"I'm so sorry... I'm really, really sorry... I really didn't want to do this."
In the dark and damp server room, Sith knelt down.
The anesthetic took effect unexpectedly quickly; Bryce collapsed before he could even put up a fight. The man's body remained motionless, his arms outstretched as if trying to protect something.
Even after he lost consciousness, an expression of disbelief remained on his face.
Clearly, even though the two had been secretly wary of the Sith before this, Bryce and his companions were fundamentally unprepared—they hadn't expected the Sith to actually commit such a shocking act of betrayal.
Seeing the unconscious Elisa and Bryce, Sith burst into tears.
Even though he was the one who betrayed his friends, he seemed to be in more pain than Elisa and Bryce.
In the end, the incredibly haggard and thin young man curled up on the ground, covering his face with his hands, his body trembling slightly.
He kept apologizing to the two people who could no longer hear him, until an exceptionally hoarse voice interrupted his unpleasant sobs.
"Oh, what a poor child, you look so heartbroken..."
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows, staggering along.
It was a man who looked like he'd crawled out of a horror movie. He was emaciated, his withered skin clinging directly to his jagged bones, his tattered coat filthy… In fact, the very fact that he was still alive and able to move on his own seemed like a miracle. The terrifying figure was covered in black and red grime, large patches of blood congealed around his eyes and mouth, even on his ears and the sides of his neck. He appeared to have suffered a massive hemorrhage, but that wasn't the most horrifying part of his body—even more gruesome was the left side of his head, his skull caved in as if shattered by a gunshot, now covered only by a thin membrane that looked as thin as paper over his exposed brain.
When he appeared, his figure was elusive, like a ghost.
Combined with his terrifying appearance, he looks even more frightening.
However, Sith, who was constantly crying, did not show any surprise at the man's arrival.
“They are all my friends, very good friends.” Sith was even able to swallow his words in response to the man’s pitying whisper.
He wiped away his tears and then turned around to look at the person who had come in.
"How are you feeling... Good heavens, you still look terrible. Professor Ando."
Sith called out the name of that terrible man.
Yes, that's right. This ghostly and terrifying man is none other than Shizuo Ando, who should have been lying in solitary confinement, forgotten by everyone, and then died silently.
The man, who had long been declared brain dead by medical officers and equipment, now appears to be moving freely and thinking clearly.
He can even communicate smoothly with outsiders and is also very good at comforting others.
“Sith crew, don’t push yourself too hard—like you said, you were good friends, and Bryce and Elisa are good people. If that’s the case, they should understand your actions,” Shizuo Ando said to Sith. “…Your mother has already lost so many children. Imagine how desperate she would be if her last youngest son also died silently in outer space. Truly good people wouldn’t want to see an elderly mother go through all that. They will help you fulfill your wish, and they will—you will leave this planet and return to Earth.”
"But...but...I'm sending them to their deaths."
Sith finally stopped crying after being persuaded by Shizuo Ando. He calmed down a little, but he still looked desperate.
“Taran has completely gone mad; he will definitely kill them…”
“Oh, poor young man, you see, you’ve already said it: Taran hates them, yes, he will kill them, so…”
The man named Shizuo Ando lowered his voice; there was something in his voice that defied description.
If there truly is a devil in this world, then his voice must sound just like this.
"Even without what you did, your friends would still have died. But now you've given them a chance to make their deaths meaningful..."
"But…….
"Please stop saying 'but'. At this point, there's no going back, neither you nor I nor your friends can turn back."
Shizuo Ando looked at Elisa and Bryce lying on the ground, his withered, wrinkled lips twitching as he let out a shrine maiden-like sneer.
This smile made Sith's eyes narrow.
For a very brief moment, a long-lost clarity flickered in Sith's eyes.
But soon, what Shizuo Ando said next made the young man lose his senses again.
"Besides, you're not doing nothing. You'll avenge your friends, just like I told you before."
In this way, Shizuo Ando patiently and persuasively comforted the dazed Sith.
"Revenge. Yes...you said that..."
Sith, as if he had found his last straw, nodded frantically and kept repeating the same sentence.
"As long as Taran activates the motherboard, as long as this thing is active, it will automatically connect to the killing machines on the Providence, and those 'ghosts' will automatically kill all the people infected with the alien cells. Those are the most terrifying killing machines ever made by Del Corporation. It won't be long before people can use those robots to kill all these monsters..."
Siss was in a daze, repeating every word that Shizuo Ando had said to him not long ago.
