.”
杨子藏感觉自己的皮肤在被他们撕扯，血液在流淌，但手上挥舞的动作却越来越激烈。
Yang Zicang felt his skin being torn, blood flowing, but his swinging arm grew more and more fierce.
“嘭嘭！”
“Bang! Bang!”
[很好，我已经能在情绪脆弱时诞生出反击的心理了。]
[Good. I’ve now developed the mentality to fight back even when emotionally fragile.]
一番打斗后，杨子藏带着浑身是伤的身子从丧尸堆中跑了出来。
After a bout of fighting, Yang Zicang, his body covered in wounds, ran out from the pile of zombies.
他瘸着跑向拱棚，那边果然有武器存放。
He limped toward the arched shed — sure enough, there were weapons stored there.
但身后两个丧尸又再次蹦来。
But two more zombies leaped at him again from behind.
“啊啊！”
“Ahhh!”
杨子藏发狠地跟它扭打在一起，骑在它身上挥动皮开肉绽的拳头。
Yang Zicang fought back fiercely, grappling with it, straddling it and swinging his battered, bloody fists.
此刻到底谁更像魔鬼，已经说不清楚了。
At this point, it was hard to tell who was more like a demon.
四个小时后。
Four hours later.
精疲力竭的杨子藏拖拉着身躯，手中握着砍柴的斧头，坐到了个城镇边缘的木仓库门口。
Exhausted, Yang Zicang dragged his body, holding a wood-chopping axe in his hand, and sat down at the entrance of a wooden warehouse on the edge of the town.
身上的伤口在快速愈合，毕竟这里不是真实的世界。
The wounds on his body were healing quickly — after all, this wasn’t the real world.
[面对诡异的生物，我的精神已经开始逐步接受它们的存在，并初步克服了对它们的恐惧。]
[Faced with bizarre creatures, my mind has begun to gradually accept their existence and has initially overcome my fear of them.]
杨子藏心中自言自语着。
Yang Zicang spoke to himself in his heart.
他感觉自己的确是能稍微有些理智的，来面对这些突然诞生的恶心生物了——不知道它们到底算不算生物。
He felt that he could indeed now face these suddenly appearing disgusting creatures with a bit more rationality — though he didn’t know if they even counted as living beings.
以后若在现实世界突然遇见它们，应该不会立刻被吓得精神崩溃了吧。
If he suddenly encountered them in the real world in the future, he probably wouldn’t be immediately scared into a mental breakdown.
他抬头看向倒在街道上的无数丧尸身上所冒出的微弱光华。
He looked up at the faint light radiating from the countless zombies lying dead in the street.
它们在杨子藏身前汇聚，形成道微弱的三道光环。杨子藏稍显疑惑地拿手触碰。
They converged before Yang Zicang, forming three faint rings of light. Slightly puzzled, he reached out to touch them.
初级尸跳，可使用次数3/3。
Basic Corpse Leap (初级尸跳), uses remaining: 3/3.
每次耗费1y时序本金。
Each use costs 1Y of Time Sequence principal.
“真的是噩梦…”
“This really is a nightmare…”
……
午夜，某处地铁内，一道声音怒道：“马超，还没有成功吗？”
At midnight, inside a certain subway, a voice said angrily: “Ma Chao (马超), still not successful?”
“没有，我找不到他的气息。”
“No. I can’t find his trace.”
“奇了怪了，接触过张飞居然还能隐匿自己，那杨子藏的模型到底有什么能力，不就是个风场吗。”
“How strange. After contact with Zhang Fei (张飞), he can still conceal himself. What exactly is Yang Zicang’s Model ability? Isn’t it just a wind field?”
“是不是他解锁了四边形的高格位让你的能力无法应验？”
“Could it be that he’s unlocked a high-level grid of the Quadrilateral, making your ability ineffective?”
依靠在赤黄地铁内椅子上的银色制服男子，目光深邃。
The man in the silver uniform, leaning against a chair inside the reddish-yellow subway, had a deep gaze.
“无妨。既然靠气息锁定不了，就用‘种子’去标记好了。今晚算他走运。”
“No matter. Since we can’t lock on by aura, we’ll use a ‘seed’ to mark him. Tonight, he got lucky.”
