Two hours later, Lin Xi lay on the makeshift treatment bed in the medical room, wrapped in a blanket, holding a cup of hot tea in his hands (Bryce insisted that this was his last supply). The warm, bright light and the presence of Bryce so close to him finally calmed his wildly beating heart, and the peaceful scene before him even gave him a feeling of being in another world.
The monster's attack attracted many people, and then it suddenly vanished from the ship. Power was quickly restored, but Lin Xi's room was a mess. He hadn't thought much when he fired at the terrifying monster, and the Sun God's living quarters weren't designed with anyone inside frantically pulling the trigger of an electronic pulse gun in mind. Perhaps the only thing Lin Xi could be thankful for was that the few dying Star Butterfly eggs were intact.
However… this wasn't exactly something to be happy about. Just thinking about the face of that half-human, half-insect monster he'd seen before sent a chill down Lin Xi's spine. He figured it would be difficult for him to develop any affection for insects anytime soon… he thought.
After receiving the news, Bryce quickly brought Lin Xi to the treatment room. Meanwhile, Elisa was leading the others to investigate the whereabouts of that terrifying monster—the sudden appearance of such a horrible thing inside the Sun God had turned everyone pale upon hearing Lin Xi's account.
Lin Xi hoped that those people could find out about that thing soon, otherwise he suspected that his brother, who had a tendency to be overly anxious, would probably not be able to sleep for a long time.
"Oh, Lin Xi, please, don't look at me with that kind of expression..."
Bryce, who was busy at work, seemed to sense Lin Xi's gaze. He turned around, and upon seeing Lin Xi, he made a face as if he had a toothache.
“You look exactly like a wounded and frightened puppy. But, if I may be so bold, you’re really lucky this time. You don’t even have a scratch… at least not from what I’ve seen. Stop looking so pathetic.”
Bryce said in a harsh tone, his words might have been more convincing if he hadn't rushed over to nervously check the physiological data monitoring patches attached to Lin Xi's body with a worried look on his face.
He claimed that Lin Xi was terrified by the nightmarish external attack, but in Lin Xi's opinion, the one who was truly terrified was Bryce, who was now calming down in his own way.
This made Lin Xi feel a little apologetic deep down; sometimes he did seem to cause Bryce too much worry.
"I'm sorry," Lin Xi murmured.
"Shut up."
Bryce rudely interrupted him.
However, after pretending to be busy with work for a while, Bryce quietly sat down next to Lin Xi. He stared at his brother's pale face and then lowered his voice.
"Was that a half-human, half-insect monster? Like Liz Chan's child?"
Bryce asked, somewhat abruptly.
Although he tried his best to appear calm, Lin Xi could still clearly sense that Bryce was indeed very concerned about the monster that attacked him.
"That's right..."
Lin Xi said with difficulty.
"So, Professor Ando missed one of his own children when he killed them? Or... did a monster break the covenant and infiltrate the spaceship? No, none of that makes sense. Half-human, half-insect monsters can only be born from a human-Sunu hybrid, but Liz is already dead, and Ando is currently lying in solitary confinement as a living dead. Where did this monster come from? And why did it attack you..."
Bryce muttered incessantly, sounding somewhat frantic.
"I'd also like to know the answers to the questions you raised."
Lin Xiqiang said with a smile.
"Perhaps I can give you an answer—"
A hoarse female voice, weak from exhaustion, came from behind the two brothers.
Lin Xi and Bryce were startled. When they turned around, they realized that Alyssa had somehow appeared beside them. Because of sleep deprivation, Alyssa was painfully rubbing her temples.
"One good news and one bad news—"
"Stop keeping us in suspense, darling, just tell us the answer. What happened? What attacked Lin Xi?"
Bryce couldn't help but ask.
“Well, we didn’t find any of those horribly grotesque monsters—overall, Dr. Ando was quite decisive in killing his own child,” Elisa shrugged, then looked at Lin Xi. “We examined the bloodstains in your room, and they were human blood.”
"Humans?"
Lin Xi frowned.
"No—I saw it with my own eyes, what that monster looked like—"
"Sam."
Elisa simply gave a name.
"Do you remember this name? Sam."
All of Lin Xi's words caught in her throat for a moment.
How could he not remember? That mad mercenary, one second he was causing him trouble, the next he was beating his companion to near death with a terrifying frenzy, and then he committed that horrific tragedy inside the Sun God.
Elisa looked at Lin Xi's suddenly pale face and let out a long sigh.
“We’ve been looking for that guy… but honestly, I never expected that madman would actually have the guts to come back to the ship. All the bloodstains left in your room are Sam’s, and we also found some of his DNA on the wires in the power distribution room. Although we have absolutely no idea what he’s thinking, I think he probably came to your cabin this time to vent his anger or get revenge?”
"No, that can't be Sam. That saliva... that monster's saliva can even corrode the control panel next to my hatch!"
Lin Xi retorted instinctively.
He still remembers the scene that flashed before his eyes in an instant, under the light speed of the pulse gun.
Such a terrifying face, and such a huge, deformed body.
Even the most terrifying monster in the world couldn't possibly have such an appearance, let alone the saliva that almost drove him mad. The feeling of that sticky liquid dripping onto his shoulder was something Lin Xi suspected he would never forget for the rest of his life.
At the mention of the saliva, Elisa's face scrunched up, and she made a retching expression.
“Ah, saliva, that’s right. Our technicians examined the slime, and now I can tell you the disgusting truth: it’s all Sam’s saliva—though we don’t know why he had so much saliva and kept spitting on you. But the data doesn’t lie; it was Sam. As for those corroded electronic components you mentioned, that’s easy to explain too. Sam must have planned how to break into your room. He carried acid with him, and then… it’s all very simple. You just woke up from a dream, maybe a nightmare, and then you saw that bastard Sam, who might have been wearing some kind of mask to intimidate you,” Alyssa said. She paused for a moment, then looked at Bryce. “I hate saying this, but I have to… Lin Xi, I don’t mean anything by it, but it seems to me that your mental state has been very poor since that accident. You might be mistaken.”
Elisa's tone was calm and gentle.
Under such narration, even Lin Xi herself became somewhat uncertain.
His room was indeed very dark at the time. Perhaps he really did see something wrong?
Lin Xi thought to herself.
But whenever he tries to recall the scenes he saw, his soul still trembles at the sight of that monster.
That enormous, insect-like body and that grotesque skin...
Suddenly, a vague thought flashed through Lin Xi's mind.
Lin Xi's hand trembled slightly, and the liquid in the cup immediately rippled.
He suddenly realized that there was actually a ready-made "monster" on this ship, which was huge and had a particularly ferocious appearance—the star butterfly that should have been metamorphosing in its pupa, his "Number One".
Lin Xi suddenly shivered. Almost instinctively, he immediately rejected the vague guess. It was absurd. "Number One" had always been inside its chrysalis, and it was a star butterfly. A star butterfly could never possibly transform into that half-human, half-insect monster...
However, no matter how many reasons could be rationally listed to explain the absurdity of that conjecture, Lin Xi's soul itself kept sending out uneasy warnings.
The monster's insect-like face seemed to have red eyes as well?
And the human-like glance it gave Lin Xi as it left...
Faced with an already exhausted Elisa and a worried Bryce, Lin Xi could only force herself to accept that Sam was the monster.
However, after Elisa and Bryce left, Lin Xi suddenly tensed up.
He tiptoed out of the medical room and went straight to his greenhouse without hesitation.
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