Chapter 22 The Fool Has Nothing (22)

Chapter 22: Fools Have Nothing (Part 22)

For the first time in its life, Shi Yesheng experienced what it meant to be "stunned" by a human.

If Number Six had been frantically pursuing Xu Jiu without realizing it, how was it any different?

—Eliminating Xu Jiu’s oppressive superior was to demonstrate its cleverness in front of him; hand-feeding Xu Jiu was both because it couldn’t bear the fact that "he was starving" and to satisfy its own greed, filling his stomach with what was its own; and the little tricks while cleaning bottles and jars were small shows of pride, proving its willingness to fulfill all of Xu Jiu’s needs, no matter what they were.

A partner.

Shi Yesheng stared blankly at Xu Jiu.

My… partner.

Xu Jiu was unnerved by its strange quiet and couldn’t help reaching out to stroke its cheek.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are we in trouble again?”

Shi Yesheng instinctively nuzzled against his warm palm, letting out a soft purr. It shook its head, imitating human gestures. “No, not trouble.”

Xu Jiu looked at it, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

He studied Shi Yesheng carefully and murmured, “Your speech is smoother now.”

Shi Yesheng met his dark eyes.

When Xu Jiu lifted his face to look at it, his gaze held a searching uncertainty, like a traveler walking alone through a jungle, sensing danger faintly but unable to pinpoint its source.

—Through my appearance, who is he truly seeing?

Shi Yesheng stretched its lips in a rippling smile, its expression like that of a tail-wagging, sweet-natured pup. “I can evolve, I can learn. I’ll grow stronger and stronger.”

Looking at its face and familiar expression, the tightness in Xu Jiu’s chest loosened.

…Maybe I’m just too nervous.

“That’s great,” he praised. “I always knew you were the smartest.”

They huddled close together for a while, and the strange feeling in Xu Jiu’s heart gradually faded. He could once again open up to Number Six.

Slowly, he said, “Actually, there’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”

“What is it?”

“There have been more ups and downs these days than I’ve ever had in the past twenty years.” At this, Xu Jiu’s thoughts briefly wandered. “A long time ago, I read in a book where someone described this kind of situation as ‘riding a roller coaster.’ That phrase really stuck with me because I’d never seen a roller coaster before—I barely even left the school gates—so I looked up pictures of roller coasters. Massive steel rails, like sky-bound trains, with so many people whizzing back and forth…”

He lowered his head, silent for a moment, then pulled himself together and blurted, “I want to ride a roller coaster.”

Shi Yesheng didn’t hesitate and nodded immediately. “Okay.”

“No!” Xu Jiu grew agitated and turned to look at Number Six. “You’re not getting it. This is Antarctica—this is Mobius’ research station. How could there be a roller coaster here? I want to leave. I want to go out, to get away… I can’t stay here any longer. In this research station, I have no name, no identity, not even control over my own life! I—”

He spoke passionately, stumbling over his words. Shi Yesheng watched him and repeated, “Okay.”

Then it added, “I understand what you mean. You want freedom.”

Leaving now would be a shame. After all, the humans’ icefield base was huge, with abundant resources, and the humans themselves were especially tasty prey—not to mention the countless fragments still uncollected.

Yet, a partner’s will was the highest law. Everything else was temporary and fragile. Only Xu Jiu before it could stay by its side for life, staying with it till the world’s end.

Xu Jiu hesitated. "So... will you come with me?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his face flushed with embarrassment, and he hurriedly added, "No, to be precise, it should be you taking me away. Because the research station is completely locked down now—entry only, no exits permitted. I... I can't escape alone. I need your help..."

His voice quivered with such unease and anxiety that it made Shi Yesheng's heart ache.

Before this, Shi Yesheng had planned many possible endings for Number Six. That shard meant so much in his partner's heart that even if Shi Yesheng were to completely consume and replace it, it would have been justified.

But after hearing Xu Jiu's wish, all Shi Yesheng's plans unraveled.

Infighting would just waste energy. Within the human research station, who knew how many hungry Homoforms lurked, coveting his partner? Should he really give those fragments an opportunity to strike?

