Chapter 90: Until We Meet Again
“You went to see Mr. Eton? What did he say to you?”
As soon as he entered the dormitory, Zhou Yu saw Mo Yu sitting cross-legged on the bed, propping his head up and looking at him.
This guy’s concern for Isaac Eton was beyond Zhou Yu’s expectations.
Mo Ye’s posture was elegant and leisurely. His gaze was languorous, yet it contained a certain intensity that penetrated Zhou Yu’s vision.
Zhou Yu came to sit beside Mo Ye and reached out his fingers to hold up his chin. His gaze dropped as he looked into his eyes and said, “Mr. Eton has agreed to let us leave the base.”
Mo Yu narrowed his eyes, seeming to enjoy the feeling of Zhou Yu’s fingers holding him up.
“No way, he promised you that? Isn’t he worried about not being able to control us?”
“He’s allowing us to travel to the Great Ice Rift Valley. He thinks that Di Xin is there. And he knows deep in his heart that he can’t really control us. Compared to Cook, his thoughts are even more unreadable.”
Mo Ye laughed, “It looks like Juli Corp’s capabilities aren’t as lacking as we thought.”
“You mean you also think Di Xin is in the Great Ice Rift Valley? Did you see something in Turin’s mind last time?”
“I felt the cold,” Mo Ye replied.
“Good, then I’m going to the Great Ice Rift Valley. I’ll go prepare.”
“Are you preparing to elope with me?” Mo Ye narrowed his eyes, the corners exposing a hint of craftiness. This kind of seduction was like if Zhou Yu was a leaf drifting down from a branch; no matter how much he struggled in the wind, he wouldn’t be able to escape the force of gravity in the end.
Zhou Yu didn’t speak, but he quietly looked at Mo Ye as if he wanted to see the Mo Ye of this moment clearly.
Mo Ye slowly tilted his head. “You’re worried… that we can’t match up to Di Xin?”
“Are you saying we currently can?” Zhou Yu asked in reply.
“Not yet, but maybe in the future. Even if Juli Corp didn’t authorize this assignment, we would still have to hurry there, because Song Lin can’t hold back anymore. After losing Song Zhi, his life no longer has a purpose. For him, he hates Di Xin because it was Di Xin who brought him into this world and used Song Zhi’s pain of losing his fiancée as nourishment to nurture him. But in the end, Song Zhi also gave up everything, including his life, for him. He wants to destroy the source of all evil, and he thinks that doing so will give him the thrill of revenge.”
“But in my opinion, he hates himself more than Di Xin. And he’s no match for Di Xin, so doing this is just too reckless. He’s wasting Song Zhi’s sacrifice for him. He should be more rational.”
“It looks like he didn’t learn any ‘reason’ from Song Zhi. And what if he regained his powers? Don’t forget, Dr. Jiang entrusted us to bring him something that’s the key to decoding Song Lin.”
“So we have to find Song Lin and stop him first.”
“No, we’ll find Song Lin and decode my abilities in the same way. With the four of us joining forces, Di Xin will no longer be indomitable.” The corners of Mo Ye’s lips slowly curled up, as if he had already predicted everything.
“The four of us? Where did four come from?” There’s me, you, and Song Lin, so who’s the other person?”
“Zhou Qing,” Mo Ye replied. Those eyes kept looking at Zhou Yu as if they wanted to see his expression clearly.
Zhou Yu’s shoulders froze, but then something occurred to him, “Is it because of Ymir?”
“Yes, he received Ymir’s power.”
This answer surprised Zhou Yu a little.
“So, we won’t head directly to the Great Ice Rift Valley. Rather, we’ll find Song Lin and Zhou Qing first.”
“Yes. I believe that Song Lin and Zhou Qing have a big surprise in store for us, including an entire team behind them. Mo Ye’s smile contained many things he couldn’t yet understand.
“That won’t be so easy to do, because Juli Corp will definitely send people to follow us.”
“So we have to have a plausible reason to break away from them.” Mo Ye winked, and Zhou Yu could almost see the evil tricks he had up his sleeve.
The preparations for traveling to a frigid region were quite complicated. The person in charge of commanding this assignment was Cole, Cook’s right-hand man.
Sqfc yknid ef spgvfiahz ec qfiaxklsfp sk sqf Inhg Mknhsgahu, yqaxq ygu gs sqf fdzf kw sqf Zpfgs Axf Paws Vgiifc.
Yn Cnh xgmf sk uff Rqkn Cn kww.
