IRCDM Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Instigating: If It Really Doesn’t Work Out, Let’s Get a Divorce

“Ten years ago, the name Yi Heng Bai was practically a household name. A genius with double 3S+ spirit power and physical ability, people called him the Dawn Star. But the vanguard team provided incorrect coordinates, leading to the complete annihilation of the Dawn Project. He floated in space for a year before being salvaged, served several years in prison, and was bailed out by his own uncle. Unable to make it, he changed his name and entered the mercenary base.” Deng Meng’s face was full of disdain. “But his uncle was also investigated; it was that Yi Yuan. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him.”

Liang Huan had a slight impression: “The vice commander of the Dawn Project?”

“Actually, it’s all nepotism, just manufactured momentum. Who knows if he really had 3S+ spirit power.” Deng Meng was very dismissive. “But this is all from ten years ago. Now that information changes so fast, what the hell is a Dawn Star? Everyone’s long forgotten. This kind of connected person can harm so many people and get away with it…”

Liang Huan frowned: “Sometimes you can’t just listen to one side of the story.”

“Liang Huan is right,” Deng Meng said in a low voice. “For the past two years, people from the military have been following him. Yu Wan Yao also has a grudge against him, Liang Huan. Getting involved with this kind of person is a big problem. Since you don’t like him, why not get a divorce quickly?”

Liang Huan looked at the serious and flamboyant young Li Yao in the photo and smiled: “I’ll consider it.”

Deng Meng felt a chill down his spine from his smile.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside: “Liang Huan? Liang Huan!”

The few people were startled. Liang Huan tore open the Heteromorph skin tied to the car door and yanked it open. A biting chill rushed in.

Li Yao, carrying a sharp chisel, stared at him with a grim expression, completely different from the spirited officer in the photo: “Are you okay?”

It was clear he was very anxious, not even catching his breath. His eyebrows and hair were covered in a layer of frost. His protective suit was torn and drafty, covered in what looked like either Heteromorph or Zombie blood, making him look both fierce and disheveled.

“It’s okay, come in first.” Liang Huan stepped aside.

Li Yao suddenly pinched his nose and took a half-step back: “Were you guys smearing manure in here?”

The people wrapped in octopus skin in the car had different expressions. Liang Huan calmly said: “You’ll freeze to death outside.”

“This little bit of wind won’t freeze you to death.” Li Yao grabbed his wrist and pulled him directly out of the car, grumbling as he threw a windproof tent cloth over him, “This car is so broken it could be used as a strainer, come back with me.”

“Why do you think you can take Liang Huan away?” Deng Meng bravely spoke up.

Xu Yunyan said softly: “Liang Huan, why don’t you stay with us?”

Li Yao didn’t even raise his eyelids. He flicked the ice axe in his hand, and it transformed into a heavy machine gun, aiming it at the broken car, coolly saying: “Want to die?”

Liang Huan raised his hand and pressed down on his arm, turning to smile at Deng Meng and Xu Yunyan: “It’s okay, I’ll go back with him first. You guys be careful and contact me after you return to the base.”

Deng Meng and Xu Yunyan had no choice but to watch him being taken away by Li Yao.

Li Yao kept shouting in his earpiece. But now that he had really found him, he closed his mouth, his face sullen and silent, the atmospheric pressure around him so low it could freeze.

Liang Huan was dragged by him to the chiseled ice cave, which had a lot of blood stains on it. The color didn’t look like Heteromorph or Zombie blood. Liang Huan turned to look at Li Yao’s hand, the gloves on it were black and worn out beyond recognition.

“Li Yao, I actually…” Liang Huan had just opened his mouth when he was pressed on the shoulder and pushed into the ice cave.

The temperature in the underground garage was significantly higher than on the surface, even warm, which was why Li Yao dared to come out to find him. But even after they got into the SUV, Li Yao didn’t say a word.

Seeing Liang Huan return, Mao Ming and Jiang Chuxia and the others gathered around, even Zhou Suiyu, who didn’t like him, came to ask him a few words.

“It’s good you’re okay. A close call means good fortune to follow.” Mao Ming breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t run around during battles in the future. Your physical strength is so poor; it’s no small matter.”

Ai Li nodded: “Little Liang, try to avoid coming to the external areas as much as possible.”

Jiang Chuxia kept wiping her tears: “You scared me to death, Liang Huan. It’s good you’re okay. Li Yao searched you for 6 hours and almost sliced up the Heteromorph’s body, I thought he was going crazy.”

