Chapter 2: Don’t move, little vicious bird! Show me your eight-pack abs...
Phantom limb pain can be fatal.
Bai Ling calculated the time and found that it had only been a month since his amputation. The severed nerves are unaware that the flesh is gone and continue to transmit pain to the brain day and night. If left unchecked, that horrible tearing feeling will become more and more severe, and may even lead to loss of ability to move.
Got to find some painkillers.
The palace is heavily guarded and inconvenient. It’s best to go out and look for it.
Climbing out of the palace tower might be a fantasy for others, but it is feasible for him. In his previous life, as the leader of the revolutionary army, he had planned to capture this place countless times and knew the internal map by heart, so avoiding surveillance was no problem for him.
It was late at night and the door in the dark corridor creaked open. Bai Ling flashed in and came to the pump room.
There is a direct link from here to the mermaid waterway. As long as one is not discovered, one can swim out of the palace through the waterway safely and quickly.
There are remnants of old-fashioned diving suits in the pump room.
Bai Ling put it on neatly, bent down, and used all his strength to lift up the heavy lid. In an instant, cold water vapor hit my face. Looking down, the waterway was bottomless, like a turbid and dark monster that could swallow people up at any time.
It's like a direct passage to hell.
Bai Ling adjusted his breathing deeply and slowly dived down to the wellhead. As he moved his arms, he thought, it's just hell. He has been on the front line for so many years and has seen much more horrible scenes than hell.
The former owner of this waterway should be the last mermaid in the world - the former emperor Isuparaiso.
Bai Ling curled his lips. He would not be afraid even if the ghost of that ferocious mermaid appeared.
Just as I was thinking, the water waves brushed against the moss-covered glass wall, and a subtle sound of bubbles passed by my ears, "Gurgle..."
Bai Ling didn't care. It is forecasted to rain today. In his opinion, it should just be a water pressure reaction caused by the outer atmosphere.
"Gurgle...Gurgle..." The sound of bubbles became more and more rapid.
Bai Ling's heartbeat was steady, and after one acceleration he finally reached the bottom, great! The valve was right in front of him. Now he just had to grab the rusty door and pry it outwards to -
Not moving at all.
How could this be... No, the valve must be opened. The air in his lungs is only enough to last another 20 seconds. Once that time is up, he will drown here!
The finger bones were pale, and the veins on the back of the hand holding the valve were bulging with spasms. His nervous heartbeat occupied his entire eardrum, echoing in his mind so loudly that it covered up the increasingly clear sound of waves breaking in the waterway.
What?
Bai Ling turned around with difficulty, and a huge and swift shadow had already filled his vision.
Immediately afterwards, the water waves formed by the high-pressure surge split to both sides, and the outline of a huge monster more than three meters long was outlined in the dark waves. It has long limbs, strong muscles, and a texture that gleams with dark blue scales, which is so cold that it makes your scalp tingle.
Bai Ling's breath was choked as he saw the monster raise a huge wave and lashed at him fiercely with its tail -
Boom! The waves hit violently.
The rusty valve opened again after ten years.
Bai Ling's consciousness was hazy, and he only felt himself being swept towards the exit by the current. He raised his eyes with great effort, and saw the monster give a powerful flick of its tail. "Bang", it hit the explosion-proof glass with a strong muffled sound, and then it swam upwards cleanly and neatly with its scales shining eerily.
I didn't come to kill him...
Saved him instead?
Bai Ling took off his mask, climbed out of the drain dripping wet, and stood there in a daze for a while.
What the hell is that! ...Is it a mechanical biological weapon raised by the tyrant in the waterway, or...is it the wronged soul of the mermaid that refuses to leave?
He didn't know.
Looking back with complicated eyes, I saw the palace tower standing majestically on the seashore. As the night wind blew, the dark golden curtains on the terrace at the top of the tower were lifted, and the glass reflected the dark clouds covering the moon.
It's likely to rain today.
Bai Ling did not stay any longer and prepared to hurry into the city to find painkillers.
·
At nine o'clock in the morning, the sky was gloomy and drizzling. The pharmacy opened early and the awning had already been put up to isolate the rain.
Uriel got off the mecha, pushed the door open with his hand on his forehead, and was about to complain about the rain when he saw someone standing in line in front of him, all wet.
The shop owner was in a dilemma: "Sir, your card cannot be used..."
"How about trying this account again?"
"It still doesn't work. How about you stand aside for a while so I can serve other customers."
The young man was silent and slowly walked aside to make room for the counter. When he walked, there was a clacking sound, which was quite loud, causing Uriel to take a closer look.
Prosthetic legs? He must be here to buy painkillers.
Uriel guessed so accurately because his job involved assistive devices for the disabled - to be precise, he was an engineer who worked on mechas specifically for the disabled.
It's just that although this job seems glamorous, it is actually full of difficulties. Due to lack of sponsorship, the project was delayed again and again. Finally, a big boss was willing to invest, but the mecha experimenter who was found earlier stood him up.
Seeing that the project was about to start, Uriel was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night, so he ran to buy some melatonin.
Where can I find another experienced mecha pilot... and a disabled person for the experiment...
Bai Ling stood aside and suddenly said, "You have to work harder."
Uriel sighed, "I know I need to cheer up, but...eh?"
How does he know I'm going to work hard? Uriel turned around curiously, only to see Bai Ling pointing outside.
Looking outside, the rain was pouring down from the top window of the mecha and falling straight down at the bent knees. The mecha's knees were shaking as if it had rheumatism. If it continued running like this, something would definitely happen.
Uriel broke out in a cold sweat: he was so sleepy from staying up late that he forgot to add lubricant!
So this is what it means.
He can tell at a glance that there is something wrong with the mecha. Is this guy a maintenance technician? Uriel couldn't help but ask: "Little brother, have you ever worked in a repair shop?"
Bai Ling did not comment: "I have driven a mecha for a while and done maintenance myself. The more I do it, the more experience I gain."
Of course, this "period of time" can be equivalent to twenty years in the previous life.
Bai Ling didn't know Uriel's identity and just wanted to help out. After all, mechas require precise maintenance and any carelessness could cause a traffic accident.
He turned his thoughts back and continued to recall his electronic account, praying that perhaps a bank had not received the news that he had been sentenced by the court and forgot to block his card. So that he could swipe his card to pay for the box of painkillers that was on the counter, so close yet so far away.
Therefore, he did not notice that the middle-aged man next to him brightened his eyes and stared at him up and down for a long time.
He is a promising talent! He was young and well-built, with long, thin hands that looked like a pair of sharp eagle claws. It was obvious that he was of the raptor class.
He was wearing thin clothes and was soaked all over, looking like he had just crawled out of the sea, looking very shabby.
The shop owner saw the water stains gathering on the ground and frowned as he chased the customer away:
"Hey, sir, have you made up your mind?"
He sneered again: "You come to buy medicine when you have no money."
Bai Ling nodded indifferently, but he was not angry. "I'll leave now." He had to find a job and make some cash as soon as possible.
Uriel frowned and said to the shop owner, "Is this your attitude of service? The government provides subsidies every month, allowing pharmacies to give free medicine to disabled people who can't afford it. Where is your store's share? Did you take it all?"
The shop owner's face froze. He was immediately furious when he was hit on the point. "It's none of your business."
"Of course it's my business." Uriel sneered, raised his hand and swiped his bracelet, "This little brother helped me. Whatever medicine he wanted before, give it to me and I'll pay for it!"
When the shop owner looked at the screen, his face turned pale. The identity information clearly showed that Uriel was a high-ranking noble, someone he would not dare to offend even if he had eight heads.
The shop owner quickly apologized with a smile: "Sorry, sorry, we have some free medicine. The gentleman asked for three strong painkillers, you only need to pay for two."
The pharmacy also sells some health products and food. The owner took out a large brick-like thing and said, "We also have the compressed biscuits that Mr. Bai wanted. They come in a one-kilogram package."
Compressed biscuits? Uriel was stunned.
This thing is a convenient food for the lower class residents, but the taste is really terrible. Unless you are used to living a hard life, you will not buy it to eat.
He turned his head and looked at Bai Ling, who looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, with snow-white hair sticking to his forehead and sharp eyes, but he was so thin that his ribs showed through his clothes. It looks like he has no family to take care of him.
Seeing him handing over the bag, Bai Ling politely declined: "Thank you for your kindness, but I can't pay you back, so it's inconvenient for me to accept it."
Uriel forced it into his pocket: "No need to pay it back, this is... this is a deposit! Yes, a deposit--"
As he spoke, Uriel quickly took out his business card and handed it over, smiling: "Look, I'm a mecha engineer, and I'm looking for experimental pilots. I see you're short of money, so why don't you try us? We have cooperation with major mercenary associations. I can introduce you to a position in the association, and then come to our project laboratory, so you can get two salaries."
Two salaries.
This means that we will be able to purchase high-priced painkillers steadily in the future.
Bai Ling stared at the business card, paused for a second, then decisively pulled it over and held it in his palm. Although you don't necessarily have to go, it's always a good idea to have it.
The rain gradually subsided. Uriel couldn't wait to call the boss as he watched the little white-haired boy stagger away with the biscuits and bricks.