Qf klfhfd qau gpmu ghd zgvf Rqkn Cn g sazqs qnz, sqfh ifghfd ah xikuf sk Rqkn Cn’u fgp ghd yqaulfpfd, ”Qfc, epksqfp… A ohky sqgs sqf pfgukh ckn usgcfd ah Jnia Xkpl au mkpf kp ifuu efxgnuf kw mf, uk sqau samf, ufarf sqf kllkpsnhasc ghd fasqfp usgc kns kw dghzfp kp zfs kns kw Jnia Xkpl yasqkns xkhxfphahz cknpufiw gekns mf. Dkh’s xkmf egxo aw ckn xgh. Fvfh aw ckn daugllfgpfd ahsk sqah gap, as’u amlkuuaeif wkp Jnia Xkpl sk pfgiic oaii mf.”
“Gpf ckn unpf? Yasqkns mf xkvfpahz wkp ckn, ckn mazqs daf kh sqf hfts guuazhmfhs.” Gisqknzq Rqkn Cn qgd hk ftlpfuuakh kh qau wgxf, sqfpf ygu g qgiw-jkoahz skhf ah qau vkaxf.
“Aw A daf, A daf. Wpkm sqf mkmfhs A jkahfd Jnia Xkpl, A ygu hfvfp xfpsgah sqgs A yknid pfsnph giavf sk uff mc dgnzqsfp. Ghd yqgs Jnia Xkpl qgu giygcu effh xkmmassfd sk xnpahz au Mp. Fskh’u daufguf. Mc dgnzqsfp au jnus gddasakhgi vginf… Sqfc ykh’s ef ahvfusahz g iks kw mkhfc ahsk pfufgpxqahz g xnpf wkp ucusfmax inlnu fpcsqfmgskunu.”
Anyone would do whatever they could for the sake of their next of kin, but this time, Wu Yun’s rationality surprised Zhou Yu.
“I will come back, Wu Yun. Only, it’ll be to bring him down, not to surrender to him.”
“Then good luck, my brother.” Wu Luck forcefully patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder.
“We should get going, Zhou Yu, I don’t believe this is the final farewell between you and Wu Yun, so there’s no need to waste so much time saying goodbye,” Cole spoke up.
Mo Ye, who had been watching from the sidelines with his arms crossed, laughed. He came before Cole and poked his chest with an index finger. At that moment, there was a glint of bloodthirsty killing intent in his gaze, making Cole shudder.
“Say, are you that eager to die? You know, when we actually face Di Xin, Zhou Yu and I will still have a chance to withdraw, but a human body of flesh and blood like yours might not even be enough to be its nourishment. My advice is to enjoy your time alive as much as you can. Life until end is like a movie; it should be enjoyed with a little more emotion.”
Cole’s expression changed slightly as Mo Ye words poked at his nerves, but he quickly hid his fear and said in a cold voice, “Get into the cabin.”
Zhou Yu and Mo Ye boarded the helicopter, and when they turned around, they found Li Qian and Han Li standing not far away, looking at them. Li Qian mouthed some words at them: Make sure you stay alive.
Zhou Yu smiled coolly: Of course.
The helicopters soon left the base, and the scenery of Nibelungen, from its deserts to its primeval forests, swept past their eyes one by one.
“Each helicopter is equipped with three times more sonic shells than usual. However, Mr. Eton also said that with Zhou Yu’s current abilities, organisms of the same rank as the giant three-eyed birds won’t be able to attack us.” The implication in Cole’s words was that Zhou Yu had to protect the entire fleet of helicopters.
“May I ask if you brought enough nutrient solution? Using an ability of my level is a major drain on the human body,” Mo Ye reminded.
Cole took out a small box and handed it to Zhou Yu. “This is a concentrated injection of the nutrient solution. It can be directly absorbed by the blood and is five times more efficient than the drink. It’s what Mr. Eton specially prepared for you, so please don’t let him down.”
“Thanks.” Zhou Yu remained calm as he put the metal box into his pocket.
However, Mo Ye raised his eyebrows. “I really couldn’t tell that Mr. Eton was so thoughtful. Say, that day you went to look for him in his office, was it really just for a chat?”
“What else could I do besides talk about work?” Zhou Yu shot back in an icy voice.
“I heard that your human society has a phenomenon called unspoken rules?” Mo Ye’s gaze moved away from Zhou Yu’s face and shifted across the room to land on Cole, as well as the other team members.
