IRCDM Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Gains and Losses (Revised) Someone Else is Blind

Liang Huan didn’t expect they would meet again.

The mission was tricky. Not only were there forces from the military hindering them, but after Mu Bo left the base, the Chuanwu Laboratory detected him, and the searching mutated species were everywhere. Interference devices and capture nets specifically targeting mental power dysfunction not only cut off Liang Huan’s retreat but also left him in a severely chaotic state. During his escape, he couldn’t tell whether he was in Northern Liang or the post-apocalyptic world.

Or perhaps it was just a cognitive confusion. Once he woke up, he would still be trapped in that dark and dreary experimental chamber.

“Suspected sample detected. Bio-genetic location in progress… narrowing the scope…”

“Is the Number One from Group Two that difficult to deal with that they are using genetic location?”

Two fully armed mutated species were talking. They were both mutated bodies that had fought their way out of the experiment and were very dismissive of this legendary experimental subject.

“The chip bullets contain a large amount of anesthetic. Even if he takes them out immediately, it’s useless. He won’t get far. Don’t underestimate him.”

“Got it—target is moving at high speed, hurry!”

Liang Huan lay in a muddy tree hollow filled with shrubs, one hand tightly covering his abdomen. The wound from digging out the bullet was still bleeding. The two mutated bodies passed overhead. He held his breath and pulled out a bottle of mental power enhancer, but it was already empty. All other medications were used up. He had left the only treatment device for Li Yao.

Liang Huan frowned. His limbs gradually became numb and heavy, and his consciousness began to blur. The violent disorder of mental power far exceeding ordinary people caused him to experience constant hallucinations.

“Your Majesty, Scholar Changlin has been gathering frequently recently, and Lord Baili is now the Prime Minister. She is not only your teacher, but most of the students in Changlin Academy are her disciples… If this continues, I fear she will form a faction.”

“Father, I am the Crown Prince you personally chose. A ruler may demand his subject to die, and I have no complaints. I only want to ask you one thing, what exactly did I do wrong?”

“Liang Huan! You wage wars relentlessly, causing suffering to the people! You don’t expand the harem, causing the imperial family to decline! In every way, how can you be worthy of the people, worthy of the ancestors of the Liang family!?”

“Liang Huan, you’re insane! You dare to burn the Imperial Ancestral Temple!”

The raging fire swept across the sky, finally burning through that square sky. The Xuan-colored dragon robe was lifted by the heatwave. Liang Huan heard his own voice, filled with laughter: “To hell with your ancestors.”

The flames roared, plunging into the viscous, cold liquid. The suffocating feeling of near-death tore at him, pulling him into the abyss.

“Number One from Group Two exhibiting mental power fluctuations. Sample confirmed alive.”

“Performing the 10,001st space simulation experiment… Sample shows no resistance… Experiment successful. Prepare for the next experiment.”

“Number One, what are you looking at? Ah, is it him? He is the rising star of our humanity, with top-notch mental and physical abilities. I don’t want you to do so many experiments either, but you must surpass him… He’s a useless piece of trash now.”

“He is nature’s most incredible creation, and you will be the laboratory’s most perfect creation. I am your creator.”

Liang Huan smiled in the experimental chamber.

The heavy, specially made glass shattered in response. He grabbed the other person’s neck, took the bloody eyeball, lowered his eyes to look at the person howling and curled up on the ground, and smiled: “How dare you.”

The harsh alarms and gunshots intertwined chaotically. Liang Huan lay on his back in the mud, looking at the dense crowd of figures in front of him. They were happy or sad, angry or reproachful. Their limbs began to stretch and twist into vines and conduits, entangling in his flesh, growing countless thorns. Every face was very close to him, grinning, questioning, wailing, forcing him to feel pity and guilt.

Liang Huan was overwhelmed. Mud and blood slowly submerged his nose and mouth, but his paralyzed limbs could not gather any strength.

He didn’t know who he was, where he was, whether he was dead or alive, so he stopped struggling.

In the heavy suffocation and darkness, a hand suddenly broke through, grabbed his collar, and yanked him up.

“Are you okay?” Someone patted his face hard, smearing him with a face full of stinking mud.

