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Chapter 76: Bait

“Did Zhu Yanchen arrive?”

“Yes, the erosion concentration outside is too high. We just received close-range communication.”

Zhu Zheng nodded, feeling troubled.

“Marshal Zhu said that the Erosion Storm has just passed, and the nearby erosion concentration has remained high. When he heard that you were coming here, he specially brought in a number of heavy purifiers to reinforce the defense of the stronghold.”

Seeing Zhu Sheng’s silence, the messenger immediately added, “Based on the situation outside, he has already activated the heavy purifiers and is deploying them outside.”

Zhu Sheng snorted coldly.

When he found himself inspecting the cultivation stronghold, the Xia family’s boy hurriedly followed to show his loyalty. He was flattering too eagerly and ended up hitting a sore spot—considering the situation with the synthetics, those purifiers would inevitably need to be brought back to the city, making his efforts futile.

However, they could indeed make use of the heavy purifiers at the moment. The timing was quite fortunate. But considering the time, Xia Yufeng had already left Y City before he was attacked. This was probably just a pure coincidence.

“Have him surround the area. We can’t let this monster escape today. We must capture it for research. Its nature is similar to that of the Erosion Swamp, so start by using the purifiers to cut off the external supply of erosion substance.” Zhu Sheng waved his hand. “Don’t stop the attacks from outside.”

“Understood.”

The monster howled even louder, and fine cracks appeared on the thick glass of the observation platform. Fortunately, its movements were slow, and the elite soldiers reacted quickly, avoiding any fatal injuries.

“I’m curious. What are you exactly?” Zhu Sheng tapped his cane on the ground, took two steps forward, and pressed his hand against the specially reinforced glass. A few steps away, a massive claw covered in erosion swung past, leaving behind a large splatter of black dots resembling blood.

“Commander, th-th-that thing…” Although under Zhu Yanchen’s command, his subordinates had already started placing the heavy purifiers, they were still terrified.

“We received information from inside. That thing is composed of erosion substance. Since it’s erosion, the purifiers can be used.” Marshal Zhu stood in the wasteland, trying to make himself sound less calm.

He knew it was Shu Jun.

He also knew that the original plan had completely changed. The synth team should have conducted a standard infiltration and an attack within the realm of ordinary players. They no longer had a script in their hands, and now they could only rely on speculation to solve the situation.

The eerie creature shrouded in black mist exuded intense hatred with every move, completely unlike the person he knew.

“It’s too frightening.” Zhu Yanchen heard someone beside him sigh. “What is that thing exactly? Is it trying to assassinate Zhu Lao?”

“Don’t worry about anything else. Continue setting up the purifiers.”

“…Understood, sir.”

Xia Yufeng didn’t like commanding from the outside. In order to maintain his image as a fake, Zhu Yanchen climbed back into the car and closed his eyes.

He had lived for more than ten years in the worst-case scenario, and countless terrible assumptions exploded in his mind. As long as Zhu Sheng was killed, humanity would inevitably fall into chaos. What Shu Jun wanted was the survival of synthetic humans, not peaceful coexistence between humans and synthetics.

Those negative emotions didn’t disappear from within him. There was still a possibility of Shu Jun losing control—for example, he could have waited for Zhu Sheng to leave and then launched the attack, but he acted now and changed the plan.

As “Marshal Zhu”, he had ten thousand reasons to doubt the other party and assist in the attack.

Behind the tightly sealed mask, Zhu Yanchen slowly revealed a satisfied smile. After walking alone for so long, he had almost forgotten how good it felt to trust someone.

It was as if his entire heart had become lighter.

“Sir, isn’t the layout of this place problematic?” One of his subordinates tapped on the car window. “If it breaks out from this spot, our encirclement might collapse.”

“We don’t have enough purifiers. We must prioritize Zhu Lao’s safety.” Zhu Yanchen had already prepared an excuse. “This gap is enough to hold the monster.”

“But if one of them goes down, then here—”

“There’s no other choice. Zhu Lao’s safety comes first,” Zhu Yanchen repeated, gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Bring a spare purifier onto the car. I’ll go inside the building for support.”

“But you just said we don’t have enough purifiers.” The subordinate squeezed the words out through his teeth. “Sir, this one can be used to reinforce the encirclement.”

“Zhu Lao is under attack. I need to go in and distract it.” Zhu Yanchen imitated Xia Yufeng’s tone. “The concentration of erosion inside is so high. I can’t just drive in there without any protection.”

“But Zhu Lao said—”

“I’m your direct superior.”

As soon as the purifier was in position, Zhu Yanchen stepped on the accelerator. The expensive armored vehicle broke through the black mist and headed straight towards the monster.

