Chapter 85: The Dragon

Chapter 85: The Dragon

Xu Qiao had watched many TV shows and movies about dragons, and earlier this year, she even went to the cinema to see a big-budget film featuring a black dragon.

Like most people at the base, Xu Qiao admired and revered dragons, these mythical spiritual beings. Her admiration even exceeded that for the Phoenix.

But when a golden-red dragon, its body like a giant python and its presence as imposing as a mountain, appeared before her, Xu Qiao couldn’t control the fear rising in her heart. As the dragon’s head slowly approached, its emotions unreadable, she couldn’t stop herself from trembling.

She didn’t dare to meet its golden beastly eyes, averting her gaze. She noticed the dragon’s mouth below was slightly open, revealing two rows of sharp, densely packed teeth. Between them, a golden-red flame flickered, as if about to erupt.

Shuddering, Xu Qiao stepped back again.

In an instant, the dragon disappeared, revealing Lin Kunshan, his brow furrowed.

Xu Qiao could finally hear herself breathe again.

Qin Chi walked past the stunned Lin Shixin and took his place beside Xu Qiao, addressing Lin Kunshan. “I apologize for meeting you in such an abrupt manner. It was only because I came with her tonight that Xu Qiao felt brave enough to accept your invitation. As her friend, I couldn’t just leave her halfway through.”

He showed the respect due to an elder, and Lin Kunshan’s furrowed brow smoothed out as he smiled at Qin Chi. “I thought I recognized your name. So, it really is that Qin Chi.”

Over a decade ago, a small dragon had awakened in the Qin family from the Northeast Base, and that was when Lin Kunshan first heard the name “Qin Chi.”

But he hadn’t heard anything more about Qin Chi since. All four bases had their own crises and missions. The higher-ups wouldn’t waste time on gossip, and he wasn’t one to look up to every S-grade awakened individual.

This time, with the incident of beast transformation in the Southeast Base, Lin Kunshan was more focused on the progress of Lv Chun’s team and Xu Qiao, who had successfully treated Zhou Cheng. He hadn’t paid much attention to the “Military Academy teacher Qin Chi” or “Xu Qiao’s teammate Qin Chi” mentioned by his grandson Lin Shixin. After all, it wasn’t a particularly rare name.

“What made you come to the Southeast Base, and for a long stay at that?” Lin Kunshan walked back a few steps, his gaze on Qin Chi more scrutinizing. This time, Xu Qiao became a temporarily ignored backdrop.

Qin Chi smiled. “For the past decade, I’ve been serving in the military. My grandfather insisted I needed a break and forced me to take some time off. Since it’s a vacation, I decided to go somewhere where no one knows me and live an ordinary life for a while.”

Lin Kunshan thought of something. “Was it you who dealt with the S-grade snake beast that the Second School graduates encountered in Jing City?”

Qin Chi: “Yes, I didn’t want to bother you and the elders, so I asked Principal Wei to help cover it up with a lie.”

Xu Qiao, listening with her head lowered, also recalled that day.

A strong figure in S-grade battle armor had helped them deal with hundreds of tiger-striped kites with fire, thoughtfully leaving behind a neat pile of crystal cores.

Now thinking back, it was exactly the kind of thing Qin Chi would do. Any other S-grade awakened individual would have just helped kill the mutated beasts and left the crystal cores for them to collect and dig out themselves.

Lin Kunshan finally glanced at Xu Qiao once more, and after a moment of silence, sighed. “I originally wanted to keep family matters within the family, so I only wanted Xu Qiao to come alone. But since you’re so concerned about her safety, then let’s all go and take a look.”

He walked forward again.

Qin Chi looked at Xu Qiao.

As soon as their eyes met, Xu Qiao looked away and simply followed behind Lin Kunshan.

Qin Chi followed silently, leaving Lin Shixin still in shock in the empty living room.

Lin Kunshan led Xu Qiao and Qin Chi to the first underground level, activated a mechanism, and revealed a secret passage.

The passage wasn’t straight and turned a few times before leading to an elevator.

Inside the elevator, Lin Kunshan continued to inquire about the developments in the Northeast Base over the past few years, particularly praising the new mental energy detector developed by the Northeast Base. “No wonder the Northeast Base, being the most populous among the four bases, was the center of technological innovation in the old era, concentrating a large number of scientific research talents. Even in the new era, you are still far ahead in this area.”

Qin Chi: “This is the result of the four bases sharing research achievements. Without the initial accumulation of other bases, the scholars in the Northeast Base alone couldn’t have achieved such technological breakthroughs so quickly.”

Lin Kunshan smiled. “That’s true. Although we are divided into four bases because of the mutated beasts, we are essentially one family. We should help each other and jointly resist the mutated beasts.”

Xu Qiao discreetly managed her expression as she looked at the smooth, mirror-like metal elevator doors across from her.

Gossip about the second Marshal, Lin Kunshan, had long circulated on the forums. It was said that he was especially vain in his younger days and particularly disliked people bringing up the old Lin family's poultry farm from the previous era. It was even said that ingredients related to chickens were banned from the Lin family chef's menu. Now, after listening to Lin Kunshan and Qinchi’s casual conversation for a while, Xu Qiao suddenly felt that those rumors might not be entirely unfounded.

The elevator stopped, its panel featuring only up and down buttons. At that moment, the down button lit up, but no floor number was displayed.

Outside the elevator was a corridor. At the end of the corridor, around a bend, there were rooms on both sides, their doors marked "rest room," "medical room," "examination room," and so on.

After making two more turns along the corridor, a vast void suddenly came into view ahead, covered by a spherical protective shield.