Liang Huan stared at him with a gloomy expression.

Li Yao randomly felt around his nose to make sure he was still breathing, and cursed: “You’re not that old but run pretty fast. Do you know how hard it is for a blind man to find someone in the outer districts?”

Liang Huan couldn’t move, his tongue was numb, and he could only use his eyes to express his displeasure at Li Yao’s meddling.

But this person was blind.

“Mute?” Li Yao groped around, found the wound on his abdomen, put a treatment device on it, and carried the person on his shoulders. “I hate it when people save me. This time I saved you, so we’re even. If you don’t speak, I’ll take it as you agreeing.”

Liang Huan’s head was facing down, and he could only frown and stare at the back of his waist. The tattered protective suit had been thrown away, and the mercenary uniform was also torn in large sections, revealing the hideous scars on his skin.

Liang Huan didn’t think that Li Yao could save him now. His tongue was still stiff, and he managed to say, “Put me… down.”

Li Yao slapped him on the waist: “Be honest. I modified the treatment device, which can temporarily cover the genetic location. What do they mean by the experimental sample they were talking about? Why are the military people also chasing you? What exactly are you?”

He had too many questions. Liang Huan’s memory of the rest was very vague, only remembering the large area of ​​shaking scars on his waist.

The fact proved that even if Li Yao was down on his luck, he still had some life-saving methods and actually managed to lead him out of the encirclement.

The salty and humid sea breeze poured into the rocky cave.

The violently fluctuating mental power barely calmed down. Liang Huan lowered his eyes and looked at the treatment device on his waist that was unrecognizable, and said, “How did you do it?”

He was clearly blind.

“Superpowers.” Li Yao sat cross-legged at the entrance of the cave, holding a zombie leg bone to fish. The rotten meat attracted some mutated fish species. He turned his head to ‘look’ at Liang Huan: “Kid, you pick an edible fish.”

“My name is Liang Huan.” Liang Huan glanced at the pile of fish species with hard-to-compliment appearances, preferring to starve to death.

Seeing that he refused to choose, Li Yao could only reluctantly prick up his ears and spent a lot of effort to catch a small edible fish, roasted it in front of the fire, and handed it to him.

Liang Huan glanced at him: “You eat it.”

Li Yao directly stuffed the fish into his hand, his tone gentle: “I finally roasted it, hurry up and take it, so rude.”

Liang Huan was silent for a moment, and under the other party’s sincere gaze, frowned and took a bite.

“Eat more.” Li Yao said.

Liang Huan was inexplicably puzzled, but he still ate the fish. Li Yao asked with concern: “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Liang Huan was a little unaccustomed to this kind of intimate concern, but the other party was Dawn Star, born with a kind heart. He restrainedly shook his head: “No.”

“Then I’m relieved.” Li Yao didn’t know where he found a few of the same small fish, strung them together, roasted them until they were fragrant, and crunched them all up in front of Liang Huan.

Liang Huan: “…”

If he wasn’t unable to move now, he would definitely kick this bastard into the sea to feed the zombies.

A skewer of small fish roasted in who knows what floated in front of him. Li Yao grinned: “Want to eat?”

Liang Huan turned his head away, but a skewer of small fish was stuffed into his mouth. Li Yao sat next to him: “The temperature difference between day and night in the outer districts is huge. People will die if they don’t eat.”

Liang Huan’s brain was a mess, feeling that this person was annoying, but he couldn’t help but ask: “Are you familiar with the outer districts?”

“I used to come here often when doing missions in the military.” Li Yao added some fuel to the fire, and didn’t say anything, but blocked most of the cold wind for Liang Huan.

The taste of the food was not good, and the fluctuating mental power disorder was even more torturous. Fortunately, Liang Huan was used to it. What affected him more was the anesthetic specifically targeting him. Inevitably, he still had some vigilance towards Li Yao and didn’t dare to let himself fall into complete sleep.

Li Yao was particularly relaxed, fiddled with the campfire for a long time, hugged his arms and leaned against the reef and fell asleep.

