Chapter 65 Confession (Part 2)

Mu Baixing: "Mingyu?"

The man's tone was calm, his voice rather cold. Mingyu suddenly came back to his senses and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Mu..."

"I feel... here..." He couldn't describe his feelings and could only mumble, "The energy fluctuations here don't seem normal. Should we get out first?"

Mu Baixing frowned slightly, but did not refute. He just pulled up the starship, increased its altitude according to Mingyu's request, and moved upwards out of the rift.

He trusted Mingyu's judgment.

"We have to hurry, Brother Mu." Mingyu looked down at the starship, the ominous feeling in his heart becoming increasingly clear. "We have to hurry even faster..."

Mu Baixing pushed the aircraft engine gear to the maximum, and the mining ship accelerated upward, pressing Mingyu firmly into the seat.

In just a few minutes, the energy fluctuations surging from below became clearer and clearer in the mental field of vision.

Mingyu's heartbeat quickened as he finally clearly felt the powerful energy wave coming from deep underground.

"Brother Mu—!" He subconsciously raised his voice and shouted, "It's an earthquake—"

"boom--!"

Mingyu's voice was drowned out by a loud explosion.

It was as if the supporting skeleton inside the planet was broken, stirring up the flesh and blood, and bringing out overwhelming violent energy.

The underground plates broke, the rift valley sank downward, the river water flowed downstream, and was stirred up by the violent vibration, gushing upward.

The starship piloted by Mu Boxing suddenly shifted its angle, pulling upward at a ninety-degree angle, avoiding the vast river of lava stirred up by the earthquake. The reddish-gold, hot lava fell onto the starship's hull with a hissing sound. The hull material was burned by the lava, emitting wisps of gray-white smoke.

The sky collapsed and the earth cracked, and the entire rift valley was shaking in front of Mingyu's eyes, giving him the illusion that the entire planet was shaking.

The starship barely avoided the huge waves below and climbed vertically at a rapid speed.

The mining ship's hull couldn't withstand the high temperature of the magma for long, and it would take at least three minutes for the starship to rise again from the bottom of the rift.

If Mingyu had not just ordered the starship to ascend in advance, their starship would have been submerged and melted by the magma, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The starship barreled forward amidst a chaotic haze of red smoke. Mingyu saw the nearby underground Fire Falls, its flow broken and halted. The mountain had cracked, revealing a vast, empty space. Within this crevice, a curving emerald green vine suddenly emerged, dragging a plant larger than the mining ship outward from the waterfall's rock face. It clung to the rocks, searching for a lifeline to escape the deadly region.

It was enormous, with branches twisted together in the center, resembling a thousand-year-old tree. The rocks, broken by the earthquake, could not bear its weight and fell into the hot magma.

The vines waved in vain, only to be pelted by the lava from below, smashing down onto the cliff face...

Mingyu couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

"It's... Hot Rock Ivy..." He spoke in a very low voice, almost muttering to himself. Even Mu Baixing couldn't hear clearly amid the violent rumbling sound.

Mingyu didn't want Mu Boxing to take a risk for him in such a critical moment. But the man's eyes swept across the front and still accurately captured the movement.

This emerald green color is too obvious among the red and gold lava and black stones.

His slender fingers gripping the joystick tightened slightly, and after a moment's thought, he exerted force outwards and moved the steering column.

Mu Baixing: "Mingyu."

"It's too dangerous, Brother Mu!" Mingyu said anxiously, "The temperature of the underground lava is too high! This ivy is too big. Once it falls into the lava, it will encounter additional resistance. The mining ship's engine may not be enough..."

Mu Baixing tilted his head slightly. His face was obscured by the driver's helmet. His pale lips parted, uttering only two words: "Want to bet?"

The man's voice was cold and calm, but there was also a hint of imperceptible certainty and arrogance in his words.

Mingyu: “…”

He took a deep breath.

This is a life-and-death gamble.

"Okay." Mingyu replied after a second.

This is the craziest decision Mingyu has made in his life over the past 20 years.

He raised the corners of his lips, his eyes burning, and said to Mu Baixing, "Let's bet on him!"

Above the orange-red sky, the silver mining ship drew a C-shaped arc in the air, like a moth to a flame, and plunged into the magma that was rising like a tsunami, making a loud bang.

The red and gold hues filled the starship's portholes, like a world pressing inward.

As the designer who modified this starship, Mingyu knew better than anyone how long it could sail in such hot magma.

"We only have five seconds!" Mingyu said calmly, "Down! Thirty degrees to the left—!"

In the first second, the starship continued to dive according to his instructions, searching for Ivy.

Bright blue threads of mental power floated in the lava. Under the high temperature burning, in just a moment, Mingyu felt that his skin was about to melt and his internal organs were about to burn.

He gripped the fixed rod tightly, his fair face flushed red from the intense heat. His mental energy flowed outwards, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Three more degrees down... one degree to the right—it should be there... I see it!"

"Brother Mu—release the robotic arm!"

