The Max-Level Sacred Mountain Begs Me to Save the Interstellar [Apocalypse] - Chapter 7

As the distance closed, Shen Ye saw the other person’s face clearly. It was indeed Liang Changfeng, his face wearing that habitual, breezy, and friendly smile.

“The Veiled Guest is in the bag,” Liang Changfeng said, pointing behind him. “The Captain gave special instructions for you to handle the cleanup near the car. He is afraid you might run into danger again and not have time to evacuate.”

“Got it, Brother Liang. You can count on me.”

Shen Ye felt that since he was neither Conan nor Sherlock Holmes, the odds of encountering another living aberration were low. As for the slime monster last time? That was a total fluke.

The woven bag containing the aberration’s corpse stood silently behind Liang Changfeng. To open it, Shen Ye had to go around him. But suddenly, Liang Changfeng’s panicked voice rang out.

“Shen Ye, what is that on your arm?”

“Hmm? What is what?” Shen Ye instinctively looked down. “Hiss, that hurts! Something pricked me.”

A small hole had been pierced into Shen Ye’s upper left arm, and blood was trickling out. Liang Changfeng immediately lifted Shen Ye’s arm, his index finger pressing firmly on the bleeding point. His voice turned deep and eerie. “What foul-smelling blood. Still, I suppose I can manage to treat it for you.”

Shen Ye thought to himself: Sorry for the smell. I will go back and give my entire circulatory system a fragrant bath later.

Just as he was about to pull his arm away from Liang Changfeng, Shen Ye’s gaze accidentally swept over the man’s face. Wait, was Liang Changfeng’s face a bit thinner than it was a moment ago?

The moment the thought flashed by, the change accelerated visibly. Liang Changfeng’s cheeks hollowed out rapidly and his eye sockets protruded. He looked like a watermelon that had its contents scooped out in an instant. Before Shen Ye’s brain could process it, everything that defined “Liang Changfeng” was silently erased. All that remained was a sheet of human skin, lying limply on the ground.

Shen Ye was stunned. “What just happened?”

The surroundings were peacefully quiet.

[Burp. Good… delicious. Hee hee.]

An incredible thought surfaced in Shen Ye’s mind. “No way. Did the Veiled Guest just deliver itself to Zhou Zhou’s mouth?” Was it really that “noble,” or just that stupid?

No wonder “Liang Changfeng” only dared to use a private channel instead of the squad channel to communicate. Unfortunately, while the Veiled Guest’s combat power was low, its intelligence was questionable. It had the misfortune of choosing Shen Ye, who possessed Mount Buzhou, and ended up being forcibly consumed. If the Veiled Guest had been even slightly stronger, Shen Ye would have been finished today.

From this incident, Shen Ye reached four conclusions:

1. Do not eat spoiled food, whether it is human or aberration.
2. Being a “soft target” is relative; do not go around squeezing them.
3. Monsters need to evolve; “glass cannon” builds are not suited for close combat.
4. As a successor of socialism, Shen Ye would always maintain the most sincere trust and love for the world.

Shen “Conan” Ye picked up the human skin, his face clouding over with worry. If Xie Songnian saw Liang Changfeng’s skin, Shen Ye would have a hard time explaining himself. This damn thing was causing him trouble even in death!

[Zhou Zhou! Eat, eat, hee hee!]

Shen Ye: “No way! Good children do not eat people, and that includes human skin.”

[Eat!]

Shen Ye: “No!”

[Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!]

“Don’t eat… er, Brother-in-law!” Shen Ye accidentally shouted the last part aloud.

He hurriedly dropped the human skin, trying to distance himself from the aberration. Xie Songnian stood in the mist. Without any light, Shen Ye could not see his expression, nor did he know how long the man had been there. Had he seen the whole process of Mount Buzhou eating the Veiled Guest?

After a long pause, Xie Songnian suddenly approached and gently placed his index finger against Shen Ye’s lips. His voice was low. “Do you have the urge?”

“Huh?” Shen Ye was confused by the suggestive phrasing.

“I mean the urge to eat humans. What did you think I meant?”

Shen Ye’s face instantly turned from yellow to a pale white. “No, no, no, Brother-in-law!” Shen Ye shook his head frantically. “I really haven’t been possessed by the Veiled Guest. I was just… just…”

“Getting out of the car for a stroll?”

“Responding to the call of nature.”

“Speak human.”

“Using the bathroom.”

Xie Songnian did not press further. He simply walked silently to the woven bag, unzipped it, and poured out the pile of pebbles inside. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned and walked back toward the vehicle. His movements were fluid, as if he were merely discarding a bag of trash.

Years later, Shen Ye would ask Xie Songnian why he had believed him so easily back then. Xie Songnian’s answer was: “They couldn’t have made up a reason that perfunctory.”

The cleanup squad had killed over a dozen aberrations on this trip, but the atmosphere inside the vehicle was heavy. No one was smiling. Not only had they failed to catch the elusive Veiled Guest, but they had also lost a comrade forever. A silent weight pressed on everyone’s heart.

Xiao Liu hung his head, his voice raspy. “I knew this day would come eventually. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“What do you mean?” Shen Ye asked softly.

