FMLB Chapter 70

Chapter 70- Exploding the Orphanage

The blood moon hung high in the night sky, seemingly destined for tonight to be a night of slaughter. The roar of tigers echoed in the darkness, and blood enveloped the entire Star Ocean Orphanage.

Countless test subjects within the Star Ocean Orphanage forcibly broke free from control, and fires erupted, with continuous bombardment of energy cannons and cries of agony. The test subjects with insect wings spread open seemed like ghosts climbing out of hell to seek revenge on their former perpetrators.

The experimenters who hadn’t transplanted insect wings barely had time to pick up weapons before they were cut open by the cold insect wings, blood splattering everywhere, clusters of blood flowers splashing onto the walls.

“It’s over.”

The medicine-seeking mouse sat in a hidden hiding place, a secret base embedded in the transport channel, with an extremely small entrance, only suitable for its size, and…

Unborn offspring.

Those offspring had been injected with a sedative, sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by the outside world. The medicine-seeking mouse stood guard like a sentry at the granary door, with a pile of offspring behind him.

The wailing and bombardment from outside became faint and indistinct in the transport channel. He turned on the light brain, checking the valuable data he had accumulated over the years for the last time, then closed his eyes with some exhaustion.

The communication sound from the light brain hanging around his neck rang, and the cold voice of Bamboo Leaf Qing came through: “All test subjects, including No. 20, have lost control. Scorpion, that idiot, has betrayed the organization and initiated the self-destruct sequence. You need to come out with the data quickly. The Cleaners’ people will be here soon to pick you up…”

The medicine-seeking mouse disconnected the call and blacklisted Bamboo Leaf Qing’s account. Another communication came in: “Mr. Mao Zhengyong, I’m Lieutenant Han Zhong of the A-79 Exterminator Squadron. The Exterminator detected the Cleaners suddenly accelerating forward and is expected to arrive at Star Seventeen within three star hours…”

The person on the other side was momentarily shocked by this sudden turn of events, but quickly regained composure and after a few exchanges, terminated the communication.

In the tranquil starry sky, two massive starships traversed the stars, separated by a vast distance.

Another communication came through, “Where are you?”

Number 20’s cold and emotionless inquiry elicited the first smile from the medicine-seeking mouse tonight.

“I thought you had lost control too. I have my own way of leaving here before the big explosion, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

When the person on the other side abruptly terminated the communication without hesitation, the medicine-seeking mouse shook his head with a smile. He held the light brain in his hands, sitting in the cave, staring at the dark surface of the transport channel with lines of red light flickering.

Like flames burning away impurities.

A strange sense of familiarity welled up in his heart, as if he had seen such raging flames before. Perhaps he had seen such a scene in a dream. For how many years had he stayed here—

He watched as he built the vermilion tower, watched as he entertained guests, watched as the tower collapsed.

With his eyes closed in the embrace of the large white tiger, the stench of blood in the air was so thick it seemed unshakeable. Perhaps when he opened his eyes, he would see hell on earth. But even so, Xi Guican was striving to carry him from hell to the mortal realm.

“Guican, I just heard medicine-seeking mouse mention ‘big explosion.’ What is the big explosion?”

The cries and pleas for help around him were incessant, and He Ruge had to raise his voice.

“For a long time, the self-destruct program installed in the Star Ocean Orphanage could be successfully activated, blowing everything here to smithereens.”

Blown up?

He Ruge’s heart tightened, and in an instant, he thought of the offspring of the Frostbite Plan.

“Then what about those offspring? Can they escape before the explosion?”

“Don’t worry, Mao Zhengyong will take them away.”

Xi Guican transformed into human form, took out a rotary slow-plasma pistol from his spatial button, and wrapped his arm around He Ruge’s waist, whispering softly, “Open your eyes.”

What met his eyes was the door to the brainwashing room, which was tightly shut, and then kicked open by Xi Guican with a resounding crash.

“Before I leave, I’m going to thoroughly destroy this machine,” Xi Guican stated a fact very simply, his cool and self-contained voice as if narrating some ancient and unchanging truth. However, when he looked at He Ruge, his icy tone suddenly warmed up.

“Do you want to shoot at it?”

He Ruge paused for a moment upon hearing this, then his heart raced. Because the revolver-style barrel Xi Guican now held in his hand was too cool, and coupled with his intense dislike for the brainwashing machine, he couldn’t help but nod.

With Xi Guican’s hands covering his own, the young man leaned down slightly, resting his chin on He Ruge’s shoulder, patiently correcting He Ruge’s grip on the plasma pistol.

“Aim at that big target, very good.”

His lips approached He Ruge’s earlobe, and he whispered softly, “Fire.”

As if a tingling current surged through his earlobe, He Ruge’s hand almost lost grip of the plasma pistol. Perhaps unintentional flirting was the most tempting, with minimal pretense. The military-dressed idol of the interstellar era, this was the initial attraction of the “Xi Guican” character for him.

The dark barrel emitted a dazzling beam of light, and everything seemed to slow down. Enveloped in Xi Guican’s aura, he suddenly remembered a phrase he had seen when seeking help on the author forum, something like “Are there any straight men on Jinjiang?”

