Let's rewind a little... to the very beginning of Xavier and Lynch's separation.
Xavier found himself separated from Lin Xi at the end of a corridor.
It came to an abrupt stop, as if slamming on the brakes, the insect frozen in place. Its metallic wings, overwhelmed by terror and shock, had turned completely grayish-white.
"Lin Xi?!"
Xavier let out a low gasp, his voice filled with terror.
But the man who should have been beside it did not appear.
Arthur has also disappeared.
"..."
Now, only silence surrounds Xavier.
Absolute silence.
It was as if Xavier had been left alone in the whole world—only on very occasional moments could Xavier hear something rustling in the darkness in a narrow corner, and he could tell that it was the strange, embryonic creature that had forced him and Lin Xi to flee in such a sorry state.
Upon entering the corridor, the strange creatures that swarmed like locusts vanished instantly.
It was as if there was something else here that made them very wary.
Xavier walked back and forth in the corridor several times, trying to find Lin Xi.
But its attempts always ended in failure.
This was simply incredible, because Xavier was more sensitive than any other creature; Lin Xi's aura was etched into its very bones, an aura that was almost directly connected to its soul.
Moreover, Xavier was certain that he had always followed Lin Xi's scent closely. In fact, just a few minutes ago, Xavier still vaguely felt that Lin Xi was right beside him...
But that's exactly what happened; Lin Xi disappeared.
Xavier felt as if something had ripped a deep hole into his chest—
It has once again lost its most precious thing.
Despite knowing he should be calmer, Xavier still couldn't help but fall into a state of extreme anxiety.
It took flight directly through the narrow and intricate corridor, searching for Lin Xi's trail back and forth in countless silent and deserted passages.
For a mutant with exceptionally strong perception, this should have been an easy task, but the unfolding events only increased Xavier's panic.
It hadn't lost Lin Xi's presence...
In fact, every path and passage Xavier traversed was permeated with that faint, elusive aura. This caused Xavier to completely lose his senses, and by the time he came to his senses, he was already in a deep, dark, and spacious room.
Here, the presence of "Lin Xi" is strongest.
"Lin Xi..."
Xavier murmured.
It thought it could finally find Lin Xi, but when it eagerly pushed open the long-abandoned door, the gentle man was nowhere to be found in the room.
Only a faint trace of "Lin Xi's" aura lingered in the depths of the dark room.
Xavier suddenly stopped.
It stood upright, its red eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness. It stared intently at a certain spot in the room—the source of Lin Xi's presence.
According to Xavier's instincts, it should have rushed in that direction immediately.
But it didn't do that; the smell that filled the room was so strong, so overwhelming, that it made Xavier feel disoriented and anxious...
That aura was so captivating that it directly stirred Xavier's unique physiological instincts, which were unique to this alien species.
But... but is that really Lin Xi's aura?
At that moment, Xavier suddenly became alert.
The aura permeating all the passageways was actually a bit off.
Rather than saying that the familiar scent belonged to Lin Xi, it's more accurate to say that this scent was more like another primal fragrance.
That's the taste of "He".
Once this was discovered, all the oddities suddenly became exceptionally clear.
Xavier is not an ordinary mutant; it possesses a unique talent that allows it to accurately distinguish between Lin Xi and "He".
Now, just like before, Xavier quickly discerned that the dense aura permeating the darkness was completely different from the aura emanating from the real Lin Xi—this aura was distorted…abnormal.
If it hadn't been for the unintentional separation from Lin Xi that caused it to panic, it should have noticed the difference immediately.
Thinking of this, Shavi suddenly spread his wings, his tentacles standing up on his head and taut.
It appeared very vigilant.
"Lin Xi..."
Finally, Xavier, still somewhat unwilling to give up, called out softly, but this time, he still received no response from Lin Xi.
Xavier retreated back the way he came without hesitation.
Its intuition told it that something here would cause trouble. And Xavier didn't want to waste its precious time searching for Lin Xi on such trouble.
But at that moment, it caught a glimpse of a familiar shadow...
