Chapter 68: If I really want the stars but not the moon/Then I want the sun...

Valley, sea of ​​flowers.

This is a quiet paradise, isolated from the world. Here, tiny powdery particles like fireflies dance lightly in the air, flickering with hazy light and shadow; fresh and fragrant flowers bloom enthusiastically, one after another, as if they will never fade...

Suddenly, a familiar buzzing sound came from the entrance, breaking the silence.

Immediately afterwards, a round sugar ball with orange and black stripes "whoosh" plunged into the sea of ​​flowers, immediately causing ripples.

This insect is none other than Bombbell.

In the rain of flying flowers, the bumblebee seemed to be trying to turn its grief and anger into appetite. It flapped its two pairs of wings that seemed to be equipped with small electric motors and kept flying back and forth among the flowers. It was busy for more than ten hours.

By the time Bombubber was finally willing to transform back into human form and stop to take a breath, he had already completed most of the pollination work in the entire sea of ​​flowers.

At this moment, the sweet scent in the air becomes more intense, as if you can taste the sweetness of the flower stamens with every breath.

But this bumblebee still looks listless, even its antennae, which used to be lively and energetic, are lying motionless among the hair, as if it has lost all its vitality.

[Host, what's going on?]

Seeing this, the system that had been observing him silently finally seized the opportunity and emerged.

Seeing Bombbell's unusually listless appearance, 030 was somewhat puzzled, so he asked without thinking:

[Are you hurt? Broken-hearted? Or have you been cheated?]

With every word the system uttered, Bombbell's ice-blue eyes became moister.

By the time he finished speaking the last word, the moisture accumulated in the soldier insect's eyes had already flowed out in large drops along his honey-colored eyelashes.

At the same time, an intermittent, sad humming sound once again sounded from Bombbel's abdomen.

[Oh my god, it looks like I got it all right...]

Seeing this reaction, 030 sighed blankly at first, then he looked at Bombbel's increasingly pale face, and he wanted to slap himself in the face for what he had done just now.

"030, I want to go home——"

In the cold night, Bombbery stretched out his five fingers, sobbing and groaning. He looked at his hands and murmured softly:

"There are no bugs or nests here. I can't change anything..."

After finishing his own words, without waiting for the system to respond, Bombber took a deep breath with a trembling voice, and his emotions seemed to have calmed down.

Then, 030 saw him make that familiar action again - with tears in his eyes, he showed his insect claws inch by inch.

Tonic!

As if struck by some familiar memory, the system couldn't help but emit another sharp explosion, and slid to its knees with a thud.

[Host! Calm down! Every mistake is my fault. I shouldn't have lied to you—it was me who didn't detect the abnormality in that person's identity right away, and later, I just went along with it and didn't warn them in order to complete the mission. Please don't do anything stupid!]

"Don't blame you, I'm just too stupid. He showed it so clearly, but I couldn't even tell the difference between the most basic appetite and love..."

Hearing this, Bumblebell sniffed his red nose lightly and smiled innocently.

"Now that I've lost my soulmate, I probably can't complete my mission... Goodbye, you should cut your losses and help the next host."

After saying this, the soldier bug slowly raised its claws and pressed hard against its heart.

[Huh? But your soulmate index hasn't dropped at all!]

Before 030 finished speaking, a pair of soft and boneless hands suddenly emerged from the sea of ​​flowers!

It seemed as if He had been waiting here for a very long time, so long that He had already precisely wrapped His arms and legs around Bombbel's neck without any reaction time.

Faced with this sudden attack, Bombber's face did not show the slightest surprise.

He just stood there quietly, even giving up any struggle, and just slowly closed his eyes - the soldier bug calmly chose to be killed, and he accepted the death fate that should have come long ago.

But what surprised Bombuber was that Huai Mi did not launch an attack as he expected.

The hands tightly wrapped around his neck still felt as cold as ruthless jade... but beneath that familiar strength, there was an unconcealable panic and fear.

