“Isn’t it all because of that annoying guy from Team Nine—” Li Chun abruptly stopped himself mid-sentence, quickly cutting off his words. “Consultant Ji, don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about all gay people, just that one individual from Team Nine.”

Ji Yushi’s expression didn’t change. He simply said, “Oh, it’s fine. I’ve heard much worse before I was transferred here.”

He had encountered plenty of homophobic comments, accusations of being nothing more than a pretty face, and outright rejection from new teammates—there was no shortage of such experiences.

Li Chun looked like he was about to cry. “I really didn’t mean it like that. Please don’t hold it against me, Consultant Ji.”

Why did he have to open his big mouth and chat with Consultant Ji? Now, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name. He genuinely admired Consultant Ji, after all.

“I know,” Ji Yushi said calmly. Li Chun had said something similar on the balcony back in PU-31.

Ji Yushi repeated what Li Chun had said last time: “After what happened with Old Yu, Captain Song felt very guilty and didn’t want me to join the team, so he intentionally said those things. You guys are just a bit too straight, not truly homophobic.”

Li Chun’s survival instincts kicked in. “Exactly, exactly.”

Consultant Ji remembered his words very clearly.

It was hard to tell if Ji Yushi really believed him, but in any case, his reaction was very calm, as if their concerns about “homosexuality” had nothing to do with him.

Ji Yushi casually flipped through the drawings by the bearded man and prompted, “Go on.”

“Oh.” Li Chun nodded, choosing his words carefully. “So, the really annoying person I mentioned is Lin Xinglan, the captain of Team Nine.”

Team Nine from Sky Vault?

Ji Yushi remembered that when they first arrived at PU-31 and saw the mission briefing on the communicator, Duan Wen had even suspected it might be a prank by Team Nine.

Li Chun continued, “I heard that he and Captain Song joined Sky Vault around the same time. When they were trainees, they were often recognized as the most promising candidates, known as the ‘dual-Lan combination.’ Back then, Lin Xinglan openly pursued Captain Song, and after being rejected, he even swore that he would win him over. Captain Song is straight, so he started keeping his distance after that, but Lin Xinglan wouldn’t give up. He would do things like bring breakfast and wait for him after work. Once, when Captain Song wasn’t around, someone even saw Lin Xinglan coming out of his office with his clothes all disheveled. Who knows how long he had been in there or what he had done. It was truly perverse…”

Ji Yushi thought, no wonder there were rumors that Song Qinglan even disinfected his office after a gay person had been in it.

So that was the reason.

“And what’s even worse,” Li Chun said, clenching his fists, “is that someone on Sky Vault’s internal network drew fanart of Lin Xinglan and Captain Song, and Lin Xinglan openly liked it!”

Ji Yushi: “…”

To think that all this drama stemmed from something so ridiculous. Lin Xinglan’s behavior was indeed childish.

It was hard to imagine someone like Song Qinglan being so exasperated by a pursuer. In Ji Yushi’s impression, Song Qinglan should have just punched the guy and been done with it.

But then Li Chun continued, “In the end, they had a big fight and have been at odds ever since. Now their team is always secretly competing with ours. When they heard you were joining, they were waiting to see the show.”

Li Chun grew increasingly agitated as he spoke. “If we manage to get back, our mission report will be enough to slap them in the face. And if it weren’t for you, Consultant Ji, we might still be stuck in the infinite loop on PU-31… I dare say if Team Nine had been in our place, they’d have fared much worse. Not only do they not have you, but they’re all a bunch of weaklings.”

“We’ll definitely make it back,” Ji Yushi said, his cold expression devoid of arrogance, as he naturally accepted the compliment. “Two heads are better than one, and now we have three people. The clues will only keep increasing.”

Li Chun nodded, then admitted shyly, “Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m much help. I’m just a useless bystander.”

Ji Yushi replied, “How could you say that? At least you’ve communicated well with the bearded man. He’s already lowered his guard with you.”

Li Chun grinned sheepishly.

A simple person like him could easily earn someone’s trust.

Having been in the team for almost a year, Li Chun had mostly been doing logistics work and was always eager to prove himself. Ji Yushi’s words were undoubtedly a great encouragement to him.

After a while, Li Chun hesitantly asked, “If we do get back, Consultant Ji, would you reconsider joining our team?”

At the transit station, it had been clear to everyone that Song Qinglan wanted Ji Yushi to stay, but Ji Yushi’s attitude had been ambiguous.

Everyone assumed that the captain had thoroughly offended Ji Yushi, and given how much he held grudges, he wasn’t likely to stick around.

Ji Yushi hadn’t made up his mind yet.

The answer would most likely be no.

Li Chun pressed on, “Think about it. After all, we’ve been through life and death together, and besides, Captain Song is practically a fellow townsman.”

Ji Yushi asked, “A fellow townsman?”

“Captain Song’s mother is from Ningcheng,” Li Chun explained. “He even attended kindergarten in Ningcheng when he was a kid.”

Ji Yushi: “…”

Amidst the bearded man’s snores, Ji Yushi and Li Chun reviewed everything they had discussed over the past six days. Ji Yushi still had no clear understanding of the bearded man’s strange language system, but after repeatedly examining the symbols on the uniform representing “18,” he had begun to form a vague hypothesis.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from outside.

The space capsule shook violently, waking the bearded man.

Li Chun, who hadn’t heard anything like this since his arrival, was shocked and asked what was happening.

Ji Yushi explained, “Something else has been pulled in.”

Whenever an object was drawn in by the magnetic field, it would land on the junkyard.

Sure enough, the bearded man woke up groggily, glanced at them, and then got up with a heavy thud, mumbling something as he went to fetch his cart—he was going scavenging again.

This time, Ji Yushi decided to go with him.

Li Chun followed suit.

Mimicking the bearded man, they rummaged through the control room and found some warm cotton clothing, which they wrapped around themselves before heading out the door.

Outside the space capsule, it was pitch dark, and they could barely make out the frozen, hardened ground beneath their feet.

The sky remained low, with waves of aurora gently sweeping across, beautiful yet silent.

Li Chun stumbled along, asking, “Consultant Ji, could it be that Wen-ge, Tang Le, and the others have also been pulled in? Just like we were when we arrived here! That way, we could slowly gather everyone together!”

“It’s possible,” Ji Yushi replied. “Captain Song is nearby. If Duan Wen and the others have arrived, he’ll be the first to notice.”

This would spare Sky Vault Team 7 from the fate of being dragged around by the bearded man.

The bearded man, pushing his cart, suddenly crouched down and picked a few glowing flowers from the roadside vines to use as illumination. He first pinned one to his cart, then handed one each to Li Chun and Ji Yushi.

Though he reeked of alcohol and looked like a giant homeless man, this behavior created a contrast that made him almost endearing. Ji Yushi began to think that perhaps the bearded man wasn’t so bad after all. At least, he probably wasn’t a bad person when he first arrived here.

With the familiar route led by the bearded man, the three of them soon reached the junkyard.

From a distance, they could see a tall, upright figure rummaging through a newly appeared pile of garbage.

Unfortunately, this time, it wasn’t a capsule that had been drawn in.

So they hadn’t found any other teammates.

Seeing them approach, Song Qinglan picked up a can and tossed it to Ji Yushi. “Consultant Ji, take a look at this.”

Ji Yushi caught the can and looked at it. The label read: “Cramond Beans.”

Then, Ji Yushi turned the can over, and as expected, there was a line of text: “PU-31 Golden Crow No. 2, First Batch of Organic Vegetables, Premium Selection.”

So that’s how it was.