CH 23.2

Chapter 23.2 – Shelter

At 7 o’clock in the evening, the second meal was delivered.

“The shelter is not absolutely safe either,” Zhou Ping’an said while eating canned soybeans. “Most monsters are active on the ground and in the air, but there will also be monsters underground. If the underground monsters come, the shelter will be in danger.”

Shi Yuan said, “They won’t come from the ground.” He thought for a while and added, “Not this time.”

The singing he heard came from the air, and the underground was very quiet.

Zhou Ping’an didn’t take his words seriously: “It’s hard to say, everything is possible. Of course, the shelter is very strong, and no matter what, it is much safer than the ground.”

While eating, he asked Shi Yuan again: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” Shi Yuan replied.

Zhou Ping ‘an looked at him for a while: “With your face, you shouldn’t be ah… What about a boyfriend?”

Shi Yuan was torn.

He said: “I have someone who I like very much. I think he also likes me very much, at least he is partial to me.”

“So, you’re not together?” Zhou Ping’an ate a big mouthful of soybeans. “Is there any insurmountable obstacle between you, such as vicious parents, rivals who get in the way, or whatever drama after 8 o’clock, like ‘The Cowherd and The Weaver Girl’, a deep sadomasochistic love?”

Shi Yuan said, “I don’t quite understand.”

He had watched a lot of stage plays and love scenes, but human beings were too complicated, and he couldn’t explain such a delicate definition of emotion.

Like? Love? Or more complicated feelings?

As long as Lu Tinghan could be by his side, he didn’t care that much.

Zhou Pingan was about to say a few more words, when he suddenly heard Shi Yuan say, “And we haven’t mated yet.”

“…cough, cough, cough!!” Zhou Ping’an sprayed a hand of soybeans, and wiped it with tissue in embarrassment. He looked at Shi Yuan as if he was looking at a newly discovered continent, “Brother, you’re a bit wild ah!”

Shi Yuan: ?

Zhou Ping’an said while wiping his hands: “Okay, let me, the master of feelings, tell you how to identify feelings. If, if he wants to have se…uh, sleep with you, will you agree?”

“We’ve already slept together, we just haven’t mated yet,” Shi Yuan explained.

Zhou Ping’an couldn’t hold back any more: “Shi Yuan! Don’t use this word anymore!!!” He looked at the bewildered Shi Yuan, looked him over and over again, and found that he was serious, and said with a hand on his forehead. “Okay, okay, let’s go by what you said, what if he wants to ‘mate’ with you?”

“Then I should agree,” Shi Yuan said. “It’s not a big deal.”

His tone was so natural as if he agreed to an extremely trivial thing, such as “bring me a bottle of soy sauce” or “pass me that book”.

Zhou Ping’an looked at him again.

Shi Yuan asked: “How is it? Have you identified it?”

“No,” Zhou Ping’an touched his chin and pondered for a while. “I always feel that you and the people I have met… are not the same. The ideas are novel, and the way of speaking is also very… How to put it, unique.”

“Really?” Shi Yuan said. “But I don’t think it makes sense for us to mate. We are both males and there is no way to reproduce.” He thought of Lu Bafang and Compass again, “I don’t know how to lay eggs, although I really want to learn.”

Zhou Ping’an: “……”

Zhou Ping’an’s expression was completely blank in an indescribable way：“…Stop, stop, stop, stop, Shi Yuan, you stop talking for a moment, you’re too scary, you’re too scary, ahhhhhh!”

Shi Yuan bent his tail in confusion.

In the end, he still didn’t figure this thing out.

At night, the sound of the radio echoed in the shelter, and the mechanical female voice said: [The power will be cut off in 30 minutes, except for the emergency power supply. Residents, please don’t panic and stay calm. May the glory of the Alliance last forever.]

After 30 minutes, the room fell into darkness and the shelter fell silent.

Shi Yuan and Zhou Ping’an slept head-to-head. Shi Yuan lay down in the dark for 5 minutes and heard Zhou Ping’an call in a low voice, “Hey, hey.”

“What’s the matter?” he also asked in a low voice.

“It’s too early now, I can’t sleep,” Zhou Ping’an said. “Talk to me again.”

“Okay,” Shi Yuan said.

He listened to Zhou Ping’an’s chatter for another 30 minutes, talking about his girlfriend’s affairs, trivial matters, and sweet things.

Zhou Ping’an finished speaking in one breath, feeling comfortable, and had already forgotten the feeling of the thunderstorm during the day, and asked Shi Yuan: “By the way, where is your ‘mating partner’? Is he also in this shelter?”

