Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Xie Linyuan had mentioned 'eloping' to Wu Yin yesterday. At that time, Wu Yin's response was: in a few days, once there's progress with Xue Hongyi's matter, he curiously asked, "You mentioned eloping right after seeing Xue Hongyi, what progress has there been on his side? Is taming the Golden Winged Bird what you call progress? ...You're not planning to have the Golden Winged Bird carry His Highness and fly away, are you?"

"Why not?" Wu Yin pointed towards the cliff face where yellow earth and verdant green intermingled to the north of the base, "Couldn't the Golden Winged Bird just slip through there and fly away at night?"

Slip through your big head. "Guess if such a large base has an air raid alarm and anti-air missiles."

"…Tsk."

"Besides… it was Xue Hongyi who tamed the Golden Winged Bird, not you. Why would it obey you to smuggle the dog?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yin smiled wryly, "Guess?"

Jie Linyuan, after a moment's thought, frowned deeply, "What deal did you make with Xue Hongyi?"

He then soberly advised, with an unknown motive, "He knows too much. It's safer to kill him before we leave."

……

During work hours, the buses from Area C to the outer regions are always overcrowded, with most job opportunities located in the breeding farms of Area F and the city defense of Area G. The buses to the inner areas are much emptier, frequented by elites commuting to and from the commercial center in Area B and the scientific and political center in Area A.

Wu Yin and Jie Linyuan alighted at the stop for the high-tech industrial park where the princess worked. Lacking work permits, they couldn't enter the park and ended up waiting fifteen minutes at the security office until the Black Knight personally came to pick them up.

The Black Knight skillfully maneuvered its custom steering wheel, speeding along the road. From afar, Wu Yin saw the Black Knight's dog head poking out of the sunroof, tongue out, barking excitedly at them.

On the way back, the Black Knight politely apologized to Wu Yin.

"I was in the lab with the princess, assisting His Highness with tests, so I was a bit late. My apologies for making you wait."

Wu Yin nodded in response, "What about the other two?"

"They're on a mission outside the safety zone with the army."

"They're only about five or six in human years, isn't the frequency of their missions a bit high?"

"We are working dogs; it's our duty."

Wu Yin said no more, following the Black Knight into the scientific research building. After registering at the front desk, they took the elevator straight to the nineteenth floor, where they saw the princess and His Highness behind a large glass window.

His Highness, with ears drooping, obediently lay on the blue surgical sheet, both heads meekly resting on the table. A blood collection needle was attached to his left paw, with two researchers dressed in lab coats continuously swapping out vials filled with blood, labeling each one before attaching new vials to the needle.

The princess watched with a pained expression, tenderly licking His Highness's fur.

His Highness weakly lifted his head to look at her, then listlessly laid it back down.

Besides these four, there was also a middle-aged man with a clearly higher rank in the lab. He sat behind the monitoring equipment, studying His Highness's latest data with a serious expression, occasionally calling over researchers to discuss specific data points before adding extra tests for His Highness.

Wu Yin waited outside the glass window for a full twenty minutes before His Highness finally jumped off the operating table, shook his fur, and sulkily rubbed around the princess, whimpering for affection. The princess lovingly licked the paw that had been drawn blood from and nudged him with a kiss, signaling him to look outside.

His Highness looked up in confusion and instantly saw Wu Yin, who was clearly impatient, outside the window.

His two heads barked in surprise and joy, rushing to the door of the lab. With skilled use of his front paws, he opened the door and then, like a cannonball, launched himself into Wu Yin's arms. If Jie Linyuan hadn't supported Wu Yin from behind in time, the solid impact of this medium-sized dog could have easily concussed Wu Yin.

Golden Retriever: "Woo woo woo, my brothers and sisters went to play outside the safe zone, I want to go out too!"

Border Collie: "Woo woo woo, they drew so much blood, I'm so tired..."

While His Highness was seeking comfort with various whimpers, the middle-aged man from the lab came out with a stack of documents, followed by two researchers still discussing His Highness's physical data. As he spoke, his gaze unintentionally fell on Wu Yin, and suddenly, he stopped, looking at Wu Yin and said, "Is it you? You've awakened?"

This man was the princess's direct superior and her doctoral advisor. When Wu Yin was still in Wang Sui's body, he had boldly approached this man to request a dog, only to be flatly rejected.

In fact, after being rejected, Wu Yin had planned not to take on the mission to rescue the Black Knight. He could have rescued the severely injured bionic body for free and then left "Wang Sui" at the southern camp to settle debts, slipping away quietly himself.

But at that time, the princess approached him privately, agreed to the conditions Wu Yin had proposed, opting to trade a small dog for a big dog. Only then did Wu Yin exhaust all efforts to infiltrate the Langyan Shelter, where he encountered a special semi-mechanical life form.

In the spacious and bright corridor outside the laboratory, the professor lowered his head and saw the two-headed dog, which had been grinning and wagging its tail at Wu Yin, tuck its tail and scurry behind Jie Linyuan at the sense of his approach.

Wu Yin noticed this too and bent down to comfortingly stroke the border collie's head, then looked up into the professor's eyes, "Yes, I woke up not long after the Black Knight rescued us."

The professor had heard about this and nodded, "I'm very grateful for your friends' generous help in rescuing the mutated dog. The two-headed mutant is a very valuable experimental animal in our research park, playing a crucial role in understanding the source of the calamity infection, developing corresponding vaccines, and cure-alls."

