Chapter 61: Promise
Wait, Qi Huan took a deep breath. He and the store owner knew each other, and except for Quan Haiman and his friends, they should be the takeaway customers introduced by the store owner.
As for the sentinels... could they be people from the sanatorium?
"Those people are from Base 99?"
"That's right." The shopkeeper patted the biscuit crumbs on his hands and picked up a salted nut. "It's those guys."
Qi Huan: ...
"It's not easy to get them to help. Look at their attire. They might have been rushed over in the middle of the night just after they went to bed. The annoying guy must have promised them a lot of benefits."
"Actually... Jiufang Yu is a nice person." Qi Huan felt a little uncomfortable listening to that 'annoying guy', but he also thought it was rude to refute a senior who was over a hundred years old, so he could only explain weakly.
"Nonsense, if he wasn't such a great man, A-Lun and I wouldn't have helped him. But he's too smart, not easy to fool, and good at finding other people's weaknesses, so he's hard to deal with." The shop owner seemed to be full of resentment when he mentioned this. He tapped Qi Huan's forehead with his fan bone and said angrily, "You're done. You can't even listen to a word of criticism from him."
"I'm afraid that you might have misunderstood him." Qi Huan smiled brightly and felt relieved. It sounded like the owner was a little resentful and complained, but he didn't mean to be really angry. "After we defeat the stone beast this time, I will make two dishes for you to try."
"I want something I haven't eaten before." The owner narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a pleasant smile, as if saying, 'This is possible.'
"Leave it to me." Qi Huan nodded vigorously.
While the two were chatting, an alarm sounded in the west city. Several houses collapsed, and several stone beasts ran into the streets, rampaging around. Several guard teams and hunting teams that were searching nearby immediately rushed over.
For a moment, the entire base was filled with smoke and dust. The flying dust covered the figures of the fierce battle, leaving only the sound of fighting. Amid the clanging of swords, buildings would occasionally collapse to the ground.
Will the restaurant in the human world be okay? Qi Huan looked towards his home anxiously, but the tower and the smoke blocked his view.
“Are you worried that your store will be ruined?” The owner followed his gaze and understood instantly.
"Yeah." Qi Huan smiled bitterly. A few days ago, he was still worrying about whether to move. Now, his home might be gone.
The shop owner took a sip of water and said, "There's nothing to worry about. I think it would be best if the entire Base 3 was destroyed."
Qi Huan: ???
If I remember correctly, your store is also in the base, right?
Seeing that Qi Huan didn't understand, the shop owner pointed at the platform where the two were sitting with the bottom of the water bottle in his hand, "That bastard Jiufang Kuang cut corners when he built this broken base. He didn't even build a protective ground net. If it's not completely torn down and rebuilt, it will always be a sieve with big holes in it, and stone beasts may emerge from the ground at any time."
Before he finished speaking, a red beam of light appeared from the north city. The ground collapsed in several places, and stone beasts emerged from the ground one after another. However, they were blocked by a dense net woven by red rays after taking a few steps. Two guard teams attacked from the front and back, cooperating with each other in perfect harmony.
"Jiufang Kuang lives here himself, isn't he afraid?" Qi Huan finally understood. No wonder those stone beasts that could dig burrows in the ground were so hard to defend against. So this was the reason.
"What is he afraid of?" The shopkeeper sneered. "He is surrounded by a guard team of several hundred people. Ordinary stone beasts can't get close to him. The navigation starship of the abandoned planet is also under his control. If things really go wrong, he can board the ship and escape in a minute. Do you think the gate is really hard to repair? It doesn't need to be repaired too well. If some stone beasts rush in from time to time, it will remind the people in the base how dangerous the hunting area outside is and how lucky they are to live in it. It will be easier to control it."
"This bastard. I shouldn't have let him go so easily a few days ago!" Qi Huan hammered the platform angrily, and several boxes of snacks next to it shook as well.
"You won't let him go? Then what do you want to do?" The shopkeeper smiled and shook his head, with an expression of 'you are too naive, kid', "Kill him?"
