For a long time, the medical room was completely silent.
Alyssa's pale face was filled with worry and shock. Several times, her lips trembled slightly, but in the end, she said nothing.
Bryce guessed that she probably hadn't found the right words to break the silence yet.
The atmosphere was a little tense, and Bryce knew it, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to salvage the situation—he needed some time to calm down.
Although he had told Elisa most of his past truthfully, Bryce knew very well that there were still many things he hadn't told her: such as his little sister who died in the science museum, his family on the verge of collapse while searching for Lin Xi, and how young Bryce faced his inner terror and self-blame during that month and the months that followed.
Oh, right, and there were also the days after Lin Xi went home, when he had nightmares every night, screaming in bed and almost losing his voice.
He wasn't trying to hide anything; he just didn't know how to bring it up. That extremely dark past had left an indelible scar on Bryce and his entire family, and the fear and pain were so intense that they couldn't be described in words.
All Bryce could do was bury it completely in his memory and pretend he remembered nothing.
However, even after Lin Xi underwent hypnosis and gradually got her life back on track, even after so many years...
Bryce was still involuntarily troubled by that inexplicable unease.
When they went camping, Bryce would force himself to believe that Lin Xi's lack of mosquito bites was simply due to her constitution.
When Lin Xi smiled and said that the plants he grew had never suffered from any diseases or pests, Bryce would tell himself that some people are just better at tending to plants than ordinary people.
When Bryce discovers that the insect population near their home has grown so large that it has attracted the attention of experts, he tries to convince himself that it's simply an ecological problem caused by environmental changes...
Bryce tried his best to put that childhood nightmare behind him.
Lin Xi is just an ordinary person.
Bryce kept repeating this to himself until he believed it himself.
"Back then, the most outstanding scientists on Earth studied Lin Xi for several months, but they found nothing. This is enough to prove that Lin Xi was just an ordinary person."
He said to Elisa.
(But something must have changed during the month he stayed inside the pupa.)
"Over the years, Lin Xi has never shown any abnormalities. He hasn't shot spider silk from his wrists to leap between skyscrapers, he hasn't grown wings, he hasn't become a superhero, nor has he become some kind of villain with a dark past..."
(But his relationship with insects was never ordinary.)
"Solian and John thought they knew some hidden secrets, that they only witnessed the tragedy Lin Xi suffered, but now... they're trying to make Lin Xi a sacrifice for the Sun God. Yes, we all know something's wrong here, but some people are willing to face it all, while others, with their fragile spirits, can't bear the pressure. They don't want to accept the reality that we unlucky souls might be left here forever—so they have to find a culprit so they can vent all their fear and hatred on Lin Xi! They think that once they get rid of him, everything will be alright, we won't die, and we'll find our way home—"
Bryce spoke faster and faster without realizing it, until Elisa had to raise her voice to interrupt him.
"Bryce, no way!"
“I won’t let that happen. We’re on the Helios now, a spaceship—not some ancient ship made of wood and metal. We’ll get through this.”
Elisa looked Bryce up and down, bit her lip, and then whispered words of comfort.
"..."
Bryce looked up and stared blankly at Elisa's pale face. After a few seconds, he slumped down and covered his face.
“I’m sorry, Alyssa,” he said. “I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. And, you know, I’m really worried about what those people might do to Lin Xi. I’m afraid they’ll hurt him…”
"We will protect him, darling, I believe we can."
She went over and gave Bryce another hug.
Despite the fact that deep down, her intuition—or rather, her premonition about the future—was screaming incessantly in her mind.
Misfortune is coming.
Misfortune... is already on this ship.
...
A few days later—
greenhouse.
"Bang--"
Something hit the glass.
Lin Xi's hand trembled slightly, and a few drops of the original solution were sent out. The originally clear and transparent light blue in the test tube instantly turned into a turbid yellowish-brown. Before the reaction was completed, the instrument next to him immediately started to alarm, and the atomized nutrient solution for air cultivation immediately showed a red light indicating that the ratio had failed.
"..."
Lin Xi stared at his failed work, took a deep breath, then casually turned off the alarming device and turned back with a cold smile.
"Number One" was lying on the glass wall of the culture tank. It shook its wings at Lin Xi, and the red spots showed its anger. The small stone that it had thrown at the glass earlier was now lying under its body.
