IRCDM Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Exhaustion (Revised) No one gets thirsty at fixed times…

Chapter 83: Exhaustion (Revised) No one gets thirsty at fixed times…

If a high-level heteromorph is an absolute crushing force against ordinary humans, then a large mecha against ordinary heteromorphs is the same.

The mental power shield constructed by the three large mechas was impenetrable, forcibly linking almost all members of the exploration team into the protection range. With the mental power attacks neutralized, the extensive training the exploration team had undergone finally came into play. They followed behind the Shenfeng mechas, sweeping away the most precious brain cores and spinal fluid from the heteromorph bodies like locusts. Even when encountering high-level heteromorphs that Black Emperor and Red Empress didn’t have time to kill, they could still cooperate effectively and in an orderly manner, successfully seizing a large number of spoils.

Ning Qiang gouged out a brain core from a heteromorph corpse, looking at the black and red mechas fighting in the front with complex emotions.

Behind him, a not-quite-dead heteromorph silently raised a scale-covered spike, aiming it at the back of his head.

Pfft—the sound of flesh being pierced suddenly rang out.

Ning Qiang turned his head in shock and saw Ning Qiu, who was supposed to be dead, standing in front of him with a smile, neatly retracting his knife and saying with a smile, “Bro, what are you still standing there for?”

“You’re still alive?!” Ning Qiang rushed up and grabbed his arm.

Ning Qiu said, “Of course I’m still alive. That Mi Hui guy must have been scared silly and talking nonsense. Bro, let’s get down to business first.”

Ning Qiang squeezed his arm hard, nodded, took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned around and shot Ning Qiu in the center of his brow. The pseudo-human heteromorph, struck in its brain core, howled in pain. Its body twisted and struggled, tearing through the outer human form, and its hideous mouthparts roared in dying anger at Ning Qiang.

Ning Qiang didn’t even blink. He hoisted a heavy light cannon and aimed it at its mouthparts. The next second, the roaring heteromorph was blasted into a pile of rotten flesh.

“That bastard Ning Qiu has never called me ‘bro’ once since he was a kid!” He raised a hand to wipe the blood and gore splattered on his face, his eyes bloodshot as he turned and ran toward the two giant mechas charging ahead.

Piloting a large mecha requires a high level of mental power support. Usually, the lower the mental power level, the lower the link rate with the mecha. In extreme cases, the operation error may differ by tens or even hundreds of times. However, with a dual mental link, the error time is greatly reduced.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time in ten years that Li Yao had operated a mecha alone. Thanks to Liang Huan’s special mental disorder, even though his mental power was only at D-grade, it could be perfectly adapted. The exhausted and vast mental power source finally welcomed enough mental power for him to mobilize.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t excited.

He manipulated Red Empress through the heteromorph swarm. Countless mental power sources exploded before his eyes, reflected in his pupils like the most brilliant fireworks. He heard the surging sound of mental power rushing past, like scalding blood washing over every nerve, a melody celebrating death and victory.

Vast mental power arrived once again. Black Emperor stepped on the corpses of heteromorphs and walked in front of him. With just one look, they turned around in tacit agreement, confidently entrusting their backs to each other.

Liang Huan couldn’t remember the last time he had killed so freely.

He was used to controlling the overall situation, sitting on a throne built from gold and bones, overlooking the rivers and mountains in the map. A single thought could kill or save thousands of people. Life and death were intertwined with interests and the big picture. He restrained his desires and ambitions, suppressed the unruliness and violence in his blood, and wore a gentle and calm mask to methodically achieve his goals.

He always had to pursue beautiful virtues and reputations, wrapping them around his already decayed flesh and bones, to exchange for peace of mind.

Corpses piled up like mountains. He controlled the cold mecha to rise from the mud, looking down at the blood-covered mechanical palm.

The feeling of distortion and unreality was replaced by excitement and trembling. He tilted his head uncomfortably. The next second, another mechanical palm grabbed that mechanical palm. The behemoth was dragged half a step forward and hugged tightly.

The collision and squeezing of metal sparked a series of beautiful sparks, surrounded by the noisy cheers of the exploration team members.

“We won!” Li Yao manipulated his mecha and heavily patted his back. “Brother Liang, so handsome!”

Liang Huan looked at the red mecha in front of him, which had no expression, but miraculously felt Li Yao’s joy and excitement and couldn’t help but smile.

…Li Yao wasn’t afraid of him.

——

The exploration team members were happily cleaning up the spoils.

“Brother Liang, this time our Eastern Third District is going to be rich!” Lu Biao came to Liang Huan with the checked list. “Most of these heteromorphs are high-level heteromorphs. There’s still enough time, we can clean up another wave. Adding what we’ve collected before, this time we can conservatively estimate an income of 30 billion.”

Liang Huan was preparing mental power relief medicine for Li Yao. Hearing this, he nodded: “Not bad.”

A burly mercenary walked over with a few people. Li Yao, who had been lazily lying on the roof of the car, sat up and squinted in the sunlight.