In this way, the two "people" fell into a stalemate.

But as time passed, Bombbel could clearly feel that the force exerted on him seemed to be lessening little by little until it disappeared.

Finally, Huai Mi's hoarse voice, like a spider's thread drifting in the wind, emerged intermittently in the air again. He said:

“Don’t go…”

In an instant, a strange and psychedelic atmosphere filled the air.

This deadly ability that he originally used to capture prey has now become one of the few means of retaining its prey that Huai Mi has put all her hopes on.

Smelling the familiar fragrance lingering in his nose, Bombbel's breathing quickened instinctively, his mouth became salivating, and his tentacles gradually stood up.

These sudden physiological reactions made his heart tremble violently, and then Bombbel slowly opened his confused eyes.

He saw countless delicate and slender little flowers popping up at an almost crazy speed wherever his eyes could see. They bloomed incomparably gorgeously, as if they were burning out all their life force - but behind this extreme bloom, there was a faint aura of death.

At this moment, this magnificent scene of life and death intertwined presents a breathtaking beauty.

In the valley, countless layers of words intertwined together, their voices filled with the same pain and hesitation. Huai Mi was saying:

"Don't go, I'll give you all my flowers..."

In this situation, Bombber couldn't tell whether it was love or appetite that was aroused in his heart by Him...

But none of this mattered anymore. The lingering leaves had once again grown in his blood, and the elegant flowers trembled and swayed in his eyes.

Who says there won’t be a hint of sincerity mixed in with pretense?

A gentle breeze blew by, and Bumblebell couldn't help but smile and sigh softly. Then he curved his lips, revealing his round dimples, and opened his eyes, still as bright as ever, and said sincerely:

"Hello, nice to meet you again. My name is Bumblebee Finger, and I'm a bumblebee soldier bug. What's yours?"

…

Half a year later, facing this C-level mission that was accomplished after going through untold hardships, 030 couldn't help but burst into tears and cried bitterly in his consciousness space.

Before officially waving goodbye, the system seemed to have a change of heart. It suddenly realized that it might, probably, or perhaps it really didn't contribute anything this time... It didn't even have time to provide the host with a golden finger!

no--

Long Aotian·Alternative World·Survival System 030 stiffened his neck and thought: I am a useful ruler, how can I not feel any participation in this story?

So, He ran up to Bumblebee and shamelessly promised to fulfill one of his wishes.

[Do you want to return to the Zerg? Or become a human? These requests can be fulfilled now!]

Hearing this, Bombber blinked and shook his head obediently. He smiled very shyly:

"Thank you, 030, but no thanks! Everything I have now is the best arrangement.

"In fact, I should be the one thanking you. I was so mean to you before... I'm so sorry..."

Seeing him like this, 030 became even more excited. He patted his chest and said seriously:

[No! I have to! Just tell me, and I'll make it happen! I won't give you the moon or the stars!]

"Really? This is so embarrassing..."

Hearing the system's stubborn tone, insisting it would not give up until it achieved its goal, Bombber hesitated and moved his furry tentacles. In the boundless night, he subconsciously looked towards the dim, hazy figure in the sea of ​​flowers.

After a period of "cloud and rain", Huai Mi is now sleeping quietly.

His clear, clean skin was covered with dark marks, his slender, damp tentacles were scattered all over the ground, and his sweaty hair almost blended with the ground...

In short, the whole thing looks like a ghost that is about to disappear into the darkness, making it impossible for "people" to see it clearly or catch it.

Seeing this, Bombbell couldn't help but blurt out: "Then I want a sun——"

【ah? ! 】

…

In the blink of an eye, time has come to the 218th year of the new calendar - no, to be exact, it should be the first year of the Guang calendar.

In just one year, the entire wasteland seemed to have undergone a complete transformation: the sky was clear, the water was clean, and even the radiation pollution was reduced. Everywhere on the ground and underground, there was a scene of vitality and development.