So Shi Yesheng wavered. In the end, he let Number Six live. At this critical moment, he couldn't leave Xu Jiu.

"Okay," he affirmed for the third time. "I promise you. Whatever you say, I'll agree."

Xu Jiu beamed. "Really?!"

"Really," Shi Yesheng vowed. "Once I'm ready, you must be ready too. We'll plan our escape together."

Xu Jiu nodded eagerly. "Yes, I understand!"

·

That night, over a dozen beams from tactical flashlights swept across the ground, where black water flowed. A squad of hulking Biomechs, clad in full protective gear and wielding flamethrowers, marched through the dark, damp sewage pipes.

When the polar station was first constructed, the drainage system had been a top priority. The architects had designed a sprawling maze buried hundreds of meters down, with vaulted ceilings of concrete and steel alloy resembling grand palace halls, their gracefully arched contours creating acoustics even better than those of an opera house.

"Sir, look here!" A team member's flashlight beam traced a hairline fracture on the lead-gray wall, from which a transparent, viscous fluid oozed, like excess sealant bleeding through during construction.

The moment he spoke, over a dozen beams converged on the spot, flooding the area with daylight-bright intensity. The higher the light climbed, the more cracks and gelatinous substances they found. Following the trail, they eventually aimed their flashlights directly overhead.

There, yawning open in the ceiling, was a massive hole about seven meters in diameter, its ragged edges eaten away by corrosion. Thick membranes clogged the opening, covered in vein-like capillaries that pulsed with vivid shades of blue and cyan. When struck by the light, the fleshy membranes quivered with a sickening pulse, indistinguishable from living tissue.

"Filthy freaks—make drill worms look cute!" the leader of Beta Team muttered under his breath, his expression grim. "Unbelievable. They’ve grown this big already?"

A nearby teammate stepped forward, ready to trigger his flamethrower.

"Stand down!" the leader snapped. "We finally found this place. Don’t alert them and make them suspicious. These things have out-evolved us."

Reluctantly, the soldier lowered his weapon. The group pressed forward cautiously, following the trail of slime. The deeper they ventured into the sewers, the stronger their sense of foreboding grew.

Gradually, it no longer felt like they were walking through a human structure, but through the hollowed-out innards of some grotesque organism. The walls grew smoother, thicker, exuding a strange, pungent stench. With every step, their boots stuck to the ground, pulling up sticky threads. The flooring had grown pockmarked and unstable—one wrong step would send them sliding, leaving deep imprints behind.

"We must locate the target as soon as possible," the leader emphasized gravely. "Then carry out a flawless extraction. This time, we can’t afford any room for error!"

Just two weeks ago, he had scoffed at Dr. Ewan’s terror. Ever since learning that the Aker Project’s test subjects hadn’t been fully eradicated—that a significant number had escaped the incinerator—the old man had been consumed by paranoia. He’d locked down the polar station immediately, sealing himself inside its most secure core. He trusted no one, not even for meals, which had to be delivered by Alpha Squad. Day by day, the doctor grew thinner, more haggard, until he bordered on neurosis.

"We shouldn’t have done this!" These days, Beta Team only heard him repeat one phrase. "I warned Shi Yesheng—we shouldn’t have done this!"

The leader had assumed it was just an old man’s frailty—that no matter how brilliant or bold someone was in their youth, age would inevitably weaken both body and spirit, leaving them timid.

But now he understood... Dr. Ewan wasn’t acting out of cowardice. As the Aker Project’s lead researcher, aside from the late Shi Yesheng, no one knew the true horror of this abomination better than him. He feared it—so much so that nightmares plagued him—because he alone knew what kind of monstrosity now roamed the polar station.

"So, how do we deal with it when the time comes?" a teammate asked.

The leader answered without hesitation. "We’ll report to headquarters, prepare a one-way satellite, and launch them into deep space. That’s where these abominations belong."

With that, he strode forward, moving with superhuman speed, charging toward their destination at the end of the tunnel.