Liang Huan turned his head to look at the entrance of the cave. The sea at night was a rich black, and there was no light in the sky. The gray-black boundary line undulated in the sound of the waves, and even the reefs next to it became distorted shapes. Liang Huan closed his eyes and looked at the sleeping person next to him.

Li Yao’s breathing was very steady. His combat boots were covered with dirty blood and mud. A dagger was inserted in the boot tube. The pockets on his pants were stuffed full. His legs were spread out arrogantly. The torn upper garment was full of wounds. The exposed skin had been blown blue and purple by the sea breeze, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Huh?” Li Yao suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed the thing in his hand, and looked at him blankly.

“Heated blanket.” Liang Huan said lightly.

Li Yao’s eyes lit up: “Good stuff, more useful than fire.”

He threw away the soft blanket in his hand and enthusiastically invited Liang Huan: “Come.”

Liang Huan remained unmoved: “You cover yourself, I’m not cold.”

“Tsk, who’s your instructor? How did they teach you?” Li Yao relied on his clumsy movements, squeezed over and sat with him. The heated blanket was not large enough. He relied on his height and grabbed Liang Huan and wrapped him in.

Liang Huan frowned and struggled: “Let go of me.”

“Be honest, or I’ll smack you.” Li Yao slapped the treatment device.

He carried a strong bloody smell and smell of gunpowder. The mercenary combat uniform material was stiff and rough. Liang Huan pulled down the heated blanket covering his head. Li Yao had already closed his eyes.

The waves beat against the reefs, and the inside of the cave returned to silence.

The next day was a rainy day.

Li Yao didn’t sleep well, lying sprawled out. The good blanket could only cover half of his body. Originally, he was hugging Liang Huan, but in the end, in order not to let him freeze to death, Liang Huan could only pull him over and block him in the corner.

Li Yao moved, and Liang Huan opened his eyes.

Li Yao hadn’t finished stretching, when the person who was acting as his pillow suddenly got up, almost making him fall directly to the ground. He wasn’t angry either: “Yo, you can move?”

Liang Huan glanced at him coldly.

“I seem to be able to see, Liang—” Li Yao paused.

Liang Huan’s expression was even colder: “Liang Huan.”

“Liang Huan.” Li Yao pointed to his temples, “My brain hasn’t been working well lately, nice name.”

Liang Huan ignored him and chose a corner to rest by himself.

The two were seriously injured and had not healed yet, and there were still people searching outside. Although they had different intentions, neither of them left, but watching the rain always got boring, and they would occasionally say a few words.

“Your mental power fluctuates a lot, most likely in a disordered state.” Li Yao threw a stone at him, hitting his knee.

Liang Huan lowered his eyes and stared at the stone rolling to his feet, not denying it.

“It’s a bit of a pity. When you wake up, you won’t remember that I saved you.” Li Yao pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, squinting at him, “Why don’t you record it on your chip, and transfer money to me when you return to the Eastern District base later.”

“Are you short of money?” Liang Huan looked up at him.

Li Yao laughed: “Otherwise, why would I take on missions, for fun? People live for money.”

“You don’t seem to want to live.” Liang Huan said.

The smile on the corner of Li Yao’s mouth stiffened slightly, and he let out a sound of ambiguous laughter, probably judging that the other party was in a disordered state and was speaking recklessly. He said half-dead: “Nonsense, people can only have a future if they are alive, nothing is left when they die.”

“It would be good to die here too.” Liang Huan said.

Li Yao stared at him for two seconds: “This is the effect of mental power disorder, don’t be impulsive.”

“Are you afraid of death?” Liang Huan finally developed a trace of interest, looking at him playfully, “Or do you want to live to clear your name?”

“Sort of.” Li Yao answered vaguely, “People are not afraid of death.”

Liang Huan looked at Li Yao’s exposed wrist, which had scars left by being forcibly stitched up without timely treatment. Current technology could eliminate them, but Li Yao still stubbornly wanted to keep them. Not only here, but there were deeper scars on his back and neck – although they were not familiar with each other, Liang Huan knew his body well.

He even thought that these scars should not be left on Li Yao, perhaps out of some complex and strange possessiveness.

Li Yao let him look, lazily leaning against the cold reef with a cigarette in his mouth: “Don’t look.”

