Chapter 32
For the past two days, Xia Yi had been pondering how to remove the impurities from the soil.
At the same time, he also considered that even after clearing them, if the Blue Bugs invaded again, the soil would be re-contaminated, creating a vicious cycle.
Therefore, he not only needed to find a method to remove the soil impurities but also address the root causeāthat is, completely eliminate the Blue Bugs and figure out where they came from and how they were produced.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Ouyang Xiaoli looked up to see the little merman on the balcony, hugging a pot of soil and racking his brain. He chuckled low and walked over.
“This problem has plagued the Underground City and the Silver Sea Empire for years. It won’t be solved overnight. Take your time with everything; there’s no rush.”
Ouyang Xiaoli ruffled the little merman’s hair.
Xia Yi looked up, nuzzling against the man’s palm, and said softly, “I know.”
Remembering that Ouyang had gone to the Silver Sea Empire two days ago, he asked, “Did you rescue Tang Si?”
Ouyang Xiaoli was buttoning his shirt leisurely, not shying away from the little merman. When Xia Yi turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the man’s firm, taut V-line.
His small face flushed slightly.
He quickly looked away.
Ouyang Xiaoli didn’t notice. He finished buttoning his shirt, looking down as he fastened each button. “No. That’s why I plan to go again today.”
He went to the storage box, took out a pouch of nutrient solution, casually held a corner in his mouth, put on his optical computer, and then took down the nutrient solution, inserted the straw, and finished it.
“Last time was purely for reconnaissance. The Silver Sea Empire is heavily guarded, but it’s fine. I think I already know where the Sky Prison is.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
Xia Yi couldn’t help but be captivated by this scene. Ouyang looked really good holding the nutrient solution pouch in his mouthāhis expression nonchalant, his features handsome…
“What are you looking at?”
The man looked over teasingly.
Xia Yi withdrew his gaze guiltily, his small hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt, quickly crumpling the fabric. “N-nothing, I wasn’t looking at anything.”
He lowered his head to suck on the straw, but he had already finished the nutrient solution earlier.
This time he sucked air, and the pouch made a noise. Xia Yi’s face turned even redder.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s eyes held a smile. He turned his head, pretending not to hear. He tapped the optical computer on his wrist, sending a message to Keda.
“Be good and stay home. I’ve asked your Keda-gege to come take care of you. Don’t go running around outside.”
Thinking of how the little merman had boldly run off to the North Zone last time, Ouyang Xiaoli frowned.
Although there was a reason for it, did he really think that as the Boss, he wouldn’t be clear about how dangerous the Underground City was?
Especially with Hu Lao’er in the North Zone. Thinking of this potential danger, Ouyang Xiaoli’s heart sank slightly.
Xia Yi wasn’t a canary for his collection, and he didn’t want to lock him in a cage.
So he paused and added, “You can also ask your Keda-gege to take you out to play, but only within the East Zone. Remember to contact me if anything happens.”
Ouyang Xiaoli raised his arm, indicating the optical computer on his wrist.
Xia Yi nodded in a daze.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s figure was tall and upright. He stopped at the door, turned back, bent down to cup the back of the little merman’s head on the sofa, and delivered a deep French kiss that left the little merman dazed. Ouyang Xiaoli kissed him again with gentle eyes.
“Wait for me to come back.”
“Then I’ll let you have babies.”
The man’s voice was full of temptation.
Xia Yi’s eyes widened. Before he could recover, the man had already disappeared from the doorway.
Ouyang Xiaoli touched his lips and walked down the street in an excellent mood.
He caught a glimpse of that little slave sneaking a peek at him from the street corner but didn’t pay it any mind. He knew this little slave’s background well enough.
Perhaps because the little merman had saved Xiao Ya, or perhaps because Xiao Ya was a descendant of the Great Elder, he always held a sense of reverence for the little merman.
This little slave was just bent on protecting the little merman and posed no danger.
Speaking of having babies, Ouyang Xiaoli hadn’t completely dismissed the thought. He was a man; it was impossible not to have those impulses toward the little merman.
He endured and restrained himself only because he didn’t want the little merman to regret it.
When he jokingly said to let the little merman be the sister-in-law for a month, it was also because he was uncertaināuncertain if the little merman was just acting on a whim.
Now, half a month had passed.
They kissed, held hands, and embraced each other.
Except for the final step, they had done everything else, and the little merman still relied on him.
This trip to the Silver Sea Empire was fraught with danger. Breaking someone out of the Silver Sea Empire’s Sky Prison was even more difficult. But as the Boss of the East Zone of the Underground City, and even more so as Tang Si’s Boss, Ouyang Xiaoli couldn’t back down.