The white, deformed body was so conspicuous that even if Xavier wanted to comfort himself that he was seeing things, it was impossible.
That's Arthur.
Arthur, who had previously been separated from Xavier, somehow ended up here.
At that moment, Arthur was staggering toward the other end of the dark room, as if something was forcefully drawing him there... He didn't even notice Xavier standing not far away.
Xavier let out a roar. It tried to get Arthur's attention, but strangely, Arthur, who was usually exceptionally obedient because he was afraid of Xavier, seemed not to hear Xavier's calls at this moment.
It continued to wriggle its frail body, slowly moving towards that corner.
If it were up to Xavier's nature, it would have abandoned Arthur here without hesitation. After all, Xavier had never liked this deformed creature; it was Xavier's brother, but also its rival.
Well, Arthur's deformity also allowed him to survive in some ways, because he wouldn't be a candidate for an Ohmu (otherwise, Xavier probably wouldn't have been able to control his instincts).
But not actively killing Arthur doesn't mean Xavier wants to save him. He has a hundred reasons to abandon Arthur...
However, Xavier was no ordinary mutant. Having watched so many human TV dramas, it had come to know many complex emotions that mutants shouldn't know.
It was clear to it that sudden anomalies in such places often meant great danger.
Those auras so similar to Lin Xi's were the "abnormality" of this moment.
If Xavier really leaves Arthur to his own devices, the latter might die here.
This is good news for Xavier, since if Arthur is Xavier, then there will be no other obstacles between him and Lin Xi.
Xavier said to himself.
However……
Xavier, however, could not help but recall the smile on Lin Xi's lips when she named Arthur.
Moreover, Lin Xi said that Arthur had saved him.
If Arthur dies, Lin Xi will be sad, won't he? After all, he specially gave Arthur, this weak and deformed alien, such a name.
Lucky Arthur.
Xavier stretched his insect limbs.
Its mouthparts emerged, and it sprayed out some acid, a sign of its extreme displeasure, though it had never done anything so impolite in front of Lin Xi.
Xavier then immediately chased after Arthur.
But Xavier spent far too long in her internal struggle, and by the time she finally set off, Arthur's voice had already disappeared on the other side of the room.
Xavier had no choice but to follow closely behind the guy as he crawled into the room.
It passed through door after door. Before this underground facility was completely abandoned, it must have had very strict security measures. However, now those heavy isolation doors and sophisticated laser traps have all become permanently ineffective.
When Xavier finally saw Arthur again, it had already reached the deepest part of the darkness...
This is a place similar to a greenhouse.
Having grown up in a greenhouse, Xavier was very familiar with that damp, warm, and slightly stuffy atmosphere caused by poor air circulation.
However, while Lin Xi's greenhouse cultivates mild, harmless, and pleasant Sunu plants, what thrives in this "greenhouse" due to the warm air is something entirely different.
Xavier's muscles were taut to their limit as it warily surveyed its surroundings.
Countless translucent circular culture tanks were stacked on a towering metal frame, and the inside of those tanks was filled with a thick, viscous substance that resembled asphalt.
Most of the culture tanks were broken, and a faintly fishy-smelling viscous liquid was squeezing out from the broken parts, dripping and splashing all over the floor.
Inside the mucus were countless densely packed, translucent, round, oval-shaped objects.
These egg-like creatures were covered by only a thick, soft membrane. With his exceptionally good eyesight, Xavier could even clearly see what was wriggling slightly inside those membranes. They looked like plump, soft maggots, but at the same time, their bodies also exhibited characteristics similar to mammalian embryos. A faint life force emanated from within the eggs: and right before Xavier's eyes, the culprits that had separated Lin Xi from it... those pink, embryo-like things, slowly tore open the membrane covering them and fell wetly to the ground.
These are all insect eggs.
Xavier immediately realized this.
"How annoying."
It mimicked humans and let out a disgusted mutter.
It could clearly sense that all of these insect eggs were of its own kind...
At least some of them can be considered as such.
