Chapter 56
“The crown prince has an honorable status and can be protected by the empire; wouldn’t it be safer if he stayed in the royal palace?” Gu Xiyu watched as they drove out of the main star, gradually disappearing into the starry sea, and he raised this question to Xie Mingan.
Xie Mingan set the course and leaned back with his hands on his chest, slumping into the driver’s seat, and asked, “If the forces that provided you with protection became a threat to you, or even wanted to kill you, would you still choose to stay there?”
Does this mean that the palace is already under the control of the Second Prince?
Gu Xiyu was silent: “But His Majesty is still alive. Since Lu Feng is the crown prince he elected, the one he personally decided to succeed, how could he let the second prince oppress him?”
At these words, Xie Mingan glanced at him, somewhat surprised that he, as an alien, knew about the civil unrest in their empire. He then raised the corner of his mouth, looking a little self-deprecating.
“In the face of absolute interests, nothing lasts forever.” Xie Mingan said, his eyes looking straight ahead, as if he were only letting go.
A moment later, he added, ”Including family affection.”
Gu Xiyu remembered something and suddenly quieted down and stopped talking. When Xie Mingan took the time to look at him, Gu Xiyu, who had already transformed back into his human form, was looking out through the window in front of him, as if in a daze.
“I’m with Xie Mingan now, and he’s taking me away.” Gu Xiyu suddenly contacted the intelligent system in his mind.
The system took a long time, about half an hour, before politely sending him a: [?]
The intelligent system seemed to be worried that this question mark would bring about a misunderstanding, and it quickly added: [You don’t seem to be hurt; did he do anything to you?]
Gu Xiyu paused, his tone subconsciously much softer: “No, he found out my identity as a tiger rabbit and worried that I might harm others in the absence of my target, so he put me under surveillance for the time being.”
[Is that why you’re getting further and further away from the main star?]
The words echoed in his head for a long time before he asked, “How do you know I’ve left the main star when you normally can’t even locate me?”
The system took a short time to respond, [Didn’t you just say it earlier?]
He froze as he heard a bit of diffidence in that mechanical voice.
Why did this conversation sound so familiar?
Gu Xiyu, who had never been very good at communicating, choked for a moment and dropped the phrase ‘He’s going to find Lu Feng’ in a sullen tone, then stopped talking.
The system didn’t pacify him either, it was another long time, so long that Gu Xiyu had already followed Xie Mingan past several small planets, and he was just closing his eyes to rest his mind when the system’s panel suddenly popped out.
Instead of the usual data and information, the panel was a screen, like a projection.
In the middle of the screen stood a 3D cartoon tiger rabbit with sky blue plush and a dark blue mark like a pentagram in the center of his forehead. This cartoon tiger rabbit was very similar to the one he had transformed into. Its round eyes were watery, and its pitiful little expression with those droopy ears made it particularly easy to make people’s hearts go soft.
Gu Xiyu froze and wondered if he had accidentally connected to the video player on Xie Mingan’s craft, which could be directly linked to his brain waves. The cartoon tiger rabbit on the screen rubbed its little fleshy paws together and conjured up a bouquet of red roses, handing them over in his direction, the tail behind it wagging lazily with a hint of ingratiation.
[A little feature that I self-developed when I was bored.]
It wasn’t until the system made a sound that he confirmed the image came from the system panel—a small animation that the intelligent system had taken the time to come up with.
Before he could react, the system continued, [Don’t be angry.]
Gu Xiyu’s eyelids twitched, and without opening them, he said back in his mind, “I’m not.” He was already used to it.
What he was more curious about was this animation: “I’ve been on a mission for three worlds, and you’re the first one to make something like this for me.”
[Really?]
[You said I reset every world I go to, so it must be that the first two weren’t smart enough.]
Gu Xiyu listened to these two words and suddenly chuckled, “You’re right.”
The bouquet in the cartoon tiger rabbit’s hand exploded and then turned into a pink little heart.
He looked at the adorable adult tiger rabbit inside, who was trying to “coax” him, and inquired, “In past worlds, you’ve given me advice that sounded ridiculous but was quite useful. Can you tell me what the goal of this world’s mission target is?”
“What do I have to do to make him happy?”
The system was once again silent for a long time.
[Do you think he likes his existence?]
[A creature with no form, who on the bright side can take on all things and gain their powers, sounds powerful. However, he’s just a pathetic loser who doesn’t even have a self. Everyone else is unique, but he doesn’t even have the most basic features.]
It was because there was no goal or demand on him—everything was so blank that he became a being who didn’t even have features that belonged to him alone.
Gu Xiyu was quiet for a moment, not fully agreeing with this viewpoint: “The meaning of existence doesn’t only lie in the physical body but also in the soul and consciousness.”
