Chapter 10
The room that Yin Mingzheng took Shi Qing to was where he used to live.
Ever since his ‘sacrifice’, the base had sealed this room. No one touched anything inside to give others the impression that they respected Yin Mingzheng.
The man planned on settling Shi Qing in the room before bringing back Old Huang to take a look at him.
But due to Shi Qing’s insistence for Yin Mingzheng to make up for lost time, he didn’t manage to see the doctor.
Shi Qing pulled his hand onto his chest to make him feel the mechanical heartbeat there. He said in a wronged tone: “I didn’t even sleep while looking for you.”
“My body is like that of a human right now. I feel miserable not sleeping.”
When the naturally frail-looking youth softened his voice and showed such a pitiful expression, there was no way for Yin Mingzheng to refuse him.
Especially since Shi Qing brought up the mechanical heart that Yin Mingzheng deceived him into installing.
So the two curled up and slept together for the first time in a while.
–To Yin Mingzheng that is.
Shi Qing’s been drugging him and snuggling into his arms every night.
Yin Mingzheng was exhausted.
On the way back, he was being eaten alive by his guilt while also worrying about being caught by Shi Qing or the Insects. He was tense almost every second that he was awake.
The only reason he could make it to the base without collapsing was his strong willpower. And also the Rosemary Powder Shi Qing gave him every night that relieved his physical fatigue.
The only person that could deal with his mental fatigue was himself.
If Shi Qing didn’t appear, Yin Mingzheng would have endured by himself and pretend nothing had happened. He would’ve continued with his life like always, only more on guard.
But his little prince appeared.
Like a stubborn little leopard that didn’t give up before reaching its goal, he came barreling into his lap roaring victoriously and bearing injuries.
Before he could react, the little leopard latched onto his clothes and began to whine. Not only did it not blame its prey for running off, it continued to rely on him like before.
While Yin Mingzheng’s guilt increased because of this, he had to admit this was very gratifying as well.
That night, he was like a giant dragon curled around his treasure. He slept soundly.
Before he fell asleep, Yin Mingzheng decided on something.
Since Shi Qing abandoned the ship to come to his side, he had to protect him well.
Shi Qing gained a weak point because of him, so it was his responsibility.
He felt refreshed when he woke up. Yin Mingzheng remembered last night’s promise. He closed his eyes and recalled how weak and scared Shi Qing looked yesterday. A sense of pity welled up in his heart.
Poor little guy. He must have been so frightened since it was his first time leaving the ship.
He was only a 10,000 year old baby after all.
Yin Mingzheng decided to clear some time out of his schedule today to really comfort Shi Qing and a.s.suage his fears. With that decided, he was about to open his eyes when he felt something wasn’t right with his body.
Feeling a familiar coolness beneath his hand, Yin Mingzheng slowly cracked open his eyes.
He saw Shi Qing who was focused on conducting a study using his part.
As if he felt the man’s gaze on him, the you excitedly raised his head and looked over. He smacked his lips. “You woke up.”
“Let’s hurry up and go through the sequence.”
Humanity’s hero: “k2026;k2026;”
Under Shi Qing’s eager eyes, the man dutifully sat up.
k2013;They went through the sequence for an entire hour.
After that, the satisfied Shi Qing returned to his obedient self. He laid down on the bed and began to rifle through the nightstand with a curious look in his eyes.
Yin Mingzheng coughed with embarra.s.sment as the little youth held up the gla.s.s trophy on the nightstand.
“Is this Mingzheng’s? What is it?”
As expected, Shi Qing quickly turned and asked like the curious baby he was.
When the world was still peaceful, he was just a normal person with above-average looks and a calm personality. This trophy was something he had won in a compet.i.tion his parents took him to when he was in his teens. After they pa.s.sed away in a car accident, Yin Mingzheng kept this trophy as a keepsake. Even after the Insect invasion when humanity fled, he never forgot to take it with him.
Although it had such a backstory, it was still a bit silly to keep a trophy from so long ago.
