Chapter 164

Chapter 164

Eighth Master instantly shivered, scrambling to catch up with her: "Wait for me!"

It was scared of Aliens too!

But Song Bao was anxious. The Alien Bureau, constructed with special materials, was designed to isolate external Aliens, making it the least attractive area for them. How could such a powerful Alien be flying towards it?

She burst into the office, breathless, grabbed Wei Ziyue, and frantically declared, "There's a high-risk Alien inside the Alien Bureau!"

"Oh, it's Song Bao... It's fine, I already know about it."

Song Bao paused, then noticed Wei Ziyue's eyes seemed off.

Her eyes were vacant and trembling, as if she had been startled, but on closer inspection, it wasn't fear—more like... utter resignation?

Wei Ziyue noticed Song Bao's expression, snapped back to reality, and said with a lifeless tone, "The Alien you're talking about is right there."

Song Bao slowly turned her head and saw the large caterpillar sprawled on the sofa, playing with a tablet. She froze for a moment, sensing the familiar mental fluctuations and black vortex... She, too, felt utterly resigned.

This Alien was damn familiar.

"...Lin Jiaxu?"

Lin Jiaxu nodded dismissively: "Awoo awoo."

Song Bao's mind was a mess: "Wait, him? Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to be at the base?"

Wei Ziyue also wanted to know why Lin Jiaxu was there, but she didn't need to think hard—it was highly likely he had run off on his own. She waved her hand wearily: "Don't worry about it, let him play. I've already notified Zhong Qian."

Lin Jiaxu was displeased by their reactions and let out a couple of "awoos" to express his dissatisfaction, but who could understand what he was saying?

Although they guessed he was throwing a tantrum, Wei Ziyue had too much on her plate at the moment and waved him off to play by himself.

Once Wei Ziyue left, Song Bao didn't want to stay either.

Lin Jiaxu was constantly emitting an intense oppressive aura now. Her mental energy was too strong to ignore, so she could only say with a pale face, "I still have training, I'll head out too."

Lin Jiaxu paid even less attention to her and let her go.

He played alone in the office for a while, but with no one to keep him company and Jing Ji not around—likely taken to help clear out Aliens—Lin Jiaxu quickly grew bored.

He began roaming around the Alien Bureau, releasing his mental energy throughout the entire building. If he hadn't remembered that these humans had low resistance to pollution, he might have even released contamination.

After wandering through the entire Alien Bureau, he was satisfied, but Song Bao and the other personnel left in the building were nearly suffocating.

Song Bao's face was pale as she frantically messaged Zhong Qian, asking when he would return. If he didn't come back soon, Lin Jiaxu would tear the Alien Bureau apart.

Zhong Qian received message after message. He raised his hand, his blade falling as he cleared the Aliens in the area, then found Xu Leyu and said, "Jia Jia has woken up. I need to go back."

"Jia Jia is awake?"

Xu Leyu's eyes lit up. Lin Jiaxu had been asleep for several days, and she was eager to return too, but there were still many Aliens around. She had to restrain herself: "There are still so many Aliens here. It's fine if we go back to see Jia Jia later."

Zhong Qian disagreed. Seeing Song Bao's urgent messages, he knew that if he waited any longer, Lin Jiaxu might actually dismantle the Alien Bureau.

"Jia Jia isn't at the base. He ran off to the Alien Bureau on his own."

Upon hearing that Lin Jiaxu's mental state might not even be that of a seven- or eight-year-old, Xu Leyu had no choice but to let Zhong Qian return first.

Lin Jiaxu didn't exactly intend to tear the Alien Bureau apart, but it was pretty close.

His mental energy enveloped the entire Alien Bureau. Not just Song Bao, but everyone else could feel it, and they were all looking rather unwell.

"When will Xiao Qian be back?"

"Maybe in half an hour."

"What about Sister Wei?"

"She's down. Did you forget? Sister Wei is an ordinary person."

Their colleagues' eyes flashed with despair.

"Who else can talk some sense into Jia Jia?"

Everyone shook their heads. They had already reached out to everyone they could, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.

But Lin Jiaxu was clever too. Knowing that people were going to scold him, he flew around everywhere—sometimes to the rooftop, sometimes into trees. All the Superhumans who could fly had already been dispatched from the Alien Bureau, leaving behind those who weren't skilled at flying.

Those who barely managed to climb onto the rooftop couldn't persuade him either and ended up exhausted from chasing him around.

Lin Jiaxu, on the other hand, leisurely flew back to his office and started munching on snacks.

By the time Zhong Qian returned, everyone saw him as a godsend.

"Xiao Qian! You're finally back!"

"Hurry and talk some sense into Jia Jia! Tell him to rein in his mental energy. If this goes on, we won't even be able to work!"

As soon as Zhong Qian approached the Alien Bureau, he sensed the intense oppressive aura.

Seeing everyone's condition, he realized they truly couldn't hold on much longer. He asked, "Where is Jia Jia?"

Song Bao immediately replied, "In the office!"

Zhong Qian nodded and hurried upstairs to apprehend him.

Lin Jiaxu was lying on the office sofa at that moment. Without hands and wearing clothes, he was too lazy to grow tentacles, so he simply ate while watching a show.

When Zhong Qian arrived, he saw the black caterpillar had somehow grown a pair of eyes and a mouth, munching on food with an "awoo" while staring unblinkingly at the TV.

Zhong Qian had been worried that Lin Jiaxu had lost control again, but seeing this scene, he almost laughed in frustration. He picked him up: "You're really living the life, aren't you?"

"Awoo!" The caterpillar swayed back and forth, protesting with indignant cries.

Zhong Qian said helplessly, "Pull back your mental energy. Don't you know how strong it is? Everyone is about to pass out."

