Chapter 95: Forever love you p1
This bad habit was something she had before she came to the Defense Center.
In her dull old life, it was a brand like a gangrene.
Cheng Ran had removed many of her sores and had brought her into the light, but she herself knew that the pus under the scab would not heal.
Thinking of Cheng Ran, and then of Cheng Ming.
She was really a very well-behaved little girl. Many people doted on her. Her parents were both researchers, renowned scientists. She had a good family upbringing, a perfect starting point in life, completely different from her.
Her only trouble was that she was weak and sickly, but she also had Cheng Ran to back her up, and had advanced medical resources to choose from, so she would not fall to the worst situation, unlike her, and unlike many others. What crushed them was often not the real pain, but the unbearable burden that the disease brought to the family.
Should she hate her? But she was indeed just envious, and also, she loved the house and its crow.
So, at that time, when she had learned from Cheng Ran that Cheng Ming needed her, besides surprise, confusion, and a daze, she had had some indescribable and subtle thoughts.
So you’re not so perfect, just like me.
She did not dare to face it honestly, and did not dare to reveal her thoughts to others. She enjoyed her dependence. After Cheng Ming had lost her parents in ’68, in the gaps of her busy schedule, she would always take the time to accompany her. Was it Cheng Ming who needed her, or was it her who needed Cheng Ming?
This thought was not at all noble, although the result was indeed good for her.
But she was an overly independent, or rather, a somewhat “autistic” little one.
The too-clear sense of propriety between them had always been actively maintained by Cheng Ming.
She understood Cheng Ming, but she didn’t understand her that well.
At the very least, she had never really gotten close to her inner world.
She had seen it a long time ago. The constant alienation made her occasionally have a dangerous thought, to tell her that she was a monster just like her, to tell her not to try to get away from her, to get rid of her, it was useless.
I am the legacy your mother left you.
She had come to invite her to go with her, but what she knew better was that it was just because she felt that her life was now threatened. It was pity, not an equal invitation.
They could be together for a while, but not for a lifetime.
She was not her fellow traveler.
Taking back the cigarette case, Qu Ying just looked down at it, and played with it in her hand, rubbing the smooth texture.
The emerald green outer packaging was flowing with a snow-silver arc.
“Alright, I’ll go,” Chen Ke had thought that she would finish a cigarette before answering, but she had already put away the paper box and had turned her head to look at her. “No one is more familiar with her than I am. You don’t have a better candidate, do you?”
She curled her lips, with a hint of a contemptuous and playful look.
This was the purpose of this trip. Chen Ke and the high-level officials behind her were noncommittal, “Your request?”
“Can I retire early?” she asked.
What the real meaning was, was not hard to understand. It was a bit of a lion’s mouth, but the Security Department was more afraid that she would not open her mouth.
Chen Ke still had a smile like an AI assistant, “We can discuss it.”
…
Causing a stir that had attracted the attention of the world, and becoming the focus of attention of both humans and monsters, countless departments and countless members were searching for her whereabouts in the open and in the dark—the protagonist of all this, Cheng Ming, was unceremoniously jumping down a waste pipe, and was covered in a mess of unknown substances.
There was no choice. Her main body was stored in the abandoned experimental area in the basement of the biology department. This place was being watched very closely, and Chu Lanying was not here, so she had to be more cautious. It was a personal practice of the most dangerous place being the safest place.
When she had said goodbye to Chu Lanying and had left the research institute, she had only then known that because the two buildings were close, the research institute also had a passage that led to the bottom.
This was the reason why the other had easily found her, or rather, it was specially left for her, a trap to lure her into.
But this place would no longer be safe.
Even the evolution department, which had been established for many years, was about to be disbanded. The Defense Center was going to completely draw a line with the monsters, and this thorn in their side would have to be pulled out sooner or later.
She had to leave as soon as possible.
“Go, there will be our ‘people’ to receive you,” at that time, Chu Lanying, who had arranged everything, had said this to her.
“I think you’ve heard of Atlantis, and you’ve heard of the returning market,” she had mentioned those desolate and ancient legends in an infinitely gentle and distant tone, and had told her about a civilization in the vast sea. “Go to our homeland. You won’t be disappointed.”
“What about you?”
Cheng Ming had keenly noticed a detail.
“I will stay on land and will not be able to return to the ocean,” Chu Lanying had replied.
Because she had already given birth to a daughter, and her daughter was her, and had continued her life, and would take over her responsibilities.
And she had voluntarily given up the characteristics of a Jiao, and had been grafted with the short life of a human. In the extremely short human lifespan, she would seek a future for the two races.
Her every step had been predicted by her.
She had accepted her arrangement.
Just like this, it was time to go.