It was a good thing that Shi Qing was an alien and probably didn’t understand that.
Shi Qing thoughtfully looked over the trophy before returning it.
It was made of gla.s.s, so Yin Mingzheng must have taken extra care to preserve it so well. It was apparent how important this trophy was to him.
After the alien youth snooped around the entire room like a puppy curious about its new home, he collapsed back onto the bed with a satisfied expression.
“Mingzheng’s scent is everywhere here.”
He knew that Shi Qing was just saying that innocently, but the no longer pure Yin Mingzheng couldn’t help but think of inappropriate images in his head.
Humanity’s hero struggled to get his mind out of the gutter and back to business. “Shi Qing, how did you leave the ship? Are you going back?”
“Of course. I came to take Mingzheng back.”
Shi Qing’s reply was very straightforward.
Ying Mingzheng was taken aback. His words became somewhat bitter, “What if…….I don’t plan on going back?”
The alien youth turned to look at him with a lost expression. A pair of silvery eyes stared at him as if he had abandoned them. He stared at the man without saying a word.
Yin Mingzheng couldn’t stand it. He added, “If you want, you can stay in the base and live with me.”
Weakness flashed past Shi Qing’s eyes, but he quickly raised his nose snootily: “The Mechanical race would never help others.”
“I’m not asking for your help.”
The atmosphere was supposed to be serious, but the youth’s actions made the man laugh. He reached out and bundled the other into his lap while cajoling him in a soft tone: “You’ve always been stuck on the ship. Haven’t you ever been curious about what the outside world is like? You don’t need to do anything but live happily if you stay.”
“I know you’re afraid of me taking you away, but it’s fine. You’re my companion so I’ll listen to you.”
The alien youth shamelessly acted spoiled in Yin Mingzheng’s lap. He raised those pretty eyes of his and said with conviction: “My smart computer is never wrong.”
He rolled around angrily in the man’s lap, quietly muttering: “I guess I’ll try staying here with you. But when the humans betray you, you need to obediently go back with me.”
Yin Mingzheng’s eyes darkened.
Before, he devoted himself wholeheartedly towards protecting the base. He never suspected that someone inside would stab him in the back.
Now that he knew, he had no intention of backing down.
–If there was a stubborn stone in his way, he’d kick it away.
–If anyone dared to stop him, he’ll kill them.
He’s already died once anyways.
The man lowered his head to look at the youth rolling around in his arms. He rubbed his little head: “Okay. We’ll wait and see together.”
Shi Qing: [Why do I get the feeling that he’s always treating me like a little kid? Has the animosity value gone down?]
The System that’s read its mantras for an hour resurfaced. Its voice was soft and fawning: [It has lowered to 40 my dear Host. According to the universal animosity value guidelines, 50 and above is standard animosity while 50 and below is normal. Yin Mingzheng’s current value of 40 towards the lovely Host means that he feels a shallow friendship towards you. This one advises the capable Host to continue to reduce the value to create a buffer for major fluctuations.]
Shi Qing had gooseb.u.mps from the praises the System heaped upon him.
[What’s wrong with your voice? Change it back quickly.]
The System was confused: [Does the Host not like it? This is the reward that I’ve decided to give the Host for lowering the animosity value below 50 for the first time.]
[Quickly, quickly change it back!]
The System reluctantly complied.
Shi Qing was playing with Yin Mingzheng’s sleeve.
Who would’ve thought that Yin Mingzheng could act so attentive towards him but not consider him a lover in his heart.
Normally speaking, men like this were either sc.u.m or blind.
But Yin Mingzheng was clearly neither.
He only felt responsible for him.
And if something happened that outweighed his feelings of guilt and responsibility towards Shi Qing, his animosity value would still go up.
In other words, this was a strategy game.
The System was afraid that Shi Qing was under too much pressure. It comforted: [Don’t be afraid, Host. The animosity value doesn’t usually rise……]
It suddenly remembered last time when Yin Mingzheng’s animosity value skyrocketed. It shut its own mouth.