“Brother Li, Brother Liang.” Ning Qiang stood respectfully in front of Liang Huan. He looked a little ashamed, but still raised his voice and said, “Before, we mercenaries misunderstood you. If it weren’t for you charging in the front this time, the brothers might have died here. I apologize to you on behalf of the brothers.”

Liang Huan recognized the other party as the mercenary he had saved last night. A gentle smile instantly appeared on his face: “There’s no need to be so polite. Whether it’s the Mercenary Base or the brothers in the Black Market, everyone is now from the Eastern Third District, so we should help each other.”

Ning Qiang nodded: “In the future, as long as you say the word, Brother Liang, the brothers at the Mercenary Base will definitely listen.”

Liang Huan smiled.

Liao Yuan’s management of the Mercenary Base was not strict, and the mercenaries themselves didn’t have much cohesion. Most people admired the strong. In name, they would listen to You Zhao Chen and Jiang Chuxia’s command, but now they had personally witnessed how Jiang Chuxia commanded the heteromorph swarm to fight, and this obedience naturally disappeared.

“Brother Liang, we all heard from Lu Biao that you and Instructor Li Yao quarreled in order to lure out the heteromorph impersonators, not because you really wanted to use the brothers’ lives to exchange for money.” A mercenary behind Ning Qiang said with some shame, “On the contrary, you and Instructor Li Yao charged in the front to protect everyone, we will not forget this kindness!”

“Yes, we won’t forget it!”

“Everyone is brothers, don’t talk about these things! From now on, just follow Brother Liang and Brother Li and that’s it!”

The mercenaries were noisy, and many were hooking their arms around the people from the Black Market. Thanks to Liang Huan’s forced matching arrangement before, the people from the Mercenary Base and the Black Market had to join hands in life-and-death moments, and their relationship quickly warmed up. The cohesion of the exploration team was stronger than ever before, and a large number of spoils further boosted morale. After this battle, Liang Huan’s prestige in the exploration team greatly increased—after all, in front of a group of mercenaries who admire violence, nothing is more convincing than killing and victory.

Liang Huan handed the prepared relief agent to Li Yao.

“This move is really beautiful.” Li Yao praised him while frowning and drinking the relief agent, and then jumped off the roof of the car and lay motionless on the floor of the first carriage.

Liang Huan closed the car door, turned the person over, and felt Li Yao’s pulse: “I shouldn’t have let you drive the mecha alone.”

Li Yao’s lips were pale, and the dizziness brought on by mental exhaustion made him close his eyes subconsciously: “Monday morning quarterback, would you be relieved if it were someone else?”

Liang Huan grabbed his icy wrist: “Of course not relieved.”

Li Yao laughed. He closed his eyes and fumbled around, accurately finding Liang Huan’s thigh, and stubbornly climbed over to rest his head on it.

Liang Huan sat on the floor, gently stroking his hair: “But you should also thank me.”

Li Yao struggled to open his eyes a crack and saw Liang Huan’s suddenly approaching handsome face. He seemed to be smiling, but also scrutinizing: “Besides me, who else can let you drive a mecha again?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes unhappily, raised his hand and patted his neck: “Borrowing my momentum to subdue this group of mercenaries, and using my people to operate two mechas together, I accompanied you to slaughter a group of high-level heteromorphs and almost lost my life, but that group of mercenaries is grateful to you, and now they’re about to blow you to the sky.”

He used quite a bit of force, and Liang Huan’s neck was knocked askew by his pat.

Li Yao realized belatedly and suddenly understood: “You made a fortune, coaxing me to accompany you to risk my life.”

Those mercenaries already obeyed him, and besides obeying him a little more, they didn’t gain anything good, but instead almost completely exhausted their mental power.

Liang Huan grabbed his hand and placed it on his face, smiling: “Then what do you want? I can give you anything.”

Li Yao raised an eyebrow: “Okay, hand You Zhao Chen and Jiang Chuxia over to me to deal with.”

Liang Huan was stunned for a moment.

“What’s the matter? Did you think you could finally offer yourself?” Li Yao looked at him gloatingly and casually pinched his face, “How could you get all the good things, darling?”

Liang Huan stared at him meaningfully: “You Zhao Chen and Jiang Chuxia are both pseudo-humans disguised as heteromorphs. The 50 billion of our Eastern Third District is still missing. The only breakthrough is You Zhao Chen. If I hand them over to you, how can I explain it to others?”

Li Yao smiled: “I’ll help you recover that 50 billion.”

“You want to take them back to the military?” Liang Huan’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Li Yao avoided answering and asked in return: “Would you subdue them and use them for your own purposes?”

The inside of the car fell silent instantly.

“I don’t have that intention for the time being.” Liang Huan grabbed the hand that Li Yao was trying to pull away. “We won’t talk about these things, you should rest first.”

Li Yao scoffed lightly: “Are all you emperors so shameless?”

Liang Huan lowered his eyes and played with his cold fingers, smiling: “I always value my reputation.”

Li Yao tried to get up and argue, but Liang Huan, taking advantage of his mental exhaustion and energy depletion, quickly pulled him into his arms: “I can’t give you the people, but you can interrogate them together.”

