Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Just as Bai Xiaoyu was about to ask for the coordinates of the Insect Crystal, he suddenly realized that although they were in a corner, they were basically away from the crowd. However, if someone with ill intentions deliberately eavesdropped, given the enhanced senses of people in the star system, especially the beast-people, they could easily overhear their conversation.

Bai Xiaoyu paused and said, "Let me finish my work, and I'll find a suitable time to talk."

Mosen grew anxious again and quickly turned back into an owl. The fledgling owl half-spread its wings and hopped over, flapping its wings and cooing as it circled around Bai Xiaoyu again.

Bai Xiaoyu still couldn't understand the bird's language, but he guessed, "Getting anxious won't help. As you can see, we need to wait a bit longer."

The owl fledgling looked back at the continuously arriving wounded, finally calming down from the urgency and excitement of learning about its brother's situation. It then transformed back into human form and, as before, stayed glued to Bai Xiaoyu's side.

Seeing this, Mo Yan left ahead.

Bai Xiaoyu continued his work and soon noticed that the looks of the recovering wounded had changed.

Though they didn’t say anything, Bai Xiaoyu was puzzled but didn’t ask further.

Later, after Chen Ying and the others had rested, they also looked at him with similar expressions.

He continued treating the wounded, and as he worked, the three of them moved closer. Finally, unable to hold back, Yang Fanxin whispered, "Captain, are you Breeder Bai from D369 Livestream?"

Bai Xiaoyu was stunned. Initially, Mosen's sudden recognition of him was strange, but he later discovered that Dawn had his information, making it normal for them to recognize him. But now, how did these three also figure it out?

He touched his face. Was Tao Limeng's anti-bio mask not working? Was this small mask going to lead to Tao Limeng's reputation being tarnished?

Despite the three people looking at him, Bai Xiaoyu, who still trusted Tao Limeng's professional skills and technology, thought the issue might lie elsewhere. So he asked, "How did you recognize me?"

Ning Fang directly opened the trending topics for Bai Xiaoyu to see, "Didn't you know, Captain? Not just me, but the whole star system recognizes you now."

Bai Xiaoyu scrolled through the trending list and saw the familiar ID and the familiar derogatory term 'dog streamer,' falling silent.

So it was the work of those people.

It seemed that many who saw the trending topic had realized it too, but he still didn’t plan to remove the mask and continued to maintain his disguise.

By evening, Bai Xiaoyu had finally finished his work.

Since Mo Yan had already provided information about the Insect Crystal, he thought he should find someone to learn about Molin’s situation.

But from memory, he didn’t know anyone related to it. After all, if the original owner didn’t like a sibling, they would directly lead their gang of henchmen to cause trouble or get beaten up. There was no private assassination, and the henchmen weren’t the type to end up in prison waiting for someone to bail them out. So there was no experience in negotiating or bailing anyone out, and naturally, no connections to prison personnel.

Bai Xiaoyu scrolled through his contacts, looked for a while, and finally decided to contact Bai Kan.

Seeing the call connect almost instantly, Bai Xiaoyu hadn't even spoken when Bai Kan's voice came through first.

"Little Hundred, did you suddenly miss your brother?"

Bai Xiaoyu: "...I have a question."

Bai Kan: "You don't miss your brother, and now I'm disappointed and have no mood to answer any questions."

Knowing Bai Kan well, to avoid further questions, Bai Xiaoyu directly said, "I miss you. Very much. So much. So can you tell me, if I want to bail someone out of the Imperial Star Royal Prison, what's the process and who do I need to contact?"

Bai Kan: "Little Hundred has gotten smarter. You're asking this because you want to bail out that guy who attempted the assassination, right?"

Bai Xiaoyu nodded, "We’ll talk about it when I get back. Just answer me now."

Bai Kan had no choice but to say reluctantly, "I've never bailed anyone out before, but I know the process. I’ll send you a link to the internal official website of the Royal Prison. You submit the application, then find the warden, Bai Yin, and ask him to make an exception. But you'll need to give a gift that satisfies Bai Yin."

Bai Xiaoyu asked, "The surname Bai?"

Bai Kan knew what he was going to ask and nodded, "He's an uncle of ours, a cousin of our cheap father from the collateral branch. He accepts gifts depending on his mood. According to the information I previously gathered, he doesn't have any fixed preferences."

Bai Xiaoyu frowned. Sending the gift to Imperial Star would take at least a few days, and he didn't have the time right now. After all, these eggs need to start incubating within five days. The earliest egg is just a few days away from being a month old and needs to be incubated as soon as possible.

Bai Xiaoyu asked, "Is it possible not to go to Imperial Star?"

Bai Kan said, "If you go in person, it's basically certain he won't refuse. But you can try contacting him directly on the Starnet."

