Little Cold Star (1)

Gongye Jiwang didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, his calf was hugged by Xixi.

He lowered his head to look at the white plush ball squatting on the military boots, blinking its big watery eyes and stretching out its little hands for him to hold. His heart felt like being hit by something soft, and he bent down to pick up Xixi.

The little thing immediately climbed up the pole and buried its head in his arms, wriggling around.

Gongye Jiwang smiled, holding it steadily with one hand, and with the other hand he took out a pigeon egg-sized insect crystal from his space bracelet and handed it to Xixi.

The beggar who smelled the scent immediately raised his little head, bit the sweet and delicious third-level insect crystal in one bite, and shook his long furry tail at Gongye Jiwang.

Shi Jianxia's eyes twitched as she watched, and she considered whether she should just weigh it and sell it by weight to avoid embarrassing her.

Gongye Jiwang, unaware of her inner criticism of the beggar, carried the little creature up to him, stroking its soft fur and pinching its soft forelimbs. He also asked Shi Jianxia, ​​"Are you going out?"

Shi Jianxia was wearing casual off-white pajamas, which she had put in her space bracelet before coming to take the exam. Because she didn't expect anyone other than Zhuang Mingyue to appear in the villa, she didn't change before leaving.

She pulled her thin coat closer, a little embarrassed, and said, "I'm going to get something to eat."

Unless necessary, she rarely drinks the nutrient solution. Not only does it taste so-so, but the texture is also terrible, sticky and greasy, which she doesn't like very much.

Zhuang Mingyue had told her before that there were ingredients in the refrigerator, and she could ask the kitchen robot to cook when she was hungry.

As she spoke, she remembered that Gongye Jiwang had only glanced at her when he noticed her just now, and his eyes had basically been on Xixi. He didn't look at her much at this moment.

He seemed to be so restrained and polite all the time.

"I'm hungry too. What do you want to eat?" Gong Yeji saw that Xixi had finished eating the insect crystal, so he took out another one from his space bracelet and put it to its mouth. If you didn't know him, you would think he was the cub's father.

朏朏 also let him rub the soft fur on her body, and even took the initiative to put her little head into his palm, with her little ears moving, making people want to grab and pinch them with malicious intent.

Shi Jianxia didn't expect Gongye Jiwang to say that. After a second, he was about to refuse, but then he felt that doing so would make the atmosphere awkward, so he said dryly, "It's all right."

If you say they are familiar with each other, the two of them have only saved lives and fought with each other, and they don’t have much in common; if you say they are not familiar with each other, they seem too distant, not very polite and lacking in grace.

Gongye Jiwang smiled and circled Xixi's furry little ears with his slender index finger. "Can I play with it for a while?"

As if she understood what he said, Xixi turned her little head and looked at Shi Jianxia longingly with her big watery eyes blinking.

Shi Jianxia: "...Okay."

You little bastard, who only wants food as his father’s!

Gongye Jiwang smiled and carried Xixi down the stairs.

When his back disappeared, Shi Jianxia muttered in her heart, "He went upstairs and did nothing, and then went down again? What was he going upstairs for?"

Unable to figure out what was going on, she hurried back to her room and changed out of her pajamas.

When going downstairs, Shi Jianxia heard some noise coming from the kitchen and looked over. He saw Gongye Jiwang had taken off his uniform jacket and was wearing a thin white shirt. The cuffs of the shirt were unbuttoned and rolled up to his arms, revealing his strong and tight forearm muscles. Two buttons at the collar were also open.

朏朏 sat on his shoulder holding a bug crystal, her big round eyes staring at the big pot emitting steam, her two short legs slightly bent, looking eager to try.

Does this beggar want to cook himself in the pot?

Gongye Jiwang turned sideways toward the kitchen door. Perhaps sensing Xixi's irrational intentions, he used his free hand to support Xixi's waist and whispered, "Don't mess around."

朏朏's short legs, which were about to jump up, paused for a moment, and then pretended to rub against his ear, as if to say "I'm so good~".

Gongye Jiwang communicated with it without any obstacles: "Yeah, very good."

朏朏 suddenly became happy, and ate the insect crystal in her hand in one bite. She used all four limbs to slide from his left shoulder to his right shoulder, and then from his right shoulder back to his left shoulder.

