Chapter 60: Purity
The all-white rescue aircraft passed over Mingyu and Cui Xiaoduo's heads and flew past the high-speed lane.
Mingyu looked up and watched the aircraft fly around the lighted spire and head towards the Type A medical center building standing in the center of the space city in the distance.
It took him a long time to look away, and with a slightly depressed mood he continued to climb the metal stairs hanging outside the building and entered the outer corridor on the third floor of the shopping mall.
He and Cui Xiaoduo followed the map and walked for nearly half an hour to find the noodle shop, passing numerous rescue aircraft along the way. As they passed residential buildings, some, like the parents at the beginning, quickly took off in their own aircraft and headed for the hospital.
Their starships had high defensive capabilities, so they didn't feel anything during the voyage. Ming Yu only realized now that the Black Tide Day that had just passed was unusual.
The news is being broadcast on the light screen hanging outside the shopping mall in front.
"The peak energy of the Kuroshio radiation this time reached its highest level in nearly twenty years, five times the average daily Kuroshio radiation value and nearly ten times higher than last month's radiation value. Many residents were exposed to Kuroshio radiation beyond the safe range due to insufficient protective coverings in their homes, and hospitals were overcrowded..."
"A spokesperson for the Space City Meteorological Center stated that the current algorithm for calculating the Kuroshio's energy is not accurate enough. Although they knew in advance that the radiation energy would be high, they did not anticipate such a terrifying energy threshold, and therefore did not issue an early warning... The meteorological center manager publicly apologized in an interview..."
The noodle shop Cui Xiaoduo had found was located right below the screen. The shutters were drawn, revealing a small space with only five tables. At the moment, no customers were there. A gray robot, half the height of a human, was wiping the tables. In a corner near the kitchen, a gray-haired man, wearing reading glasses, was selecting vegetables. Across from him sat a girl, about seven or eight years old, doing her homework in front of the screen.
The noodle shop's kitchen was small, barely wide enough for two people. Several pots of cooking simmered, the aroma of meat sauce filling the air. A young man kneaded dough at an outward-facing counter, while a middle-aged man beside him tended to a pot of marinade.
"Handmade ones are the best." Cui Xiaoduo sniffed and whispered to Mingyu, "My taste is right."
The noise of them entering startled the little girl who was doing her homework.
"Grandpa!" She glanced at Mingyu and Cui Xiaoduo shyly, closed the screen, and called out, "Guests are coming."
The old man raised his head and looked towards the door.
He looked very old, but he was in good spirits and not skinny. When he looked at people over his reading glasses, his eyes were even sharp.
Mingyu noticed that when he turned his head, there was a long and narrow scar on the side of his face, which stretched from his temples to his jaw and then to the front of his neck.
With today's treatment methods, wounds that can leave scars are usually not shallow, and they are in this location... When an elderly person is injured, it is definitely a matter of life and death.
He stood up, walked from the corner to the cashier, and opened the menu screen. Before looking at the screen, Mingyu noticed the old man's gray coat draped over the back of the chair.
A golden bird-shaped medal hung on the front of his coat.
It was a medal for the warriors who survived the Battle of Dawn, and the flying bird represented the northern star region that had been destroyed and submerged in the black tide star sea.
This old man is a survivor of the Northern Star Region and once served in the Northern Star Region Fleet.
"Hello." Mingyu greeted him politely.
The old man turned his gray eyes towards Mingyu, took in his appearance and clothing, and said, "Are you going to the Labyrinth City from here?"
Mingyu had fair skin and delicate features. His clothing, while not particularly refined, was more fashionable than the typical Bird City residents'. He looked like a young master from somewhere else. The old man saw that he didn't seem to have endured much hardship, and he probably followed his family to Maze City to try their luck.
After the Black Tide Day, there are always some wealthy people from other planets and Sky City who go to Maze City to hire exploration teams to search for rare resources.
Mingyu nodded obediently.