When they finally neared their destination and forced open a wall panel that had long been corroded into fragility, everyone was stunned by the enormous space before them—it could practically be called a "lair."

"My God..."

At the sight before them, some of the team members even switched to their native tongue, abandoning their well-practiced coded language as they muttered, faces drained of color.

Monstrous. Only something monstrous could create this.

Before this, they had never imagined they would witness such a sight—it was as if some surrealist painting had been transplanted into reality. Indestructible alloys melted and flowed, mingling with various radioactive wastes like some monstrous cauldron of sludge. The thick, bioluminescent mucus shimmered with surreal hues, completely transforming the area. It was like the belly of a colossal beast, with thousands of thick blue-purple blood vessels embedded in the fleshy walls, throbbing so violently it made their feet tingle.

The senses of the Biomechs were dozens of times sharper than those of ordinary humans, and every one of them looked ready to vomit. The stench was so thick it felt suffocating—as if a single breath might let alien spores take root and hatch in their lungs.

"...Stay alert. Change formation," the captain said hoarsely. "Begin... investigation."

No one spoke. They remained silent in their stunned horror, gripping their flamethrowers tighter as one. Rows upon rows of sealed metal chambers, meant for housing experimental waste, now resembled clutches of frogspawn, exuding an eerie, viscous softness.

"Something destroyed this place," one of the team members concluded after enduring a careful observation. "It burst out of this chamber from within, like a hatchling breaking free from its shell... Is this how they reproduce?"

"Whatever it was," another team member said, checking a bio-scanner, "it's already gone. There's nothing alive left here."

The captain lowered his head, staring at the large, dull blue-black splatters nearby. "This is its blood. This individual was injured—and judging by the amount of blood loss, it was badly hurt."

"Continue the investigation," he said. "This is a golden opportunity. We can't afford to miss it!"

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, in the silent depths of night, Shi Yesheng slowly awoke.

It had wrapped itself entirely around Xu Jiu, allowing him to sleep peacefully within its embrace. The air was filled with a ghostly, sweet scent as it gently swayed a tentacle, carefully coating Xu Jiu’s nose with a film of fragrant ooze to deepen his slumber.

"You escaped," it said. "Good. You’ve proven your capability."

—On the crude ceiling above, a hulking alien lurked upside down, its maw twisted like a grotesque spider. Countless pairs of eyes seethed with naked violence.

*Leave the host—leave him!*

Number Six howled through the psychic link.

It had traveled far, hunting and gathering energy for confrontation, arriving at the nest it had marked earlier that evening. It had lain unseen and unheard for hours. Yet, Shi Yesheng never left Xu Jiu’s side—Number Six feared this was a silent threat.

"Don’t be nervous," Shi Yesheng said. "Let’s talk."

As it spoke, it gently lifted its body, carefully settling Xu Jiu back into the bedding.

"You always thought he was your host, didn’t you?"

It dropped its human guise, reverting to the flawlessly handsome form that belonged to Shi Yesheng. Opposite it, Number Six hesitated briefly before descending as well.

They were of the same form. Here, Number Six sensed only the same emotions within the other—ones it shared.

—Both craved the host.

Since the other posed no threat to Xu Jiu, Number Six maintained its wariness but withdrew from its combat stance.

The power it now wielded allowed it to simulate human hair, lips, and nose—full lips with naturally upturned corners, eyes that were both alluring and sharp, brows as sharp as blades.

Two "Shi Yeshengs" stood face to face, mirror-perfect duplicates, reflecting each other down to the last detail.

"He is my parent," said Number Six.

"No, he is not," said Shi Yesheng. "He is my partner."

Author's Commentary:

Xu Jiu: *Humming cheerfully while washing dishes* My life is so wonderful now, I have absolutely nothing to complain about!

Still Xu Jiu: *Hears suspicious fighting noises behind him, turns around but sees nothing* *Weird...*

Medium jellyfish: *Struggling to stay silent while fiercely fighting with another large medium jellyfish*

Another large medium jellyfish: *Struggling to stay silent while fiercely fighting with the medium jellyfish*