Shi Jianxia: "..."

She felt a little redundant.

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard the sound of a door opening at the entrance.

Zhuang Mingyue came in from outside, carrying her uniform jacket. She could smell the aroma wafting from the kitchen from a distance. She saw Shi Jianxia standing at the stairs, not knowing what she was thinking. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is Gongye here?"

Her tone was familiar and natural. She had known Gongye Jiwang would come, and was not surprised to see him cooking in the kitchen.

Shi Jianxia nodded in response to Zhuang Mingyue's words.

She was actually quite curious about why Gongye Jiwang appeared here, but Zhuang Mingyue didn't seem to intend to tell her.

Zhuang Mingyue walked straight to the living room and asked, "Do you want to know the cause of the fire at the Xia family?"

Shi Jianxia was naturally interested, "Can you tell me?"

Before entering, Zhuang Mingyue received a message from Ji Yang. Knowing that they had already discussed this, she pointed across the sofa and said, "It's not a secret. If you want to know, I can tell you."

Shi Jianxia didn't bother to be polite with her and immediately sat over and pretended to listen attentively.

"After the investigation team's careful survey and the technical team's restoration of the on-site buildings and terrain, we can confirm that there is a secret laboratory underneath the Xia family's ancestral home." Zhuang Mingyue said straight to the point.

"It's just that the scene was severely damaged. Apart from those enhanced humans, there was no obvious evidence left. In addition, the people from Higanbana appeared. The head of the Xia family flatly denied conducting secret research and said he didn't know why the enhanced humans appeared. He also blamed everything on Higanbana."

All of the above was completely within Shi Jianxia's expectations.

She said, "Before you came to find me yesterday, the Xia family also came to find me. He should have been there when I left with you."

Zhuang Mingyue really didn't have time to notice this.

Before she could speak, Shi Jianxia asked again, "What mission did you ask me to perform before?"

She was indeed curious about this issue.

Zhuang Mingyue said frankly, "Ever since the Zerg parasite incident on Shuiyuan Star, we have been investigating the smuggling parties involved. We originally thought it had nothing to do with the Xia family."

"But not long ago, an investigator discovered that a medical company under the Xia family had imported a large number of special psychiatric drugs. She was about to follow the clues to investigate further, but she suddenly met with an accident and died."

"I feel something is wrong, so I've decided to investigate further. The mission I'm asking you to perform is related to this matter."

At this point, she paused, "Did your father really leave anything at the Xia family?"

This is what Shi Jianxia said when he was still thinking about the fake guy.

Shi Jianxia glanced at Gongye Jiwang who was busy in the kitchen. Zhuang Mingyue was quite confident in him and was not afraid of being overheard in their conversation.

"How would I know? When he left, my mental state was very bad. I was in a daze and I don't remember anything he said or did before and after he left."

It was another ambiguous answer, and she didn't quite believe it. However, the information she had found about Shi Jianxia did show that she had been in a bad mental state for a period of time when she was eight years old.

Zhuang Mingyue frowned slightly, not dwelling on this matter too much. Instead, she brought up another matter. "You mentioned earlier that the person who came to see you asked you to complete a task. What was it?"

Shi Jianxia didn't answer immediately. "You all seem to like asking me questions, but I've already answered a lot of them, but I haven't received the reward I want."

Zhuang Mingyue was choked by these words.

"First, give me the information about the mission my father carried out that year, then we will have the need to proceed to the next round of talks." Shi Jianxia was not prepared to ask for anything from Zhuang Mingyue.

She and Ji Yang are just partners, not subordinates.

Zhuang Mingyue frowned. "The information is already being retrieved for you, but the confidentiality level is very high. Even if the head of state wants to see it, it needs to be filed. And to ensure that the contents of the file are not leaked, you can only view it on the day you meet the head of state."

Shi Jianxia frowned slightly. She thought she would be able to see the mission file in the next two days. Now, from what Zhuang Mingyue said, the mission was much more secretive than she had imagined.

She changed the subject. "What's the situation with the enhanced humans? The investigator who attacked me said the people from Higanbana took something. Did you find out what it was?"

She had mentioned this matter to Assistant Li, and he would definitely tell Zhuang Mingyue.

