IRCDM Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Ring, Ugly as Hell

A brief silence followed, then the crystal core was shoved roughly into someone’s pocket.

“It was mine to begin with,” Li Yao said in a nasty tone. “I spent all night killing zombies without even sleeping, and you took it from me. I haven’t even settled the score with you yet.”

Liang Huan blinked in confusion, then smiled. “Then I’ll find another gift for you.”

He genuinely wanted to give Li Yao a return gift; he really liked that yellow, first-level crystal core.

Li Yao’s breath caught in his throat. “Stop grinning like an idiot.”

Liang Huan said helplessly, “But I feel happy when I see you. That’s a bit much to ask.”

Li Yao pulled out a roll of tape from somewhere and directly covered his mouth. Liang Huan was annoying as long as he opened his mouth, and he might be persuaded at any moment. The safest way was to shut him up.

He grabbed Liang Huan’s hair, forcing him to look up at him, and said arrogantly, “It’s too late for you to say anything now. I said, if you dare to run, I’ll kill you directly.”

There was no fear in Liang Huan’s eyes, clearly not threatened at all.

It was simply blatant provocation.

Li Yao’s mood immediately worsened. He placed his hands on Liang Huan’s shoulders and began to search him carefully from top to bottom, neatly removing the communication equipment he was carrying and the locator in his protective suit. Finally, he grabbed his wrist and used a dagger to directly pry out the chip inside.

The smell of blood instantly filled the air.

Liang Huan frowned. Li Yao said nastily, “You changed to a new chip so quickly because you’re afraid I’ll find you? I don’t think it hurts this much when you dig out other people’s chips. You traitor—”

He suddenly stopped talking, the force of his grip on Liang Huan’s hand increasing.

The pain made Liang Huan frown even more. Although he liked Li Yao and was willing to indulge him, it didn’t mean that Li Yao could be so presumptuous. He was just about to break the ropes and teach him a lesson when Li Yao’s grip suddenly loosened. He pulled out a medical bandage from his clothes, wiped the blood from his wrist with a dark face, and then stuck it on.

Liang Huan was stunned.

“Waste,” Li Yao re-tied his hands, then hoisted him onto his shoulder and continued to walk deeper into the forest.

Before long, the blood-stained chip attracted several zombies and heteromorphs. They approached and sniffed, and began to fight frantically for the little bit of blood.

When the members of the Shenfeng Exploration Team arrived after hearing the sound, they only found the communicator and positioning equipment that Liang Huan was carrying. Liang Huan himself didn’t leave a trace.

Yue Hang’s face was ugly. “There’s no blood. Liang Huan is definitely still alive. Everyone be vigilant, split up into groups of two and look for him.”

A group of people scattered instantly, Deng Meng and Xu Yunyan both extremely anxious.

They were sleeping soundly, how could Brother Liang suddenly disappear?

—

The toxins in his body gradually dissipated, and his vision in the darkness became clearer. He was being carried on Li Yao’s shoulder, his head hanging down so he could only see Li Yao’s waist and black belt. Even in the outer zone with such high radiation values, Li Yao didn’t seem to like wearing protective clothing, probably very confident in his physical fitness.

He didn’t know how long passed before Li Yao finally stopped, throwing him onto a thick pile of fallen leaves, tearing off the tape, and handing the water cup to his mouth, saying coldly, “Drink some water.”

Liang Huan licked his dry lips. “I can walk myself.”

Li Yao was probably also a little tired, sitting directly opposite him and snorting coldly, “Then find a chance to run away?”

“I won’t run.” Liang Huan knew he was angry, so he patiently explained, “I left because I didn’t want to continue deceiving you. I was actually instructed to take away the black box about the Dawn Project from your hands. Think about it carefully, I’ve only taken the treatment device to get by, but my identity has also been exposed. They won’t let me stay by your side any longer. If I’m not exposed, I’ll continue to monitor you for them. The fact that you want to use my mental power to pilot a mecha will also be exposed, which will cause you even greater losses… Li Yao, I don’t want our relationship to end up in a completely irreconcilable situation. Can you understand?”

Li Yao stared at him with a deep gaze, and after a long time, he laughed. “What, do you think you have a conscience now?”

Liang Huan said, “At least I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re a good person.”

Li Yao seemed to have heard a big joke. “I’m a mercenary, do you think I’m a good person?”

Liang Huan said, “Identity doesn’t determine whether a person is good or bad. I’m more willing to believe my own judgment.”

Li Yao nodded, looking at him with interest. “According to you, you left to ‘protect’ me, so what were you doing in the Shenfeng Exploration Team? Did they tell you to change targets?”

“This is my own idea, Li Yao, you don’t like being controlled, neither do I.” Liang Huan looked at him seriously. “You also know that I have high mental dysfunction. Although it hasn’t happened yet, my mental power will be very painful if it is slightly unstable. They gave me a kind of medicine that can temporarily suppress these symptoms, which makes me have to obey their commands.”