There might be no return…
In the palace of the Silver Sea Empire, Xia Ni, who had been staying in the cold weapon laboratory, was restless and occasionally zoned out until his finger was cut and started bleeding.
He snapped back to reality and looked down.
Ever since being injured in the Zerg war, he had been recuperating and hadn’t paid attention to the outside worldāuntil today, when he heard the news from a guard.
The King had bestowed a marriage upon Ah-Bing.
The partner was his most beloved princess.
The entire empire knew about this half a month ago. Only he didn’t know; Ah-Bing hadn’t told him.
Xia Ni pressed his lips tight, stopped his work, and remained silent for a moment. He lowered his head, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally falling on his flat abdomen.
He reached out, trying to use his psychic power to detect the composition of the cold weapon.
There was no fluctuation in the air.
Everything was within expectations. Xia Ni’s psychic power had disappeared; right now, he was just an ordinary person.
He smiled bitterly and looked at his flat abdomen again. A new life was being nurtured there, the crystallization of him and Ah-Bing.
There was a saying in ancient legends that natural mermen would lose all their abilities after becoming pregnant.
It was indeed true.
But it just had to be at this time that he learned of Ah-Bing’s marriage news. He believed Ah-Bing wouldn’t keep it from him intentionally; he was probably troubled by this matter too.
That was the Princess, after all.
Ah-Bing couldn’t refuse.
If he could, he really wanted to take Ah-Bing far away from the Silver Sea Empire and live in the sea together. But Ah-Bing couldn’t live in the sea.
Because he was human.
In the palace, listening to the report from the Guard Officer He Sui, Song Chengbing’s brows furrowed tightly. “You said Xia Ni stayed in the cold weapon room all day?”
“Yes,” the Guard Officer replied. “And he didn’t touch the meals the guards sent.”
Song Chengbing got up and walked toward the cold weapon room. On the way, he saw a few guards talking in a corner. He stopped and listened for a moment.
His face instantly turned dark.
“Insolence!”
Hearing the General’s voice, the guards were scared out of their wits. They quickly knelt on one knee in unison, not daring to breathe loudly.
Song Chengbing stared at them coldly. “Where did you hear about the marriage news?”
One of the guards stammered, “E-everyone says so. They all say the General is going to marry the Princess, just next month…”
Song Chengbing sneered. “Preposterous!”
He couldn’t be bothered with these people, only quickening his pace to arrive outside the cold weapon room.
He felt a slight unease in his heart.
After pausing for a long time, Song Chengbing finally pushed the door open. Before he could speak, he saw the young man inside holding a dagger, the tip pointed at his abdomen.
Song Chengbing’s pupils constricted!
“Xia Ni!” He rushed over with the fastest speed of his life, snatching the dagger away. “What are you doing? Do you know how dangerous that is? What if you got hurt? That was close…”
Just now, his heart had almost jumped out of his throat. Thankfully, he arrived in time.
Xia Ni lifted his eyelids, his expression indifferent, allowing the dagger to be taken away. “I heard.”
“What?”
Song Chengbing asked subconsciously.
The next second, he realized.
“The King bestowing a marriage is a good thing; you didn’t need to hide it from me.” Xia Ni curled his fingers, his lips slightly pale. “Or… did you plan to wait until the child in my belly is born to tell me?”
Song Chengbing froze. After a long while, his gaze landed on Xia Ni’s abdomen, surprise in his eyes. His palm cautiously reached out, wanting to touch but not daring to. For a moment, he was speechless.
“Ch-child?”
His voice trembled slightly.
Xia Ni had known Song Chengbing for so long, yet he had never seen the man look like this. He stared for a moment, then suddenly snorted coldly.
“Not yours.”
Song Chengbing: “…”
Standing straight at the door, the Guard Officer He Sui couldn’t help but cough. “…”
Song Chengbing tried to take his lover’s hand but was ruthlessly shaken off. He felt helpless. “Don’t talk nonsense. If not mine, whose could it be? Are you angry? I originally wanted to resolve the matter with the Princess before telling you. I was afraid you’d mind, so I didn’t say it in advance.”
Who knew he still couldn’t stop the mouths of these palace guards, gossiping one after another with such vigor.
Xia Ni lowered his eyes, his lips moving. “My psychic power is gone.”
Song Chengbing was stunned at first. His gaze fell on his lover’s abdomen, only to be suddenly glared at viciously by his lover.
“It’s all your fault!”
Song Chengbing: “…”
In his eyes, Xia Ni was cool and aloof. Only within the bed curtains could he see a different appearance, let alone seeing him so vivid like now.
The way he glared was so cute.
Song Chengbing quickly hugged his lover, gentle to the extreme, coaxing, “Yes, yes, yes, it’s all my fault. I’ll never dare to do it again next time.”
