CH 72

Chapter 72: Ambush

Mo Ye pulled up the corners of his lips into a smile. His gaze seemed to reach into Song Zhi’s mind; it was a force not to be reckoned with, even though Song Zhi knew that Mo Ye could not read his thoughts.

“Mr. Song, your principles—along with Juli Corp—will crush you unless you admit that many things will not go the way you want them to just because you put in the effort. You have feelings for Song Lin, so you don’t want me, a child who grew up alongside Zhou Yu, to suffer the same fate as him. You didn’t agree to the task Juli Corp gave you.”

“What task?” Wu Yun asked. He suddenly felt like he was in a different world than Mo Ye. He couldn’t understand what Mo Ye was saying.

Mo Ye’s fingers formed the shape of a gun and he pointed to his own head, suggesting that the so-called “task” was to force Song Zhi to make bullets from Zhou Yu’s spinal cord fluid and shoot himself.

“My efforts may not produce the results I want, but if I don’t try, then there will be no results,” Song replied.

“Yes, when that night spirit was running rampant in the base, Juli Corp ordered you to withdraw all researchers from premises, and you carried out those evacuation orders. But you never thought Dr. Cook would tell you that if you didn’t carry out their orders, then they would break apart Zhou Qing’s shuttle cabin while it was in the magnetic field, and Dr. Cook would not receive the shuttle in that other world. What you told me at the time about the shuttle’s self-destruct command was real. However, you had no control over it; it was in Dr. Cook’s hands.”

Song Zhi was silent.

“No wonder. No matter what contemptible thing you did, Li Qian always seemed to forgive you.” Wu Yun’s expression revealed that he’d come to a sudden realization. “Because Li Qian is the system administrator, he can overhear all communications between you and Dr. Cook, and the rest of Juli Corp. Those sloppy orders that almost killed me and Zhou Yu weren’t from you, but Juli Corp’s orders. Is there someone watching your every move in the base?” Wu Yun instantly understood.

“Since I am not the one Mr. Eton trusts most, he would naturally have someone watching me. That person is…”

Before Song Zhi could finish, Mo Ye suddenly shifted from his comfortable position, his body leaning forward. “Careful!”

“What?”

Wu Yun hit the brakes, and the vehicles behind them also stopped. Inertia caused Song Zhi to drop his tablet computer. Before his forehead could hit the back of Wu Yun’s seat, Mo Ye reached out to block in front of him.

The whole car was quiet.

Mo Ye closed his eyes, as if he was attentively listening to some sound that came from the dead silence of the primitive forest.

“Ah… I don’t like humans. It means I can’t destroy them like I would destroy the organisms of Nibelungen. “

“You mean… The ambush ahead of us is from the personnel in Base No.3 that followed Dr. Turing?” asked Zhou.

“Mm-hm,” Mo Ye nodded

“How many are there?” Song Zhi asked.

“Enough to match our numbers, on top of the advantageous terrain they’re occupying.” Mo Ye pointed above with his finger.

The remaining three people instinctively looked up, but there was nothing there besides the ancient trees that reached towards the sky.

“They’re in the trees?” asked Zhou Yu.

“What do you think? I can use my ability to call on other organisms to deal with them.” Mo Ye closed his eyes, but a few seconds later, there was still no movement in the primeval forest.

Mo Ye frowned. He turned his head, and his fingers that were clutched onto the back of Zhou Yu’s chair grew tighter and tighter.

Droplets of sweat fell from his forehead.

“What’s wrong, Mo Ye?!” Zhou Yu realized that something was wrong, and he reached his hand out over the seat to cover Mo Ye’s forehead.

“All the combative organisms in this primeval forest are gone… I ‘searched’ for a long time, and I can’t deploy any within the range of my ability. An A rank organism or higher must have driven all of them away.”

“Is it Dr. Turing?” Wu Yun asked.

“No… Dr. Turing isn’t that strong yet. I have a bad feeling… Turing might be…”

Before Song Zhi could finish his words, Wu Yun suddenly stepped on the accelerator, shouting, “RPG—”

As the car was set in motion, a rocket exploded right where Wu Yun had stopped. The loud noise seemed to overturn the entire forest, and it left everyone’s ears ringing.

Then, one after another, rockets hit them and burst open, waves of heat pressing up against their windows while broken tree roots and crushed rocks hit the car’s windows.

“We’ll give them a taste of an RPG too!” Wu Yun’s eyes had turned red.

In a world like Nibelungen, they weren’t about to be killed by some dangerous organism, but by their own team’s gunfire. This was some fucking bullshit!

Their ranks were breaking apart. Zhou Yu said quietly, “Where’s our RPG?”

“In the trunk! Do you want me to stop the car to let you take that thing out?” Wu Yun frantically avoided explosions left and right.

