“You still had the mind to piece it back together? Must be feeling pretty idle,” Xing Yue said with a smile as he watched the boss dissolve into a streak of light and vanish. No matter how polite his tone sounded, his voice was full of barely contained irritation.
Cao Wu tried to comfort him. “It’s fine. We’re so close to them—nothing’s going to happen.”
“He Wuning’s used to working solo,” he added. “It’s normal that he’s not comfortable with us tagging along.”
“He Wuning’s used to working solo—fine. But what about Yi Luo?” Xing Yue snapped, visibly exasperated. “He’s the one who was driving just now!”
Cao Wu rubbed his nose awkwardly. “Well… he’s never exactly been the obedient type either. So I guess that’s… normal too?”
If anything, Yi Luo had been just as much of a handful back in the day as He Wuning. Maybe it was He Wuning’s presence, or maybe Yi Luo had just matured over time, but he had toned himself down a lot since then.
Xing Yue scowled and waved to the soldiers behind him. “What are you all standing around for, watching the show? Move it! Go after them!”
The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. It was the first time they’d encountered a situation like this—if they moved too slowly, they might not even get close enough to touch the boss.
Xing Yue was fuming. “We’re supposed to protect them! What the hell is this? Did we come here just to leech off their dungeon run?”
Ji Ou glanced around nervously and muttered, “Maybe they just want to show they don’t need protection.”
Face dark with frustration, Xing Yue led the team toward the final boss’s location.
When they finally reached the lair of the last boss—the souvenir shop at the exit of the Poison Museum—they could hear the sounds of battle from afar and all instinctively let out a sigh of relief.
Good. The final boss fight was still going. They weren’t too late.
The Poison Museum’s final boss was a giant centipede that masqueraded as the shop clerk. It would stick its head out near the exit to offer players a chance to “buy” something. Just like the two bosses before it, if you made a purchase, it would go easy on you. If you didn’t… you’d be facing a much stronger boss.
On Hard difficulty, making a purchase cost you your life. Xing Yue figured there was no way those two would buy anything, so it was normal for them to be stuck fighting the boss for a while.
But just as he was breathing out in relief, Cao Wu’s expression suddenly tensed. “Captain—there’s no more sound.”
Xing Yue’s stomach sank. Sure enough, the smoke and dust in the distance were settling, and the sounds of battle had stopped. He immediately quickened his pace and shouted, “Hey! He Wuning! Yi Luo!”
“You two, stop right there!”
“You shouting like that is just going to make them run faster,” Cao Wu sighed, ruffling his hair. “Slow down! Captain, watch your step, don’t trip!”
Xing Yue took off after them anyway. The two culprits had just picked up the loot from the ground, and when they saw him and the others chasing, they bolted like startled mice, diving into their milk tea car and speeding off.
For a brief second, Xing Yue felt like he was chasing down a pair of dangerous fugitives—fugitives who’d even left them some loot behind, no less.
He glared after the retreating vehicle, took a deep breath, and bellowed, “Come back! Don’t you want the toad’s dropped fragment?!”
The milk tea car screeched to a halt.
The door slowly opened, but neither of the two showed their faces. Instead, they tossed out Q-chan, who was apparently in charge of “communication.”
Q-chan turned back toward them, as if double-checking something with the two inside. Then it faced the group again, cleared its throat nervously, and suddenly shouted, “Listen up, people outside! Drop your weapons and stay where you are!”
“Only one person is allowed to come over and deliver the fragment!”
The déjà vu was getting too strong. Xing Yue couldn’t help tugging at the corner of his mouth. “...Are you two out of your minds?”
Q-chan turned back toward the van for a quick exchange, then nodded seriously and relayed, “Not Xing Yue!”
Xing Yue nearly exploded. He was about to charge forward when Cao Wu grabbed him by the arm and shot a meaningful look at Ji Ou.
Ji Ou flinched, instinctively taking a step back—only for Tang Yu, smiling brightly, to shove him forward. “Alright, time for our least threatening, small-animal-like captain to step up!”
Ji Ou found himself clutching a fragment, bewildered and on the verge of tears as he shuffled forward. “W-where do I even put this…?”
Q-chan had gradually gotten used to his role; he put his hands on his hips. “Come forward. When I say stop, you stop!”
Ji Ou could only inch forward bit by bit.
“All right, stop right there. Put the fragment down.”
Ji Ou obediently halted, bent over, and placed the fragment on the ground. “I put it down.”
He raised his hands and slowly backed away. Q-chan floated over, picked up the fragment from the ground, and said, “Okay! We’re leaving now! Don’t follow us!”
Xing Yue, barely able to contain himself, demanded, “Where are you going?”
“Dummy.” Q-chan glanced back at him. “If we told you, what would be the point of running away?”
Xing Yue took a deep breath. “Yi Luo! Do you know how important he is right now? We can’t just let you two wander around outside. Behave yourselves and come back!”
Q-chan leaned forward to receive the next line. “Ahem!”
“Xing Yue, are you a worry-wart mother who spoils kids?” he announced.
Xing Yue’s face went dark. Q-chan hurried to clarify, “Yi Luo said that!”
“Of course he did! Who else would say something that shameless?” Xing Yue ignored their antics and charged forward.
The milk-tea car’s sliding door opened.
Yi Luo strolled down from the vehicle, He Wuning’s sword slung across his neck. He gave a small laugh. “Don’t make any sudden moves. He’s holding a hostage.”
He thought for a moment, then tilted his head and said to He Wuning, “How about we switch places? If I’m the hostage, Xing Yue might take the chance to make a move—maybe even try to kill me.”