It must have heard the alarm from the instrument. When Lin Xi turned around, it trembled slightly, but quickly put on an indifferent expression again.
"Don't do this again. I'm warning you one last time, it's not fun at all."
Lin Xi dropped what he was doing, strode heavily to the front of the glass tank, looked at "Number One," frowned, and said sternly.
It was a somewhat ferocious face—well, even the heads of harmless insects on Earth would look exceptionally grotesque if magnified to this extent.
And the star butterfly itself isn't exactly a cute insect.
"I already discussed this with you yesterday—it doesn't do you any good to disturb my work!"
Lin Xi shouted at "Number One".
During this period, "Number One" grew at an astonishing rate.
Its body is now nearly a meter long, and its surface is covered with a layer of silvery-white, dreamy and mesmerizing iridescent light, like pearls. Its tentacles have become more curled, with fine hairs growing at the tips, and its beady eyes have already shown signs of compound eye development.
Even the bone plates on his body had fallen off once due to his rapid growth. Lin Xi carefully collected the fallen fragments and stored them in a special box—the Star Butterfly is an extremely rare creature, and everything that falls off its body will be valuable research data.
However, after experiencing the painful reality, Lin Xi realized one thing: no matter what he tried to do with the things that fell off "Number One", he had to be careful. At the very least, he could not collect the fallen items in front of the little bug.
Otherwise, he would have been hit on the head by a fragment of an insect molt when he entered the large insect culture tank the next day. That thing was ridiculously heavy, and Lin Xi suspected that the fact that he wasn't covered in blood was a testament to God's last bit of love for him.
Oh, right, we also need to thank "Number One" next, otherwise it will start its usual tantrum.
Lin Xi swore that before boarding the Sun God, even in the most absurd scenarios, he never expected that he would be arguing with a giant insect every few days, then making up, and then arguing again.
Humans will never be able to figure out what's going on in the head of an alien insect. At times like this, Lingxi tries to comfort herself.
Besides growing longer, "Number One's" elastic and ever-changing wings had grown large enough to envelop an adult man—Lin Xi knew this because "Number One" had already tried this on him.
This earned the little insect a heavy slap and a stern reprimand.
"Number One" seemed quite annoyed by this, but its little temper was nothing compared to its biggest conflict with Lin Xi.
"Sizzle... sizzle..."
"Number One" raised its head, its mouthparts trembling, and then emitted a long string of indistinct muttering sounds.
No, that won't do.
Although she didn't understand what "Number One" was talking about, Lin Xi could keenly guess what "Number One" meant—it wasn't difficult for her, after all, "Number One" was quite emotional, and its wings made all its little thoughts completely obvious.
Faced with the alien insect's complaint, Lin Xi raised an eyebrow and then firmly refused.
“You’re not the little bug you used to be. Look at your size now, my living quarters can’t accommodate you.”
Lin Xi frowned and said to "Number One".
Of course, what he didn't say was that even if "Number One" were still the same size, he wouldn't allow such a bug to continue staying in his living quarters.
After all, there are already enough rumors about him and the bugs on the Apollo.
"Sizzle..."
After countless identical answers, "Number One" began to flap its wings in annoyance.
Seeing its appearance, Lin Xi couldn't help but sigh, like a single father watching his crying child.
That's right, this is the fundamental conflict between him and "Number One" that has been brewing for the past few days.
Ever since "Number One" discovered it had to stay alone in the large insect culture tank in the greenhouse, it started throwing a tantrum, wanting to return to Lin Xi's original living chamber. Lin Xi suspected that it was probably because "Number One" was born there, so it seemed to regard that place as a kind of nest. Otherwise, it would be really hard to explain "Number One's" attachment to that small and cramped space. After all, Professor Ando's notes clearly recorded the star butterflies' preferred living environment—spacious, cool, dry, quiet, and filled with jewels or gold coins.
From this last point of view, the Star Butterfly does indeed share similarities with the Western dragons on Earth.
However, in Lin Xi's living quarters, all the conditions were exactly the opposite of what was recorded.
So now Lin Xi only left the egg case in his own cabin, which had not yet fully hatched all the insect eggs, while he wanted to give "Number One" a better living environment.
