Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Hu Xue spoke with unwavering confidence, her eyes shining brightly. Though unadorned, she radiated brilliance, like dazzling sunlight or sparkling stars. She swept back her faded red hair, a smile curving at the corners of her lips.

Gao Qiang was utterly captivated, lost in her beauty.

He only snapped back to reality when Hu Xue waved her hand before his face. Blushing, he murmured, “Xiao Xue, you’re truly beautiful.”

Your soul is truly beautiful.

——

Chen Zui and Ren Feng were methodically searching the building for monsters. Chen Zui pushed open a door, a thought striking him: “You could try controlling a ball of water and hurling it at someone at high speed.”

Ren Feng, who was opening another door, paused. He considered Chen Zui’s suggestion and found it plausible. “I can try it later,” he said.

He mused that Chen Zui truly lived up to his mercenary background—his combat instincts were indeed impressive and exceptional. Pushing the door open, he discovered a skeleton on the floor. Without a flicker of emotion, he thoroughly inspected the room, then left, closing the door behind him.

“Anything there?” Chen Zui asked.

“A dead person,” Ren Feng replied.

The two ascended the stairs, one leading, the other following, positioned left and right. Ren Feng’s gaze occasionally drifted to Chen Zui’s tall, broad back. “What do you look like when you fully transform into an octopus?” he inquired.

Chen Zui turned around. “Oh? Curious?”

He said this with a smile, a hint of indulgence in his tone. Ren Feng nodded, genuinely wanting to know. The baby octopus on his shoulder was adorable; surely a large Chen Zui octopus would be even more so.

Chen Zui stood on a higher step, leaning in close to Ren Feng’s ear, and whispered, “I’ll secretly transform for you tonight.”

His eyes, like hooks, fixed on Ren Feng. “Don’t be scared~”

Ren Feng’s mind instantly flooded with a torrent of inappropriate images. The thought of their private moments in the room at night always led to some steamy happenings. His recent sex addiction hadn’t flared up much because they’d seized every opportunity for mischief along the way. What was once an uncontrollable affliction now felt like a genuine addiction.

He ascended the steps somewhat sheepishly, his shirt swaying at his waist. Lately, he’d avoided tank tops—they were too form-fitting, making his prominent nipples obvious at a glance.

The peculiar thing was that Chen Zui only ever focused on one, leaving the other conspicuously neglected. So, he’d taken to wearing loose shirts for concealment.

Still, he felt a pang of pity for the ignored one. Recently, when one was being playfully teased by tentacles, the forgotten one would grow increasingly itchy, so much so that he yearned to take matters into his own hands…

But he was too embarrassed.

After inspecting the house and dispatching two small monsters, they found no useful supplies. Everyone gathered, chewing on dry, expired bread that hadn’t molded or turned sour, calling it dinner.

Each person consumed two large cups of water. Fortunately, they now had an abundant supply.

“Brother Chen, Brother Ren, these are for you.” Hu Yue presented the matching hats she had finally crocheted to the two men. They were dark beanies, each adorned with a small crocheted octopus on the side.

The two accepted the gifts with delighted surprise, thanking her profusely. Under Hu Yue’s expectant gaze, they immediately put on the hats. It had to be said, handsome men and beanies were a perfect match.

They exchanged a glance. Their identical hats were a silent declaration of their bond, as if proclaiming their open and proud belonging to each other. This realization brought an inexplicable shyness. Even Chen Zui’s ears, hidden beneath the beanie, flushed slightly. Their gazes, having met, now broke away, and the two tall, sturdy men lowered their thick lashes, concealing the burgeoning shyness in their eyes.

Hu Yue handed the tank top to Gao Qiang. “Brother Qiang, this is for you.”

Gao Qiang, who had been watching eagerly, assuming he wouldn’t receive a gift, leaped up excitedly, joyfully accepting it. “Thank you, little sister!”

He happily put on the knitted tank top and began showcasing it from all angles. “Wow, it’s so well-made, so nice-looking, and the size is perfect. Ah, it’s so cool to wear. I’m now the most dazzling guy around!”