The topic turned back to the Xia family. Zhuang Mingyue knew she wouldn't compromise, so she followed her lead and said, "Similar to the cases you and I mentioned, these enhanced humans are all mutants of semi-parasitic organisms."

"The Zerg larvae that parasitized them died before they could fully transform into their parasites. Once their consciousness completely died, their bodies, stimulated by special energy, mutated and became 'enhanced humans.'"

"Special energy?" Shi Jianxia immediately grasped the key point. "Do you think it's star core energy? That's why you asked me just now if my father really left something in the Xia family."

Zhuang Mingyue nodded. "As for what you said she took away, I asked the investigator who woke up, and he said it was the Xia family master's space bracelet."

"While he was monitoring the Xia family's ancestral home, he witnessed someone who looked exactly like you talking to the Xia family head. However, a disagreement arose between the two parties, and the Xia family head's spatial bracelet was taken away by the other party. I suspect it may contain something related to special energy, or even research data on human enhancement."

With witnesses present, the Xia family cannot escape the charge of having an affair with Bianhua, but holding them accountable and convicting them requires more detailed investigation results and evidence.

-

While chatting, Shi Jianxia suddenly felt a furry little thing pulling at his trouser leg. He looked down and saw that it was not the beggar boy named Xixi.

I don’t know how many insect crystals Gongye Jiwang had eaten, but its fur became sleeker and smoother than before, and its big furry tail was swaying, looking so comfortable.

Seeing that both of them were attracted by her, 朏朏 stretched out her chubby little hand and pointed in the direction of the restaurant.

Gongye Jiwang was just coming out with food in his hand. When he saw Xia's gaze, he tilted his head and smiled, "Let's talk later?"

He was wearing a beige apron, which gave him an inexplicably homely look. Being looked at like this by him, Shi Jianxia felt quite awkward, as if she was the owner of the villa and Zhuang Mingyue was the guest who needed her to entertain.

Zhuang Mingyue stood up from the sofa, yawned, and said, "You two, eat. I haven't slept for two days. I'm going to sleep for a while and we can talk later."

She went straight upstairs and left to see Xia alone, awkwardly hugging Xixi, who was wagging her tail at Gongye Jiwang.

Gongye Jiwang seemed to notice Shi Jianxia's awkwardness, and took the initiative to pull out a chair and said, "My cooking skills are just average, don't be disgusted."

Seeing Xia Mo walking over reluctantly, Xixi jumped onto the dining table. Gongye Jiwang was very considerate and left a seat for it, with a basin full of third-level insect crystals placed in front of the seat.

Seeing Xixi's eyes shining and her big furry tail wagging non-stop, Gongye Jiwang chuckled softly and asked Shi Jianxia, ​​"This shouldn't be too much for her, right?"

Shi Jianxia shook his head embarrassedly, "I'm sorry for making you spend so much money."

In the past, it was okay to eat insect crystals of level one or two, after all, they were not valuable. However, insect crystals of level three and above can be exchanged for a lot of star coins in the Simulated Association.

"It's nothing." Gongye Jiwang took off his apron.

Perhaps to avoid embarrassment, he took the initiative to sit two seats away from Shi Jianxia.

Although Shi Jianxia was not a talkative person, she had learned the skill of speaking to different people when she was a company slave, so as not to let the atmosphere become dull. So she asked, "Why are you here?"

Gongye Jiwang brought the prepared soup to Shi Jianxia and replied, "I came here following the trail of the Fusion Faction."

"Thank you." Shi Jianxia took the soup and tasted it. It had a mellow and rich taste and was cooked to perfection.

She also noticed that Gongye Jiwang was talking about the Fusion School instead of the Red Spider Lily, and deliberately asked, "Isn't the Fusion School the Red Spider Lily?"

Gongye Jiwang seemed a little sleepy and raised his hand to rub his eyes. "Bi'anhua is the representative organization of the radical faction within the fusion faction. They also have a conservative faction."

It turned out that the Zerg Investigation Department knew that there were disagreements within the Fusion Faction.

"So you are investigating the conservatives?" Shi Jianxia asked again.