“My father also died in the mist. I didn’t understand it back then. I didn’t know why he always left early and came home late, or why other children had parents while I was all alone. It wasn’t until I joined the cleanup squad that I understood. We are the last line of defense for humanity. There are thousands of children behind us. We cannot retreat.”

Shen Ye saw the lines of sorrow in Liu Zhiqing’s furrowed brow and slowed breathing. He couldn’t help but think of Xie Songnian. Without Mount Buzhou, what would happen to him? Would the galaxy’s strongest commander, humanity’s toughest weapon, allow himself to become a bloodthirsty monster? Or would he choose to end his own story early, taking all his glory and memories with him?

At this moment, Shen Ye felt he was no longer a detached observer. His soul had truly merged with this era where hope and despair were intertwined. In the coming war, humanity must win. Humanity will win!

“Brother Liu, have you ever heard Brother Liang talk about his fiancée?” Chen Qikun, in the driver’s seat, broke the silence.

Xiao Liu nodded. “I have. Wasn’t Brother Liang saving money to buy a house? I felt they were getting married soon. I don’t know how to explain this to her.”

Chen Qikun said, “Actually, I think Brother Liang’s fiancée is a bit strange.”

“What do you mean?” Everyone in the car looked up instantly, their eyes fixed on Chen Qikun.

“I grew up in an orphanage in the Central Base, so I am very sensitive to the emotions of others,” Chen Qikun explained slowly. “Before the mission, Brother Liang asked me to help him move some things. When I went in, I happened to meet his fiancée. I think her name is Zhou Hui. She gave me a very unsettling feeling, like someone who walked out of a sea of blood but was forcing herself to act kind.”

Other teammates chimed in: “I remember it wasn’t even Brother Liang’s turn for this mission. He insisted on applying.”

“I thought it was strange too. Why would someone about to get married insist on a life-and-death mission? It’s bad luck.”

Shen Ye keenly grasped the key point. “Have you told my brother-in-law about this?”

Xiao Liu froze, then immediately grabbed his Star Ring and relayed the group’s suspicions to Xie Songnian in the other vehicle. The signal was intermittent, and Shen Ye only caught fragments of Xie Songnian’s calm voice: “Good. I will… Zhou Hui… find out the truth.”

Shen Ye felt a sense of relief. But suddenly, he felt the vehicle make a sharp turn onto a side road to the left of the base gate. He looked out the window. “We aren’t going straight back to the base?”

“We have to go to the isolation rooms outside the base for the night to ensure none of us have been parasitized by the Veiled Guest.”

The atmosphere in the car grew even heavier after Xiao Liu spoke. Only Shen Ye remained unfazed. After all, he could still recall the taste of the Veiled Guest: soft, chewy mochi, 50% sweetness.

[Mochi… Mochi… Zhou Zhou loves it!]

Shen Ye suddenly felt a surge of mischief. “Spicy spider legs, creamy slime monsters, and… sweet, springy Zhou Zhou!”

[???]

[Mean! Hmph! You bit Zhou Zhou! You’re mean!]

Shen Ye chuckled to himself.

The convoy stopped five hundred meters outside the base’s West Gate. Before Shen Ye were rows of single-story green isolation units, each equipped with triple heavy locks. As they stepped out, countless black muzzles emerged from the surrounding fortifications, locking onto the group that had just returned from the mist. Xie Songnian and the others did not blink, each walking silently into their assigned isolation rooms. They understood that the safety of humanity outweighed everything.

Shen Ye was assigned the outermost room, right next to the churning Ghost Mist. The interior was bare, containing only a single cot. Fortunately, his Star Ring had not been confiscated. He lay on the bed, preparing to continue his drama. The wealthy male lead was about to be exposed, and the female lead’s moment of glory was coming.

Suddenly, a rhythmic beeping tore through the peace. Shen Ye opened his chat with Zhou Xiaofu.

Mei Ba: [Are you there? Are you there?!]

AAA Plant Field Master: [I’m here.]

Mei Ba: [Holy crap, we went viral!!!]

AAA Plant Field Master: [What happened?]

Mei Ba: [Zhang Hao live-streamed his entire escape from the Ghost Mist and specifically thanked me. My private messages are exploding. Everyone wants to buy plants!]

Shen Ye thought: I can make money again! Happy! But I have to lose money too… I want to die.

After a mental struggle, Shen Ye maintained his professional spirit and found the replay of Zhang Hao’s stream. In the video, Zhang Hao was pale but composed. “Hello, friends in the live stream. I am Zhang Hao. My father and I are currently trapped in a village southeast of the Central Base.”

Initially, most viewers were drawn by the “Cymbidium” keyword. They were eager to find a flaw in the stream to expose it as a total scam.

[Look, it’s a series now.]

[People who lie should have eight sons.]

[Is the base rescue team incompetent?]

[To the person above: Yes!]

[Stop talking and show me the Cymbidium.]

“No one is coming to save me! I have to save myself!” Zhang Hao’s voice carried suppressed anger. “Because I was a pawn all along!”

[What pawn? Tell us the story.]

[I think I smell a conspiracy.]

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