"Yes, you remember perfectly. That's how things unfolded afterward... As you know, Taran has gone mad, and his body has undergone severe mutation. Once Del Corporation's killing machines detect the presence of these alien monsters, they naturally eliminate them one by one, according to their level of infection. Think of those troublesome Martian leeches; these little monsters on this planet are child's play to those killing machines. Soon, you'll never have to worry about those monsters that killed all your friends and colleagues again... The surviving crew of the Helios will thank you. You'll have a bright future, I can guarantee you. You'll get that damn star map, and then you'll go back to your cozy nest and live a peaceful life on that blue planet."
It must be said that even from an outsider's perspective, Shizuo Ando's words are quite impactful.
Not to mention, Sith was already somewhat delirious and confused. He seemed to be able to see his bright future directly through Ando Shizuo's narration, and he kept nodding in a daze as the man spoke.
However, suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked at Shizuo Ando with some fear.
“No…no…it’s been over 300 years.” Sith’s voice sounded extremely anxious. “Can those machines still move freely? How can you be sure that those robots will really be as obedient as you say?”
Shizuo Ando shook his head helplessly. He took a step forward and approached Sith. He gently placed his dry, cold hand on Sith's cheek, while his cloudy, lifeless eyes stared intently at the terrified young man in front of him.
"Of course I know. As the captain of the Providence, I even remember how I gave commands to those horrible machines."
Shizuo Ando's fingers were icy cold as they touched Sith's skin, and Sith could faintly smell the stench emanating from the man.
Sith couldn't help but shiver.
"But you...you are...Ando..."
A hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
“I am Shizuo Ando, but I am also Scripps, captain of the Providence. I already told you, didn’t I? This body houses the souls of two people…”
"I……"
“Dear Sith, please don’t doubt my determination to help you,” Shizuo Ando, or rather, Scripps’s voice grew hoarse, “…any soul trapped on this planet for 300 years would want to help their person return to Earth. I have died here, and I know that pain. I really can’t bear it…I can’t bear to see more people like me, wandering forever in the dark and cold void of the universe, their souls never finding peace.”
As he spoke, a strange light shone in the man's eyes.
When Sith met the light in the man's eyes, his expression gradually relaxed, and his gaze became increasingly blurred.
yes……
Sith heard a tiny, unfamiliar voice in his mind repeating the terrifying man's whisper over and over again.
Sith felt extremely pained, but in the end, he made up his mind.
He took a deep breath. Then he opened his personal communications and, with trembling fingers, pressed the internal call button to Captain Taran.
...
"Um?"
Several decks below the Sith.
Lin Xi suddenly stopped all her movements and looked up at the sky.
However, all he could see now were layers upon layers of gelatinous material that seemed to be still alive.
"Lin, Lin Xi."
Xavier, who was beside him, quickly noticed Lin Xi's movement. It stood up abruptly, its azure eyes fixed on Lin Xi.
"What's wrong?"
It asked somewhat awkwardly.
The atmosphere between him and Lin Xi remains somewhat strange even now.
Lin Xi's attitude towards it was always somewhat tense and inexplicable—and Xavier had clearly noticed this, and now even the slightest move from Lin Xi would trigger its tense reaction.
"nothing……"
Lin Xi snapped out of his daze and said somewhat awkwardly.
Just now, he felt as if he had seen something.
The feeling was somewhat similar to when he had previously used the eyes of other insects to see Isaac and Elisa, but this time he saw nothing. The fleeting feeling of unease was more like an illusion caused by the mutation itself.
Mutation.
Thinking of this, Lin Xi's expression darkened slightly.
This corridor, which served as a temporary shelter, no longer resembled a place of human habitation. The light here was extremely dim, and the originally cold and dry air had become warm and humid under the influence of these gelatinous substances. If Lin Xi hadn't undergone any special transformation, this murky and humid environment would probably have made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but now, he had to admit that he felt very comfortable here—his body had adapted to the environment long before his will.
Those fleshy sacs that were originally hanging in mid-air aged and dried up quickly after Lin Xi personally killed those poor alien species, and then fell to the ground.
Some tiny crustacean insects, whose species Lin Xi couldn't identify at all, crawled out from the gaps in the gelatinous substance. They began to gather in swarms and then began to devour the fragile, soft bodies of the alien species.
While these lowest-level insect swarms were happily enjoying their extra meal, Lin Xi was also eating.
The food was prepared for him by Xavier.
The severe trauma he had suffered, coupled with the changes within his body, had left Lin Xi in an extremely weak state. His instincts were warning him that he needed to eat as soon as possible to recover... Lin Xi was unwilling to admit it, but he knew very well that even the corpses of the alien species currently being devoured by the small beetles were emitting an enticing aroma at this moment.
Lin Xi's exceptionally bad mood was probably related to his current state: he would fall into a deep sleep, wake up, eat, then fall into a deep sleep again, wake up, eat...
He is turning into a monster.