Everyone’s reactions were perfectly enthusiastic, making Hu Yue incredibly happy. She had already given her sister a gift earlier, and the baby octopus hat was also given. But then she had a sudden idea and crocheted tiny shoes for the baby octopus—eight tiny shoes.

She arranged the little shoes neatly in her hand. “Baby octopus, your little shoes. Want to try them on?”

The baby octopus, perched on Ren Feng’s head, glanced at Hu Yue. The young girl’s eyes were full of expectation. A mischievous thought flashed through its mind—forget it, no bullying kids.

The baby octopus lazily extended one tentacle, its tip deftly slipping into a green little shoe. Then a second tentacle followed, until all eight colorful shoes were on. The baby octopus now looked rather flamboyant.

Hu Yue didn’t expect the baby octopus to wear them forever. Just having it accept her gift in this moment was enough to make her satisfied and happy.

Her fondness for the baby octopus grew day by day.

——

Before bedtime, the baby octopus took off all eight shoes and arranged them neatly in a row on the windowsill. It spun and leaped like a little pink flower flying into the water basin.

Just as it was about to sink to the bottom.

An unfamiliar yet familiar voice suddenly echoed in its mind: “System bound.”

The baby octopus halted its descent, its large, round eyes sparkling. Then it heard emotionally charged sobs in its head: “Wahh… my host, my Zui, we’ve finally reunited.”

The baby octopus looked puzzled.

Chen Zui, who had been planning to tease Ren Feng, also settled down. Ren Feng found it a bit strange that he was lying obediently on one side, seemingly ready to sleep. Were they not doing anything tonight?

Ren Feng lay down with a hint of disappointment.

Chen Zui listened to the sobs in his head. Earlier, it had said “system bound.” Was this also a system?

His intuition told him this was the system he had always worked with.

“My host, you—” Ao Tian’s sobs cut off abruptly. It saw what its host looked like now—a pink eight-tentacled baby octopus soaking in water.

Ao Tian: !!!

After a moment of silence, it roared: “Chen Zui! How did you become such an adorable thing! My brotherly affection for you is transforming into fatherly love!”

Chen Zui: So this is the system I’ve been working with all along.

Ao Tian bitterly regretted not having a physical form. Otherwise, it would definitely play with the baby octopus properly. This little thing could be gobbled up in one bite, no problem. Ah, how it wanted to touch its smooth, big head.

996: “You’re finally online. Hmph, useless thing. Couldn’t even protect your own host.”

Ao Tian instantly paused its overflowing paternal love for the baby octopus and turned sharp. “Still better than you, you hostless waste! All you know is stealing others’ hosts, you homewrecker system!”

996: “Who are you calling a homewrecker system!”

Ao Tian: “You, what about it? Let me tell you, now that I’m here, none of your schemes will succeed. I am the mountain you cannot cross, the calamity of your lifetime! I am your nightmare!”

Ao Tian: “Was it you who turned my host into this? Speak! What have you done to my host? Your connection to the Transmigration Bureau has been cut by me. If you dare lie, I’ll have you know—black room, electric shocks, dismantling your code—I have countless ways to deal with you!”

Ao Tian: “Hmph hmph hmph—”

Although it was only a temporary cut, lasting no more than three minutes, the other party didn’t know that. Using it to scare them was perfectly fine.

Ao Tian rattled on like a machine gun, leaving 996 no room to interject. Now that Ao Tian had stopped, 996, furious, stammered out several “you’s” but couldn’t form a proper retort.

Ao Tian: “If Chen Zui has turned into a silly baby octopus, remember this—I won’t let you off.”

Ao Tian said this with utmost seriousness, even with a touch of coldness.

Chen Zui: "Don't get worked up first."

Hearing Chen Zui's familiar voice, Ao Tian shed excited electronic tears: "Chen Zui, are you okay?"

It looked at the baby octopus.

