He planned to wait until one day when he had his own career, then confess everything to his father; otherwise, it always felt like there was something stuck in his heart.
...
And at this momentââ
Inside the Constant Star Train compartment.
Chen Mang frowned as he looked at the man in front of him, fear flickering in his eyes. This man was the miner from earlier, and he suddenly realized something: itâs likely that the telescope isnât related to the train.
Itâs likely that the telescope is related to this miner.
Otherwise, why wouldnât the other miners go to that mine, and only this miner could keep going to that mine?
"Master... Master Mang."
The man standing there spoke with a trembling voice: "That telescope used to be mine, but then one day, it just suddenly disappeared. I looked for it for a long time but couldnât find it."
He had been listening in earlier, and upon seeing that telescope, his emotions suddenly surged, causing the dream to collapse.
"Tell me everything from the beginning, in detail."
"Alright."
After taking a deep breath, the man spoke hoarsely with his head lowered: "During Doomsday, I was a Train Captain, and of course, after civilization united, all Train Captains returned to civilian life; I joined the Constant Star Train and became a Cyberminer."
"That was back in the Zombie Basin days, where I had already seen you, Master Mang. At that time, a train called the âWild Bullâ issued a bounty reward for you. Anyone who sent them your trainâs coordinates would receive a reward."
"I... I found your train back then and submitted your coordinates to them."
"Hmm."
Chen Mang nodded slightly, quickly searching through his memories for this period of history. Although the name âWild Bullâ felt somewhat unfamiliar, he did have some memory of this event.
"Continue."
"At that time, the reason I wasnât detected by your trainâs radar, Master Mang, was because I was very far away, not within your radarâs range. I observed using a Level 10 telescope."
"Wait, I need to interrupt here."
Chen Mang gently said: "I remember that before the Wild Bull arrived, there was indeed a train lurking in the distance. But at that time, you were within my radar range; I was just too lazy to bother with you."
The man was slightly stunned, then continued: "The telescope I had back then was picked up from a garbage dump on an Adventure Map. I was curious at the time who would upgrade a telescope to Level 10 and then throw it away."
"After that, I used that telescope for a long time, and it worked very well."
"Then one day it just went missing."
"I never found it again."
"Wait..."
Chen Mang furrowed his brow, calling Doba over, and then said: "Doba, compare the Adventure Map you saw in the Time Rift that day with his; see if you two are talking about the same Adventure Map."
...
Ten minutes later.
"Hoo..."
Chen Mang exhaled deeply, gently rubbing his temples. Things are clear now; the telescope this guy picked up is exactly the one he threw into the Time Rift back then.
Only...
The timeline doesnât quite match up.
This guy was already using the telescope to observe him in the Yellow Zone - "Zombie Basin", while he threw the telescope away in the Purple Zone - "Stone Man Area" in Qiu City.
Which meansââ
Even before he discarded it, this guy was already using it.
He had directly thrown the telescope to the past.
The Time Rift was connected to an Adventure Map from the past, and the time span wasnât too long, probably about one or two months.
Everything is clear now.
But he truly didnât expect that the Time Rift led to the past.
But even so, how did the telescope end up in that guyâs hands?
"Think carefully, how did you lose this telescope? What did you do with it before losing it? Think carefully."
"I..."
The man stood there for a long time before speaking in a low voice: "The last time I saw it was shortly after leaving Zombie Basin. I used it before going to sleep at night, and then it disappeared the next morning."
"Is there surveillance in the train compartment?"
"Yes, but the surveillance didnât capture anything. The footage clearly shows me putting it in the drawer before going to sleep, but when I woke up, it wasnât there. I searched repeatedly but couldnât find it."
"I thought it might be haunted, so I didnât bother with it anymore."
"Doesnât seem right?" Old Pig standing to the side said somewhat strangely: "Such a big matter as feeling haunted, and you just ignored it?"
"Uh... Given the circumstances at the time, a haunting didnât seem to be such a big deal..."
"Makes sense, too."
"Alright then."
After a momentary pause, Chen Mang softly said: "You can leave for now. Iâll contact you if needed."
Itâs now clear that the telescope in the fat guyâs hands was made by his train. How his father managed to obtain this telescope is unknown, but it must be significant; otherwise, he wouldnât have been so angry.
After a long while.
He finally leaned back on the chair, sighed deeply, and murmured: "The cosmos is full of messy stuff."
The distance between the two civilizations must be at least over a hundred thousand light-years, which he was certain of. He didnât know the exact distance, only being able to see civilizations within a hundred thousand light-years, but he couldnât understand how that guy managed to steal the telescope from so far away?
However...
The fat guyâs father suddenly prospering is very likely due to this incident.
This Little Fatty is actually quite cute and straightforward. As for his fatherâs secret, he didnât get a single word out, unwittingly revealing all the information about the civilization when initially, he was targeting its basic details.
If this was discovered, heâd surely get whacked with a belt.
How it happened isnât important for now.
What he needs to know is.
How to leverage this incident to yield sufficient benefits.