Chapter 67 Picking things up from a pile of corpses is a really bad habit... Finally...
"That's how it is. I've told you everything I know." Shen Rong'an's face was flushed as she knelt on the bed.
"You mean I constantly emit a strange spiritual energy fluctuation that can be detected by specific machines, and that people who have slept with me can also sense it? Is that right?" Pei Qing asked, frowning.
"Yes."
How did you find out about these things?
Shen Rong'an was silent for a while, then her expression suddenly turned somewhat sad. "I... am, after all, a member of the Federation. Although some things are classified information, I do know a little bit about them."
"What species am I? Why does the Federation have my information, and why is it classified? Are there Federation people working in the welfare center?"
"Of course you're human, didn't the genetic testing report say so?" Shen Rong'an avoided the main point, somewhat annoyed that he had said so many things he shouldn't have, especially since he had promised her...
However, he was also the researcher who spent the most time with her, so it was only natural that he was most affected. Anyway, he wouldn't live much longer, so being able to spend one more day with her was already a blessing.
“A person? Are there people like this in this world?” Pei Qing smiled and reached out to touch the face of the person opposite her. Her hand instantly turned into a pool of black, semi-fluid substance, stickily covering most of Shen Rong’an’s face, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
"You've been lying to me all along. How interesting. I've wanted to ask you this for a long time: why weren't you surprised when you saw the tentacles? Is it because you've already seen a monster that looks exactly like me?"
A dark film gradually covered his entire face, and Shen Rong'an was almost suffocating. He began to struggle, and Pei Qing continued, "There is a sense of familiarity about you, but I couldn't remember where I had seen you before. Later I realized that the person who had seen you before, the person who was with you, was not me, but her."
There's always a pitying sadness in your eyes. Would sleeping with me bring you any comfort?
Shen Rong'an's consciousness grew increasingly blurred, his pupils rolled back, his body gradually stiffened, and amidst a ringing in his ears, the sounds around him slowly overlapped with the sounds in his memory...
"Does nurturing me and procreating with me make you so happy? Or at least lessen your guilt or something? Dr. Shen?"
What followed was a violent impact. In the relentless waves of desire, Shen Rong'an was unable to answer the question. After all, it was already difficult enough for him to suppress the panting that kept pouring out, let alone spare any energy to think.
The man seemed to have asked casually, and after a short rest, boundless joy enveloped him once again, and the answer he had just prepared was completely forgotten by him.
"Hoo—! Cough cough!... Cough..." Shen Rong'an was pardoned. He coughed twice and quickly breathed in the hard-won fresh air. Pei Qing's hand had returned to normal at some point and was resting its chin on its hand, watching him.
"Was it good? It must have been great, the sheets are all stained." Pei Qing said with a smile, her tone calm, as if she wasn't the one who had just assaulted him.
Shen Rong'an clutched his neck, the suffocating feeling of being on the verge of death was too intense, and there was still a faint pain in his neck. He moved his body fearfully, leaning against the corner of the wall without answering Pei Qing.
"She must be much gentler than me, right? Do you love her very much? What kind of monster is she...?" Pei Qing's eyes were full of interest. She was somewhat dissatisfied with the distance between the man and her, and she waved her tentacles to wrap around his ankle and drag him to her side.
"Cough cough!...She...she's not a monster, cough cough," Shen Rong'an's voice was hoarse, and each time the air passed through his trachea, it brought a slight stinging sensation.
"I didn't expect you to answer that first." Pei Qing was quite surprised.
“You are her, cough cough, you are her…” Shen Rong’an repeated nervously.
"No, I am not her."
"No, you are her." "That's just your own foolish idea. If I were her, why wouldn't I remember you? Was this place developed by her?" The tendrils lightly wrapped around the man's slender white waist, caressing him almost imperceptibly.
"No, no..." Shen Rong'an was surprisingly stubborn at this moment. He grabbed the bed sheet and tried to climb out.
Pei Qing wasn't sure if her guess was correct, but seeing the man's reaction, she suddenly felt like a genius. As her mental strength increased, the memories that surfaced in her mind became clearer and clearer. She 'saw' the laboratory, the researchers coming and going, and the experimental subjects' numbers.
She wanted to give him a chance, but he kept lying to her, and her patience was wearing thin.
Pei Qing's gaze gradually turned cold. She gripped the man's thigh with such force that it almost broke his fragile bones. "Why did you lie to me? I just wanted to know the truth. Don't I deserve to know?"
"...No, no...I promised her..."
"You finally admit it. So many of you know everything about her, but I'm the only one who doesn't. That's kind of boring, don't you think?" Pei Qing moved slightly, seemingly unintentionally.
The sudden, unfiltered reception left a faint smell of blood in the air.