Xing Yue ground his teeth. “Keep talking nonsense and see what happens!”
He Wuning held the knife to Yi Luo; Yi Luo was about half a head taller and proved to be a restless hostage, swaying and blocking He Wuning’s view.
He Wuning frowned and lightly kicked him. “Spread your legs.”
Yi Luo blinked. “Huh?”
He Wuning kicked him again. “Crouch down a bit. Your height’s getting in the way.”
“Oh—okay…” Yi Luo obediently crouched a little and even cooperatively helped He Wuning adjust the position of the blade. He was probably the most cooperative hostage in the world.
Xing Yue: “……”
He Wuning flicked his chin toward Xing Yue. “I don’t need anyone else protecting me.”
“The rescue center is busy all the time. If you’re idle, go help there.”
Xing Yue scowled. “There are people who can help there too, but you—”
He Wuning cut him off. “We had an agreement.”
“I help rescue people from dungeons; any fragments I obtain are mine. Fair trade—money for goods.”
“You never said you two would follow me and force me to accept your protection.”
Q-chan took the chance to butt in: “Exactly! There are so many people, the milk-tea car’s overloaded every day!”
Xing Yue frowned. “But we worry—”
“If something dangerous happens I’ll handle it myself,” He Wuning said expressionlessly. “For example, I’d have Xue Xun immediately place an order so we can escape the dungeon.”
“But I don’t like other people doing what I should be doing. Captain Xing, I think you’re being overprotective.”
He Wuning squared off with Xing Yue from a distance. Xing Yue sighed and reluctantly relented, “Fine. We’ll keep doing our job. If we find any monsters that might have fragments, we’ll contact you.”
He emphasized, “And if you encounter a monster with a fragment, or you sense danger, you must contact us!”
“You can contact us first. We can move immediately and then contact Xue Xun for you. Xue Xun has to coordinate people—he’s not as fast as we are!”
Yi Luo laughed. “Why are you competing for favor with Director Xue?”
“Shut up!” Xing Yue glared at him. “You traitorous bastard!”
“That’s a fair insult—I am that,” Yi Luo said proudly, leaning back as if He Wuning were holding him in his arms. “Any other requests?”
He Wuning expressionlessly straightened Yi Luo’s head and calmly looked over at Xing Yue.
Xing Yue scratched his head. “If you’ve got something to say, say it properly. What’s with the hostage routine?”
He Wuning poked Yi Luo. “He suggested it.”
Yi Luo pointed back at He Wuning. “He agreed to it.”
He Wuning sneered once. “I think this is a good opportunity to accidentally kill you.”
“Heh, still putting up a front,” Yi Luo said with a laugh. “There’s friendly-fire immunity in the dungeon. If you pointed that sword at me outside instead, I might actually believe you were going to kill me.”
Looking at his smug expression, He Wuning’s hand itched to hit him. He released his grip and said coldly, “Just wait till we’re out.”
“Sure thing—” Yi Luo drawled, straightening his collar. He waved lazily at the others from a distance. “We’re heading off then. Left you the dungeon drops—so we’re even.”
Xing Yue watched them drive away, his gaze complicated.
Cao Wu patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. “Let it go. Kids grow up—you can’t control them forever.”
Xing Yue grimaced. “Kids? What kids? I’m the same age as those two.”
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. “But still… there’s just something about the two of them, you know that vibe? Like—ugh, they’re way too in sync.”
“Forget it.” Xing Yue shook his head. “Team One, pick up the drops. We’re heading out.”
Cao Wu asked, “So what do we do for the rest of the day?”
“Same as usual,” Xing Yue said, lifting his eyelids half-lazily. “Kill some time till evening before heading back. Otherwise we’ll end up stuck in a half-day meeting about ‘why they refused our protection.’”
Cao Wu nodded. “Fair point.”
……
Meanwhile, He Wuning and Yi Luo were sorting through their loot.
The ticket-seller toad had dropped a 3% fragment, the tour guide scorpion had dropped a 4% fragment, but the final boss—the shopkeeper centipede—had only repeated its emotionless line, ‘Would you like to buy something?’ No fragments at all.
Yi Luo shook his head. “Not a shred of dignity for a final boss.”
Most of the rainforest dungeon bosses were poisonous, but when they encountered taro bubble milk tea, which granted poison immunity, it was like meeting their natural predator—the threat level of most monsters dropped drastically.
He Wuning put away the two fragments first. The administrator authority briefly rose to 38%. Then he looked over Yi Luo’s skill tree. “I’ll give you 8%—that should let you unlock two more schematics.”
They were planning to go underwater soon. The milk tea car’s current attack mode relied on spiked ramming, which would lose most of its impact underwater, and the anti-air machine gun would likely just jam. If possible, they hoped to draw some kind of additional firepower upgrade.
He Wuning didn’t think his expectations for a milk tea car were too high. After a moment of thought, he asked, “What kind of weapon works well underwater?”
“Torpedoes, obviously,” Yi Luo said with a grin. “But if we’re going underwater, I’ll need to get Zuo Qianming to tweak my gun first.”
He Wuning had already transferred the 8% fragment to him. Yi Luo asked, “Draw now?”
“In a minute.” He Wuning opened the Voice of World dialogue box. “I’m going to threaten it first.”
-----
The author has something to say:
Mini bonus skit (not canon):
Q-chan: Dear Mr. Xing Yue, Yi Luo dedicated a song to you! Allow your intergalactic pink idol, Q-chan, to perform!
🎵 Goodbye, Mom, tonight I’m setting sail~
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment