CH 144

The desolate surface of the planet, scarred by the passage of time, grew increasingly cracked, and the rifts widened, seemingly conveying the rapid aging of this celestial body. However, amidst these cracked lands, there was always some vitality thriving.

During the scorching and arid embrace of Cang Zhan Star, the verdant and watery areas appeared especially alluring.

The Cangyu Mountains were precisely such a place. Even though the water levels had receded, revealing vast habitable land, it remained a sought-after location.

Life within it could comfortably endure the scorching summer. The mountains held the primary riverbed of the Cang River and numerous tributaries. It was a place of refreshing comfort, ideal for escaping the heat and retirement.

Once, this precious land was occupied by mutant creatures. Anyone who ventured into it had almost no chance of escaping alive. The territorial instinct of these creatures was exceptionally strong, especially among the mutants. Once they went berserk, it was challenging to calm them down, even for large bases armed with various weapons, making it difficult for anyone to leave unscathed.

After numerous failed attempts, both Zone A and Zone S had finally given up on this fertile land. The only consolation was that they weren’t the only ones; no one else could occupy the Cangyu Mountains either.

But now, ships sailed along the Cang River, entering the Cangyu Mountains, a place they had previously avoided like the plague. It had become their refuge. Those refugees from the Southern Hemisphere, who had arrived here like strays, had now occupied the most comfortable and resource-rich area in the Northern Hemisphere.

In such a situation, Zones A and S couldn’t sit still. The interception order had been issued for some time now, and initially, things were going smoothly. They even wiped out the third-ranked Dream Star River fleet under the interception order. This fleet lived up to its name, elegant, and even attempted negotiations.

The result was, of course, failure. Despite their elegant name, the people in the fleet were not to be trifled with. The hunting squad suffered heavy losses, but the gains were substantial. Apart from food shortages, the energy stone reserves on board were quite decent, suggesting that this base had once been lucky enough to discover an energy stone mine.

Although they hadn’t found the body of the leader of this Dream Star River base, Qing Mengxing, even if he were still alive, he wouldn’t pose a significant threat alone.

As the third fleet on the list was annihilated, substantial gains followed. Those strays from the south, it had to be said, had decent wealth.

However, good times didn’t last long. It seemed like all these fleets had received some information. They all fled into the Cangyu Mountains.

Even if the hunting squad pursued them, they would face frenzied attacks in the narrow river passages, with towering mountains on both sides providing excellent ambush spots. Moreover, there were ambushes day and night, and the strength of these ambushing forces was formidable. The hunting squad found it impossible to advance and could only watch as the fleets escaped.

With the water route blocked, the natural choice was to take the mountain path. However, as soon as they set foot in the Cangyu Mountains, they would be discovered by the mutant creatures and subjected to frenzied attacks. Those mutant creatures seemed to be fixated on attacking them once they entered the mountains, turning a blind eye to the fleets that had entered the Cangyu Mountains.

Lu Zhouzhi, the founder of Zone A, slammed his fist on the table. As a highly respected figure in Zone A, he had never encountered such a mysterious situation. “Those mutant creatures can distinguish between humans now! If necessary, we should launch an all-out assault!”

Today was a cooperation meeting between Zones A and S to discuss the attack on the Cangyu Mountains.

The man sitting at the other end of the long table shook his head, signaling Lu Zhouzhi to calm down. This man appeared slightly thinner than Lu Zhouzhi, with a square face and around thirty years old. His ordinary appearance was easy to forget, but his deep eyes were like a wolf’s. “No need to rush. With the combined forces of our two major bases, we can’t possibly come back empty-handed. It’s just that this bone is indeed hard to gnaw.”

This man was the leader of Zone S, also known as the Safe Zone: Mang Ya. He wasn’t one of the initial founders of Zone S but had risen to power abruptly last winter. He assassinated Zone S’s leader and swiftly dealt with all opposition within the zone. His methods of suppression were straightforward and brutal; anyone who defied him was killed!

So, in a short period, Mang Ya had gained complete control of Zone S. Although there was little information about him, his actions clearly indicated that he was a completely dark figure. His assassination skills were highly professional, undoubtedly the result of rigorous training. Such a person coming to Cang Zhan Star must have his purposes.

It wasn’t until the appearance of the Shui Jing Gong that Mang Ya explicitly mentioned wanting to kill someone: Gu Langu. Everyone suddenly realized that this person had come for Gu Langu.

Mang Ya lightly tapped the table with his fingers. “To enter the Cangyu Mountains, the first thing we need to do is quickly discover the reason why the mutant creatures detect us and resolve it before we have a chance to penetrate deeper. There are countless mutant creatures in the Cangyu Mountains, especially this year. Rushing in without caution is not a wise move.”

Although Lu Zhouzhi was frustrated, he didn’t immediately retort. After a moment of calming down, he raised a question. “Mutant creatures are naturally alert. It’s possible to be detected as soon as we enter. But we can’t just kill all the mutant creatures, can we? If we had that capability, we would have entered the Cangyu Mountains long ago.”

Mang Ya’s expression remained unchanged. “It’s impossible, even if they are alert, they can’t detect us in real time. We’ve tried numerous landing points, and it’s always the same. This indicates that they have specific patrol teams or patrol methods, possibly some high-tech surveillance products. According to the data we’ve received, there are no traces of patrol teams.”

