Translator: bittercoffee
Chapter 41: Golden sea bull
The vegetation on the island was overwhelmed by the gale and the white sand at the center of the island blew away, revealing the remains of the night spirits.
The many bones of the night spirits were crushed and mixed together.
"That"s the protector of Night Spirit Island, the golden sea bull."
It was like a mythological beast; its dazzling colors reminded Zhou Yu of the second law: the more beautiful an organism was, the more dangerous they are.
"The golden sea bull? What"s that? How come I"ve never heard of it?" Xiao Chen asked. "Are we going to make it back alive?"
Zhou Yu didn"t answer. Instead, he pushed the helicopter to leave the place as quickly as possible.
Mo Ye put his front paws up against the window and stared at that giant golden monster.
The gust of air that had resembled an illusion had been the breath of the golden sea bull. Mo Ye had warned Zhou Yu to leave because he felt its arrival.
Zhou Yu had information on the golden sea bull in his memory. The night spirits had been extinct for so long that he thought the golden sea bull would be, too.
Contrary to expectations, it was still guarding Night Spirit Island.
Although he was flying at full speed, the golden sea bull bypa.s.sed Night Spirit Island to come straight at them.
Amidst the turning tides, a huge wave overflowing into the skies came at them.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes and screamed.
Wu Yun stared nervously as the crest of the wave stopped only a mere dozen meters away from them before falling back down. It resounded loudly.
If it came for them again, then their helicopter wouldn"t be able to avoid it.
"Why did it keep chasing us?" Wu Yun couldn"t understand. The golden sea bull was protecting Night Spirit Island, but they already left, so why was it still dead set on pursuing them?
"Because we took something that belonged to Night Spirit Island," guessed Zhou Yu.
Coming to a realization, Wu Yun looked at Xiao Chen.
"Then let"s throw away the samples! It"s more important that we survive!"
Xiao Chen was scared for his life.
"If we throw away the samples we have, then even if we make it back to base, do you think that lunatic Song Zhi will let us go?" Wu Yun coldly asked him.
The helicopter shook violently. The golden sea bull had blown a large breath of air at them with seawater mixed in, almost snapping off the tail of the helicopter.
Zhou Yu flew with the wind while their aircraft continuously blared its alarm sirens.
Xiao Chen"s tears were about to start flowing. He muttered, "We"re going to die… We"re really going to die…"
The golden sea bull opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of sharp and savage-looking teeth, about to swallow them at any moment.
A wave slammed into the side of the helicopter, almost overturning them.
"Ahh—" Xiao Chen screamed as he wept bitterly.
The world started turning, and the helicopter was about to fall into the sea!
Wu Yun looked at the surface of the sea that was almost within reach and thought to himself that his good luck had finally dried up. However, when he least expected it, just as their lives were hanging by a thread, Zhou Yu stabilized them and quickly climbed higher, rising back up into the skies.
But this only delayed their visit from the grim reaper.
Xiao Chen"s legs were shaking badly.
"No way! Xiao Chen peed his pants!" astonished, Wu Yun looked at Xiao Chen.
"Let"s throw out the bone samples… Please, I really want to live…"
Xiao Chen implored them.
Wu Yun shouted at Zhou Yu, "Zhou Yu! At this point, it"s more important that we survive! Let"s try throwing out the samples!"
"Okay!" answered Zhou Yu.
Wu Yun opened the window and tossed out the samples.
The golden sea bull paused, finally giving the helicopter some room to breathe. It continued to fly off into the distance.
Wu Yun patted his chest, however, he didn"t expect that the golden sea bull would still chase after them.
It opened its mouth, about to puff out another breath of air.
"f.u.c.k—" Wu Yun swore, "Is it ever gonna end?!"
The sea breeze came billowing out, mixed with seawater that the golden sea bull had sprayed.
"What rank is the golden sea bull?" Wu Yun kept talking to press down his fear, even if his chattiness annoyed others.
