Chapter 704: Small Space
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The previous two discoveries of the little bug's new abilities were accidental. The first discovery, which was the little bug's ability to slow down time, had been made when someone attacked him by kicking something at him. The second discovery, which was the little bug's ability to turn back time, was a coincidence.
What about this time? He looked strangely at the little bug, who was also looking strangely at him. Both of them quietly stared at each other.
"Slow down the passage time," he said.
The television drama that was being broadcasted in a normal manner began stuttering while the swaying of the window blinds on the balcony, from being blown by the wind, began gradually slowing down.
"Turn back time," he said while pointing at the bronze ware, which had already been completely covered with rust, inside the vase.
After the little bug flew over, a man with a peculiar hairstyle appeared. The man's head was completely bald with only a lock of hair the size of a copper coin left. The lock of hair was twisted into a very thin braid that was thinner than Li Du's little finger.
Seeing the man's round head dragging a small braid, a computer mouse or a light bulb came to his mind and he could not help but laugh. Anyhow, the image of a light bulb dragging an electric wire was very similar to it.
In the series of scenes afterward, every man that was depicted in them had the same kind of hairstyle. Unlike his impression of the hairstyle that the Qing Dynasty people had, the heads of the men were not bald at the front and there was no large braid hanging off the back.
He looked up the hairstyle online. The hairstyle had been a type during the early and middle periods of the Qing Dynasty, and it was only until the reign of Shunzhi did the small thin braids become large and coarse.
The reign of Shunzhi lasted from 1638 to 1661. In other words, the little bug was now able to turn back time by at least three and a half centuries, which was a huge increment from the previous 100 to 200 years!
Could this be the little bug's new ability? Li Du wondered.
He pondered for a while and said, "Demonstrate new ability."
The little bug's newly-grown pair of wings began shaking extremely rapidly. As Li Du thought that it had not understood his words, he started thinking of new methods to understand its new ability.
But following the fast shaking of the little bug's wings, a small black dot appeared before widening into a small black hole. With the continued widening of the small black hole, it turned into a large black hole that had a volume of at least three square feet . . .
After reaching this size, the black hole no longer continued growing. Despite that, the little bug still continued shaking its wings.
While the little bug continuously shook its wings in such a manner, Li Du felt his energy being sapped away. Evidently, just like the previous two abilities, a large amount of energy had to be expended in order to create the space.
While looking at the large black hole, Li Du had a perplexed look on his face. What is this thing for? What will it take in?
He conveniently took an ashtray from the nightstand and placed it inside while reciting in his mind, Recall the space.
The speed at which the little bug's wings shook decreased and the black hole gradually shrunk. Eventually, the little bug stopped shaking its wings and the black hole disappeared.
Li Du once again ordered the little bug to open up the black hole. The little bug shook its wings once more and the previous scene appeared again. The black hole, which once again emerged, also ultimately grew to three square feet in volume.
Within the black hole, the ashtray that Li Du had placed inside earlier looked as square as before . . .
With this, he sort of understood the little bug's new ability from its evolution this time around. The ability allowed him to possess a space that could be concealed!
This ability was superb. Even though the space was not huge, it was a small portable space that could be concealed. It was even more impressive than items such as the mustard bag in fantasy stories that he had read before and the dimension space ring in science fiction stories.
But neither the mustard bag nor the dimension space ring had been able to be concealed inside the host's body like the black hole.
With this space, Li Du could store food, water, and weapons inside and hence, no longer needed to be afraid if he was kidnapped again as all he had to do was take a gun out and kill the sons of b*tches.
However, he was still currently uncertain if the black hole was stable or not.
As such, he didn't store valuable items inside and only stored clothes and the ashtray before taking a shower and going to sleep.
After waking up on the morning of the second day, the first thing he did was call out the little bug for it to reveal the concealed black hole.
The black hole opened up and the clothes and ashtray remained securely inside it.
"This f*cker is too amazing." Li Du could not help but use profanity. "Say, little thing, where did you come from? Why are you so awesome?"
When he'd been in university, he'd seen a documentary regarding the universe. Time and Space, which were part of the fundamental nature of the universe, were the subjects that all of humankind's scientists had been hard at work researching. Through the use of the two subjects, every problem could be ultimately resolved.
The little bug was able to control time and create, or rather, control a space. This was simply superb.
Having discovered a new ability, Li Du became extremely excited. Hans took the opportunity and asked, "Hi, mate, let's stay for one more day? I'm going to make an appointment with Rachel to meet her again."
Li waved his hand. "Anything."
Hans was elated and asked, "Why are you so excited? Is there anything good? Is it because the vase that was bought last night is very valuable?'
Li Du rolled his eyes. "Of course not. Otherwise, I would have given it to you."
An advantage that the little bug's black hole had given him was the ability to hide items that needed to be concealed in it from this point forward.
For example, items that he had left in America such as Overarching Sunset, the Gaddafi dagger, the papyrus, and copper glove could be brought along with him in the future.
There was no such thing as having unreserved trust between people. Hans had been skeptical about some of Li Du's methods. It was just that he had never raised this issue.
With the black hole to preserve privacy, Li Du could prevent these problems from occurring.
When Hans went on his date in the afternoon, Li Du brought Big Quinn and Godzilla to the provincial capital to sample good food.
After staying for another day, they drove home on the third day.
With only half a month left to the new year, Li Du went on a one-time shopping spree since he had come to the provincial capital. He deliberately rented another car to bring back the goods for the new year.
The days at home were mundane. As Flagstaff was 15 hours behind China's capital, Li Du would wake up early every day, which was afternoon in Flagstaff, and spend a period of time having a video chat with Sophie first.
After which, he would take a stroll around the cropland with his parents during the day. As it was morning in Flagstaff when night fell, he continued video-chatting with Sophie.
Ever since his parents knew of the existence of Sophie, who had a high chance of being their daughter-in-law, they were especially steadfast in supporting his choice to work in America.
They were very satisfied with Sophie after seeing pictures and videos of her that Li Du had recorded. After they learned that Sophie was working as a doctor, they were even more satisfied.
Days like these were relaxing and mundane. When there was nothing to do, Li Du would bring Godzilla, Big Quinn, and Hans to the county's sports stadium to play basketball. However, after playing two matches, it became uninteresting for them.
Big Quinn's and Godzilla's physiques and athletic abilities were already good enough to become half of a professional basketball player in China. As such, was going against the county's children not a walk in the park?
With the both of them together, it was overpowering for the children. After the children had been obliterated a few times, they no longer wanted to play with them.
Later on, Hans rented a car and drove around. This time, he wandered around a few county towns surrounding Li Du's village with the purpose of touring them.
As Li Du needed to spend some time with his parents, he was not able to accompany him.
Finally, Li Du's classmates and friends were all on vacation, returning from their various institutions three to four days before the new year. With that, he was no longer as bored as he had another way to entertain himself.