However, what was connected was a rhythmic AI voice:
"Master Uriel, hello."
Uriel immediately recognized that this was the other party's mechanical butler. He did not dare to neglect it and asked respectfully, "Excuse me, is the emperor's uncle here? Our project may be able to make progress. I just found a good candidate."
"The master is resting. I will pass on your message to him."
Uriel thanked him, "Thank you for the trouble. I hope your uncle is in good health."
After hanging up the communication, AI drove the wheels and slid carefully into the inner room. Standing by the wall of the pool, a dark and heavy wave slid under the deep water surface. The shape could not be seen clearly. Only when the tail fin moved, the light spots of scales were reflected on the water surface.
AI: "Master, are you awake?"
A human hand grasped the pool wall, blue veins crisscrossed the pale forearm muscles.
"Too boring, let's go out for a walk..."
AI: "Yes, sir. I'll get ready right away."
·
After much haste, Bai Ling arrived near the imperial palace before dusk. He had not seen the tyrant yet, so he had to come back.
Looking up, I saw that in addition to the rain that was getting colder and colder, a pheromone storm surge was slowly blowing outside.
Just as Bai Ling and North said, this trend is a characteristic of the capital planet - under the influence of the special climate and artificial atmosphere, once the pheromone concentration in the air suddenly increases and the molecules flow with each other, it may trigger a trend like the butterfly effect.
Its inspiration mechanism remains a mystery and is the focus of research for many meteorologists.
Bai Ling looked in from the window on the street.
Due to the interruption, the child who was originally clapping his hands while watching Makkabaka started crying until his face turned red; the host who was reporting the funny news gradually had tears in his eyes.
I don’t know why, but today’s atmosphere is particularly sour, as if the sadness inside is about to overflow.
This is not unusual.
But Bai Ling didn't feel anything.
He is still in the process of differentiation, and strictly speaking he can only be considered half beta, and he is insensitive to pheromones.
At this moment, a dark haze is gradually gathering over the turbulent deep sea. Soon, the temperature in the capital will drop drastically, from 15℃ to -3℃.
It's so cold. He had to get back to the palace before dark.
Bai Ling thought of the monster in the waterway again and felt uneasy.
Forget it, I’ll just climb back from the outer wall of the palace this time.
Meanwhile, on the terrace of the palace tower, someone was looking out at the cold grey rain.
AI robot is curious: "What are you looking at?"
"There's a black spot moving on the tower."
"Oh, that could be a peregrine falcon, a bird of prey that lives in the city."
"Peregrine falcon?"
"Yes, it is an extremely evil bird. In winter, it will catch pigeons to warm its claws, and then tear them apart and eat them piece by piece after warming their bodies."
Yu Chen suddenly laughed: "Such a ferocious little bird? I want to raise one."
The AI said seriously: "Don't just dream about a bird flying into your chest and then suddenly want to raise a bird. You don't realize it yourself, but in my monitoring, you are breaking the critical value and emitting control pheromones to the entire planet."
Alpha's dominating behavior stems from a fierce sense of territorial possession.
Only when A believes that his O is in serious danger will he take control and protect it.
AI knew very well that his master did not have a matching omega, and the only possible match was the bird dream he had recently been having.
Although the owner was vague about the content of the dream and was unwilling to talk about it, AI used its algorithm to guess that the dream should be related to death.
The AI gave a reasonable reminder: "I suggest that you take care of your broken body first, and then consider the feasibility of raising birds. Also, the mental tonic you just drank will take effect in ten minutes, so cherish the scenery in front of you."
Yu Chen indeed felt that his vision was gradually blurring, and the light in his retina was gradually dimming.
This is the role of supplements.
In order to allow the brain to get maximum rest, the optic nerve must be closed and the intake of visual information must be reduced.
"I'll get you a cane." The robot slid away sleekly.
Yu Chen turned around and no longer looked at the dark sky. The unexpected heavy rain brought down the pink and orange sunset of the capital star, making it messy and embarrassing.
Amid the sound of the wind that came from far away, there was a faint curse, "Ah... I'm freezing to death..."
Then, there was the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, chaotic footsteps with a damp smell, and disordered and trembling breathing.
Yu Chen felt himself being pulled violently into the shadow behind the pillar. Two cold hands reached into his clothes eagerly. Their voices trembled with cold, and they were still threatening in a low voice:
"Don't... make a sound... requisition your..."
Bai Ling hugged his waist from behind, and rubbed it with his fingers that had regained some feeling, feeling out some undulating shapes, and then said viciously:
"… commandeer your abdominal muscles."
Extremely bad bird of prey.
Yu Chen didn't know why he thought of this.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