This kid looked fair and clean, but his eyes seemed to be carrying poisonous hooks, and with a kind of arrogant and scrutinizing look that deserved a beating, making people uncomfortable.

“Like dragon scales.” Liang Huan lowered his eyes.

Li Yao frowned: “Has the military developed dragon-shaped mechas now?”

“…Real dragon.” Liang Huan said.

“Have you seen it?” Li Yao laughed sarcastically.

Liang Huan picked up a half-burned dead branch and roughly outlined a black dragon on the gray ground: “In ancient times, soldiers would tattoo black dragons on their shoulders and backs, in order to seek the blessing of the emperor’s dragon energy.”

Li Yao couldn’t help but look at the black dragon: “I haven’t heard of this custom, what dynasty?”

“Made it up.” Liang Huan threw the dead branch into the fire.

Li Yao was choked, staring at him speechlessly.

Liang Huan’s mood lifted slightly, appreciating his deflated look, and finally saw a trace of vitality from this person: “Are you still planning to return to the military?”

Lightning outside the rocky cave tore through the sky, illuminating most of the dark cave. Li Yao’s eyes were gloomy, as if all his laziness and smiles had been restrained in an instant. Liang Huan calmly met his gaze, without the slightest retreat or hesitation.

Neither of them moved their gaze first, as if in some kind of silent contest.

“I can help you.” Liang Huan said.

“You’re just a small official, how can you help?” Li Yao didn’t care.

Liang Huan was estimating the possibility of becoming a marshal, when he heard Li Yao lazily say: “In the military, you have to be at least a minister to have a say, and you’ll be an old man by then.”

Liang Huan laughed.

Li Yao couldn’t help but laugh: “The military has sent so many spies, you’re the first to invite me back, thanks.”

Liang Huan felt a little regretful, but didn’t force it: “If you need help in the future, you can go to the Wutong Apartment in the East Fifth District to find me.”

Li Yao laughed: “Can you remember?”

Liang Huan said: “I can.”

Li Yao didn’t expect him to be so sure, and turned to look at the turbulent sea outside: “There will be high tide in half an hour, this place will be submerged by sea water.”

Liang Huan got up and walked to the entrance of the cave: “Then let’s go.”

“Liang Huan.” Li Yao suddenly called him.

Liang Huan turned around and caught the thing flying towards him, a fingernail-sized black external chip.

“It can prevent genetic location, effective for twelve hours.” He was a little uncomfortable being stared at by Liang Huan, “Just treat it as an exchange for your treatment device.”

Liang Huan glanced at him, flipped over and climbed up the steep reef cliff. By the time he climbed to the top, the rocky cave below had been submerged by sea water, completely untraceable.

It wasn’t until more than a month later that he heard about Li Yao again, confirming that the other party hadn’t drowned him in the rocky cave that day.

Probably still didn’t want to die.

He pushed open the door, and the wind chimes at the door made a crisp and pleasant sound.

“It’s you, I was just looking for you.” The owner was very familiar with him, “The painting you consigned has been chosen by a guest.”

Liang Huan smiled slightly: “Mercenary?”

“Yes, very handsome,” the owner said, “He also promised to be my model for display. Fortunately, our Eastern District tattoos are all chain stores. This picture will definitely sell like crazy in the future.”

“How much?”

“What?”

“I’ll buy his display picture and take back the original.” Liang Huan handed him a chip, “Where did he get it tattooed?”

The owner smiled and took the chip.

“That handsome guy tattooed two black dragons, one on his back and one on his wrist, looking very majestic and beautiful.”

Liang Huan pushed the door open, looked at the dark Eastern Third District in the distance, and drove back to the Wutong Apartment.

Unfortunately, in the long years that followed, Dawn Star never visited.

“Remember what?” Li Yao didn’t know what he was imagining, the expression on his face was a little wonderful, “It can’t be that I abandoned him.”

Liang Huan grasped the small black dragon on his wrist again in his palm: “Almost.”

Li Yao was shocked, finally understanding the anger of Minister Lin Chen at the time: “I have the right to know what happened back then.”

That was Liang Huan who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, although he was so upright that he definitely wouldn’t really get involved, but it would be good to feast his eyes.

