Chapter 244: Old Friends Reunite
Inside the Small Building on the Underground Lake Island, as the clatter of pots and pans rang out, the enticing aroma of dishes gradually spread through the air.
In the clean and bright kitchen, the Catwoman Aina carefully served Tianqiong a bowl of food.
Now Aina was not only Zhou Ming’s maid, but also Tianqiong’s caretaker. Tianqiong, who usually seemed like a marionette on strings, only revealed a trace of a childlike side when he was beside Aina.
“Is it good?”
Watching Tianqiong devour the food she had cooked in big mouthfuls, Aina smiled and asked.
With food stuffed in his mouth, Tianqiong nodded desperately.
Although he still did not speak, considering Tianqiong’s withdrawn condition, this was already the highest praise.
“If it’s good, then eat more.”
Ever since Aina and Tianqiong began cooperating with Zhou Ming in the experiments, she had gradually set aside the grief brought by the loss of her clansmen, placing more of her attention on Tianqiong, who shared a similar fate.
Their situation was much like Zhou Ming and Xiao Yun in the beginning.
When Zhou Ming had just transmigrated to Blue Star, the unfamiliar environment without family or friends had left him with a trace of loneliness in his heart.
As for Xiao Yun, after her younger brother left Qinshan Base and her whole family moved from the outer city into the inner city, the friends she once knew had gradually grown distant.
For their own separate reasons, the two had formed a sibling-like relationship. It was merely an instinctive spiritual support that ordinary people sought.
As for why they had not become lovers, it was mainly because their personalities were destined not to walk the same path.
In Zhou Ming’s previous life, there had been no Transcendent existences. No matter what achievements one attained, it would ultimately end in a pile of yellow earth. In his heart, he longed for unknown changes.
After learning that Blue Star had Beast Tamers—who could gain power while also extending their lifespan—the ambition in his heart had gradually taken root.
Xiao Yun, however, was more like a relatively traditional woman. What she yearned for was a relatively stable life, to find someone who loved her and spend the rest of her days peacefully.
That was why, although their relationship had been close, they had ultimately remained in a sibling-like bond. They were merely friends who had met when they most needed emotional support.
Now, Catwoman Aina and Tianqiong were like lonely siblings, struggling to survive under Zhou Ming, the Great Demon King.
It was also under Aina’s careful care that Tianqiong had gradually begun to open his closed heart.
“Aina, I need to go out for a while. Remember to record the changes in Petri Dish No. 2 every hour.”
At that moment, Zhou Ming walked down from the second-floor laboratory, dressed in fitted casual clothes.
His brows were slightly furrowed. He did not pay much attention to Aina and Tianqiong, merely giving a simple instruction before heading directly toward the camp.
The reason was that he had received a call from Su Mei, who said that Scorpion-Lion had urgent matters and was looking for him.
If it had been anyone else, Zhou Ming might have ignored them. But since it was Scorpion-Lion, he had no choice but to temporarily set aside his research.
“Escape.”
After Zhou Ming left, Tianqiong spoke for the first time—though it was only a single word.
“Although my lord may not be perfect, this is already our best harbor.”
At that moment, although Catwoman Aina was somewhat delighted that Tianqiong had spoken, she still rejected his suggestion in halting Alliance language.
Though they had lost their freedom here, if they fell into the hands of other humans, their fate would be even more miserable.
That was also why, after Zhou Ming had made Aina understand her situation, he had not sealed her strength again.
Hearing Aina’s words, Tianqiong pondered for a moment before continuing to eat the food in front of him.
Perhaps the Foreign Races sister before him was right.
Meanwhile, after briefly understanding the situation from Su Mei, Zhou Ming set off alone toward Qinghui Base.
Just as he entered the secure zone of Qinghui Base, the phone he carried continuously rang with notification sounds.
When he checked it, he found that all of them were messages from Lei Yuan—over a hundred in total.
“She must have been worried.”
After reading the messages, Zhou Ming learned that Lei Yuan had been concerned about his safety due to the upheaval in the Panlong Mountain Range and had sent those texts.
