Chapter 120: The Diamond Ring
The electrical circuits on the bottom two levels of the Zerg starship had been completely fried in the recent explosion. Monitoring systems, cooling, and lighting were all severed from the main system, plunging the depths of the ship into utter darkness.
However, this played right into the hands of Sha Xia and his team. A formidable force of over twenty mechas slipped into the belly of the Zerg starship right under their noses, completely undetected.
The chest of Verdant, the leading mecha, emitted a faint white glow that illuminated only a small patch of ground. Sha Xia activated the mecha’s thermal scan and night vision functions. As Verdant‘s massive head swiveled 270 degrees to the northeast corner, a cluster of red silhouettes in varying shades appeared on his screen.
“Achi,” Sha Xia exclaimed, “I found the hostages.”
Achi’s face, which had been taut with tension, relaxed slightly at Sha Xia’s words. “Good. Ensure the safety of all hostages.”
“Understood,” Sha Xia replied.
He switched to the team comms channel and divided the twenty-plus mechas into three groups. He would lead Group 1 to rescue the hostages. Luo Tang would lead Group 2 to locate the warehouse where the Zerg stored their mechas and destroy as many as possible.
The internal structure of Zerg starships was similar to that of the Empire’s, with mechas stored on the lower levels for easy deployment.
Sha Xia hadn’t originally planned on destroying their mechas, but since they had happened to enter at the very bottom level and found the hostages right away, it would be a waste of good luck not to cause some trouble with their remaining time.
The remaining mechas formed Group 3, led by Oliver, responsible for protecting Group 2 and drawing the attention of Zerg soldiers.
“Received!” Luo Tang and Oliver chorused over the channel.
The mechas split up at the stairwell. Their heavy feet crunched on the shattered metal and debris on the floor, producing dull thuds.
Sha Xia cursed under his breath as he listened to the noise. The mechas were just too massive. Even with smaller steps and the lightest possible landings, the sound of metal clashing against metal was still many times louder than a boot sole hitting the floor.
He had considered leaving the mechas at the entry point and proceeding on foot for the search and rescue. But considering their current location and the combat capabilities of individual Zerg soldiers, he quickly abandoned the idea.
Although the mechas were large targets and using them against Zerg soldiers might seem a bit unfair…
This wasn’t the time to worry about fairness. Saving everyone and eliminating the Zerg on this ship was the top priority.
Since they were bound to be discovered anyway, Sha Xia abandoned any pretense of stealth. He ordered everyone in Group 1 to follow him at full speed toward the hostages’ location.
Eighteen mechas running together created a thunderous rumble that traveled far, alerting not only the Zerg soldiers on the upper levels but also the people in the nearby warehouse.
“What’s happening?” someone curled in the darkness cried out in despair. “Is someone attacking the ship? Oh god! Are we going to die too?”
“Mommy! What’s coming? Why does the floor feel like it’s shaking?” Someone else couldn’t sit still any longer, jumping up with a start and running blindly.
“Crap! Is the floor going to cave in? I don’t want to die, dammit! I just became an adult!”
More and more people stood up and ran aimlessly in the dark. Those who didn’t get up in time screamed as they were trampled, then scrambled to their feet to join the chaotic stampede.
Panic spread like a virus through the increasingly stuffy warehouse. Terrified people ran around like headless flies. Someone would scream as they were knocked down, only to groan in pain as the next person stepped on them.
In the blink of an eye, the warehouse descended into chaos. Someone shouted for calm, but their voice was drowned out by the screams and cries.
When the lights went out, the captain had been sitting next to Mu Mu.
Hearing the crowd begin to riot, and fearing they would be tripped and trampled, he fumbled in the dark to grab Mu Mu’s clothes. He hauled him up and shoved him into a corner. “Stand against the wall! Don’t move, whatever you do, don’t move.”
Pressed against the cold metal wall by the captain, Mu Mu whispered, “Don’t be afraid, Captain. Someone must be coming to save us.”
The captain let out a bitter laugh. How could someone come to save them so quickly? More likely, they had run into space pirates fighting over turf.
Hearing the captain’s bitter laugh, Mu Mu knew he didn’t believe him. Just as he was about to say something to prove he was telling the truth, he caught a glimpse of flickering sparks out of the corner of his eye, followed by a sizzling sound.
He quickly looked toward the source of the light and saw sparks flashing like fireworks, drawing a circle.
People near the sparks, unaware of what was happening, screamed in terror and surged backward like a tide.
In no time, the people at the front of the warehouse had crowded to the back, leaving a large empty space in front of the sparks.
By a stroke of luck, this made things much easier for Sha Xia, who was cutting through the iron door from the outside.
