Male Lead, Please Don’t Covet the Mob Character Cannon Fodder (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 26

Amidst the intermittent sound of gunfire, Qingshi was shielded in Jia’s embrace. Relying on his powerful physical body, Jia tore through the encirclement and charged out.

The people behind them pursued relentlessly. Jia was unfamiliar with the layout of the base and relied purely on instinct to crash his way through.

To protect Qingshi, he endured several gunshots, and his injuries grew increasingly severe. His speed gradually slowed, and the distance between them and the pursuers began to shorten.

Qingshi’s combat suit was already soaked with Jia’s blood. Looking at Jia’s resolute face, he said, “Put me down. If this continues, you will not be able to escape.”

“No.” Jia used his other hand to press Qingshi’s head against his chest. “Must stay together.”

The look in his sapphire eyes shifted. Qingshi let out a soft sigh and pointed a finger to indicate a direction. “Go that way. Follow the yellow markers. Break the wall at the end; outside is the ice sea.”

Hearing this, Jia twisted his waist and ducked into the corridor Qingshi had indicated.

“Stop them, quickly!”

Ai’s heart-wrenching scream echoed; he seemed to have discovered their intent.

However, it was already too late.

Splash!

The ice-cold seawater enveloped them from all directions. Once in the water, Jia’s speed surged. He took Qingshi deep beneath the surface, leaving the pursuers far behind.

By this time, however, Qingshi was not in a good state. The constant-temperature ring produced by the Federation was only weakly effective in water. He was essentially facing the sub-zero seawater directly. He would likely die from his blood freezing before long.

Suffocation and cold made Qingshi’s vision blur. He leaned against Jia’s chest, feeling his consciousness slowly leave his body as familiar faces flashed before his eyes one by one.

He really was a failure as a captain; he could not protect the base or his teammates.

{Qing…}

Qingshi fell into a long, heavy sleep, but there was always a voice in his mind calling his name, which was somewhat noisy.

A sweet, metallic liquid slid down his throat. Qingshi slowly opened his eyes.

“Qing!” Feeling the vibration of the chest near his ear, Jia’s excited voice came from above. Meeting those emerald beast-like pupils, Qingshi actually saw a trace of warmth within them.

Not daring to maintain eye contact, Qingshi lowered his gaze. His eyes fell on the wrist of the arm in front of him; a wound deep enough to see the bone stretched across it. The pale skin membrane was peeled back in layers, and deep green blood flowed steadily.

Seeing Qingshi staring at his wrist, Jia hurriedly brought it to Qingshi’s lips. “Drink?”

Qingshi was stunned for a moment. “No.” Remembering the lingering metallic taste in his mouth, he asked, “Have you been feeding me your blood this whole time?”

Jia nodded. “You are cold. Drink this. Not cold.”

Hearing this, Qingshi pursed his lips and pushed Jia’s wrist away. “I am not cold anymore.”

“Mhm.” Jia did not insist and obediently withdrew his hand.

Qingshi looked around and found they seemed to be in a cave within the heart of an iceberg. Snow crystals on the cave walls emitted a faint glow, illuminating the dark cavern.

Jia set Qingshi down from his embrace. It was only then that Qingshi realized how severe Jia’s injuries were. Especially the wound on the left chest that Qingshi himself had inflicted; it showed no sign of healing.

He opened his watch to check the time. It had been exactly three days since they escaped from the Dawn Base.

With the Male Lead’s recovery rate, how could he still look like this?

“Your injuries, what happened?”

Hearing Qingshi’s concern, Jia grinned. “Not enough energy. Food. Sleep.”

It seemed that the Heinos Naga required a special kind of energy to heal wounds. This energy was limited but could be obtained through eating and sleeping.

“Find food. Back soon.” After giving his instructions, Jia turned toward the cave entrance.

Qingshi stood in place, looking at Jia’s back, which lacked a single piece of healthy flesh, and his pockmarked snake tail. Finally, he could not help but call out to him.