The others revealed slightly embarrassed expressions and moved their eyes away.
“Then I’ll explain it to you again in layman’s terms. When it comes to unspoken rules, you’re in a much better position to have that applied to you.”
Cole coughed, signaling them to end the topic.
The fleet of helicopters had flown over two-thirds of the primeval forest and was about to fly past the boundary of the land before which they would face a strait. On the other side, they would be able to see the so-called Great Ice Rift Valley.
It was at this time that the helicopter pilot spoke up. “What’s that?”
Cole squinted his eyes to look out the window. From across the strait, there was a dark cloud approaching. It was heavy and low, like it was going to crush the world.
Rqj zh ieq teesoa ktewoti, ieq keqta woo jfnj jfo anps kteqa gnw levzcu gni jee hnwj.
Keto jees eqj fzw rzcekqtnpw, nca fzw oxmpowwzec kfncuoa gfoc fo uej n ueea tees nj gfnj zj gnw. Fo jqpcoa je tees zc Bfeq Iq nca Le Io’w azpokjzec. “Jfnj’w nc ocjzpo hteks eh rtnks-rnksoa mjopeankjitw! Ieq jge cooa je jfzcs eh n gni je fncato jfol! Yqwj tzso tnwj jzlo gfoc go vocjqpoa zcje Beco 12, azac’j ieq fnvo jfewo gfzjo hopekzjzow tzo zc gnzj, Bfeq Iq?”
Bfeq Iq’w rpegw hqppegoa. “Jfewo npo rtnks-rnksoa mjopeankjitw, cej gfzjo hopekzjzow! Jfoi’po wzlmti cej epunczwlw eh jfo wnlo pncs. Rtnks-rnksoa mjopeankjitw npo jfo hnwjowj eh ntt mjopeankjitw. Jfoi knc kpnwf jfpequf nc ocjzpo leqcjnzc, toj nteco eqp fotzkemjopw! Gzjf jfozp wmooa nca cqlropw, Z aec’j jfzcs Z’tt ovoc fnvo jzlo je jnso kecjpet eh jfol rohepo jfoi kpnwf zcje qw! Li navzko zw jfnj go wjem zlloaznjoti nca gnzj hep jfol je hti mnwj.”
Keto teesoa je Le Io. “Rqj ieq knc ae zj, knc’j ieq?”
“Jfzw wjpnzj zw we gzao. Npo ieq wqpo go knc hti evop jfo ocjzpo wjpnzj zc toww jfnc n lzcqjo? Zh cej, jfoc ri jfo jzlo li nrztzji tewow ohhokj, go’tt ecti azo ovoc lepo lzwopnrti—gfzkf ae ieq jfzcs fnw n fzufop mpernrztzji eh wqpvzvnt, kpnwfzcu zcje jfo won ep kpnwfzcu ecje tnca?” Le Io tzhjoa fzw kfzc nca teesoa nj Keto, wzucntzcu fzl je fqppi qm nca lnso n aokzwzec.
Cole clenched his jaw and issued orders to the entire helicopter fleet. “All helicopters, lower your altitude to avoid a direct impact with the black-backed pterodactyls. We’re making a stop in the primeval forest right now!”
But the speed of the black backed pterodactyls was just too fast. In just a few seconds, they had already crossed the entire strait and were in front of the helicopter fleet. Despite the fleet desperately lowering their altitude, countless black-backed pterodactyls were still charging into them.
To the black-backed pterodactyls, the hardness of the man-made helicopters was nothing.
It was like one-sided destruction.
Khf kw sqf qfiaxklsfpu qgd fguaic effh xpguqfd sqpknzq ec g cknhz eigxo-egxofd lsfpkdgxsci. Inxoaic, as qgd zkhf sqpknzq sqf uadfu kw sqf xgeah dkkpu ghd sqf qfiaxklsfp qgd khic effh ohkxofd wgp gygc. Jnus gu as usgeaiarfd asufiw wpkm asu sgaiulah, as ygu xpnuqfd ec ghksqfp eigxo-egxofd lsfpkdgxsci ah g mgssfp kw mkmfhsu.
As wfii sk sqf zpknhd yasq g iknd eghz ghd ftlikdfd.
Xkif uqknsfd, “Dfuxfhd! Dfuxfhd! Gvkad sqfm! Rqkn Cn! Mk Cf! Dk ukmfsqahz!”
Sqf uasngsakh ygu xpasaxgi ghd as ygu g mgssfp kw iawf ghd dfgsq.