"It's really unfair, I don't like it."
At nine o'clock in the morning, Pei Qing woke up in bed to find the room empty and cold.
"Did they leave a long time ago?" She yawned and slowly went downstairs.
"You're awake? Come and eat." The man, wearing a floral apron, smiled gently as he carried breakfast. I hadn't noticed him clearly last night, but seeing him again during the day, I realized he had indeed lost a lot of weight; the apron straps were tied to the smallest size, yet it was still a little too big.
"The pectoral muscles are indeed much thinner," Pei Qian thought to herself, recalling how they felt yesterday.
Pei Qing slowly pulled out a chair and sat down. On the snow-white plate lay a golden fried egg, accompanied by a few slices of crispy toast. She took a bite and found it quite delicious.
"There are no vegetable supermarkets around here, so I bought some at a convenience store..." Shen Rong'an nervously rubbed his hands.
"It tastes great."
Neither of them mentioned anything that happened last night. Pei Qing didn't know what Shen Rong'an was really thinking, nor did she want to know. But she was clear about one very important point: the truth might not necessarily have to be found out from one person.
Aren't you going to eat?
"I... have already eaten." Shen Rong'an forced a smile, which only became slightly more genuine after he saw Pei Qing finish her breakfast.
“Oh.” Pei Qing glanced at the man’s pale face and said nothing more.
At 9:30, the shop door was pushed open. Pei Qing thought a customer was coming in, but when she looked up, she found it was an acquaintance.
"I thought you'd be too scared to come," she said with a smile.
The visitor was Helivin, who had changed into clean clothes and was carrying a small bundle.
Helivin didn't respond to her teasing, and said nervously, "Do you still stand by what you said yesterday? Like about salary and stuff..."
“Of course,” Pei Qing said, somewhat surprised that his first question was about salary. “Welcome to the company—” She paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that the mechanical repair shop didn’t seem to have a name yet. “Pei’s Repair Shop,” she added.
After returning home, Helivin thought about it for a long time. He compared the job at the club with this newly offered job and felt that this job was better. After all, apart from the possibility of dying, there was no other danger. Besides, she was very capable, and she had also... saved him. He tried his best to ignore the strange feeling in his heart. He kept telling himself that he had simply chosen the better one, and had no other thoughts, nothing more.
In the end, he arrived at the store with unknown feelings.
“I… need to do something. I’ve never worked in a repair shop before.”
"Wait a moment," Pei Qing didn't know what a mechanical repair shop would do, probably just repairs and the like. She found a mechanical repair introductory manual on the StarNet and looked at it for a while before saying, "I might need to go and get some stock, I guess. You can mind the shop for now. Don't worry, you'll still get paid."
Pei Qian found several machines and some rusty parts in the warehouse. Fortunately, the machines were still usable. However, the tools were all rusty, and she needed to buy some new products.
After Pei Qing left, a strange atmosphere settled over the shop. Shen Rong'an came out carrying a tray. "Excuse me, I'd like to ask, how did you two meet?" His tone carried a hidden wariness and a hint of defensiveness. He saw similar emotions in the half-orc's eyes. Not only that, he also sensed Chu Zhi's presence—it was hers, deeply ingrained.
“We…she saved me.” After saying this, Helivin fell silent.
“I see,” Shen Rong’an said, completely unconcerned by the other party’s coldness. He continued, “I am A-Qian’s brother. My sister is very young and quite naive. She is easily deceived. I think you understand what I mean.”
Helivin couldn't help but frown. He didn't understand why his older brother harbored such undisguised hostility towards him. Having lived here since childhood, he was very perceptive of all kinds of people's emotions. This older brother's demeanor was more like that of a lover than an older brother.
He was startled by his own thoughts, but perhaps it was his cousin or something, Heely thought haphazardly as he arranged the parts on the cleaned iron rack.
Pei Qing casually scanned a smart electric vehicle and opened the nearby parts wholesale store displayed on her computer map. It was a bit far, but she decided to personally check the quality of the parts before deciding whether to order in bulk. As the saying goes, you should love what you do. Although she wanted to make some money, it would be truly ridiculous for a mechanical repair shop to have customers come in and find it unable to repair machinery.
She went to the first shop. The shop owner was quite friendly. Besides constantly promoting the shop's signature parts, the basic parts were priced at fifty star coins each. If Pei Qing hadn't searched for the wholesale price of the parts online beforehand, she would have believed the shop owner's nonsense.
After shutting down the first wholesale store, Pei Qing headed to the second, the third... She wandered around for a whole morning, her stomach growling three times and her smart electric scooter running out of power four times. Finally, she found a parts wholesale store with reasonable prices and honest dealings. However, a small hiccup occurred when confirming the final price.
