AGTCTCC Chapter 26
by VolareXue Hu Su stood up, his facial features twisting severely as he straightened after squatting for so long.
“Hiss…”
The staggering figure reached Chu Qi’s door, ringing the doorbell urgently.
“Bro!”
“Bro!”
The doorbell rang more and more frantically. Xue Hu Su narrowed his eyes, just about to send Yan Zhou Ping a message reminding him to come over for a jigsaw puzzle when the door was pulled open.
Xiang Li opened the door, leaning against the doorframe. The afternoon sunlight, dimmed but still persistent, fell on his face, casting a small shadow over his sharp features. His slightly raised eyebrows gave him a wild and aloof air.
Xue Hu Su pursed his lips, his gaze passing Xiang Li to Chu Qi behind him. Chu Qi was also looking at him, his eyes filled with a different kind of coldness than his brother’s.
“It’s time to go home, Bro.”
Xue Hu Su’s tone was hesitant. He wasn’t even sure if his brother would go back with him. All he felt was an unbearable heat in his palms, thighs, and collarbone, and his heart was pounding faster and faster.
Just as he was wavering, Xiang Li’s calm voice pulled him back to reality.
“Wait while I use the bathroom.”
Xiang Li reached out and grabbed his hand. At an angle Chu Qi couldn’t see, the fresh wound on Xiang Li’s palm pressed against the back of Xue Hu Su’s hand. The dampness of the bandage clung to him tightly.
In that instant, Xue Hu Su felt the fresh air in his nostrils fill with the metallic scent of his brother’s blood.
…
Xiang Li stared at the row of words floating in the air before him, the dark red characters scrawled hastily, as if written in a great hurry.
His hand, hanging at his side, clenched into a loose fist. On the huge light panel in front of him, countless numerical tracks flickered, connected to the distant Planet C079.
Xue Hu Su sat beside him, his face flushed an alarming red. One hand was fanning himself vigorously, his throat constantly bobbing.
Perhaps afraid his brother was overheating, Xue Hu Su was also waving the other hand randomly up and down for Xiang Li.
Yan Zhou Ping’s fingers moved constantly across the control panel, his eyes fixed on the scrolling numbers in front of him.
Finally, the light panel flickered with black and white static before displaying an image of black and red buildings in ruins.
In the picture, countless small robots scurried around, each surrounded by a faint blue halo and emitting a faint red glow from a small area on their chest.
The Polluted Entities around them seemed to ignore them, and the robots carefully avoided obstacles.
“Hmph.” Xue Hu Su scoffed.
“Each robot is equipped with a Source Stone. Just to explore an abandoned planet? The management has quite the budget.”
The hand Xiang Li was holding loosened weakly as he took in the image on the light panel, his heart throbbing with a pain that spread all the way to the depths of his throat.
“Old Yan…” His voice was hoarse and barely audible, almost unrecognizable, startling both Xue Hu Su and Yan Zhou Ping.
Yan Zhou Ping frowned, glared at Xue Hu Su, and handed Xiang Li a glass of water.
Xiang Li swallowed hard, forcing down the words in his throat with a mouthful of water.
A little hot…
“I’m going back to Planet C079 tonight. It’s not easy to come to the Main Star…”
Xue Hu Su let out a soft “crap,” but his expression didn’t match the agitation in his tone. He seemed calm and collected.
His scarlet eyes slowly shifted in their sockets. Seeing Xiang Li taking small sips of water, he reached out and pulled the glass away from his lips.
“We’re going back now,” Xue Hu Su heard him say.
After speaking, Xiang Li removed the metal communicator bracelet from his wrist and handed it to Yan Zhou Ping.
“There’s a tracker inside,” Xiang Li reminded him coldly.
Starting from his feet, tiny mechanical particles gradually crawled up Xiang Li’s body, eventually covering his face, leaving only a pair of cold, black eyes visible.
The clicking and clacking of the mechanical connections echoed in the silent underground room.
Xue Hu Su’s eyes widened, the red in his throat intensifying. A hand encased in black mechanical armor gripped his throat, abruptly stifling his explosive emotions.
