Snake Cave·Mecha Training Ground.
A few days later——
“Hmm…”
Su Liang let out a muffled groan.
A strange soreness welled up from deep within my body, but this uncomfortable feeling only lasted for a moment, and then everything returned to normal.
"Xiaoliang? Are you okay?"
It was just a slight stiffness of movement, and Su Liang heard Xue Yinhuan's concerned greetings.
"fine."
Su Liang stood up holding the recorder, then smiled at the person beside him.
"I haven't slept well recently...well, maybe I'm a little too tired."
He said perfunctorily.
"I can see that you have too many dark circles under your eyes." Xue Yinhuan glanced at Su Liang's face, and then he suddenly raised his eyebrows, "I always feel that you have been almost like the boss these days. You are acting weird. What on earth have you been doing... Wait, it's that thing, right?"
As if she suddenly figured something out, Xue Yinhuan's eyes lit up.
"ah?"
"We all know about this. This is what everyone is gossiping about lately—"
Su Liang was stunned and looked at Xue Yinhuan in shock.
"You all know?"
Every word that came out of my throat sounded a little bit floating.
Xue Yinhuan blinked, patted Su Liang on the shoulder and laughed: "Yeah, we all know it. I heard that you are about to turn those Leia flowers in the yard into an invasive species? I heard that the area is now full of Leia flowers. The medical department said that they will distribute a new type of mental calming spray to us soon, which contains the ingredients of Leia flowers."
"…Bad, about the same."
Su Liang felt his heart suddenly fall back, and he responded dryly.
"The Laya plant is really hard to deal with. Xiaoliang, you can actually raise the Laya flower to this level. You must be a ghost if you are not tired!"
Xue Yinhuan began to thank Su Liang very seriously.
Su Liang: “…”
Actually it’s not very tiring.
Because Su Liang had no idea why those Leia flowers suddenly became so rampant.
Just after Lu Taipan expressed his pursuit to him with astonishing momentum, the next day when Su Liang opened the door, he found that the Leia flowers that were originally just blooming had completely turned into a vast sea of flowers in the yard. After the originally extremely simple and thin little flowers turned into a sea of flowers, they looked extremely dazzling and gorgeous, almost completely suppressing the originally gorgeous leaves of the Laya plant.
The housekeeper and the alien plant experts in the snake cave studied it for a long time but could not figure it out.
One can only roughly guess that these Laya plants usually collect the scattered spiritual power of humans as nutrients, and the reason why they bloom so densely is purely because they have an excess of "nutrients".
As to why the Lycopodiella plant suddenly becomes "full of food", the reason is unknown.
Anyway, it is certain that these flowers are beneficial rather than harmful to high-level Alphas, so the Medical Department did take some away as raw materials for the development of new mental stabilizers.
…
"Well, anyway, our boss has been really weird lately, causing all of us to be under tremendous mental stress. If we don't get some enhanced soothing spray to relieve the tension, none of us will be able to survive!"
Xue Yinhuan was still chattering in Su Liang's ear.
"He's been... acting weird lately?"
Su Liang was silent for a moment, glanced to the side, and asked awkwardly.
"That's right. Didn't I complain to you? He occasionally smiles recently. Wow, and it's not a sneer or a sneer, but a serious smile. I would rather he slash with a cold face and people don't dare to face his smile. It's super creepy."
Xue Yinhuan rubbed his arms and complained.
"And that day I complained to Black Mamba in front of him, saying that the Snake Cave shouldn't be named Snake Cave. It's full of snakes and looks like bachelors. No wonder everyone ended up being bachelors... Actually, I was just telling a joke, you know." Recalling the scene at that time, Xue Yinhuan's face was solemn. "In the end, Black Mamba didn't laugh, and Chi Lian didn't laugh either. In fact, no one laughed. But guess what, after a few minutes, our boss suddenly laughed."
The completely tactless Viper became more and more excited as he spoke, not noticing at all that the Beta boy next to him suddenly started to blush and became increasingly silent.
"Oh, yes, there is one more thing. For example, aren't we going out for a combat exercise this time? It's just to clear out the space pirates in the border area. I can do this kind of small thing. Black Mamba can do it if it's not possible. But he not only personally formulated the entire training plan, but he also led the team himself this time! Do you know when was the last time he led a team in person? It was when we killed the Canaanite emperor!"
As he spoke, Xue Yinhuan's expression became a little serious: "Wait... Could it be that some remnant Canaan forces have appeared among the Border Star Pirates? Otherwise, why would the boss go there in person? But this doesn't make sense? I saw that when he was making the plan, his mental energy was particularly light and he didn't seem very serious."
A certain venomous snake's heart sank.
He glanced nervously at the young man beside him, and suddenly wanted to persuade the other party not to act with him this time.