But seeing such a large number of insect eggs, yet not being its offspring, was enough to make Xavier uncomfortable. Not to mention, it could also sense that these insect eggs, and whatever hatched from them, exuded a strange, twisted aura.
Everything here is abnormal—Lin Xi's intuition was right; these embryo-like little things were indeed going to cause big trouble.
Xavier shook its tentacles, its spines all standing on end due to severe discomfort.
It quickly looked around and soon spotted the swaying Arthur not far away.
Despite everything around them being so strange, that damned alien seemed completely oblivious to the lurking dangers and continued to push its way into the area densely packed with insect eggs.
Xavier leaped through the air, landing right next to Arthur and grabbing the white trash in one swift motion.
"Hiss..."
Xavier let out a rough hiss at Arthur.
Only then did Arthur turn around in a daze, finally giving Xavier a slight response.
However, even if there was a response, it seemed particularly unusual.
Xavier immediately noticed the abnormality in Arthur. The white mutant's eyes were unusually unfocused, and it looked dazed, as if it had lost all consciousness.
Even when Xavier caught him, Arthur kept twisting his body, trying to break free from the control he was being held by.
After several unsuccessful attempts to wake Arthur, Xavier felt his fangs stirring inside his mouthparts, and he really wanted to just bite the neck off the fool in front of him.
However, at the last moment, Lin Xi's face appeared in Xavier's mind, which calmed him down somewhat.
"Lin Xi..."
Xavier murmured the man's name softly to calm the violent desires lurking within him.
Unexpectedly, following Xavier's words, Arthur raised his forelimbs and pointed them straight ahead.
It keeps repeating the same word.
"Lin Xi... Lin Xi..."
Lin Xi isn't here!
Xavier said to Arthur through gritted teeth.
But Arthur seemed... seemed completely unable to understand what he was saying.
"It's Lin Xi..."
Arthur yelled, and his struggles became more and more violent.
Just as Xavier's patience was almost completely exhausted, it suddenly heard a damp and sticky rubbing sound slowly coming from the depths of darkness.
Xavier turned his head sharply, staring in the direction from which the sound came.
The next second, Xavier's body trembled uncontrollably, and the aura belonging to "He" became stronger and stronger.
Xavier saw a man.
A young, handsome man, but with a twisted aura emanating from his entire body.
He looked very strange. Most of his body looked like a normal human, but below his waist was a long, white, soft mass of substance.
That's its belly.
The shape of that thing was just like a termite queen magnified countless times...
Beneath those white membranes, thousands of newborn insect eggs were developing in the man's swollen abdomen.
Xavier had never seen termites on Earth before, but that didn't stop him from feeling disgusted and repulsed.
It found the other party extremely ugly, which was also because Xavier had not yet seen the special experimental subjects that Lin Xi had seen.
Xavier will never know that the experimental subject standing before him now is the most perfect individual cultivated in the laboratory at that time—it at least still maintains a human form.
Of course, their strange appearance is not the most important thing for these alien species. What is truly important is the scent they emit.
The moment the man appeared, Xavier realized that the aura that had confused him earlier was emanating from this deformed man in front of him.
Arthur's unusual behavior was clearly related to this subtle resemblance between him and Lin Xi.
Upon discovering this, Xavier immediately became alert.
It grabbed Arthur and then stumbled back several steps.
In contrast to Xavier's tension and vigilance, the strange man who suddenly appeared had a peculiar attitude.
Upon noticing Xavier and Arthur's presence, the man opened his arms, eagerly attempting to embrace them. A powerful, inviting hormonal aura emanated from the perfume diffusers extending from his sides.
It was this very aura that captured Arthur so precisely.
Even Xavier himself felt that his body was a little out of control.
only……
However, Xavier would never allow himself and Arthur to get close to that thing, no matter what.
After all, something about that man was definitely wrong. His face was so pale, and his eyes were as empty as a deep well, devoid of wisdom, reason, and soul.
That man was just an empty shell.
And what filled that shell was... a most primal desire.
Just as he was trying to get close to Xavier's colleague, countless fresh insect eggs were pushed out of his swollen abdomen and fell to the ground.