Unfortunately, because of the signal coverage range and because Zhou Ming had been immersed in his research, he had not received them immediately.
He immediately dialed Lei Yuan’s number, but this time the call did not go through.
In her latest message, she said that after the Academy of Sciences dispatched a special operations team to confirm whether Zhou Ming was alive, she had returned to a secret base to continue her subsequent research after a brief rest.
Given the Alliance’s current situation, Lei Yuan’s rest time was extremely limited. She had to cooperate with other outstanding talents of the Academy of Sciences to complete the Alliance’s technological reform in the shortest possible time.
“Scorpion-Lion is looking for me… could it be because of the people sent by the Academy of Sciences?”
From Lei Yuan’s message, Zhou Ming knew that the Academy of Sciences had already sent personnel to confirm his safety, so that Lei Yuan could focus on her research. He faintly guessed Scorpion-Lion’s purpose.
However, if that were the only reason, the other party likely would not have personally come to Qinghui Base.
After pondering for a moment, Zhou Ming first sent several messages to comfort Lei Yuan before continuing toward Qinghui Base.
…
At Qinghui Base’s Platinum Grand Hotel, inside a top-floor luxury suite, Scorpion-Lion and Ten Thousand Snakes—these two friends with a rather peculiar relationship—met once again.
“Scorpion-Lion, why did you call me here this time? Don’t tell me the Duanmu Family arranged a political marriage for you, and since you ran away from it with nowhere to go, you came to hide with me?”
Zhou Ming was now thirty years old, and Scorpion-Lion was not far from that milestone age either, so Zhou Ming teased him with that.
“Ten Thousand Snakes, you’re still as annoying as ever.”
Scorpion-Lion’s face stiffened slightly for an instant before returning to normal.
However, compared to Zhou Ming’s teasing, Scorpion-Lion cared more about the change in Zhou Ming’s strength.
“You’ve already reached High-level Professional Rank?”
“Hehe, just a bit of luck. No need to feel too inferior.”
When facing Scorpion-Lion, the coldness on Zhou Ming’s face diminished considerably. When he was with him, he even indulged in a few jokes.
Perhaps only in this way could he recall the version of himself who had just transmigrated to Blue Star.
“It seems the price I asked for in our trade back then was indeed a bit low.”
Scorpion-Lion knew that Zhou Ming’s current achievements were not solely because of the Sapphire Fish, yet he still could not help but complain.
“Someone’s looking for you.”
Hearing the knock on the door, Scorpion-Lion did not continue chatting and immediately revealed one of the reasons he had called Zhou Ming here.
“The Security Bureau?”
“You knew.”
There was a hint of surprise in Scorpion-Lion’s tone. The reason this matter had been conveyed through him was because his cousin Duanmu Lingyan had heard that the school’s higher-ups were searching for Zhou Ming and had proactively exposed the relationship between Scorpion-Lion and Zhou Ming.
Her motive was naturally to retaliate for Zhou Ming knocking her unconscious back then, even though she had already recovered her losses from her elder cousin.
Thus, the Alliance Security Bureau’s special operations personnel had contacted Scorpion-Lion to reach Zhou Ming and bring him to Qinghui Base.
Scorpion-Lion had not expected Zhou Ming to already know why he was being summoned.
“As soon as I approached Qinghui Base’s secure zone, my phone was flooded with over a hundred messages.”
Zhou Ming raised his phone as if showing off.
“It seems your girlfriend cares about you a lot. When’s the wedding?”
Hearing Scorpion-Lion’s teasing, Zhou Ming’s expression froze slightly. After all, he had not thought that far ahead.
But when facing Scorpion-Lion, he would not easily concede.
“Have you prepared the wedding gift? As the heir of the Duanmu Family, you’d need at least a Sixth-tier Spiritual Material as a present, right?”
Scorpion-Lion rolled his eyes at Zhou Ming, as if to say he was daydreaming.
After that, he stopped responding and instructed the people outside the door to come in.