“I don’t remember clearly.” Liang Huan said unhurriedly, “Back then, I just sold a black dragon picture to a tattoo shop, and you might have just picked it.”

No one would believe that.

Li Yao dissatisfiedly pinched his ear, when the door of the office was suddenly knocked open.

Lu Biao brought a chip.

Li Yao and Liang Huan sat opposite him. Yue Hang glanced at Li Yao next to him, and Liang Huan signaled him to speak directly.

“Chen Jia’s personal chip was destroyed. Captain Yue and Pei Zhong can only recover some of the data inside, but they didn’t find anything unusual.” Lu Biao opened the chip, his eyes were a little red, “Chen Jia and I grew up together since we were young. Although he has some petty thoughts, he will never make big mistakes. Brother Liang, I really can’t figure out why the military people would attack him.”

“It’s not necessarily the military who did it.” Li Yao said.

Lu Biao suddenly raised his head: “Mu Bo has been taken away by the military, who else could it be besides the military? It’s not your brother who died, you—”

“Lu Biao.” Liang Huan interrupted him in a deep voice.

Lu Biao bit his teeth and turned his head away.

Li Yao didn’t care: “Let me see the chip.”

Liang Huan directly handed Chen Jia’s chip to him. Li Yao randomly pulled out a toolbox from under the table. In a few minutes, several pieces of destroyed data were re-displayed on the light screen. At the top was a report showing losses.

“Chen Jia is in charge of the finances of your Eastern Third District?” Li Yao handed the report to Liang Huan.

“Yes, he works carefully and does a good job in logistics.” Liang Huan flipped through the report, his eyes paused slightly.

“Could it be that someone was jealous of him and made a secret move?” Lu Biao had been in the Black Market and knew the principle that a big tree attracts the wind. Even he and Yue Hang had been plotted against several times. “Recently he and Jing Si have been getting close, I’ll go ask Jing Si.”

“Come back.” Liang Huan called him to a halt.

“There’s a big problem with this report.” Li Yao poked Liang Huan, “Although your Eastern Third District owes more than 160 billion, you haven’t paid anyone back. You guys made a lot of revenue from tourism and laboratory exhibitions, and you haven’t bought any equipment recently, how can the final calculation be a loss?”

Liang Huan’s expression sank.

Lu Biao frowned and looked at Li Yao. Li Yao crossed his legs and said arrogantly: “What are you looking at? The condensed coins that your Brother Liang spent to treat me all came from his private account, right, honey?”

“Yes.” Liang Huan’s face was not good-looking, “The revenue of several hundred billion was originally intended to be used to build the Outer District Exploration Team, but now it has disappeared. Chen Jia’s death is probably not that simple.”

They had been working so hard for so long, finally seeing some money back, but the fat meat that reached their mouths was taken away by someone.

“How much?” Li Yao was shocked.

“Chen Jia last reported that it was at least 50 billion.” Liang Huan reached out to take the chip, “You can find it by checking the report account—”

A sharp sound of something breaking through the air suddenly passed by Lu Biao’s ear. Liang Huan’s pupils shrank, and then he was knocked to the ground by Li Yao. The chip on the table was hit and turned into debris.

“Li Yao?” Liang Huan touched a hand full of stickiness.

Li Yao took a breath of cold air and cursed: “It’s okay, just hit my shoulder.”

“Damn it, the shooting was from outside the door – it was one of our own.” Lu Biao got up and wanted to chase, but someone was faster than him.

“You protect Li Yao.” Liang Huan left a sentence.

Lu Biao looked at Li Yao in a daze, unable to associate the words “protect” and “Li Yao” together. But the fact was that Li Yao didn’t even glance at him and flipped out of the window.

The other party’s speed was very fast. Liang Huan chased closely. He didn’t know whether it was because the other party wanted his life or because Li Yao was injured, but the fact that the other party might be someone under his command made him feel a long-lost anger. A series of names flashed through his mind, and the feeling of being betrayed made him feel uncomfortable all over.

“Stop!” Li Yao broke through the window and kicked the person who was escaping down the stairs.

The man rolled down the stairs, and Liang Huan directly threw out the capture net. He and Li Yao jumped down one after the other.