Lin Jiaxu paused for a moment, then checked with his mental energy. The people in the Alien Bureau looked worse and worse, so he reluctantly withdrew his mental energy, grumbling inwardly about how weak humans were.

After Lin Jiaxu withdrew his mental energy, the Alien Bureau returned to normal, but that didn't mean he had given up.

This was his territory, and leaving it completely unprotected and exposed made Lin Jiaxu deeply uneasy.

The caterpillar squirmed, slipped out of Zhong Qian's hand, and scurried to the edges of the Alien Bureau, continuing to wrap the area with his mental energy. This time, however, he avoided the main buildings and only circled the perimeter.

Zhong Qian was initially puzzled but followed him for a while and finally understood.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Was Jia Jia marking his territory?

After Lin Jiaxu's mind regressed, his feral instincts became more dominant. After circling the entire Alien Bureau, he flew back to Zhong Qian, happily climbing onto his head triumphantly.

It was as if he was saying all this was his.

"Jia Jia, are you trying to say this is your territory?" Zhong Qian lifted him from his head.

Lin Jiaxu puffed out his chest and raised his head. "Rawr!"

Exactly!

Zhong Qian couldn't help but laugh out loud this time. "How are you so adorable?"

Like this, Lin Jiaxu seemed purer and more innocent than ever before.

Zhong Qian carried him back to the office, noticing that the little black monster now had a pair of red eyes and a mouth, making it look like a simple sketch—not scary, but rather full of life.

Aside from the minor mental pollution from its eyes, it wasn’t too bad; as long as you avoided direct eye contact, it was fine.

The childish version of Lin Jiaxu was also easier to fool.

Zhong Qian played with him, offering food and drinks.

Lin Jiaxu opened his mouth, not moving at all, waiting to be fed. Zhong Qian smiled and handed him a snack. His mouth, like a cartoon character’s, enlarged and swallowed the treat in one gulp.

Then, he wobbled his jelly-like body contentedly and continued blinking at Zhong Qian.

He wanted more.

At this point, Zhong Qian thought he looked less and less ugly the more he looked. He opened another pack of snacks for him. "You can have a little more, but that’s it. We have to eat dinner tonight."

Lin Jiaxu nodded, quite obedient.

While Zhong Qian was having fun with Lin Jiaxu, the others had it rough.

The Pollution Beast horde was still ongoing, and Zhong Qian didn’t have much time to rest. Fortunately, since Lin Jiaxu was awake, he got permission from the base and took Lin Jiaxu with him into the Anshan mountain range.

Just as they were busy fighting off external enemies and the professor was occupied with research on how to get Lin Jiaxu back to normal, news suddenly surfaced online about Zhongzhou keeping a Humanoid Alien.

The domestic internet was relatively calm, but the news mainly spread from foreign networks.

In an instant, it spread like wildfire, and the outside world was filled with backlash against Zhongzhou.

"Who let this news out?"

Zhong Qian and Xu Lechen gathered together, running through faces in their minds.

Xu Leyu was the first to rule out. "It couldn’t be Ping Yi or the others."

They had some understanding of these individuals' character. Regardless of the future, at least for now, they had no reason to do this, and these people weren’t the type to betray trust.

Everyone nodded, agreeing it likely wasn't them.

Cheng Hezhi whispered, "Could it be someone from the higher-ups internally?"

With the chaos caused by pollution outbreaks across the country, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone had changed loyalties.

Zhong Qian mused. "Not necessarily. Quite a few people know about Jia Jia."

Although there was no direct evidence, anyone who had contact with the Alien Bureau or Lin Jiaxu could likely guess his identity.

But this made investigating the leak even more difficult.

When Lin Jiaxu’s main consciousness received the news, he immediately thought of who might have spread it.

It was Notones.

No one else but him.

These past few days, Lin Jiaxu had been helping Zhong Qian clear out Aliens and wasn’t bothered by much, but he could tell Notones seemed to be plotting something.

And he was the one who most wanted him dead.

The caterpillar in Zhong Qian’s arms instantly went on alert. Although he wasn’t bothered by much, he was absolutely attentive when it came to his kind and his enemies.

The caterpillar suddenly moved. Zhong Qian, deep in thought, gently pressed him down and picked up a snack. "Hungry?"

The caterpillar shook its head, grabbed a custom-made terminal prepared for him, and started tapping away, telling them about Notones, whom he had forgotten.

He mentioned that Notones had appeared back in Shan City, along with a dozen or so Humanoid Aliens who seemed to be plotting something...

Zhong Qian felt his brow twitch. "This happened back when we were still in Shan City? You didn’t mention it in the last report?"

The caterpillar wasn't ashamed at all and quickly typed two words: "Forgot!"

Forgot.

Zhong Qian and the others' faces fell completely.

But what could they do? Given Lin Jiaxu’s current state, remembering to tell them at all was something to applaud.

If he really forgot, there was nothing they could do.

Zhong Qian looked at the caterpillar’s clear eyes, waiting expectantly for praise, and reluctantly said, "Jia Jia, you’re amazing. Thank you for telling us this."

The caterpillar, indeed pleased, left them alone.

Zhong Qian could only sigh softly at this version of Lin Jiaxu.

Meanwhile, Lin Jiaxu’s main consciousness felt guilty.

He could have had his main body tell Zhong Qian about this earlier, but at the time, he didn’t think much of it, planning to deal with it himself after recovering. He hadn’t expected Notones to not only reappear but also stir up such trouble, taking everyone by surprise.

After a quick discussion, Zhong Qian and the others quickly contacted Li Yuanlu and other higher-ups, called an emergency meeting to discuss next steps and talk about the problem of Notones and several other Aliens.