In the dark, damp, and gloomy environment, it didn't take long for countless tiny, embryo-like creatures to hatch. Xavier warily observed the repulsive little creatures and then discovered that only about a quarter of the eggs would actually develop into the kind of small monsters he knew that could run and jump with a complete shape; the vast majority of the remaining eggs would produce deformed and twisted, incomplete beings.
But whether they are incomplete or complete, the first thing they do after birth is to quickly disappear into the darkness.
Then, these little creatures will die in an instinctive fight to the death. The losers of the struggle will become the freshest bait for their brothers and sisters. Similarly, the larvae that grow by feeding on the corpses of their brothers and sisters will become food for the "mother".
"Waaaaah...waaaah..."
The man seemed unaware of the appalling tragedy he was experiencing, and of the endless cycle of suffering around him.
He could only let out continuous whimpers that sounded almost like wails, and then slowly approach Xavier and Arthur.
Xavier felt fear for the first time ever, because it soon discovered that while it loathed the man in front of it, it was completely unable to muster any thought of attacking him.
This was so strange. Xavier looked down at the deadly thorns on his tibia.
On the other side, it also had to spare some attention to control Arthur—that idiot was still writhing and trying to rush toward the man.
Xavier could only retreat helplessly, step by step.
The man pressed closer step by step, but just as he was about to touch Xavier and Arthur, his body suddenly stopped.
He writhed in agony, and the wails that escaped his throat grew ever more piercing.
Xavier jolted awake, instantly becoming clear-headed.
Then it grabbed Arthur and quickly took several steps back to distance itself from the man.
That indescribable sense of chaos slowly faded from its body.
It was only then that Xavier realized the man had been bound by countless tubes, the dense network of which was covered in newly formed, festering skin and flesh, almost becoming part of his body. It was for this reason that, just as the man was about to step out of the conduit's range, the tubes on his back nearly ruptured, causing a gushing out of blood that halted his movements, eliciting a painful scream from him.
Xavier looked at the man and felt a chill run down his spine.
There was a strange aura about this man that made it involuntarily think of Lin Xi. But Xavier swore that if it saw its Lin Xi in this state, it would go completely mad.
"Lin Xi..."
Arthur, standing beside Xavier, still appeared lost and confused.
Arthur stared at the man, feeling dizzy, before shifting his gaze to Xavier.
"Lin Xi?"
It asked, puzzled.
"That's not Lin Xi..."
Xavier shook his head frantically, then said.
The man seemed to be terrified by the pain in his back. After realizing that he could not reach Xavier and Arthur no matter what, it slowly disappeared back into the darkness, just as it had come, accompanied by a wet, rubbing sound.
If Xavier wanted to, he could have chased after the man and found out where he was hiding.
At that moment, all Xavier could do was remain vigilant and forcefully pull Arthur away from the room as quickly as possible.
Just as it had finally led Arthur back to the corridor they had been in, an indescribable chill ran through Xavier's soul like an electric current.
With a whoosh, its wings unleashed themselves uncontrollably.
Arthur also instantly regained his senses.
They all turned their faces and looked towards a certain spot in the corridor.
"Lin Xi!"
This time, there was no trace of confusion in Arthur's tone.
As it whispered, Xavier had already rushed ahead, dashing in that direction—just now, their mental connection with Lin Xi had been triggered.
Lin Xi is in a state of extreme fear.
Lin Xi is in danger!
At this moment, Lin Xi's warning signal became Xavier and Arthur's most prominent navigational aid. They broke through numerous obstacles at an astonishing speed and found Lin Xi's location in the intricate passageway.
However, after finally finding Lin Xi, what stood in front of Xavier and Arthur was an incredibly thick metal door.
Even with such a thick metal door, the stench emanating from the other side could not be concealed.
It's a king beetle.
Other queen beetles have appeared in its territory.
"I'm here, Lin Xi, I'm here..."
Xavier let out a roar and then slammed into the door.
The sturdy metal door cracked open after just a few blows from Xavier's impact.