"Hey, listen, I know you're probably feeling uneasy because you've suddenly been transported to a new environment, but... well, there's nothing we can do about it. Once you're back on Earth, I think you'll have a perfect living environment, which might make you feel a little more relaxed..."
Lin Xi originally just wanted to persuade "Number One" to calm down, but as he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer, and finally he simply stared blankly at the glass tank in front of him and fell silent.
Back to Earth.
He repeated the phrase in his mind, and then his heart gradually grew cold.
At the beginning, the people on board had high hopes of returning to Earth, which was natural—a failed jump would be a serious accident, but since their ship did not explode and there were no serious casualties, the accident was not fatal.
Moreover, although the Apollo is old, it is secretly carrying out government missions, and its supplies are far more abundant than those of stingy private ships. As long as they can recalculate the coordinates and find the warp gate, they will eventually be saved.
That was everyone's initial thought, and the officers on the spaceship kept guiding the crew to think that way.
But now, even the most foolish person has realized that something is wrong—the surveyors are working day and night to compare star charts, launch space probes, and check the data transmitted back from space... but they have never been able to find the coordinates of the planet they landed on, let alone the jump gate to return.
A heavy sense of impending death hung over everyone's hearts, and the atmosphere on the ship grew increasingly grim.
Lin Xi tried hard to control her emotions, but sometimes panic and despair are beyond the control of human reason. Moreover, because of Bryce and Elisa, Lin Xi already knew more than the ordinary crew members...
Mutation.
insect.
And there are also the bizarre deaths that have begun to occur.
Sometimes, Lin Xi even wanted to emulate those increasingly outrageous exploration team members, recklessly indulging in alcohol and drugs, because only by completely numbing his mind could he put those suffocating things out of his mind...
"Sizzle... sizzle?"
A soft hum came from the other end of the glass trough. Lin Xi snapped back to reality and realized that "Number One," which had been grumpy before, was now docile. Its wings had returned to the color Lin Xi liked, vibrant and beautiful. The red compound eyes embedded in its ferocious insect face were staring at him, and he could even see some emotion that resembled "worry."
"clatter--"
Number One raised its forelimbs and gently tapped the other side of the glass.
Its red eyes blinked slowly.
Lin Xi was slightly taken aback.
"Number One" knocked on the glass again.
Its appearance is terrifying now, but its movements are humane, and even have a strange sense of familiarity.
It took Lin Xi a long time to realize that "Number One" was imitating his previous behavior.
Before "Number One" became so large, Lin Xi would occasionally reach out and gently stroke its head and back, because he found that this action could soothe the little insect's emotions.
Now, Number One intends to comfort him in the same way, but separated by a thick glass curtain wall, all Number One can do is gently tap the glass with the tips of its thorny forelimbs.
Lin Xi knew that "Number One" had noticed his low mood, which was why he suddenly changed his attitude.
This eased Lin Xi's unusually heavy mood a little.
“Thank you. It’s alright, don’t worry.” He gently patted “Number One’s” head through the glass wall. “...Of course, I would be even happier if you could be more obedient.”
He said.
Lin Xi didn't know if "Number One" understood what he was saying, but in any case, for a long time afterward, his little bug did behave much quieter than before.
This almost made Lin Xi feel uncomfortable. Several times, he would unconsciously turn around and look at "Number One" while working. The latter was always quietly perched on the branch, staring at Lin Xi without moving.
That gaze sometimes even made Lin Xi feel a sense of profundity, and it was also full of inquiry. If it weren't for the fact that "Number One" mostly behaved like an unreasonable child, and if Dr. Ando's notebook hadn't clearly stated that while the Star Butterflies were extremely intelligent, their intelligence and high IQ ultimately had a limit. Even the most intelligent Star Butterflies only had the IQ of a human child (after all, given their overly powerful bodies, nature didn't require them to expend too much energy on intelligence), Lin Xi would almost have thought that an exceptionally mature and intelligent soul resided within "Number One's" body.
"Drip—drip—drip—"
The instrument alarmed again.
Lin Xi snapped out of his daze, looked at the reagent in front of him with frustration, and cursed.