“You still want to run?” Li Yao grabbed the person from the capture net and pointed the gun at his temple.

“No, wait, what are you doing?!” Liao Yuan, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, raised his head blankly.

“Old Liao?” Li Yao was stunned.

“Old your ass, call me by my position, District Chief Liao.” Liao Yuan patted the coffee grounds on his suit, with a face full of filth, “You two haven’t recovered from your injuries, what’s wrong with you? I just had this suit made to order.”

Liang Huan glanced at the broken coffee cup at his feet: “What are you doing here?”

“I’m going back to the office, I just finished eating and climbed the stairs to digest.” Liao Yuan was full of grievances, “As a result, I was knocked down as soon as I came up, and you two suddenly flew down and caught me.”

“Did you see the person who hit you clearly?” Li Yao asked.

“How can I see clearly, I’m watching a movie.” Liao Yuan closed the virtual screen in front of him and saw that they were looking serious, and asked suspiciously: “What’s wrong?”

Liang Huan glanced at the corridor leading to countless offices.

After hearing them explain the situation, Liao Yuan’s voice almost lifted the roof: “You said how much!!!!”

“At least 50 billion.” Liang Huan said coldly.

“Fifty billion…” Liao Yuan collapsed and hugged his head, “Adding the previous 160 billion, we owe 210 billion, 200 billion… haha, 200 billion, hahahaha.”

“You can’t calculate it like that, you don’t have to pay back the 50 billion you earned.” Li Yao said.

Liao Yuan turned around and hit the wall with his head: “I can’t pay it back, how can I possibly pay it back, Liang Huan, why don’t we just break up now, you go back to your Black Market, and I go back to my mercenary base.”

“It’s not that bad, Old Liao, don’t hit it, you’re not smart to begin with.” Li Yao reached out to pull him.

“Then we have to find this person.” Liang Huan glanced at him and looked at Li Yao, “Come here.”

Li Yao released Liao Yuan in confusion. A medical patch was pasted on the wound on his arm. Liang Huan took him upstairs: “You don’t have to worry about this matter, just concentrate on healing.”

“That grandson almost gave you a headshot.” Li Yao said angrily, “If it wasn’t for my quick hands, I would have been holding you and crying right now. What is your administrative court’s security system doing? Anyone can give you a burst of fire!”

Liang Huan smiled: “At that time, in order to save money, we only did external bulletproof and internal hot-melt bomb shielding, we didn’t have money for the others.”

Li Yao frowned: “You’re at least the Minister of Mecha.”

“Unauthorized misappropriation of public funds.” Liang Huan said, “Are you instigating me to commit a crime, Officer Li?”

Li Yao clicked his tongue, his eyes suddenly paused. Liang Huan followed his gaze and saw You Zhao Chen and Jiang Chuxia drinking coffee in the rest area.

“Come have a drink.” You Zhao Chen greeted them with a smile.

“Dr. Su can kill us both.” Li Yao jokingly put his arm around Liang Huan’s shoulders.

Jiang Chuxia glanced at his arm: “Are you injured?”

“It’s okay, a small injury.” Li Yao swiped two candies.

Liang Huan glanced at You Zhao Chen’s sleeve soaked with coffee and said, “You guys drink slowly.”

“By the way, Deputy District Chief Liang, has the exploration team’s allocation come down? A big family is waiting to eat, and they’re about to go to the outer district.” You Zhao Chen asked.

“You won’t starve to death anyway, what’s the rush?” Li Yao said rudely, “Wait.”

“Li Yao, who are you with, are we still brothers?” You Zhao Chen smiled and wanted to hook his neck, “You don’t even have a title yet, but you’re already taking sides.”

Liang Huan pulled the person back and politely nodded to You Zhao Chen: “He’s seriously injured, I’ll take him to heal.”

Li Yao followed him for a distance before clearing his throat: “You’ve gone too far, do you think they’re blind?”

He didn’t even blink at such a small injury.

Liang Huan said seriously: “Someone else is blind.”

Li Yao raised his eyebrows.

Liang Huan squeezed the small black dragon on his wrist: “Not only blind, but also not using his brain.”