Li Yao was greatly shocked. Being held tightly by Liang Huan from behind gave him an unprecedented sense of danger, nine-tenths of which felt wrong.

But the rising vigilance was quickly overwhelmed by Liang Huan’s slightly dejected voice: “If the people I killed today weren’t heteromorphs but humans, would you hate me?”

Li Yao frowned in his arms: “What’s wrong? Did some idiot scold you?”

Liang Huan lowered his head and kissed his shoulder through the thin fabric.

Li Yao was concentrating on waiting for his answer, but a slightly cool hand entered his combat uniform, and his shoulder and neck were being kissed vaguely. The gentleness and unease inside gradually changed. By the time he reacted, the little mental power he had managed to recover had been forcibly linked.

“Liang…Huan…” He gritted his teeth and grabbed Liang Huan’s forearm, his breathing already faintly trembling.

Liang Huan affectionately pressed against his cheek and kissed his hot earlobe, saying with a smile: “Few people feel so sorry for me, I should give you some reward.”

Li Yao never expected that he could go even deeper into this. He was both angry and amused: “Shouldn’t normal people rest at this time?”

“I’ll help you maintain your mental power.” Liang Huan gently intertwined his fingers with his. “Don’t drive a mecha casually in the future, otherwise I’ll always take advantage of you, and my conscience will be uneasy.”

His Majesty the Emperor spoke hypocritically about his uneasy conscience, but there was no hint of guilt in his actions. The person who had been fighting alongside him on the battlefield just now was now completely unable to resist, mentally linked and trapped in his arms. The exhausted mental power source was completely under his control, and the level of excitement fluctuated with the amount of mental power he gave. He frowned intolerably, but subconsciously leaned in to kiss him…struggling and resisting obedience, but always refusing to truly bow his head.

Irresistible.

A hand with distinct joints tightly clung to the center console, struggling with the little strength left, and with a snap, turned off all the operating systems of the car. The grumbling and panting were completely drowned out in the darkness.

The morning star on the scroll was finally swallowed by the giant dragon coiled behind it.

…………

——

You Zhao Chen and Jiang Chuxia were held in separate locations.

When the car door opened, You Zhao Chen raised his head, squinting in the sunlight. When he saw who was there, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes: “Why is it you?”

“Who did you expect it to be?” Liang Huan closed the car door and sat opposite him.

You Zhao Chen’s limbs were firmly fixed on the seat by the capture net, and the mental power shielding device at the back of his neck had penetrated his flesh and nerves. He glanced at Liang Huan and asked with a smile, “Where’s Li Yao?”

“He killed too many heteromorphs, and his mental power was almost exhausted, so he’s resting.” Liang Huan answered his question patiently.

You Zhao Chen said: “Li Yao is not that kind of person. His friends have been wrongly accused, he will never sit idly by.”

“Provided you’re his friend.” Liang Huan leaned back with his legs crossed, looking at him with a half-smile: “Are you?”

The smile on You Zhao Chen’s face slowly disappeared, and he said in a calm voice: “Everyone saw Jiang Chuxia enter the heteromorph swarm safely, but I never harmed our companions from beginning to end, nor did I leave the protective shield half a step—Liang Huan, I know you have always wanted to completely subdue the Mercenary Base, but there must be a minimum bottom line for being a person and doing things. Now you are so unscrupulous in order to achieve your goals, and you are willing to forcibly put the identity of a heteromorph on my head, aren’t you afraid that Li Yao will find out?”

Liang Huan looked at him without speaking.

You Zhao Chen spread out his hands: “There are no problems with the genetic tests, I have not harmed anyone, and no one has seen me turn into a heteromorph. Now that you have inexplicably locked me up here, how will you explain it to Liao Yuan when you go back?”

“Before the merger of the Mercenary Base and the Black Market, your account was managed by you for a period of time.” Liang Huan clicked on the chip, and dense data popped up on the light screen. “Of course, this cannot be used as a basis for convicting you. The 50 billion that disappeared from the Eastern Third District was distributed to various accounts, and we have tracked them all, but there are no accounts that involve you.”

The smile on You Zhao Chen’s face gradually widened.

“But before this 50 billion was distributed to various accounts, on a certain Wednesday, someone inadvertently spent 3.5 condensed coins from it to buy a bottle of purified water.” Liang Huan placed the consumption record in front of him. “Later, after tracking the product code on it, this bottle of water finally appeared on the desk of lawyer Jiang Mufeng of the First Court in the East 1 Rich District.”

The smile in You Zhao Chen’s eyes slowly solidified.

“You go to the bar with Jiang Mufeng every Wednesday night, and every time after he gets in the car, you give him a bottle of purified water that has been opened.” Liang Huan looked up at him. “Ten years ago, You Zhao Chen handed over that bottle of water because Jiang Mufeng was thirsty. What about the water you have been handing over methodically for the past ten years?”

“Perhaps some people stubbornly go to the bar at fixed times, but no human gets thirsty at fixed times.”

The smile on You Zhao Chen’s face finally disappeared completely.