It's so good that I survived.
This was the most vivid thought that came to Lin Xi's mind after meeting Bryce.
Even if a series of troubles await him next, it's the same.
As a survivor of the exploration team, he would be faced with a mountain of written reports, and if he was unlucky, he might even have to give a face-to-face mission report to Taran (or that damned emergency team). Just thinking about these two things made Lin Xi a little envious of Jerry and the other two who were in a coma.
Not to mention, this ordeal led them to stumble upon the Providence's spacecraft—a lifeline for the Apollo, which was now nearly out of ammunition and supplies.
Of course, every time Lin Xi recounted his adventures with Lina and Schroederes in that spaceship, he would repeatedly emphasize that many enormous and terrifying alien insects now lived in that spaceship, as well as the strange phenomena on the mummies trapped in the cryogenic chambers...
However, looking at the ecstatic expressions on the faces of those aboard the Sun God, Lin Xi seriously doubted whether they had actually heeded his warning.
The control motherboard they retrieved from the spacecraft's central control room was immediately handed over to the technical analysts on the Helios. Fortunately, Earth's technology hadn't stagnated entirely in the past 300 years, and according to information leaked privately by Elisa, they might be able to fully repair the motherboard soon—well! Perhaps that's why the people on the Helios didn't take Lin Xi's warning seriously.
After all, once the central control motherboard is repaired, it means that the "ghost" type mechanical warriors that are under the central control command can also resume operation immediately.
Even with just the few mechanical warriors that Lin Xi and his team found in the central control room, they could easily handle the vast majority of attacks.
"...Based on your description, we strongly suspect that there are probably more mecha warriors stored in the lower deck of that spacecraft." It was the adorable Elisa who secretly told Lin Xi this information. "After the Del Corporation went bankrupt, the United Government discovered during the destruction process of those mecha warriors that their warehouse inventory was unusually low. Thinking about it now, it's very likely that the Del Corporation secretly reached an agreement with the A-country government, and those orders that hadn't yet been shipped were transported to the Providence and brought here. After all, this place isn't subject to the solar system's restrictions. Given the A-country government's usual practices, they might even be hoping to use this special location for smuggling weapons privately. You know, at that time, this place was considered the first extrasolar colony in human history."
Even Elisa herself probably didn't realize that when she talked about the planet where the Helios was located, she had already completely accepted that it was the legendary planet AS192.
Lin Xi pursed her lips.
He silently watched Elisa mutter to herself in excessive excitement, without reminding her that if this really was AS192, why was the warp gate, which should have been nearby according to the coordinates, completely missing?
Lin Xi doubted that even God could easily erase such a folded black hole as a teleportation portal.
Moreover, what worried Lin Xi even more was not only that aircraft and those damned documents and reports.
"call……"
After another day of reporting tasks, Lin Xi sighed deeply after leaving the meeting room, and then dragged her tired body straight to her greenhouse.
In fact, so much time had passed since the Apollo's emergency landing that the researchers' work had been completely abandoned. No one cared about the animals and plants brought out from Sunu (no matter how precious or priceless they were), and no one paid attention to the progress of their mission. With even the survival of life a problem, their projects seemed to have indeed become extremely insignificant.
But for Lin Xi, the fact that no one cares doesn't mean he doesn't have to worry.
At least, the star butterfly that is still in the greenhouse is the one he worries about the most right now.
"Hey, Number One, how are you doing today?"
Lin Xi walked into the greenhouse and then greeted the huge, ugly, even deformed thing in the glass culture tank.
As always, the object remained silently attached to a corner of the glass tank, without a sound or movement, like a dead thing.
Lin Xi walked over to it and began to routinely measure its various data.
Although Oni firmly believed that the mass covered with tangled veins and disgusting spots was the corpse sac formed after "Number One" failed to pupate, Lin Xi still stubbornly decided to continue observing it as the pupal shell of the Star Butterfly.
The problem with the pupation of "Number One" was discovered on the night he was brought back to the Apollo spacecraft by the rescue team.