……
清晨，杨子藏舒服地翻身，呈大字型躺在床上。
Early morning. Yang Zicang turned over comfortably, lying spread-eagled on the bed.
窗帘缝隙中一道暖阳投射而下。
A beam of warm sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains.
“啊呜~”
“Awoo~”
年轻人用手臂挡了挡恍在眼睛上的光线后，迷糊地苏醒了过来。
The young man shielded his eyes from the blinding light with his arm and woke up in a daze.
“妈，几点…”
“Mom, what time…”
摸到粗糙床单的他僵住了，几秒后轻轻叹了口气。
His hand touched the rough bedsheet, and he froze. After a few seconds, he sighed softly.
起身后，青年揉揉眼看向床边的木箱子。
Getting up, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the wooden box by the bed.
楚强让自己将穿戴的所有衣物放进那里面，如有意外可以拎箱跑路，自己昨夜已经照做了。
Chu Qiang (楚强) had told him to put all his clothes into that box, so that in case of emergency he could grab the box and run. He had done so last night.
感受了下胸前光环内的四边形，代表“尸跳”的技能果然存在于其中。
He sensed the Quadrilateral inside the ring of light on his chest — the skill representing “Corpse Leap” was indeed there.
“这居然是真的，我在梦中获得了技能。”
“This actually worked. I gained a skill in my dream.”
门外传来人走过的声音。杨子藏抬头看了眼，出了口气从床上起来。
The sound of someone walking came from outside the door. Yang Zicang looked up, let out a breath, and got out of bed.
洗漱后与三人吃过早饭，杨子藏与梁喜进行了一次短暂的心灵链接的通讯。
After washing up and having breakfast with the three, Yang Zicang had a brief telepathic communication with Liang Xi (梁喜).
那半大少年已经被只凶猛老鼠追到了黑暗狭窄的通道内迷路了。
The half-grown boy had been chased by a fierce rat into a dark, narrow passage and was lost.
身旁的少女手上拿着份文件。
The girl beside him was holding a document.
杨子藏拿起水杯咕咚咕咚喝了几口后，将头凑了过去。
Yang Zicang picked up his water cup, gulped down a few mouthfuls, then leaned his head over.
鼻息间嗅到了沐小雨身上淡淡的幽香味。
He caught the faint, delicate fragrance from Mu Xiaoyu (沐小雨).
“这是啥？”他瞧向其手上的这本册子。
“What’s this?” He looked at the booklet in her hand.
“是每种建筑或物品可能孕育出的模型能力哦，我们想看下能不能选选模型。”
“It’s a list of the Model abilities that each type of building or object might nurture. We wanted to see if we could choose a Model.”
文件上面有很多的建筑以及各种人造物品，它们旁边都有着简略的文字描述。
The document had many buildings and various man-made items, each with a brief description next to it.
有些模型极其鸡肋，比如砸玻璃时没有声音，或者可以把水变成隔夜的美式咖啡。
Some Models were extremely useless — like making no sound when breaking glass, or turning water into overnight American coffee.
“唉呀，不知道我能得到出个什么模型。”
“Sigh, I wonder what kind of Model I’ll get.”
沐小雨说完后，转过头来俏皮的吐了吐粉嫩的小舌头。
After speaking, Mu Xiaoyu turned her head and playfully stuck out her small pink tongue.
“子藏哥，你能带我去容纳模型吗？我问过了，如果是找他们的话，要在月末前给他们上交不少的时序才行。”
“Brother Zicang, can you take me to acquire a Model? I asked — if I go through them, I’d have to give them a lot of Time Sequence before the end of the month.”
“大家都在啊。”姚启明走进小餐厅，身后跟着赵雪美。
“Everyone’s here.” Yao Qiming (姚启明) walked into the small dining room, followed by Zhao Xuemei (赵雪美).
“子藏，还习惯吗？”
“Zicang, settling in alright?”
杨子藏笑道：“能在这种地方有个安心睡觉之所，真是堪比天堂。”
Yang Zicang smiled: “To have a place to sleep peacefully in a place like this — it’s truly like heaven.”