The purifier on the car was set to maximum, quickly thinning the black mist. The monster seemed to be provoked and raised its hand to strike the armored vehicle, diverting its attention away from Zhu Sheng for the first time. As it turned around, it was riddled with bullets from Zhu Sheng’s elite troops.

It let out a mournful scream.

The black mist descended entirely, rapidly churning around the armored vehicle, becoming so thick that it seemed to solidify, as if it wanted to drown the car’s owner alive in the mist.

Zhu Sheng lowered his gaze, looking at the vehicle in the courtyard—his expression constantly changing.

Relying on the thick anti-erosion coating, the armored vehicle rampaged through the courtyard, crushing the lower body of the monster. Deprived of its erosion supply, the colossal creature gradually collapsed, clawing at the ground and moving forward in an extremely eerie manner. Its attention was completely absorbed by the armored vehicle making its actions carry an unstoppable momentum.

On the verge of being swallowed by the black mist, the armored vehicle turned towards the gate, accelerating once again, barely exposing its front from the mist. The enraged monster chased after it, now reduced to only its upper body, but its wings continued flapping, allowing it to climb rapidly.

The armored vehicle started circling around the stronghold, luring the monster towards the perimeter of the purifier network to wear it down. The creature clearly sensed this scheme, and its tattered wings stirred up strong winds. It targeted a weak spot in the encirclement and managed to topple several heavy purifiers.

A breach was torn in the purifier network.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Marshal Zhu immediately increased the vehicle’s speed to the maximum, intending to make up for the loss and lead the freed monster away from the stronghold. Under continuous fire from numerous purification guns, the armored vehicle was enveloped in black mist and headed towards the depths of the wilderness.

That clever Xia Yufeng had ultimately let it escape. Zhu Sheng’s face turned extremely ugly as he glanced at the claw marks and cracks on the glass, fiercely knocking his cane on the floor.

In the wilderness, the black mist gradually dissipated, revealing the erosion net behind the armored vehicle—

The synths hung from the erosion net, surrounded by thick layers of erosion, being dragged behind the armored vehicle. Covered by dense black mist, no one noticed anything amiss as they escaped right under the eyes of the humans.

All thanks to the reckless intruder who burst in.

In a safe area, Shu Jun directly severed the erosion net. The synths lay scattered on the muddy ground like dried fish in a fishing net. The erosion net gradually transformed into pure erosion, blending into the wet mud.

Including Chai Xuyang, more than half of the thirty-something people were vomiting. However, the team had only experienced a rough journey, which was still better than being caught by the humans.

Shu Jun was indeed terrifying, and the strength of the human elite team was also awe-inspiring. They had never seen those intricately designed weapon-type purifiers before—they were powerful, but they required a high-erosion environment for adaptation. Even if Shu Jun had allowed them to seek revenge, they still wouldn’t have been able to lay a finger on Zhu Sheng.

The makeshift team lay sprawled in the wilderness, immersed in a long silence.

“…Let’s wait for Captain Shu to return and discuss it thoroughly.” Chai Xuyang was the first to speak. “Even if we want revenge, we need a more meticulous plan and more people.”

“I’m more concerned about Shu Jun’s abilities.” Another team member sighed. “If each of us could possess that kind of power, who needs a meticulous plan?”

“Speaking of this, why did Shu Jun abandon us?”

“It’s simple. He didn’t want any casualties in advance. That car just now could definitely ‘escape’ back to the base, so he had to drop us off beforehand. Once he drove the car far away, he would definitely come back.”

“That makes sense.”

“In terms of the outcome, can we consider this operation a success?”

“Judging from the results… I guess so.”

A few kilometers away.

Making sure there was no one around, Shu Jun dispersed the camouflage material and collapsed in a prone position on the muddy ground. “I’m exhausted.”

Zhu Yanchen got out of the car and stepped on the black mud with his military boots. “Why did you change the plan suddenly?”

“A’Yan.” Shu Jun grinned, revealing a big smile. “The plan did change, but we cooperated well together.”

Marshal Zhu reluctantly lifted his face mask. “Answer my question. Why didn’t you wait for Zhu Sheng to leave before making a move?”

Shu Jun turned his head; his vertical pupils contracted, giving a meaningful look in his eyes. “Because suddenly I felt that the destruction plan was better. Kill Zhu Sheng first, then wait for Luo Duan to kill Yi Ning, and completely suppress humanity—”

As he said this, he reached out and grabbed Zhu Yanchen, throwing him to the ground.

“When Sigma comes knocking, I’ll use human resources to destroy it and ensure the survival of the synthetic humans and a few useful humans.”

With that, he leaned down and teased Zhu Yanchen’s throat with his canine teeth as if he was going to bite.

“You kept playing along.” Marshal Zhu didn’t struggle.