Qi Huan choked. The imprint of the legal system in his previous life was deeply rooted in his mind. In his worldview, murder was something that touched the red line.
"It's not a pity that the loser died, but have you considered the consequences? Assuming he was really killed on Waste Star, the best thing to do would be to blame the stone beast. But a man with hundreds of private guards around him, a man who had been in charge of Waste Star for many years, suddenly ran to the hunting area and was killed by the stone beast. Do you think this is reasonable? Will those old foxes of Jiufang Family believe it? Besides, if you kill him here, you will only feel good for a while. If there is enough hard evidence, it will be fine. But if the evidence is not reliable enough, those guys in Jiufang Family who are used to scheming will find some handles to turn black into white. Then he will become a good guy, and you will be the one who violated the laws of the alliance and killed innocent people. You can either pay for his life or be wanted by the whole alliance. Isn't it a loss?"
Qi Huan sighed. When the Si family and the Jiufang family took the matter of Jiufang Yu to the alliance arbitration, they suffered a great loss, which forced Jiufang Yu to go back in the end. This shows the ability of those elders to manipulate public opinion.
The shopkeeper threw a nut into his mouth and continued, "Speaking of killing him, you have to kill those guards together. Hundreds of lives, do they all deserve to die? If you really do it, how much better can you be than Jiufang Kuang? If you don't kill those guards, sneak in and kill only Jiufang Kuang, the master will be dead, and they will be derelict in their duty. If they go back, they will basically die. The best outcome is probably to be exiled from now on and become interstellar blacklists. These people are not top-level sentinels. They live a life of luxury on weekdays. There are not many who can really fight. In the end, nine out of ten will still die.
Even if these people don't deserve sympathy, and we don't care about them, but will no one care about the former star master dying before leaving office? There are not many people who are capable of doing this, and it happened at the moment of handover. No matter who did it, the blame for killing Jiu Fangkuang will only be borne by one person in the end. "
There was no doubt that it was Jiufang Yu who carried the bag, Qi Huan sighed.
"So, even if that loser wants to die, he can't die now, and he can't die on Waste Planet No. 7." The shopkeeper's eyes swept coldly in the direction of the distant sky, "We can only let him live a few more days for the time being."
Qi Huan felt something was wrong and looked the owner up and down suspiciously.
"What?" The shop owner was a little irritated by his gaze.
"Senior, how could you think so carefully about this kind of thing? Could it be that..." Qi Huan deliberately prolonged the last syllable and paused, "You really thought about killing Jiufang Kuang, right?"
"How is that possible? I told you, fighting and other rude things have never been my style." The owner grabbed a few nuts and stuffed them into his soul beast, avoiding his scrutinizing gaze guiltily.
"Senior, you call Jiufang Yu a troublemaker, but you put so much thought into him. You actually like him quite a bit, right?" Qi Huan nudged the shopkeeper's shoulder mischievously.
"Go away," the shop owner pushed Qi Huan away with a stern face and said sternly, "Who likes that guy? I am considering the people living on the waste planet!"
Suddenly, something seemed to be wrong with the protective shield above their heads. It twisted and oscillated like a soap bubble on the verge of bursting.
"Senior!" Qi Huan motioned the owner to look up. Before the owner could say anything, the protective shield suddenly collapsed and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
The boundary between the inside and outside of the base disappeared, and countless stone beasts rushed into the base from all directions.
The wind was howling, sand and rocks were flying, and it was so strong that it seemed like it could sweep people away.
"They're so cruel. The entire equipment warehouse is destroyed." The store owner sighed, protecting the boxes of snacks beside him and complained, "I can't even eat in peace."
Qi Huan's clothes and hair were also blown into disarray. Just as he was about to persuade him to go into the tower to avoid the wind and sand, a huge net shining with golden light suddenly appeared in the air and covered the command hall.
It happened so quickly that before Qi Huan could figure out what it was, the net had already covered the entire command hall.
The next second, the wind and sand in the surroundings stopped, and everything returned to calm. The giant golden net also disappeared as if it had merged into the air.
