After Lin Dao left, Blaita continued to enjoy the sweet and crisp popcorn, then took a big sip of the smooth and creamy corn juice, paired with canned luncheon meat—it was simply wonderful.
He discovered that Mr. Lin always had some delicious things: chocolate, canned luncheon meat, corn juice, popcorn... even he himself found them to smell especially good.
Sensing safety, Little White quickly came out of the house and darted onto the table. One of its tendrils burrowed into the corn juice on Bletta's table, slurping twice. It was almost at the bottom when Bletta was horrified. She quickly grabbed the half-cup of corn juice and slapped it.
As a plant species, the little white thing can actually survive by drinking water and basking in the sun; drinking corn juice is simply a luxury for it.
After finishing breakfast and getting ready, he officially went out to look for a job.
The base seemed no different from usual today, but even Bryta sensed something was amiss when he walked down the streets near the East District.
As he passed the entrance to the dungeon where he used to work, he saw some Federation guards in red and black uniforms and some Imperial soldiers in uniforms with gold trim and tassels. He then saw Xiang You, in a crisp officer's uniform, standing among them, negotiating with the other two people.
Nearby, small groups of people were whispering amongst themselves. Bretta, with her excellent hearing, overheard a few words.
"Have you heard? The 19th and 20th floors below have been sealed off, and the other floors have been affected as well. Apparently, there was a large-scale alien infection at the boxing stadium the day before yesterday..."
"I understand the nineteenth floor being sealed off, but what's going on with the twentieth floor? Did some alien species jump down there?"
"More than that, the military found a half-human, half-mutant corpse at the very bottom of the elevator tracks. It was one of the boxers from the boxing ring. Anyway, the 20th floor is definitely not safe, and it's hard to say about the other floors."
"How did an outbreak suddenly occur? Our base has always been managing things quite well, hasn't it?"
"Bullshit! Every now and then, some mutants inexplicably pop up, and they've already been secretly dealt with and gagged. Do you really think there aren't shadows under the sun? This Mixi base is at best a transportation hub shelter. To put it nicely, it widely accepts all refugees; to put it bluntly, it's a dilapidated temple with its doors wide open, where anyone can come in! There might be a mutant standing right next to us, and it might mutate in a moment!"
"..." Upon hearing this, Bryta silently took a step to the side.
It seems that finding a job in the dungeon is not a realistic option for now.
He left the crowd in a daze, unsure of where to go.
"Hey! Britta! You're still alive?" A somewhat familiar young voice called out to him.
Hearing the sound, Bryta turned around in confusion and saw Chu Hui, the thin boy who had escaped from the elevator before him the day before yesterday.
Bryta was pleasantly surprised: "You're still alive!"
"..." Chu Hui, who always had a sharp tongue.
His expression changed, and he turned to look at the chaotic scene around him, then whispered to him, "Where's your... Little White?"
Upon hearing this, Blaita cautiously stepped back, silently telling Little White to hide.
"This isn't the place to talk. Follow me." Chu Hui noticed his wariness, raised an eyebrow and smiled, then walked in another direction. Bretta hesitated for a moment, then followed. They walked until they reached the eastern slum area.
At this time, there were not many people on the road. The buildings, whose construction dates were unknown, were dilapidated and crumbling. Garbage, whose original state was no longer recognizable, was piled up haphazardly along the desolate roadside.
The seemingly desolate residential buildings still bear traces of the San Francisco era. They are crammed with residents, a scene of filth, chaos, overcrowding, and hunger. These people, almost abandoned by the Foundation, live like ants in the apocalypse, worse off than even the Xenomorphs. At least a bounty hunter can earn thousands of contribution points for killing a low-level Xenomorph. But accidentally killing a human might go unnoticed.
Chu Hui led him to a deserted corner of an alley, casually jumped back and sat on a platform, slightly raised her chin, and said bluntly, "You can talk about it here now. Xiao Bai, what's the deal with that white rose mutant..."
Before he could finish speaking, Little White suddenly darted out and hovered in the air, baring its fangs and claws and extending all its sharp thorns, stopping threateningly just one centimeter away from Chu Hui's neck.
Sensing the murderous aura, Chu Hui stiffened slightly, but forced himself to remain calm and gave a roguish smile: "Don't be nervous, I'm just curious how you control the alien species."
Bryta felt a little uneasy. She had exposed her inexperience in a moment of panic. What should she do now?
If it were Mr. Lin Dao, he would...
As soon as the idea came to mind, Xiaobai instantly understood and used vines to tightly bind Chu Hui, lifting him up and suspending him against the wall!