“After fighting so many battles, I naturally would come up with similar ideas.” Shu Jun looked a bit dejected when he realized he didn’t deceive Zhu Yanchen. His Marshal was becoming more cunning and harder to fool. “A’Yan, would you dare say that when you just saw ‘that side of me’, you didn’t consider this possibility?”

He adjusted his posture, and a speck of black mud splashed onto Zhu Yanchen’s face. The black mud dot below his eye looked like a teardrop mole.

“I did consider it.” Zhu Yanchen didn’t deny it. He placed his hand on the back of Shu Jun’s neck, pressing his head down, and their foreheads touched. “But I trust you.”

“You, like this… haa, even if I wanted to do something bad, I wouldn’t have the heart to do it.” Shu Jun’s eyes curved, and his gray-white hair fell softly. “Actually, I was inspired by the original plan and found a better direction.”

“Mm, talk inside the car.” Zhu Yanchen let go of his hand. “You should rest for a while.”

With the ever-dutiful camouflage creatures around, they got into the car, and there was no trace of dirt left on them. This car was assigned to Marshal Zhu, with a comfortable and spacious backseat, along with drinks and food. It was the first time Shu Jun had ridden in such a car, and he forgot about his fatigue, unable to resist poking and prodding with his claws.

“Business.” Zhu Yanchen sighed, handing over a bottle of water.

“What’s the rush? Let me see… It’s best if we wait for another two hours before going back. It will be more thrilling that way.” Shu Jun retracted his messy claws and chugged the entire bottle of water in one breath. “Forget it, I won’t keep you in suspense—actually, it’s simple. Since we were able to use the ‘synthetic human threat’ to force the stronghold to strengthen its defense, indirectly protecting the children, why can’t we use the ‘synthetic human threat’ to force Zhu Sheng to enhance the defense and protect Y City?”

Zhu Yanchen was slightly taken aback.

“I promised my compatriots that I wouldn’t let them fight to protect humanity anymore, and I intend to keep that promise.”

As Shu Jun spoke, his aura became sharper, getting closer to the monster from earlier.

“But you have considered so much for us, so I want to consider something for you as well. By informing Zhu Sheng in advance about the existence of the mutated Erosion Swamp, if he has any sense, he will immediately strengthen the city defenses in Y City. When Sigma attacks, your compatriots will have a better chance.”

“The premise is that Sigma is willing to attack.” Zhu Yanchen furrowed his brow. “It won’t take unnecessary risks. It will surely wait for both sides to be weakened before making a move.”

“A’Yan, I won’t pretend to be a monster just to scare Zhu Sheng.” Shu Jun narrowed his eyes. “Besides, that image can be reused.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not easy to explain in just a few words. We need to discuss and refine the next actions together.” Shu Jun sighed. “But two hours from now, you’ll have to ‘escape’ back to the base. Let’s wrap up this operation first.”

He flipped over, sat on Zhu Yanchen’s thigh, and used his claw tip to hook the collar of his clothes. “To play the role of an escapee, you have to look more disheveled.”

Sure enough, Marshal Zhu froze in his seat again.

Shu Jun laughed for a long time, almost bursting into tears. When he finished laughing, he reached out and gently stroked the other’s cheek with his palm.

“…Thank you.” He leaned in gently. “Thank you for believing in me, A’Yan.”

On ordinary days, he had to calm his compatriots and couldn’t let his emotions get out of control. On the other hand, Shu Jun didn’t want to use Zhu Yanchen as a venting outlet, so he had to suppress the darkness brought by the Erosion Swamp deep in his heart. He had released it during the battle just now. Now, that darkness blended with Zhu Yanchen’s body temperature and settled down once again.

He let out a long breath and lightly kissed the tip of Zhu Yanchen’s nose.

“My Grand Marshal, we’ve talked about important matters. What do you plan to do with the remaining time?”

A strand of erosion substance climbed along his fingers, slipped into Zhu Yanchen’s collar, and sensually brushed against his collarbone. Marshal Zhu quietly gazed at the person on his lap for a while, then grabbed Shu Jun’s collar and pulled him in for a deep and passionate kiss.

“I should be the one saying thank you.” After a long kiss, Zhu Yanchen responded with slight breathlessness.

“Ohhh—” Shu Jun elongated his voice and unbuttoned the top button of Zhu Yanchen’s clothes with a bite. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in helping humanity. I’m only interested in you.”

“…I understand.”

“Good, as long as you understand.” Shu Jun closed the car windows, and in the darkness, the sensation of their skin touching became particularly clear. “Since we both have gratitude, how about we commit ourselves to each other?”

Zhu Yanchen remained sitting upright while his hands firmly held the waist of the person on his lap, feeling the supple and warm muscles beneath his palms.

“That’s a good idea,” he replied.

The author has something to say:

It’s not an exhilarating chase, but more like running on the beach (×

Zhu Lao (facing the monster): What is this?

It’s your son’s boyfriend.