Lin Xi took a deep breath.
“Let’s talk about something else, something serious.” Lin Xi stared at Solian. “I went through a lot of trouble to get here to see you, and you almost lost your life to get that so-called Captain Scripps to show up. I don’t want our conversation to keep revolving around my…pet.”
He was trying his best to make his voice sound peaceful and harmless, as if the "Number One" nestled against his neck, making him break out in a cold sweat, was really just an ordinary insect pet.
At the same time, he secretly prayed that "Number One" would never know the true meaning of the word "pet".
Lin Xi could feel that "Number One" seemed to have given him a serious look. He kept his eyes fixed ahead, pretending not to notice the monster's prying and curiosity.
Perhaps Lin Xi's performance did indeed give Solian a false impression.
He finally spoke, responding to Lin Xi's question: "So what are you referring to as the important matter? Harry doesn't lie, since Captain Scripps said you are—"
"I don't think that guy was telling the truth."
Elisa, who had been hiding behind Lin Xi, suddenly interrupted Solian at this moment.
“He said so much—he said that Lin Xi is the mother of those monsters, the one who gave birth to them, and that everything we are experiencing now is because of Lin Xi.”
Elisa took two steps forward.
"What he said was utter nonsense, and he couldn't produce any evidence whatsoever. In fact, he couldn't even prove that he was Scripps... But I can tell you, the culprit behind all this is Taran. I personally saw him in his disgusting state in his secret warehouse, and heard his mutterings—"
And so, Elisa calmly recounted everything that had happened to her in the secret warehouse.
Perhaps because this was the second time she had spoken of the horrific events in the warehouse in front of others, she spoke more coherently this time and recalled more details.
"Wait, you mean... Taran?"
“That’s right,” Elisa pointed to herself, “otherwise, why do you think I went from being the first mate of the Sun God to a defector? My electronic resume is now full of major violations, my career is completely ruined—Taran wants to destroy me because he found out that I’m the one hiding there, and that I’ll cause him trouble.”
When she mentioned her resume, Elisa's eyes became particularly sharp.
"Besides, I believe you've already sensed that something was wrong, haven't you?"
Facing the silent Solian, Elisa pressed closer.
She pointed to the dilapidated lighting fixtures in the hall.
“You separated this layer of the system from the main system of the Sun God. This is a huge project. Don’t tell me you did it just for fun—you’re keeping an eye on Taran.”
"...I also have my own sources of information."
Solian spoke somewhat awkwardly to Elisa.
"But I never imagined he would do something like this. He went to all that trouble, abandoning everything and turning an entire ship's crew into these monsters—just to become a higher-level insect? What was he thinking?"
“Yeah, none of us can understand that guy’s thinking, because Taran is a complete madman.” Alyssa’s tone became particularly sharp when she mentioned Taran. “But the ones standing in front of you now, including Lin Xi, are all perfectly normal people… We’re completely different from Taran. Yet that ghost of unknown origin insists that Lin Xi is some kind of bullshit Mother of the Alien. That’s just illogical.”
“Perhaps we can cooperate,” Bryce spoke up at the opportune moment. “...Taran is the one we should be dealing with right now. After all, that guy is practically a human termite queen, and he can control those who have already mutated. My brother Lin Xi, on the other hand, is just an innocent, normal person—”
At this point, Bryce involuntarily glanced at Lin Xi, and then he choked up because of "Number One" next to Lin Xi.
"Although he does have such a... somewhat strange... pet with him..."
Bryce finished saying that sentence with great difficulty.
No sooner had Bryce finished speaking than he saw "Number One" turn his head to look at him, his eyes, which resembled Savile's, sparkling with curiosity—Bryce felt like his hair was about to explode.
"Pet...pet?"
"Number One" parrot mumbled softly, mimicking its own speech.
Lin Xi gave Bryce a glare. He already had enough trouble; he didn't need to add another terrible task: explaining to "Number One" what a pet really was.
“No normal person would keep insects as pets on this ship… and in my memory, star butterflies don’t look like this.”
Sorian couldn't help but mutter.
His words still contained a wariness towards Lin Xi and the other two, but anyone could tell that his attitude had softened considerably.
Everything was moving in a positive direction, but just as Lin Xi was secretly relieved, Harry, who had been silent all along, suddenly stood up unsteadily from the ground.