“No… rather than rocket artillery, we’re better off with a rifle.” Saying that, Zhou Yu began to assemble his rifle.

“Do you know where they are?” Song Zhi asked.

The tires made a sharp squeal, and another rocket blew up an ancient tree, its trunk falling down straight over their heads!

The trunk of an ancient tree was thicker than a tree that had been growing for more than a decade!

“Damn it—” Wu Yun stomped down hard on the gas pedal, and a loud noise came from where their vehicle had been. They had made another narrow escape.

“Even if I can’t locate their exact positions, someone else can.”

When Zhou Yu spoke, Wu Yun understood his meaning. He wanted to borrow Mo Ye’s extraordinary sensory abilities to lock in on those people’s locations. 

“I won’t help you because you have the ability to do it yourself,” Mo Ye answered.

“Right now is not the time for me to learn how to use your so-called ‘ability’!” Zhou Yu rolled down the car window, and just as his body was just about to extend outside the car, he looked back at Mo Ye. 

It was then that he noticed that Mo Ye’s face was pale. Even his eyes were unfocused. 

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Yu was instantly unnerved.

“Do what you need to do.” Mo Ye raised his hands to cover his own eyes.

Zhou Yu instantly understood that when Mo Ye had been searching for organisms that he could control, he must have fought with the guy who had driven them all out!

Mo Ye’s ability was limited, and he might not be able to defeat them easily at this time.

Another rocket exploded, overturning one of their teammates’ vehicles and scattering debris onto their car, pushing it off its original trajectory to narrowly allow them to avoid the next rocket.

“They must have brought out all the rockets in Base No.3!” Wu Yun gnashed his teeth.

Just then, Mo Ye suddenly raised his hands and held his own head. He took a breath, suddenly opening his amber eyes. “Who? Mr. Song… Why is Mo Ye like this?!”

“It’s Di Xin… He’s controlling all of this from somewhere else… Turing must have found him! We thought Turing would go find the first ancestor Ymir, but he joined up with Di Xin instead!” Song Zhi raised his hands, holding the window and the top of his head. The car turned sharply and had almost caused him to hit his head.

“Don’t tell me that Di Xin will be showing up! I already have enough on my fucking plate right now! Why aren’t they finished shooting yet?!”

As Wu Yun was shouting, another rocket shot over their heads and hit a vehicle that did not dodge in time.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Wu Yun struck the steering wheel with his hand.

Zhou Yu took a breath, and the voices he had managed to reject with much difficulty came pouring back deep into his mind again, numerous and chaotic.

They were like a torrent, rushing in impatiently, eager to be read by his mind. But it was more than what he could bear, and Zhou Yu was almost destroyed to exhaustion by this force.

“Don’t think about rejecting them… Remember what I told you… Detach yourself and place yourself above them.”

Mo Ye held down Zhou Yu’s seat. His strength seemed to seep into Zhou Yu’s body, yet at the same time, that strength seemed to only be a figment of Zhou Yu’s imagination.

“You can… do it by yourself. You already know this.”

Breaking through everything, the chaotic world suddenly became clearer than ever before. Zhou Yu’s line of sight shuttled through the air and locked in instantaneously.

He nimbly set the gun outside of the window.

“Wu Yun, drive in the nine o’clock direction!”

Wu Yun reacted quickly. According to Zhou Yu’s instructions, he turned the steering wheel. The instant they turned, Zhou Yu pulled the trigger and hit his target dead center.

“Turn to eleven o’clock!”

Wu Yun turned the steering wheel again, waves of dust rising from beneath their wheels. Zhou Yu was almost thrown out. At that moment, he hit his target again.

After a few shots, the other side’s rockets stopped.

But Wu Yun did not relax, and he said to Song Zhi, “Mr. Song! Are you going to continue with your mission? Or do you want to retreat?”

Song Zhi took Wu Yun’s radio. “All personnel retreat! Head back to base immediately!”

“After knowing you for so long, this is the first time you’ve said something human!” Wu Yun sighed.

“After knowing you for so long, your IQ still hasn’t improved.” Mo Ye sighed helplessly, “We’ve only encountered attacks from humans so far. Where is Turing?”

Wu Yun finally realized something. “Turing was never here in the first place! This was all a trap to lure the tiger down from its mountain! Is his target our base? That’s why he took advantage of this mission to lure Mo Ye, the only one who can contend with him, outside!”

And so, their vehicles turned around and sped for the base.

When they had hastily driven for more than ten minutes, Zhou Yu suddenly shouted, “Wu Yun—watch out!”

Wu Yun had no time to respond. Countless ropes from the ancient trees shot down and penetrated through the body and roof of the Hummer.

