Lin Dao lowered his gaze and felt the force that had been restraining his wrist gradually loosen. The man's hand, which had transformed into an eagle claw, returned to a human hand. He looked up at Rudolf, waiting for the other to speak further.
Xiang You, who was behind them, sensed that something was wrong. He cautiously touched the gun at his side, walked over, and greeted them with a smile: "Professor Rudolf, it's been a long time. I'll have to trouble you this time."
Rudolf gestured to Wei Tang, who then released Lin Dao's wrist. Rudolf also shook hands with Lin Dao again, smiling in a friendly manner: "It's nothing. Everyone must be tired. Come downstairs. My place is small, but there's still room for eating, showering, and sleeping." With that, he released Lin Dao's hand and turned to make way for him.
Bryta, who was just behind and to the side, had actually caught a glimpse of Wei Tang deliberately exposing his hand and was immediately startled. But now... it seems like everything is fine again.
Without a second thought, he immediately stepped forward, grabbed Lin Dao's left arm, awkwardly smiled at him, and said, "Captain, let's go down."
Lin Dao was surprised when he suddenly grabbed her arm, but she let him do so, nodded, and the two went downstairs together.
Most of the space here in Rudolph is occupied by various mechanical parts, and there are not many rooms. By the time Bretta realized what was happening, he had already shared a room with Chu Hui, Xiang You and Cheng Cheng shared a room, and perhaps it was intentional, with Lin Dao having a room by himself.
Mechanical Sky City is located in an oasis in the desert. Strictly speaking, there are very few pure humans left in the city. Most people even voluntarily install more indestructible steel prosthetics to improve their survival rate and avoid being infected by alien species. Many people have even completely abandoned their human bodies, except for the brain chip.
This kind of thing can no longer be called human.
Therefore, in Mechanical Sky City, robots that don't need to eat make up the majority of the population. Food, which is precious in other bases, is even scarcer and more useless here. Multi-functional, high-lethal weapons have become the most important commodities, and the wasteland market is teeming with scavengers and mechanics.
After a quick meal of compressed food, they were led back to their respective rooms.
As for the so-called bath, the room could only provide hot water for a maximum of half an hour. Chu Hui awkwardly stood up, took the chip containing Chu Xiang, and went to find Qiao Song and Rudolph, giving the choice of taking a bath first to Bryta.
Bleta was taken aback, then nodded. As soon as the other person left, Little White darted out. Bleta understood what it meant, and the next second, its body transformed back into that of a white mouse. It was then wrapped in Little White's vines and carried to the bathroom.
He hadn't had such a comfortable hot bath in a long time, with Little White serving him personally. Little White Mouse Tata only needed to close his eyes and be suspended by vines to be scrubbed and rinsed. Tata stood upside down, hot water flowing over his body. After being clean, Little White carried him out of the bathroom, then took a refreshing shower himself. When he emerged, dewdrops still clung to his white petals, making him look extremely beautiful.
The temperature in Mechanical Sky City is high, and even wearing only a thin long-sleeved shirt, Bretta feels hot.
When Chu Hui returned, she was stunned to see him sitting blankly on the bed. She immediately grabbed her change of clothes, opened the bathroom door, and took a quick shower in the last ten minutes.
There was only one bed in the room, and Bretta had already sprawled out on it, rolling around a couple of times in the comfortable bed. He hadn't slept in a bed in so long—indeed, humans, who invented beds, are a species that knows how to enjoy life.
When Chu Hui came out, his hair was still a little wet, but he seemed to have grown quite a bit taller in just a few months. Hearing the noise, Bretta got up and exclaimed in surprise, "Chu Hui, are you almost as tall as me now?"
Chu Hui's damp hair was blocking her eyes, and she looked away when she saw his loose clothes, giving a soft "hmm".
"You go to sleep first, I... have something to do, I won't be back tonight." Chu Hui said, then opened the door and left.
"Huh?" Before Bleta could ask him what he wanted, he had already disappeared.