“Hey, what kind of prey do you expect to catch in that state?” Qingshi pulled a blue nutrient solution from his watch space and threw it at him. “Eat this instead.”

Jia instinctively caught the small vial. Looking at the blue liquid inside, his eyes brightened, and he slithered over to Qingshi’s side to look into his eyes.

“Blue. Eyes. Beautiful.”

Realizing Jia was complimenting his eyes, Qingshi slightly turned his head to avoid his gaze. “Drink it. It is a nutrient solution.”

It was the daily food for the New Humans of the Federation.

Jia carefully opened the nutrient vial and poured some into his mouth. The liquid, which looked beautiful, had almost no taste, but a warm current spread from his stomach into his body after he swallowed it. Jia clearly felt his hungry cells being soothed.

He looked at the remaining liquid in his hand and did not finish it in one gulp. Instead, he held it in front of Qingshi. “Qing. Drink. Not hungry.”

Qingshi was momentarily stunned by the gesture, then produced two more vials and stuffed them into Jia’s hand as a cover. “I have more. You drink it.”

Seeing that Qingshi had no intention of drinking, Jia reached out to touch Qingshi’s flat stomach. “Hungry. Eat.”

Those dark green eyes stared directly at Qingshi, making it clear that if he did not eat, Jia would not drink either.

Qingshi sighed helplessly, took out another vial, opened it, and drank it down. “There. I am not hungry now.”

Only then did Jia finally let Qingshi go, finishing the nutrient solution in his hand in one gulp.

Now that his stomach was full, Jia pulled Qingshi back into his embrace and sat down with his back against the cave wall. His expression could not hide his exhaustion, yet his arms held Qingshi tightly.

Looking at his weary face, Qingshi could not help but ask, “Why? Why choose me?”

Jia blinked in confusion. He stroked Qingshi’s cheek with his palm, his thumb brushing against the corner of Qingshi’s eye. “Beautiful.”

Qingshi only felt the situation was absurd. “Just because of that?”

His appearance was merely average in the Federation; there were thousands of people more beautiful than him. What kind of reason was that?

“Beautiful,” Jia repeated, adding emphasis to his tone.

Meeting Jia’s sincere gaze, Qingshi was momentarily speechless. In the end, he changed the subject directly. “The snakes that appeared at the base, were they there for you?”

Jia nodded, then shook his head. “Not snakes. Snakes are good. Sinister Dragon Lizards are bad.”

“Those things are called Sinister Dragon Lizards?” Qingshi recalled the appearance of the creature that had crawled out of Ai’s stomach. With a snake-like body and a lizard-like head, the name was quite fitting. “Why are they chasing you?”

Jia took Qingshi’s hand and placed it on his intact right chest, letting him feel his vigorous muscular strength. “Powerful. Parasitism.”

When his hand touched the full pectoral muscles, Qingshi wanted to pull back, but he could not overcome Jia’s strength and had to let him be.

“You mean the Sinister Dragon Lizards seek out powerful life forms to parasitize?”

To his surprise, Jia still shook his head. “No. Only us.”

“You mean the only hosts they seek are your Heinos Naga race?”

Qingshi’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and he asked in shock, “They did not wake up in the same place as you, did they?”

If it was as he thought, then on the day they captured the Male Lead, had someone among them been parasitized and brought it back to the base?

“Yes.”

Receiving the definitive answer, Qingshi’s face turned pale.

“What is it? Injured?” Seeing Qingshi’s expression change, Jia thought he was hurt.

“It is nothing.” Qingshi shook his head, a self-deprecating smile curving his lips. It seemed the destruction of the base was not undeserved.

Suddenly, a kiss was pressed to his lips. Cold, moist breath flashed across his cheek. “No. Sad. Sinister Dragon Lizards are bad!”

Qingshi’s low mood was broken by Jia’s solemn tone. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, using the action to show his distaste.

Jia did not get angry at the gesture. He simply hoisted Qingshi up a bit, letting his head rest against the side of his neck.

