Chapter 64: Amusement Park (Part Eight)

Chapter 64: Amusement Park (Part Eight)

"Ayin?" Rong Mi reached out to touch the wolf's abdomen and gently held its right hind leg, which had never touched the ground. "Are you injured? When did this happen?!"

The wolf didn't respond, but he immediately knew the answer.

In the elevator cabin.

When he was facing off against Cecil and was attacked by security robots, he was so overwhelmed by excruciating pain that he failed to notice if the wolf had been affected.

Rong Mi pressed his lips tightly together.

He had... carelessly overlooked it.

And several hours had passed since Ayin got injured.

Even though combat pets had strong recuperative abilities, it was still unacceptable to leave wounds untreated for such a long time.

The trail of blood from the treatment room, where Ayin had walked through, stained the corridor as it dragged on.

"Arf." The Silver Wolf sensed Rong Mi's guilt and concern, gently licking his finger in an attempt to comfort him, implying that the blood on its body was from the youth's battle.

"I'm not stupid," Rong Mi picked up the wolf, rubbing his finger against the blood-stained fur on its jaw. "This blood is Ayin's."

The wound on the wolf's abdomen was severe, clearly affecting its internal organs.

It was because of Cecil, and also because of himself.

Rong Mi took a deep breath and turned to the medical robot beside him. "Activate the healing energy waves."

"Beep - Permission verification required -"

"Beep-beep - Permission verification needed -"

"Arf." The wolf tugged at Rong Mi's wrist, preventing the young man from attempting to activate the medical robot's healing function. It struggled to jump down to the ground. It let out a worried howl and turned its head towards the entrance.

In the elevator, it had memorized Cecil's scent. With its excellent sense of smell, the wolf had detected Cecil's proximity through the overwhelming odor of blood.

"Arf."

They needed to move swiftly.

Rong Mi wore a Psionic Bracelet on his wrist, and the wolf was injured.

There was little to gain from engaging Cecil in combat at this moment.

The young man couldn't help but curse under his breath.

He quickly stripped a security guard of his clothes and donned them, then tore a piece of fabric to tightly bind the wolf's wound.

Gently cradling the wolf in his arms, he swiftly exited the treatment room. Ayin, using his wolf claws to point the way, guided Rong Mi to avoid Cecil's path and into the stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Rong Mi's footsteps were swift and silent as he made his way towards the ground floor of the main tower. Yet, reaching that level to meet up with Lu Yi was far from an easy task.

The whirring of security robots echoed within the stairwell, followed closely by the footsteps of security personnel.

Rong Mi was not afraid of them.

Even with the suppressor bracelet on, these individuals posed no match for Rong Mi. It was Cecil that concerned him.

"Buzz... Buzz..." A faint humming of mental energy could be heard emanating from below.

Cecil had clearly noticed Rong Mi's escape.

Rong Mi pressed his lips together tightly.

If he didn't have the mental energy suppressor on him and if he wasn't in a hurry to treat the Silver Wolves, he wouldn't have minded engaging Cecil in battle once more.

This time, his mental energy had increased, and he no longer needed to hold back from using his mecha for fear of alerting Cecil or interfering with the military's assault mission.

It was actually an opportune moment to lure Cecil out of the main tower, allowing Lu Yi and the military to launch a joint attack, shattering Cecil's butterfly-like mental fragments.

...And it was also a perfect time to avenge the wolves!

Rong Mi used his mental energy to slice through the security personnel entering the stairwell from the side, stuffed the wolf into his pocket, and attempted to burn off the suppressor on his hand, but with minimal effect.

...This was quite a predicament!

Without removing the suppressor bracelet... it would be difficult for him to even engage Cecil in a mecha battle! He might not even be able to withstand a single attack from the other side!

Ascending the stairs to the next level, he paused on the verge of taking another step, sensing something amiss.

In the next instant, a vivid red ice butterfly-shaped spirit beam pierced through the steps before him, shooting upward.

"Buzz... Buzz... Buzz..." Amidst the butterflies' humming, more and more red spirit beams rose from the base of the main tower, turning the entire structure into a massive cage, trapping Rong Mi in place.

Any contact with Cecil's spirit energy would immediately reveal his location, allowing the opponent to ensnare him with spirit tendrils.

Rong Mi: "..."

He stood in a narrow gap between the spirit energy columns, turning his head to look at the open doorway of the stairwell.

The interior of the main tower was designed in a concentric pattern, with corridors connected by the stairwell forming a ring around a thick central pillar.

That pillar extended all the way to the metal wheel at the top of the tower, seemingly supporting the peculiar architecture of the building.

However, as the ice butterflies hummed, Rong Mi sensed an immense surge of energy rising from the pillar, funneling into the top of the tower.