"Don't stay too long." He leaned on the cash register and said, "The Black Tide's energy activity has been abnormal recently. Return to the star field center as soon as possible."
Cui Xiaoduo was buried in the menu, having difficulty making a decision.
Mingyu heard the seriousness in the other party's tone, and his heart sank. He asked, "Why do you say that, old man? The Labyrinth Star is not too close to the Kuroshio Belt, and there is a free star field between them..."
"Free Star Region." The old man sighed with emotion, "...I'll leave it to fate."
"Everyone who can survive in the Free Star Region has experienced life and death. They are completely different from you kids. You must listen to me."
"Dad." The young man who was kneading dough in the kitchen couldn't stand it any longer and looked up helplessly, "Stop talking nonsense and stop scaring me with your weird talk."
He looked at Mingyu apologetically, "My dad participated in the Battle of Dawn. The Kuroshio erupted then, and the situation was truly terrifying. That's why he's overly sensitive to Kuroshio activity. Whenever there are Kuroshio days for a few consecutive months, he feels abnormal Kuroshio energy activity... Don't be afraid."
The old man laughed and retorted, "Our family wasn't affected this time because we listened to me and replaced the radiation shielding material. It's better to be prepared than not..."
He was glared at by his son again, and he shut up unconvinced.
"But Labyrinth Planet is definitely not safe," the dough-kneading youth added. "We'd better leave sooner rather than later. Much of the area there is so dangerous that even the approval for building a virtual mining area has been rejected."
The old man snorted, retaliating by not responding. He stretched out his wrinkled finger and tapped the menu screen in front of Mingyu, suggesting, "Order this, our signature meat sauce noodles."
Mingyu readily accepted the offer, swiped his wristband to pay, and said with a smile, "Thank you, uncle!"
"Uncle, I want a serving of their signature meat sauce noodles too!" Cui Xiaoduo finished his struggle, looked up, and said enthusiastically, "Give me another bowl of noodles! And a braised egg!"
The old man turned and went into the kitchen, and came out with two large bowls of noodles. He saw that the two young men were very likable, and the meat sauce was almost overflowing.
Cui Xiaoduo devoured his noodles quickly, slurping them up. Mingyu wasn't as serious, picking up noodles with his chopsticks while still looking at the screen.
He had just sent a message to Mu Boxing, but no one replied, and the call was also unavailable. Mingyu was a little worried and called Hongmao instead.
This time the communication was connected very quickly. Red Hair was in a somewhat messy storage room, holding a toolbox in his hand, and was looking for the parts needed to repair the starship according to Purple Hair's requirements.
"This Kuroshio Day was indeed a bit terrifying." Red Hair said to Ming Yu while searching for something. "Our exploration base is fine. The boss used the best materials, so we weren't affected much. But... I heard from the people who came here to repair the starship that several members of their exploration team died. He has a good physique and the medicine he prepared was enough to help him escape..."
"When I went out today, wow! There were still black tide bugs on the streets that had sneaked in with the black tide energy! But the space city is made of metal, there is no energy soil for them to survive and grow, so the black tide bugs I saw outside were almost all dead!"
"We still have to be careful," Mingyu said worriedly, "What if someone gets infected..."
"Don't worry," said Red Hair. "We in the Free Star Region have seen that before! The various exploration teams have reached an agreement on this. The Black Tide will take turns patrolling the city. Everyone should carry a gun when they go out these two days. If they see anything amiss, open fire. The Black Tideworm's breeding and hatching period is only a few hours, so we'll be fine after that!"
Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay," he said, "What about Brother Mu? He didn't answer my calls."
"Ah, didn't the boss answer your call?" Redhead scratched his head. "I haven't seen him since this morning. I guess he's already set sail for Labyrinth Planet."
"He's alone?" Mingyu frowned. "He didn't even bring you with him?"
How can Mu Baixing, a pilot, drive a starship without an observer?