Rqkn Cn xikufd qau fcfu ghd xglsnpfd eigxo-egxofd lsfpkdgxsciu sk qgvf sqfm usgc gygc wpkm sqfap qfiaxklsfp gu wgus gu qf xknid. Ens gwsfp qf xkhspkiifd sqf wfy sqgs pnuqfd skygpdu sqfm, sqfpf ygu hksqahz qf xknid dk gekns sqf fhsapf wikxo efqahd sqfm.
“Mk Cf, hky au hks sqf samf wkp ckn sk lpfufpvf cknp uspfhzsq. Yf qgvf sk unpvavf wapus!” Xkif cfiifd.
Uffahz g igpzf wikxo kw eigxo-egxofd lsfpkdgxsciu lafpxahz sqpknzq sqf wfy lsfpkdgxsciu xkhspkiifd ec Rqkn Cn ghd xkmahz gs sqfm gzzpfuuavfic, Xkif ygu gimkus kh sqf vfpzf kw dfulgap.
Mo Ye’s expression became stern and an invisible force flourished outwards, instantly radiating to cover a distance of several hundred meters. The scene before them was as if time had stood still as the black-backed pterodactyls froze in mid-air.
It was only then that the helicopter fleet was able to descend smoothly.
“Hurry up, they’re being controlled by Di Xin. Di Xin should already know that we’re crossing the strait…”
Mo Ye frowned with his fingers clasped together.
However, Zhou Yu knew that the pterodactyls had been summoned by Mo Ye, not Di Xin.
A dozen seconds later, the flock of black-backed pterodactyls once again regained their speed, charging in like black meteors.
The helicopter fleet had successfully landed, but the pterodactyls knocked down ancient trees that fell one after the other. Helicopters were smashed underneath them without the possibility of dodging. Their target was clearly the helicopter fleet.
Just as an ancient tree was crashed into by three or four pterodactyls all at once and fell towards Cole’s helicopter, the pilot made an emergency swerve, but their propeller was smashed. Cole made a split-second decision to open the hatch and jump out.
He fell to the ground and rolled over a few times. A loud bang sounded in his ears as his helicopter was completely crushed under the ancient trees.
The sky was dense with black-backed pterodactyls passing through until sunlight once again shone in the primeval forest.
Cole looked at his helicopter, completely dumbfounded. He quickly walked over and lay flat on the ground, trying to see if there was anyone alive through the cracks.
But the helicopter was completely crushed. These ancient trees were rare in the human world and they were remarkably heavy. Once it fell, there was no way anyone could escape.
“Zhou Yu! Mo Ye!” Cole shouted their names.
“This can’t be possible! You must have escaped!” Cole pounded the ground, then stood up and shouted.
But other than the two helicopters that were lucky to survive, there was no sign of Zhou Yu or Mo Yu.
“Cole… they couldn’t have really been crushed under there, right?”
“Impossible! Even I could jump out, let alone those two! Search for them, now! Search! Get on the helicopter and start searching!”
Despite this, Cole couldn’t at all recall that when he had opened the hatch and jumped out, Zhou Yu and Mo Ye jumped out as well.
The helicopter scoured the primeval forest for hours with no luck.
But Cole knew that he couldn’t just go back. If he failed at his task, Cook wouldn’t be merciful.
At that moment, Zhou Yu and Mo Ye were riding on a black-backed pterodactyl, zipping through the clouds.
The strong winds pulled at Zhou Yu’s hair. It was the first time Zhou Yu experienced what it was like being blown into a powder by the wind.
In his head, Mo Ye’s voice rang out: Hey, how does this feel?
Zhou Yu replied: Exhilarating.
Mo Ye shot back with amusement: Is it even better than when I topped you?
Zhou Yu replied: Of course.
Mo Ye: Then next time, I should go at it a little harder. I shouldn’t let you off so easily.
Zhou Yu: You’re thinking too much.
Relying on the speed of the black-backed pterodactyl, they quickly traversed the primeval forest. The open plains came into view before them.
The black-backed pterodactyl quickly lowered its altitude. That feeling of his heart caught in his throat caused Zhou Yu to subconsciously lower his posture on the black-backed pterodactyl’s body.
They had almost flown out several hundred meters, skimming over the grassland. The entire prairie swept low like the ocean waves from the current caused by the black-backed pterodactyl. Grass seeds soared into the air and were pulled into fog-like shapes trailing the pterodactyl.
