"Oh no, it's Arthur—"
Upon hearing the call, Lin Xi immediately withdrew her hand from Xavier's body.
He immediately turned around and ran urgently toward the direction from which the low shout had come.
Lin Xi could only pretend that she hadn't seen Xavier's stiffness at that moment... nor the shock and disappointment that appeared on his face.
He couldn't help but worry about Arthur.
On one hand, it was because of that low cry, and on the other hand, it was because at this moment, Xavier's murderous intent towards Arthur was so strong that it could flow directly from the air.
Lin Xi quickly found Arthur. This white alien creature was very familiar with the Sun God and had inadvertently separated from Lin Xi and the others. Now, it was standing warily in a room at the end of the corridor.
Before the Sun God became ruins, this should have been the office of a senior crew member. The floor was even covered with thick earth textiles and personalized office supplies. But now, there is only a sloping floor and a large pile of scrap metal against the walls.
...and a "Ghost" type mechanical warrior, a product of the Del Corporation.
This is fucking so exciting!
Upon seeing the mechanical warrior's iconic jellyfish-shaped head and metal tentacles, as well as the gleaming fluorescent eyes beneath its rounded outer shell, Lin Xi's pupils suddenly contracted.
Arthur now stood beside the mechanical warrior, watching it warily, its wings and tentacles taut, its mouthparts protruding to reveal sharp fangs.
It was clearly quite frightened by the thing in the room. Even a malformed, underdeveloped alien species can be terrifying when it shows a threatening look towards other species.
However, when facing mechanical warriors, this threat appears exceptionally pitiful and fragile, utterly vulnerable.
The scene of Arthur confronting the mechanical warrior almost made Lin Xi's heart stop beating.
In an instant, countless bloody memories flooded his mind like a burst dam.
At that moment, Lin Xi felt as if she had returned to that day...
He seemed to see again the scene of his kin being slaughtered by those damned mechanical monsters.
"No--"
Lin Xi let out a long hiss.
He issued a silent command, and almost the instant the command was transmitted through his mental power, Xavier swept past him.
The enormous and ferocious body of the alien creature landed directly on the mechanical warrior, the tips of its insect limbs almost piercing through the mechanical warrior's shell.
Under the immense impact, the mechanical warrior collapsed to the ground without any resistance.
"Bang--"
Its head struck the ground with a loud, crisp sound.
"Hiss..."
Xavier, of course, was not going to let it go so easily. It let out an exceptionally savage hiss and then raised its scythe-like forelimbs high.
It looked like Xavier was about to slice the mechanical warrior in half at any moment...
"No, Xavier, stop—"
Just then, Lin Xi's intuition suddenly pounded, and before he could even react, he raised his voice to stop Xavier from slaughtering the mechanical warrior.
Xavier's forelimbs came to a steady stop in mid-air.
Its other feet were firmly pressed down on the mechanical warrior on the ground, then it turned its head to look at Lin Xi.
"Lin Xi?"
Lin Xi could even see Xavier's confusion through those scarlet eyes. You see, Xavier had been waiting for this day for a long time—the reason it evolved itself into this form (it even gave up its proud and beautiful wings to increase its lethality) was so that one day it could easily kill these mechanical warriors that had caused it so much trouble.
It couldn't wait to show off its new skills to Lin Xi.
"Don't touch it yet."
Xavier received a completely unexpected instruction.
Lin Xi bit his lip, took a deep breath, and then cautiously approached the mechanical warrior.
"This mechanical warrior..."
He reached out a hand and grabbed the mechanical warrior's metal tentacle.
In Lin Xi's memory, the mechanical warrior's tentacles were dexterous and sharp, but only when you held those long metal tubes in your hand would you realize how incredibly heavy they were.
Lin Xi weighed the metal tentacle in his hand; the mechanical warrior's electronic eyes flashed rapidly beneath its mask.
But its metallic tentacles remained completely still throughout. In Lin Xi's palm, the thing looked exactly like a dead snake.
The instant Xavier made his move, Arthur seized the opportunity and dashed to the wall, carefully hiding himself.
Seeing Lin Xi playing with the mechanical warrior's metal tentacles, its tentacles twitched, and then it curiously ran over.
It stretched out its insect limbs and, mimicking Lin Xi, shook its metal tentacles.