Shi Qing didn’t feel like he was stressed at all. He dove into Yin Mingzheng’s lap with excitement to suppress his laughter.
[It’s so stimulating! I like it!]
***
With the backing of a big shot like Yin Mingzheng, Shi Qing quickly settled into his life at the base.
Everyday, he drank some ‘tea’, watched some movies, was led out on walks and underwent the human-robot sequence with Yin Mingzheng.
Ever since the animosity value dropped to 40 and they were no longer at risk of being kicked out of the world, the System has been ecstatic. Even if it could only face a mosaic all day, it amused itself by reciting its mantras.
Shi Qing was also a big hit with the ability users squad.
In the current state of the world, ability users that could fight were all conscripted regardless of their age. Even teens had to pretend to be adults.
The civilians were even worse off. They were trapped in the base all day doing backbreaking manual labour. When the Insects invaded, they could only huddle in their homes and wait for rescue.
Under these circ.u.mstances, a little prince like Shi Qing who was cute, pampered, had a sweet mouth and didn’t bother anyone (other than Yin Mingzheng) was a welcome addition.
Especially because he was the apple of Yin Mingzheng’s eye. The ability users had to treat him well out of respect for their boss anyways.
In addition, the second day he came to the base, the little prince who returned from a stroll excitedly threw himself into Yin Mingzheng’s arms, announcing that:
“I want to have an ability!”
The man held him in his arms like he always did and brushed his windswept hair. He smiled while saying: “Abilities aren’t something you can control getting.”
“I can. My body has human-like parts so I can have an ability if I want!”
Yin Mingzheng paused. He hadn’t considered it that way.
Although he suggested it before, Shi Qing refused to bring his robots here and insisted on staying here in his weak body to be protected by Yin Mingzheng.
Yin Mingzheng didn’t say anything more because he was still worried about Shi Qing forcefully taking him back when he was unhappy.
But he could no longer leave the base without worrying.
It was like a person that had lived by themselves for a long time suddenly getting an unweaned kitten.
The kitten was too young and soft. It could only drink milk, crawl around or cry in its tiny voice. It seemed like it could only live if someone was there to feed it.
How could he go about his day without worrying about what the kitten was doing back home? Was he hungry? Was he scared?
Now that he knew that Shi Qing could have an ability, Yin Mingzheng was able to let out a breath. He hugged the little youth and asked: “Can you control what ability you’ll get?”
“Yep. I can change my internal molecular structure to attract the ability-granting particles on this planet.”
Although it sounded a bit far fetched, Yin Mingzheng was already used to the truth sounding like something out of a sci-fi novel.
He considered it for a moment: “You should get a lightning ability. It’s the strongest kind, plus you can borrow lightning from the sky to protect yourself.”
“I don’t want that.”
Shi Qing immediately rejected it.
Yin Mingzheng patiently coaxed him: “Be good. This isn’t the time to act spoiled. I’m usually outside the base so I can’t protect you all the time.”
“I want a healing ability.”
The little prince raised his head proudly with his hand on the man’s heart.
“I want to protect you too.”
Yin Mingzheng was taken aback.
In the eyes on many people, he was humanity’s hero.
He was the G.o.d of war that never lost.
And the hope for defeating the Insect race.
But this was the first time that someone said they wanted to protect him.
After his heart was finished pounding, Yin Mingzheng calmed down: “No. You have to ensure your own safety first!”
Shi Qing didn’t listen to him. He nimbly jumped down from his arms and ran away quickly. “Catch me if you can! I’m not going to listen to you anyways!”
The mischievous figure of the little prince was in front of the man’s eyes.
Yin Mingzheng saw the way that he snuck glances behind him to see if he was following. His lips twitched up in a reluctant smile. How can there be a little dummy like this? He gave up on his own safety but still wanted to protect others.
He smiled, but his eyes were filled with warmth.
“He’s really a little dummy.