The circular wheel was tinged red by the ice butterflies' spirit energy, and its outer metallic structure began to rotate slowly. The thin needles at the top of the wheel emitted bright light, and after a blinding flash, a torrential wave of spirit energy, in the form of butterflies, erupted upward.

Like an erupting volcano.

It pierced through the clouds, the moonlight, and the high altitude of the Capital Star.

"General! Strong energy fluctuations detected—" Sun Tong, the spaceship pilot, shouted from above the amusement park base. In the command room, Lu Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and turned to look out the window.

The entire amusement park base was under Lu Yi's domain.

The moon hung high, casting a frozen sheen on the ground and buildings. Beneath the military fleet, time itself seemed to be frozen by the biting cold.

Except for the central tower in the middle of the base.

The triangular tower was bathed in a crimson glow. The bright red color seeped through the frost and snow, dripping down like blood flowing from the steel structure.

Columns of Ice Butterfly energy rose up, slicing the stairs into countless tiny segments. Red mental energy, spewing from the sharp tips at the top, formed a thick mist that rose upward, disappearing into the invisible heights.

"Contact the defense space station above the Capital Star," Lu Yi said in a cold voice. "Expand the evacuation zone in the amusement district."

His fingers clenched around the controls of the spaceship's main cannon.

Spiritsigns flickered around the cannons, as the roar of high-powered weaponry reverberated throughout the entire amusement park base.

The light beam streaked across, detonating at the top of the main tower.

Silver radiance poured down, severing several spirit energy pillars in the shape of ice butterflies that pierced through buildings. Most of the metallic wheel at the top of the main tower was obliterated by the impact, but its central tip remained standing firm.

Inside one of the buildings, Rong Mi was met with a series of howling spirit energy pillars of ice butterflies in front of him. Silver energy cascaded down from above like an avalanche on a mountain slope, shattering and devouring the spirit energy pillars.

Seizing the opportunity, Rong Mi deftly navigated through the gaps. However, just as he reached the first level, more red spirit energy pillars rose up once again.

"Buzz—!"

The buzzing of the butterflies was filled with fury. The newly risen spirit energy pillars were even denser, leaving almost no room for Rong Mi to evade. He was forced to leave the stairwell and press himself against the corridor wall while avoiding Cecil's columns.

Rong Mi took a deep breath, cautious not to let the corners of his clothes touch the ice butterfly spirit energy threads.

Right then, a large door beside the corridor suddenly opened.

Rong Mi: " ?!"

He turned in surprise to find a man in a tailored suit leaning against the door, waving at him.

The room behind the entrance seemed like an ordinary office, but... the space within was untouched by Ice Butterfly's mental energy.

Without hesitation, Rong Mi darted in.

The man swiftly closed the door and turned to face him.

"I'm Cheng Wen," he said, his voice tense, clearly uneasy with the situation within the base, yet attempting to maintain composure as he spoke clearly, "This is a safe house."

"You have blood on you, do you need assistance?"

"Yes," Rong Mi replied promptly, not even having the chance to inquire about the origins of the safe house or Cheng Wen's identity.

His wounds had long been healed, and the blood stains came from Ayin, concealed in his coat pocket.

He pulled Ayin out, noticing that the wolf's spirit was significantly more weakened than before.

Having found Rong Mi and being surrounded by the young man's aura, the wolf could no longer endure the pain from its injuries.

Aware of the perilous surroundings, it struggled to stay awake, but Rong Mi could clearly see that the wolf's condition was deteriorating.

Ayin's ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly, and its breathing was much more rapid than normal. The reopened wound on its abdomen showed no sign of clotting, causing the wolf to tremble uncontrollably.

"Is there a healing device here?" Rong Mi asked swiftly. "Ordinary medicine might not be enough."

"There is. Inside." Cheng Wen promptly got up, leading him into the inner chamber.

A medical robot equipped with a healing energy field stood in the room, promptly moving to Ayin's side upon Cheng Wen's command, extending its healing probe.

A warm yellow glow enveloped Ayin, prompting the wolf to let out a low whine as it buried its head in Rong Mi's palm, finally relaxing its body.

Relieved, Rong Mi held the wolf while sitting on the ground. He gently stroked the wolf's forehead and scanned the room, noticing two security robots standing in a corner, clearly serving as the defenses for this space.

Rong Mi turned to Cheng Wen.

"This place won't be penetrated by Cecil's mental power anytime soon," Cheng Wen offered proactively. "This room was built with an energy isolation layer. Over the years, I've been secretly purchasing additional energy isolation devices and hiding them inside."

"We're already quite close to the ground level, and there's a hidden passage behind. Once your combat pet recovers, you should leave through that passage as soon as possible. Cecil might discover something amiss here rather quickly."

"And this is your weapon?" Rising from his seat, he retrieved a silver dagger from a drawer beside the desk and returned it to Rong Mi. "I found it on the floor of the elevator cabin."