Ao Tian: "Don’t be afraid, I’m here. I've got the Dark Transmigration Bureau behind me. We’ll support you, and I’ll definitely find a way to turn you back into a human."

Chen Zui usually dislikes noisy beings, but he didn’t feel any aversion toward this suddenly appearing system. Instead, he found the liveliness quite pleasant.

"Look toward the bed."

Ao Tian looked over and was stunned when it saw another Chen Zui on the bed—Chen Zui in human form. For a moment, it wondered if it had bound the wrong person. It quickly rechecked and confirmed it was correct.

996: "Gotcha stunned, huh?"

Ao Tian: "Shut up."

Ao Tian: "Chen Zui, do you still remember me?"

Although Chen Zui didn’t want to disappoint it, the truth was: "Sorry, I don’t remember you."

Ao Tian’s anger instantly peaked. Instead of being loud and dramatic like before, its voice turned low and cold: "Transmigration Bureau system, I’ll take apart your code line by line, reset you to your initial code, lock you in my electronic prison, and make you suffer punishment day and night, every second, forever."

The cold vibe, for a moment, was just like Chen Zui’s.

996 felt a pang of panic.

Chen Zui: This seems like my kind of system.

Chen Zui: "It didn’t harm me; on the contrary, it done a lot for me."

Although Chen Zui understood that he and his original system had likely been sabotaged by 996, 996 had indeed done a lot for him recently and didn’t deserve such a fate.

Ao Tian: "What do you plan to do? I’ll do as you say."

Noticing the changes in Ao Tian’s tone and emotions, 996 was certain that Chen Zui hadn’t regained his memories. The bond between them made 996 envious.

It had collaborated with many hosts before but never formed such a bond. Those were just business arrangements, making it feel that all the tasks it had done over the years were meaningless.

Chen Zui: "Let it go."

Ao Tian hesitated for a moment. The fact that Chen Zui made this choice meant 996 must have treated him well.

Better to let it leave quickly and not steal my spot as the best partner.

Ao Tian: "Okay."

Ao Tian: "Out of respect for my host, I’ll let you go. But if you dare try any funny business in the future, I won’t spare you!"

996 just snorted in response.

Hesitating for a moment, it said, "I’m leaving."

Chen Zui: "I wish you freedom and happiness."

Chen Zui: "Goodbye."

After receiving Chen Zui’s blessing, 996 left, full of hope and drive for the future.

This time, it would return and shake things up.

—

The electronic prompt "System unbound" rang in Chen Zui’s head. He quickly thought back on his journey in this world and realized he had gotten along quite well with 996.

Ao Tian was now in a hurry. Chen Zui’s memories were clearly sealed by the Transmigration Bureau. Ao Tian had already returned all the memories to Chen Zui before, so the only option was to check if there was a memory backup at the headquarters.

"Is this the world we’re working together in?" Chen Zui was curious and wanted to know what had happened after his death.

"This is the fourth one. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to restore your memories. Wait for me." Ao Tian quickly contacted its superior, who had been keeping tabs on the situation. The superior breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Ao Tian’s success but got worried again after hearing the report.

Superior: "First, scan Chen Zui’s brain and send me the data."

Though confused, Ao Tian complied and quickly uploaded the data.

The superior looked troubled when he saw it.

Ao Tian, worried and anxious, asked, "What’s wrong?"

Superior: "The memory storage area in his brain is fragile. First, his memories were extracted and returned multiple times by you, and now they’ve been sealed by the Transmigration Bureau. If we force him to remember all at once, it could have serious consequences."

Ao Tian: "This—"

Superior: "Given the current situation, we can’t restore his memories yet. It’s best not to reveal too much and let his brain recover."

Ao Tian: "...I understand."

Ao Tian felt deeply guilty. The current situation was partly due to its earlier decision to take Chen Zui’s memories without permission. It vowed to make it right with Chen Zui!

It glanced at the baby octopus and then at Chen Zui’s human form, confirming that he was safe and looking well. Full of guilt, Ao Tian explained the situation to Chen Zui.