Under Yan Zhou Ping’s gaze, the two figures grew fainter and fainter until they vanished completely.
Yan Zhou Ping opened his palm in the air and waved it casually, adding after a moment, “Don’t rush back!”
Planet C079.
The reality was far more severe than what they had seen on the light panel. Tiny robots, like ants and bees, densely occupied the entire planet.
“Xiang Li.”
Suddenly, a black figure appeared behind Xiang Li. It had no facial features, only a well-proportioned, slender form. A dark hand reached out toward the half-dead Xue Hu Su.
The figure looked at Xue Hu Su and sneered.
“Why aren’t you in a woman’s body, Su Su?”
“Get lost,” Xue Hu Su snapped.
Before them were countless robots that were “working.” Bai Yan gestured with his chin and said, “I don’t know what they’re looking for. Were you exposed on the Main Star?”
Xiang Li frowned slightly, scanning the surroundings. The Polluted Entities around them merely shrank back at the appearance of Xiang Li and the other two, but took no further action.
“Planet C079 doesn’t welcome uninvited outsiders.”
Xiang Li’s voice was soft, but clear enough for the two of them to hear.
Hearing this, the other two understood. The soft, white bandage shot out first, engulfing a pile of robots, then crushing them without hesitation.
The black figure followed closely behind, Bai Yan’s fist slamming into the ground with force, the resulting shockwave overturning a small area of robots.
The Source Stones inside the robots cracked from the impact of the shockwave, and the blue halos around them flickered twice before going out.
The surrounding Polluted Entities stirred, the numerous eyes on each bulky body opening, their pupils unfocused as they darted around.
Far away on the Main Star, in the management offices…
Shen Gui stared coldly at the huge screen in front of him, one small area of which showed Xing Zi Mu with an equally cold expression.
The people beside him were discussing in low voices, watching the images transmitted from Planet C079.
Just the Polluted Entities weren’t anything to worry about.
“Shen Gui, what on this abandoned planet is worth your suspicion?”
Someone asked.
The mission to investigate Planet C079 had started suddenly, without consulting anyone. By the time they arrived, Xing Zi Mu had already departed for C079.
“Such a large-scale deployment of resources, without even discussing it with us… what on this abandoned planet could be worth wasting so many resources on?”
The others were also puzzled.
As soon as the person finished speaking, many viewpoints on the originally quiet screen went black instantly.
The discussion stopped abruptly, and everyone stared at the remaining images on the screen.
White gauze ribbons swirled in the air. Everyone could almost feel the whistling wind generated by their movement.
Other robots captured a black figure appearing, but only for a moment, before countless Polluted Entities rushed forward, engulfing the cameras.
“…”
The sound of the door opening broke the eerie silence. Shen Gui looked over.
The newcomer was dressed in a proper black uniform, with a gun equipped at his waist. A white ball perched quietly on his shoulder, its black, vertical pupils appearing very cute.
“Chu Qi.”
Chu Qi nodded in response, his eyes under the black brim showing fatigue but still remaining clear. His gaze fell on the dimmed screen, and he gently pursed his lips.
Shen Gui noticed the white bandage wrapped around the other man’s wrist. His eyebrows furrowed, but he didn’t ask.
On the outer orbit of Planet C079, a gray mech quietly hovered in the empty space, with only the rare piece of space debris flashing by.
Not far away, Xing Zi Mu stood on a small patch of empty space. Xiang Li pointed a staff of condensed Spiritual Power at him, his icy voice, mixed with Spiritual Power, ringing in Xing Zi Mu’s ears.
“Planet C079 values peace. For the sake of our former camaraderie, we will not pursue this matter this time!”
After saying this, he turned to leave. There was no need to emphasize the warning; intelligent people understood each other.
As he left, Xiang Li paused again and turned his head to look through the mech at Xing Zi Mu, who was immobilized by the pressure of his Spiritual Power. He said, “Tell Chu Qi, we’re even.”
Yan Zhou Ping stood not far from his home, pressing down on his hat. The Main Star at night was always indifferent, the moonlight hanging in the sky, though there was no need for the moon to illuminate the way.
