Chapter 49 Search

Chapter 49: The Search for the Professor

Xiong Mingyuan’s lip twitched at Xiong Gangyong’s words. Given the perilous location where Professor Frank from Country A had gone missing, he truly didn't want his younger brother to join the mission.

But seeing the current situation, he knew he couldn't stop him. If he insisted, he feared Mo Xiu might harbor resentment.

Xiong Mingyuan had already largely finalized the team roster. With Mo Xiu and his group now included, there were about a dozen Superhumans, all exceptionally skilled members of Mountain River Base.

With the situation urgent, the team set out swiftly after the personnel for the search for Professor Frank from Country A had been confirmed.

Before their departure, Lu Pingwan and Xie Wu, learning of the potential dangers of the mission, prepared an abundance of supplies for them.

They had everything from food to necessities, and early that morning, they saw the team off at the base exit, clearly filled with worry.

Xie Wu opened his mouth several times, seemingly eager to join them.

However, he likely knew that without any Superpower, he might not only be unhelpful but could also become a burden.

In the end, he rushed over and gave Cheng Cheng a tight hug, imploring them to return safely, then watched them leave with great reluctance.

The group split into three off-road vehicles. Their destination was on the outskirts of the city, significantly more remote than where Mo Xiu had previously encountered the mutant gray wolf.

Most people knew little about Mo Qi. Their impression of him was simply that he was the pretty boy by Mo Xiu’s side.

Even though Xiong Mingyuan, as Base Commander, had shown him respect at that gathering, others merely assumed it was out of deference to Mo Xiu.

They harbored considerable resentment about Mo Xiu bringing his "kept man" along on such a crucial mission.

However, having heard that Mo Xiu was a powerful dual-ability Superhuman, they dared not voice their opinions to his face, but privately, they gave Mo Qi plenty of disdainful looks.

Fortunately, Mo Qi was unfazed by such trivialities. Having lived so many years, he had endured all manner of ill repute and long since ceased to care about how others perceived him.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Mo Xiu, his future partner would undoubtedly feel sorry for him upon learning of this—a worthwhile trade-off in his estimation.

Xiong Gangyong, being slow-witted and unobservant, didn’t notice any of this.

Cheng Cheng, however, witnessed it twice and was so incensed he wanted to confront those people, but Mo Qi calmly dissuaded him with a few words.

His black hair had grown quite long over time, and since it was no longer convenient to dye it, the previously colorful strands now looked somewhat peculiar hanging down.

So, before setting out, he asked Xie Wu to help him with his hair.

Xie Wu found hair clippers and gave him a neat crew cut. Paired with Cheng Cheng’s clean-cut and sunny appearance, he looked much younger, almost like a high school student.

Hearing this, Mo Qi smiled dismissively, took a hairband, and casually tied his semi-long hair back, saying, "Why bother with those people? Haven’t you heard enough of such talk before we even came to Mountain River Base?"

"That's not the point! Boss, I just think someone as capable as you shouldn’t be misunderstood. You should show off your skills, let them see how amazing you are.

And boss, you should pay a bit more attention to how you dress. Look at what you’re wearing—

a cotton T-shirt and these ill-fitting casual pants are one thing, but where did you get these cloth shoes? They look so underwhelming! Even elderly men on the street wouldn’t wear shoes like these, okay?"

Listening to Cheng Cheng’s complaints, Mo Qi found it even more amusing. "What’s wrong with this outfit? It’s really comfortable. Besides, these shoes were specially picked out by Mo Xiu for me back then. We tried so many types, and these were the most comfortable."

He recalled how, back when he could hardly speak or move properly, Mo Xiu could still tell from his subtle expressions that he found certain shoes uncomfortable or disliked them, even taking the time on their journey to help him pick out things like this.

Mo Xiu’s care for him was truly genuine love, no doubt!

For Mo Qi, this journey felt more like a romantic getaway between him and Mo Xiu. The only downside was the crowd tagging along, which felt a bit intrusive.

Thinking this, Mo Qi sat down on a nearby chair and sighed softly.

Just then, Mo Xiu returned to their rest stop and witnessed this scene.

Frowning slightly, he quickly walked over to Mo Qi and asked with concern, "What’s wrong? Why the sigh? Did someone upset you?"

Hearing this, Mo Qi snapped out of his thoughts, a smile returning to his face as he replied helplessly, "Who else could upset me but you? Where did you go just now? You took so long—I started to miss you!"

As he spoke, Mo Qi wrapped his arms around the other’s waist, naturally resting his head against Mo Xiu’s abdomen, completely unconcerned about whether others were around.

Mo Xiu felt a bit embarrassed at first but then decided worrying about unimportant people’s opinions was pointless. What mattered most was Mo Qi’s happiness, so he relaxed and let himself be held.

