Chapter 67: A Net

When Sun Mao learned that there was a problem with the surveillance in Zone 4-5, his complexion changed immediately, and he hurriedly contacted Xie Sen, but there was no response. He saw there was trouble, and ran towards Zone 4-5, where he found Soria unconscious on the floor.

He frowned. He knew something about the conflict between Maine and Cox family. Xie Sen was Maine’s boyfriend, and now Soria suddenly appeared here. No matter how bad it was, he was now unconscious. He called an ambulance and went on to Zone 4-5. The contract beasts were all normal, but there was no Xie Sen, and the food belonging to the flying eagle beast outside the door hadn’t been touched.

“The flying eagle beast didn’t come to eat today?” he asked.

The guard nodded, also with a strange expression. “It’s always on time, every day. I don’t know why it didn’t come today. Maybe it went hunting on its own.”

Sun Mao frowned. He didn’t understand what was going on. He left the zone and sent a group message to ask colleagues whether they had seen Xie Sen. The colleagues said they hadn’t seen him.

He realized that something was wrong, and dialed Maine’s communicator. Maine quickly picked up and without waiting for him to speak, he said, “Sen was taken away. Check your surveillance, I need to know who did it.”

Sun Mao, “I’m sorry, there’s a problem with the surveillance near Zone 4-5. I’ll get the door surveillance later… I just saw an unconscious Soria not far from Zone 4-5.”

“Soria…” Maine repeated in a cold voice. “The surveillance is very likely to be related to him. He should have an expert in this area around him. The last time the surveillance in the parking lot was destroyed, it was his handiwork.”

“I’ll go investigate now.” Sun Mao ended the communication, thought about it and contacted Zhao Hao. The military professionals were much more powerful than them in finding clues through surveillance.

Maine drove his shuttle and flew in the direction of the beacon’s movement. Ten minutes later, the locator suddenly stopped moving. His jaw instantly tightened up. He was worried that the locator had been found and tossed.

“Boss, he’s a celebrity. We have to disguise him, or we can’t get out,” The light gray-haired man said.

The inch-haired man nodded, then drove the shuttle off the normal road and along a side road. He stopped at an isolated location. “Move fast.”

The light gray-haired man took out a bunch of cosmetics. “Hey, don’t be nervous. No one will find out for a while. Who would think we would put him in a kangaroo pouch to bring him out? Not to mention the surveillance was broken by that man, so we’re safe.”

“Don’t take it lightly. The surveillance was only partially damaged. The section before we went in and the section after we came out were both captured,” The inch-haired man reminded him.

“The boss is still cautious,” The light gray-haired man praised as he took a yellow-colored foundation, and applied it to Xie Sen’s face, then blended it to change Xie Sen’s skin tone.

As he was applying it, the shuttle suddenly tilted to one side then swayed a few times before it stabilized again. The light gray-haired man’s hand followed the shake, and the yellowish foundation was applied from Xie Sen’s nose to the side of his hair all at once. He froze. “What happened?”

The inch-haired man looked out the window calmly, then his face tightened. “Nothing. Continue.”

The light gray-haired man continued to apply foundation to Xie Sen, as he changed his skin tone. The inch-haired man kept staring out the window. Suddenly, a shadow appeared on the ground outside the window. The shadow changed shape in the next moment, and the shuttle skewed and swayed again.

This time the tilt was more vicious, close to ninety degrees. Just a little more, and the whole shuttle would turn over. The two followed together with the east and west, and when the shuttle was stable, the light gray-haired man gulped, “Boss, it’s a little evil.”

“Shut up. You think this is a ghost story from ancient times?” The inch-haired man’s face was ugly. “I’ll go out and take a look.”

He pushed open the shuttle door, got out, then looked up. All at once, a fierce wind came at him from the side, and he couldn’t stand up at all. His whole body fell backwards, and he flipped several times on the ground before he hit a rock.

“Ah!” he screamed out in pain.

The light gray-haired man was taken aback. His hand lost its strength, and his index finger made a long line on Xie Sen’s face, which stood out on the layer of light yellow foundation.

Xie Sen was originally shaken awake by the shuttle movement, but the heavy fatigue made him fall asleep again. This time when he was cut and the stinging sensation came, his eyelids immediately twitched.