Due to the power outage, the electronic lock on the iron door had engaged. Sha Xia maneuvered Verdant to draw a circle on the door with its laser cutter.
As the final arc was completed, the circular piece of iron crashed into the warehouse with a loud BANG!, startling the already trembling people into ducking their heads like frightened quails.
Because of the limited space inside the warehouse, not all the mechas entered. Only Sha Xia’s Verdant and Yu Li’s Cedar One walked in. The other mechas guarded the corridor to prevent Zerg soldiers from following the noise.
The two mechas brightened the lights on their chests, their crossing beams of moderate white light illuminating the entire warehouse.
Sha Xia anxiously scanned the crowd for Mu Mu and Yan Gui Xing. Although he already knew Yan Gui Xing had been taken by General Yao for torture, he still held onto a one-percent hope that their boss might be with these hostages.
The bad news was, Yan Gui Xing wasn’t among them.
The good news was that Sha Xia found Mu Mu.
Sha Xia and Yu Li hurriedly disembarked from their mechas. Their human appearance brought a slight measure of relief to the terrified people.
A bold person shouted, “Who… who are you? Are you here to save us?”
At those words, the people hiding in the darkness looked at Sha Xia and Yu Li with eyes full of hope.
Sha Xia shouted, “I am Captain Sha Xia of the Fourth Legion, here under orders to rescue you. Everyone, please be quiet. I have a question for the captain. Is the captain of the spaceship here? Step forward!”
Hearing Sha Xia’s name, Mu Mu’s face lit up with undisguised joy. With Sha Xia here, Gui Gui could be saved!
Following the captain, he walked to the front through the path the crowd parted for them like the Red Sea.
Seeing Mu Mu behind the captain, Sha Xia and Yu Li ignored the captain entirely. They rushed forward, their four eyes scanning Mu Mu from head to toe. After confirming he was unhurt, they suppressed their excitement and said solemnly, “We apologize for our negligence. We’re sorry you were frightened, Little Madam.”
The crowd stared wide-eyed as Sha Xia and Yu Li addressed the intellectually disabled young man as “Little Madam.”
This spaceship didn’t just have an Admiral, but an Admiral’s wife too? They didn’t know whether to call themselves lucky or unlucky.
Mu Mu didn’t care about anything else right now. He strode forward anxiously. “Gui Gui, Gui Gui was taken by them! You have to go save him!”
Yu Li comforted Mu Mu, telling him not to worry and that they would go save the Admiral after securing the hostages.
Sha Xia confirmed with the captain that all the surviving passengers were present. Without wasting time, he contacted Achi and dispatched Lu Yu with five others to escort these people back to the main ship, while he led the rest to find Yan Gui Xing.
They had intended for Mu Mu to return to the main ship with the passengers, but Mu Mu insisted on going with them to find Yan Gui Xing, and they couldn’t dissuade him.
Thinking about it, since Mu Mu had managed to find Yan Gui Xing on the vast Frontier Star, surely he could quickly locate him on a starship much smaller than a planet.
Mu Mu boarded Verdant with Sha Xia and headed upward.
Incidentally, this was the first time Mu Mu had seen a mecha up close and entered one.
Under normal circumstances, Mu Mu would have been starry-eyed, marveling at the mecha’s interior and constantly exclaiming “Wow.”
Unfortunately, his heart was entirely with Yan Gui Xing right now, leaving no room for anything else.
Even when they encountered Zerg soldiers and the mecha gunned them down, splashing blue blood everywhere, his expression didn’t change, nor did his brow twitch. His calm demeanor secretly impressed Sha Xia.
Later, when Sha Xia recounted Mu Mu’s expression to Achi, he tutted for a long time, adding that people who sleep in the same bed really do become alike. He almost thought the person sitting next to him was the boss himself.
When Verdant fought its way to the first level, the previously quiet Mu Mu leaned closer to Sha Xia. Startled, Sha Xia quickly turned his head, fearing Mu Mu might touch something he shouldn’t, intending to warn him.
When he saw Mu Mu’s hands resting properly in his lap, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the screen, a strange feeling passed through him. The words on his lips changed to, “Little Madam, is something wrong?”
“I feel like Gui Gui is right here.” Mu Mu’s eyes had reddened at some point. He stared at the dark gray metal corridor, his brow furrowed tight. “He seems like he’s dying. We have to find him fast, or it’ll be too late.”
Sha Xia’s heart skipped a beat at Mu Mu’s words. Regardless of where Mu Mu got this feeling that Yan Gui Xing was dying, he blindly trusted him and began searching room by room.
This level housed the gym, recreation room, dining hall, and kitchen. Because of the invasion from both inside and out, the Zerg were either in the command center or on the lower levels, leaving the rooms mostly empty.