Gently stroking the man’s hair, he said softly, "The conditions out here aren’t as good as in the base. If you feel uncomfortable or need anything, remember to tell me."

Hearing this, Mo Qi nuzzled against Mo Xiu’s waist, took a deep breath of his scent, and smiled contentedly.

Cheng Cheng, who had been complaining to Mo Qi earlier, fell silent. Watching the two embrace, he scratched his head awkwardly.

For some reason, whenever the boss and Brother Mo were together, there was always an atmosphere that made others feel like they couldn’t intrude. It made him feel like he shouldn’t be there...

After a while, seeing that Mo Xiu and Mo Qi showed no signs of separating and were just holding each other quietly, Cheng Cheng eventually left, feeling a bit bored.

After holding each other for a good while, Mo Qi felt much more satisfied and looked up at Mo Xiu to ask, "How’s the search going?"

Hearing this, Mo Xiu frowned slightly and shook his head gently.

Although Xiong Mingyuan had earlier provided information that Professor Frank from Country A should have gone missing in this area, a thorough search had turned up no trace of him.

It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and he had no idea where to search next.

Seeing Mo Xiu’s troubled expression, Mo Qi tenderly reached out and rubbed the furrowed spot between his brows. His previously carefree mood sobered considerably.

"You really hope to find him?" Mo Qi had thought this was just an unimportant mission, something for show. But seeing how serious his beloved was, it seemed things weren’t as he’d assumed.

"Yes," Mo Xiu replied. "I want to end this apocalypse, return to how things were, and live a peaceful, happy life with you.

But it seems things aren’t as simple as I thought. This area was already sparsely populated, and after the apocalypse, it’s been completely abandoned. We’ve been here for days and haven’t found a single person.

At this rate, forget finding anyone—the team’s supplies might run out soon."

Mo Qi didn’t hide his thoughts. Who wouldn’t want to return to the pre-apocalypse days? Those comfortable times, with safety assured and no need to live in fear.

No worrying about suddenly encountering zombies or mutant monsters they couldn’t handle.

"So that’s how it is," Mo Qi murmured thoughtfully. He searched through the original host’s memories, which seemed much more stable than now.

And those prosperous, comfortable scenes the original host had seen on TV—they had never experienced any of that.

Mo Xiu said he wanted to live a peaceful, happy life with him. His future vision included Mo Qi, and Mo Qi felt the same.

Mo Xiu was his future partner, the person he planned to spend his life with. Mo Xiu’s aspirations naturally became his own goals to strive for.

Thinking this, Mo Qi closed his eyes and began to channel his spiritual sense.

His condition had been improving steadily since meeting Mo Xiu. Especially after obtaining the mutant gecko’s energy core, he could more easily draw out the purer demonic energy and energy from the core for cultivation.

As a result, his physical strength had strengthened, and the range his spiritual sense could cover had expanded significantly.

Earlier, when Xiong Mingyuan described the professor's appearance to Mo Xiu, Mo Qi was also present and heard everything clearly. If he wanted to locate the person, it wasn't beyond his capabilities.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of the professor’s personal belongings, which made it impossible to use magic or divination methods, complicating matters significantly.

So, Mo Qi directly expanded his spiritual sense, covering the entire area, and began a thorough, carpet search for matching targets.

Fine beads of sweat gradually formed on his forehead. While focusing his spirit, Mo Qi also struggled to suppress the excessive expansion of his spiritual sense, which was putting a strain on his body.

Meanwhile, Mo Xiu, who had been holding him all along, noticed something was wrong—the man in his arms had suddenly fallen silent.

Looking down at Mo Qi’s increasingly pale face and tightly clenched lips, Mo Xiu's heart tightened.

“Mo Qi, Mo Qi, what’s wrong? Where exactly are you feeling unwell? Tell me quickly, are you okay?” Mo Xiu called out urgently, bending down slightly to hold the other’s shoulders and giving them a gentle shake.

Mo Qi, however, only shook his head lightly and replied in a soothing tone, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about me. Just wait a little longer, just a bit more and it’ll be done.”

Despite his words, as he held Mo Xiu, his arms unconsciously tightened their grip due to his physical discomfort.

Finally, at the very edge, beyond what his body could withstand, his spiritual sense detected a faint trace of a living person’s presence.

Gritting his teeth, Mo Qi held his breath and focused all his attention on this newly discovered location. Just as he was about to reach his limit, the man suddenly opened his eyes.

Letting out a long exhale, Mo Qi managed a somewhat relieved smile. Then, lifting his head, he addressed the young man in a playfully needy tone: “Mo Xiu, that professor—I’ve found him.”