Chapter 24 024 Cat fur brushes against glands
Xu Luo slowly propped himself up from the charred silk netting, his pale cheeks still covered in soot, but he smiled the moment he saw Xu Chuyao.
"Mother."
Xu Chuyao's call was tinged with sobs as she rushed into Xu Luo's arms like a wounded little animal.
Feeling the warmth of her mother's embrace, she could no longer hold back her cries.
The apocalypse demands that everyone grow up quickly, and she has shown great courage along the way, making people forget that she is just a first-grader.
After a while, Xu Chuyao recovered and looked up at Xu Luo's face.
However, her hands still gripped Xu Luo's clothes tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, her mother would disappear again.
Everyone in the room was moved by this scene.
Even the queen ant's covered eyes flashed with a complex mix of emotions.
She gently wiggled her antennae, and the soldier ants immediately opened the remaining two "mummies," then retreated to the corner to make room for the humans.
The queen ant walked up to Chi Yingdong and twitched her antennae.
The queen ant's voice immediately echoed in Chi Yingdong's mind, "Can I hold your kitten?"
Chi Yingdong cautiously pulled his arms closer together.
The kitten had fainted after bumping into the queen ant, so she had some reservations.
"I won't hurt her."
The queen ant's tone was slightly helpless, "Or I could ask the kitten myself if she'd be willing."
Chi Yingdong looked at the kitten in his arms.
The kitten is spacing out.
Meng Qinghe almost thought she was hallucinating. She heard the queen ant ask, "Do you want to turn back into a human?"
The kitten's ears perked up suddenly; there was no doubt she was thinking about it.
The queen ant called out, "Then come here."
Meng Qinghe hesitated for a moment, but the desire to turn back into a human still prevailed.
She struggled to get out of Chi Yingdong's arms, but was firmly held and unable to move.
"Meow?"
Meng Qinghe turned to look at Chi Yingdong, not understanding why he was suddenly hugging him so tightly.
Chi Yingdong didn't know what the ant queen and the kitten said, but judging from the kitten's reaction, her heart ached terribly, as if she had been abandoned by the kitten.
The kitten's eyes were resolute as it prepared to leave.
Chi Yingdong silently let go of her hand, and saw the kitten eagerly rush into the queen ant's arms.
She could clearly sense that the kitten was afraid of ants, so why was she in such a hurry now?
Chi Yingdong met the ant queen's gaze, and the ant queen smiled faintly.
Although the smile was gentle, even somewhat kind, Chi Yingdong sensed a hint of mockery.
The queen ant's gentle voice appeared in Chi Yingdong's consciousness.
"Don't be angry, don't you want to see her turn into a human?"
Chi Yingdong was slightly taken aback, the scene of the kitten turning into a human flashing through his mind. "What do you mean? You have a way?"
The queen ant didn't speak, but answered with her actions.
Chi Yingdong saw the queen ant lifting the kitten with her forelimbs, and her antennae connected to the kitten's head.
A pale golden light entered the kitten's body through its tentacles, as if some kind of energy transfer ritual was taking place, exuding a sense of holiness.
Chi Yingdong then realized that he had misunderstood the queen ant.
The energy transfer ended, the queen ant retracted her antennae, and handed the kitten back to Chi Yingdong.
The kitten is sleeping peacefully.
Chi Yingdong suddenly realized that there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world. The other party had helped her kitten so much without asking for anything in return.
What is the price?
Chi Yingdong asked directly, his fingers unconsciously stroking the cat's fur.
The queen ant's smile became more genuine.
“Intelligent human. I have given most of my energy to your kitten. Once she can fully absorb my energy, she can transform back into human form. I need you to help me find the crack in the world and send me home.”
Chi Yingdong frowned in thought, "What is the crack in the world?"
Faced with Chi Yingdong's question, the Queen Ant fell into deep thought, her thin wings drooping down, even the light on her wings dimmed a bit.
"I come from a technologically advanced interstellar world. Our race is skilled in mental manipulation and accidentally discovered that every world has a rift."
"I was young and daring back then, and I wanted to explore the world, but I lost my original body when I passed through the crack in the world and was trapped in this body."
The queen ant's voice echoed in Chi Yingdong's mind, tinged with a wistful reminiscence.
Her eyes flickered slightly, as if she saw her former self.
Chi Yingdong remained silent for a moment, as if trying to discern the truth or falsehood in the Queen Ant's words, "How can I find the crack in the world?"
The queen ant gently shook her head. "I don't know either."
"The kitten in your arms has the aura of a rift in her soul; she came through the rift in the world. And the person who invested in this lab has been studying my power; perhaps she knows something."
Chi Yingdong had suspected the kitten's origins, but he never imagined it came from another world.
But none of that matters.
She had planned never to see Qiao Ying again in this lifetime, but unexpectedly, something still connected her with Qiao Ying. Was she just unable to defy the world's consciousness?
Chi Yingdong promised, "I will try to find it for you, but I may not be able to."
The queen ant nodded, and the two confirmed the deal.