He didn't know what was wrong with him today; he was so restless. He had failed to prepare the reagents many times, which was a waste of the already limited raw materials in stock.
"never mind!"
Lin Xi rubbed her nose dejectedly and muttered to herself.
He then began packing his things, intending to abandon his work for the day and go back to his room to rest.
Just as he was about to leave the greenhouse, Lin Xi involuntarily stopped in his tracks.
"Well then... see you tomorrow."
Lin Xi turned around and looked at the insect glass tank behind her.
"Number One" flapped its wings at him, then quietly flew from the glass to the Sunu branches used for enrichment, and silently continued weaving its pale golden nest. Ever since it began to grow larger, the nest it painstakingly wove could never keep up with its size.
Lin Xi was hardly used to this "Number One" anymore. Before today, every time he left the greenhouse, it was a battle. At this moment, he was also on edge—based on past experience, every time he left the greenhouse, he would be met with a huge commotion from "Number One".
As a result, until Lin Xi left, "Number One" remained well-behaved and did nothing to cause trouble.
...As a result, Lin Xi herself felt uneasy and uncertain.
"Number One" may simply have matured.
Lin Xi said to herself.
That's why it became so obedient and well-behaved.
However, the more Lin Xi tried to comfort himself, the more uneasy he felt—he thought about it for a long time but couldn't find the source of his unease.
Because Lin Xi was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't notice that several tall young men had caught up with him at some point.
Several men wearing orange exploration suits identified them; they were mostly exploration team members, with one or two mercenaries as well.
They were all very thin, with pale skin and veins that stood out starkly against their bluish skin. Around their eyes were red patches resembling allergies, which was likely due to excessive alcohol consumption and the use of food bags containing unknown ingredients.
Unlike the mutated companions who had frightened Lin Xi and her group in the restaurant, these men's eyes were not unfocused; instead, they gleamed with an eerie light, like those of wild animals.
As they moved, the fabric of their clothes slid down, and a slight metallic clanging sound came from their pockets—the weapons they carried.
Their expressions held a morbid excitement, and their gazes toward Lin Xi were filled with malice.
If Mark or Solian were here, they would easily recognize that these guys following behind Lin Xi were some of the people who were closest to John Brunson back then.
After all, in the event of a major incident like a failed jump, there are always a few people who, in their panic, will take those confident but empty promises to heart.
Just as Bryce and Elisa had said, they were trying to attribute this sense of powerlessness and panic entirely to another “guilty person.”
Now, the horrific and unexplained death of John Bronson has completely unleashed the darkness within some people.
Lin Xi quickly realized the presence of those people behind him, probably because those guys were in such a mental state that it was difficult for them to conceal their footsteps.
With his back to those people, Lin Xi carefully discerned the movements behind him, his expression becoming serious.
He had an urge to run away, but after glancing at the people behind him out of the corner of his eye, Lin Xi quickly dismissed the idea.
Those men were like wild dogs that had spotted a rabbit; once he started to run away, it was a sign of weakness, which only fueled their madness.
So Lin Xi simply kept walking at her original pace, pretending not to have noticed anything, and headed towards Bryce's medical room.
However, he did not make it to the medical room as he had hoped. He was forced into a dead-end alley with few people around him. Not far behind him was an airlock that had been locked up and was very noisy.
"Hey, Dr. Lin Xi, please wait a moment..."
He heard a sharp sound.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Lin Xi's neck. He intentionally or unintentionally walked to a bend in an L-shaped corridor, then slowly turned around, using the walls on both sides of the corridor to shield the back of his neck and back.
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
He raised his head and looked at the group of people, pretending to be nonchalant.
The people surrounded him in a fan shape.
"We need you to explain some things to us."
The person standing at the front and speaking was not an exploration team member but a mercenary.
He was almost as tall as the top of the corridor, with bulging muscles on his arms and calluses on his fingers.
He was a man far from handsome; when he spoke, the muscles in his face twitched slightly as if he were having a nervous breakdown.
"Explain what?"
Lin Xi asked coldly.
"Explain the death of old John."
The mercenary stared intently at Lin Xi and then spoke.
"You killed him with the insects, didn't you?"
Beside him, another man started shouting excitedly.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about… John Bronson’s cause of death still hasn’t been determined.”