The next second, the starship's hull was burned black by the magma, and a collection arm extended downward. The humanoid hand at the end of the thick, long arm reached forward, accurately grasped the huge vine floating in the magma, which was also burned black, and clamped it down.

In the third second, the entire starship was suddenly sunk by the huge plant caught in the lava flow!

Despite being prepared, Mingyu still cried out in shock at the overwhelming weightlessness. The starship's four lift engines, thrust engines, and four backup engines were all fully activated, roaring in unison. Still, the starship was dragged into the lava flow, instantly plummeting over ten meters before finally stabilizing.

The red hot stream gushing out from the rear of the engine merged with the lava. The starship spun, trying to drag the ivy out of the hot stream, but because of the heavy plant's head leaning forward, it began to spin under the uneven pulling force, like a spinning top flipping in the air.

"Give me the direction." Mu Baixing tensed his arm muscles, tightly gripped the fixed pole, and shouted, "Direction! Mingyu!"

He couldn't tell what was up and what was down in this sea of ​​red, and couldn't find a way out.

"In...!" Mingyu was dizzy from the flipping of the starship, and tried his best to identify the direction of the energy flow.

In the fourth second, bright blue mental power gathered at the front of the starship, pushing aside the fiery red lava, and a line of guiding light lit up in the fog, showing the way forward for Mu Baixing.

The lift engines hummed with fatigue, straining under the strain. Suddenly, a sharp alarm rang out in the cockpit, signaling the loss of the first lift engine.

"The engine has exceeded its maximum load! It can't move!" Mingyu shouted, "Brother Mu——"

Mu Baixing: “I know.”

The starship's lead gun barrel swung upwards, its foremost muzzle tilted in response. Golden spiritual energy gushed from the fully charged barrels, transforming into two immensely powerful artificial engines, whose reaction force propelled the mining ship upwards.

In the fifth second, the starship barely climbed up seven meters.

The glass outside the porthole began to melt, and the charred shell was slowly dissolved.

More and more alarms sounded inside the starship, converging into one, drowning out the rumbling sound caused by the rift vibration.

"Hull damage 10% - Hull damage 25% - Hull damage 25% - Number 2 engine damage 15% - 25% -"

Mingyu tensed his muscles and pushed the blue mental power out from the muzzle.

Every warning light in the cockpit flashed rapidly. The starship rose faster and faster, bursting out of the rift valley amidst a continuous blare of alarms, lava-covered.

The resistance brought by the lava flow was removed in an instant, and the starship suddenly became lighter, flipping sideways in the air, leaving behind a large amount of golden-red lava rain.

The waves of the underground hot river have overflowed from the rift valley to the ground, spreading outward to form a series of red and gold lakes.

A mining ship, its hull seared black, skittered across the lake. Its damaged hull peeled away as it moved, revealing a still-intact, mottled silver interior. Beneath the starship, a robotic arm tightly grasped a giant vine of black ivy. The heavy, massive plant ore cast a shadow across the lake below.

Mingyu gasped for breath and collapsed on the seat. He gave Mu Baixing a thumbs up and said weakly, "It's exciting, Brother Mu...!"

Mu Baixing's face was also covered with a layer of sweat. He responded casually and operated the starship to land on a high mountain platform far away from the rift valley.

With a loud bang, Ivy was thrown onto the open space on the side by the starship.

Mu Baixing pushed open the cockpit door and leaped out of the starship. He looked up at the ivy, twice the size of the starship, now burned black. He then stepped on a thick, half-man-high vine at a lower level and leaped neatly toward the center. He said to Mingyu, "I'll go. Wait."

Mingyu also came out of the cockpit and raised his head and shouted, "Wait, Brother Mu! I don't think it's completely dead yet..."

The next second, the branches that had been burned black fell off together, like a giant snake shedding its skin, revealing the intact green branches with their fangs and claws bared.

The remaining ivy was only a third of its original size, but its branches were lush and exuberant, easily enough to engulf an adult human. They suddenly wrapped around Mu Boxing's body, quickly dragging him into the core of their feeding cavity. The inner vines gathered inward to re-envelop the cavity, while the outer branches struck Mingyu with lightning speed.

It suffered heavy losses in the lava flow and was anxious to replenish its nutrients, so it wouldn't let go of any living creature.

This incident happened so quickly that Mingyu subconsciously held his breath and instinctively wanted to turn around and run.

He rarely faced these dangerous star beasts and plants. The last time was in the virtual mining area a month ago.

Back then he was wearing a powered exoskeleton, but this time he knew his body was completely unprotected...

Mingyu reached out and pulled out the energy gun from his waist.

The Ivy's feeding cavity contained numerous fine hairs as hard as steel, which injected neurotoxic substances and digestive enzymes into its prey upon capture. He couldn't possibly let Mu Bohang die in the feeding cavity...

In a flash, Mingyu didn't even have time to consider that with Mu Baixing's ability, he shouldn't be "captured" so easily.