Wu Yin silently switched to petting the other dog head, the border collie casting a resentful glance at the golden retriever before stretching its head under Jie Linyuan's hand.

Compared to the obviously distracted Wu Yin, Jie Linyuan, who always maintained a good façade, gave the professor plenty of recognition. He nodded along, even echoing phrases like 'for great causes, minor details can be overlooked', 'sacrifice brings victory', and 'human interests above all', much to the professor's satisfaction.

However, out of the professor's line of sight, Jie Linyuan produced a serrated, round-headed small comb in his palm, running it over the border collie's head, making it hum contentedly.

"Though the research process is fraught with difficulties and setbacks, under the tireless efforts of many researchers working day and night, we are beginning to see results. I believe that in the near future, humanity will surely overcome this challenge," the professor concluded, seeing Jie Linyuan seemingly enlightened, and asked somewhat satisfied, "What brings you to the park now...?"

Wu Yin, carefree, responded, "We're currently out of jobs, and our account balance has hit zero, so we came to borrow a bit from the princess and the Black Knight for emergencies, just to sort out our lodging for the week." He then asked, "By the way, are you hiring?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure about that. You could check the talent market," the professor said, and then hinted, "During your unconsciousness, all medical expenses were covered by Lady Princess."

"Oh," Wu Yin replied, his subtext: So what?

The professor, in his position, rarely dealt with someone who couldn't understand implications anymore. He paused, then without further ado, reminded them not to miss the afternoon meeting with the princess before turning and striding away.

Watching his figure disappear around the corner of the corridor, Wu Yin withdrew his gaze, squatted down, and held up the two heads of His Highness, gazing into the pair of brown and blue eyes.

Human interests above all.

Mutated dogs hold crucial research value for calamity contamination.

So what?

Wu Yin's highest principle of action is to prioritize his own will above everything else. He wants a dog companion on his long journey to find himself, so he will definitely take His Highness with him. As for the rest, they don't factor into his considerations.

"Your Highness," he lifted one of the dog's paws, softly asking, "Do you want to go out and play?"

The Golden Retriever, eager to be misled—Yes, yes!

The Border Collie, cautiously curious—Where to play?

"Outside the safety zone," Wu Yin said with a slight smile.

Upon hearing this, His Highness's tail wagged so fast it was a blur—Really, really? When? Now?

"Yes, right now."

His Highness, forgetting all fatigue in his excitement, hopped around Wuyin in circles. He failed to notice the sudden change in his parents' expressions upon hearing Wuyin's words. In stark contrast to his jubilant dance, surprise and panic first flashed in the eyes of the princess and the black knight, followed by a deep, poignant sorrow. Then, as those emotions quietly faded, only a faint sense of loss remained.

The black knight quickly stepped forward, placing a paw on Wuyin's shoulder – "Does it have to be today? Isn't it too soon? His Highness just had blood drawn and isn't feeling well..."

Wuyin looked up, brushing the paw off his shoulder, stood up, and asked expressionlessly, "Is there anything else you wish to say?"

The princess closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and approached the overjoyed His Highness, who was absorbed in thoughts of going out to play. She knelt down halfway – "Your Highness, Mommy and Daddy still have work and can't accompany you outside today. Once you leave the safe zone, you must listen to your master, protect him, and stay safe, understand?"

"—Master?"

Hearing this word, the two-headed dog's tail drooped. It sneaked a glance at Wuyin standing nearby, then looked joyfully at its mother – "Master?"

"—Yes, don't you like this human with black hair and green eyes the most? From now on, he will be your master."

"—Yay! Does master know about this? Has he acknowledged me as his dog?"

"K Xi K Tuan K for K reading K Jia K."

The princess gently licked each of His Highness's eyes – "Mommy doesn't know either. Maybe you can try calling him and see?"

Excited, His Highness wagged his tail again, paws tapping the ground, and barked shortly at Wuyin, his eyes brimming with anticipation. The princess also stood up, walked slowly to the black knight's side, and closed her eyes, leaning against it.

Wu Yin understood their intention, raising his hand towards His Highness, "Come here, good dog."

His Highness cheered and dashed straight towards him. At the same time, Wu Yin felt the warm chest of someone pressing against his back.

His abdomen was firmly grasped by a single hand, and Jie Linyuan's chin rested on his shoulder. When Wu Yin turned his face towards him, he could almost feel those light-colored eyelashes poking his eyeball.

Jie Linyuan made a clicking sound, lifted his right hand, and pressed down to signal His Highness not to pounce recklessly. The latter seemed to understand, halting just in time, rubbing against Jie Linyuan and Wu Yin's thighs to please them, then sitting down, eyes gleaming as he looked at his master and... mistress??

“……”

“？”

"I called the dog, why are you holding on to me?"

"Can't I hold you?"

“……”

Wu Yin pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason, feeling increasingly unable to outtalk Jie Linyuan.

……

After each blood draw, His Highness would get a three-day holiday. Wu Yin, along with the dowry generously given by His Highness's parents—10 survival points, leisurely went to find housing in the residential settlement of Zone D.

It was merely a ruse to make the higher-ups think they were planning to continue living in the southern camp. Jie Linyuan thought any decent house would do. Little did anyone expect Wu Yin to fuss and haggle for a whole hour at the settlement office, eventually managing to get a 12% discount on the rent through sheer charm.

Jie Linyuan looked back at those Xue Yue had arranged to follow them, finding the ruse extremely effective. The southern camp might well think they intended to settle there for life, otherwise, how to justify the hour spent haggling for the rent.