Pei Zhong glanced at the test tube on Liang Huan’s waist and said nothing.

“What’s all the commotion? Everyone shut up and conserve your energy!” Li Yao threw the gun onto the car impatiently.

Liang Huan glanced at him, took the wet towel Mao Ming handed him, and began to wipe the blood off his body: “Thank you, Uncle Yang.”

Mao Ming smiled and found a corner to rest.

Jiang Chuxia quietly approached and whispered: “Liang Huan, you don’t know, your last location showed you were in the Heteromorph’s belly. Li Yao searched for you for six whole hours and almost dissected the Heteromorph corpses into pieces. I thought he was going crazy.”

Li Yao slammed the gun down heavily.

Jiang Chuxia stuck out her tongue and hid behind Ai Li.

Li Yao’s wind and snow protection was much more solid than Deng Meng’s. With the Heteromorph corpse burning, it was even a bit hot inside the car. Liang Huan wiped the protective suit clean, looked at the car. Mao Ming and Zhou Suiyu were sleeping in the front, Jiang Chuxia and Ai Li were on the bed on one side, Pei Zhong was sitting in the middle of the car burning crystal cores, and Li Yao was alone by the coldest part of the trunk, wiping his gun expressionlessly.

Liang Huan picked up his thermos and sat down next to Li Yao.

Li Yao grabbed the gun and moved it to the side, away from him.

Liang Huan moved closer again. Li Yao moved too much the first time and was almost touching the car window. He turned his head to frown at him accusingly.

Liang Huan smiled at him.

Li Yao was expressionless.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause trouble.” Liang Huan said, “Everyone is fighting, and I want to help you as much as I can.”

“You—” Li Yao couldn’t help but speak.

“Want some?” Liang Huan handed him the cup, “Just made it.”

“No.” Li Yao’s tone was stiff.

Although Liang Huan’s actions greatly shortened their battle time and avoided potential sacrifices, he was also very likely to sacrifice himself directly. He hated people who acted presumptuously without thinking.

“Do you know how dangerous what you did was?” Li Yao gritted his teeth. “Once you miscalculated, if that Heteromorph couldn’t withstand the energy of the heavy thunder, not only the Heteromorph would be blown up, but also the teammates outside. It’s fine if you die, but why do you have to drag others down with you?”

“I was indeed inconsiderate, you’re right.” Liang Huan thought about it carefully. He really didn’t have time to consider so much. “I’ll pay attention next time.”

His attitude of admitting his mistake was too sincere, and Li Yao felt a breath stuck in his throat, perhaps also because of some other reasons. He said coldly: “Just knowing is enough.”

Liang Huan smiled and said: “Really not going to have a taste?”

Li Yao glanced at him, snatched the cup and drank it all in a few gulps, then shoved the cup back into his hand heavily, saying angrily: “I’ll deal with you when we get back.”

Mao Ming cast a worried look at Liang Huan.

Liang Huan looked at him with sincere eyes: “Li Yao, thank you for risking your life to save me. I will remember this kindness in my heart forever.”

Li Yao chewed the wolfberries in his mouth coldly and made an ambiguous snort.

The blizzard lasted for more than ten hours, and the outside world finally returned to silence.

Li Yao led them to remove the ropes and windproof tents, tied the crystal cores that couldn’t fit inside the car and a few thick tentacles of the Octopus Heteromorph to the roof, and drove out of the garage with the car full of blood.

Deng Meng and Xu Yunyan followed suit, tying a few Heteromorph corpses to their car, and followed closely behind.

In the monitoring room of the East District Base, the external area entry and exit management center, two dusty SUVs appeared in the distance.

The staff stared at the approaching cars in disbelief, muttering: “Someone is back from the blizzard.”

He hurriedly dialed the communication: “Center, attention, center, East 2 Gate has detected two vehicles from our district, please open the door and check in time, medical staff please be prepared.”

A great uproar arose in the monitoring room.

“A total of twenty-one mercenary groups went out from East 2 Gate this time. Except for the five groups that evacuated early before the blizzard, the rest have not returned. It’s been more than ten hours, and they’re not from the military… how is it possible?”

“It’s the vehicle from Group One! That Li Yao!”

“M0969?”

“It’s him, be careful to open the gate!”