"Thank you," Rong Mi replied, slightly surprised.

He took the dagger and gazed at the shimmering silver blade, releasing a soft sigh of relief. The dagger was made of a special material that should be able to penetrate his suppressor for mental abilities.

Rong Mi expressed gratitude but refrained from inquiring about Cheng Wen's identity.

No need to ask.

The dagger, which was supposed to be taken by Cecil, being in Cheng Wen's possession indicated an extraordinary relationship between her and Cecil. Or... perhaps with Lu Tianchen.

That's why Cheng Wen knew what happened in the elevator shaft, arrived promptly, and took away the dagger that could harm Cecil.

"There are cleaning wipes here." As Lu Tianchen's personal secretary, Cheng Wen was meticulous and had the safe house well-equipped.

He passed the wet wipes box to Rong Mi, watching as the young man carefully cleaned the dirt off the wolf's body. He couldn't help but say, "General Lu and I used to have a husky when we were younger. It looked very much like your combat pet in its childhood."

It was a small, fluffy ball of fur with a snow-white, fluffy coat.

"Later... it was killed."

That husky had immediately sensed something amiss the moment Cecil entered Lu Tianchen's presence, barking to warn them, only to have its neck snapped by Chengdu.

After Lu Tianchen regained consciousness, he never asked Cheng Wen about what had happened to the husky.

Cheng Wen knew that Lu Tianchen must already be aware. He was deeply saddened but never showed any sign of it. Just like how Cheng Wen herself was also upset but didn't bring it up either.

Due to Lu Tianchen's short periods of clarity, they were always discussing how to avoid attracting Cecil's attention and convey messages to the outside world.

The Symbiosis Association was a vast system, with countless eyes on Cheng Wen. Cecil and Lu Tianchen shared the same body and mental domain... Any slightest private abnormal behavior could be detected.

There was too much to do, and expressing those sorrowful emotions... simply wasn't feasible.

Cheng Wen said reassuringly, "Your combat pet will be fine."

"Thank you." Rong Mi wiped the blood from the wolf's chin.

He sensed Cheng Wen's sorrow and heaviness in her tone but was unable to offer comfort.

Each Star Beast that had bonded with its owner was one of a kind.

Rong Mi pressed his lips together and softly said, "Dogs love you."

Cheng Wen was momentarily speechless.

"You're not from the Military Department," Rong Mi changed the subject. "This place is dangerous. You'd better leave first."

"Is there an armor here?"

"I don't have any on me." As a well-dressed president's secretary, his daily concerns were company affairs and the president's daily needs; his life had no connection with mechas at all. "I can't even operate one."

"But if you need it, someone is looking for…"

"Knock, knock."

A sudden knocking echoed from outside the door.

The wolf, in the midst of treatment, lifted its body, its gaze turning cautious toward the entrance.

"Someone we know," Cheng Wen discerned from the rhythm of the knocks, "you might recognize them."

As he spoke, he opened the door.

The person outside, reeking of blood, swiftly entered. Upon realizing there was another occupant, their eyes darted toward the inner room, their expression quickly turning surprised.

"…Rong Mi!" Squad Leader Ellen exclaimed, giving both Rong Mi and the wolf a military salute, "You two…"

His expression shifted when he saw the suppressor on Rong Mi's hand. "You were the one injured last night."

"I had a feeling it was you who triggered the base's alarm last night," Rong Mi high-fived Ellen, making light of the situation, "We're not as in sync as I thought."

"I'm sorry," Ellen apologized sincerely.

He too wore a suppressor on his hand and donned Cheng Wen's shirt and trousers. The right sleeve of his clothing was tattered, exposing the wrinkled flesh and the corrosive hollows that had started to form after his encounter with Cheng Die's psychic power. In his bloodied palm, he held a spatial button.

"I retrieved my mecha," Ellen said. "I snuck into the Ice Butterfly Symbiosis Association's research facility, and they're conducting experiments on fusing human genes with those of ice butterflies right here..."

His expression was one of anger mixed with compassion.

In the laboratory's incubators lay numerous lifeless human test subjects. Ellen gathered the available data, unable to bear looking at the corpses any longer.

"Cecil must have already located this place," Ellen continued. "Lu Tianchen won't be able to hold out for much longer." He paused. "We should hurry up..."

"Ao." The wolf growled softly, its ears perking up as it turned towards the door, interrupting Ellen's words.

"Buzz—buzz—" The humming of ice butterfly psychic energy grew louder, seeping through the door and into the room.

Rong Mi stood up, patting Ellen on the shoulder.

"You take the documents and Cheng Wen first," the young man whispered. As he spoke, he stroked the wolf's head, flattening its pointed ears.

"Cecil... is almost at the door."