novelraw Chapter 49 Lost and Found
Chapter 49 Lost and Found
“Oh, this?”
The elderly administrator scratched his ear.
“Probably a few days ago when workers were moving things around and bumped into it by accident.”
How could they be this careless…
Jiang Ran frowned deeply, an urge rising in him to complain.
But on second thought, the damage was already done. What was the point of blaming anyone now?
In Jiang Ran’s eyes, the Positron Cannon was a divine instrument capable of twisting history and altering worldlines.
But in everyone else’s eyes, it was nothing more than a burned-out, high-power rapid-fire electrical device—basically trash… so of course no one would handle it with care.
Come to think of it.
This accident itself was also the result of the temporal butterfly effect.On the original worldline, only a few days after the Positron Cannon was confiscated, Jiang Ran had already carried it back out.
But after the worldline changed, the Positron Cannon had lain in a cluttered storage room for an entire month. During that time, with objects constantly being moved around, collisions were inevitable.
“Tsk, this looks pretty bad…”
Chi Xiaoguo tiptoed closer.
“Senior, this… it won’t affect its use, right?”
No idea.
Jiang Ran didn’t answer. He had no confidence either.
He bent down and checked it again. Thankfully, there were no other external injuries. When he sniffed it, there was still that familiar burnt smell.
Qin Feng had explained long ago that it was the odor of blown capacitors—not a serious issue.
“So this is the Positron Cannon you were talking about…”
Chi Xiaoguo craned her neck, looking left and right.
“I thought it’d really be a ‘cannon.’ I didn’t expect it to be so square. It kind of looks like one of those big, boxy monitors from last century, just with a small round tube sticking out.”
“You’ve got a good eye.”
Jiang Ran sighed.
“This thing was actually modified from exactly that kind of boxy monitor—using the CRT picture tube inside.”
“Then why call it a Positron Cannon?”
Chi Xiaoguo asked, puzzled.
“Is the creator some hardcore fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion? I remember in that anime, during the Operation Yashima arc, EVA Unit-01 used a Positron Cannon to blast that cube-shaped Angel.”
Jiang Ran looked at her in mild surprise.
Right again.
This little girl—cute as she looked—had a surprisingly broad knowledge base.
“Anyway, let’s take it back to the activity room first.”
Jiang Ran bent down, lifted the Positron Cannon, and left the storage room together with Chi Xiaoguo.
……
After walking for more than ten minutes, they returned to the student activity building.
Pushing open the Film Camera Club room door, they were greeted once again by piles of old junk.
All day long—it really had been nothing but dealing with these old relics.
“Senior, should we clean up the room first?”
Chi Xiaoguo suggested.
“Look at this mess—dust everywhere. There’s not even space to put the Positron Cannon down.”
“That’s true.”
Jiang Ran nodded.
Clearing space would also make later operations more convenient.
He carefully put the Positron Cannon back into its cardboard box, then put on a mask and gloves. Together with Chi Xiaoguo, he began cleaning the room and sorting through the clutter.
……
Chi Xiaoguo truly was passionate about everything related to film photography.
She bounced from place to place, carrying things here and there like a diligent little honeybee. She even hummed from time to time, clearly enjoying the process.
By the time the evening sun appeared, they finally finished cleaning.
They dusted off their hands and looked at the spacious, tidy activity room before them, a deep sense of accomplishment filling their chests.
“Hehe, like this, we can start club activities next semester!”
Chi Xiaoguo rubbed her hands together, imagining a youthful, vibrant future for this activity room.
“Senior, I’ve said it many times already, but I still have to thank you… If it weren’t for you, the Film Camera Club would definitely have been dissolved.”
“You don’t have to thank me that much. I had my own motives too.”
Jiang Ran pointed at the cardboard box on the floor containing the Positron Cannon.
“To be honest, the only reason I didn’t quit the club was to get this thing back. If you don’t mind… I hope you’ll let me stay here for a while longer.”
“Of course I don’t mind!”
Chi Xiaoguo waved her hands repeatedly.
“You’re the great benefactor of the Film Camera Club. Even though you’re not a Donghai University student, from now on this activity room is your territory! You can stay here as long as you want!”
Jiang Ran smiled faintly.
This little one really did have a strong sense of loyalty.
It was already close to May now. In another two months, summer vacation would begin. Even if the Film Camera Club were to start recruiting people and organizing activities, that would be next semester’s business.
So for these two months, no one would come to disturb the activity room.
Jiang Ran planned to use this time to study and repair the Positron Cannon, and then carry out his plan to save Cheng Mengxue.
Chi Xiaoguo took out her phone and checked the time.
“Senior, it’s already this late. Do you want to go eat at the cafeteria? My treat!”
“No need.”
Jiang Ran shook his head.
“I want to stay here a bit longer. Mainly, I want to study the Positron Cannon.”
Seeing that Jiang Ran’s every other sentence revolved around the Positron Cannon, Chi Xiaoguo couldn’t help but grow curious.
She squatted down, opened the cardboard box, and looked at the square, utterly unremarkable old device.
“This thing… is it really important to you?”
“Very important.”
“Oh, oh… then what exactly does it do? What’s its function?”
“That’s hard to explain clearly in a short time.”
Jiang Ran spread his hands.
“Let me see if I can fix it first. When the time comes, I’ll call you over to test it together.”
“Okay, okay! I’m really looking forward to it!”
Chi Xiaoguo stood up and waved at Jiang Ran.
“Then I’ll head out first, Senior—I still have classes tonight, so I won’t stay here with you.”
“No problem.”
Jiang Ran waved back.
“When I leave, I’ll put the club key under the basin.”
“You can just keep it!”
“Rules are rules. After all, I’m not an official club member.”
……
After Chi Xiaoguo left and closed the door, only Jiang Ran remained in the room.
History turned, worldlines shifted, and in the end, he once again stood inside the Film Camera Club activity room.
Only now, everything was different—time had wrought vast changes, and the place no longer resembled its former self.
Before, he had never felt the activity room was this spacious.
There was no vegetable-breeding, invasion-level rookie cat legion;
no trio who had to turn sideways just to walk back and forth;
So this place—had never actually been cramped at all.
“Can it still return… to how it was back then?”
He lowered his head.
Staring at the small blackboard, blank and without a single mark.
He remembered how, in the past, this little blackboard had been the main battlefield for discussions among the three of them, constantly erased and rewritten, always filled with questions.
Over the past two days, he had also thought countless times:
[…Should I go find Qin Feng and bring him back?]
Although after the worldline changed, Qin Feng’s life trajectory had altered and he had disappeared from their field of vision.
Jiang Ran knew where Qin Feng had grown up. With some effort, it wouldn’t be hard to contact him.
But…
After finding him, then what?
What should he do? What should he say?
Unlike himself, Qin Feng didn’t have a special constitution like “All-Spacetime Memory.” On this worldline, Qin Feng had no intersection with him at all—he was a complete stranger.
Would such a Qin Feng believe what he said?
Would such a Qin Feng… be worthy of trust?
With Qin Feng around, both repairing the Positron Cannon and sending spacetime information would become extremely easy.
But Qin Feng, whose whereabouts were unknown on this worldline…
Jiang Ran truly didn’t dare to trust him.
“Until Cheng Mengxue is saved, to ensure absolute safety, I shouldn’t trust anyone;
the secrets of the Positron Cannon and spacetime information can only be known by me alone.”
He shook his head.
Stopped thinking about the past.
He moved the Positron Cannon with a dent smashed into it onto the workbench.
“What comes next…”
“Will have to depend on me alone.”