A hard rock base had separated the two worlds of light and dark. The obvious building area only went down to the tenth basement level. A few dozen meters further down, the radiation was strong, and the salt concentration was high. Almost no metal could escape the fate of being corroded and scrapped. She could only walk on the partition that had been barely cast with cement to return.
The underground was dark. Even though she couldn’t see now and would not be affected by obstacles, she still habitually brought lighting equipment. Entering the last level, the thin floating light below was reflected, and countless silver snakes were swimming on the dark water surface.
The boundless network woven by the mycelia blocked the deadly particle stream, absorbed and converted the energy for biological metabolism, and protected the fragile flesh and blood.
This was a life-restricted area, and also the origin of life.
Her consciousness had sunk back into her main body, and her vision was spinning. The liquid was rolling. She had emerged from the deep water that had accumulated at the bottom, and the mycelia had retracted. She had stepped on the pipe support and had gone ashore.
There were many neural separation modes to choose from, and her eyeliner was now all over the ground and underground. In the midst of the pilgrimage-like embrace of a large number of monsters around her, like the omnipresent probing threads of a spider’s web, she was squatting at this intersection, and she keenly felt that the situation had changed.
Rumble—
A slight vibration came from the southeast corner.
A very bad sound, a man-made explosion.
It was still a step too late. The outside was surrounded, and there were many heavy weapons, and even more were in transport. Several departments had been dispatched in coordination.
The Security Department’s actions were a bit too fast.
She had been on a group mission before and knew how unstoppable these few departments were when they were combined, and she knew what a troublesome situation she would be facing.
But the most troublesome thing was that in the adjacent field of vision, she had discovered who was at the head of this mission—
Qu Ying.
She had taken off her prison uniform and was wearing regular clothes, and had already gone underground. A jacket that blended in with the environment, a faintly shining collar, and click, click, the sound of her footsteps was magnified by the infinite space, like the rhythmic sound effect of a villain boss bringing death in a horror movie, and she was walking down the mottled and damaged corridor.
What was even more comparable to a horror scene was that Cheng Ming was clearly the one who was peeking from behind the scenes, but at the next turn, without any warning, the person who was being peeked at had looked straight over.
She had discovered the existence in the dark.
The second their gazes had met, Cheng Ming had not yet seen clearly what was happening. The mutated creature that she had been using as a monitor had suddenly exploded into a pulp, and the feeling of being twisted and broken had been transmitted back, a sharp pain, and then, a dead silence.
A confrontation, and the information source was lost.
The metal ring was still there, but the restriction on her had disappeared.
No wonder it was the most valued “weapon.” It was so dangerous, but they were reluctant to destroy it.
The darkness had evolved into a unique, living monster, and it had swallowed the rationality that she had struggled to maintain. How many more floors were there? She didn’t know.
Cheng Ming’s heart beat faster, for the upcoming situation that she was unwilling to face.
She couldn’t run into Qu Ying.
As soon as this thought came out, she immediately decided to go back into the water and find another way out.
She had come to catch her, but she just wanted to escape.
So cowardly—
This thought was fleeting, and she heard Xiao Ming’s unspoken complaint.
Do you want to be caught, or do you want to kill her?
Her heartbeat was even more suffocating in the sticky darkness. She silently questioned Xiao Ming.
She questioned herself.
There was no answer.
Just as she was about to go down the ladder, swish, something broke through the air and came from behind.
It was a hand, and the hard, struggling joints were on her shoulder bone, and they were deeply embedded, as cold and sharp as an icicle. The moment she had felt the danger approaching, she had turned her head, and their four eyes had met. Qu Ying had appeared by her side, and the gaze she had thrown at her was also like ice.
So sudden, so sudden that her mind had gone blank for a moment.
It was comparable to a flashing evil spirit. Just a few seconds ago, the other was at least on the fourth floor or above.
However, she then thought that this place was built by the biology department. Although it had lost control, their understanding of this place was far superior to hers, and it was normal for there to be a hidden, fast passage.
An unexpected encounter, it was a competition of reaction speed.
Cheng Ming was clearly late.
She was held by this heavier force and could not break free. Both of them could completely soften their bodies, like two intertwined ribbons. Cheng Ming increased her backward leaning trend, half with an irresistible submission, and half with a quick-witted twist. She let herself be pulled by gravity and fell freely, and she grabbed Qu Ying’s forearm with her backhand, and tripped her with her leg.
Splash! They had both fallen into the deep black water.
…
Above the biology department, a swarm of drones was hovering at a height of ten to dozens of meters from the ground, recording, communicating, and carrying ammunition, and they were aimed at all possible entrances and exits.
The buzzing was dense, and it disturbed the wind, and it stirred up the air for several kilometers, as if it had raised a local sandstorm.