Before this day, Lin Xi had even considered ending his own life. Perhaps that's why, in that agonizing struggle, he killed his own kin one by one, those poor, alien creatures. He wanted to end it all. But…
What happened next completely deviated from Lin Xi's expectations.
He released the alien species; he... he reluctantly accepted the situation to some extent.
He stayed in this place that both made him feel comfortable and disgusted him, like a queen in a termite mound, waiting for her subjects to provide for her.
Of course, the only member of his kin who can stay by his side right now is Xavier.
Xavier adapted well and was in a good mood, while Lin Xi was a little nervous.
He remembered eating a lot of insects, and he was worried that the food Xavier would feed him would be the grotesque corpses of humans or his own kind.
Thank goodness, that seemingly clueless alien insect was actually smarter than Lin Xi had thought.
Perhaps because of that strange mental connection, it was able to vaguely sense Lin Xi's thoughts. Moreover, it was also very clear that Lin Xi had an unusually strong aversion to eating humans (although the spaceship was now full of human corpses, and for the alien species, the corpses of naked apes with soft bodies should have been the most delicious and convenient food). At the same time, Lin Xi did not seem to be enthusiastic about sucking on the meat paste transformed from various insects.
At least this time, Lin Xi received unopened food bags meant for human consumption.
These food bags are hardly ideal food for the "Mother of Aliens." After all, as "Her," she no longer needs to ingest the degraded earth milk from the food bags, and the nutritional value of the food bags themselves is far inferior to that of the fresh biological individuals that are everywhere on the spaceship.
but……
If it were Lin Xi, she would probably prefer this kind of food.
Xavier thought to himself as he foraged for food.
At this moment, it was nervously guarding Lin Xi's side, closely watching Lin Xi's reaction to the food bags.
Occasionally, during a few gaps, Lin Xi could even sense anticipation emanating from it.
This made Lin Xi's feelings even more complicated.
After all... whether it's anxiety, attachment, or this restless, evasive look of anticipation for praise, it's all too human for a monster like Xavier.
Lin Xi couldn't help but glance at Xavier, whose eyes were fixed on him.
Perhaps because we've gotten used to it, the combination of Savile's face and this incredibly grotesque insect body doesn't seem as jarring as before.
Lin Xi thought to himself with a touch of self-loathing, after all, at this moment he actually sensed a pitiful aura emanating from Xavier.
He couldn't even control himself from being touched.
"Thanks--"
Lin Xi's lips moved slightly, and he spoke to Xavier with some difficulty.
As soon as he finished speaking, two slender tentacles stood up directly from the top of Xavier's head. Because Lin Xi had been observing it, he naturally noticed the change in Xavier's eyes.
Those beautiful blue eyes suddenly became exceptionally bright, burning as if they could scald someone.
Lin Xi lowered her eyes, not wanting to look at it anymore.
He was terrified that the affection he felt for Xavier at that moment was actually a result of his deepening transformation.
Next time I can go out and find food myself.
Lin Xi almost said that directly to Xavier.
However, an unexpected little incident interrupted Lin Xi's conversation: after the terrifying-looking monster circled around him a few times with some trepidation, it suddenly cautiously pulled something out from a fold at the base of its wing and handed it to Lin Xi.
"Here, take it."
It said in a very low voice.
Lin Xi looked at its palm, and then involuntarily widened her eyes.
It was a chocolate.
Considering the damp, slightly wriggling gelatinous substance around him, the terrifying monster opposite him, and his own half-human, half-insect appearance—given the current scene, it would have been more natural for Xavier to bring him the head of an acquaintance than a piece of chocolate like this.
It was a carefully preserved chocolate. The pattern on the paper and the label proved that it was not one of the cheap chocolates distributed inside the spaceship, but rather one that a crew member had brought all the way from Earth to Sunu with great care, and then brought here from Sunu.
Clearly, this was something Xavier found in some unfortunate fellow's stash of supplies while searching the entire spaceship for unopened food bags.
A few drops of blood, now blackened, remained on the brightly patterned wrapping paper—Lin Xi refused to ponder what had happened to the chocolate's former owner.
In those days of food scarcity and a bleak future, what were the man's true feelings as he carefully hid that chocolate?
Is he still alive now?
Lin Xi stared blankly at the chocolate.
Xavier followed Lin Xi's gaze and quickly spotted the drop of blood on the chocolate wrapper.
An uneasy grayish-purple tinge appeared on its wings, and its antennae trembled slightly.
Then it withdrew its hand, extended its long, thin tongue from its mouthparts, and forcefully rolled up the blood-stained wrapper in one gulp before swallowing it. By the time Lin Xi realized what was happening, it had already handed the peeled chocolate back to her.
"Number One—Xavier—"
Lin Xi blurted out.
"This is...human food."
Before Lin Xi could finish speaking, Xavier began to explain.
