Chapter 15

After exiting through the side gate, Feng Ran grabbed Luo Le's hand and started running wildly. The suburban industrial parks in the lower city were clustered together, with a sewage chimney every so often, making it impossible to set up an aerial flight path, and naturally, they couldn't hit the hovercar.

Feng Ran had no intention of confronting anyone head-on. When that man used pheromones to test her and Basil, Feng Ran knew they were being watched. Or rather, when she learned that the man was Hilde Brand, she wanted to finish her business quickly and run away.

She had initially thought there was some mysterious organization behind the sea anemone herb garden, but it turned out to be just a group of space pirates on the run. Judging from the current situation, getting involved with space pirates is not a good idea.

"Feng Ran, what's wrong? Why are we running away all of a sudden?"

Feng Ran doesn't like exercise, and his face turned red after running for a short while, but fortunately they finally ran out of the industrial park and got to the vicinity of the main road, but they didn't stop.

"Let's leave here first, and we'll talk to you later."

Not far away was an old bus stop. When Feng Ran saw a bus coming, he pulled Luo Le and jumped on the bus smoothly.

There weren't many passengers on the bus. The two of them sat side by side in the last row. Basil was a little curious about this kind of land-based bus, but he still obediently stayed close to Fengran and looked at her nervously.

"What's wrong?"

Feng Ran first opened his terminal to check Xing Tong's report. He was annoyed for a moment when he found that Hilde had still chased after him, but he still perked up and leaned closer to Luo Le to explain in a low voice.

"We're in a bit of trouble right now. Which do you want to hear, the good news or the bad news?"

Basil frowned somewhat uneasily: "Can I know what the trouble is first?"

Feng Ran thought for a moment about how to phrase it: "Well... that man just now thought we weren't legitimate buyers, so he chased after us. The bad news is that he's Hilde Brand, a wanted space pirate. If we get involved with him, we'll definitely get a severe scolding. The good news is that I hacked his terminal, so he can't find out who we are."

Basil was instantly devastated. He would rather Feng Ran had told him that the Control Yuan had just found out about that herb garden and, together with the police, raided it and carried out a massacre inside, which was why Feng Ran had pulled him away.

He calmed down for a while and realized that today had been a truly dramatic and unpredictable day. His heart was pounding with fear, but strangely enough, he was starting to get used to it. Oh no, what if he had to live this kind of miserable life of hiding and running away with Feng Ran after they eloped?

Basil took a deep breath, calmed herself, and asked, "So we shook him off?"

Feng Ran showed him her terminal screen, where a red shuttle bus was following behind their slow-moving bus. She said regretfully, "No."

Young Master Basil suddenly became anxious. Their bus seemed to be approaching its stop, which, judging from the map, was probably in a sparsely populated suburban area: "What should we do?"

Feng Ran looked at Luo Le's somewhat flustered appearance, his eyes wide open, bright and beautiful, like a lost golden retriever. She lightly pecked him on the cheek.

"It's alright, I'll show him how powerful our young master is."

"Why are you still laughing at a time like this!"

Basil forced himself to calm down and began to think of a plan. "If I contact my uncle now to come rescue us, how long will it take for them to arrive?" He then stuffed the ring he had received from Feng Ran during the day back into her hands, chattering on and on: "When the time comes, you use your disguise to run first. I'm fast enough to distract him. I'll study the map first to see which way is the best to run..."

After sending all the data, along with the location anchor, to the nearest police station, Feng Ran reluctantly turned off the terminal. She forcefully slipped the ring back into Luo Le's hand: "What's yours is yours. I don't need another one."

Basil: "That makes things easier. We can just change our faces and sneak away openly."

Feng Ran guiltily turned her face away. She didn't need another one; she just hadn't done it yet.

Basil saw right through her, leaned over and pinched her cheek, puffing out her cheeks angrily: "You think you can fool me? What are you trying to prove? How childish!"

But looking at Feng Ran's face so close to hers, Luo Le pinched him for a while, then let go and turned her head away, her ears turning red. "Even if it's childish, I still like you."

Fengran: ...