If he could log in to the forum now, he would definitely refute that moderator.

It’s not about being straight or not straight…

It’s about the person.

Xi Guican, being so adorable, deserves to be loved by anyone.

The beam poured out, transforming into an electric net that enveloped the brainwashing machine. With the fluctuation of the current, ash rose, and white smoke billowed from the surface of the machine, with dark red fireworks faintly visible.

“Aren’t you supposed to be focusing at a time like this?”

The youth playfully bit He Ruge’s earlobe as a form of punishment. His hands trembled again, but because of Xi Guican’s stabilization, all He Ruge had to do was simply hold down the fire button, carrying out the operation like a fool.

“Biubiubiu.”

When He Ruge reached the fourth shot, the machine was on the verge of being scrapped. Xi Guican retracted the plasma pistol and then, in front of He Ruge, performed a “bare-handed dismantling of Gundam,” his movements flowing seamlessly as if he had done it before.

As he dismantled it, Xi Guican transformed into his beast form, sitting on the ground amidst the scattered debris. He expressionlessly destroyed the parts with a ruthless efficiency, then went on to wildly stomp on them with his claws.

Seeing this scene, He Ruge, who had previously blushed with excitement, gradually shifted from the expression of a young man in love to that of a worried father.

Does your butt hurt? Do your paws hurt? Do you want me to rub them for you?

When Xi Guican looked at He Ruge, he saw the gentle yet worried gaze from the other, bathed in such warmth. It seemed like he had become the weak Number 20 again.

He used to detest this feeling of weakness the most, but in this moment, Xi Guican found that he no longer hated it.

Because when he recalled the experiences with being Number 20, the first thing that came to mind was He Ruge, followed by Number 19, and the Golden Python…

It felt good.

Xi Guican hugged He Ruge, his huge insect wings spread open, as he issued the command for all the experimental subjects to escape from the Starry Sea Orphanage together. However, he didn’t issue this command initially because back then, the monster inside him controlled his body, and his mind was filled only with slaughter and revenge, with the lives of all the innocents being irrelevant to him.

In truth, he didn’t care much about these experimental subjects now either. He might indeed be a cold-blooded person, willing to save Number 19 and the Golden Python, but the lives of the other experimental subjects held little significance to him. They were as weightless as a feather.

Especially knowing that this was just a game, and all the experimental subjects were already dead, they had died seventeen years ago. So no matter what decision he made, it would only affect this game.

People cannot be brought back from the dead; this was a simple truth. But keeping these people “alive” could make He Ruge happy, which was also an obvious fact.

He hoped He Ruge could be happy every day.

As the self-destruct program fully activated, the entire Starry Sea Orphanage shook violently. The experimental subjects felt both the fear of the sky collapsing and the… ecstatic joy of finally breaking free from their cage.

They followed those silver-white wings as if they were mad, flying upward from the transport corridor. The once deep black surface of the corridor was now covered with bright red lines, flowing like magma, as if it were the only passage from hell to heaven.

Some experimental subjects were hit by energy cannons, blown to a bloody pulp, but many more flew upward like moths to a flame.

Xi Guican held He Ruge in his arms, pressing the other’s head against his chest, his palm resting on He Rugo’s neck. He could feel how soft the skin beneath his hand was, harmless and defenseless, in this environment, such softness was precious yet exceptionally fragile, something that needed to be protected at all costs. He couldn’t let anything harm or tarnish the person in his arms.

The enormous insect wings, like the wings of death, elegantly flapped in the darkness as Xi Guican flew out of this massive cage, a burial ground for countless bodies.

He had grown thoroughly weary of this place, so let it all be destroyed, let everything be buried in the flames. As he flew out of the cage, the scorching air turned into a cool breeze, entering his organs. Xi Guican looked up at the blood moon hanging in the sky.

It was the same blood moon from seventeen years ago. Because he was controlled by the monster at the time, that memory was filled with some crazy imaginations. The sky in his memory was black-red, and the moon hung like a sickle dripping thick blood. He was covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot, and he let out a crazed roar, completely unlike a human, more like a creature devoid of reason, only knowing slaughter.

No wonder the Federation initially regarded him as a “weapon,” “experimental subject,” “Number 20,” or a “monster.”

Xi Guican gently flapped his wings, hearing the thunderous explosions behind him. In that moment, it felt like an invisible restraint had been broken.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Xi Guican looked at the belated Clearer ship with eyes as cold as ice, yet the emerging dark red vertical pupils were like fire surging under the ice. He slowly, slowly formed a cold smile.

Vulture.

The infamous star pirate leader, the mastermind behind the Starry Sea Orphanage. He was more than willing to kill this scum again in the game.

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Sleepyblue’s Corner:

P.s. I did my best with the sfx sound (really dodn’t know if there’s something much more appropriate for the gunshot sound😅)

Please also check my other works!

Incurable Pain

Sea Monster Alliance [BL]

p.s. Do you have any novel pickup requests? Please feel free to type below in the comments sections or in my ko-fi page :>

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