Next, the monster on the other side of the door took over Xavier's job.
Several incredibly thick insect limbs reached out from the edge of the gap, tearing the metal isolation door in two as if it were cardboard, and then hurled it heavily into the distance.
Xavier went straight into battle against the monster.
Ohmu... a defiled, twisted Ohmu...
Just like Lin Xi, the moment Xavier saw the monster, the instincts deep within his body, which had been derived from alien species for millions of years, began to boil.
Its disgust and hatred for the Queen Insect reached its peak in an instant. Not to mention, Xavier could also smell the monster's scent on Lin Xi.
It won't misinterpret the information contained in this scent.
Xavier let out a screech and then lunged straight at the monster like a sharp sword.
It collided with the monster, and then separated.
Xavier left a deep wound on the monster, a wound so deep it could almost cut the monster in two.
But at the same moment, the monster also left a deep mark on Xavier... The tentacle-like things on the creature cleverly bypassed the armor on Xavier's back and went straight through Xavier's relatively vulnerable chest.
Xavier fell from mid-air and staggered back several steps before regaining its balance.
"Xavier?!"
Lin Xi screamed in terror.
Xavier simply waved his tentacles at him.
"...Next time you have to hold my hand."
It spoke earnestly, word by word.
Don't lose me again!
It said.
Blood dripped down its body.
Lin Xi almost fainted, but the monster behind Xavier remained motionless in its previous position.
It turned its head to the side, as if completely unaware of the horrific wounds on its body.
Lin Xi even strongly suspected that this monster might not have the ability to feel pain at all.
"Xavier! This is not the time to talk about this—watch out!"
Lin Xi was extremely nervous, and he couldn't help but shout,
But the moment he finished speaking...
"Smack..."
The monster's arm suddenly fell off its shoulder, and foul-smelling blood splattered directly onto the ground.
That was Xavier's previous masterpiece.
Immediately afterwards, the monster's body began to sway.
Lin Xi watched helplessly as a familiar scene unfolded before his eyes once again: a thin film instantly covered the surface of the monster's wound, and then a disgusting columnar object emerged from within the wound...
However, the wound that Xavier created this time was too large. Pink buds kept emerging from beneath the thin membrane of the monster's wound, but no complete columnar object appeared from beginning to end.
The monster let out a muffled murmur, seemingly completely unaware of its surroundings; it didn't even know it was injured.
It thought it would grow new limbs as quickly as before, so it bared its teeth and claws and swung its already broken body toward Xavier.
Xavier once again revealed its exceptionally sharp thorns. It leaped lightly, the sharp edges of its insect limbs slicing towards the monster's throat.
It leaped onto the monster's back, firmly planting its remaining feet on its back. Then, using this as a fulcrum, Xavier hooked its two forelimbs onto the monster's throat and sawed back and forth like sawing wood.
This time, the monster finally raised its head high and let out a agonizing roar.
"Bang--"
After an unknown amount of time, the monster's head fell to the ground along with a large amount of blood.
Its repulsive body gradually collapsed.
It died.
"Lin Xi!"
"Xavier!"
Lin Xi forcefully pulled the tentacle that was wrapped around one of her feet off her body.
Xavier nimbly jumped off the clone of the King Insect and rushed towards Lin Xi.
It had a deep wound on its body, and the whole insect was covered in blood. But perhaps because killing a mutant with the aura of a queen insect had activated its most primal instincts, it was now more spirited and excited than before.
Even its metallic wings displayed an opal-like, ever-changing color.
Its tentacles were fully spread out and swollen like flags, trembling wildly and rapidly above its head.
The next second, it suddenly hugged Lin Xi.
"Xavier, your wound—"
"Lin Xi...smells so good..."
Xavier immediately buried its face deep into Linxi's neck, its wings and tentacles almost completely enveloping most of Linxi—it was greedily absorbing the scent from Linxi with all its body parts.
This is the true flavor of Lin Xi...
After confirming this, Xavier's body, which had been stretched to its limit, slowly relaxed.
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