“哈哈哈。”大手拍拍杨子藏肩膀：“从今天开始，接下来的半个月，这个城市会有些不一样。”
“Hahaha.” A large hand patted Yang Zicang’s shoulder. “Starting today, for the next half month, this city will be a little different.”
“有什么不一样？”
“Different how?”
旁边的赵雪美道：
Zhao Xuemei beside him said:
“每个月的十五日夜后，城市中就会逐渐多出许多新的区域与建筑幻影，持续一天。所有人都是通过重叠的幻影来到这个世界的。一般我们出现的地方，都是在孕育的恶魇附近。”
“After the night of the 15th of each month, the city gradually gains many new areas and architectural phantoms, lasting one day. Everyone comes to this world through overlapping phantoms. Usually, the place where we appear is near a gestating Nightmare (恶魇).”
屋外传来一阵汽车轰鸣与众人的喧哗声。
The sound of a car engine and a commotion of voices came from outside.
“我是右街的余霏。让你们的姚队长出来说话。”
“I’m Yu Fei (余霏) from Right Street. Tell your Captain Yao to come out and talk.”
屋外闹嗡嗡地响。
Outside, the noise buzzed.
“你闯了祸，烂摊子丢给我们，你知道昨晚应对雄英组的攻击，我们耗费掉了多少时序吗！”
“You caused trouble and left the mess to us. Do you know how much Time Sequence we spent last night dealing with the Xiongying Group’s (雄英组) attack?”
“对，雄英组要我们归还A级模器，你们说怎么办！”车上人吼道。
“Right — the Xiongying Group wants us to return the A-class模器 (A-class Artifact). What do you have to say about that?” The people in the car shouted.
……
杨子藏跟姚启铭走了出去。外面是辆停在路边的越野车，以及从车上跳下的几人。
Yang Zicang followed Yao Qiming outside. Outside was an off-road vehicle parked by the roadside, and several people who had jumped out of it.
阳光下，姚启明抱臂对众人冷笑道：
In the sunlight, Yao Qiming folded his arms and sneered coldly at the crowd:
“余菲，你觉得可能吗！就算我真的交出去，恐怕总部马上就会来兴师问罪了。”
“Yu Fei, do you really think that’s possible? Even if I did hand it over, headquarters would probably come to demand an explanation immediately.”
“好处你们占尽，我们却来挨打，总归说不过去吧。”
“You get all the benefits, while we take the beating — that’s hardly fair.”
嗡嗡议论声一片。
A buzz of discussion arose.
姚启明冷呵了声：“总部的人马上会送来这个月的交错频晶，几位要是没事就请回吧。今天是下半月开始的日子，大家都很忙，没空跟你们扯皮。”
Yao Qiming gave a cold laugh: “Headquarters will be sending this month’s Crossing Frequency Crystal (交错频晶) soon. If you have nothing else to do, please go back. Today is the start of the second half of the month — everyone is busy. We don’t have time for your bickering.”
对面余菲毫不在地也抱着膀子，倚靠那辆奇怪的车门对着这边几人说道：
Opposite them, Yu Fei, completely unfazed, also folded his arms, leaned against the strange car door, and said to the few on this side:
“你们的赵安龙已经不在了。根本没有实力进入a级交错地的你们，屯着那种好东西不用，只是浪费而已。”
“Your Zhao Anlong is gone. You don’t even have the strength to enter an A-class Crossing Place. Hoarding something that good without using it is just a waste.”
“你说什么。”姚启明惊怒。
“What did you say?” Yao Qiming was both shocked and angry.
“你也说了总部送这个月的频晶过来，”余菲笑道：“那枚a级频晶，就用作补偿好了。”
“You also said headquarters is sending this month’s Frequency Crystal over,” Yu Fei smiled. “Then let that A-class Frequency Crystal serve as compensation.”
“你！”
“You!”
“你这混蛋打得这个注意！”
“You bastard — that’s your real intention!”
听到这话出口，双方顿时剑拔弩张了起来。
As soon as these words were spoken, the two sides immediately became tense, at the brink of a fight.