"A rank," answered Zhou Yu.
Although he appeared calm, he knew in his heart that they weren"t going to make it.
"What? That big guy is only A rank?" Wu Yun"s face seemed to say “Are you kidding me?”
"If it were S rank, then it could have turned into a beauty and seduced you."
"Not funny! Mo Ye, you"re A rank too! How come the levels are so different?"
"Hrrn?" Mo Ye tilted his head at Wu Yun.
"If the golden sea bull goes on rampage again, then it might swallow up your Zhou Yu in one gulp!"
Mo Ye"s eyes got round. He started at Wu Yun, looking panicked.
He abruptly jumped up and out a window that had been left open.
"Mo Ye—" Wu Yun was dumbstruck, he reached out, wanting to grab Mo Ye"s wings, but he only caught a fistful of air.
"Wu Yun! What nonsense did you tell him?! Don"t you know that he can understand you?!"
Zhou Yu turned the helicopter around to chase after Mo Ye.
But the golden sea bull had stirred up a storm at sea, and if they got any closer, then the chances of them crashing would increase exponentially.
Mo Ye"s figure was like a black streak of lightning that zapped through the storm. Although he was small, he broke through the gale and charged at the golden sea bull.
It was the first time Zhou Yu had seen him fly. Zhou Yu hadn"t imagined that he could fly; wings weren"t for grown for show in Nibelungen, but Mo Ye had been by his side since birth and no one of the same species had taught or demonstrated it to him. But as if it was mere instinct, Mo Ye had taught himself how to fly.
"Mo Ye—" Zhou Yu had his heart in his mouth.
Since arriving in Nibelungen, he had never once been so scared before.
The golden sea bull only needed to open its mouth to swallow Mo Ye.
"Mo Ye! Come back! Mo Ye!" Wu Yun"s shouts were drowned out by the waves.
Mo Ye didn"t seem afraid of the golden sea bull"s enormous size, it uttered a resounding call at the golden sea bull.
The call was special; it carried such haughtiness so that even the air trembled, as if an invisible force was headed at the golden sea bull.
"That"s… The power of a night spirit?" Wu Yun was stunned.
The helicopter couldn"t get closer, but Mo Ye could!
Mo Ye"s flapped his wings, and between him and the golden sea bull, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
The golden sea bull opened its mouth again.
"Mo Ye…" Zhou Yu"s heart was close to fracturing.
"Ah! He p.i.s.sed off the golden sea bull! We"re going to die! We"re all going to die!"
Xiao Chen had completely lost his mind.
Wu Yun gave him a hard kick, "If you keep shouting, I"ll throw you down there!"
Mo Ye made the same call again, as if he was ordering the golden sea bull to leave.
The water in between the golden sea bull"s teeth had been blasted away by Mo Ye"s cry.
It was a spectacular sight.
The golden sea bull did not swallow Mo Ye. It retreated and seemed to submit itself to him. After turning in a wide circle, it lowered itself back into the sea.
The sea surged as if something huge had sunk in.
Zhou Yu and Wu Yun stupidly stared at it all.
The sun shone down on them the same as before, and the sea was calm.
Mo Ye flapped to the helicopter, then dived in through the window.
The water vapor left behind in the atmosphere formed a rainbow in the sunlight, and Mo Ye looked like he was crossing over the rainbow from another world.
Wu Yun and Xiao Chen looked at Mo Ye dumbly.
A few seconds later, Wu Yun finally shook himself awake. He grabbed Mo Ye into his arms and gave him a good rubbing, "My G.o.d! Mo Ye! You"re so valiant! Do you know what you just looked like? A heroic knight battling an evil dragon!"
Mo Ye was uncomfortable with Wu Yun"s grabbing and grunted before squirming out. It shot Xiao Chen a look of disdain, then hopped into the c.o.c.kpit to sit beside Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu"s hands were still shaking.