Feng Ran was initially a little angry, since being pinched on the face really hurt, but considering how pure-hearted Young Master Basil was, he forgave him this time.

She recklessly leaned in and bit his ear: "I like you too."

As a result, his attempt to kiss her failed, and the overly shy young master Basil slapped him away.

It wasn't until the bus announced that it was about to stop at the next station that Luo Le suddenly remembered his important task: he hadn't had time to contact his uncle, nor had he looked at the map of the surrounding area.

Feng Ran looked at him with a hint of resentment: "It's alright, young master. We've already shaken them off. Now we can get out of the car and witness the exciting scene of a first-class wanted criminal being arrested."

Basil was terribly guilty: "My uncle found out?"

Feng Ran: "Where did the Control Yuan get such great abilities? They're the police, aren't they? Isn't it easy to report an anonymous crime?"

Although it was a bit troublesome to send the positioning anchor program along with the operation, it arrived relatively quickly, so her efforts were worthwhile.

However, Feng Ran didn't really have to pay a price. Although she didn't want to get involved with space pirates, she wasn't so righteous as to want to wipe them all out just because she saw injustice. She always kept to herself and, if things went smoothly, she might even become a regular customer of their herb garden. If Hilde hadn't foolishly released her pheromones to test them and hadn't come after them with malicious intent, Feng Ran wouldn't have had to meddle so much.

Basil: "Really?"

Feng Ran took his hand and stood up from his seat: "Why don't we go down and take a look?"

Basil still tugged at him anxiously: "What if the police don't catch him?"

Feng Ran: "That's alright. My pheromone level is higher than his, so he doesn't have much of an advantage against me. You can take advantage of the situation to subdue him."

Basil thought to herself: This is a last resort. But she still got off the bus with Feng Ran.

They stood on the platform for a while, and when no one followed the train, Basil breathed a sigh of relief. Feng Ran checked his terminal again and concluded, "Hilde ran away when she saw the police were coming, but she didn't get away. The herb garden was also raided."

Basil: "That's good."

To get back to the central city, they had to go back to the intersection where they came out of the industrial park and take a hovercar, so Fengran and Luo Le could only walk back along the route the bus had taken.

It was almost lunchtime, but Feng Ran hadn't messaged the nanny robot to ask if she was coming home. Then, Shen Shiqian personally sent her a message.

[Shen Shiqian: Ranran, do you want to come home for dinner? I can pick you up.]

Feng Ran squinted, still unsure how to deal with this person, but Luo Le, with her sharp eyes, spotted him and got excited: "Him! Why is he checking up on you? And calling himself Ranran? How shameless!"

Feng Ran looked at the flustered Basil with amusement. "Young Master, how am I supposed to answer this? This is my first time sneaking a bite outside, I'm not good at it, can you teach me?"

How could Luo Le know? It was his first time cheating, and he was cheating on Marshal Shen. But he wasn't familiar with Shen Shiqian, so how would he know about avoiding pitfalls? Just as he was getting angry and anxious, his father also came to check up on him.

Basil: "Damn it! I was only standing in front of the store for less than a minute, how did they recognize me? Those employees are so cunning! If I take office, the first thing I'll do is fire them and replace them all with robots!"

"Okay, now I have to go home too. My dad sent a car to pick me up."

Luo Le was truly helpless when his father found out that he was having an affair. In the past, he might have been anxious because he was going to get a beating from his father, but he had experienced too much today. Looking at his father's message, Luo Le felt that it was just a scolding and nothing serious.

Feng Ran: "Then you should run faster, right? The herb garden was just raided, and your uncle might already know. It wouldn't be good if they found out you were here."

Basil couldn't even imagine it. Chris had just told him about the banned drugs that morning, and he found a way to buy them that afternoon. As a result, the herb garden was raided that evening, and he happened to be nearby. Even if he had eight mouths, he couldn't explain himself.

Basil: "Fengran, I... I'm running away first. If they find out about all this mess today, I'm finished. Don't worry, I definitely won't betray you. We'll coordinate our stories and say we just strolled around the mall this morning, had lunch, and then parted ways. I'll message you to discuss the research when I get back!"