The shop owner was a half-human, half-animal female Omega with an extremely aggressive and beautiful appearance. She was passionate and bold. After removing the shop owner's hand from her body for who knows how many times, pretending to be nonchalant, Pei Qing was getting a little impatient.
"Madam, I think we can start discussing the price and quantity of the parts."
“Oh, of course, of course.” The anaconda shop owner smiled, and half of his mechanical snake tail wrapped around Pei Qing’s waist, gently stroking it. “What kind of machinery do you usually repair? Laser guns, starships, or…”
"It's probably a household lawnmower or something, since I haven't learned how to repair other machines yet," Pei Qing said seriously. The mechanical snake tail was heavy and cold, and it looked quite lethal.
"Ha, you're quite the joker. I wonder if you'd be interested in fixing a malfunctioning cyborg..." The anaconda's cool hair brushed against her cheek, and its strong arms wrapped around Pei Qing's neck, giving her a sense of impending strangulation.
"As you know, the peak season for snake-orcs is just around the corner. I would be delighted if I could invite you to join me," the anaconda said, its mechanical snake tail tightening its grip. Then it offered a very tempting deal: "How about we halve the price of all parts on top of the existing discounts?"
Pei Qing was tempted; this was a rock-bottom price—half the entire price! If the shop owner weren't a female, she might have succumbed to the temptation and agreed. She swallowed hard and reluctantly refused, "No, ma'am, I'm not very accepting of third-gender people whose primary sexual characteristic is female... I'm so sorry."
"That's a real shame. I'm very interested in your thick fur. If you could transform into your beast form..." The anaconda's forked tongue extended uncontrollably. She looked extremely excited about Pei Qing's hyena identity.
Pei Qing tried to maintain a smile. She had heard that some orcs had a particular fondness for certain beast-like orcs, similar to ancient humans' fascination with furry, scale-covered creatures. However, it was far more fervent, and also mixed with... a yearning for something more intense, like beast-like orcs versus humanoid orcs. But encountering it in real life... how to put it... it might be exciting for others, but for herself... well, forget it. Pei Qing felt a little tempted to run away.
“That’s a real shame. I think you should try more new things,” the anaconda shop owner said, looking genuinely disappointed. She flicked her snake tail and picked up the personal terminal. “Unfortunately, this is the price I can offer you.” She lit up the screen and dragged it in front of Pei Qing.
Pei Qing breathed a sigh of relief. She felt the price was completely acceptable. Thank goodness, she almost thought she wouldn't be able to leave. "Okay, of course you can." She quickly transferred the star coins.
"Received, payment received." The anaconda raised its personal terminal. "Welcome to visit again, little puppy~, or if you change your mind anytime, feel free to contact me. I'll always make time for you."
After setting a delivery date with her, Pei Qian hurriedly left the store.
The biggest drawback of this shop is its remoteness. Pei Qing looked around at the desolate wilderness with few people around and thought to herself, "This is really a good place to kill and hide a body."
She rode her smart electric scooter, which had a top speed of 30 miles per hour, humming a song leisurely. But that was fine; after all, it always takes some effort to get something cheap and of excellent quality, which is normal.
As she rode, Pei Qing tripped over an unidentified object in the middle of the road, nearly flying off the tram. She angrily slammed on the brakes and kicked the object into a ditch. Wait, was that an arm? It should be human, right? After all, there weren't any android factories around here.
Unable to contain her overwhelming curiosity, she slowly parted the grass and saw a pile of mangled limbs, scattered here and there. Even if someone patiently put these pieces together, they would probably miss some small fragments from time to time.
It was a bit bloody, but it was normal for it to happen in a place like this. Pei Qing glanced at it and found it uninteresting. She lifted her leg to leave, but as soon as she lifted her left foot, her right foot was grabbed.
"Holy crap! What is that?!" Pei Qing jumped up in fright. "Could it be a zombie?" She crouched down nervously, trying to remove the blood-stained hand from her ankle. The hand was gripping her tightly; she figured she'd have to cut it off. She regretted it a little. Why was she so curious all the time?
"Help...help me..." the man said, then his head lolled to the side and he fainted.
Just as Pei Qing was about to transform into a fluid to free her foot, the man let go. She was conflicted about whether to save this mysterious person, who seemed to be a resurrected corpse buried in a pile of dead bodies.
She turned and left, and the tram sputtered away into the distance.
...
On the road, a smart electric vehicle was slowly making its way. Pei Qing remained expressionless, wondering if she had lost her mind and had picked up a person for no reason. What a lunatic, what a waste of time.
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Author's Note: The new chapter will be more slice-of-life and mundane, mainly consisting of everyday stories about married men with big breasts serving (scratch that) Sister Cyan... [pity][pity]
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