It nonchalantly ignored the fact that it had eaten the wrapper—though it was actually quite distressed, as the shimmering, multicolored wrapper perfectly suited its aesthetic sense. Before discovering it was a chocolate that humans loved, Xavier had originally planned to embed that sparkling "little stone" in its new nest.
Of course, Lin Xi could not possibly perceive Xavier's inner regret.
His eyes dimmed slightly after hearing Xavier's words.
Human food...
But is he still human now?
Lin Xi remained silent, but the alien monster opposite him spoke again with trepidation.
You'll like it.
Xavier murmured to himself.
"Lin Xi likes humans."
...And Lin Xi doesn't like mutants.
Although the incident is in the past, Xavier will never forget the strong resistance and breakdown that Lin Xi showed before that.
The moment the thought that "Lin Xi doesn't like aliens" entered its mind, countless complex and bittersweet unfamiliar emotions began to gnaw at Xavier's bewildered heart like tiny insects. It was this hidden pain that made it subconsciously swallow the rest of its sentence and not utter it.
"Thanks."
Lin Xi stared blankly at Xavier and said, this time, his attitude was much more serious than before.
He hadn't expected that such a slight change in attitude would elicit such a strong reaction from the little monster in front of him—
Xavier's cheeks flushed red, and tiny "clicking" sounds escaped uncontrollably from deep within its throat.
That was an instinctive reaction of a different species, a "song" that only emerged when they were extremely happy.
Xavier pursed his lips tightly, but the sound didn't come from his vocal cords but from a rapid friction deep in his throat. So even though he was trying his best to keep his mouth shut, those happy, short sounds kept coming out of his chest.
Not to mention, its antennae began to sway gently in the air in a rhythmic manner, and its wings kept changing into various joyful colors.
Lin Xi was stunned for a moment. He was somewhat bewildered and didn't know how to deal with Xavier's reaction.
So after a brief silence, he reached out and took the chocolate.
The chocolate had developed a stale white bloom on its surface, and its smell even had a pungent stench to Lin Xi's incredibly heightened senses.
However, it was precisely this chocolate, which seemed so ordinary in the human world... even something that should have been thrown into the trash can, that made Lin Xi's eyes well up with tears.
Just as he was about to eat the chocolate, he noticed Xavier's unusually focused gaze.
Lin Xi's heart skipped a beat.
As if guided by some strange impulse, Lin Xi broke open the chocolate and put the other half back into Xavier's palm.
Do you want some?
Lin Xi asked.
Xavier froze completely.
It held the half-chocolate in both hands, looking as if it dared not move at all.
A beautiful rose-pink hue flashed across its wings, while its antennae remained taut, with only the tips trembling slightly.
Without any verbal communication, Lin Xi could clearly sense Xavier's ecstasy simply from his color and the various chemical scents emanating from his body.
Not to mention, the rapid "click-clack" sounds emanating from Xavier's chest revealed his excited state of mind to Lin Xi with almost every syllable.
"Give me some, may I have some?"
It took Xavier a long time to come to its senses, and it awkwardly asked.
"Um."
Lin Xi responded dryly.
He instinctively avoided Xavier's direct and passionate gaze, and his body was completely stiff.
He felt he was in a chaotic and abnormal state, for example, he even began to seek humanity and solace in Xavier.
If Xavier hadn't been so overjoyed that it was almost delirious, it might have vaguely sensed something was wrong with Lin Xi's emotions, but at this point it was completely disoriented.
It was overjoyed, and then it eagerly swallowed the dark, pungent-smelling human food into its mouth.
The next second...
Its wings suddenly turned grayish-white.
The taut tentacles drooped down to the back of its head with a snap.
Even someone as slow-witted as Lin Xi could sense Xavier's momentary stunned silence and shock.
"Xavier?"
...Lin Xi was somewhat flustered.
He began to involuntarily recall whether there was anything to avoid in the Star Butterfly recipes recorded in Professor Ando's notebook. Although, from the records he could remember, the Star Butterfly was considered a magical species that was almost immune to all poisons.
They are very picky eaters, but they can survive even if they have to chew on metal or stones.
But Xavier's reaction was indeed too extreme.
Lin Xi could sense that it was trying to hide its abnormality, but the worrying grayish-white color had even spread from its wings to its body.
Lin Xi stared at Xavier's fading gray face, and the image of the neighbor's little dog that died from eating chocolate when he was a child inexplicably kept replaying in his mind.
In her panic, Lin Xi quickly put her half-chocolate into her mouth to try and figure out what was wrong.
Then, in an instant, he understood why Xavier had reacted the previous way.
In my memory, it should have been a sweet and delicious chocolate, but now it tastes like a bizarre, maddening flavor.
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