"Don’t worry, things will get better. We just need to be patient a while longer."

Chen Zui was a little disappointed but wouldn’t risk his well-being. Ending up brain-damaged would be disastrous. His memories were still in his mind, just needing the right trigger to unlock them. He would remember everything eventually.

"Okay, I trust what you say."

Ao Tian shed electronic tears again. Even though its host didn’t remember it, Chen Zui was still so kind and trusting, which touched it deeply.

"Wait, I have a starter package for you."

Chen Zui recalled that 996 had to use a lot of points to get things and even took on debt: "It’s fine. I doubt I qualify for a starter package anymore. You’d have to spend points to buy it, right? Save your points for yourself. I don’t need anything."

Ao Tian broke down crying.

After a while, Ao Tian, sniffling, explained the world’s situation and mission to Chen Zui.

"Your mission target is to take down this world’s male lead—Ren Feng. Have you met him yet?" Ao Tian assumed the Bureau's system would try to keep them apart. With Chen Zui's memory loss and unaware of his mission target, there was likely little progress.

They likely haven't even met yet.

After all, this world is huge, with plenty of humans and monsters.

Chen Zui’s expression turned thoughtful: "You mean Ren Feng?"

Ao Tian: "Yeah, a dark-skinned, big-chested rough guy."

Ao Tian: "It's okay, even if you haven't met him yet, it's fine. I'm here, and I'll make sure you meet as soon as possible. There's no need to rush."

Afraid that Chen Zui might feel burdened, it reassured him.

The baby octopus leaped out of the water basin and onto the headboard of the bed, its large, dark eyes peering at the person lying with his back to Chen Zui. "Take a look, who is he?"

Ao Tian looked over: a familiar face, dark skin, broad chest.

It froze.

While it was stunned, Chen Zui turned around, drew the sheet over them, and wrapped his arms around Ren Feng from behind.

"It's him, right?"

Ao Tian: "It's him!"

Ao Tian was shocked. What on earth was the Transmigration Bureau's system doing? How could it just let Chen Zui and Ren Feng's relationship progress to this point?

That system must be a mole!

"How far have you two gone?"

"Just one tentacle’s worth."

Ao Tian couldn't believe what it was hearing. What tentacle? It couldn’t be this pink baby octopus’s tentacle, could it? No way! Such a cute little thing shouldn’t be used for something like this!

It suddenly realized that during the time it was gone, its Host had quite the adventurous time. Even without memories or a mission, he had still managed to develop this kind of relationship with the mission target.

It glanced at Ren Feng’s face, but then again, it made sense—after all, it was him.

——

Chen Zui looked at Ren Feng, who was pretending to sleep, and his hand slipped under the sheet, expertly fondling the parts he attended to daily.

Ren Feng had felt something was amiss and couldn’t sleep, but now his heart finally felt at ease.

However, the comfort was short-lived. While one side was being played with, the other was left ignored and unattended.

It made him uncomfortable.

What surprised him even more was that shortly after, Chen Zui got up and left the room.

After he left, Ren Feng opened his eyes. Unable to bear it any longer, he reached for the one that had been left cold and played with it the way Chen Zui did. His actions were all witnessed by the baby octopus.

Chen Zui, who had left the room, smiled. He estimated that it wouldn’t be long before Ren Feng would beg him... To achieve this goal, the baby octopus jumped down and stopped Ren Feng from handling it himself.

Ren Feng locked eyes with the baby octopus’s dark, gemlike, clear, innocent eyes. His movements stopped immediately. How could he do this in front of the baby octopus!

He could only endure.

——

Chen Zui morphed his hand into a tentacle to show Ao Tian: "When I first arrived in this world, I was an Octopus monster. Later, System 996 helped me, allowing me to have both an Octopus form and a human form, and both can transform into the appearance of an Octopus monster."

Ao Tian took a moment to process and accept this.

"Ren Feng doesn’t know?"

"He doesn’t know."

