Shadows of the Deep Space-Chapter 37 - Chance Encounter

37: Chapter 37: Chance Encounter

37 -37: Chance Encounter

“Alright,”

Chen Hui originally wanted to urge Su Ming to eat something, but in the end, she didn’t speak; she somewhat realized that the young master was on a diet.

Su Ming was about to leave the house when he suddenly stopped as he was stepping out the door.

“Young Master, what’s wrong?”

Chen Hui asked in confusion.

“It’s nothing, I forgot to grab something.”

Su Ming hurriedly ran back upstairs.

A few minutes later, Su Ming hurried out of Su Yuan’s room and then left the house.

On the street, Su Ming ran toward the underground skyrail station.

He had originally thought about taking a taxi to the club.

However, considering that it was post-work peak hours, taking a taxi might result in a traffic jam, and it would also be relatively slow, so he simply decided to take the skyrail instead.

…

Before long, Su Ming reached the nearest entrance to the skyrail station.

The whole station was built underground, with ten escalators at the entrance.

Each escalator was crowded with quite a number of people, indicating a large volume of commuters.

Looking up and ahead, he could witness an awe-inspiring scene – skyrail trains bursting from underground and speeding off into the distance.

Su Ming took the escalator down and soon arrived at the spacious skyrail station hall, which had several manned ticket booths and self-service ticket machines.

Ever since the old Federation faced the threat of the Mechanical Clan and gave up all highly intelligent facilities, the convenience levels in the lives of its citizens regressed by several degrees, making travel quite cumbersome.

Su Ming walked over to an unoccupied self-service ticket machine, touched the screen to select his destination – Light Valley Station – and then purchased a ticket with his phone.

The self-service ticket machine promptly spit out a magnetic card.

Holding the card, Su Ming walked into the interior of the skyrail station, and after about fifty meters, came face to face with a row of manned security checkpoints.

He glanced around, then headed for a special security checkpoint that didn’t have many people.

When Su Ming passed through the security gate, the machine beeped.

An older middle-aged security officer, dressed in work clothes, said to Su Ming,

“Please show your identification.”

Su Ming handed his ID card to the officer.

The officer carefully checked the information on Su Ming’s ID card and then returned it to him with utmost politeness.

“All clear.”

“Thank you,”

Su Ming retrieved his ID card and walked further in.

Soon he reached the boarding area, where a caterpillar-shaped skyrail was docked at the platform, with all twelve doors open, and swarms of passengers disembarking.

After most of the passengers had gotten off, Su Ming boarded the skyrail train.

Once onboard, he turned to look – inside, there were two rows of seats on either side with transparent windows next to the seats, providing a clear view of the outside scenery.

Between the two rows of seats was the aisle, with many hand straps hanging down.

The peak hour was drawing near, and the skyrail was crowded with passengers, almost all the seats were taken.

However, Su Ming was fortunate enough to find an empty seat by the window and quickly sat down.

“Dear passengers, the doors are about to close, please be careful!”

Beep beep~

The doors closed swiftly, and the skyrail train began to accelerate shortly after.

Due to the mature technology, the acceleration was very fast, yet the process felt almost seamless and comfortable.

The skyrail quickly emerged above ground, and Su Ming could clearly see buildings whisk by the window.

They then reached mid-air and progressed evenly toward the next station.

Su Ming leaned against the window, quietly gazing down at the bustling Thirteenth District, his thoughts gradually drifting as he murmured to himself,

“Perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing after all.”

…

—————–

A few minutes later.

The space rail train arrived at the mountain and river station, and the doors then opened.

Numerous passengers boarded, making the entire space rail train slightly crowded; many people could only stand.

Su Ming glanced over unintentionally and was a bit taken aback.

He saw Lin Chuyu standing not far from her seat in the aisle.

She was wearing a blue knitted sweater, off-white pants, and a light-colored sleeve trench coat over the top.

She stood there calmly, making it hard to imagine how fierce she had been when controlling the Mecha.

Su Ming did not go forward to greet her, as he thought girls like Lin Chuyu, who are frequently hit on, probably didn’t like it when strangers approached them.

At this moment, the train doors closed once again, and the train started to move quickly.

Su Ming checked his phone; the next stop was Light Valley Station, and the space rail was indeed fast.

Just then, Su Ming suddenly noticed a young man wearing a cap and looking down, deliberately squeezing towards Lin Chuyu’s left rear.

The young man then skillfully pulled out a folding knife, made from a special material, from his pocket and cut open the bottom of the pocket on Lin Chuyu’s coat.

Su Ming didn’t step forward to stop him but instead took out his phone and recorded the theft in progress.

The young man silently swiped Lin Chuyu’s phone and wallet and then made his way towards the exit, completing the process smoothly, which showed he was very experienced—a habitual offender, no doubt.

The space rail train reached Light Valley Station.

Su Ming immediately got up from his seat, preparing to call out to Lin Chuyu.

However, Lin Chuyu walked straight off the space rail and quickly headed for the exit.

There were many people getting off at this stop, and it took Su Ming about fifteen seconds to get off the train, by which point Lin Chuyu was already fifty meters away.

Su Ming felt somewhat helpless, not expecting her to walk so fast, and hurriedly chased after her.

Unfortunately, he was still one step too late; Lin Chuyu had already reached the exit turnstiles.

She reached into her pocket, only to find a hole, and her wallet and phone were gone.

Lin Chuyu stood silently in front of the turnstile.

Passing passengers couldn’t help but give her an extra glance.

At this moment, a patrolling security guard noticed and came over, politely asking.

“Miss, what happened?”

“Sorry, my transit card is in my wallet, and both my wallet and phone got stolen, so now I can’t get out,” Lin Chuyu apologized to the security guard.

“This is….”

Upon hearing this, the security guard also found himself in a difficult position.

It wasn’t that he thought Lin Chuyu was fare-dodging; after all, she was so pretty and well-dressed.

By now, many passengers had stopped to watch, and amongst them were young people excitedly discussing amongst themselves.

“She’s a really beautiful girl.”

…

Just then, Su Ming jogged over, slightly out of breath, and said.

“I can vouch for what she said.”

“Su Ming?”

Lin Chuyu looked at him with a hint of surprise.

Su Ming gave Lin Chuyu a slight smile and then took out his phone to play the video he had recorded of the pickpocketing.

The video clearly showed the process of Lin Chuyu being pickpocketed, as well as the thief’s appearance.

“This video can prove it.”