Little White immediately darted out happily, asking Bryta for some exotic vegetarian wine. Bryta hadn't been very frugal along the way, always drinking whenever he wanted. Now, he pulled out two large bottles from his stomach, and the mouse and the flower leisurely enjoyed the wine after their bath.
After finishing the whole bottle, Blaita was already flushed and a little drunk. Wanting more, it rummaged through its spatial storage... Huh?! Gone?!
He was horrified. He'd only drunk a couple of bottles when he was thirsty, hungry, or cold on the road, and maybe a couple more to satisfy his cravings... How could they be gone?!
Bryta closed her eyes and used her consciousness to explore the entire space inside her stomach. She found that apart from a few tattered clothes of her own, it was indeed completely empty, without a single bottle.
Britta sat blankly on the bed, her little face still slightly flushed. Now, the wine she had just drunk tasted bitter in her mouth.
He drifted off to sleep that night, only to be suddenly awakened by a noise in the middle of the night.
"Gurgle gurgle—"
It was his own stomach growling!
Bretta felt embarrassed and reached out to touch his stomach. He had been indulging in too much luxury on the way, which had inadvertently made him too big for his stomach. The small amount of compressed food and the bottle of exotic vegetarian liquor that Rudolf provided for dinner seemed to be far from enough to satisfy him.
It will only make him feel hungrier.
Bretta lay on the bed for a long time, clutching his rumbling stomach. Hunger made his sense of smell even more acute, and he could smell an enticing aroma coming from Mr. Lin Dao's room across the street, even from a distance.
Bleta unconsciously floated off the bed, followed the scent to the door, opened it, and went out. An unidentified, transparent liquid clung to her lips as she uttered a muffled sound, driven mad by hunger: "...It smells so good."
Knowing that his identity had been suddenly discovered, Lin Dao had been on high alert. After instructing Xiang You to be careful in dealing with Rudolf, he returned to his room and had just taken a cold shower when he heard light footsteps in the corridor.
After a while, there was a knock on the door.
He gripped the gun at his side warily and asked, "Who is it?"
“…Mr. Lin Dao, it’s me.” Bretta replied, both timid and hungry. His rationality had been completely destroyed by the combined effects of alcohol and hunger. He swallowed hard, feeling inexplicably restless and his body was burning up, a feeling he had never experienced before.
It's like...it's like...wanting to find a hole, chisel it open, and crawl into the deepest part of it. This feeling is like...
Before a precise adjective could even pop into my head, the door was suddenly opened.
The man was wearing a simple black T-shirt, his hair was damp and casually draped in front of his eyes, and his dark eyes were lazily lowered as he looked at the boy who had knocked on his door late at night.
The handsome young man was only wearing a loose white shirt, which might slip off his shoulder if he made a big movement.
Bleta felt something stirring within him, and while he was feeling restless, his only remaining reason warned him how dangerous the man in front of him was. But as soon as he looked up and saw the other man's indifferent face, an alluring scent deeply stimulated the depths of his nostrils.
It looks so delicious...
I really want to take a bite...
This sentence filled Bretta's mind. His eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Dao. He tried his best to control himself, quickly lowered his head, and bit his lip.
"What is it?" Lin Dao hadn't had a full night's sleep for many days, and his nerves had been on edge all night. But when he saw Bryta, his back relaxed a bit, and he looked at the boy with sleepy eyes.
When Bleta heard the voice and felt the breath he exhaled as he spoke, he couldn't help himself.
He slightly raised his head, looking at the man's exposed arm, and after a second, asked in a cowardly yet eager voice:
"...Mr. Lin Dao, may I take a bite out of you?"
Lin Dao's drowsiness instantly vanished. He looked down at the child who was gazing at him expectantly, his eyes round and bright. A low chuckle escaped his throat as he lazily raised his eyelids and said:
"You can give it a try."
The moment Bretta heard those words, the string of "reason" in his mind snapped completely—he pounced on Lin Dao and hugged him tightly, his eager little mouth immediately taking his lean, muscular arm into his mouth.
Lin Dao was startled, then felt something soft and wet slide across his skin, followed by the distinct sensation of teeth touching his skin. Before he could react, the pain had already reached his brain nerves—Lin Dao immediately woke up and reached out to push him away!