“You still dare to have a next time?”
Xia Ni raised an eyebrow.
Song Chengbing was helpless. He could only coax and kiss his lover repeatedly. He knew Xia Ni felt very insecure right now because of the loss of his psychic power.
He had also heard the legend of the mermen. It was said that mermen were most fragile during pregnancy and would lose all abilities, but they would recover once the child was born.
Thinking of the scene where Xia Ni pointed the dagger at his abdomen just now, Song Chengbing’s expression changed slightly. He was very uneasy. “Did you just want to hurt…”
Xia Ni rolled his eyes at the General. “Am I that cruel?”
Song Chengbing breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the door. A moment later, someone reported in a low voice, “General, the person from the Underground City in the Sky Prison has been broken out!”
Song Chengbing’s mind was entirely on his lover right now; he didn’t care about other things.
He said casually, “Let them break him out. Those Underground City people can’t stir up any trouble anyway.”
The Sky Prison was heavily guarded, layer upon layer. But hadn’t Song Chengbing gone easy on the defense this time? There was no need to make enemies with the Underground City.
Over the past few hundred years, the relationship between the Silver Sea Empire and the Underground City had deteriorated more and more. Mainly because the Silver Sea Empire suppressed the Underground City, and the Underground City people provoked repeatedly, making the relationship stiff and hostile.
As the General of the Silver Sea Empire, Song Chengbing had always felt helpless about this.
If one day there was a war between the Silver Sea Empire and the Underground City, he hoped it wouldn’t be now.
Delay it if possible.
Humans and humans were not enemies. They were the same race, even compatriots. The Zerg and the Blue Bugs were their enemies.
If only everyone realized this, humans could live in peace.
Ouyang Xiaoli also didn’t expect the prison break to be so easy. He didn’t have time to think too much and took Tang Si, who had suffered superficial injuries, back to the Underground City.
Tang Si let out a deep breath. “Damn it, I’m finally out!”
Ouyang Xiaoli couldn’t help but slap the back of Tang Si’s head. “Are you a pig? Zuo Yinwan told you to break into the lab, and you just went? Are you stupid? It’s fortunate the Silver Sea Empire guards were lax this time; otherwise, I think you’d have stayed in there for the rest of your life!”
Tang Si smiledęØly and rubbed his head. “Didn’t you come to save me, Boss?”
Ouyang Xiaoli snorted.
With the person rescued, he breathed a sigh of relief. Things were much easier than anticipated. Thinking of this stroke of luck, Ouyang Xiaoli frowned.
Precisely because it was too easy, he felt something was wrong. If General Song’s guards were really that weak, wouldn’t they be easily defeated when the Zerg attacked? But in fact, they won every time.
Song Chengbing was intentionally going easy on him.
Ouyang Xiaoli quickly realized this.
Funny. Don’t the people of the Silver Sea Empire see the people of the Underground City as filthy cockroaches? This General is somewhat interesting.
Tang Si returned to his home to recuperate.
Ouyang Xiaoli also returned home, but the little merman wasn’t there. He looked down and fiddled with his optical computer, sending a video call to the other party.
The little merman picked up immediately.
“Ouyang!” The little merman’s voice held some surprise, his face dirty like a little tabby cat. “I know how the Blue Bugs are produced!”
Ouyang Xiaoli stared at the screen. “Where are you? Is Keda with you?”
“Mm!” The little merman wiped his face, smiling brightly. “Keda-gege is here too.”
“It stinks so bad.” Keda’s voice came over, getting closer. “Boss, we’re at the garbage dump. The stench here is simply overwhelming.”
“I’m coming over right now.”
Ouyang Xiaoli’s face turned dark.
These two little guys actually dared to go to the garbage dump. It stank to high heaven there. Usually, no one went there because no one could stand that smell.
Arriving at the garbage dump.
Holding his breath, Ouyang Xiaoli picked up one person in each hand, lifting Keda and the little merman out. He walked a long way before putting them down, looking very disdainful.
“Stay away from me.”
Keda: “…”
The little merman blinked: “…”
Xia Yi wanted to lean over and pull Ouyang’s sleeve but remembered he was covered in a bad smell.
He had to retract his hand, wiping it on his clothes, his eyes shining. “Ouyang, guess what I found here.”
Ouyang Xiaoli looked at him. “Blue Bugs?”
Xia Yi was shocked. “How did you know!”
Ouyang Xiaoli snorted. “Little dummy, didn’t you say it yourself?”
Just now in the video call, Xia Yi was shouting that he found the Blue Bugs and knew how they were produced. He forgot so quickly.
So scatterbrained.
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