Nuzzling Qingshi’s soft black hair with his cheek, Jia said sleepily, “Sleep.”

Listening to the steady breathing in his ear, Qingshi remained silent for a long while. He could not help but move, trying to get out of Jia’s embrace. He had slept long enough and was not sleepy at all now.

Furthermore, he was not used to sleeping in someone else’s arms.

“Mmm.” Jia half-opened his eyes and reached out to cover the upper half of Qingshi’s face. “Together.”

His vision fell into darkness, and the thick, sweet scent of blood filled his nose. Qingshi let out a long sigh and finally stopped insisting on leaving Jia’s embrace. He rested his head on Jia’s shoulder and closed his eyes to rest his mind.

88, the Male Lead escaped the base. The mission was not completed.

886: “What happened?”

He took me as his mate.

886 (gritting its teeth): “It is fine. Qingshi, stay calm for now. I will go and ask.”

Alright.

In the silent ice cave, Jia was like a dragon guarding a precious treasure. Even in sleep, he held Qingshi tightly in his embrace, not relaxing in the slightest.

Qingshi, who originally had no intention of sleeping, fell into a deep slumber once again amidst the rhythmic rise and fall of Jia’s chest.

Snowflakes like cotton wool drifted down from the sky. The peaceful Antarctic welcomed the largest blizzard in its history.

So hot. So thirsty.

Qingshi regained consciousness amidst waves of irrepressible longing, but his eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds and would not open. His throat was as parched as a traveler who had walked through the desert for days.

It was not until a slightly cool, somewhat viscous liquid was fed into his mouth that he began to drink greedily.

His eyelids finally managed to open. Qingshi swallowed the liquid in his mouth and noticed he was holding Jia’s wrist. Looking at the jagged gashes on it, he realized that Jia was feeding him blood again.

Qingshi released his hand and shook his head, indicating he did not want any more. “Why are you feeding me blood again?”

Jia replied, “Transformation is early. If you do not drink, it will be uncomfortable.”

Qingshi’s gaze was momentarily stunned. Transformation? Could that madman Bai Lin have actually been right? Could that really… “What do you mean by early?”

“You were cold. Feeding blood catalyzes it.”

“So that is how it is,” Qingshi understood. “I was wondering why nothing happened to me after entering the ice sea.”

“How long will it take for my transformation to be complete?”

Jia shook his head. “Must go to the Holy Land.”

Qingshi asked, “You are saying that if I want to fully transform into a Heinos Naga, I need to go to a place called the Holy Land?”

Jia nodded.

“What if I do not go? What will happen?”

Hearing this, Jia gripped Qingshi’s hand nervously. “No! Must go! Definitely!”

Qingshi looked up. “I will die, right?” He could already feel the power of the Heinos Naga genes; they seemed to want to consume him.

“No.” Jia brought Qingshi’s hand to his lips and said firmly, word by word, “I will not let you die.”

Though his breath was cold, Qingshi felt as if he had been burned. He abruptly withdrew his hand and stopped looking into Jia’s eyes.

“Put me down.” Qingshi patted the arm around his waist, signaling Jia to let him go.

Jia reluctantly set him down. Seeing Qingshi walk toward the cave entrance, he followed closely behind. For such a large creature, he behaved like a little puppy.

The nearly two-meter-high cave entrance was completely blocked by snow. Qingshi grabbed a handful of soft snow particles and murmured, “It is snowing?”

Although the Antarctic was cold, Qingshi had never seen snow in the years since he came to the Dawn Base.

Could this sudden heavy snow be an omen of something?

Seeing Qingshi staring blankly at the cave entrance, Jia thought he wanted to go out and swung his tail to clear away the snow blocking the opening.

Instantly, the biting wind, carrying snowflakes, slammed into them.

Qingshi held his hand in front of his face and glanced helplessly at Jia.

Jia looked back at him with an innocent expression.

Qingshi turned and walked back into the cave. In such terrible weather, they could not go anywhere.

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