But Bleta couldn't push his arm away no matter what she did. The spot where he was biting her was wet and soft, but the pain had already disappeared.
This primal, biting sensation instantly unleashed Lin Dao's long-suppressed instincts.
In that instant, he looked down at the boy who was hugging his arm and looked completely satisfied.
His eyes darkened.
As Bleta was biting, he suddenly felt something was wrong. His body stiffened, and his mouth felt strange. The rationality he had maintained for half a night returned instantly. How dare he bite Mr. Lin Dao?!
He's a huge black snake!
Bretta opened her mouth stiffly, looked up in alarm, and saw that the man's pupils had clearly changed color. Her face turned pale with fright, and she quickly backed away.
The next second, Lin Dao grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room, slamming the door shut.
In a daze, he was pulled away by the other person and inexplicably pushed backward, falling onto the bed.
Bryta: "!"
Lin Dao looked at the handsome boy in front of him, clenched his fist at his side, and raised his deep black eyes to look at him, his feelings were very complicated at this moment.
I was careless.
He never expected Britta to actually bite him. He looked down and saw blood seeping from the teeth marks on his arm where the skin had been broken, and his heart surged with anger.
Lin Dao strode forward, grabbed Blaita by the collar, and demanded, "Why did you bite me?"
"I...I..." Bretta was still in shock. He opened his mouth, but felt that his lips were swollen. It hurt to say even two words. He reached down in surprise and touched his lips. The next second, tears welled up in his eyes. He asked in a trembling voice, "Why...why are my lips swollen?"
Lin Dao's gaze shifted to his lips, noticing that his once rosy lips were indeed quite swollen, even somewhat purplish. His pupils dilated, and he thought: Is he a poisonous snake?
Lin Dao looked at Blaita with a complicated expression. Two seconds later, his heart sank. He leaned forward, lowered his head, and kissed those slightly swollen lips.
“…Huh!?” Caught off guard, Bryta braced himself on the bed behind him, his eyes wide open in a daze, before feeling the other person begin to suck on his lips.
“?!” Bretta was stunned, but the taste was wonderful, and he unconsciously began to move carefully, just like the other person.
Lin Dao, who was trying to take drugs: "..."
"Don't move." His voice was a little hoarse. After a while, as if realizing the foolishness of this method, Lin Dao wanted to let go of him, but Blaita clumsily and eagerly took the initiative to kiss him. The soft touch of his lips made him stiffen all over, and soon he felt something restless in his body.
It was like... a strange instinct. He suddenly felt something was wrong with him, his expression changed, and he quickly reached out and shoved Blaita away.
Bretta was feeling dizzy from eating, only finding the food soft and delicious. However, his swollen lips hurt even more. Suddenly pushed away, he was a little dazed and asked blankly, "Mr. Lin Dao, what's wrong?" His Adam's apple bobbed, and he whispered, "I...I want more..."
Lin Dao was taken aback by these words, his face flushing slightly: "Do you know what you're doing—"
He didn't say anything, staring at Bryta's lips, which were noticeably more purple and swollen, his expression becoming even more serious, though the tips of his ears were red.
Bleta then realized her lips were even more swollen, and carefully touched them. "Ouch, that hurts..."
Lin Dao said to him with a stern face, "You may have been poisoned."
"!" Bretta's face turned deathly pale; he had been poisoned by a snake!
He finally realized what was happening, and shakily raised his head, looking at Lin Dao with teary eyes:
"Mr. Lin...am I going to die?"
Lin Dao's jawline tightened. He walked over and knelt down in front of him, placing his hands on Bryta's slightly thin shoulders. Looking into his eyes, he comforted him with a strained voice, "...Not necessarily. Look at me, look at me, I'm doing just fine, aren't I?"
Bretta's moist eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at the man crouching before her. In that moment, her trust in this man overcame her fear of death. Yet, she could clearly feel the poison spreading from her lips to her limbs.
He quickly felt weak and cold all over, and curled up to hug himself as he fell to his side, shivering: "Cold, I'm cold..."