Is this some kind of high-tech new type of defense shield? Qi Huan looked curiously at the place where the net disappeared.
"Alan's net." The shopkeeper saw his curiosity and gave the answer while shaking off the gravel on his body. "Anyone within the reach of this net, life and death, all depends on his thoughts."
Qi Huan was stunned. This thing could cover such a large area. It must not be much cheaper than a mecha, right?
"Of course," the shop owner said with a smile, "For the two of us, it can be considered a temporary protective shield."
The search and rescue work has been basically completed at this moment. When the beast tide came, all the guards and hunting teams gathered to form a defense line. Jiufang Yu, A Luan and the sentries at the South Gate all stood at the forefront in all directions, commanding all forces and showing their sharp edges.
In front of them, huge shadows rose into the air, leading the way was the black shadow that Qi Huan was quite familiar with. It was usually a small, soft and cute ball, but after transforming, it became a majestic golden-horned beast. Behind it followed a sky-blue divine horse with wings on its back, galloping away from the dust. To the left was a golden-brown tiger with flame patterns, and to the right was a fiery red leopard with a single horn on its head and five tails. In the sky, there was also a crane flying left and right, its wings like layers of clouds, covering the sky and the sun.
The stone beasts that were charging forward like mad bulls seemed to be intimidated by the evil spirit emanating from the divine beasts. They stopped one after another, circling anxiously on the spot. After a few seconds, they all raised their heads again and rushed forward madly as if they had been injected with chicken blood. In an instant, smoke and dust rose up and the roar shook the sky.
Qi Huan was in a state of anxiety, and stared at the vague shadows in the smoke for a long time, but found no trace of the mecha. So, according to the shop owner, the situation is still under control, so there is no need to worry, and he can put his mind at ease.
[Are you safe over there?] His personal terminal suddenly vibrated and a message popped up from the ferocious beast Ding, who had not been seen since early this morning.
【Safety. 】
Almost the next second after receiving his message, the other party made a communication request.
"Are you on the starship now? How's Base No. 3? The boss told us not to occupy the communication channel and told us to give us news after it's over. But I'm really anxious waiting here, so I wanted to ask you if it's safe." Shen on the other end said a lot without waiting for Qi Huan to speak.
"You're not at Base 3?"
"The boss was afraid that someone would attack other bases during his inauguration ceremony, so he asked me to bring people to protect Base No. 6. Xu Zhi went to Base No. 5, Tao Zhe went to Base No. 11, and Jia Yi went to Base No. 7." Chen Ye reported everyone's whereabouts like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
Qi Huan suddenly realized that it was no wonder that he had not seen anyone familiar this morning, because they had all been sent out. Now he understood why Jiu Fangyu had asked him not to spend too much energy on the "third gift" before, because he was worried that someone would mess up the ceremony and waste his efforts.
"Where is Kong Hu?"
"He should be in the control room of the Jinglan starship. Are you in Jinglan or Liaocang?" Chen Ye said as he pulled in a string of IDs such as Yi, Bing, and Wu. Those people did not speak, but just stood in a row of avatars and listened quietly.
Qi Huan raised his arm and shone it to the side, "I'm on the fifth floor of the command hall."
"Why are you there alone? It's not safe... Hello, senior!" Shen Ye was about to ask him to hide in a safer place, but the face of the owner of Vino suddenly appeared in the camera. He quickly stopped talking and greeted him obediently.
“Don’t worry, the kid is with me, he’s safe.” The shop owner shook the salt-baked nuts in his hand towards Shen Ye who was on the other side of the camera.
Shen Ye:......
Aren't you two a little too relaxed?
"Do you know where the boss is?" Shen Ye touched his nose and changed the subject.
Qi Huan pointed his personal terminal at the largest sandstorm-like area in the base, "That should be where we fight the A-level beasts."
Chen Ye was speechless again. Apart from the occasional flash of red light in the sand, he could see nothing at all.
However, the shop owner next to him yawned lazily and interrupted, "There's not much left. It should be over soon."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.
With the shop owner around, Shen felt inexplicably reserved. After chatting for a few more sentences, he hung up the phone awkwardly.