The air pressure was very low today, and the thick clouds had submerged the high floors of several buildings. The dark dome seemed to be about to collapse and fall at any time, like a harbinger of the end of the world, and it was pressing on the hearts of countless people.
The nearby buildings were being cleared in an orderly manner, the personnel were being evacuated, the key data was being backed up, and the important resources were being transported out. In case the first plan failed, they had to start the countdown to destruction.
Not long after Qu Ying had disappeared from the camera’s visible range, in the misty main building of the Security Department, in the security department of the command and control center.
In the monitoring hall, the dark blue, black and gold, and leaf-green uniforms were intertwined. The light and shadow of the screens that surrounded the walls were flowing on them. Under the low saturation and high gray scale, every face was exceptionally sharp, as solemn as looking at a tombstone.
The weather was bad, and the sea surface monitoring was also affected. Besides the external situation that was always on guard, there was also an internal crisis that was urgently in need of a solution.
“Let OC39 deal with MM1? Do you believe she can do it?” The questioner was in a black uniform with a gold chest badge, his voice was very low, and his expression was also heavy.
The Investigation Department was connected to the intelligence center, and the relationship between Qu Ying and Cheng Ming was clearly listed at the top.
“There won’t be a problem,” the person who had answered was inexplicably certain.
Green was the symbol of the biology department, and the evolution department had emerged from the biology department.
In the inquiring gazes that everyone had cast at the same time, this person in charge of the evolution department was staring at one of the dark sub-screens and said softly, “Whether you believe it or not, they can’t be left.”
…
Abandoned underground area.
The chaotic sounds gradually subsided, and the surface of the water, which was rolling with high-energy radioactive waves, returned to calm.
Cheng Ming was leaning against the smooth wall of the reservoir, her hand on the corroded and rough climbing frame. She was in a daze and was a little wary. She was not too far away, but she didn’t dare to get too close. She looked at the person on the shore, whose clothes and hair were also soaking wet.
The mycelia that were spreading out behind her had almost occupied this body of water, and the scales were glowing with an algae-blue fluorescence. The ripples were surging, and they were stimulating more beautiful and magnificent light. Just looking at this dreamlike picture, it was really like a mermaid in a fairy tale was looking at her savior with fear and expectation.
Qu Ying was sitting next to her, her knees bent, and she was playing with the water with her toes, with a look of indifference and thoughtfulness. “It seems you’re quite adapted to this environment.”
Cheng Ming did not answer.
Qu Ying looked down again, and not surprisingly, she saw her faint, wary posture—she had used up the little one’s trust.
She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and smile.
But the next second, the curve of her lips was pressed down, and she called out, “Xiao Ming.”
Cheng Ming was at a loss. Before she could react, she heard the other continue, “You know what a partner should do.”
The words were not directed at her.
But when Cheng Ming slowly turned her mind and understood what she had just heard, she was stunned. In an instant, she only felt that some of her skin was burning, and her ears were ringing.
How did she guess their relationship?
There it was again, this familiar feeling of being caught by a parent, of being at a loss and ashamed.
But Xiao Ming had no sense of shame to speak of.
It immediately replaced the dazed Cheng Ming and grumbled with dissatisfaction, “Of course I know.”
Qu Ying narrowed her eyes and said word by word, “Don’t bully her.”
Xiao Ming: “…Oh.”
Could the bullying at some times be called bullying?
They rarely had such a calm conversation.
Mainly, every time it appeared, it had not brought anything good for Cheng Ming. In the past, it had made Cheng Ming have a fever and get sick, and now, it was making Cheng Ming drift further and further away from her, from people, and from the land, and she could never return to the human world.
Something was wrong.
Cheng Ming sensed the intention of these conversations, and the heat was pressed back. An bone-chilling cold drilled into her body with the water, and her face began to turn pale.
What was this? Was she entrusting her with her last wishes?
“Sister Yingying…” she looked at Qu Ying in a daze, and was a little trembling.
Why did you come to find me, and why did you want to see me. After saying a not-so-formal goodbye, the story ended here. The sea and the land were very far apart, and it was better not to see each other again.
Not seeing each other again… could still have the hope of seeing each other again next time.
“I think you need me,” so, I came. She pulled her closer, and looked down at her, with a somewhat proud smile. “Without me, you can’t leave, little one.”
This sounded really arrogant, but it was a fact that she didn’t know how to refute.
“They didn’t want you to go out, and I can’t go out either. People are ultimately afraid of this power, even if we were created by them.”
Qu Ying pointed to the thing on her neck and asked her, “Did you see it?”
She was smiling, and the smile was self-mocking, calm, and without any sadness. Cheng Ming’s eyes widened, and with an almost fearful trembling, she vaguely understood the meaning, and understood the cruel and hopeless reality that lay ahead.
