Mr. Si
The clamor of the "Skua Market" was sealed off behind the heavy iron doors of the freezer. Inside the dark clinic, the only sounds were the rhythmic ticking of instruments and the metallic clinking of the one-eyed doctor's instruments. Shao Wei lay on the operating table, like a deity sealed in ice and snow, his chest's faint rise and fall the only proof of his tenacious life.
Si Qi sat on a nearby ammunition crate, elbows propped on his knees, hands folded against his forehead. The wreckage of the shattered communicator lay scattered in the corner, just like his shattered sanity. Shao Qing's all-out counterattack, IGEC's pending investigation, Shao Wei's body on the verge of collapse...each one of them was enough to crush him.
Hong Hu leaned against the door, polishing her hunting knife. Her green eyes occasionally glanced at Si Qi and Shao Wei, scrutinizing them like a wild animal assessing its prey. Gu Zhixing paced anxiously, muttering to himself, calculating the speed at which the data was being scrubbed and the risk of their exposure.
"Hey," Hong Xuan suddenly spoke, breaking the suffocating silence, "What are your plans next? Stay here and wait to be wiped out, or..."
Si Qi raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, but his gaze was remarkably clear, even carrying a cold, sharp edge that echoed the desperation of a man. "Go find the Thread of Life."
Gu Zhixing stopped abruptly and cried out, "Are you crazy?! That's just a legend! The space-time turbulence near the South Pole is so turbulent, entering it means you're practically dead!"
"If we stay here, we'll die." Si Qi stood up and walked to the operating table, gently brushing his fingers across Shao Wei's cold cheek. "Shao Qing won't let us go. The IGEC inspection team will be here at any moment. Only if Shao Wei wakes up and regains his strength will we have a chance of survival."
He looked at Kestrel: "What do you need? A ship? Equipment? Remuneration?"
Hong Falcon grinned and put the hunting knife back into her boot. "A small assault ship that can withstand turbulence, preferably a 'Shadow-class'. I have the equipment myself. As for the reward..." Her eyes fell on Shao Wei with a hint of curiosity. "Even if I invest, I also want to see how far you two 'anomalies' can go."
"A Shadow-class assault ship... There should be a decommissioned Night Owl in the Black Dockyard at the Jaeger Bazaar. It's old, but solidly constructed, and has great potential for modification." Ahmet, the technician, walked in at some point, a datapad in hand. "I just hacked into the bazaar's trading network. This ship is for sale. The asking price is high, but we can 'borrow' it."
When he said "borrow", his tone was as calm as if he was asking to borrow a cup of sugar from next door.
Si Qi nodded: "Location?"
"Dry Dock No. 3. The defenses aren't very strong. They mainly consist of automatic turrets and a few mercenaries."
"Get ready, action in an hour." Si Qi ordered without hesitation. Time is life, and Shao Wei can't wait.
An hour later, Dry Dock No. 3.
Like a giant black bird with its wings folded, the Night Owl rested quietly on a massive repair stand. Its hull was covered in battle scars, adding to its menacing aura. Several automated turrets slowly rotated around the dock, scanning the area below.
Siqi, Hongshun, Ahmet and Gu Zhixing, who followed reluctantly, were lurking in the shadows.
"I'll go take care of the turret's control terminal." Ahmet whispered, and slipped silently towards the dock control room like a civet cat.
Hong Zhao checked the electromagnetic pulse rifle in her hand: "I'm going to clean up those 'watchdogs'." She was referring to the mercenaries guarding the boarding ramp.
Si Qi aimed directly at the Night Owl itself. He needed to make sure the ship could start.
A few minutes later, the lights in the dock suddenly flickered, and the rotation of several automatic turrets suddenly stopped, and the indicator lights dimmed. Almost at the same time, several dull, silenced gunshots were heard in the distance, and the mercenaries guarding the gangway fell to the ground.
"Control is in hand, the turret is paralyzed for five minutes!" Ahmet's voice came from the headset.
"The obstacle is cleared." Kestrel's voice followed closely.
"Action!" Si Qi shouted softly, and the three of them rushed towards the "Night Owl" like arrows.
Ahmet had already remotely cracked the ship's hatch locks. They rushed inside, a stench of stale oil and metal hitting them. Hong Kusto headed for the cockpit, Ahmet rushed to the engine compartment, and Si Qi quickly checked the ship's life support systems and medical unit—they were there for Shao Wei.
"Preheat the engine! Damn, this old guy has a bad temper!" Hong Shun cursed in the cab, but her hands moved quickly, and various switches and buttons lit up one by one under her hands.
"The power core is stable, the shield generator is online... barely." Ahmet reported.
There were alarms and chaotic footsteps outside the dock, obviously their actions had been discovered!
"Hurry up!" Gu Zhixing stood guard at the cabin door, nervously looking at the market guards gathering outside.
"Done! Hold on tight!" Red Falcon pushed the joystick hard!
The old but powerful engine of the "Night Owl" roared, and a blue ion stream spurted out of the tail. It forcibly broke free from the fixing lock of the maintenance rack, knocked open the half-closed dock gate, and rushed into the violent snowy night sky of Antarctica!
Dense rain of bullets and several small missiles chased after it, hitting the ship's shield that had just been raised, causing ripples.