The smoke and dust around gradually dissipated, and the fight below came to an end.
Qi Huan subconsciously looked for Jiu Fangyu, and saw him piercing the eye of an A-level stone beast with his halberd. It's good that he's okay! Qi Huan's heart, which had been hanging from time to time, finally settled down completely.
The shop owner took out a towel and wiped his hands, then unceremoniously put the remaining snacks into his storage bag. He turned to Qi Huan and said, "It's almost done. Let's pack up and get ready to go down."
The entire base has become a veritable ruin, with collapsed houses, broken streets and alleys riddled with holes, countless stone beast carcasses and large patches of blood left behind, broken bricks and tiles everywhere, broken stone pillars and various twisted and deformed metal components tangled together in a chaotic manner.
The air was filled with a strong burnt smell and a pungent odor of blood, so bad that it made people feel nauseous.
Qi Huan asked the shop owner to take him back to West Street. There was almost no place that could be called a house on the entire Jinwan Street.
Most of the Renjian Restaurant collapsed, with only a corner of the kitchen standing alone among the rubble. Qi Huan was so distressed that he was about to look for some usable kitchen utensils, but was stopped by the owner, "Where's your robot bear? Take it out and let it flip it over. It can flip it over much easier than you can."
Qi Huan quickly took out the robot bear butler from the storage bag and gave it the command to "rescue the kitchen utensils."
The robot bear is very strong and can scan through the air, so it is indeed more convenient to do the work of cleaning and searching in the ruins. Qi Huan simply "stepped back to the second line" and waited on the side.
The owner went to pick up Ah Luan. Qi Huan stood alone in the collapsed Renjian Restaurant. He could only feel the sound effect of using a calculator circling in his mind: Zero! Zero! Zero!
After two months of hard work, in the end, an unexpected disaster happened and all my work was in vain!
Wait, in the midst of grief, Qi Huan suddenly remembered the tin box that contained the button of his savior, the white jade plate left by Si Liang and the earring of the original owner.
In line with the principle of not putting all your eggs in one basket, in order to spread the risk, Qi Huan usually puts two-thirds of the cash in his storage bag and hides one-third in the kitchen. Last month, the "hiding" location was moved from the pots and pans to the bottom of the refrigerator. The tin box was full of personal souvenirs, so he kept it with the silver coins.
A few days ago, he heard Jiufang Yu say that someone was monitoring him. He originally wanted to move all his things out and put them into a storage bag, but he was too busy and forgot about it.
Qi Huan hurriedly followed his memory to find the approximate location of the refrigerator, and asked the robot bear to scan the specific position. Then, the man and the bear started to move the rubble at the same time.
He had just tried to move two stones when he heard the sound of an airship in the air. Looking up, he saw Jiufang Yu.
"What are you doing?" Jiufang Yu parked the airship aside and opened the awning. He quickly glanced at Qi Huan, and only when he was sure that he was okay did his eyes soften.
"Something is trapped underneath. Are you okay?" Qi Huan rushed over like an enthusiastic puppy, holding onto the door of the airship and looking Jiu Fangyu up and down twice.
The new Star Lord had two shallow bleeding wounds on his arms and shoulders, and there were several spots on his body splattered with the blood of stone beasts, so it was certain that he had not suffered any serious injuries.
"Just sit down for a while and relax." Seeing that he was about to get off the airship, Qi Huan hurriedly stopped him.
The last time Jiufang Yu fainted from exhaustion after the battle with Xing □□ is still vivid in our minds. Although his complexion isn’t as scary this time, it’s not much better either.
"Where's Hachi?"
"It's tired and is sleeping." Jiufang Yu gently rubbed the solar plexus.
His eyes fell back to Jiu Fangyu's wound that was still bleeding. Qi Huan quickly took out the mini medical cabin from his bag and planned to treat him. Jiu Fangyu shook his head, "This is just a minor injury. It won't be needed yet."
"Are you really okay?" Qi Huan raised his eyes. These two wounds looked much more serious than the swelling on his shoulder last time.