The square was already crowded with the next batch of mercenary groups preparing to depart. As the East 2 Gate slowly opened, a dust-covered, blood-soaked SUV drove in shakily. What was even more surprising was that the roof of the car was loaded with full crystal core bags and even the corpses of rare Heteromorphs. The car slowly stopped in the very center of the square, the engine coughed twice, and with a bang, all four tires blew out, collapsing feebly on the spot.

There was a moment of silence in the square.

Even quieter in the car, Li Yao sat in the driver’s seat, took out his sunglasses and put them on, and cleared his throat: “What are you guys standing there for? Go out and count the supplies and go to the center to exchange for bonuses!”

Pei Zhong and the others silently got out of the car and began to divide the supplies tacitly, and were instantly surrounded by mercenaries watching the excitement, chattering and asking for news.

Liang Huan turned to look at the motionless Li Yao: “Not getting out?”

“No.” Li Yao said faintly, “Embarrassing.”

It had been a long time since he had returned to the base so embarrassingly.

Liang Huan couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” Li Yao was ferocious.

Liang Huan’s smile deepened: “Let’s go, I’ll shield you a bit.”

Li Yao pushed up his sunglasses and put on a pretentious, dashing, and handsome act as he put his arm around him and got out of the car.

The news that the number one 969 on the mercenary ranking list had brought back the entire team from the blizzard instantly spread throughout the entire square and mercenary base. 969 himself was arrogantly arguing with the staff at the exchange counter in the entry and exit center.

“This crystal core is worth at least one hundred Condensed Coins, what, do you look down on low-level zombies? Zombies also have the right to a corpse, be careful I’ll go to court and sue you for discrimination.”

“Do you think he’s stupid, so you think I’m stupid too?”

Zhou Suiyu hid behind him and said softly, embarrassed: “Boss, why don’t we just forget it, it’s only one hundred Condensed Coins anyway.”

“Shut up.” Li Yao indiscriminately attacked everyone, “Isn’t one hundred Condensed Coins something that was risked to be dug out of the zombie’s brain? You have to calculate it properly for me today, or I’ll go find your director.”

The staff member who was exchanging for them sighed: “Alright, alright, I’ll give you one hundred Condensed Coins.”

“What’s your attitude?” Li Yao threw off his sunglasses and was about to roll up his sleeves. Mao Ming and Jiang Chuxia quickly came up to pull him.

“Forget it, Captain Li, don’t bother with them.” Mao Ming frowned and glanced at the staff member, “These people are just like this…”

Li Yao stood in front of the exchange counter with his arms crossed and stared at the person, who was sweating profusely from his stare and almost registered the name wrong.

Liang Huan watched him with great interest. It was hard to imagine that such a calculating and irritable person would be the once famous Dawn Star. What did he experience that made him like this?

“Still standing there laughing foolishly!” Li Yao met his gaze, “Come over and exchange money!”

Liang Huan was a little surprised: “I have some too?”

“You made a great contribution to killing the Heteromorph this time.” Li Yao calculated the materials he could exchange for, and then deducted a portion and transferred it to his own account, “This is the rescue fee you should give me.”

Jiang Chuxia teased: “Brother Li, you two are married, are you still calculating so clearly?”

“What does a child know.” Li Yao looked at the rescue fee of 30,000 Condensed Coins with great satisfaction. The originally empty balance became 3,003,000 Condensed Coins, but when he thought of his two scrapped protective orbs and a half-scrapped SUV, his face collapsed again.

After all the odds and ends were calculated, in the end, he only earned 30,000 yuan in rescue fees.

Tsk.

Liang Huan looked at the 470,000 Condensed Coins in the account, very satisfied, much better than working at the Small Panda Takeout factory.

Mao Ming waved to him from afar.

Liang Huan glanced at Li Yao, who was looking at his account with a solemn expression next to him, and decisively walked over.

“Uncle Mao, is there something wrong?” Liang Huan asked.

Mao Ming looked at him with some worry: “How much did Li Yao give you?”

“470,000.” Liang Huan said, “Uncle Mao, did he give you too little?”

Mao Ming, who took two million Condensed Coins: “…That’s not the case, how did you get this zero and this whole number?”

“He asked me for a rescue fee of 30,000.” Liang Huan said.

Mao Ming frowned: “Little Liang, in principle, I shouldn’t interfere in your family affairs, but Li Yao… alas, Uncle knows you’re having a hard time. If you really can’t hold on one day, apply for a divorce.”

Liang Huan smiled embarrassedly.

Li Yao, who “happened” to stroll over: “?”

No, why are one or two of them here instigating Liang Huan to divorce him?