Li Yao frowned. He knew a lot about dysfunction, and naturally knew the pain of this disease. Moreover, this kind of person usually doesn’t live too long. He looked at Liang Huan’s calm expression, his eyes a little complicated.

“I wasn’t lying to you before. I can’t remember anything before the training ground. I don’t know who sent me to your side, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” Liang Huan paused, lowering his eyes. “In my only memories, you are the first person I met, and you have never hurt me.”

Except for that kick at the beginning.

And the two punches he just gave him.

And prying out the chip on his wrist… besides.

Liang Huan said in a deep voice, “I want the brain marrow of a special-grade heteromorph to suppress the dysfunction, not to be controlled by the other party because of the medicine. I don’t trust anyone else, so I asked you to make a deal.”

Li Yao’s dark eyes stared straight at him.

“Just like I said in the letter, our deal is still valid. I will help you improve your mental power and help you pilot a mecha, and you will help me suppress the dysfunction.” Liang Huan met his gaze frankly. “Li Yao, I’m on your side.”

Li Yao was almost tricked into believing him, approaching him and laughing, “But what if you regain your memory and betray me again?”

“Others may be able to match your mental power, but can you ensure that the next person you find will be completely loyal to you?” Liang Huan also smiled at him. “At least I have dysfunction, and I can only rely on you to hunt special-grade heteromorphs if I want to live.”

Liang Huan was telling the truth. Although he was good at killing zombies, his mental power would be disordered as soon as he was attacked by heteromorphs. Forcibly using internal power was not worth the loss, and he would not casually hand over such a fatal weakness to others, but Li Yao was different – no matter how indifferent he seemed, this kind of person was inherently imbued with unshakeable justice and kindness.

“We are the best partners.”

Liang Huan’s voice, containing a smile, rang deeply in Li Yao’s ears, carrying convincing certainty and intimacy, not giving anyone any room to refuse.

“Drink water!” He pushed the cup to Liang Huan’s mouth unhappily, “You can still talk so much when you’re tied up, I’ll cut off your tongue!”

Liang Huan was forced to drink a few mouthfuls of water, choking and turning his head to cough, finally catching his breath after a long time. “Don’t be angry, it was wrong to leave without saying goodbye, I apologize to you.”

Li Yao put the cup down heavily. “Apologies are useless, unless you prove it to me.”

“How to prove it?” Liang Huan asked.

Li Yao said, “Prove that even if you have dysfunction and your physical fitness is only E-, you can still mentally link with me and pilot a mecha together.”

“…Okay.” Liang Huan smiled. “Can you untie me first? I promise not to run away.”

A few minutes later, the rope tied to Liang Huan was finally untied. Even through the protective suit, there were still a few bloodstains on his neck and wrists, showing how hard Li Yao had tied him. He turned his aching wrist, saw Li Yao staring at him, and sat beside him with a smile: “I missed you very much these days, always worried about whether you slept well, whether you ate well, and even dreamed about you once.”

Li Yao’s goosebumps were about to pop up, he leaned against a tree trunk, taking the opportunity to move away from him: “Stop trying to get close to me, it’s useless.”

Liang Huan ignored him, saying to himself: “Actually, I’m very happy that you could find me.”

Li Yao snorted softly.

“How’s Jinbao doing? I left in a hurry at the time.” Liang Huan asked.

Li Yao said with malicious intent: “I took it apart and sold it to the scrap yard.”

Liang Huan suddenly fell silent.

Li Yao turned his head to look at him, and after a while saw that he still hadn’t moved, impatiently saying: “I didn’t take it apart, I took out the battery and threw it in the cabinet—”

Liang Huan suddenly covered his mouth and leaned over, pressing him against the tree trunk and leaning over himself, whispering: “Something’s coming.”

He suddenly got closer, Li Yao’s whole body subconsciously tensed up, but he still concentrated his attention. Soon he noticed a subtle mental power fluctuation in the air: “Heteromorph.”

Liang Huan nodded, pointing to the tree.

Li Yao shook his head in disapproval. Climbing a tree at this time would make too much noise, simply courting death.

Liang Huan suddenly smiled at him. The two of them were too close, Li Yao’s breath stagnated. Liang Huan took the opportunity to wrap his arms around his waist, mobilized his power, and brought him to land lightly on a thick branch far from the ground.

Li Yao turned his head to look at him in shock.

A hint of a smile appeared in Liang Huan’s eyes: “Fun?”

Li Yao sized him up for a few times, suddenly raised his hand and slapped his lower back. Liang Huan didn’t move at all, just a little puzzled, and then lightly tapped on the xue point on his back. Li Yao suddenly lunged forward, and the next second he grabbed Liang Huan’s arm with quick eyes and hands. Liang Huan took the opportunity to pull him back, the leaves on the treetop swaying gently, as if a breeze had passed and disappeared silently.

Li Yao glared at him unhappily.