He had almost lost Mo Ye.
He was even suspecting that the Mo Ye that had returned was not real, but a hallucination.
"Hrrn?" Mo Ye realized that Zhou Yu wasn"t paying attention to him and immediately turned crestfallen.
He reached out his forearm to catch Zhou Yu"s sleeve with a claw.
Zhou Yu didn"t respond. But for him, that second of contact was real.
Mo Ye pulled at Zhou Yu again, acting like a child who had done well but went unrewarded. He showed a wronged expression.
They smoothly flew over the sea.
Xiao Chen put his palms together and prayed that nothing dangerous would happen on their journey back.
Wu Yun joked, "This is Nibelungen, the G.o.ds you"re praying to are in another world."
When land drew near, Zhou Yu finally relaxed a little bit of the tension in him.
He reached out and petted Mo Ye"s head. Mo Ye closed his eyes and looked content.
"Next time, don"t do something like that again…"
Mo Ye laid on the seat and turned to look at Zhou Yu without making a sound.
Wu Yun wasn"t used to the silence in the cabin.
He curiously asked Zhou Yu, "Hey… How did Mo Ye make such a giant organism like the golden sea bull back down…? Are night spirits really that incredible?"
"You were the one who said that Mo Ye was also A rank." Scenes of ancient times appeared in his mind; the night spirits were still living on the island and the golden sea bull moved about in the area surrounding the island. Since they were old neighbors, then perhaps, for Mo Ye, it had been less of a battle and more of a request for his neighbor to make way for them.
"Now we"ve done it. When we get back, Song Zhi will go crazy studying Mo Ye." Wu Yun was worried.
Song Zhi wanted to rely on Mo Ye to find that S rank organism, so he wouldn"t hurt him. And if Mo Ye really was as powerful as he had been today, then Zhou Yu wasn"t worried about him getting hurt. On the contrary, he might drag Mo Ye down.
Zhou Yu looked at Mo Ye and thought: if only you weren"t so loyal. You could go anywhere you want and live the life you want.
I"m afraid I won"t be able to protect you for much longer.
As if Mo Ye heard what Zhou Yu was thinking, he gently put his paw on Zhou Yu"s hand.
It was light but powerful.
They safely return to the base.
Zhou Yu saw Zhou Qing the moment he stepped off the helicopter. Not many words pa.s.sed between the two of them, but Zhou Qing clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was possible that he might never make it back on any one of the missions.
As the only survivors of the mission, Zhou Yu, Wu Yun, and Xiao Chen had to report to Song Zhi.
Zhou Yu clearly and concisely reported the deaths of team alpha, how they were attacked by the golden sea bull as they left, and their subsequent escape.
Zhou Yu didn"t hide how Mo Ye had protected them. Even if he didn"t say it, then Xiao Chen would.
Song Zhi was very satisfied with Zhou Yu"s confession.
"So your mission was a complete failure. Did you lose all the samples you took?" asked Song Zhi.
Zhou Yu remained silent, but Wu Yun spoke up, "No, I brought back the sole remaining sample."
Wu Yun took out a container from his pocket and placed it on Song Zhi"s desk.
Song Zhi paused. His lips curved into a hint of a smile, "Didn"t you throw all of them into the sea?"
"I didn"t have time to throw this one out before Mo Ye flew out to save us."
Wu Yun was firm, Xiao Chen was shocked, and Zhou Yu only wanted to give Wu Yun a good punch.
This guy had kept a surprise up his sleeve! No wonder the golden sea bull continued chasing them even after they threw out all those samples; it was because Wu Yun had one hidden on him!
"Excellent… After all, with a creature like the golden sea bull protecting the area around Night Spirit Island, it would be very difficult for us to get any more samples." Song Zhi was very satisfied with the results.
Zhou Yu opened his mouth, but didn"t say what he wanted to say.