The next moment, he even started fiddling with the mechanical claws at the tips of the metal tentacles. The tips of those claws were already visibly worn... But even so, seeing Arthur fiddling with the claws of the tentacles still made Lin Xi's heart skip a beat.
This overly naive little insect had no idea how many of its companions were directly cut into bloody, mangled pieces by these mechanical claws.
"Stop playing..."
Lin Xi pushed Arthur aside, then turned her head to look at Xavier.
"Don't be too nervous, you can get off it. This thing is malfunctioning."
Lin Xi then murmured aloud.
This explains why Lin Xi didn't discover the mechanical warrior when he used the little bug to explore the interior of the Sun God.
This mechanical warrior was severely malfunctioning; its constantly flashing electronic eyes proved that it was always active, but its motionless metal tentacles proved that it had completely lost its ability to move.
In a sense, although this mechanical warrior is still active, it is essentially no different from the metal wreckage lying among the monster corpses.
Lin Xizai carefully examined the mechanical warrior, and after a while, a deep doubt appeared in his eyes.
He found no extra damage on the mechanical warrior's shell; the thing was almost brand new, indicating that it hadn't been in the last battle with the aliens.
But why would a brand-new mechanical warrior trigger such a serious mechanical malfunction?
Is it a coincidence...? But this kind of coincidence doesn't make people feel at ease.
"Lin...Lin Xi...look..."
Just then, Lin Xi felt her sleeve being tugged.
He turned his head and looked at Arthur.
Arthur tugged at his sleeve while looking curiously at the wall beside him.
Upon noticing that Lin Xi had noticed it, it raised its insect limbs and pointed to the wall.
"look."
Lin Xi looked up at the wall, following its direction.
The next second, Lin Xi was completely stunned.
The room was extremely dark (in fact, if it weren't for Lin Xi's current mutation, it would be practically pitch black for him), and coupled with the fact that the Sun God ship had been in disrepair for years, the unrenovated offices and the metal panels used for interior decoration all showed signs of oxidation. For these reasons combined, Lin Xi completely failed to notice that the mottled marks on the metal wall next to him were actually engravings covering an entire wall.
A more accurate description would be that it was a whole wall covered in scribbled information.
The content of those carvings was definitely not unfamiliar to Lin Xi, after all, he had heard it countless times in his dreams from the mouth of a gaunt, ghost-like man.
Please, find me, you must find me, then kill me. I need help, let me be free first, please kill me...
Help me, help me!
Kill me.
Find me, then set me free. Find me, find me, find me.
...
The handwriting was so messy that it looked like it had been written by a child who had just started school. Just by looking at the handwriting, you could feel how desperate and fearful the person who wrote it must have been.
That intense, dark emotion almost transformed into thick, foul-smelling black blood, seeping directly from the engravings on these characters.
Lin Xi's breathing gradually became heavy. He stared intently at the wall, suddenly feeling like he couldn't breathe. Even the beating of his heart became incredibly difficult at this moment.
If these cries for help alone weren't enough to shock Lin Xi, then the last few lines of text at the bottom of the metal wall completely shattered his composure.
[Dr. Lin Xi, save me.]
Dr. Lin Xi...
...
Lin Xi shook his head, as if by doing so he could shake the metal lettering on the wall in front of him out of his sight.
He swallowed hard, then slowly stood up.
Lin Xi approached the metal wall with extreme caution, as if something on the wall might bite his hand.
Even so, when he actually stood before the metal wall, he couldn't help but reach out and trace the incredibly fresh engravings with his fingertips.
The marks even still retain the warmth from the friction.
After studying it for a few seconds, Lin Xi suddenly turned around and rushed back to the mechanical warrior's side. He reached out and touched the claws at the tips of the metal tentacles that Arthur had been playing with. Those claws still retained a little warmth.
Just like the one on the metal panel.
"What the hell is going on here...?"
Lin Xi couldn't help but swear.
Clearly, this distress message was just sent out.
The individual who left the message was the motionless, severely malfunctioning mechanical warrior in front of them.
Considering their current situation, this is more terrifying than any ghost story on Earth.
Whether it's the identity of this mechanical warrior or the person behind it who manipulated it to write this line... he knew Lin Xi's name.
Ah, why doubt that?
The next second, Lin Xi suddenly realized what was happening.
These desperate cries for help, filled with immense fear and pain, were clearly sent by an old acquaintance—the man who constantly appeared in his dreams.