Bryta looked up in surprise, quickly warning Little White in his mind not to hurt anyone.
"Don't worry, hurry up and say the harsh words! He's so heavy!" Xiaobai complained and urged.
[Threat words? What did they say?]
[Just copy that big black snake! Make sure your expression is similar to scare this little brat!]
Bretta understood. To make herself look more intimidating, she mimicked Lin Dao's gaze and tone, her small face turning cold. She slightly raised her chin and said fiercely to Chu Hui, "You... what are you going to do?"
Suddenly suspended in mid-air, Chu Hui was unable to move. A chill ran through him, and he finally felt a real sense of fear. He had previously thought that this handsome guy was a bit of an idiot and easy to fool, but he had overlooked the fact that his fighting skills and vigilance were not low.
He regretted his impulsive and straightforward manner, and forced himself to calm down, saying, "I was really just curious."
Noticing his lack of cooperation, Xiaobai immediately tightened the vines, and Chu Hui's face showed pain.
Bretta hurriedly walked over, feigning a fierce expression, and stared intently at his face for a few seconds before saying her line: "What did you see?"
Chu Hui, who was hanging there, was startled by the sudden closeness of his face and inexplicably thought of the blond man he had bumped into that day.
"It seems..." he murmured softly.
Bletta didn't hear what he said clearly. Seeing the slightly confused look on his face, she thought her harsh words had worked, so she pressed on, her brows furrowed as she loudly and fiercely demanded, "Who exactly are you?!"
Chu Hui then came to his senses, quickly considered his situation, and made a plan in his mind. He pretended to be relaxed and said with a roguish smile, "Who can I be? I'm just a small-time hoodlum from the slums, Chu as in Chu Shui, and Hui as in Hui Shui."
Bleta was taken aback by his words, completely failing to understand what he meant by "Chu River flowing back to its source".
Seeing that he was stunned by what he said, Chu Hui glanced at the vines wrapped around him, and raised an eyebrow indifferently at the white rose that was still pointing its thorns at him, saying, "I was just saved by Xiao Bai that day, and I wanted to get to know him and thank him. Besides—" He changed his tone, not being overly reserved even while suspended in mid-air, and turned to Bretta, saying, "You saved me twice, and I want to be friends with you."
Bretta was taken aback: "Make friends?" He knew that there were many kinds of emotional relationships between humans: family, friendship, and love. Friends should fall into the category of friendship.
He frowned slightly and asked seriously, "Why?" Did he need to build emotional relationships with humans to learn how to disguise himself as one? Wouldn't that make him easier to be discovered?
Chu Hui was taken aback by his question, and casually replied, "With someone as powerful as Xiao Bai, if we get along well, you won't be willing to kill me, and you'll even protect me, right?"
Bretta seemed to understand something upon hearing this. So this is what human emotions are like. If he were to become friends with Mr. Lin Dao, would he also be reluctant to eat him, just like he and Little White? If he and Little White were close, he wouldn't want to eat it.
Little White sensed this thought in Bletta's mind and gave him a cold snort in displeasure.
He made up his mind and replied to Chu Hui seriously: "Okay. I'll be your friend. But you also have to teach me how to make friends with others."
Chu Hui was taken aback, thinking to himself that this guy was indeed a bit easy to fool.
He raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "No problem, friends help each other out, right?" He looked down at the vines on his body, raised his chin at Bryta, and said, "Now that we're friends, you should let go of me first, shouldn't you?"
Blaita said to Little White in her mind, and Little White reluctantly withdrew its vines and scurried back to wrap around Blaita.
Chu Hui had just observed several times and found that Bleta did not give any verbal commands or make any actions towards this white rose variant.
He is—telepathic?! Chu Hui became even more excited upon guessing this, and couldn't wait to dig out this guy's secret.
Bleta was delayed for a while after he came out because he was looking for a job. It would be better to continue making friends after he found a job.
Chu Hui, who had been observing him closely, suddenly asked, "Are you leaving?"
Bleta nodded: "Yes, I have something to do."
Chu Hui quickly asked, "What's wrong? I'll help you."
He deliberately bumped into Bryta with his shoulder to show friendliness, smiled and reached out to put his arm around Bryta's shoulder tentatively, but dared not touch the little white vines, and said, "Friends are supposed to help each other and care for each other."
Bryta turned her head to look at the arm around her shoulder, awkwardly pulled away, but still nodded and said, "I need a job. I'm unemployed."
"Work?" Chu Hui's mind raced. He looked him up and down and grinned mischievously. "That's easy."