After saying that, Basil darted off like a leopard, and when he was almost out of sight, he stopped, waved at Feng Ran, and shouted:

"goodbye!"

"So exciting!"

This time, after shouting, he really ran away and disappeared.

Feng Ran walked back slowly by herself, looking at the message Shen Shiqian had sent. She was a little unsure. Let alone Luo Le, it would be difficult to explain if Shen Shiqian found her in the vicinity.

Hilde Brand lives up to his reputation as a Class A wanted criminal. Even after his arrest, the lower city has been significantly increased with the presence of numerous guards patrolling the area to prevent any members of the White Sand Star gang from escaping.

The things that Feng Ran and Luo Le bought for 100 million star coins had long been thrown into her spatial button. She finally arrived at a place where she could call a car, and before waiting for the car to arrive, she still took a look at the statements of the people who had been arrested.

Hilde seemed a bit dazed about being suddenly exposed and arrested, refusing to cooperate and saying nothing. The exhibition ended relatively early, and it seemed that not many of the staff members were caught. The only one left who had seen Feng Ran and Basil's faces was Fran, Fran...

Feng Ran searched the arrest list but couldn't find it, and was immediately incredulous. She had written such detailed intelligence, yet they hadn't caught anyone? Could the Imperial Police be any more useless? But so be it, Feng Ran didn't think they could cause any trouble.

Feng Ran looked up and saw that the car she had booked had arrived. She turned off her terminal and got into the car. She had just gotten in and hadn't even sat down when she felt someone quickly squeeze in next to her. When she turned around, it was Fran, the fugitive she had just been thinking about.

After Fran sat down, he quickly closed the car door. Facing Feng Ran, he felt inexplicably weak and exchanged a few emotionless pleasantries: "Long time no see. Could you please change the route to Eternal Square?"

Feng Ran sat firmly in her seat as the hovercar started and took off. She stared at Fran for a while and asked, "Why do you think I would help you?"

He explained to Feng Ran in a pale voice, "The herb garden was raided, Hill... ah, you mean that..."

Feng Ran interrupted him: "Yes, I know, after all, I was the one who called the police."

Fran's expression immediately turned to fear, and he looked at her with a grim face: "You..."

Feng Ran: "Of course I have no grudge against you, but he was the one who planned to attack first, so this was just a legitimate act of self-defense."

"But I'm not a bad person either. Here's what we'll do: I'll ask you a few questions, and you answer them truthfully. If I think you're useful, I'll help you out. Otherwise, I'll kick you out right now and put you in Hilde's company."

Fran felt goosebumps all over his body. Looking at the exquisite and beautiful girl in front of him, he felt like she was some kind of evil spirit.

"The source of 9312, the native plant habits, the mechanism of action of the drug, and the composition ratio."

Fran naturally refused to tell her, after all, she had called the police, causing them to lose their base and resulting in half of their men being arrested by the cops. Although Fran was weak, he was not the kind of person who would easily betray his companions.

Feng Ran ignored his stubbornness and opened the terminal to look at the intelligence compiled by Xing Tong.

"Hackers? They hacked into the Star Guardian robots of 9312, controlling them to harvest alien plants. Hmm, they also planted their own people in the neighboring 8587 mining unit, smuggling the goods back along with the energy ore..."

After quickly reading through how the space pirates developed this gray industry, Feng Ran turned to Fran's research report. This person seemed to have a real scientific research background. Although he didn't know why he was mixed up with the space pirates, he did have some ability. At least after Feng Ran read his research and the potion formula, he had a certain understanding of 9312.

"You guys are quite capable."

Fran stared in shock at the data on the Windburn terminal. "How do you know...?"

"Because I also have hacking skills, and yours are not as good as mine, that's all."

The alien plants seem to share some common tissue structures with the alien species, such as the crystals that absorb and convert energy. The alien species feed on planetary energy minerals. Once a planet is completely devoured by them and becomes a wasteland, they will turn to invade other planets. 9312 has the powerful devouring ability of the alien species. The roots of the living plant can penetrate into the ground twenty or thirty meters deep, and the vines that are exposed above the ground will strangle passing animals and absorb nutrients.