He stared at the vines attacking him, his breathing trembling with fear, but his movements were incredibly smooth because of the rehearsal in his mind.

He relaxed his body, reached up, and grasped the vine that stretched out before him, landing on the protrusions on the leaves and branches, allowing them to pull him toward the center. He had originally intended to steady himself on the vine, but a branch that crossed from the side caught him at the waist, and he was caught off guard and hung upside down.

Mingyu: “——!”

His heartbeat was so rapid at this sudden change that it was almost out of control. The branches and vines pulled him towards the central predator cavity at high speed. Mingyu's vision was reversed, and he squinted at the rapid shaking, judging his distance from the predator cavity through the layers of vines.

Mingyu's only chance is at the moment when the hunting cavity opens and closes.

Hit and penetrate the light-colored ivy heart in the center of the predation cavity, which is also the location of the ivy core.

But two seconds later, he was pushed downward by the vines and saw the ivy's two closed predatory organs like a Venus flytrap.

Mingyu tried his best to steady himself, holding the gun with both hands, his finger on the trigger, waiting to shoot as soon as he saw the fist-sized light green bulge in the prey cavity.

His mental energy surged as he mentally calculated the path of the energy, his own speed and direction of descent, searching for the best angle to ensure he could kill Ivy with one strike...

The light green feeding cavity opens.

At the same moment, a silver column of energy shot out from the gun, and just as Mingyu had calculated in his mind, it fell squarely into the center of Ivy's heart.

With a light "puff" sound, the silver energy column shot into a small circular hole.

The ivy heart, where the core was once embedded, was empty. Within the predatory chamber, more than a meter tall, Mu Baixing was standing on the edge of the heart, leaning forward. His right fingertips held a golden blade transformed from his spiritual power, while his left hand grasped the dark green, pea-shaped ivy core he had just extracted from the center of the heart.

The next second, the ivy uttered a long whimper, instantly dying from the loss of its heart core. The vines wrapped around Mingyu's waist suddenly lost their strength and slammed to the ground, sending Mingyu's body plummeting.

Mingyu: “……!”

He was caught off guard, but luckily he was agile, twisting and turning in mid-air and landing on the ground, taking two steps back. Several branches and vines crashed down around Mingyu, raising a large cloud of dust, which made him double over and cough.

Mu Baixing reached out and grabbed the outer edge of the leaf, and flipped out of the open feeding cavity. The moment he fell into the feeding cavity, he cut off many of the hard long needles, but he was not seriously injured. Only a shallow cut on the side of his neck was visible, and blood was oozing out.

"Nice shot." Mu Baixing jumped down from the branches and landed in front of Mingyu. "Dangerous, but very powerful."

Mu Baixing: "Thank you."

Mingyu: “…”

Mingyu realized that Mu Baixing had deliberately let himself be swept away by the ivy so that he could enter the trap and take out the heart core. He felt a surge of anger in his heart, and then he heard the other party say that his behavior was dangerous. In an instant, he was so angry that he didn't want to talk to Mu Baixing anymore.

It’s not okay to say thank you later!

He coughed for a while and stood up, looking up at the person in front of him expressionlessly in the sunlight, then looked away and sat down on the green vines piled on the ground next to him, which were motionless.

Mu Baixing: “?”

He took a step forward and sat beside Mingyu, then brought the dark green round crystal on his fingertips to Mingyu's lips.

The way to absorb the ivy core is very simple: just eat it in one bite.

Mingyu: “…”

Mingyu pursed his lips and didn't want to pay attention to him.

The designer didn't seem too happy.

Mu Baixing didn't understand what was going on, so he simply stretched his arm forward and said, "Open your mouth."

The dark green heart core had already rubbed against Mingyu's lips and was pushed inward. Mingyu's lips rubbed against Mu Baixing's fingers pinching the heart core.

Mingyu: “…”

He glanced at Mu Baixing, opened his mouth slightly and swallowed the core of Changqingying's heart. His teeth rubbed Mu Baixing's finger, and then he bit down viciously -

"Ugh." Mu Baixing frowned and let out a soft cry of pain that was suppressed in his throat.

Mingyu: “…”

"Did I use too much force?" Mingyu pushed his heart into his cheek and finally couldn't help but speak, burning with anger, "Why are you screaming?! I just pretended and didn't even leave a tooth mark!——"

He was halfway through his accusation when he saw a hint of smile in Mu Baixing's eyes and couldn't help but feel deflated.

"Brother Mu." Mingyu slumped his shoulders and said helplessly, "Don't be like this."

"Next time, if you have something to say, talk it over nicely. Don't just rush out without saying anything. Who knows what you're thinking?"

"Also, I'm touched that you took risks for me. But there's no need to do that again and again..." Mingyu whispered, "I don't want to..."

"I think so." Mu Baixing said.

He and Mingyu put their shoulders together and looked sideways at the young man beside them.

The man's dark blue eyes reflected Mingyu's slightly frustrated look. He said calmly but seriously, "Can't you see?"

"I like you, Mingyu."

"I want to give you everything I can."