"The boss isn't driving himself, he's taking another exploration team's starship." Red Hair explained, "We have to stay and look after the base!"
He stopped, turned to Mingyu, and said resentfully, "Xiao Zi, Xiao Lan, and Xiao Lu have to take care of the maintenance room, and Xiao Ju and I have to be responsible for the daily affairs of the base and the sailing missions of several other exploration teams under the boss..." The red-haired man couldn't help but paused here.
The brothers were all non-awakened humans, and in their original base, they were bullied and had the lowest status. If it weren't for Xiao Zi's ability to repair starships, they would have been kicked out of the base and left homeless.
The dark days continued until their former boss found a life capsule while sailing and brought it back to Mu Bohang.
The former boss originally thought he had found free labor to exploit, but in the end he was dethroned by Mu Boxing and left in disgrace with his gang of bullying subordinates.
Redhead sighed with emotion.
Although it's not an exaggeration to say that Mu Baixing is their savior, but...
"He just waved off and went on a date with you...ah...to meet you." The red-haired man said with resentment, accidentally letting the cat out of the bag. He quickly coughed and continued, "Leaving us busy all the time..."
Red Hair shouted in dissatisfaction: "We also wanted to see Brother LU earlier! Now we have to wait until the game starts..."
Mingyu: “…”
"Only once or twice a week at night." He said seriously, "But I'm not in a relationship with your boss!"
Not now, anyway.
When Cui Xiaoduo heard this, he looked up at him in surprise.
"No?" he asked incredulously. "Weren't you guys dating when you went to the mining area?"
Mingyu still doesn’t know why Cui Xiaoduo had such a misunderstanding!
He hung up Red Hair's call, then remembered that he hadn't had time to explain to Cui Xiaoduo before, so he said seriously, "I just went to the mining area to help him modify the starship."
Mingyu: "Senior, why do you always think we're dating in the mining area?"
Cui Xiaoduo: “…It was just a blind guess at first.”
After he finished speaking, he straightened his expression, put the boiled egg back into the bowl, sat up straight, and lowered his voice to shout, "But he did it later! Before he got injured and went offline! He kissed you! With your fingers! What normal straight man would do such a thing! No matter what, he wouldn't do that!——"
Mingyu was stunned.
His expression was blank for a while, and after a few minutes, he shook his head.
"Brother Mu must be in so much pain that he doesn't have the strength to do anything else..." He lowered his head and poked the noodles with his chopsticks, not wanting to recall how Mu Baixing kept coughing up blood and was so weak.
Mingyu hopes that he will never see such a situation again in his life.
Cui Xiaoduo looked at Mingyu as if he were an alien.
He uttered a dry "oh" and leaned over from across the table and asked, "So...Brother Yu, what do you think?"
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu started to mix the noodles that were wrapped in meat sauce and had a dark, oily sheen.
"I don't know," Mingyu said sincerely.
"Eat quickly, eat quickly." He tried to change the subject, looking around and saying something else, "If you don't eat now, the noodles will become sticky..."
Cui Xiaoduo was extremely dissatisfied with his response. His eyes sparkled, and he leaned forward, unwilling to give up. "What do you mean by 'I don't know'? Don't confuse the subject! I see you're clearly very concerned about her reputation..."
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu raised his head expressionlessly.
"I see you care about Senior Mulian too." He asked in an innocent tone, "Don't you have any special feelings for Senior Mulian?"
Cui Xiaoduo: “…”
Cui Xiaoduo was caught off guard and choked on his own saliva. He coughed violently while looking for a tissue, his face flushed red. In the midst of the chaos, he did not forget to give Mingyu a thumbs up.
Mingyu was surprised by his reaction and quickly handed Cui Xiaoduo a glass of water. Cui Xiaoduo coughed for a while, then gulped down a glass of water, finally catching his breath.
"You're amazing. Brother Lian and I are childhood sweethearts..." He said weakly to Mingyu while holding the water cup, "We are very pure!"
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