“If he really had no purpose, he wouldn’t have appeared in this world.”
He remembered that the people from the bureau said that the Great Demon had come with an obsession and was driven crazy by it.
How could this guy not have a goal?
[My advice to you, then, is to find out the one thing that will make him happy that even he doesn’t know about.]
Gu Xiyu did not remember when he fell asleep, and when he woke up, the spaceship was already moored on the ground. The pilot’s seat next to him was already empty. He sat up slightly and saw that the land outside was on the orange-brown side and looked somewhat barren, though there was some vegetation around, much better than where he had last awakened.
Not far away, under a tree, sat a small flock of white birds with long, slender crane-like necks and elegantly beautiful fan-like feathers on either side of their heads. A few meters away from them was a small grotto, outside of which a cauldron was set up with steam coming from it.
Next to the cauldron, two men stood facing each other. The one dressed in black was Xie Mingan, who had brought him to this place, and in front of him was another refined-looking, dignified brown-haired young man, both of whom looked uncomfortable, as if they were arguing about something.
The door of the craft was unlocked, and Gu Xiyu stepped out of it, heading over in the direction of the two men.
“Wen Ruo may not be human, but she saved me when I almost died! Ironically, my trusted kin tried to take my life, and it was my enemy who saved me in a moment of crisis.”
Before he even reached them, he could already hear the two men arguing.
Xie Mingan’s tone was full of disagreement: “There is no guarantee that she, as an alien, did not have a premeditated plan to use this as a reason to approach you to gain your trust. Look, you’re speaking for her now.”
After Gu Xiyu approached, he saw the golden brooch pinned to the chest of the person in front of Xie Mingan. The design was a graphic of the mythical beast griffin in western legends, and the gems on it were red.
There was no doubt that this person was the male protagonist of this world, Lu Feng.
“I saved her and spent some time with her, if she wanted to kill me, she would have done that long ago.”
Speaking of this matter, Lu Feng’s tone became depressed: “You don’t know how many experiments they are conducting in private. A few months ago, I happened to get attacked by an alien race when I went on patrol on the Celestia planet. On my way to fight with them and lead people to evacuate, I unintentionally discovered another laboratory they built on Celestia, which houses many species, that is where I rescued Wen Ruo. “
“Those alien species were attacking the celestial plant to save their companions.”
After saying that, Lu Feng noticed Gu Xiyu, who came down from Xie Mingan’s craft.
Miraculously, as soon as his eyes fell on him, his eyes instantly changed, and he said to Xie Mingan in a skeptical tone, “You’re questioning me, yet you’re also moving with an alien?”
Lu Feng had actually seen through him at a glance—what a keen intuition.
Xie Mingan had a calm expression, “He is now my prisoner, and I am watching him. If Your Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t mind, you can also hand the girl over to me and we will monitor her.”
Only then did Gu Xiyu realize that there was another figure walking around in the grotto. He could only see the back of a girl with waist-length hair, wearing a dark-colored dress with close-fitting trousers that made it easy for her to move around.
Before he had time to withdraw his gaze, the girl suddenly turned back as if she sensed something and met his gaze.
Gu Xiyu felt as if a hint of doubt flashed across her face.
He guessed that this girl should be the female protagonist of this world. What did Lu Feng call her just now? Wen Ruo? It sounded as if her identity was that of an alien.
Was it a coincidence?
On the other side, Lu Feng, of course, would not be happy to hand over the person, and the topic was left unresolved.
Lu Feng had escaped in his spaceship at first, but the people chasing him did not let him go, attacking his ship to the point of forcing it to land on a small planet. Because of the impact and the attack, Lu Feng landed in a very bad state, with wounds all over his body. It just so happened that Wen Ruo, whom he had saved a while back, was nearby. Their previous encounter was not really pleasant, and Wen Ruo did owe him a favor, so she saved him and brought him to this planet to hide.
Gu Xiyu did not know how long the two had been in this place, but judging from the atmosphere between them and Lu Feng’s defensive stance, the relationship looked like it had progressed.
As the Crown Prince of the Empire, Lu Feng asked Xie Mingan about the latest situation in the Empire. After hearing about what happened at the Royal Palace and in the Research Department, his aura became gloomy, and he did not speak for a long time.
“All this… is the result of human greed.” Lu Feng spoke again, a few minutes later.
“I accidentally found out that the Empire was responsible for opening the portal, and this matter is related to Lu Yan; he is in charge of that research team. He found out that I had discovered his secret and was worried that I would take the evidence and denounce it to the outside world, so he tried to attach me first.”