Gongye Jiwang nodded. "They are at odds with Higanbana, but they haven't sought cooperation from the Zerg Investigation Bureau. They are quite active privately. The Shuiyuanxing incident showed traces of their activities."

Shi Jianxia was a little surprised after hearing this and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Didn't Director Zhuang tell you the results of the investigation related to the Xia family?" Gongye Jiwang asked as a matter of course.

Obviously, he had noticed the change in Shi Jianxia's status in front of Zhuang Mingyue from their previous conversation.

"And this is not something that cannot be said." He picked up the soup, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

This angle makes his neck look particularly slender, his Adam's apple rolls gently when he swallows, and his unbuttoned collar also makes him look a bit more unruly.

Shi Jianxia withdrew his gaze.

The two stopped talking and ate in silence.

After dinner, the household robot was responsible for cleaning up. Shi Jianxia thanked Gongye Jiwang for the hospitality, picked up the belly-full Xiaoxiao, and went upstairs back to the room.

Gongye Jiwang looked at her leaving back and blinked slightly.

-

The matter of the Xia family could not be concluded for the time being. Zhuang Mingyue upgraded Shi Jianxia's intelligent computer level, making her second only to her in the entire Zerg Investigation Bureau's special operations team, but she did not have the power to deploy other investigators. After that, she asked Gongye Jiwang to send her back to Nan Teng Star and let her wait for subsequent arrangements and actions.

Shi Jianxia's undercover identity has not been exposed, and maintaining the status quo is the only way to prevent Higanbana from becoming suspicious.

She also knew that Zhuang Mingyue would soon take her to test the ability of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" to devour insect vortexes.

While waiting for the spaceship to dock at the interstellar port, Shi Jianxia learned his lesson and did not bring 朏朏 to play, but instead caught a nine-tailed fox.

The furry and soft little fox was shaking its nine little tails. I don’t know if it was because its level was upgraded, but the tip of its tail changed from pure white to light pink. It was not obvious, but the comparison between before and after made it even more cute.

After the little thing came out, it looked at Gongye Jiwang curiously, and then stretched out its fleshy forelimbs to pad in Shi Jianxia's almost shaking pupils.

Gongye Jiwang raised his hand and hooked its chin, and the little guy raised his head on his own, even more obedient than Xixi.

Shi Jianxia simply wanted to stuff it back into the Classic of Mountains and Seas to keep company with that shameless beggar, 朏朏.

But that would be too disrespectful to Gongye Jiwang, so he had to suppress his anger and prepare to go back and give these two little bastards a serious warning and arrange for them to face the wall for an hour every day as punishment.

Gongye Jiwang had no idea what she was thinking, so he generously took out a handful of level three insect crystals and stuffed them into the Nine-tailed Fox.

The nine-tailed fox wagged its tail with joy, biting down on an insect crystal and eating it with a loud crunch.

A little kid nearby noticed the cute little white fox, let out a wow, and pulled his mother's hand and begged for it too.

The parent originally wanted to ask Shi Jianxia where they bought the little fox, but when they saw that the two of them were wearing the uniforms of the Zerg Investigation Department, they knew that the little fox with nine tails was most likely a mimicry rather than a pet. They stopped and picked up the child and explained to him in a low voice.

After a while, Shi Jianxia and Gongye Jiwang received admiring gazes from the children.

The broadcast from the interstellar port sounded, and the two walked towards the special passage provided to investigators from the Zerg Investigation Office. This was also Zhuang Mingyue's intention.

When verifying his identity, Shi Jianxia felt a pair of eyes falling on his back. It felt very subtle and did not seem like the gaze of a stranger.

She immediately looked back, but only saw people rushing to and fro. Every face was unfamiliar, and no one was looking at her.

Gongye Jiwang saw her movements and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"

Shi Jianxia slowly withdrew his gaze and said thoughtfully, "It seems like someone is looking at me."

Gongye Jiwang frowned slightly, followed her gaze and scanned the crowd in front of him, but found nothing unusual.

Up ahead, the staff had already completed the identity verification, so the two had no choice but to move forward.

This incident was just a small episode. The passengers at the interstellar port boarded the interstellar spacecraft in an orderly manner, but the investigators traveling from Canglong Star to Nanteng Star were only Shi Jianxia and Gongye Jiwang.