Wu Yun and Zhou Yu instantly lowered themselves to avoid being stabbed by the sharp hooks, while Mo Ye pressed Song Zhi down.

Wu Yun stomped down hard on the gas pedal and the car engine made a struggling sound, but they were unable to move, as if fixed in place.

The other vehicles were in similar plights, and only a few managed to escape successfully.

Song Zhi spoke to those fleeing vehicles via radio, “Don’t turn around—go back to base immediately!”

The other ends of the ropes must have been fixed to the giant ancient trees, being extremely stable.

Meanwhile, several field personnel quickly slipped down from the ropes and were about to shoot at the roof of the car Zhou Yu was in. Suddenly, someone dropped down from the ancient trees from above. His movements were very fast, and no one could see what he was doing.

He stepped on one of the men’s collarbones, cracking it, and then took up that person’s machine gun to empty out its bullets at the field agents who were descending rapidly. They dropped off, one after another.

It was a young man who looked to be a little older than Mo Ye, wearing a camouflage suit from their base, but without carrying any weapons.

He had delicate features and an indifferent expression, with fair skin the same as Mo Ye.

He went to Song Zhi’s window and tapped it gently. “Are you okay?”

Song Zhi, who had his head down and was waiting for the machine gun to rake over him, looked up and met the young man’s eyes that were as penetrating as deep pools. “Watch out—”

Song Zhi’s eyes showed a frightened look. While his hand slapped the window to alert him, their enemies, who had slid down and attacked other vehicles, now turned their attention and guns in their direction.

The young man outside the window suddenly gave a hard shove with both hands, and all the metal wire ropes that shackled the car broke apart. The car was pushed out of the range of the machine guns so quickly that it could not have been predicted.

“Song Lin—” Song Zhi’s eyes widened as he watched the young man leap up and grab a wire rope still hanging from a tree. With a swing, he jumped into the air. His knee broke the first person’s jaw, and while gaining momentum to jump even higher, he quickly drew the dagger at his thigh and thrust it into the shoulder of the second person while grabbing their rope to turn and kick the third man.

It was as if everything had been calculated down to the decimal point in an instant. It was all so fast that it couldn’t be distinguished by the naked eye.

Song Zhi and Wu Yun watched in horror and fascination. But in Zhou Yu’s eyes, everything was slow enough to be broken down and he could see Song Lin’s every action clearly.

Meanwhile, a team of field agents was rushing at Song Zhi and Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu opened the car door and quickly got out. Wu Yun also left in Zhou Yu’s direction. Mo Ye pulled Song Zhi out as well and just as they got down, the barrage of a machine gun sounded.

As if each shot could have blown their heads off.

And they were getting closer and closer.

“Get behind the ancient tree!” Mo Ye gave Zhou Yu a hard push.

Zhou Yu immediately pressed Song Zhi’s head down and retreated with Wu Yun. Meanwhile,  Mo Ye quickly ran out from the Hummer’s side and attracted all of the attention.

Mo Ye’s speed was inhuman. A stream of bullets followed his heel, but he had run up to their side in the blink of the eye.

The man who reacted the fastest quickly turned the muzzle of his gun. At that moment, in his eyes was the reflection of Mo Ye’s ice-cold gaze drawing near, as if he was the unexpected grim reaper. Mo Ye’s left hand pushed down his muzzle, his right hand quickly broke his throat bone, and then he lowered himself to avoid the machine gun’s barrage. Supported by a hand on the ground, Mo Ye kicked out to the side, breaking another person’s ankle. The second he fell, his machine gun was still firing, and it perfectly hit three to four of his companions.

The remaining two sensed danger. Their guns relentlessly chased after Mo Ye, but Mo Ye’s figure flashed by too quickly. In a wink, he came behind one of them, and as he raised a foot to break their knee, Mo Ye also pulled out the pistol at their waist and pointed it to his companion. Without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger, and the bullet passed through the man’s head. The two of them both fell down.

Meanwhile, Song Lin had taken care of everyone else that needed to be taken care of. He was holding an enemy gun, and he skillfully unloaded it before throwing it to the ground.

“Your Song Zhi is over there—” Mo Ye pointed behind the ancient tree.

Song Lin still wore an aloof expression, and he quickly walked over.

Wu Yun and Zhou Yu were leaning against the tree, adjusting their breaths. When the sound of footsteps came, they both pointed the muzzles of their guns in that direction.

“Hold your fire.”[1]

A slightly chilly voice sounded. When they saw that it was Song Lin’s hand, they put down their guns.

“You sound just like Song Zhi.” Wu Yun pointed to Song Zhi, who was being protected behind them, with his thumb.

Song Lin passed between Wu Yun and Zhou Yu and came to Song Zhi. His gaze dropped slightly. Although his face was expressionless, he showed a soft look. “Your computer is broken.”