"I can introduce you to a job that pays 500 contribution points a month, with room and board included. How about it?" Chu Hui's lips curled slightly, trying his best to appear sincere and enthusiastic.
Bretta's eyes lit up at this: "Really? What is it for?"
The fish has taken the bait.
Chu Hui laughed and said, "Of course it's true. I'm your friend. How could friends lie to each other? What's it about? It's pretty easy. You'll see when the time comes. Here, give me all the money you have left. I'll help you smooth things over, and the job will be secure."
“…” Bryta said awkwardly, “I have no money. I still owe rent, and all the money has been deducted.”
"..." Chu Hui cursed him inwardly as a poor wretch, but then smiled and comforted him, "Oh, is that so? Well, if you have anything good, that's fine too. Be here at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and I'll take you there so you can go straight to work!"
Unemployed man Bretta listened with great emotion and nodded, "Thank you."
"What's the big deal?"
Bretta was even more moved upon hearing this. He hadn't expected Chu Hui to be such a good person, yet he had treated him so badly before. He noticed that Chu Hui was still wearing the same somewhat tattered cotton coat he had worn before, with only a haphazard patch on the back where he had previously torn it. He felt even more guilty.
Having found a job and solved a major problem, Bretta happily said goodbye to Chu Hui and headed back. But when he reached the 27th floor, near Lin Dao's apartment, he suddenly realized—he didn't know the door code for Mr. Lin Dao's home.
Meanwhile, Lin Dao himself was working closely with Cheng Cheng and others to investigate the whereabouts of the escaped West, as well as the mastermind behind the entire heterogeneous raw material—beverage processing plant production line on the twentieth floor.
Late at night, Xiang You tossed each of them a roasted corn cob, saying, "Have some corn to tide you over." As he received the corn, he remembered something, glanced at the time, and checked his location; it was still showing his house. He thought for a moment, checked the red dot's trajectory, and noticed it had moved again, causing him to frown.
He suddenly stood up and said to everyone, "I'm going out for a bit. You all continue. Those who are tired can go back and rest."
Before anyone could react, he had already left after he finished speaking.
Bretta leaned against the door of 2702, shivering and dozing off for quite a while. She was so cold that she curled up into a ball, and in her sleep, she would occasionally hug her arms tightly.
As Lin Dao walked out of the security office into a deserted alley, he instantly teleported to the corner of the 27th floor. When he turned around and walked over, he saw Bretta curled up at the door and paused. He then walked over, entered the password, and opened the door. He then knelt down in front of the sleeping boy, placed the still-steaming corn in his arms, and reached out to pick him up.
Bryta, who was already dreaming of eating all kinds of delicious food, instinctively reached out and hugged the corn in her arms when she smelled the aroma, a few drops of clear liquid hanging from the corner of her mouth as she smacked her lips.
Lin Dao looked down at him, a soft chuckle escaping his nose, and gently carried him to the bed in the guest room, setting him down lightly.
Looking at the face up close again, the sleeping boy had soft, curly blond bangs that clung to his forehead. His brow bone was slightly high, his eye sockets were slightly deep, his eyelashes were long and thick, his nose was straight and delicate, and his thin lips were bright red beneath his pale skin. The profile of his face was hidden in shadow.
Upon closer inspection, he and that person actually do not look the same; they only share some similarities in their outlines and facial features.
The next moment, Bretta suddenly opened her eyes, her amber pupils shining like stars. She looked at him blankly and blinked, then suddenly smiled and reached up to pull him down by the shoulder. Lin Dao was caught off guard and stumbled closer.
He could feel the other person's breath through their nostrils, and the intoxicating fragrance quickly penetrated his nasal cavity, intensely stimulating him.
He tried to break free, but Bretta's hands held him tightly, and she suddenly smiled with a face so close to his, saying, "...Mr. Lin Dao, can we be friends?"
Bleta muttered softly, "If we're friends, then... then you won't... won't be willing to eat me."
Lin Dao paused upon hearing this, his pupils dilating slightly in surprise.
Author's Note: Klingdale: Being friends isn't enough.
Tata: QAQ What else do we need to do?
Klingdale: ...boyfriend. (Serious face)
Tata: Then I don't have to eat it?! (Excited)
Klindall: ...Hmm, let's try a different way of eating it.
Tata: Uh-then I want one too!
Klingdale: What do you want?
Tata: ...Eat. (Pokes finger)
——
To improve the ranking of clips, there will be no updates during the day on Saturdays, but updates will be at 11 PM! Every darling who leaves a comment will receive a sweet kiss from Tata! (The drooly kind, hehe).
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