Lin Xi's mind went blank. Although he had a vague premonition beforehand, when he actually faced this absurd reality...
The man who kept wailing and groaning in his dreams has now left such a vivid message in the real world.
Thinking about this, Lin Xi couldn't calm down no matter what, not to mention that these marks were left by the mechanical warrior's metal tentacles.
Just the thought of associating that man with the mechanical warrior sent shivers down Lin Xi's spine.
For a fleeting moment, Lin Xi sincerely hoped that what he was facing was just someone's prank.
But the next second, Lin Xi realized with great sorrow that no one would play pranks on him anymore. After all, he was now on planet AS192, which was extremely far away from Earth, and the place where he was standing was the Sun God, which had been completely abandoned and turned into ruins.
Here, no one would play any pranks on him, because there aren't even any humans here.
Lin Xi returned to the mechanical warrior's side and reached out to pat the mechanical warrior's hemispherical head.
"Hey, who are you? What are you planning to do? Why are you in my dreams? What's going on? What do you mean by 'finding you'? What do you mean by 'killing you'? How do you know my name...?"
Lin Xi had so many questions he wanted to ask, but the mechanical warrior under his command remained as quiet and silent as ever.
They are born to kill, not to communicate with humans.
Even though Lin Xi was trembling slightly from excessive excitement, the pile of metal structures in his hands never gave him any further response. Even the electronic eye beneath the mask quickly dimmed after it focused on Lin Xi.
This mechanical warrior is gradually losing its function.
"Damn it—answer me! Who are you?!"
Lin Xi's voice suddenly rose.
Just then, a faint sound came from inside the electronic brain covered by the mechanical warrior's hemispherical mask.
The next second, Lin Xi felt herself being violently thrown away by something.
He flew into the air and then landed on the ground. Immediately afterwards, something completely enveloped him.
It took Lin Xi a moment to realize that it was Xavier...
The moment the mechanical warrior made a soft sound in its brain, Xavier jumped up into the air, hugged Lin Xi tightly, and led him back to a corner of the room.
"Xavier?!"
That soft sound just now was most likely the sound of the mechanical warrior's self-destruction.
Thinking of this, Lin Xi suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
He could clearly feel Xavier's strong body tightly covering him.
Xavier's elytra spread out to both sides, completely covering Lin Xi's sides. This was an extremely protective posture.
If an explosion were to occur, all the impact and debris would be shielded by Xavier's back and wings.
However, as Xavier spread his elytra, he also exposed his relatively more vulnerable back...
Lin Xi was lucky; after waiting for a while, nothing happened in the room.
The mechanical warrior did not self-destruct.
Lin Xi's heart was beating very fast.
He lay there stiffly for a while before slowly sitting up, his limbs feeling weak.
"It's okay... thank you."
Lin Xi looked at Xavier, who was protecting him at all costs, and said somewhat stiffly. He placed his hands on Xavier's chest and slowly pushed the terrified and wary insect away from him.
"That was very dangerous!"
Xavier, for the first time ever, looked at Lin Xi with a slightly reproachful expression.
It seemed completely unaware that there was anything special about what it had just done.
On the contrary, Lin Xi felt a slight swelling and soreness in her chest.
He opened his mouth, intending to say something, but halfway through, he inexplicably changed his mind.
"I know, I'll be more careful next time."
Lin Xi murmured to Xavier. He suddenly didn't know how to face Xavier like this.
Was it his imagination? Why did he feel at that moment that Xavier's gaze upon him was as if it possessed warmth, almost igniting his exposed skin?
"Crackling..."
What broke the eye contact between him and Xavier was a somewhat noisy metallic sound.
That was Arthur, who was curiously squeezing next to the mechanical warrior, pushing the mechanical warrior's completely motionless body with its front paws.
The metal tentacles made a screeching sound as they were pushed against the ground.
"Fault."
Noticing Lin Xi's gaze, Arthur turned around with some confusion, then picked up one of the mechanical warrior's tentacles and shook it.
Arthur imitated Lin Xi and solemnly learned a new word.
"It's a malfunction."
It said this with great enthusiasm.
Well, actually Arthur wasn't wrong. The soft beeping sound from the mechanical warrior's electronic brain was indeed just a malfunction.
Its internal electronic brain experienced an unexplained overload, and the entire electronic brain was subsequently burned out.