After hanging up, Bai Xiaoyu looked at the link and the contact Bai Kan had sent him. Following Bai Kan's instructions, he searched for his own name and, sure enough, found the profile of the person who had attempted to assassinate him.

Bai Xiaoyu clicked on the profile, which contained a photo of the person wearing prison clothes. He handed the optical brain to the owl chick next to him, saying, "Look, is this your brother?"

The owl nearly buried its head in the optical brain, flapping its wings and nodding frantically.

Bai Xiaoyu said, "Good, that's him."

He then submitted the application and contacted Bai Yin, who quickly responded.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the man who resembled his cheap father by about sixty to seventy percent and was momentarily stunned. But he quickly reacted, "Uncle Yin, hello. I'm Bai Xiaoyu. I have a favor to ask. I've submitted an application to bail out the person who attempted to assassinate me. I hope you can make an exception and allow the bail."

The man gazed at Bai Xiaoyu for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "You're the first among all the children to call me uncle. As they say, dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and a rat’s son can dig holes. You're really not like your father at all. Since you’re so polite, I’ll take your request more seriously."

Bai Xiaoyu asked, "What gift do you require? I'll see if I can get it for you."

The man then looked behind Bai Xiaoyu and said, "I need that vast, boundless sky behind you."

Bai Xiaoyu and Bai Yin locked eyes, and after a moment of thought, Bai Xiaoyu said, "Freedom?"

Bai Yin’s expression became uncertain, "Quite smart. Agree to one condition of mine, and I'll grant your application."

Bai Xiaoyu frowned, "If the condition involves freedom, I can’t comply."

Bai Yin said, "Just agree. You don’t need to fulfill it immediately."

Bai Xiaoyu saw the madness and something else lurking in the man's eyes and nodded, "Alright, I promise you. If I ever have the ability, I'll give you freedom."

Bai Yin waved his hand, yawned, and said, "In that case, I'll arrange for the person to be released from the Royal Prison in three days. Oh, and about the gift, I see you have quite a few top-tier potions. Don’t forget to offer them."

After Bai Yin finished speaking, he transformed into a giant golden tiger, yawned with his front teeth long and white, looking quite fierce. Then he rolled over, exposing his belly, and soon began to emit the characteristic purring sound of a big cat.

Bai Xiaoyu was speechless. The call hadn't even ended, and the man had already dozed off. This uncle sure had a big heart.

Bai Xiaoyu took a few more glances at the fluffy belly of the man who not only looked like his cheap father but was even more so in his beast form. This was probably the adult version of the little golden tiger.

After hanging up, Bai Xiaoyu turned to the excited owl chick beside him, "Heard that? I'll arrange for someone to pick him up in three days."

The owl, in its excitement, jumped up and knocked its head against Bai Xiaoyu's head a few times.

Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t help laughing. It didn't hurt, but it messed up his hair.

At that moment, Duan Yang walked over and, seeing the interaction between Bai Xiaoyu and the owl chick, curled his lips into a smile.

Bai Xiaoyu, seeing Duan Yang’s smile for the first time in a while, asked, "The situation's stable?"

Duan Yang: "Yes. But your identity has been exposed, so it's not safe for you to stay here anymore. If possible, we'll arrange for you to leave tonight."

This place has always been the frontline, and Bai Xiaoyu carried the future hope of the star system. He couldn't be allowed to encounter any accidents.

The situation here was clear. The conflict among the Insect Emperors was extremely dangerous, and innocent bystanders could easily get hurt. They couldn't tell which one was the Insect Emperor. It was possible that the Insect Emperor was hiding among the people in the safe zone.

Therefore, they needed to secretly send Bai Xiaoyu away as soon as possible.

Now that the most critical moment had passed, it was indeed time for Bai Xiaoyu to leave. But Big Black hadn't returned yet, so he couldn't help but ask, "Where's Big Black?"

Duan Yang: "He's already on the craft waiting for you."

Bai Xiaoyu realized that now wasn’t the time to reveal Big Black's identity. The Insect Emperor might be watching their every move. It was fortunate that Big Black wasn’t coming over, which suited him just fine.

Since he was leaving, Bai Xiaoyu needed to arrange a few things.

He found Chen Ying and the other two, and gave them a space pouch filled with prepared potions.

Chen Ying and the others were shocked. Isn't the captain worried they might run away with all these?

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Bai Xiaoyu said, as if he knew what they were thinking, "I don’t suspect the people I trust. Besides, I believe in you. Oh, and I’m not the official captain of the medical team. The medical team is still in the recruitment phase, and currently, there's only the three of you. From now on, you'll be in charge. This includes handling things after this battle and visiting Planet F91 to recruit like-minded companions."