Finally, Sha Xia and his team arrived at a locked cold storage room at the end of the corridor. Seeing the cold air seeping from the crack in the door, Sha Xia’s temple throbbed, and a bad premonition welled up inside him.
“No way, right?” Sha Xia licked his lips, mumbling indistinctly. “If the boss is really in there, wouldn’t he be frozen into a popsicle? Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Just talking nonsense, don’t take it seriously.”
Perhaps because of the bad feeling, Sha Xia chose to leave the mecha this time. He took Mu Mu down the ramp to the ground, raised his laser gun, and fired two shots at the combination lock on the doorframe.
The lock shattered, and the tightly closed door popped open a crack. White, cold air hissed out from the gap.
The chill hit Sha Xia in the face, catching him off guard and making him sneeze. Mu Mu, despite being physically weaker, ignored the biting cold. He yanked the door open and rushed in.
As soon as he stepped inside and saw the scene before him, his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks, and he let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Sha Xia, Yu Li, and the others were startled and hurried in after him. Looking up, they too froze in place.
In the center of the room hung a lean man, wearing only black trousers, his upper body and feet bare. His beautifully stretched body was covered in red wounds, all encased in a layer of silvery frost.
At first glance, he looked like an ice sculpture filled with a cruel, tormented beauty.
“Gui Gui, Gui Gui.” Mu Mu sat on the floor as if dazed, looking at the frozen Yan Gui Xing, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
Sha Xia snapped out of it. Red-eyed, he cursed and strode forward. “Don’t just stand there, save the boss!”
The others snapped to action. Yu Li and two others rushed over to help Sha Xia get Yan Gui Xing down.
Someone went to pull the dazed Mu Mu up, while others, hearing noises from the corridor, raised their laser guns and rushed out to intercept the Zerg.
Stepping on Yu Li’s back, Sha Xia shattered the chains binding Yan Gui Xing’s wrists with a punch. He caught the stiff Yan Gui Xing and climbed down from Yu Li’s back.
Yu Li’s eyes were bloodshot as he asked nervously, “How is he? Boss… is the boss still breathing?”
Sha Xia placed Yan Gui Xing in Yu Li’s arms, held his breath, and pressed his ear to Yan Gui Xing’s chest. After a few seconds, a faint heartbeat reached his ears.
Sha Xia jerked his head up, shouting excitedly, “The boss is still alive! Quick! Get back to the main ship!”
Mu Mu vaguely heard the words “still alive,” rolled his eyes back, and fainted into the arms of the person behind him.
Mu Mu only learned what happened after that day from Achi later. Achi wasn’t a good storyteller; he managed to make a thrilling battle sound dull and boring.
General Yao, who had self-destructed his starship in imitation of his prince, would probably have been furious enough to come back to life if he heard it.
Yan Gui Xing was tough. Frozen to his last breath, he still managed to hold on until he was put into a repair pod. It took 84 hours, but he emerged fully healed and revived.
Mu Mu had fainted from shock and extreme emotional fluctuations. After sleeping in Yan Gui Xing’s quarters on the main ship, he was fine.
Due to orders from military headquarters, the Fourth Legion returned directly to the Capital Star.
When they arrived at the Capital Star, Yan Gui Xing had not yet left the repair pod. Achi didn’t dare let Mu Mu, who had never been to the Capital Star, wander around for fear he would get lost, so he settled him in Yan Gui Xing’s house in the capital.
Yan Gui Xing was transported along with the repair pod to the First Military Hospital to recover. Mu Mu went with Gongsun to visit him every day.
There wasn’t really much to see; lying in the repair pod looked just like sleeping underwater. Mu Mu would just sit in a chair, staring blankly at the silver casing of the pod.
At noon on the third day, while eating lunch, he suddenly asked Gongsun where he could buy a diamond ring.
Gongsun stared blankly at Mu Mu, then turned to look at the repair pod, then back at Mu Mu, his mouth agape in shock.
Half an hour later, a detailed introduction to the top ten jewelry stores in the Capital Star appeared on Mu Mu’s terminal.
Mu Mu didn’t know much about jewelry; he just knew that number one must be the best. After choosing a store, the curious Gongsun acted as his driver and accompanied him to buy the ring.
Fitting for the top jewelry store in the Capital Star, the sales associate brought out an entire tray of rings for Mu Mu to choose from as soon as she heard he wanted a men’s diamond ring.
Mu Mu looked at the glittering rings under the lights, hesitantly looking at this one and touching that one, before finally shaking his head.
The sales associate smiled and asked, “What style are you looking for? You can describe it to me, and I’ll help you find a suitable one.”
Mu Mu raised his right fist toward her. Meeting her puzzled gaze, he shook his fist and said shyly, “Like this.”
Sales Associate: “???”
Gongsun: “!!!”