"Xiaoliang, I suddenly feel that our actions this time might be very dangerous!"
Xue Yinhuan said this in a very heavy tone, earning a rather confused glance from Su Liangliu.
Yes, Su Liang, as the Beta, will also go to this Viper’s border exercise. In fact, when Su Liang first learned that the Viper Team's actual combat exercise was to go to the border to clear out the space pirates, all he wanted to do was to apply to Lu Taipan so that he could take a look at the content of the exercise and the action plan afterwards, so as to enrich his rather clumsy emergency manual.
He never expected that in response to his application, the butler just smiled and told him that it was not that troublesome.
"As a personal mental trainer, Master Su Liang, you must follow your master when he goes out on a mission. After all, carrying out a mission consumes a lot of mental energy, so you really need to sort out his mental state in a timely manner."
The android said with a grin.
"This kind of activity of clearing out space pirates is a very easy job for the Vipers, even easier than their daily tasks. Well, you should know that cleaning up the feces of interstellar worms is probably more dangerous than dealing with space pirates. You can rest assured to record the details of the entire exercise in person. I believe the master will be very happy to give you one-on-one real-time guidance in actual combat."
As if he had noticed Su Liang's confusion, the butler sincerely comforted Su Liang and emphasized the "easy", "pleasure" and "safety" of the mission to wipe out the star pirates.
"I think the master probably wanted to take everyone out for a spring outing, so he chose such a low-skilled task as the content of the actual combat exercise. Please enjoy this vacation with peace of mind, Master Su Liang."
...So, on this morning when everyone was ready to board the spaceship to the border star area, Su Liang appeared on the mecha training ground with other Vipers.
"Oh, forget it. After thinking about it, even if there are remnants of the Canaanites, the boss has come out himself, so it shouldn't be a big problem."
After some self-struggle, Xue Yinhuan suddenly figured it out, and his tone suddenly became relaxed again.
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind suddenly blew in the air, and there was the regular roar of an aircraft.
Su Liang held his recorder and raised his head in the direction where the sound came from. He just saw the black aircraft used by the Lord of the Snake Cave suddenly flying across the sky, then stopped suddenly, dropped sharply and instantly approached the ground.
The sound of the wind became louder and louder, and the aircraft hovered steadily about twenty meters above the ground. Then, the door of the aircraft opened, and a figure appeared at the door, then jumped down from mid-air nimbly.
Like a black panther.
Or a dark blade.
When almost reaching the ground, the exoskeleton armor that was tightly attached to the man's body suddenly emitted a recoil airflow, and a cloud of dust rose on the ground. The tall and upright man landed on the ground with a light posture, standing firmly on the ground.
A pitch-black, hard, close-fitting heavy combat uniform.
Rugged, wild, and with almost every part showing its power, this pure black exoskeleton armor is made of pure black.
Coupled with the extraordinary height and appearance of the double S-class Alpha.
At this moment, the person who descended seemed not just the Lord of the Snake Cave... but more like the King of Fallen Angels who descended from the sky, or perhaps, a deadly demon king who could bewitch people and tear apart half of the heaven.
…
“Boss…”
"The boss is here!"
The venomous snakes, which had seemed a little lazy, instantly stopped all their movements and saluted to the Lord of the Snake Cave.
Lu Taipan nodded slightly and returned the greeting to his subordinates in silence. After that, he turned his head, and his focused gaze went straight across the crowd and fell on Su Liang who was at the edge of the training ground.
Even though they were so far apart, the man's gaze still had a strong presence, and when it fell on me, it was as if something had gently touched me.
Su Liang's breathing involuntarily stagnated, and he held the recorder in his arms tighter with both hands.
The night a few days ago, the man's clumsy confession and the rich scent of the Leia flowers under the moonlight suddenly became extremely vivid in Su Liang's mind.
"Wow, is this my illusion? I don't think the boss is usually this showy..."
Xue Yinhuan was still chattering in his ear, but Su Liang didn't hear anything he said.
The others heard his mumbling clearly and couldn't help but echo it.
"Yeah, I also think the boss has been acting weird and flirty these days."
At the same time, in the private communication channel that a group of vipers secretly reopened, there was also a lot of noise.
[If I see correctly... the exoskeleton light armor on the boss is the 'Black Peacock'? I remember that it was made specially for him by the engineering department for the Order of the Empire Award Ceremony, but the boss thought it was too flashy and seemed to have never worn it? 】
[Wow, that’s not the case, boss. Does anyone still have the records from that time? What did he say at that time...?】
[Ahem, brothers, I don't remember it very clearly, but listen to this sentence and see if it sounds familiar - 'I don't need this kind of thing, I just need the exoskeleton armor to be useful enough, and I don't need it to be special in terms of appearance. We are warriors, not peacocks desperately spreading their feathers to attract a mate. '】
[I'm so stupid. I even ordered the same model from the engineering department. Wow, this model is really nice! After listening to what the boss said, I went to cancel the order. 】
[I thought the boss had destroyed the set in a righteous manner. So now he wears it himself? 】
[Wow, the boss really has such a dirty heart...]