"No, that's not right... You've been tricked... You've definitely been tricked..."
Harry looked at Solian and murmured.
“Back then, I didn’t listen to John. I thought he was just exaggerating, so I let Anne eat the food bag. I thought it was nothing… For God’s sake, I was wrong, Solian. I didn’t listen to John, I ignored Captain Scripps’ warnings, and look what I got in return… My poor Anne… She became like that because I didn’t listen…”
"Harry—"
"Okay! You're a good person, and I can't let you be deceived by them. You have to listen to me, or you'll regret it—you definitely will—"
After saying that, Harry suddenly pulled a small, black cube from his pocket.
"Oh my God, you've gone mad!"
Upon seeing what Harry was holding, everyone's expression instantly changed.
That was a tension bomb.
"You'll blow yourself up too—"
Sorian roared.
But Harry ignored him.
The massive blood loss and pain had left him somewhat delirious, and he stared blankly at Lin Xi. The instant he took out the binding bomb, Lin Xi, along with Alyssa and Bryce (and the oblivious but still clinging to him "Number One"), retreated to the far corner of the hall.
But apart from "Number One", all three of them knew that there was no way to escape the blast radius of the force bomb.
"demon."
Meanwhile, Harry, standing on the other side, had already murmured the last word he would leave behind in this world.
Then he threw the bomb directly in Lin Xi's direction—
No one saw "Number One's" movements.
When people realized what was happening, they saw a severed finger flying through the air and blood splattered on the wall. The force bomb had fallen to the ground, next to it lay the finger that should have been on the activation ring, and a severed hand that was still twitching.
That's right, just as Harry was about to activate the force bomb, his hand was severed.
This averted a massive explosion, but the situation at the scene was no less peaceful than if an explosion had occurred.
"Aaaaaaaahh ...
Just as the bomb that failed to detonate fell, Harry's scream rang out.
He screamed and clutched his right wrist with his left hand. His hand had been severed from his wrist, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
The intense pain nearly drove Harry mad.
He staggered and swayed in place, half of his body stained red with his own blood.
"Harry—"
"Number One!"
The scene before them stunned everyone present.
Immediately afterward, Solian charged toward Harry, while "Number One," still stained with crimson blood, swung back toward Lin Xi's side.
Driven by a biological instinct, it used the spikes at the tip of its forelimbs to prick up Harry's severed hand.
This is a gift it offers to Lin Xi.
"Oh my God!"
It must be said that the image of a blood-stained monster raising its body and charging forward with great enthusiasm is somewhat too stimulating for humans with fragile minds.
Bryce instinctively took a few steps forward, trying to block Elisa and Lin Xi's way.
Almost instinctively, "Number One" raised its forelimbs toward him. Elisa and Lin Xi screamed in terror. Lin Xi instinctively reached for his waist—he instinctively wanted to fire, but he quickly realized that Solian had already taken their weapons beforehand.
However... even without weapons, "Number One" slammed on the brakes and stopped all his movements abruptly after seeing Lin Xi's actions.
"Lin Xi..."
It stood somewhat blankly in front of Lin Xi, staring at her...
"Boss, what happened—"
Almost at the same moment, the mercenaries who had been guarding outside the hall heard Harry's scream.
They slammed the door open.
Then... they saw "Number One".
At that moment, the world seemed to fall silent.
"Tick-tock..."
Blood dripped from the severed hand on the "Number One" spike, falling onto the blood-stained ground.
The enormous, grotesque insect body wasn't so frightening to the mercenaries, after all, they had seen far too many similar monsters in the past.
However, the pale skin covering the insect's body, and the human eyes that "Number One" revealed when he turned to look at them, instantly shattered the mercenaries' psychological defenses.
"Oh, fire—monster—"
"Shoot! Quickly, that guy has summoned the devil—"
...
The mercenaries let out unprecedented screams of terror.
Author's Note: Lin Xi (trembling with fear): This, this is clearly my pet...
Elisa (trembling with fear): No, that's right, this little guy is Lin Xi's pet—
Bryce (also trembling with fear): Yes, it's the pet—
"Number One" (I don't know what it means, but it intuitively sounds like a good word): Pet! (#^.^#)
...
Solian, who was starting to have his doubts, thought: Ha...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