After enduring a barrage of bureaucratic meetings, Lin Xi dragged his weary body out of the greenhouse—and nearly fainted at what he saw.
The once somewhat beautiful star butterfly pupa shell now looked rotten, swollen, deformed, and discolored. Meanwhile, Oni, who should have been carefully observing and caring for "Number One," could only blush and stammer, unable to offer any excuse when faced with Lin Xi's deathly expression.
Well, at least the young man with curly hair made up an excuse.
"I swear, I really don't know what happened. It just suddenly turned out like this... Okay, fine, I admit I was a bit negligent during the time you were missing... I'm sorry, Dr. Lin Xi, but you have to understand, I was just too busy. The animal lab was in complete disarray, and those bastards on the emergency response team were clamoring to destroy a batch of Class A and below sleeping organisms to save energy. If I could have a chip implanted in my brain like Professor Ando, maybe I could handle all this mess, but you know me... I was just a student trying to get more credits, who knew things would turn out like this..."
By the end, Unnie was almost in tears. Faced with that face, Lin Xi could only helplessly accept it all.
The little star butterfly he raised himself.
His "Number One" may have truly died inside that disgusting, rotten cocoon...
However, it was probably the unexpected event caused by that storm that changed him. After witnessing Francis's death, Lin Xi found it increasingly difficult to accept the loss of the life around him.
So even though the pupa of "Number One" has become like this, Lin Xi still refuses to give up.
Instead of destroying it, he silently recorded all the data every day and prayed in his heart that "Number One" was still alive.
Perhaps his prayers really worked.
Inside that incredibly ugly pupa shell, there was indeed a faint breath of life emanating.
At first, it was just a soft shell that bulged slightly when he whispered to it.
The movement was even fainter than a baby turning over in its mother's womb—yet Lin Xi still managed to discover it, almost as if by magic.
God knows how happy he was at that moment.
Later, Lin Xi discovered that when he gently stroked the surface of the wet, sticky pupa shell, something inside the shell seemed to vibrate slightly in response to him.
Even the spots covering the surface of the pupa occasionally change color, just like the patterns on the magnificent wings of "Number One".
Lin Xi began to have more confidence in the survival of "Number One," although he was probably the only one on the entire ship who cared about it.
"Hey buddy, how's your day? Maybe you'd like to go for a drive?"
Lin Xi spoke gently to "Number One".
Looking at the data, in just a few days, the deformed pupa shells have grown significantly larger at a rate visible to the naked eye. Because of this, the originally thick pupa shells have become much thinner, and in some special areas, the pupa shells have begun to crack.
Upon discovering this, Lin Xi examined those areas with trepidation.
"Huh? What's this...?"
Lin Xi could hardly believe his eyes—he discovered a soft, thin membrane beneath the cracked pupa shell.
The film was white, but it had a slightly translucent texture.
The pale yellow fluid inside the pupa shell revealed a small yellow shadow beneath the membrane.
At the edge of the membrane and the eggshell, there are some capillaries that should not appear on the insect eggshell, but Lin Xi did not notice this problem at the time.
Just as he couldn't resist moving closer to observe, a gurgling, moist sound rang out, followed by a pale shadow that slid swiftly past from beneath the membrane.
"ah?!"
Lin Xi was startled.
He suddenly straightened up and took a few steps back.
Meanwhile, after the white shadow began to wriggle, a red spot the size of a thumb gradually appeared.
Then it spun around again, and under Lin Xi's gaze, the hazy red spot stopped in a fixed position. It stared at Lin Xi through the cracks and the thin film, appearing and disappearing intermittently.
"No way?"
Lin Xi murmured to herself.
It wasn't until this moment that he suddenly realized what that red spot actually was.
Those are... eyes.
The eyes belong to "Number One".
At that very moment, "Number One" was staring intently at him.
Lin Xi didn't know what "Number One" would look like after the transformation was complete—but one thing was certain: "Number One" would probably have big eyes... and red pupils.
A word from the author: On behalf of the masses, I'd like to say something.
Oh wow...
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