Shi Yuan hesitated for two seconds on whether to correct the title, but gave up in the end, replying: “I don’t know where he is, anyway, he’s not in the shelter.”

“Where is he then?”

Shi Yuan: “On the battlefield.”

Zhou Ping ‘an was obviously stunned: “Oh, oh…is that so…” He rolled over and said, “What is his identity? Pilot? Commander?”

Shi Yuan said, “Commander. A very powerful commander.”

“Commander,” Zhou Ping’an relaxed a little. “That’s good.” “Generally speaking, commanders are the key protection objects and are safer than other soldiers. He will definitely come back safely – he will come back to see you.” He paused for a second. “What I said in the morning, that we all have to die, that’s just nonsense. The defense of the city is very good, and we have General Lu here. Do you know who General Lu is?”

Shi Yuan, “I know.”

He didn’t dare to say that he was his “mating partner”.

“If I were to say, if Admiral Lu had been born 50 years earlier, the human race would not have been reduced to this state.” Zhou Ping’an’s voice raised, “The Alliance Army 50 years ago was completely different from the army today. The arsenal is still there, and there is never a shortage of hot weapons. All of us…”

“Keep your voice down!” someone next to him protested. “Go to sleep!”

Zhou Ping’an lowered his voice and whispered: “In short, you understand what I mean, right? General Lu will be able to win this battle. Besides, you are still here, that love interest of yours will definitely come back to see you.”

“Really?” Shi Yuan asked.

“Of course!” Zhou Ping’an affirmed, “Well, I won’t say much, go to sleep—”

The pillow was too thin and the bedboard was too hard, which was really uncomfortable. In the end, Shi Yuan hugged his tail and rested his head on the end of his tail before curling up and falling asleep.

He faced the wall, the writings on the wall were still there, and the strokes were almost hideous, as if someone was shouting in front of him hoarsely and unwillingly.

[We will all die one day]

…

“My God, what is that—?” The observer’s eyes widened.

Not only him, but the entire command center held their breath.

It was already late at night, but the sky was dazzlingly bright.

Countless wings fluttered, holding up a huge sphere covered with white feathers—it was hard to tell what it was, the sphere was covered with eyes of all sizes, orange-red, and frighteningly bright. Maybe it was once a giant bird, maybe it was once a human, all these are not important in the face of distortion.

If it landed on the ground, it would be even more massive than the Alliance’s most magnificent Glory Square. Light burst from every feather and every eye of it, it was like a burning mountain, a newborn sun, suspended above the sea of clouds.

The Alliance army fought with infected birds and beasts for a whole day, and a certain high-frequency, singing-like sound was monitored on the channel, inspiring the monsters to fight.

They speculated that there was a special infected creature urging its kind to attack.

Its code name was “Horn”.

Now, the crowd saw the true nature of the “horn”.

Not everyone could look directly at this high-level infected creature. The sense of oppression was too strong, and it also carried the spiritual pollution of the abyss. If you are careless, you will fall into madness forever.

Several people were forced to look away.

Lu Tinghan went to the top floor of the command center and stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

“…I guessed you were here,” a familiar voice came from behind, and Su Enqi came striding in.

“Teacher Su.”Lu Tinghan nodded.

Su Enqi walked up to him, and said casually, “I’ve seen many such things before, such as ‘Scimitar’, ‘Heat Hurricane’, and ‘Galaxy’, most of them died, and some disappeared… …General Lu, is this your first time fighting against a special infected creature?”

“Yes,” Lu Tinghan said. “But it won’t be the last time.”

“Then take a good look at it—!” Su Enqi sighed. “No matter how many times I have seen this deformed body that surpasses human beings, I must sincerely say that it is an eerie beauty.”

The probability of special infected organisms appearing was less than one in ten million. It was like a certain kind of monster that had evolved to the extreme, unique, deadly, and terrifying.

Lu Tinghan stared at the “horn” intently. The two stood side by side in front of the window, looking at the burning night clouds and the indescribable monster. One old and one young, one teacher and one student, one stable and one strong and sharp. They are the mainstay, known as the strong shield and sharp blade of the Alliance, and now, both of their shadows were stretched very long by light.

Su Enqi twitched the corner of his mouth and put his hands behind his back: “Your tactics are tougher than before, what happened?”

“…It’s nothing special, it’s just that there is someone in the city that I want to protect.” Lu Tinghan looked at the sky. The orange and red glow of the “horn” fell in his eyes, hot and brilliant, like a blazing flame in the gray-blue sea, he said, “It will be more beautiful when it falls dead.”