"Hold on!" The Red Falcon pulled the joystick hard, and the spacecraft made an almost vertical evasive maneuver, narrowly avoiding most of the firepower. Only one missile grazed the hull and exploded, shaking the spacecraft violently.
She pushed the engine thrust to the extreme, and the "Night Owl" was like a wounded night owl, dragging an unstable tail flame, tearing through the wind and snow, and rushing towards the south - the South Pole area known as the "human restricted area."
After the spacecraft gradually stabilized, Si Qi transferred Shao Wei from the makeshift stretcher to the life support cabin of the medical unit. Watching the nutrient solution and nerve stabilizer slowly injected into Shao Wei's body, he breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was still hanging.
He walked to the cockpit and stood behind the Red Falcon. Outside the front window lay an endless expanse of white desert and twisted, shattered glaciers. Overhead, the aurora twitched and twisted like a dying beast. The magnetic field here was unusually active, and the needle on the navigation device spun wildly.
"We've entered the edge of the turbulence zone." Hong Falcon stared at the sensor screen in front of him, which was constantly warning, and said in a serious tone, "The space here is very unstable. Cracks or gravity anomalies may appear at any time. The 'Thread of Life'... if it really exists, it can only appear in a place like this where the laws of physics are in disarray."
Si Qi silently watched the bizarre scene outside the window. This seemed like the end of the world, the graveyard of rules.
Suddenly, the spaceship shook violently! It was as if it had hit an invisible wall!
"Warning! Encountered high-intensity space folds! Shield overload! Structural integrity reduced!" The spacecraft's AI issued a cold alarm.
The scene outside the porthole began to distort. The ice, snow and sky were stretched into strange colorful lines, and the spacecraft seemed to be thrown into a kaleidoscope.
"Hold on!" Red Falcon struggled to hold the joystick steady, trying to pull the spacecraft out of this distorted airspace.
But the force was too strong! The spacecraft was dragged uncontrollably towards the center of the fold!
At this moment, Si Qi suddenly widened his eyes!
In the center of that distorted light and shadow, he saw... a vague outline of a creature composed of pure light, floating and flowing like a jellyfish! It had no fixed form, and its body emanated a soft and compassionate light. Countless tiny points of light fell from it, like tears!
"The thread of life!" Gu Zhixing also saw it and exclaimed in surprise!
The luminous creature seemed to sense their presence, and it "looked" over. It had no eyes, but Siqi could sense an ancient, weary consciousness, as if carrying the information of countless lives, sweeping across the spaceship.
Then, it slowly extended a slender tentacle made of light and gently pointed it in the direction of the spacecraft.
It wasn't an attack. The tentacle penetrated the distorted space and the ship's shield, and like nothing, it penetrated directly into the medical unit and gently touched Shao Wei's forehead in the life support cabin.
In an instant, gentle yet powerful life energy filled the entire medical unit! On the monitoring screen of the life support cabin, Shao Wei's nerve signals, which had been on the verge of collapse, stabilized, repaired, and even... strengthened at an incredible speed! His pale face quickly regained color, and his weak heartbeat became strong and powerful!
The tentacles of light slowly retracted. The hazy outline of the "Thread of Life" began to grow transparent, as if drained of its power, and finally dissipated like foam in the distorted light and shadow.
As it vanished, the terrifying ripples in space suddenly smoothed out. The spaceship suddenly lightened and regained control.
There was dead silence in the cab.
Everyone was so shocked by the incomprehensible scene that they were speechless.
"How...how is he?" Hong Xun was the first to react, his voice dry.
Si Qi turned around abruptly and rushed back to the medical unit.
Inside the life support chamber, Shao Wei's eyes remained closed, but his breathing was steady and long, his face flushed, as if he had simply fallen into a deep sleep. All vital signs on the monitoring screen had returned to healthy levels, even better than before the injury! The signs of nerve damage had completely disappeared, and pheromone levels were stable and...powerful.
The legend... is true.
They really found the "Thread of Life" and obtained its "Tears"!
Si Qi looked through the glass cover of the life support cabin, watching Shao Wei sleeping peacefully inside. His tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and a huge fatigue and indescribable complex emotions surged into his heart, making him almost unable to stand. He held onto the cabin wall and took a deep breath.
At this moment, Shao Wei's long eyelashes trembled and he slowly opened his eyes.
Those ice-blue eyes were clear and deep, as if washed clean of all impurities. He looked around in confusion before focusing on Si Qi outside the cabin.
No surprise, no anger, no alienation.
Shao Wei looked at him for a very long time, and then, very slowly, gave him a very shallow but very real smile.
That smile was like the first ray of sunlight penetrating the ice that had been frozen for thousands of years on the Antarctic ice sheet.
Si Qi was stunned, his heart felt like it was hit hard by something, sour and painful.
Shao Wei raised his hand and gently pressed it on the glass cover, corresponding to the position of Si Qi's palm.
His lips moved, but there was no sound. However, Si Qi understood the lip shape.
He said:
"Thanks."
Then he closed his eyes again and fell into a true, restorative sleep.
Si Qi's hand was still on the glass cover, feeling the faint warmth coming through the barrier.
Under Kestrel's control, the spacecraft sailed steadily out of the turbulence. Outside the window, the aurora was still as strange as ever, and the ice and snow were as cold as ever.
But something is different.
Shao Wei woke up.
Their war has just begun.
And this time, they will walk side by side.
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