Yan Gui Xing sat in the repair pod for nearly an hour before the ache of his body being remade faded. He lifted his arm, still dripping with pale green liquid, looked at the smooth skin, and curled his lip.
He pushed himself up by the edge and leaped out of the pod. Taking the large towel handed to him by the waiting Achi, he scanned the people standing guard, distractedly wiping the liquid from his chest and arms.
Not finding the person he wanted to see in the crowd, his lake-green eyes darkened. He threw the towel over his wet head and asked, “Where’s Mu Mu?”
Before Achi could answer, Gongsun mischievously chimed in, “The Little Madam has been staying at your house, Boss. He booked a ticket back to D5 Star for today. Ah, it should be about time.”
Yan Gui Xing’s body stiffened, and he unleashed his hostility without restraint. The powerful oppressive aura forced Achi, Sha Xia, and the others to take a step back.
Yan Gui Xing ripped the towel from his head, draped it around his neck, and turned into the bathroom.
Achi let out a sigh of relief, glared at Gongsun, and whispered, “Why did you have to scare the boss like that?”
Gongsun patted Achi’s shoulder with a grin. “Oh, you know, suppress first to raise later. That way, the surprise will be even more surprising.”
After showering and changing, Yan Gui Xing didn’t even take Achi with him. He boarded his aircraft with a dark face and sped all the way back to his house in the Capital Star.
He got out of the aircraft, looked at the closed courtyard gate, gritted his teeth, and turned to get back in. But just then, he looked up and saw Mu Mu walking over. He was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt and dark blue denim shorts, carrying a black box about as tall as an adult’s calf, tied with a red ribbon.
Mu Mu also saw Yan Gui Xing standing in front of the black iron gate and ran over happily.
He didn’t notice Yan Gui Xing’s dark expression. Using his free hand, he grabbed Yan Gui Xing’s arm and lifted it, marveling at the smooth skin in a whisper, exclaiming how amazing the repair pod was for removing all the scars.
Yan Gui Xing, who had originally wanted to keep a scarred leg to match Mu Mu’s as a couple’s set, looked even worse upon hearing this.
He stared at the top of Mu Mu’s head, his expression shifting before finally settling into a gentle mask. He reversed his grip on Mu Mu’s hand and asked steadily, “Mu Mu, where did you go?”
Mu Mu didn’t hear anything strange in his voice. He smiled and shook the large box in his hand at Yan Gui Xing. “Mu Mu went to pick this up.”
Yan Gui Xing raised an eyebrow. “What is this?”
Mu Mu’s eyes curved in a smile. “A diamond ring~ Mu Mu is going to propose to Gui Gui, and of course, you need a diamond ring for a proposal.”
Yan Gui Xing was stunned by the word “propose.” Overwhelmed with joy, he had no particular reaction, just staring blankly as Mu Mu squatted down, opened the black box, and took out the ring.
Wait! This thing is called a diamond ring?
Mu Mu was clutching a silver ring the size of a bracelet, topped with a round, 108-facet diamond the size of his fist.
The massive diamond sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight. It was beautiful, yes, but ridiculously huge.
The emotional rollercoaster had turned Yan Gui Xing’s brain into mush. He pointed at the ring in Mu Mu’s hand and stammered, “This… this is a diamond ring? A proposal ring?”
Mu Mu nodded vigorously. “Yes, a diamond ring. Mu Mu thought those other rings were too ordinary, the diamonds too small. Not special enough, not good enough for Gui Gui. So Mu Mu chose a custom one. They’re amazing, they made it in one day!”
Yan Gui Xing looked at the ring that could hardly be called a ring and nodded in agreement. “Truly amazing. They dare to make anything.”
Mu Mu tilted his head, not understanding what Yan Gui Xing was saying. But that didn’t stop his proposal. He knelt solemnly, took Yan Gui Xing’s left hand, and slipped the diamond ring onto his left wrist.
Actually, it fit his wrist perfectly. With the giant diamond on top, it looked surprisingly good, even if the placement was a bit off.
Mu Mu looked up at the gentle-faced Yan Gui Xing, beaming with a smile brighter than the sun, and asked, “Mr. Yan Gui Xing, I love you. Will you marry me?”
[Author’s Note]: And here, the story of Yan So-and-so and Mu Mu comes to a complete end. Because I loved this bracelet-sized diamond ring so much, I put it right in the main text. There won’t be any extras for this story.
Thank you so much to all the readers who have accompanied and supported Yan So-and-so and Mu Mu all this time. Although neither of them is perfect—okay, they are extremely imperfect. Especially Yan So-and-so. If you meet someone like him in real life, run. Seriously.
Finally, the green hills remain, the green waters flow on. We’ll meet again if fate allows.
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