Unbeknownst to the two discussing, the Shui Jing Gong’s most outstanding patrol team was none other than the Gray Rats Company. Like Mang Ya had mentioned, not even a fly could escape the watchful eyes of the Gray Rats. Just as they had promised when leaving, the gray rats had never relaxed their patrol work, ensuring the safety of the Cangyu Mountains.

Seeing Mang Ya’s firm stance, Lu Zhouzhi could only nod in agreement. After all, Zone A was not as powerful as Zone S, and Mang Ya, in particular, had an unconventional way of doing things. It was better not to offend him. However, due to this, Lu Zhouzhi was quite curious. Why didn’t Mang Ya just assassinate Gu Langu directly? He didn’t seem like the type to leave such a task to others.

Mang Ya didn’t change his expression and looked at Lu Zhouzhi as if he could read minds. “Gu Langu is very strong. After entering Cang Zhan Star, he didn’t weaken as expected; instead, he became stronger. Moreover, there is someone with him, not mentioned in the data, whose identity is a mystery and whose strength is unknown but definitely not weak.”

Lu Zhouzhi was surprised and pondered. So, the rumors were true!

According to rumors, Gu Langu had been abandoned by the Gu family due to his loss of control. However, his head contained a vast amount of information, including advanced technology, military secrets, the Gu family’s secrets, and more. So, shortly after Gu Langu was exiled to Cang Zhan Star, a large number of assassins followed him. Once they entered Cang Zhan Star, no matter their identity, they couldn’t leave, and the assassins were no exception. They came here fully aware that this was a mission destined for no return. This was a certain death assassination.

Yet, to this day, Gu Langu was alive and well, and there was no news of him being injured. Those assassins had seemingly vanished without a trace.

Some speculated that Gu Langu had secretly eliminated those assassins without them noticing. There were also rumors that Gu Langu had found a powerful protector, a person named Shu Shuishui, who was said to be tall and strong, capable of easily lifting Gu Langu. In the Shui Jing Gong, everyone, including Gu Langu, obeyed this person’s commands without question. Among the rumors, most leaned toward the former, as Gu Langu didn’t seem like the type to seek protection from others.

Meanwhile, the tall and strong Shu Shuishui was currently transformed into a mouse shape, wearing a chef’s hat, and attentively watching the roasted grasshoppers in front of him. After all, grasshoppers were quite small, and it was easier to control the cooking time in dormouse form. As for the rumored protector of Gu Langu, he sat obediently beside the dormouse, on the other side of the fire, while a small hummingbird groomed its feathers and occasionally cast a vigilant gaze at Gu Langu. The three of them sat around a small campfire, creating an exceptionally warm atmosphere.

The dormouse-shaped Shu Shuishui held a bamboo stick and flipped the grasshopper over. “The 18th time you’ve peeked, Cui Cui, since you like Gu Gu so much, why don’t you just come over here? That way, you won’t have to keep peeking.”

Shu Shuishui was pleased with the harmony in the family and placed the small hummingbird between himself and Gu Langu.

Gu Langu: “…”

Small hummingbird: “…”

They exchanged glances, and the small hummingbird chirped once, then turned its head away. Gu Langu remained expressionless, and both pretended as if nothing had happened, each sitting in their own space.

Shu Shuishui chuckled knowingly. “Is Cui Cui feeling shy? It’s okay; Gu Gu is very gentle, don’t be afraid.”

Small hummingbird: “Chirp chirp chirp!”

Shu Shuishui scratched his head. “I can’t understand you, Cui Cui. Maybe you can wait for me to learn the bird language. But I guess Cui Cui must be praising Gu Gu. It’s alright; I’ll praise him on your behalf.”

Small hummingbird: “Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

Shu Shuishui: “Gu Gu is the best!”

Small hummingbird: “Chirp chirp chirp!”

Shu Shuishui: “The cutest!”

Small hummingbird: “Chirp!”

Shu Shuishui: “Gentle!”

Small hummingbird: “Chirp!”

Shu Shuishui: “Handsome!”

Small hummingbird: “…” It stopped chirping.

Shu Shuishui patted his fluffy chin. “So handsome that words can’t describe it!”

The small hummingbird fell to the ground, feeling utterly defeated.

Seeing this, Shu Shuishui said, “So handsome that it makes people worship him!”

Gu Langu finally chuckled and his eyes sparkled. “So, I’m that great in Cui Cui’s heart.” Despite saying it was in Cui Cui’s heart, Gu Langu’s affectionate gaze was fixed on Shu Shuishui.

Shu Shuishui nodded. “Because Gu Gu is naturally great.”

Clearly, it wasn’t in Cui Cui’s heart that Gu Langu was great; it was in Shu Shuishui’s heart. The filter was so thick that it delighted Gu Langu and left Cui Cui in despair.

Despondent, Cui Cui simply used its feathers to sweep a small pit in the ground and nestled inside, ignoring everything else. With two dads, one cunning and one foolish, poor little Cui Cui felt unloved. It even didn’t want to chirp any more, afraid that Shu Shuishui would translate some more magical words.