Chapter 43
Ouyang Xiaoli reached out to wipe away the bit of moisture at the corner of his eye. His face returned to a cold sternness. His eyes were bloodshot as he forced himself to calm down.
Xia Yi was still waiting for him to save him.
As long as he successfully entered the eighth floor of the Empire’s Secret Experimental Division, he was confident he could turn the clouds and rain, breaking the deadlock between the Silver Sea Empire and the Underground City. This secret division originally belonged to them!
As one of the few descendants of the Great Elder.
Ouyang Xiaoli had his own mission!
When that time came, he could rescue Xia Yi, and the entire Silver Sea Empire would disappear!
Ouyang Xiaoli thought with violent cruelty.
However, at the Empire’s confidential division, Ouyang Xiaoli could only reach the seventh floor with the permission card. He gripped the card tight, his eyes dark and cold.
That old thing tricked him!
Ouyang Xiaoli stood at the entrance of the eighth floor. Because he had just swiped the permission card, the alarm on the door had already started to emit a piercing sound!
Ouyang Xiaoli ran back quickly.
Laser beams were hidden in the passages here, appearing upon triggering the alarm. Ouyang Xiaoli had been hurt by these beams in the past.
But this time his reaction was a step slow.
When he escaped from the confidential division, his calf was cut by a sharp beam, deep to the bone. Ouyang Xiaoli’s face was deathly pale.
He hid in the shadows and bandaged it quickly.
Soon, blood soaked through the bandage fabric and dripped onto the ground. At this moment, Ouyang Xiaoli couldn’t care about that much.
He had to return to the Underground City immediately.
While the officials were distracted.
Ouyang Xiaoli flashed past quickly.
It was night when he returned to the Underground City. There were few people on the street. Ouyang Xiaoli dragged his leg back home and lay on the sofa with his eyes closed.
This injury was within his expectations.
Before, he could successfully enter the fourth floor of the enemy Empire’s confidential division, which took him over ten years. Now, because of the red mermaid Thor, he could easily enter the seventh floor. This was already huge progress. He anticipated that the old man wouldn’t give him the permission card completely, and sure enough.
Ouyang Xiaoli breathed very lightly.
After a long time, he began to clean the wound on his leg where the bone was visible. He opened the simple medical kit, taking out a needle and thread, as well as disinfectant.
He poured a bottle of disinfectant over it.
Fine sweat seeped out on his forehead. Ouyang Xiaoli didn’t even make a sound. After a long time, he let out a breath and began to stitch the wound.
The living room was extremely quiet.
After stitching the last stitch, Ouyang Xiaoli cut the thread and stared at the wound in a daze.
He suddenly remembered the way Xia Yi put a band-aid on his face last time, earnestly, and even blew on it with heartache.
He closed his eyes.
After a while, Ouyang Xiaoli lifted his arm across his eyes. Tears wet his eye sockets, slowly sliding down the sides of his face.
In this moment, he missed Xia Yi so much.
What if Xia Yi really liked someone else? Just thinking of this possibility, Ouyang Xiaoli couldn’t stop the panic in his heart.
What to do?
What else could he do?
He remembered all the ways he treated Xia Yi badly, making Xia Yi sleep on the sofa, calling Xia Yi squeamish, disliking that Xia Yi didn’t like drinking nutrient solution.
Xia Yi must have been uneasy at that time.
He had clearly seen it.
But he chose to ignore it.
After Xia Yi was bullied by Hu Lao’er, feeling aggrieved and frightened, not only did he not comfort him, but he also lost his temper at him.
Questioning why he didn’t fight back.
Even afterwards, he was cold and distant to Xia Yi, saying he wanted to send Xia Yi away.
Ouyang Xiaoli regretted it even more thinking about this.
He raised his hand and slapped himself hard in the face, the sound loud and crisp!
For the next half month, Ouyang Xiaoli infiltrated the Empire’s confidential division every few days, although security was reinforced again due to the last failure.
But this didn’t affect his determination.
Every day he failed, got injured, and came back dripping with blood.
The entire Underground City was astonished.