Its vitality is extremely tenacious. As long as the crystalline structure is not completely destroyed, even a tiny bit of water and nutrients can activate the crystal's energy reserves, causing it to grow wildly again. Fran's potion formulation principle is to activate the crystal to release a large amount of energy and reshape the body's physical strength in a short period of time. With repeated use, this energy will frequently stimulate the crystalline powder in the body. The powder will proliferate into granular stones, and once it has reached a certain form, it will begin to backfire and absorb the body's energy, causing physical exhaustion.

However, these crystals do not cause physical exhaustion when they grow inside alien organisms. On the contrary, they are the source of their powerful combat strength. Feng Ran thinks that this is probably because Fran used them incorrectly. Even when the crystals are ground into powder, they still have trace amounts of activity. Since they cannot be digested by the human body, why not fuse with them like aliens? Although it is still necessary to consider whether partial fusion can preserve human characteristics and enhance the effect, it is a very interesting topic.

However, it is clear that the crystals' effect is currently limited to physical strength and do not contribute to the mental power she wants to study.

Feng Ran: "I've learned about your methods. 9312 and the drug do seem very attractive, but I don't think I need them. The only person in your group I'm interested in right now is the hacker Carlo, but he's been arrested, so I'm planning to distance myself from you now."

"You can continue to remain silent and say nothing, because I intend to kill you to silence you."

Fran: "The devil..."

Feng Ran ignored him and began rummaging through his spatial buttons to see if there was anything suitable to be used as a murder weapon.

Fran: "You don't even care about your own life?"

Feng Ran stopped and glanced again at Fran, who was now in a sorry state due to his panicked hiding and scrambling. He sneered mercilessly, "Do you think you can threaten me? A mere B-grade, and an Omega at that. The protection law doesn't protect wanted criminals, Mr. Fran."

Fran looked at her with even greater fear, and even subconsciously covered the gland she had been hiding: "How did you know?"

Feng Ran: "Didn't Hilde tell you?" She blinked again, maliciously threatening him, "Oh, maybe it's because he hasn't awakened his mental power yet. With mental power insight, even if you remove your glands, he'll still recognize you."

Fran's pheromones were leaking out uncontrollably. He was terrified that his Omega identity would be exposed, and he felt that once exposed, his past would come knocking on his door, and he would be dragged back to the dark hell.

The aroma of peaches, sweet and juicy to the point of being almost decadent, seemed to deliberately entice people to pick them. Feng Ran felt a little dizzy in this rich fragrance; she rubbed her nose and frowned as she looked at Fran:

"Are you in heat?"

This is really troublesome. If I bring back the scent of Omega pheromones, Shen Shiqian probably won't be too happy. Although I can cover it up with my own scent, it will be even more troublesome if Shen Shiqian goes into a false heat.

Feng Ran sighed, opened the terminal and replied to Shen Shiqian, saying that she had finished eating outside and would take a car home by herself.

To conceal his identity, Fran had been using various products to suppress pheromone release and estrus for a long time, causing severe functional damage to his glands. Under Feng Ran's intimidation, he became emotionally agitated, and any slight leakage of his suppressed pheromones would cause them to go out of control and erupt like a torrent, along with his estrus reaction.

He slid off his seat and onto the floor, his face flushed, breathing heavily in discomfort, his eyes misty with tears. He trembled uncontrollably even when no one touched him, struggling to keep his legs together, looking at Feng Ran with fear.

Feng Ran was still sitting upright in her seat. She felt a bit stuffy inside the hovercar, and then slowly realized, "Is there something wrong with your pheromones? Do they have an aphrodisiac function? I thought my drug resistance was already very high, but you still made me feel hot."

This was the first time Feng Ran had encountered a special pheromone individual other than Basil. Although their functions were different, it didn't stop her from wanting to study them.

She looked at Fran, who was huddled in a corner, hugging himself tightly and trembling: "I'm starting to get interested in you now. You don't have to die."