Xu Qiao instinctively glanced at Qinchi, who was walking between her and Lin Kunshan.

Qinchi met her gaze, his eyes still gentle, as if silently reassuring her.

As the three of them approached the protective shield, the interior space grew larger in their view. The half-sphere’s visible diameter stretched over a hundred meters across the floor, with an artificial alloy giant tree standing in the center.

Stopping at the shield’s edge, Xu Qiao looked down.

At the base of the giant tree was a flat expanse, where a fiery red Phoenix rested in a giant nest made of materials that were impossible to identify.

Xu Qiao was once again left breathless.

There were numerous videos on the forums of the Lin family's Phoenix spiritual beings fighting mutated beasts, and she was well-acquainted with Phoenix spiritual beings. But the Phoenix in front of her was clearly a creature of flesh and blood. It was over twenty meters long, with closed wings that lacked the splendid luster of a spiritual being's wings, and large patches of feathers had fallen out, revealing the flesh of the wings in a way that was hard to bear.

If Qinchi's suddenly manifested fire dragon spiritual being had filled Xu Qiao with fear, the sight of this Phoenix made her heart ache.

The Phoenix, the guardian bird of Southeast Base, even at Class A, was a darling to all base residents. How had it come to this miserable state?

Qinchi, who didn’t share the same feelings for the Phoenix as the residents of Southeast Base, observed for a moment and judged, "Fully feral, just like Zhou Cheng."

Xu Qiao glanced at Lin Kunshan.

Lin Kunshan had lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the Phoenix below. "Yes, this is my grandson, Lin Wengui."

"He first showed signs of feral transformation fifteen years ago. At that time, we could still control it; knocking him out or putting him under anesthesia would turn him back. But then there was a time when he suddenly couldn't recover. I feared causing panic in the base, so I hid him here. It's been ten years. I've tried countless methods, and his mother never gave up on treating him. It wasn't until Zhou Cheng's feral transformation that we realized the problem lay in his spiritual world."

Xu Qiao was somewhat familiar with the main members of the Lin family. Lin Wengui’s mother was the second wife of Marshal Lin Lie, a Class A Healer with a Belamcanda spiritual being.

Realizing that Lin Wengui had been locked up here for ten years, Xu Qiao found it hard to understand. "Why didn't you ask Professor Lu to come here earlier? Even if Professor Lu hadn't discovered a treatment for feral transformation back then, entrusting him to her lab could have led to a treatment within ten years."

Lin Kunshan pressed his lips together, as if answering Xu Qiao or perhaps himself. "I didn't want word to get out. Zhou Cheng's feral transformation already caused such a huge upheaval in the base. If it were Wengui, it would only stir up greater fear among the people."

As the Marshal of an entire base, the Lin family had undergone "mutations." What if it were only one Phoenix that had mutated, or if all Phoenixes would?

Lin Kunshan couldn't take that risk.

"Although he is my grandson, I have to be responsible for the entire base."

Lin Kunshan suddenly looked at Xu Qiao, his gaze resolute.

Xu Qiao had never been a Marshal and couldn't immediately understand the grand perspective of a former Marshal. But that wasn't important right now. What mattered was her own confusion. "Now that the feral transformation has been made public, you can finally invite Professor Lu over. Or you could send him to her lab for treatment. Why did you single me out?"

Lin Kunshan said, "I kept this matter hidden for the stability of the base. Now that it's public, how will the masses think of me? Will they believe I only protected my grandson while putting the entire base in danger?"

Speaking bitterly to the two younger people beside him, Lin Kunshan said, "You can call me selfish if you like, but after fighting for the base for decades, I don't want to be misunderstood and condemned by the public in my old age. I asked you here in the hope that you could both cure Wengui and allow him to regain his life, while also keeping this secret of over a decade, preserving my reputation."

Professor Lu was excellent, but Lin Kunshan couldn't guarantee she wouldn't reveal the secret. As the only Class S Healer in the entire base, he couldn't use forceful means to demand her silence.

These were thoughts Lin Kunshan didn't voice, but Xu Qiao could understand them on her own.

She was the perfect fit—a rising healer with no family protection. Would she dare to go against the Marshal's family? Would she dare to reveal the secrets of the Marshal's family? If Qinchi hadn't supported her to get here, Lin Kunshan might not have even spoken those heartfelt words, and would have simply forced her to take on the task of treating Lin Wengui.

At that moment, Xu Qiao felt nothing but a loss of respect for the old Marshal.

But she was a healer, after all. Inside the protective shield was a poor patient afflicted by illness for over a decade.

Xu Qiao pushed down her dissatisfaction with Lin Kunshan and observed the phoenix inside the shield. She said matter-of-factly, "It's true that I cured Zhou Cheng, but he had only been in beast form for a few days. His condition was milder, and he was relatively cooperative with the treatment. Mr. Lin has been in beast form for more than a decade. I have no confidence that I can cure him."

Lin Kunshan: "I understand. First, try to use the lotus to calm its emotions. I'll handle the communication with him."

Xu Qiao released her lotus spiritual being.

The lotus hid in her arms. Compared to the little fire scorpion she had treated before, the phoenix below looked like a raging volcano.

As long as the crystal core remained intact, the spiritual being couldn't perish, even if injured, but it would feel pain. Once the spiritual being dispersed, the pain would transfer to the ability user.

The lotus itself didn't want to feel pain, and it didn't want Xu Qiao to feel pain either.

Xu Qiao touched the petals and said, "Don't worry. Since Old Marshal Lin asked us here, he'll definitely keep us safe."

Before Lin Kunshan had a chance to speak, Qinchi said, "I'll go down with you."