Lin Xi said.
His heart was beating a little fast, and his palms were slightly damp.
He was certainly afraid, because he could not sense any rationality from the people in front of him—proving that he could not reason with them at all—and worse, these people were filled with a violent emotion.
They were just looking for an excuse to do something bloody and violent, and Lin Xi realized this the moment she saw them.
"The person conducting the inspection is your dearest brother... and the person acting like a tyrant on this ship is your brother's girlfriend..."
The other party spoke to Lin Xi with resentment.
"There will be no answer; everyone knows that."
Another person chimed in, speaking incoherently.
“It must be you. Old John said before that he knew your true identity, and you definitely won’t let him go.”
"What do you want me to say? Since you have already condemned me in your hearts."
Lin Xi said coldly.
While feigning calm as he engaged with these people, he subtly touched his wrist and pressed several communication buttons.
Before he could contact Bryce, the mercenary grabbed his wrist tightly.
"Don't even think about playing tricks, you devil."
The mercenary's voice rose.
In that instant, Lin Xi knew she had made a mistake, and the situation suddenly became terrible.
"Don't let him resist, he might kill us, just like he killed old John!"
Several people screamed in a mixture of excitement and fear—
In their hearts, Lin Xi was indeed just as the old man had said before, no longer human, but a devil who brought all the misfortune to the Sun God.
Old John proved this with his own death.
"Let go!"
Lin Xi struggled to his feet. He managed to free himself from the mercenary who had initially grabbed him and rushed towards the gap he had previously identified. However, there were simply too many people surrounding him, and they all possessed a strange, monstrous strength.
Lin Xi was forcibly pulled back by those people after only running a few meters.
"No--"
Lin Xi cried out, but someone immediately covered his mouth.
The pungent stench of alcohol and the strange smell of the food bag instantly filled Lin Xi's nasal cavity, almost making it hard for him to breathe.
"We have to kill him."
He heard someone talking excitedly with their companions beside him.
"Old John said that only by killing him can we survive—"
“Where should we make our move? I think we need to hurry, or he might summon those bugs and kill us just like he killed Joe. I saw him put those bugs into those two poor souls…”
Lin Xi turned his head to the side in disbelief, almost injuring his neck in the process.
He glared at the men, and he was certain that none of them had been in the medical bay when the bugs attacked the ship.
These people have gone completely insane.
Lin Xi thought.
Those food bags may not only have altered their bodies, but also lowered their IQ.
These idiots might actually kill themselves because of the rumors John Bronson spread earlier.
"Mmm...mmm..."
Lin Xi was terrified.
His body was pinned to the ground by several people, his mouth and nose were firmly covered, and the violent struggle caused him to suffer from oxygen deprivation.
In a daze, the scene before me seemed to repeat some of the deepest images in my memory.
Lin Xi's mind suddenly became hazy.
After the mercenary noticed that Lin Xi's struggles had weakened, he immediately straddled Lin Xi, one hand around Lin Xi's neck and the other raised high, holding a dagger.
Lin Xi was breathing heavily, cold sweat and physiological tears seeping into his eyes, making it impossible for him to see the face of the man in front of him.
He awaited the impending excruciating pain.
Several seconds had passed, but the mercenary's dagger still hadn't fallen.
"What...is this smell...?"
The mercenary smelled something.
He had never smelled such a wonderful fragrance in his life.
The intoxicating aroma, which seemed to melt even one's brain, emanated from the "devil" beneath him.
Oh, old John was right.
The mercenary stared at Lin Xi's face and then thought to himself.
This smell is definitely not human, he—
The man's thoughts suddenly began to crumble at that moment.
An idea became clear as the fragrance filled his nostrils.
This belongs to me.
In the fleeting thought of the human, everything surrounding the mercenary slowed down and became distorted.
He could hear his own heart pounding and the shouts of his companions.
He could see the hands that were pressing down on "He".
He smelled human sweat, a faint smell of blood, and that peculiar "substance" smell.
All the subtle information around him gathered in his mind at the same time.
Those sounds, those smells... drove the mercenaries mad.
This belongs to me.
That thought started jumping around in his mind again.
It was a clear and unambiguous order, and the mercenaries had no way to resist.