Liang Huan looked innocent.

There was a rustling sound of crawling on the ground. The two of them held their breath at the same time. Looking down from their perspective, they only saw two places where the thick layer of fallen leaves had collapsed. The fallen leaves were crushed by the weight, making a subtle and dense cracking sound, like countless small feathers lightly scratching their nerves.

A dense chill suddenly rose from Liang Huan’s spine. Li Yao’s scalp exploded. He suddenly turned his head, facing a pair of huge, translucent eyes. In an instant, a sharp, piercing pain swept through his nerves. He almost instinctively grabbed his gun. Liang Huan grabbed his belt and took him directly off the tree. At the moment before landing, Li Yao had already aimed at those eyes and fired without hesitation. The huge impact smashed into the fallen leaves along with Liang Huan, forcibly smashing a deep pit into the ground through such a thick layer of fallen leaves.

Liang Huan almost spat out blood, pulled up Li Yao and ran forward, the dysfunction happening at just the right time. He couldn’t even distinguish whether he was grabbing Li Yao, his vision becoming hazy.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

The two stopped at the same time. Liang Huan mobilized his internal power, and his vision became clear again, but the surrounding scenery did not change at all, even the layer of fallen leaves was very flat. Li Yao and he stood back to back in place, only able to feel each other’s body temperature and breathing.

“Did it leave?” Li Yao was not sure. His mental power was almost exhausted just now.

The mental power fluctuations became extremely subtle. Liang Huan carefully observed the surrounding environment and said in a low voice, “It should still be here.”

“How lucky, every time I’m with you, I run into a special-grade.” Li Yao looked at the mental pollution value on the detector that was about to explode, guarding with a gun in one hand, and handed him a gun and a few mines in the other. “Did you bring a protective light sphere?”

“The protective suit comes with it.” Liang Huan took it.

Li Yao scoffed: “You Shenfeng are really high-class.”

“You didn’t bring it?” Liang Huan asked.

“Didn’t you see that I didn’t even wear a protective suit?” Li Yao’s mind and body were in a highly tense state, but his mouth was still out of shape. “Everything is simple when you come out to steal people!”

He threw out all the mines in his hand as if he didn’t need money. Liang Huan instantly activated the protective light sphere on his body and enveloped him in it. The power of the small nuclear mine explosion instantly turned the surrounding tall trees into ashes. The aftermath spread for thousands of meters, and the shaking ground did not stop for a long time. The protective light sphere, which was impacted by the explosion, crashed into a protruding cliff stone after breaking several tree trunks. Spider web-like cracks spread from the top of the two people’s heads, and then the light sphere suddenly stopped in mid-air for half a second.

As if something had steadily caught it.

Liang Huan and Li Yao squeezed together and looked at each other silently. Li Yao cursed in a low voice. The next second, the light sphere shattered into powder. Liang Huan grabbed his belt and jumped on the stone in front. Li Yao pulled out a string of hand grenades and threw them into the air, and then used the impact to pounce on the protruding stone on the opposite side with Liang Huan.

The sound of explosions was endless. Liang Huan and Li Yao looked back and saw a translucent behemoth standing in the forest. “It” even had the shape of limbs, and they could see the beating heart and blood vessels inside the body. However, the other party’s “shape” only appeared for half a second in the explosion. Li Yao and Liang Huan got up and ran forward. As soon as their front feet left, this mountain rock disappeared out of thin air.

At the critical moment, the mental link that the two people had had all along, finally succeeded. They finally had the power to resist the special-grade heteromorph’s terrifying mental power attack. Although it was pitifully small, it was enough to buy a little chance to breathe, at least not be directly crushed by that heteromorph. The two of them maintained the mental power link and didn’t know how long they ran, finally unable to hold on, they rolled down from a high cliff and fell into a deep pit.

A pungent rotten smell came. Li Yao endured his nausea and grabbed Liang Huan who wanted to continue running, took out a shielding device from his arms, and covered the two of them.

There was a rustling sound overhead. After a long time, it gradually disappeared, and the pollution value on the detector finally stayed at a normal value.

Liang Huan held his breath and saw Li Yao looking at him with a face full of blood, ash, and dirt: “This is the special-grade heteromorph you wanted, you wanted me to kill it?”

“…” Liang Huan calmly wiped the blood and dirt from his face, “Li Yao—”

“Ugh!” Li Yao finally couldn’t bear the deadly smell and turned his head and vomited.

“Are you okay?” Liang Huan held his breath and was not greatly impacted.

Li Yao lay on his stomach and vomited badly, raising a trembling middle finger at him without turning his head.

Liang Huan stared at it for two seconds, picked up the metal ring left over from the nuclear mine detonation, and put it on him.

His finger felt cool, Li Yao turned around in confusion, staring at the thing on his finger, squinting his eyes and tilting his head.

Liang Huan tilted his head together, learning from his appearance, and said with a smile: “Beautiful.”