The three of them were taken aback. Wait, the medical team hadn't been officially established yet? And there were only three of them, but they were supposed to be in full charge?

Could they handle such responsibility?

Yang Fanxin stammered, "Captain, we… we’re completely inexperienced. We can’t do this."

Bai Xiaoyu patted him on the shoulder, "Experience comes with doing. You’ve done well these past days, so you already have experience. Also, I’ll give you Lou Hao's contact information. You can get to know him now. In the future, if you need anything, you can reach out to him."

Bai Xiaoyu then contacted Lou Hao and briefed him on the situation here.

When Lou Hao saw the names, he realized they were his alma matermates, interns from the breeding facility, and all three of them were excellent students. Chen Ying was even the top student in their major.

Seeing his boss’s actions, Lou Hao was reminded of his own past. It seemed there would be more colleagues to sympathize with in the future.

Lou Hao greeted the three of them, "Hello, I hope we’ll have a pleasant collaboration in the future."

The three of them were also surprised to see Lou Hao, the top student in both mecha and command departments from the previous year, and greeted him in return.

Seeing how well they were getting along, Bai Xiaoyu thought for a moment and added, "Since you’ll be taking over the medical team, the more people you recruit, the better. You can ask your classmates who haven't found a medical team yet to join. The benefits are good. In addition to monthly credit points, you’ll receive at least two bottles of the potions you used today or other potions of equal or higher quality."

In fact, it was more than that. In the future, potions like Marrow Cleansing and Nurturing Essence would be provided to outstanding employees, among others, to enhance their abilities.

Thinking of those potions worth at least millions of credits each, the three of them were speechless.

After regaining their composure, they immediately relayed the information to their classmates and even sent photos.

Just as Bai Xiaoyu was about to leave, the three of them called out to him.

"Captain, a classmate asked if they should come directly to help or go for an interview on Planet D36."

"Mine said their luggage is packed and they’re ready to start anytime."

"They’re asking if students from the academy adjacent to the Imperial Military Academy would be accepted."

Bai Xiaoyu: "Of course, as long as they are professionally qualified and share our goals, we’ll take as many as we need."

Bai Xiaoyu watched as the three of them were constantly in contact, and in a short time, the medical team grew from three to ten members. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Lou Hao on the other side of the neural interface. "I'll leave them under your responsibility from now on."

Lou Hao: "..."

After that, Bai Xiaoyu sent the owl to find Mo Yan, while he boarded a flight vehicle with Duan Yang. The original flight vehicle and the escorting warriors were left with Chen Ying and the others. They would stay behind and help out, returning to D36 planet only after this was all over.

As soon as he entered the flight vehicle, a large black egg came rushing straight into his arms.

Having not seen it for almost two days, Bai Xiaoyu missed the big black egg deeply at that moment.

At this point, the tiger claw-like mental tendrils of the big black egg emerged. "Bai Bai, I miss you so much."

Bai Xiaoyu reached out and stroked the outer layer of the egg. "I missed you too, Big Black. You did a great job not long ago."

The big black egg, feeling a bit shy, wriggled and nestled against Bai Xiaoyu. "You are great too, Bai Bai."

At this point, Bai Xiaoyu noticed there were another twelve warriors inside the flight vehicle. Their auras were incredibly powerful. The strongest warrior had at least an SSS-grade physique or mental strength, and the lowest was almost SSS-grade, close to SSS. Only three were almost SSS-grade, while the rest were fully SSS-grade.

Bai Xiaoyu was a little stunned. These were the escort warriors Duan Yang had mentioned during the journey. They were retired, and Duan Yang hoped that Bai Xiaoyu could take them in to specifically protect his safety.

He had assumed they would be similar to the warriors at the herb base, but now he saw that they were far stronger and more intact physically.

Warriors of such strength wouldn’t normally retire, would they?

As if sensing Bai Xiaoyu's gaze, the leader of the warriors spoke up. "We were personally assigned by the old Marshal to come and protect you... and the Marshal."

Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t help but laugh. This warrior treats protecting Big Black as secondary.

At that moment, the tiger claw-like mental tendrils of the big black egg swayed gently, as if inspecting the twelve warriors.

The warriors straightened their backs, as if being inspected by a superior.

Finally, the big black egg was satisfied. It turned to Bai Xiaoyu and transmitted a thought. "They can protect Bai Bai. Accept them into your team."

Bai Xiaoyu nodded. "Alright."

He then began asking the warriors to introduce themselves. As he had expected, their qualifications were extremely high.

At that moment, another flight vehicle appeared behind Bai Xiaoyu's. It was Mo Yan, bringing the young owl over.

They did not board Bai Xiaoyu's flight vehicle.

Bai Xiaoyu had invited them, but Mo Yan declined.

His vehicle was filled with military personnel, while Mo Yan's group were space pirates. How could they feel at ease staying together?