Pioneer 517 had just led his team members to the surface from the newly built convenient exit of the mother nest when he was almost frightened by the alien species that suddenly appeared in front of him and shrank back.

In the darkness of the night, this tall and thin humanoid creature, dressed in a long, seamless black trench coat, moved almost silently.

At first glance, his torso is basically the same as that of the humans in the mother nest, but his exposed head and limbs are all made up of dense tentacles.

These soft and sticky branches even blatantly kept wriggling on his skin, which brought a very strong visual impact, making people feel creepy at the sight of it.

He could have disguised himself perfectly, but he chose to look this scary... Was he doing it on purpose? Absolutely!

517 swallowed his saliva and subconsciously complained in his heart. Then he showed the spirit of the captain of the pioneer team and forced himself to stand up.

"Good day, sir."

Although this wasn't the first time he'd come into contact with this person, 517's heart still skipped a beat when he looked into his cold, deep eyes. He had the illusion that he was going to die in the line of duty.

However, when 517 thought of the scene when he first met this person, he couldn't help but shudder silently. The uncanny valley effect at that time was indeed more intense, and there was a clear sense of malice.

The possessiveness of the alien creatures is a bit too strong. They guard against us humans like thieves...

After understanding the whole process, 517 felt a little upset, but he could only be angry but not say anything.

However, Huai Mi had no intention of waiting for the human in front of him to finish his daze. He just wanted to go back and take care of his treasure.

Then he suddenly dispersed his body without any warning, and dense chalcedony crystals immediately dripped to the ground along his slender tentacles and transparent mucus, and in the blink of an eye they gathered into a small hill of considerable area.

Then Huai Mi stared at the pioneer with her dark, bottomless "eyes", like a silent ghost, making 517 feel the pressure doubled.

Under the other party's sinister gaze, 517 felt as if his soul was frozen. He hurriedly and carefully moved out the precious materials needed for the transaction at the fastest speed in his life.

"You..." Before he could utter a word, the ground suddenly turned into a wet swamp, swallowing everything in an instant without leaving a trace.

Immediately afterwards, the alien creature disappeared without a trace, leaving only a faint, strange fragrance in the air.

"Huh... so cold..." 517 let out a long sigh and said softly.

Only after all traces of Huai Mi had completely vanished did the pioneer slowly relax his tense muscles. He gasped for breath, like a drowning man just pulled out of the lake, desperately needing oxygen to calm his extremely tense nerves.

517 found, as expected, that his hands were trembling slightly, and his body seemed to be still trapped in the instinctive fear just now and unable to extricate himself.

At this moment, his body was covered with dense cold sweat. The water droplets emerged from his pores one by one, gradually gathered into streams, and then slid down his cheeks and back, soaking his protective suit.

Looking at the other team members behind him with equally terrified expressions of panic, 517 couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head. He muttered to himself:

"If I keep doing this, I might be able to retire early because of my heart rate problem..."

Having said that, 517 had no intention of backing down.

He just stared intently at the vast wasteland in front of him. In the distant and seemingly endless horizon, in the eternal darkness, a bright star suddenly appeared faintly.

Compared to the overwhelming darkness of the night around it, this soft light was like a weak candle flame, which seemed to be blown out by the wind at any time, but 517 knew that "He" would not.

As time passed, a rising sun gradually appeared in 517's eyes. The gentle sunlight shone on his pale and cracked skin, stirring up waves of tremors.

Although this dazzling light was not enough to cover the entire earth, the brilliant hope instantly dispelled the panic and fear in everyone's hearts.

517 once again heard the bursts of joyful cheers coming from his ears. Behind him, this group of pioneers born in the eternal night couldn't help but reach out their hands.

The dazzling light almost burned their gray eyes, but no one was willing to close their eyes. They would even give up breathing to engrave this priceless miracle in their souls.

"One day—"

Gazing at the legendary promised land, 517 clenched his fists with a surge of emotion. He turned and passionately shouted to the new generation of people who would control the future behind him, "One day, light will once again fill the wasteland!"

"Someday!"