The queen ant noticed that Qian Ruanruan and Jiang Yun had woken up and were looking around blankly.
"You should leave quickly, it's not safe in the building after dark."
Chi Yingdong paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."
The soldier ants escorted them to the stairwell, but they had to walk down the stairs on their own.
Chi Yingdong then asked Xu Luo what had happened in the past two days.
Two days ago, a resident from the next building came looking for Qian Ruanruan, revealing her identity from before the apocalypse. She said she worked for a food research and development company and that her company had a large warehouse.
The warehouse contains food supplies such as compressed biscuits and chocolate.
They wanted to go with Qian Ruanruan's team to find supplies, and the supplies they found would be split equally between the two teams.
After consulting with the other members of the team, Qian Ruanruan ultimately decided to cooperate with the neighboring building.
Unexpectedly, there was a high-level zombie in the building. The zombie's special ability was to devour other zombies in the building, making it extremely powerful.
Qian Ruanruan was the only one who escaped.
She sought Jiang Yun's help, hoping the two of them could work together to defeat the zombies, but to her surprise, the two of them could only manage a draw against the zombies.
Fortunately, at the last moment, Xu Luo awakened his fire-type ability and delivered the final blow to the zombie.
However, all three of them fell into a coma due to the exhaustion of their superpowers.
On the way back, at Qian Ruanruan's request, Chi Yingdong put all the supplies in the warehouse into his spatial storage.
Qian Ruanruan needs these supplies to give the families of her deceased teammates an explanation.
*
Meng Qinghe slept soundly, but still felt full of energy, probably because he hadn't fully absorbed it yet.
She stood up from the sofa, looking around in confusion, "Meow meow meow."
Why are you back? Where's the queen ant?
Hearing the sound, Chi Yingdong looked at the kitten and guessed, "You want to ask why we're back?"
Although Chi Yingdong's understanding was slightly off, it wasn't by much, and Meng Qinghe nodded.
Chi Yingdong gently stroked the kitten's head. "The queen ant is still in the lab. She helped you, and we'll see her again in the future."
Meng Qinghe recalled that before falling into a deep sleep, she asked the queen ant what she needed to give to help her become human.
The queen ant told her that her master would pay for it.
The kitten instantly panicked, grabbing Chi Yingdong's collar with its two front paws, meowing loudly.
Did you promise the queen ant something?
There is still a language barrier between cat language and Chinese. Chi Yingdong really couldn't understand what the cat was saying. Seeing that the cat was very anxious, he simply brought out a writing tablet.
Meng Qinghe impatiently picked up the electromagnetic pen and wrote a few words crookedly on the board.
What did you promise the queen ant?
Chi Yingdong hugged the kitten to his arms, picked up its front paws, and gently stroked them.
The queen ant said that the kitten came from the crack in the world, and that the kitten's body contained the soul of an adult.
She should discuss the matter with the kitten and resolve it; there's nothing to hide.
Chi Yingdong decided to tell the kitten what the ant queen had told her.
Chi Yingdong: "She said that neither you nor she belong to this world; she comes from a more advanced interstellar world..."
Meng Qinghe's tail froze in mid-air.
Only then did I understand that when the queen ant said they were the same, she meant that their souls came from other worlds.
But isn't this world a book she wrote?
And will Chi Yingdong be afraid? Will he think of her as a ghost?
Meng Qinghe looked at Chi Yingdong in a panic, afraid to see fear on the other's face.
However, Chi Yingdong's eyes remained gentle, full of trust in her.
Would you like to tell me about your previous world?
Chi Yingdong gently scratched the kitten's chin.
The kitten's body went limp against its will, even though the topic of conversation was very serious.
Chi Yingdong: "Don't you want to talk about it?"
Perhaps it was the other person's voice that was too gentle, Meng Qinghe was moved and opened her mouth to speak, but only managed to utter a "meow".
The kitten was stunned, and Chi Yingdong was also stunned for a moment.
Finally, Chi Yingdong chuckled and said in a doting tone, "Never mind, tell me about your past when you become human."
Meng Qinghe felt that the current Chi Yingdong was completely different from the vicious female supporting character he had created.
Gentle and considerate, she has absolutely nothing to do with malice.
Meng Qinghe suddenly stood up and pressed her small body against Chi Yingdong, trying to push her down onto the sofa.
Chi Yingdong lay down as usual.
The kitten lay sprawled on Chi Yingdong's chest, its soft touch enveloping her, and nestled its head into the crook of Chi Yingdong's neck in a dependent manner.
As the kitten's nose brushed against the delicate skin, its downy fur grazed the slightly protruding glands.
A tingling, electric-like sensation spread throughout his body via his glands, causing Chi Yingdong to catch his breath and tremble uncontrollably.
"Qingqing, stop fooling around."
Her voice was slightly hoarse.
With that rub, Meng Qinghe smelled that sweet, cloying fragrance again.
The fragrance wafted into her nose, slowly warming her body and making her even more captivated by the scent.
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