"Zhou Yu, it"d be best if you spoke frankly, don"t keep any reservations. Even if I don"t follow your ideas, I can"t guess what they are if you don"t say them."
Zhou Yu turned it over in his mind. If he didn"t say anything, then he might regret it if anything happened in the future. He sorted out his thoughts.
"First of all, when Mo Ye arrived at Night Spirit Island, he did not show any signs of nostalgia or curiosity towards his ancestors. But after Xiao Chen took the samples of the remains buried in the sand, Mo Ye got very nervous and wanted us to leave behind the samples. All of Mo Ye"s actions were to protect us, so to him, those samples were dangerous."
"Wasn"t that because Mo Ye had sensed the presence of the golden sea bull? Was he worried that the golden sea bull would attack you if you took the samples?" asked Song Zhi.
"From what I know, the golden sea bull is the protector of Night Spirit Island and the night spirits can communicate with it. If the object to be guarded no longer exists, then why would the golden sea bull still be protecting Night Spirit Island, after so many years? Is it a habit formed over time? Or, like Mo Ye, maybe it didn"t want us to take the bones of the night spirits because there was something wrong with them and they could only stay there."
Zhou Yu"s doubts were completely illogical to Song Zhi. "The organisms of Nibelungen are all connected in special ways. Like Elpis that lived with swordbone b.u.t.terflies and bluelight fireflies. The golden sea bull might also have a special connection with the remains of the night spirits, one that we don"t know about." Song Zhi smiled, "When we use the bones to breed a female night spirit, your Mo Ye might not need to be alone anymore."
Was that so?
Zhou Yu felt like something was wrong.
"Also… Now that we"re aware of Mo Ye"s power, we should carry out more studies. Don"t worry, the studies will operate on the basis that they will not harm Mo Ye. Professor Carlos will be in charge of all of the testing and sampling, and it will have to be done under your supervision. Professor Carlos won"t go ahead with anything you don"t approve of, how does that sound?"
Song Zhi seemed to be asking Zhou Yu for his permission, but Zhou Yu knew that he didn"t have any room to refuse. It was only a cover to get Zhou Yu to agree to cooperate with Professor Carlos"s research. Without Zhou Yu, Mo Ye wouldn"t get close to anyone, allow them to take samples, or cooperate with tests.
"I"ll cooperate as long as it doesn"t hurt Mo Ye," answered Zhou Yu.
"Good, I"ll be antic.i.p.ating a big step forward in our research on night spirits."
After the three of them left the office, Xiao Chen returned to his research department, leaving Zhou Yu and Wu Yun in the corridor.
"Hey, do you blame me for keeping the sample?" Wu Yun patted Zhou Yu"s shoulder.
"I positively want to punch you. You kept a sample in such dangerous circ.u.mstances. If we had thrown out all the samples, then maybe Mo Ye wouldn"t have needed to…" Zhou Yu sighed, "But I know why you did it, so I"m not mad."
Wu Yun needed Juli Corp to save his daughter. He would sacrifice anything for his own flesh and blood.
"Yes, if I hadn"t done it, then we wouldn"t have known how incredible Mo Ye is! Say, what other abilities do you think he"s hiding that we don"t know about?" Wu Yun turned back to look at Mo Ye, who was beside them.
Mo Ye looked up at them. His eyes somehow looked even more beautiful than before.
They were so deep they seemed to suck in Zhou Yu"s soul.
There was a fatal sense of mystery about Mo Ye; like a British gentleman in a suit, he might look conservative and old-fashioned at first glance, but after calming down, one might notice the elegance of a demeanor that belonged to n.o.bility.
"Zhou Yu, what"s wrong? What are you lost in thought staring at Mo Ye for?" Wu Yun asked him, amused.
"Nothing, I"m just thinking."