"The sentinel is not that fragile." Jiufang Yu said calmly.
"Then sit down for a while, I'll go find the things."
"If there's no rush, let's wait until the guards come to take inventory of the losses." Jiufang Yu suggested, fearing that he would hurt his hands with the metal.
Qi Huan shook his head, "It's more important to me personally, so I'd better take it out and feel at ease."
"What?"
"The button of my savior." That was the only clue to find him.
Jiufang Yu's tired expression relaxed slightly after hearing this. "Then there's no need to look for it. I'll give you another one later."
Qi Huan was stunned for a moment, looked at him and then looked at his feet, "Wait a minute, I'm a little confused, do you know what button I'm talking about?"
"I know, buttons with green gemstones." Jiufang Yu nodded and took out a shirt from the storage ring. The buttons from the collar to the cuffs were all of the type with a gold background and half-moon-shaped green gemstones inlaid.
"Yours? You..." Qi Huan's mind buzzed, "Are you saying that you are the one who rescued me and sent me to Base No. 3?"
"Well," Jiufang Yu's jaw moved slightly, "I had just arrived at the Waste Star, and I was anxious to find Si Liang's whereabouts, so I sent you to the base and left."
"Then why didn't you mention it when we first met at the restaurant?"
"You were covered in blood at the time, so I couldn't see your appearance clearly. Later, Si Liang told me that you had one of my buttons, and then I realized that the person I saved was you."
"You didn't say anything afterwards?"
"Later on, we became friends..." Jiufang Yu had no intention of repaying a favor, so naturally he didn't plan to bring it up again.
Qi Huan: ...
He had originally hoped that once he became famous he would have the chance to find his savior and repay him, but he never expected that he would be right in front of him, so far away.
This is also a good thing, at least it saves the trouble of searching. Qi Huan let out a long sigh, was silent for a while, and said to Jiu Fangyu, "I have thought it through, and I am willing to cooperate with the Si family's laboratory to study the energy thing you mentioned last time."
"Don't worry about the fact that I saved you before," Jiufang Yu frowned, "Think it over carefully before making a decision. Don't force yourself."
"No, I think clearly." Qi Huan said firmly, "I believe that someone who has saved me so many times will not harm me."
If Jiufang Yu had not extended a helping hand to the unknown injured person lying in the hunting area, he would not be here at all.
"I will repay you with my body in return for saving my life." Qi Huan muttered quietly, although it was a different meaning of repaying you with your body.
"What?" Jiufang Yu looked straight at him.
"Nothing," Qi Huan shrugged, half jokingly and half seriously, "Anyway, if I really have some special abilities, I'll have to trouble you a lot more with my life in the future."
"I will protect you." Jiufang Yu raised his frosty eyebrows slightly, looked into his eyes, and promised solemnly.
The wind whistled past, blowing up sand and gravel that hit the surrounding scrap iron sheets, making crackling sounds, as if the promise had also become more resounding.
"Thank you." Qi Huan felt a little embarrassed by the stare of those deep and beautiful eyes. He rubbed his nose with his fingers, turned around and went to move the rubble again.
"Why are you still flipping?"
"In that box, besides your button, there is also the jade token Liang left for me last time, and an earring my parents left for me."
Jiufang Yu was silent for half a second, then he jumped off the airship by holding the door open and helped Qi Huan and the robot bear clean up the debris.
The refrigerator was deformed by the stone beam. Jiufang Yu didn't understand why, but at Qi Huan's instruction, he used brute force to open the cabinet.
Qi Huan rummaged under a pile of food for a long time, and finally took out two metal boxes.
Before opening the lid, Qi Huan closed his eyes and muttered devoutly and seriously, "Please don't break it. Please."
After realizing what was in the box, Jiu Fangyu was stunned. "You put those things in the refrigerator?"
"This is called a safe. It won't be stolen because no one can think of it." Qi Huan wiped the condensed water mist off the box and argued.
Jiufang Yu: ...
Should we say that this person's ideas are so righteous that they become evil, or so evil that they become righteous?
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