“Boss!” The light gray-haired man shouted in panic. He twisted his head to look out the window, saw the inch-haired man lying next to the stone, and hurriedly pushed open the shuttle door to get off. He only took one step towards the inch-haired man, when a huge gust of wind fanned out from behind him. His whole body flew up in the air,and  landed in a flat out position with a ghostly cry.

When Xie Sen sat up, still sleepy, he saw the scene, and his mouth opened slightly in surprise.

At that moment, the light dimmed. He turned his head and saw an eagle’s head as it came in the window. It looked at him, gray eyes pure and clear. It blinked at him, and then tilted its head in confusion.

Xie Sen said with surprise, “Flying eagle beast?” He thought about how the man had just flown up, and immediately understood what had happened. He raised his hand sluggishly, and gratefully touched the flying eagle beast’s head. “Thank you. You saved me.”

“A-Sen?” The flying eagle beast flapped its wings in confusion. “How did you grow and change?”

“Huh?” Xie Sen was also puzzled. He raised his hand to touch his face, felt the layer of yellow foundation, and instantly understood. He disgustedly wiped his hand on the seat, however, his whole body was weak. The action didn’t work, so he simply gave up and explained, “They rubbed something on my face.”

At that moment, a black shuttle stopped in front of him. Xie Sen’s eyes lit up, and sure enough, the next moment he saw Maine come striding down from the shuttle.

Maine moved towards the shuttle where Xie Sen was. The moment he saw the flying eagle beast, his face eased a little. He opened the door opposite the flying eagle beast, and when he saw Xie Sen, he sighed with abrupt relief. His eyes wandered over Xie Sen’s face, and took in  the cosmetics beside him. Maine’s eyes flashed with anger.

Xie Sen raised his hand, and lightly touched him as he smiled. “I’m fine, I just don’t have any strength.”

Maine grabbed him, and lowered his head to kiss him, but Xie Sen tilted his head, disgusted. “There’s something on my face.”

Maine kissed his lips. “It’s okay. Wait for me here.” He looked at the flying eagle beast. “Take care of him for me.” With that, he got out of the shuttle, and went towards the man who was struggling to get up from the ground.

The flying eagle beast called out, “Of course I’ll protect Sen!”

Xie Sen smiled, and stroked its head. “Thank you. How did you know I was here?”

The flying eagle beast said, “I didn’t know it was you.” Then it told the story of going back to eat, and inadvertently seeing him being taken away.

Xie Sen thought, What a coincidence. If the flying eagle hadn’t seen that, things would have been much more troublesome. With Maine’s speed, he could have caught up, but saving him wouldn’t have been easy. After all, he had been captured and would have been used as a hostage.

He turned his head to look out the window in front of him. Maine kicked the light gray-haired man who had just gotten up to the ground. The inch-haired man glared furiously, and swung his fist towards Maine. Maine’s face was cold, his body was surrounded by a dark aura, and he hit the two men fast and hard, which caused them to scream in pain.

The inch-haired man looked angry, and summoned his contract beast, a B class long-tusked boar beast, about two meters long with a pair of huge tusks, which appeared and charged straight at Maine.

The light gray-haired man saw this, and summoned his kangaroo beast. When it stood upright, it was more than two and a half meters tall with a strong, muscular body, as it swung its tail and attacked Maine.

Xie Sen’s eyes widened abruptly, and his heart tightened, but he was relieved to see how Maine nimbly dodged the attacks. Xie Sen couldn’t help but worry, so he immediately summoned the watermelon vine, and also summoned a burst of spicy red chili pepper. While he was giving them instructions, the flying eagle beast at the front window suddenly screamed.

Xie Sen turned his head, and saw a black flying shuttle with the military ministry logo stop not far away and four tall uniformed males descended. When he saw the leader was Zhao Hao, Xie Sen smiled, and summoned the plants back to the System.

With a roar, the enormous giant rhinoceros beast appeared at the front, and instantly tangled with the long-tusked boar beast.

The two kidnappers, as well as their contract beasts, were quickly subdued. Maine beat the two until they were nearly dying, and halted only after being stopped by Zhao Hao. Maine searched for their communication devices, and threw them to Zhao Hao.

“There must be an accomplice waiting to meet them.” Maine’s face was dark. “If you can’t find them, I’ll do it myself.”