This time Ouyang Xiaoli was injured quite severely. His abdomen was almost cut in half directly. Fortunately, he reacted in time and dodged quickly, so the beam cut his thigh instead. A large chunk of flesh fell off, looking terrifying. He had to get many stitches.
Ke Da couldn’t help wiping his tears. “Boss, how about we just forget it.”
Ouyang Xiaoli looked up coldly.
“We have already found Planet DB-762. Why take the extra risk?!” Every time the Boss came back from the Silver Sea Empire, he was covered in blood. That appearance made him unable to bear looking. “If it’s for Xia Yi, he wouldn’t be happy seeing you like this. Besides, he has a good home now!”
“He is waiting for me to save him.”
Ouyang Xiaoli was extremely stubborn at this moment.
“Can you stop deceiving yourself?!” Ke Da finally cried out loud, shouting, “Xia Yi already likes another man and doesn’t like you anymore! The Silver Sea Empire has apples, bananas, cakes, and chocolate; that man buys them all for Xia Yi!”
“You can’t give him any of these!”
“Do you want him to come back and drink nutrient solution and eat potato soup with you?” Ke Da hardened his heart, deciding he couldn’t just watch the Boss go to his death. “The environment in the Underground City is harsh; we can’t force Xia Yi to live this kind of life!”
“You don’t know how much my heart ached when he forced himself to drink nutrient solution in those last days, but what could I do?!”
“I treat Xia Yi as a younger brother…”
As Ke Da spoke, his voice choked, and he couldn’t help but let the tears flow like a river, his emotions somewhat collapsing.
Ouyang Xiaoli’s lips were pale.
He lowered his head and didn’t speak for a long time.
After a long while, he said, “I won’t let him drink nutrient solution and potato soup forever. With DB-762, life will get better.”
Ouyang Xiaoli’s voice was hoarse and low.
He didn’t explain to anyone why he named that planet DB-762.
When he successfully landed on that azure planet, his first reaction was regret—regret that he couldn’t let Xia Yi see this blue color.
When Xiao Mo incoherently asked him how to name this planet, he blurted out, “DB-762.”
He startled himself at the time.
“DB” was the acronym for Xia Yi’s nickname, Dobu. Letters were a kind of marking that existed on Ancient Earth. “762” was because the character “Do” in Dobu had six strokes, “Bu” had five strokes, and seven minus two equaled five.
Ouyang Xiaoli hid these unknown little thoughts in the planet’s name.
Xia Yi was like a surprise that suddenly barged into his plain and ordinary life, and that blue planet was his hope.
He felt Xia Yi was his luck.
Ouyang Xiaoli twitched the corners of his mouth bitterly. But none of this mattered anymore, because he had lost the most important person.
He lowered his eyes in silence.
Ouyang Xiaoli didn’t give up saving Xia Yi because of Ke Da’s few words. He still went to the Silver Sea Empire above ground every day.
And he often paid attention to the Star Network.
Breaking the eighth floor wasn’t that easy. He planned to infiltrate Song Chengbing’s palace to rescue Xia Yi.
But the process was still very difficult.
Just like that, half a month passed. Ouyang Xiaoli suffered more and more in his heart, but he couldn’t stop. His Xia Yi was still waiting for him to save him!
This was the only belief holding him up.
Two months had passed from Xia Yi’s disappearance to being sold to the Silver Sea Empire. For Ouyang Xiaoli, this was simply too long.
It felt like years.
He even frequently dreamed of Xia Yi crying, asking him in a soft and waxy voice why he hadn’t come to save him yet, saying he really, really missed him.
Every time he woke up, Ouyang Xiaoli’s chest ached dully, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
He told Xia Yi in the dream that it would be soon, to wait a little longer, he was coming right away.
This morning, Ouyang Xiaoli woke up sweating profusely again. He wiped off the sweat, and it took him quite a while to finally recover.
He habitually picked up the light brain on the nightstand, skillfully bypassed the firewall to enter the Star Network, and searched for keywords as usual. Still nothing.
Ouyang Xiaoli spaced out for a while.
He stared at the familiar interface of the light brain, his mind blank. Just then, a news item suddenly popped up like last time!
Ouyang Xiaoli’s pupils locked onto it!
He clicked in with lightning speed!