Zhou Yu beckoned to him and Mo Ye followed, looking up impatiently at him. Zhou Yu knew what he was thinking, so he picked him up. Zhou Yu reached out to poke Mo Ye"s nose. Mo Ye opened his mouth to get ahold of his finger, but Zhou Yu moved it away on purpose. Mo Ye moved his mouth closer, and Zhou Yu took away his finger again on purpose.
This joke was already routine procedure between Zhou Yu and Mo Ye.
Mo Ye made a dragged out "Hnnnn—" sound, pretending to be mad. He reached out his front paws and grabbed Zhou Yu"s finger, then stuck it into his mouth.
There was a slight pain at the tip of his finger, but it was soon replaced by a strange sensation. That feeling winded up along his nerves, as if numerous feathers were flitting past his heart, making Zhou Yu throb inexplicably.
He wasn"t a person who was easily aroused, but at that moment, he felt his blood rush downwards. The uncontrollable feeling instantly jolted him awake.
Wu Yun was teasing Mo Ye as he fed on Zhou Yu"s finger.
Zhou Yu gulped, he had to be careful not to let Wu Yun find out about his peculiarity. He crooked his finger, but Mo Ye simply wrapped his tongue around them. Mo Ye"s cheeks were bulging. He had not yet had his fill and would absolutely not let go before he was satisfied.
"I"m going to take a nap in my room, see you at dinner." Zhou Yu said with a natural expression.
"Oh, okay."
After saying goodbye to Wu Yun, Zhou Yu returned to his room with Mo Ye in his arms.
He leaned on the headboard of the bed and Mo ye laid down on him.
Mo Ye sucked harder, and the bewildering sensation grew even more intense. Zhou Yu tilted his head up and gulped. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Mo Ye looking at himself intently.
“Mo Ye… What did you do? ” Zhou Yu"s voice was hoa.r.s.e. He raised a hand and patted Mo Ye"s back, indicating for him to let go of his fingers.
But Mo Ye was unwilling to and he laid down without any intention of letting go.
“If you keep sucking, then I"ll shrivel up into a mummy…” Zhou Yu wanted to break away from this strange, unknown feeling as soon as possible.
Mo Ye kept Zhou Yu"s fingers in his mouth but did not continue to suck his blood. He rolled onto his side, appearing languid. It was the first time Zhou Yu had thought of something as erotic.
“Mo Ye, I"m going to get angry.” Zhou Yu lowered his voice.
Mo Ye unhappily let go of Zhou Yu"s fingers. When he did, he even used the tip of his tongue to push them.
Zhou Yu patted his head. Then Mo Ye reached out his paws and touched Zhou Yu on his forehead too.
As if Mo Ye was also doting on a child.
Under Mo Ye"s gaze, Zhou Yu inexplicably grew sleepy. His eyelids slowly closed together, and the last thing he saw was the way Mo Ye leaned in with his cheek facing himself.
Lovingly, and tenderly.
Zhou Yu, who had fallen asleep, heard the splashing sound of water. His body was being carried away by a current running in a direction beyond his control.
Everything returned to the moment when he had fallen into the Angel"s Horns.
Countless sharp-billed fish rushed at him. Zhou Yu wanted to dodge, but they were too fast.
A black figure quickly approached him and Zhou Yu hazily saw that it was Mo Ye swimming against the current. His wings were pushing against the flow, as if he was about to transform.
Then, the sharp-billed fish impaled Zhou Yu and blood gushed out of his body. The reverse-scaled dragon was aggressively bearing down on them, but Mo Ye blocked in front of him. In the blink of an eye, Mo Ye turned into a huge, translucent, and silver creature. He folded his wings close to his body and charged at the reverse-scaled dragon.
Then he made an unusual sound. The water vibrated as if it was about to be lifted away from the riverbed. He pierced through the reverse-scaled dragon, completely destroying it.
Bubbles flooded the place and everything was in chaos.
Zhou Yu reached out his hand and the translucent silver creature swam to him. Zhou Yu was only a tiny flash of life before him, who ruled everything around them.