When they met, the warriors had given them several scrutinizing glances, and it felt as if their backgrounds had been completely exposed.

In fact, that was indeed the case. Some of the warriors were from the intelligence department of the Sixteenth Legion, and Mo Yan's group had been thoroughly investigated.

Normally, a fight might have broken out, but for now, they coexisted peacefully.

Perhaps it was because Mo Yan's Dawn hadn’t engaged in the same atrocities as other space pirates, and they hadn’t harmed innocent people. Otherwise, a conflict might have erupted.

The flight vehicle continued toward the coordinates provided by Mo Yan. After a day of spatial jumps, with his relatively fragile body, Bai Xiaoyu was almost unable to endure it.

Before disembarking, he was instructed to put on breathing equipment because this planet was an extraterritorial wasteland planet.

There are many star regions in the interstellar space, and most of these star regions contain planets where life exists, all located within the domain.

In contrast, the barren, lifeless planets are mostly found outside the domain.

Bai Xiaoyu looked at the small, flattened planet. It was the smallest one he had ever seen, with yellow, gray, and brown dominating its surface, devoid of any green.

Is this the planet with the Insect Crystal?

The craft landed at a designated location on the planet, where Mo Yan had discovered the Insect Crystal.

After landing, Bai Xiaoyu donned his equipment and exited the spacecraft. The large black egg bounced ahead, clearing the way, with one part staying in the spacecraft and the other part protecting Bai Xiaoyu.

Mo Yan led Mo Sen toward a place not far from where he remembered.

They quickly found a depression. Mo Yan jumped down and circled the spot. "This is it. I wasn't sure if it was still here before coming. It seems it hasn’t been discovered yet."

He then deployed a robot to start digging.

Bai Xiaoyu watched, based on the information Mo Yan had mentioned earlier. The Insect Crystal on this planet was discovered over a decade ago. If it is still here, it would be a miracle. Recently, he had learned from the Little Prince and Little Bai that they could sense whether a planet contained Insect Crystals upon entering it.

They were still young and lacked strength, but when they grew up, they might be able to sense it even from several planets away.

After being in contact with the Insect Crystal for so long, Bai Xiaoyu’s spiritual energy could sense the aura emitted by the crystal, though not as extraordinarily as the Little Prince. He could only tell whether there was an Insect Crystal nearby when he was close enough.

But now, he didn’t feel anything.

Suddenly, the robot hit an immovable object, producing a clanging sound.

Bai Xiaoyu looked toward the noise and saw translucent Insect Crystal tendrils emerging from the soil, along with a familiar energy aura.

He was somewhat surprised. Why hadn't he sensed the Insect Crystal earlier if it was so close to the surface?

He touched the Insect Crystal, his hands getting covered in dirt, which stuck to his hands.

Bai Xiaoyu was stunned; he couldn’t feel any aura in his hand, as if it were being blocked.

He rubbed the dirt between his fingers. It seemed the soil was the problem.

Then he touched the tentacle-shaped Insect Crystal, as thick as his thigh, and at the same time, Mo Yan asked, "Should we dig a piece out? It's not far from the Insect Clan's star domain, so we need to hurry."

Meanwhile, on another planet, a dark blue behemoth suddenly had a complete Insect Crystal appear in its center.

With so many Insect Crystals, if it ate them, its injuries would fully heal.

The behemoth, no smaller than a small planet, appeared to move slowly but was actually very fast as it headed in that direction.

Suddenly, the dark blue behemoth stopped, unable to sense the Insect Crystal's aura anymore, and roared.

It continued in the previously sensed direction, moving faster and faster.

Back on the planet, Bai Xiaoyu was still touching the Insect Crystal and quickly smeared dirt back over it to conceal its aura. "I'd like to dig a piece out, but the Insect Crystal is hard to cut. It would take a long time. We wouldn't be able to dig much even in a day."

He hoped to bring back as much as possible, as it might be gone by the next visit. Moreover, the Insect Clan's star domain was nearby, and if discovered, they would be in danger.

Touching the Insect Crystal, Bai Xiaoyu thought how great it would be if they could take it all.

With that thought, he instinctively tried to use the system’s grid space to collect it.

Then he made a sliding motion with his foot, and his whole body rose into the air. The Big Black Egg drifted over to him, and everyone around began to float. Everyone looked bewildered, and even the always calm warriors of the 16th Legion were the same.

Bai Xiaoyu looked down and similarly wore a bewildered expression.

"Where did that small planet go?"

At that moment, he sent his consciousness into the system space and saw a small, flat, intricately detailed planet miniature appear in one of the grid slots.

Bai Xiaoyu's face filled with speechlessness.

"System, I asked you to collect the Insect Crystal, not the entire planet!"