This time there was no text, only a photo. Ouyang Xiaoli stared blankly at the photo. The golden mermaid’s belly was slightly bulging…
The man beside him carefully supported him, afraid something might happen to the little mermaid.
Ouyang Xiaoli pursed his lips tightly.
This news wasn’t deleted quickly this time. It seemed to be that man’s intention; this was clearly a disguised declaration of ownership!
Ouyang Xiaoli’s eyes were violent and bloodshot.
He gripped the light brain so hard that veins gradually appeared on the back of his hand, and his arm muscles showed a state of explosion due to his emotions!
Why?!
Xia Yi was clearly his!
After the anger, unwillingness, and regret, Ouyang Xiaoli gradually calmed down. He zoomed in on Xia Yi’s figure in that photo.
Xia Yi’s eyes were full of happiness.
He gently touched his stomach, looking at it with a very gentle gaze. The man’s hand was also placed on Xia Yi’s stomach, looking down at it.
This scene was extremely piercing to Ouyang Xiaoli. His eyes couldn’t help but sting.
Ke Da said the look of one person looking at another couldn’t be concealed.
Xia Yi really liked this man.
Just as Ouyang Xiaoli was persuading himself to give up, he never expected Xia Yi to appear in his field of vision so easily.
Street of the Silver Sea Empire.
He stared tightly at the person opposite him.
Xia Yi knew that with Ouyang Xiaoli’s ability, he couldn’t infiltrate the palace. It had been two months. Xia Yi might not have understood the situation in the Underground City very well before, but after staying in the Silver Sea Empire for so long, he already knew the difference between the sky and the underground.
During these days in the palace, he heard the Guard Officer He Sui talk about many things outside, so he yearned for it and asked the Guard Officer to take him out, wanting to see the Silver Sea Empire.
The Guard Officer asked the General, and the General asked the Adjutant.
Adjutant Xia Ni frowned but still nodded approval.
And ordered the Guard Officer to protect Xia Yi.
Xia Yi thought he had snuck out, but actually, he couldn’t escape his brother’s palm. Of course, Xia Yi didn’t know any of this. Guard Officer He Sui felt Xia Yi was very simple, the simplest person he had ever seen.
The streets of the Silver Sea Empire were peaceful. People were doing business, and their clothes were not as sloppy and unparticular as those in the Underground City. Obviously, the civilization of the Silver Sea Empire far surpassed the Underground City.
Xia Yi thought of Ouyang, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.
There was a street stall surrounded by many children. Noisy sounds came over. Xia Yi was a little curious. When he walked closer, he found it was a white-haired old grandpa selling Ancient Earth candied hawthorns.
Xia Yi licked his lips, wanting to eat one a little.
He still had the spirit stones his brother gave him not long ago in his pocket.
“Brother He Sui…”
The young man’s voice was soft and mushy.
Guard Officer He Sui was observing the surroundings vigilantly, staying calm and collected, when suddenly his sleeve was tugged, and he heard that soft voice. Realizing what happened, his ears turned red.
“W-What is it?”
He Sui stuttered for the first time in his life.
His lowered gaze quickly fell on the young man’s stomach. He paused. The flush on He Sui’s face faded a bit, leaving only pity. The Adjutant said Xia Yi had been sold by a man. He Sui didn’t need to ask to guess the rest. Xia Yi was too simple. If only they had met earlier…
“Brother He Sui.” Although Xia Yi felt the Guard Officer’s look was a bit inexplicable, he still couldn’t resist the temptation of the candied hawthorns. He pointed to the small stall: “I want to eat candied hawthorns.”
“I’ll go buy it.”
He Sui went forward without a second word.
Suddenly, he felt an intense gaze land on him.
Xia Yi subconsciously looked back.
Ouyang Xiaoli stared at the little mermaid opposite him. Because of his extreme restraint, his fingernails dug into his flesh, and beads of blood fell to the ground drop by drop, but the man seemed to feel nothing.
Their gazes collided just like that. Xia Yi stared blankly at the man opposite him, his face instantly turning pale. He hurriedly grabbed the Guard Officer’s sleeve: “Y-You, take me away from here quickly!”
The Guard Officer asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
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