Zhao Hao handed the communication devices to his men. “Immediately do voice simulations, and set counter tracking.”

Maine didn’t say anything else, just turned around and carried Xie Sen out of the shuttle. The flying eagle beast took its big head out of the window, and greeted the giant rhinoceros beast.

When the giant rhinoceros heard that Xie Sen was injured, it rushed to Maine’s side and looked down at Xie Sen. Xie Sen smiled at it, reached out, and touched it lightly on the chin. “I’m fine, thank you.”

The giant rhinoceros softly called out, “Moo…”

Zhao Hao came over and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Xie Sen nodded, “I just don’t have much strength. How did you know I was here?”

Zhao Hao said, “Sun Mao called the police. We locked on the kangaroo beast master through the entrance and exit records. The Ministry of Transportation helped to track him, and we followed their shuttle all the way to here.”

Xie Sen then asked, “What about Soria?”

Zhao Hao’s face was a little tight. “Sun Mao found him unconscious on the ground, and called an ambulance. The first responders found a self-destruct device on him. A short time ago, news came from the demolition crew that the device had been successfully dismantled and properly disposed of.”

Xie Sen subconsciously grabbed Maine’s sleeve. He immediately understood Soria’s purpose. Soria, that madman, actually wanted to use him to get close to Maine and had prepared to die with them. He also wanted to torture Maine by hurting him before they died.

Maine’s whole body radiated cold anger, and uneasiness flashed in his eyes. He looked down at Xie Sen. “You met up with him?”

Xie Sen nodded, “Mn, he told me to call you to Gold Medal.” He looked at the inch-haired man who was being escorted to the shuttle. “Soria had a dispersion particle cannon in his hand. That man took it.”

Zhao Hao said, “It’s been found, and we’ll do the relevant investigation. You don’t look too good. You’d better go to the hospital for a checkup.”

Maine hugged Xie Sen, and was ready to go but Xie Sen tugged his sleeve. He looked at Xie Sen. Xie Sen frowned, then looked at Zhao Hao, “Please let us know the result of the investigation when it’s done. I don’t know what their purpose was yet.”

Zhao Hao nodded. “Will do.”

Then Maine carried Xie Sen to the shuttle. The flying eagle beast and the giant rhinoceros beast watched him from the window. He waved at them as Maine started the shuttle. The flying eagle beast flew into the air and followed the shuttle, while the giant rhinoceros beast returned to Zhao Hao’s side and rubbed against him.

“Team leader Zhao, that was Xie Sen. How come he looks different?”

“Are you blind? His face was obviously made up. Luckily he was saved in time, otherwise I don’t know where he would have been taken.”

“It’s really better to meet, than to hear a hundred times. The contract beasts are really close to him. Not to mention the flying eagle beast that didn’t have a contract, even the boss’s contract beast is close to him.”

Zhao Hao looked at them faintly. “They all treat Xie Sen as a friend. Fortunately this time there was no accident. Think about his live stream with those contract beasts. If they knew that he was in trouble, what would happen then?”

The four people looked at each other, and as they thought of the possible scenarios, a layer of cold sweat appeared on their backs.

If all those contract beasts came out, not to mention their attacks, just by appearing on the street, it would cause a sensation.

Zhao Hao walked towards the shuttle. “Make sure to investigate the person who hijacked Xie Sen thoroughly. This must not happen again,” he said and looked at his beloved subordinates. “And let this remind you of one thing. Senior beast masters who want to make a contract better keep a good relationship with Xie Sen.”

Xie Sen was taken to the hospital by Maine for a full body examination. The results soon came out. There was no trauma, he just inhaled an overdose of strong enigma-causing drugs.

The doctor’s face was serious. “This is a prohibited drug, because it’s too strong. If it exceeds a certain amount, it can even lead directly to shock. We must call the police.”

Xie Sen was lying drowsily on the bed while Maine held his hand. His eyes remained glued to his face as he replied, “The police have already intervened. Please keep the ingredients of the drug for them. Now, treat him.”

The doctor was very efficient, and in less than ten minutes, he cleared Xie Sen’s body of any residual chemicals.

Xie Sen’s spirit was quite restored, but his body was still tired, like the feeling of over-exercising. He was deflated.