Half an hour later, the interstellar spacecraft left the interstellar port and entered space.

Since they were boarding the spaceship as investigators, Shi Jianxia and Gongye Jiwang were arranged to an independent cabin dedicated to the Zerg Investigation Office.

Gongye Jiwang started yawning not long after he sat down, probably because of his mimicry defect. He said something to Shi Jianxia, ​​took out his eye mask, leaned back in his seat and fell asleep.

Shi Jianxia looked down at the intelligent computer. She had completed an online exam for a theoretical course last night, and there were several more theoretical courses waiting for her. She usually focused on training and being a traitor, so now she could only cram.

To be honest, after experiencing the miserable life of a corporate slave, she quite enjoys being a student. It's a pity that she is now a student and a corporate slave at the same time, and there is no way for her to have fun and study at the same time.

The nine-tailed fox felt bored, so it curled up like a fox cake on her shoulder, occasionally moving its tail, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Time passed minute by minute, and after an unknown amount of time, the interstellar spacecraft suddenly shook. Gongye Jiwang immediately raised his hand to take off his eye mask. There was still sleepiness in his eyes, and it was obvious that he woke up from his sleep the moment he felt the vibration.

He asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"

Shi Jianxia, ​​of course, couldn't answer his question. A gentle female voice came over the radio at the right time, "Dear passengers, please don't panic. The vibration just now was the interstellar spacecraft hitting a small meteorite. It will not affect the journey—"

Before he could finish his words, the entire spacecraft shook even more violently.

The little white fox lying on Shi Jianxia's shoulder with its big misty eyes open slipped out unexpectedly and was about to hit the retractable table in front of it. Gongye Jiwang and Shi Jianxia reached out at the same time, the former grabbed its little belly and the latter grabbed its furry tail.

After a slight pause, the little white fox was taken back into Shi Jianxia's arms.

At this moment, the sound on the radio suddenly became extremely chaotic, with the sound of objects colliding and falling to the ground and the screams of the flight attendants.

"Oh no! Something happened!" Gongye Jiwang raised his hand to unbuckle his seat belt when suddenly a puffing sound came from inside the cabin.

Then, the two felt their bodies floating upwards, and a mechanical announcement came from the cabin, "Attention all passengers, the gravity system has failed! Please fasten your seat belts! Do not leave your seats!"

"Repeat the notice..."

This is the automatic broadcasting system within the interstellar spacecraft, and it does not affect the manual broadcasting system.

Shi Jianxia and Gongye Jiwang looked at each other quickly, and almost at the same time opened their intelligent brains. Sure enough, they saw the prompt that the signal was blocked. They unbuckled their seat belts at the same time and pressed the emergency button on the armrest of their seats. Two compressed packages containing space suits and oxygen cylinders immediately popped out from under the seats.

Both had been trained on what to do in the event of an emergency on a starship.

Quickly putting on his spacesuit, Gongye Jiwang said quickly, "I'll go check the cockpit. You go work with the crew on the spacecraft to appease the people!"

"No problem! Be careful!" Shi Jianxia threw the nine-tailed fox to Gongye Jiwang, "If you have anything, you can tell it. I can communicate with it to understand your situation."

Gongye Jiwang nodded, hugged the nine-tailed fox, unzipped the space suit and stuffed it in.

A small bulge suddenly appeared on his chest, and the nine-tailed fox was arching inside it, which looked a bit funny.

But now is obviously not the time to laugh, Shi Jianxia put on an isolation helmet.

Gongye Jiwang was the first to move towards the door, ready to open it, but a virtual screen popped up in front of the door, showing a red triangle exclamation mark, which was a warning sign. Below the mark was a line of small words: 'The door is locked, please do not force it open'.

He ignored the prompt, and pale flames flowed from his hands, quickly transforming into a scimitar.

A cold light flashed by, and with two clicks, a huge cross was cut out of the hatch. The metal wires buried inside made a crackling sound of electricity, and the control system was directly damaged.

Gongye Jiwang kicked the door, and the metal door split into four parts along the cut cross, and fell straight backwards, hitting the ground with a heavy bang.

Shi Jianxia walked quickly to his side, but before he took a step, several bullets fired at him, leaving charred holes on the ground and walls in an instant.