Two people guarded the door of his house, one holding a heat weapon and the other holding a radiation gun. There were also many lively people inside the door.
In the distance, Yan Zhou Ping stood with his hands in his pockets, the glass container in his palm holding the drop of red antidote. Looking at the uninvited guests in his house, he sighed inwardly.
A mechanical brooch on his chest captured the scene in its entirety, transmitting it to Xiang Li’s eyes on the distant Planet C079.
“This Chu Qi is a ruthless person, just like you, good at pretending.”
Yan Zhou Ping was wearing a cloaking device, so he didn’t need to worry about being discovered. He chuckled and teased Xiang Li.
Xiang Li rested his cheek on his hand, not refuting. Planet C079 didn’t have the conditions for Yan Zhou Ping to research the antidote, so he wouldn’t be back for a while.
Not hearing Xiang Li’s response, Yan Zhou Ping guessed that he was thinking about what had happened during the day.
“C079 can’t hide forever. Our existence will be discovered sooner or later…”
“I know,” Xiang Li said, interrupting Yan Zhou Ping’s words of comfort.
“Study the antidote properly. It wasn’t easy for me to get it. Planet C079 is safe for now. Be careful.”
After speaking, Xiang Li unilaterally cut off the communication.
His thoughts returned from the distant Main Star to C079. Xiang Li tilted his head and rotated his stiff neck, feeling the Spiritual Power suppressed by Chu Qi’s blood in his body.
“Experiment Body Number 054.”
“What a wonderful shell…”
Suddenly, two very soft voices, one male and one female, reached his ears, along with a subtle fluctuation.
Xiang Li’s eyes snapped open. The safe house wasn’t large. Before he could react, a small figure rushed in front of him.
“Xiang Li!”
Xue Hu Su chased after him, looking aggrieved, and made a move to grab him.
“Le Bao, you used to care about me first!”
“You’ve only been gone for three days. I care about Sister Su. What does it have to do with you?”
The small figure retorted.
Xue Hu Su straightened up: “Isn’t that all me?”
“I hate men.” The look of disgust on the little one’s face toward Xue Hu Su was almost tangible.
“Isn’t your Xiang Li brother also a man?”
Then the little one’s gaze toward Xiang Li also contained disgust, but more than that, it was indifference.
Xiang Li: “…”
He lowered his eyes. The small person in front of him wore a cool short top and jeans. The short arms and legs that were exposed were covered in scars. There was also a long scar on her round face, extending into her clothes, looking like it had healed not long ago.
“What’s wrong?” Xiang Li asked.
Ning Le ignored the resentful gaze of “Sister Su” behind her. Her two short arms suddenly swung around and hugged Xiang Li’s neck, bringing her face close to his ear and sniffing with her small nose.
Xiang Li opened his hands, letting the little girl move as she pleased, feeling somewhat surprised.
It was the first time the little girl had taken the initiative to get so close to him.
The next second, Ning Le let go, looking disgusted.
“Xiang Li, the scent on you is so unpleasant.”
“There’s a very fishy, very stinky Spiritual Power…”
Ning Le raised her head, speaking with an air of precociousness. Her brow was furrowed deeply. She tilted her head, unable to find a descriptive word for a long time.
“Sister Zhou, take a look. Is there something wrong with the scent on Xiang Li?”
Ning Le called out to the side. After a moment, a young woman walked in through the door. As soon as she appeared, Ning Le quickly ran over and grabbed her hand.
Zhou Xin Shui stared at Xiang Li, a gentle smile on her face. She reached out her hand, but paused for a second in the air. Then, droplets of water began to drip from her fingertips.
Xiang Li also reached out his hand. The next second, Zhou Xin Shui’s hand disintegrated into strands that slowly wrapped around Xiang Li’s wrist.
The longer the time, the deeper Zhou Xin Shui’s frown became.
Three minutes later, the wrapping strands loosened, slowly retracting. A marble-sized bead lay quietly in her restored palm.
Ning Le reached out and picked up the bead, sniffing it under her nose.
Zhou Xin Shui’s face was solemn. Her long, dark eyes stared at the bead as she said, “There are actually people from the Bug Clan on the Main Star.”