[But if you think about it carefully, maybe the reason why this "Black Peacock" looks so handsome and impressive is because of the person wearing it, rather than the exoskeleton itself? 】
[Thinking this way seems to make me feel better. 】
…
Su Liang did not notice the envy and jealousy of the venomous snakes around him, and was heartbroken.
He was a little panicked because Lu Taipan had already walked through the crowd without hesitation and was walking straight towards him.
But Su Liang was not prepared at all for how to face such a Lu Taipan.
Until Lu Taipan stood steadily in front of him.
"Good morning."
The man whispered.
The tone was as calm as usual.
It has to be said that this attitude, which was no different from usual, actually made Su Liang relax a little.
"Snake Master...Mr. Si, good morning."
Su Liang greeted the other party dryly.
Then, he saw Lu Taipan stretched out his hand in front of him and slowly opened his palm.
In the center of the high-performance mecha glove, there is an extremely delicate little flower with tender green leaves. There is still a small piece of soil left on the rhizome, and it is wrapped in translucent fragments.
The pale pink petals trembled in the breeze.
"It's a nice day today." Lu Taipan lowered his eyes and said awkwardly, "When I went out, I saw a flower. I thought it was beautiful, so I brought it to you."
Except for a very small accident that there was an extra small flower inside the legendary mecha Mahoraga, everything in this border star pirate clearance plan was proceeding in an orderly manner according to Lu Taipan's plan.
After flying in space for a few days on the Snake Cave's transport spacecraft, Su Liang and other venomous snakes arrived at the remote border from the central star area.
Just like what he had experienced in his previous life, there were indeed countless large and small pirate forces entrenched on the border. The border guards had already reached something that could almost be called a tacit understanding with the pirates during their long struggles - the pirates would not actually invade areas that the guards cared about, such as tourist stars where dignitaries lived, or resource stars with rich resources. Same. When pirates plunder the extremely poor but somewhat profitable remote star regions on the border, the border guards will not pursue them too much.
It can be said that relying on the poorest people in remote star regions, the pirates live a basically comfortable life.
Until the Vipers arrived here and began a live-fire exercise code-named "Spring Outing".
It was indeed just as the butler claimed to Su Liang, clearing out the star pirates was indeed too easy a task for Viper. After experiencing the extremely brutal Canaan War and various dangerous missions in the gray areas after the war, even a novice among the Vipers can eliminate this group of pure mobs very quickly and efficiently.
Just like that, one star sector followed by another.
The Vipers completely wiped out the pirate forces one by one along the outskirts of the remote star areas. During this period, there were pirates who heard the news and fled far away, but under the pursuit of the Vipers, the final fate of those pirates was to turn into dazzling "fireworks" on the road to escape. Su Liang also obtained a lot of extremely useful data and information in the process. Even under the guidance of Lu Taipan, he himself could perform some simple operations on Mahoraga. However, at this time he did not understand what this meant.
When that happened, Lu Taipan and Su Liang were sitting inside the mecha doing a little "training".
"Clearing out the pirates near Area 46...Based on the current situation, it will take another three hours to complete."
Su Liang carefully analyzed the trajectory map of the pirate spacecraft in front of him and said solemnly.
"They will be surrounded soon," he added.
Lu Taipan glanced at him and did not raise any objection.
Su Liang pursed his lips and suppressed the excitement in his heart. He knew he was right.
Then his tone suddenly became cheerful.
"During our free time in the afternoon, I think Team 3 and Team 7 can go to coordinates 65·22·121 to clean up some large meteorites. Few people have come to the route nearby because these meteorites block the road and the transportation cost is too high... Oh, wait, at these two coordinates, interstellar worms have begun to lay eggs. We'd better destroy their nests before the egg-laying season. Otherwise, once they gather, their feces will block the route we have opened with great difficulty again..."
Su Liang looked at the data flashing on the virtual screen and spoke softly to the man beside him.
When he first sat in the mecha, Su Liang felt dizzy just adapting to the constantly rapidly scrolling data stream. Even he himself did not expect that in just a few days, he could keep up with the speed of the data stream. He could even directly extract the information he wanted from it and summarize the tasks.
"It is better to destroy these two places than to directly destroy the worm nests at these two coordinates."
After listening to Su Liang's analysis, Lu Taipan remained calm, but he still made two small suggestions for revision.
After seeing the two coordinates he pointed out, Su Liang suddenly realized: "It was my mistake. If I don't destroy the food source, even if I destroy the nest, the worms in the nearby star fields will still gather here..."