“Hn.” Song Zhi nodded, but he turned to face the side.

He didn’t seem to be willing to meet Song Lin’s eyes, but Song Lin still caught him in a hug with open arms.

“You shouldn’t be here… These people are all from Juli Corp,” Song Zhi’s voice trembled.

“But the only people who can see me hug you are those two. Do you need me to kill them?”

“They’re the people I trust.” Song Zhi sucked in a breath.

“Why won’t you look me in the eye?”

“You know why. When I look at you for a second, I will think about looking at you for another second, and another second, and another… until the world ends. Hurry back to base. Turing’s there. If my guess is correct, he’s already teamed up with Di Xin. He disdains the ever-weakening, and possibly even already deceased, first ancestor Ymir… We were all deceived by him!” Song Zhi met Song Lin with a sharp gaze.

“Is my uncle at the base too?” Song Lin asked.

“Yes. That’s why you have to go back immediately!”

Song Zhi patted the arm that Song Lin was hugging him with. He let go of him and stepped back, but he continued to look at Song Zhi.

“Don’t hesitate, if he dies… It’s all over! Go!” Song Zhi lowered his voice and glared at Song Lin.

“But every time I leave you… I feel like it’ll be the last time I see you.”

“You’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Song Zhi looked into his eyes and said, “Or do you not believe me?”

Song Lin seemed to make a difficult choice, then he forced himself to turn and sprint away.

He soon disappeared from sight.

Song Zhi, as if suddenly drained of his strength, staggered backwards.

As Mo Ye walked, he picked up the gun that Song Lin had disassembled and reassembled it, like he was playing with a jigsaw puzzle. Then he lightly bumped Song Zhi with the butt of the gun, causing Song Zhi to sit on the ground.

Mo Ye squatted down in front of him. “This is what I don’t understand about you human beings. Either you dishonestly tell lies, or you never reveal the true desires in your heart.”

“What do you want me to reveal? A lot of field personnel came out with us. Even if Song Lin saved them, they will still report to Juli Corp that they saw Song Lin, and that we failed to capture him.”

“So? You didn’t give any orders to have him captured. That’s the truth. Rather than this, wouldn’t it be better to enjoy the temperature of his embrace when he hugs you? If you’re going to die, why not die in his arms?” Mo Ye tilted his head and looked at Song Zhi.

Song Zhi laughed, “You really have a lot to learn if that’s what you think. I desperately want Song Lin to finish everything for me, but Mo Ye… What if Zhou Yu died in front of you one day? When it hurts here, how long do you think it will take for you to heal yourself?”

Song Zhi’s finger lightly jabbed Mo Ye’s chest. Just as Mo Ye was lost in his thoughts, Song Zhi stood up and looked at Zhou Yu and Wu Yun. “We need to return base at full speed, but we won’t be fast enough. I’m worried that Song Lin won’t be able to handle Turing joined by Di Xin by himself.”

“Our speed can’t compare with Mo Ye.” Wu Yun looked at Mo Ye suggestively.

“Song Lin was willing to turn around and leave because he knew that I was here. If I leave you too, when dangerous organisms attack, do you think Hummers and machine guns can handle them?”

Mo Ye spoke as he walked towards their Hummer, which was no longer operational.

After sorting out the small number of vehicles that could still be driven, Zhou Yu and Wu Yun made new plans and continued to drive back to the base.

When Zhou Yu opened the car door and stepped into the front passenger seat of a car, Mo Ye held back the door with a hand.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Yu looked up at him.

“I suddenly feel afraid,” Mo Ye said.

“What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid of you dying,” Mo Ye answered.

Zhou Yu sighed and covered Mo Ye’s eyes with the palm of his hand. “I’m human. I’ll die sooner or later. So don’t worry too much about how things will end up. When you care less about it, you won’t be afraid anymore.”

When Zhou Yu took his hand back, Mo Ye turned to the side to kiss his lips.

It only stopped there briefly, and perhaps no one noticed, but Zhou Yu knew that he would always miss that warmth and touch.

Mo Ye closed the door for him and sat in the back with Song Zhi.

The procession of vehicles moved on, driving much faster than before.

Zhou Yu was focused on sensing everything around him. If their team was ambushed again, it might prove to be a devastating blow.

At this time, Zhou Qing was sitting in front of a microscope in the lab, but the samples under said microscope had already been looked at for two to three hours without being replaced.

“You look uneasy,” Bai Yingting said.

Zhou Qing straightened up and raised his hands to cover his eyes. He sighed deeply and said, “That’s my older brother, the only relative I have in this world. I’m afraid that the longer he stays in Nibelungen, the more he gets used to danger. One day, when he no longer needs to take risks, that will be the end of everything.”