With Xavier's help, Lin Xi cut open the mechanical warrior's incredibly hard outer shell and then examined its internal structure.
But after a long examination, this was the only conclusion he could reach.
"This kind of failure seems somewhat familiar..."
Lin Xi rubbed his temples, sighed, and muttered to himself.
Although there were no suitable tools to further examine the mechanical monster, Lin Xi still directed Xavier to disassemble the incredibly heavy mechanical warrior and finally extract the malfunctioning electronic brain.
Lin Xi was somewhat distracted for the next while he inspected the ruins of the Sun God again and packed up some supplies that Xavier had previously overlooked.
It wasn't until the long days on this planet slowly faded that Lin Xi suddenly realized he had lingered in the ruins for far too long.
"...We'll come back for another check-up in a few days."
Lin Xi said, and then he made the decision to leave with the full load of supplies.
Before leaving, Lin Xi returned to the office where he had discovered the mechanical warrior. This time, he was much calmer, carefully studying the writing on the wall. He memorized every word of the information, only then feeling slightly relieved.
Find me…
Lin Xi focused on this word.
If that man really knew his name, he should be able to understand that Lin Xi is not on Earth, but on a strange alien planet.
If that's the case, why does he keep emphasizing "find me"?
Could it be that the man is now trapped on this planet, just like Lin Xi?
As Lin Xi thought about this, a word immediately came to mind.
Providence.
He had a slight throbbing pain in his head, and some vague memories were churning in the depths of his mind.
This time, Lin Xi did not succumb to the dizziness.
"Providence...Scripps..."
He muttered to himself the fragments that came to mind, trying hard to recall those forgotten things.
Lost in her own thoughts, Lin Xi didn't notice the changes in her surroundings.
Because the group was carrying too many supplies, no matter how strong Xavier was, he couldn't simply carry Lin Xi back to the cave as he had done before. So, in the end, they had no choice but to walk back through the alien jungle.
This undoubtedly slowed them down considerably.
The first to notice something was wrong was Arthur. Perhaps due to his physical deformity, his combat strength was much weaker than that of ordinary mutants, but he had an exceptional talent for anticipating danger.
Halfway there, it suddenly stopped, then raised its body and stared intently into the distance for a long time.
"Lin Xi..."
It called out Lin Xi's name with great unease.
It took Lin Xi a moment to react. He looked up at Arthur and realized that the white alien in front of him had already spread its wings in a wary manner.
"Arthur, what... happened?"
Before Lin Xi could finish his question, the same premonition instantly struck him.
He turned abruptly, looking in the direction Arthur had been looking. At that moment, Xavier had already silently arrived beside Lin Xi.
The strong alien creature slightly spread its wings, concealing Lin Xi's figure behind it.
There is no need for extra language communication between the three; the same emotions and feelings can be transmitted to each other through their unique spiritual connection.
Danger, immense danger is approaching...
The entire jungle was extremely quiet, so quiet that it was as if even the air had solidified.
However, Lin Xi knew very well that this quiet was just a facade. He closed his eyes, and his mental energy spread outwards like ripples. He quickly discovered that all the creatures beneath the surface... from strangely shaped small creatures to numerous insects... were all extremely busy.
They were all busy trying to escape.
Smaller creatures, like insects, are using all their strength to burrow deeper into the earth.
Small animals that have no way to hide underground go crazy and run wildly in a certain direction.
Something is coming.
Lin Xi felt a slight itch on his back; it was from his wings trembling involuntarily.
Whether it was him, Xavier, or Arthur, they could all clearly sense that particularly ominous sign.
A sense of danger is growing stronger.
Without Lin Xi's permission, Xavier suddenly flapped its wings and took flight. It hovered in the air for a moment, its eyes fixed on the distance, its tentacles fully extended.
It keenly detected some abnormal, exceptionally subtle air currents and a certain unsettling smell.
In the distance, Xavier saw a particularly hazy patch of gray smoke...
The smoke looked almost like a haze, posing no threat whatsoever, and the mist was so thin that it was almost impossible to detect its arrival without careful observation.
However, it was this fog that caused Xavier's back to turn dark in an instant.
It fell down very quickly.
"It's the wind, a very strong wind..."
Xavier said.
As it spoke, it spotted Arthur, who was huddled nervously next to Lin Xi.
Xavier paused for a moment, then spoke again.
"storm.
It immediately switched to a more professional term.
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