Su Liang murmured, a trace of frustration flashing across his eyes.
"You just lack experience. You are amazing to be able to extract so much information in such a short time."
Lu Taipan spoke, and he did not overly praise Su Liang's abilities because of his feelings for Su Liang.
In fact, Su Liang’s learning ability really surprised him. Although he was a young man whose mental strength was not amazing, Su Liang was quite outstanding in terms of reaction speed and adaptability to information. It could even be said that he was too outstanding. Even Mahoraga admitted this.
You know, not everyone can operate Mahoraga alone.
"I'll put this in my experience book so that at least other people won't be as inexperienced as I was."
Su Liang recorded the experience he had just learned.
After completing today's training, peace returned to the mecha.
Even though groups of pirate fleets were densely spread across the starry sky not far from them, Su Liang still felt at peace in his heart.
Under Lu Taipan's control, Mahoraga's movements were as light as flowing water. Su Liang clicked the recorder, then took the time to glance to his side. After discovering that Lu Taipan was concentrating on operating the mecha, he pretended to be calm and watered the nameless wild flower shrouded in light on the operating table.
...He didn't know why he felt so uncomfortable every time he took care of the little flower in front of Lu Taipan. If I have to say something, it's probably because every time he waters the flowers, he'll be greeted by the man's extremely focused and burning gaze.
Su Liang withdrew his hand. He didn't need to turn his head to know that the man was looking at him intently.
"Xiaohua is also very energetic today." Su Liang lowered his eyes, not daring to look back at Lu Taipan, and could only mutter very quietly.
"Yeah." Lu Taipan responded seriously.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
"After all...it's a flower." Su Liang had no idea why he gave such a stupid answer.
...Of course, in his eyes, this delicate little flower did look pretty.
Lu Taipan didn't say anything, but Su Liang had a very strong feeling that the man at this moment should have a faint smile on his face.
Su Liang couldn't help but smile unconsciously.
…
But the next moment, this peaceful atmosphere was broken: in the vision shared with the mecha, the pirate fleet that was originally planned to enter the encirclement suddenly began to change its route without any warning.
In the boundless universe, the blue light of the space pirates' spaceship thrusters drew a dazzling arc in the dark curtain.
"what happened?!"
Su Liang's nerves suddenly tensed up.
"Has our ambush been discovered?" This was the first thought that came to mind.
"No."
Lu Taipan shook his head without changing his expression.
"If the pirates knew this was our ambush, they wouldn't be so organized." He looked at the pirates' spaceship formation.
Then he tapped his headset.
"housekeeper?"
He called out.
"We are hacking into the internal channel of the Star Pirates to collect information. Please wait."
The AI said lazily.
A few minutes later, the butler sent the message back. But after reading the message, Lu Taipan couldn't help but frowned.
He didn't like any changes to his plans, but they happened anyway.
The direction in which this group of star pirates changed their route was Area 48.
Because not long ago, several space pirates' "whistles" discovered a fat sheep in the most famous garbage area of District 48.
He was a young master who was obviously from the central star region. He was alone and seemed a little unconscious. He has been wandering around the "garbage dump" in District 48 for the past few days, asking strange questions of people he catches and behaving in a very bizarre manner.
Of course, the pirates don’t care what a “fat sheep” is thinking. They only knew that this young master could bring them a lot of money. And they simply cannot resist this temptation. After all, because of the gradual elimination of the Vipers these days, the pirates nearby have become so timid that they have hidden themselves in the depths of the abandoned galaxy and dare not go out. They are almost starving to death.
If they could make up for it with this fat sheep, at least they could stay in hiding for a few months until the storm passed. It's a pity that the news leaked out too quickly. When the fat sheep was caught, the remaining pirates from other star regions also heard the news and followed.
"idiot."
Lu Taipan said coldly.
This is nothing new. There is indeed no shortage of such idiots in the central star region. They always think that exploring the outer star regions is very stylish and interesting.
But if they are unlucky, the expedition will not be completed, but their tracks will be exposed, and they will be caught by the pirates and have to pay the ransom to the pirates with their parents crying and begging for money.
Theoretically, this kind of unlucky guy is not the responsibility of the Vipers, but since they are currently clearing out the space pirates, they can only improvise and be kind people for once.
However, just when Lu Taipan gave the order and decided to track the pirates to rescue the hostages, the butler's voice in the earphone suddenly changed.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Master, but I need to report an important supplementary information to you."
It was clearly artificial intelligence, but for some reason, Lu Taipan heard a hint of gloating from the electronic sound.
"I just received an emergency communication from the Lu family. Young Master Lu Zhizhao forcibly broke through confinement a few days ago and left the central star region."
"And just now, his location disappeared in District 48, the garbage dump."
Lu Taipan: ...
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