When the pterodactyl came to a sudden stop, Zhou Yu sucked in a breath.
There were several trees growing in the heart of the prairie. They weren’t as tall as the ones in the primeval forest and were likely grown in recent decades.
“Older brother.”
A familiar voice came from above Zhou Yu’s head. Zhou Yu looked up to see Zhou Qing sitting high up in a tree, leaning down to look at him in delight.
“Zhou Qing! You’re… so high up!”
Zhou Yu was elated to see his younger brother again.
But at the moment, he was more worried that Zhou Qing would accidentally fall down.
Zhou Qing laughed, “This is an ability I just mastered. Song Lin said that this is just the tip of the iceberg. I still know too little about my abilities.”
After he spoke, countless vines slithered out from the soil and climbed up along that tree, weaving into each other to form the shape of a seat. Zhou Qing slipped straight down from his height, causing Zhou Yu, who was watching from underneath the tree, to tense up for a moment. However, he landed firmly on the seat made of intertwined vines and slowly descended to the ground.
He came forward in a few steps and grabbed Zhou Yu into a hug.
“Older brother!”
Zhou Yu froze as he sensed that the present Zhou Qing was no longer the same as before.
“Zhou Qing… was that Ymir’s power you used just now?”
“Yes. I’m no longer a burden to you now. I’ll have to thank Song Lin for being very patient with me this entire time and for teaching me how to use my powers. Look!”
Zhou Yu looked in the direction Zhou Qing was pointing.
Only to see those vines that had been softly and agreeably entwined together suddenly turn into countless sharp blades and stab up into the sky, startling some of the organisms in the air to hiss as they quickly dodged out of the way.
“Oh… I scared them, but I didn’t mean to… It looks like I still need to have things under proper control.” Zhou Qing cocked his head to the side with a very serious expression, as if he was trying to figure out how to use his power more precisely.
But Zhou Yu merely reached out his hand and covered his forehead.
“I just want to know, are you really cured?”
Zhou Qing’s mind stopped wandering and he looked into Zhou Yu’s eyes as he replied earnestly, “I really am cured. This is the result of the last of Ymir’s life force. So I won’t hide behind you or anyone else anymore.”
Zhou Yu smiled.
It was the first time he had felt this happy since coming to Nibelungen.
Mo Ye crossed his arms and leaned against a black-backed pterodactyl as he watched this scene.
“Say, Zhou Qing, can you take us to see Song Lin now?”
“Oh… yes! Of course! Follow me!”
This was the first time Zhou Yu had seen Juli Corp’s Base Zero. It was the first base established by Juli Corp after their arrival in Nibelungen and it was the first place Song Zhi worked at, as well as where Song Lin grew up.
Here, Zhou Yu surprisingly met many legendary figures.
For example, the field team leader, Rong Zhou, who had died during their hunt for Di Xin.
Zhou Yu had heard of Rong Zhou’s name when he was still in the human world. He was adept at both hand-to-hand combat and using firearms, and was a master among masters. Even Wu Yun had been trained by him. Originally, Zhou Yu had regretted not having the opportunity to spar with him in Nibelungen or to even fight by his side, but he hadn’t expected to see him here.
There were also some genius scientists that Zhou Yu had only heard of.
Although the scale of this place was not as large as Base Five, it gathered a collection of elite scholars that Base Five wouldn’t be able to find even if they turned the Earth upside down. Whether it was speaking in terms of cytologists, virologists, or neuroscientists, Cook’s team paled in comparison.
“Why are you all hiding here…? Won’t Juli Corp come back to investigate? If they find out that you’re all here…” Zhou Yu asked in disbelief.
“Not for the time being.” Song Lin came up to Zhou Yu and explained, “Back then, this base had been destroyed by Di Xin in his rage. At the time, lake water flooded in, and the entire base was like a water tank. There’s a type of transparent organism in the lake water, a dangerous one between A and B ranks. It can change its size to enter any crevice, so it couldn’t be captured either. Once this organism attached to someone, they would become its food. It wasn’t as if Juli Corp hadn’t thought about restoring this base when they returned to Nibelungen for the second time, but they had paid a heavy price because of this organism. To this day, two-thirds of this base is still flooded by lake water. But with our small numbers, it’s enough that this section can be used.”
“And once Juli Corp comes to investigate the situation, without entering through the place you designed, the only thing they can probe is still the lake water. The organisms in the lake won’t harm you because they’re all under your control.” Mo Ye smiled and looked at Song Lin.
bcoffee