The doctor said, “This is a normal after-effect. You will recover in two hours at most.”

Maine paid the bill, and took Xie Sen back to the apartment. The flying eagle hovered over the apartment for a while, then flew back to Gold Medal for lunch.

Maine carried Xie Sen all the way back to the bedroom, where Xie Sen pointed to the bathroom. “I want to look in the mirror.”

Maine carried him to the mirror. Xie Sen looked at his yellowish face in the mirror with a disgusted expression. “Put me down. I want to wash my face.”

Maine set him down, but kept his hands around his waist. He stood effortlessly, washed his face carefully and hung the towel on the towel rack. He looked at Maine’s tense expression in the mirror. He turned around, took Maine by the neck and nibbled on his chin. He laughed, “Don’t be so serious. I’m fine.”

Maine looked deeply at him, in his eyes was a mix of self-condemnation and anxiety. He kissed him, and without a word, carried him to the bed to lie down.

Xie Sen knew very well that Maine was an extremely sensitive person. When he saw his reaction, he knew what he must be thinking, so he grabbed Maine’s hand and looked up at him. “Smile.”

Maine looked at him for a moment, then suddenly said, “I’m sorry.” Maine hugged him tightly. “Soria’s target was me, and I dragged you down. I didn’t protect you well enough. Even at the end, if Zhao Hao hadn’t appeared, I might not have been able to stop them.” He sounded defeated. “I was too weak.”

Maine had always been assured except for his uneasiness and lack of confidence in their relationship. Xie Sen’s heart couldn’t help but seize up when he heard that questioning and denial of himself. He pushed Maine’s shoulder, and glared at him. “Don’t talk nonsense. Soria’s behavior has nothing to do with you. He’s just a crazy person. You are the best in my eyes. Even you aren’t allowed to deny that.”

Xie Sen said, “There were two of them plus two contract beasts, it’s normal that you couldn’t beat them. They had helpers, but so did you. You had me. I was just about to let the plants teach them a lesson. With the two of us teamed up, how could they be our match? If Zhao Hao hadn’t appeared, we could have also beaten them to the ground,” he said, then wrinkled his nose. “Do you look down on my ability? You always think I need protection!”

“No,” Maine said hurriedly, when he saw that he was about to get angry. “I just…I just… subconsciously feel that you need protection. I’m not looking down on your ability.”

Xie Sen snorted softly. “You just don’t trust me! You don’t see me as a comrade in arms!”

Maine pursed his lips. “Although you refuse to marry me now, I have always seen you as a companion. I want to protect you so you won’t have to fight and be safe from harm.”

Xie Sen frowned and said seriously, “I hope you can change that thinking. I’m a man, not a doddering flower. I also have hot blood, and I’m not afraid to fight when I encounter danger.” He patted Maine’s face. “In the future, when you face the bad guys, you have to remember that you aren’t fighting by yourself. There’s me. It’s not your problem alone.”

Maine grabbed his hand, and fervently kissed his palm. He looked touched and affectionate. “You’re so nice.”

Main thought, There will never be a better person in the world than Xie Sen. Xie Sen had been in danger, but instead he enlightened him. How could he be so good? So good that he wanted to rub him into his bones, and not let anyone find out.

Xie Sen laughed, and poked the corner of his mouth. “Then smile.”

Maine smiled at him, and kissed the corner of his lips. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

Xie Sen kissed him back, then half a second later he gasped. “No more nonsense. Uncle. I’m hurt.” When he felt Maine’s body react, he lifted his foot and kicked him. “I’m hungry, I didn’t eat lunch.”

Maine buried his face in his shoulder to calm the urges that had just risen from the kiss. After a moment he rolled out of the bed. “I’ll go make you something to eat.”

Xie Sen contacted Sun Mao while Maine was cooking, and asked for a half day off. Sun Mao readily agreed to that while he worried that he wasn’t feeling well, and asked him to take a few more days. Xie Sen refused his kind offer, and said he would be able to work the next day. Then he asked Sun Mao to help look after the contract beasts, and tell him if there were any anomalies.

He ate, slept and finally returned to normal. He moved his arms and legs, and sighed in relief that his body felt strong and wonderful. Usually he didn’t feel it. It was only when he was uncomfortable, that he realized how great it was to be in a normal state!