Colonel Klindall, who had remained calm in the face of any crisis over the years, panicked at this moment. He clenched his fists, tense up, and frantically searched his mind for any straw he could grasp to save the boy he had accidentally injured.
—Rudolph! Can he save him?
No, that's impossible. Infection by a different species is irreversible, but if you're infected by this different species, is there any chance of a turnaround?
Lin Dao looked down at the boy curled up on the bed, shivering from the cold, and was surprised that he had not shown any signs of change... Could it be that he was the same as him?
Once the thought crossed his mind, Lin Dao felt a glimmer of hope.
He quickly went over and took a blanket from the closet in the room to cover him: "Wait for me to come back."
As soon as he stepped outside, he found the room of the man named Wei Tang from his memory and knocked heavily on the door. It wasn't until the third knock that the other person opened the door.
Upon seeing him, Lin Dao didn't bother with further words and went straight to the point: "Tell me, have any of the people you infected survived?"
Wei Tang was still awake. Hearing this, he realized what was happening and asked in a detached tone with disdain, "You couldn't control yourself?"
Lin Dao, his face grim, asked again, "Is there any?"
Wei Tang: "No. Once, someone got my blood on a wound and immediately became deformed."
"The probability of a mutant like us who survives after being infected is probably only one in ten thousand."
Lin Dao felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this probability and turned to leave.
“However,” Wei Tang said behind him, “if we had that Easton test subject with a high bounty on the dark web, there might be hope.”
Lin Daogang stopped in his tracks.
Wei Tang continued in a cold tone behind him, "The Easton test subject should be on that guy in your team named Blaita, right? Otherwise, why would his bounty have already been sent to various bases?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Dao was filled with mixed thoughts. They had been traveling all the way without any information and had no idea about the bounty. Could it be... that force in Mix?
Is Easton's experimental subject really on Bryta?
Lin Dao quickly walked towards his room.
Bleta huddled under the covers, his body stiff with cold. He instinctively fainted, his body trembling, showing signs of struggling to maintain his human form. White fur slowly appeared on his skin, and fluffy white ears also emerged.
He closed his eyes and murmured, "It hurts so much... Am I going to die... It hurts so much... I'll never bite randomly again..."
When Lin Dao returned, he only saw Blaita curled up in a ball under the covers. He had managed to hold on until now without any change. He went to the bed, heard Blaita's murmurs, and looked up at his pale face, which was only half visible. A dull pain twisted in his heart.
"Cold...so cold..."
Lin Dao thought for a moment, took off his shoes, lifted the blanket from behind him, and reached out to pull the curled-up Bretta into his arms. At that moment, he hoped that his body temperature was not so cold.
With his eyes closed, Bleta felt a cool body pressed against his back, then suddenly felt hot: "Hot...so hot..."
Lin Dao heard his words clearly from behind, frowned slightly, and was about to reach out to touch his forehead when Bretta suddenly turned around and hugged him tightly, pressing his cheek intimately against his chest.
His brow relaxed, and he sighed softly, "Mr. Lin Dao...you feel so cool..."
Lin Dao froze, but the other person wasn't satisfied and kept snuggling into his arms. Several times, the snuggling made him a little distracted.
"Tata..." He was about to ask if he felt any better when he felt a strange sensation on his hand. Something furry was arching towards his side, like a little tail.
Before Lin Dao could react to what it was, his gaze suddenly fell on the sides of Bretta's golden curly hair—where two snow-white furry ears had grown out!
Lin Dao's pupils dilated suddenly, and his whole body went cold. He reached out and slowly touched it; it was warm and soft. Bretta jerked her ear at the sudden touch.
Lin Dao: "!"
His hand, which was holding the ear, paused, his heart filled with a mixture of pain and confusion—Breta had been infected and mutated, but why did he grow hairy ears? Was it a genetic mutation?
Unaware of this, Bryta found a comfortable position against his chest, moving closer. The purple on his swollen lips faded a little, and a little clear liquid spilled from the corner of his mouth as he hummed.
The author has something to say: I've half-exposed my identity and we've already kissed, so I have to take responsibility.
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