This is mine. This is mine. This is mine. This is mine. —
And soon, nothing else remained in his mind.
"Sam, what are you hesitating for? Kill this demon! Then we can all go back!"
"If you're scared, I can do it..."
"Sam, do it!"
...
The others immediately became anxious after seeing the mercenary named Sam freeze for a moment.
Certain ingredients in the food bag did indeed make them as easily agitated as wild dogs.
However, their declining intelligence also makes it difficult for them to react keenly to what Sam does.
"Bang--"
It's the dull sound of a fist hitting flesh.
"Aaaaaaahh ...
Then came that beast-like sound, which squeezed out in a low voice from the mercenary's throat.
He jumped off Lin Xi, grabbed the hair of the nearest person, and slammed the person's head against the wall, leaving a bloody mark on the metal surface.
The man Sam grabbed passed out without uttering a sound.
Before the first victim's body could even touch the ground, Sam had already easily grabbed his second victim.
He punched the unfortunate man's temples repeatedly until the man's body went limp from unconsciousness before letting go.
Dark red blood slowly flowed down the nose and mouth of the exploration team member in his hand.
The exploration team members who had been surrounding Lin Xi only realized something was wrong at this moment, and they looked at Sam with a dreamlike expression.
"What are you doing... Sam... what have you done..."
Someone shouted.
"be mine……"
The mercenary muttered the same phrase over and over.
He walked towards those people.
Before long, almost everyone was down—most of them had already lost consciousness, and the few who remained conscious had been violently beaten and were completely incapacitated, only able to curl up on the floor and whimper softly.
"Heh...heh...good...good...obedient..."
After doing all this, Sam mumbled something indistinctly and slowly turned around to look at Lin Xi.
Lin Xi had already struggled to his feet from the ground at the very beginning of the incident. Now he was leaning tightly against the metal wall in the corner, looking at everything in front of him with a pale face.
Sam walked toward him.
"I... okay..."
His lips parted, and he spoke to Lin Xi indistinctly. He reached out and slowly stroked Lin Xi's cheek.
Then he slowly leaned towards Lin Xi, his nostrils twitching as he took a deep breath.
He was so close to actually touching Lin Xi—and judging from his current state, it was definitely not a pleasant experience for Lin Xi.
Lin Xi took a deep breath.
Then he pulled his hand out from behind him.
He gripped a multi-functional external hammer used for maintenance tightly in his hand, and then struck the man hard on the back of the neck.
The hammer didn't even make a sound when it hit the person.
Sam swayed slightly. The man who had been violently confronting others like a beast just minutes before now offered no resistance and collapsed to the ground.
Lin Xi stood there stunned for a while before she managed to suppress her fear and nudged Sam with her toe.
The man's body showed no reaction—he had indeed lost consciousness.
Only then did Lin Xi clutch the hammer tightly, staggering backward. Leaning against the cold wall, his body slowly and uncontrollably slid down.
Lin Xi frantically pulled the hammer from the victim's tool bag after the first victim fell down.
And now, only it can calm Lin Xi down.
Perhaps due to the aftereffects of being choked and unable to breathe earlier, Lin Xi felt a burning pain in his neck and his throat seemed to be swollen, making it extremely difficult for him to breathe. He also trembled like a Parkinson's patient taking a deep breath when he made movements.
It felt like an eternity as Lin Xi struggled to press the communicator with her trembling fingers.
“Hey, Bryce—” He looked at his brother with wide eyes, his vision a little blurry, “I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear?”
"Lin Xi?"
Bryce, as seen in the communication projection, jumped up instantly upon seeing Lin Xi's current appearance.
"what happened?"
Lin Xi forced a smile, even though he knew it was probably the most unsightly one he could muster.
"The bad news is, someone tried to attack me just now," Lin Xi mumbled, his gaze fixed on the unconscious mercenary. "The good news is, these people are all unconscious now, and I'm still alive."
"What--"
That's terrible.
Lin Xi thought to herself.
He had done his best, but Bryce still looked like he was going crazy.
and……
“I’m sorry, Bryce…I…”
I think I'm going to faint.
Lin Xi, clutching the hammer, didn't have time to finish her sentence before she closed her eyes and fainted.
Author's Note: Haha, so many people are complaining.
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