Lu Feng’s expression gradually became grave: “Also, I suspect that Father’s drastic change in temperament and the change in his attitude towards me during this period of time may also be related to Lu Yan.”
Outside, the sky was already dark, and they were sitting in the grotto with a small campfire lit in the middle; the bowls of hot soup in their hands were already empty.
Xie Mingan frowned. “You mean that the Second Prince has taken control of His Majesty?”
“I’m not sure, but when I was investigating the matter of the portal earlier, I unintentionally discovered that his secret research included a creature that could be used to control other people’s minds. It belongs to a species under SSH number 011. They are as tiny as ants, and the group is born from a “queen mother.” By controlling the queen mother, you can manipulate the rest, and their research is directed at parasitizing SSH011 in people and then using the queen mother to control the thoughts and actions of the people they parasitize.”
“I’m not sure if this research has been successful, but if it is, it would explain why Father is suddenly behaving so strangely.”
While they were chatting about this topic, there was a sudden loud clanging noise from outside. Several people got up and walked out of the grotto to take a look outside and saw a large bird landing where Xie Mingan had moored his flying machine. The bird was about ten meters tall, with wings that could not fit on two grills, and it stood there with its head held high, emitting a hoarse, piercing growl.
As for the spaceship, it had already been crushed by its claws.
Xie Mingan’s expression was not very good, and he even looked at Lu Feng sorrowfully, as if he were complaining: There is such a dangerous alien race here, and you didn’t tell me in advance?
Lu Feng, who received his gaze, was a bit numb: “Before you came over, neither Wen Ruo nor I had ever seen this guy.”
The big bird’s eyes were fierce. When it saw them, it immediately sent out an aggressive look, and Xie Mingan was ready to fight back, but to his surprise, the big bird stared at them for a long time, and finally just looked around for a while before flapping its wings and flying away again, without doing anything.
Xie Mingan was still calm: “You must have been on a spaceship when you came here; are the parts still there?”
Lu Feng was silent for a moment and said in a low voice, “Yes, but that was a broken craft that we repaired in a hurry. After it landed, it couldn’t be launched anymore.”
Xie Mingan: “……”
Gu Xiyu didn’t know why Xie Mingan suddenly looked towards him when he realized that they might be trapped in this place.
It was probably to remind him of the not-so-pleasant memories of when the two of them met.
Lu Feng wanted to rush back to the Empire to check on the King as well as expose Lu Yan’s evil deeds, so Xie Mingan definitely couldn’t just inform the military to come and pick him up. If they did so, they would probably encounter an ‘accident’ on the way back.
Faced with three slightly heavy expressions, Gu Xiyu suddenly remembered something and said, “Let’s wait a few more days; someone might come to pick us up.”
Wen Yu already had news of Lu Feng, so there was a high probability that he also knew that Lu Feng was here. He said he would come over to “pack” the other party once he finished his mission, which meant that there was a high probability that he would come to this place shortly.
If not, he still had the tracker on his wrist. When it was discovered that he hadn’t gone back to the main star for a few days, Wen Yu would definitely come looking for him based on the location, right?
Gu Xiyu was suddenly a little unsure.
The Great Demon of this world was not quite the same as the previous two soul fragments. He lacked passion, even if they were doing what an unmarried couple would do regularly, it didn’t mean that he really loved him and had treated him as an indispensable presence.
At least, that’s what the 53 risk value points said.
Before going to bed, Gu Xiyu sat alone in the corner of the grotto, contemplating, and Wen Ruo, who hadn’t said much the whole day, wordlessly sat down in front of him.
When he raised his eyes, Wen Ruo opened her mouth and asked, “Do you know my brother?”
Gu Xiyu froze as he listened.
Wen Ruo was a woman of great looks and charm. She was not soft and cute at all, instead, she had a sassy aura about her, the kind of confidence that could take on four or five men single-handedly with a flick of her hair. She knew Xie Mingan disapproved of her, but she didn’t feel aggrieved or care; she just did what she wanted to do.
Xie Mingan didn’t like her, so she simply didn’t speak to him, nor made eye contact, a very individualistic girl.
Gu Xiyu was still thinking about the deeper meaning of that question when she heard her go on to say, “You smell like my brother.”
It was obviously a phrase that sounded somewhat ambiguous, but it was said in a light and generous tone.
As for Wen Ruo’s brother’s identity, he had already had his suspicions earlier, so he quickly had an answer in mind, not knowing whether to be shocked or to sigh at the coincidence of fate.
Wen Ruo rested her chin on her hands and gave him the first smile he had seen today, and there was a slight tease in her tone.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him leave an exclusive mark on a person, so it seems you’re quite important to him.”
“So, should I call you sister-in-law?”