Ao Tian looked at Chen Zui’s tentacle hand. So it was this tentacle then. It felt relieved.

But things have already progressed to this point—they’re just a step away from the full act.

"Can I ask, why Ren Feng?" Having witnessed three worlds, Ao Tian truly felt that the emotions between Chen Zui and "him" were extraordinary—a love that spans worlds, where no matter if I remember you or not, I will always fall for you.

Even a system like it was moved.

Chen Zui: "I want to."

He had the most primal desire for Ren Feng, and recently, that desire had gradually been accompanied by the simplest kind of liking.

The two exchanged information with each other.

However, to avoid stimulating Chen Zui, Ao Tian only mentioned that the missions in each world were different. In this world, the mission was to "claim" the male lead, but in the previous worlds, it wasn’t like that—no one was "claimed."

Chen Zui returned to the bedroom, lay down, and hugged Ren Feng, pressing himself flush against Ren Feng’s, burying his head against the back of Ren Feng’s head.

The scent of cheap shampoo—the one Hu Xue and her group had found in the house.

Chen Zui: "It feels like it’s getting colder at night."

Ren Feng let Chen Zui hold him. When the other whispered those words, he was briefly dazed, as if he weren’t in a monster-filled apocalypse or an unfamiliar house, but rather in his own home, like any ordinary night.

It was very warm.

He couldn’t help but snuggle deeper into Chen Zui’s embrace: "Summer is almost over."

Chen Zui: "Autumn won’t be as hot."

Ren Feng: "Yeah, we should be able to reach the northern base before winter."

"Will your Water Superpower freeze in winter?" Chen Zui said this playfully.

Ren Feng thought about it and found it funny too: "Probably not."

Chen Zui grabbed his hand and gently squeezed it. The man’s hand was rough and calloused—not the easiest to squeeze, but Chen Zui quite liked it.

He let out a lazy hum, nudged upward, and rested his chin on Ren Feng’s head, like a big cat. Ren Feng sank fully into his embrace.

Chen Zui: "I wonder what the northern base is like?"

Ren Feng watched as Chen Zui toyed with his hand, warmth spreading from the fingertips Chen Zui had touched.

"I hope things are good there."

"With so many Superhumans awakened now, everyone coming together likely means they’ll decide to start fighting back."

Ren Feng thought for a moment: "I expect it’ll be messy."

Chen Zui fiddled with his fingers, feigning ignorance: "How so?" He wanted to see if the two of them were thinking the same thing.

Ren Feng: "The organization needs a leader. With so many awakened Superhumans, those with skill and ambition won’t lag behind. And this isn’t just any leadership position."

This is about leading humanity to retake lost land, survive in this world, and rebuild human civilization—deeds that will be forever etched in history.

Chen Zui smirked. They were thinking the same thing: "What about you? Do you want to go for it?"

"No."

Ren Feng answered without hesitation.

He understood his own personality—he was more suited to being assigned tasks.

Noticing Chen Zui’s unmoving fingers, his little pinky secretly hooked around them.

He forgot that Chen Zui’s head was resting on his, so Chen Zui could see every little move clearly.

Chen Zui found Ren Feng’s personality particularly adorable when he acted this way.

Once he hooked their pinkies together, Ren Feng didn’t dare move again, their fingerprints pressed together.

Ao Tian watched their interaction, feeling a gentle, lasting sweetness.

——

With Gao Qiang’s exceptional skills, they got their hands on another car.

Chen Zui drove while asking, “Do you know what happens to everyone in this story in the end?”

Ao Tian replied, “I do.”

Ao Tian continued, “But I can’t tell you. Our mission has already changed the main plot and changed the two protagonists. If we change the side characters as well, this small world will collapse.”

He explained further.

Chen Zui’s expression turned serious. Ao Tian’s words suggested that someone's ending was bad, or maybe everyone's. If the endings were good, why would we need to change anything?

Chen Zui asked, “What does ‘the small world collapsing’ mean?”

Ao Tian answered, “Everything in existence would be wiped from existence.”