He pulled Maine to sit on the sofa. “How is Zhao Hao’s investigation going?”

Maine grabbed his waist, opened the bracelet, and looked at the information sent by Zhao Hao together with him.

The other party was a group of contract beast dealers that searched for, and captured, all kinds of contract beasts on the planets near Brandt Star and in the rogue forests, then sold them in the black markets of the three cities of Brandt Star for huge profits.

Maine’s voice was cold. “They saw the report about the flying dragon beast. They knew that you were very good at finding contract beasts and very popular with them, so wanted to capture you to help them.”

Xie Sen frowned. “The contract beasts they sell. Are they forced to bond?”

“Most likely yes.”

Xie Sen asked, “After the bonding, is there a way to sever the contract relationship?”

Maine, “The bond can only be broken by the death of one party. The stronger the synchronization rate between the two parties, the stronger the impact of the death of one party on the other. The other party will be heavily affected, there is high a probability of mental collapse, and ultimately death. Unless the synchronization rate is very low, there is little possibility of survival.”

Xie Sen gritted his teeth. “So those who have a low synchronization rate and force the contract beast to bond have even less to worry about. Even if the contract beast dies, the impact on them isn’t high. That’s too much!” Xie Sen said in anger. “Does the contract beast have to obey the orders of the beast master?”

Maine said, “After the contract is formed, the contract beast will change from instinctive rejection of the owner to instinctive obedience. If the owner forces an order, the contract beast will obey the owner unless it strongly resists. That situation is rare, because it makes the contract beast mentally unstable. Resisting a forced command from their beast master will cause them great pain.”

Xie Sen was heartbroken by the forced contract beasts, but after he read Zhao Hao’s information, he was slightly relieved to see that he had eliminated the other side. Then he frowned in thought. “I wonder if there will be other groups.”

Maine said, “If there is interest, someone will do it.”

Xie Sen said, “In the future, when the contract beasts return to the forest, they must be warned to be careful.” He then asked, “How is Soria?”

“He’s awake and under investigation. There’s news online,” Maine said, and switched to the news sites.

The headline was at the top. [Lt. General Cox’s wife Soria carries self-destruct device to Gold Medal. Why this move?]

[After Soria entered the Gold Medal, some areas of the Gold Medal were jammed. According to reliable sources, the police found the perpetrator of the jamming through Soria’s bracelet. He was interrogated, and stated that he did it involuntarily, and was coerced by Soria. Experts say the device was the latest version and was so powerful that it could have caused casualties within at least one kilometer.]

There were many responses below the news. Xie Sen reached out and scratched the screen.

[It’s too vicious, isn’t it? Gold Medal has a lot of people and contract beasts inside. Is he trying to get back at society?]

[This latest device is only accessible to military personnel. Soria is unofficial. Did Lt. General Cox provide the stuff?]

[Simply crazy. No matter who he wants to deal with, this kind of behavior is too extreme.]

[Maybe really crazy. I heard he hasn’t been very mentally sound since Julos died.]

[I hope the military will give a reasonable disposal plan. This kind of person is simply a cancer.]

[If you ask me, the whole Cox family is very problematic. Julos has been exposed for how much oppression of civilians and vulnerable nobles? Soria is now engaged in acts of revenge against society, and Sotoko, as a member of the military, is actually so hot-headed, trying to kill students who have not really graduated. Not one good one.]

In the Cox’s study, Han Zheng’s face was blue. He slammed his fist on the table. “I thought we said that Soria’s matter wasn’t allowed to spread. What happened to the news?”

Meyer’s jaw tightened. “Maybe the EMTs got the word out.”

Han Zheng took a sharp breath. He silently propped up his forehead. Half a second later, he looked up. “Soria can’t be saved, and is not allowed to be saved. Send him to planet Skywind.”

“Father!” Meyer looked at him in shock.

The planet Skywind was a small planet with a variety of felons or failed criminals with mental illnesses.

Many years ago, the military department, in order to keep criminals with mental illness from avoiding punishment, came up with a way to put them together on a small planet as a convalescent place.

People who pretended to be crazy, and those who had mental problems all were gathered in one group, where killing and other desires were no longer restrained.

Today, it already had a famous nickname – the birthplace of demons.