Chapter 96
Teng Snake roamed the forest for a long time, carrying Teacher Bai Nuosi far away. It wasn’t until nightfall that Huo Ranchuan called out to it within his spiritual sea, instructing it to take Bai Nuosi back to the Rose Nursery.
Those people had already been dealt with by Huo Ranchuan. This time, they had captured many more, but unlike last time, Huo Ranchuan didn’t directly bring them back for interrogation. Instead, he stripped all of them, ensuring they weren’t carrying any weapons or drugs, then tightly bound them and loaded them onto his warship.
Among the captives were even members of the Han family. These individuals were extremely shocked. “Impossible! We’ve tested the effects of those drugs—we can’t regain our sanity so quickly!”
“I told you not to act impulsively. Huo Ranchuan’s spiritual sea is different from ordinary ones!”
“Hmph, different or not, he’s still out of control! Damn it, our dosage must have been insufficient.”
*
Listening to those people being tightly bound and loaded onto the warship while still arguing about such matters, Huo Ranchuan’s expression darkened. If it weren’t for Teacher Bai Nuosi, he might have completely lost control this time. Would the Empire now be hunting him down? What fate would he and Chen Min face?
Huo Ranchuan had never understood why the spiritual beast cubs were so fond of Bai Nuosi, but now he knew.
Bai Nuosi’s pheromones could calm their restless spiritual powers.
Perhaps other Omegas could too, but Omega pheromones also have levels. For people with S-level spiritual power like them, they could only find Omegas of the same level to soothe. Bai Nuosi might not even know that his own pheromone level was so high and had such a strong effect.
This time, they had captured over a hundred people. Some were from the Han family’s cultivation programs, while others were mercenaries hired at great expense from other star systems.
At this moment, Mons hurried over and shouted, “Commander, Captain Chen and the Golden Eagle have fallen into the forest together! I’ll immediately lead a team to search and rescue them.”
Huo Ranchuan shook his head. “No need.”
Mons: “???”
Mons was utterly astonished. “No, you’re not going to search for Captain Chen?”
Everyone knew the relationship between the Golden Eagle and Chen Min. The Golden Eagle, being stimulated by the drugs, was in a state of losing control.
Huo Ranchuan looked towards the distant forest, silenced for a moment before speaking, “This is his opportunity. You set up camp here and search for rescue first thing in the morning.”
Mons immediately nodded, leading his team to set up camp.
Meanwhile, Huo Ranchuan’s deputy hurried over, saying, “Commander, we’ve found a very suspicious person.”
As he spoke, two guards behind him pushed forward a thin, teenage boy.
The boy had long gray hair, messy enough to cover half his face. He had fangs on his ears and neck, and a ring of white tattoo patterns on his arms. Gritting his teeth, he looked up, glaring defiantly at Huo Ranchuan with an unruly expression.
The boy was also part of the mercenary group. His skin was dark, and he looked like someone from the outskirts of the beastman star system. Indeed, that area was very backward, and many there were star pirates and mercenaries.
Huo Ranchuan fixed his gaze on the boy, his expression becoming serious. “Have you measured his spiritual power level?”
The deputy nodded, holding up a device to show Huo Ranchuan.
It displayed: “A+.”
Within the mercenary group, the leader was S-class, but he stayed behind, recruiting and expanding the legion using his S-class status. He had never actually fought in battle.
His subordinates were all A+, some originally A-level, enhanced by long-term drug use, and others were originally B+, improved through years of battle training and drugs.
Regardless of how you looked at it, an A+ at such a young age was indeed rare.
Moreover, at this young age, according to the mercenary’s promotion system, he should have been strictly trained and, combined with drugs, would have been upgraded to S-class before thirty. How could he have been allowed to join such a dangerous mission right after reaching adulthood?
No wonder the deputy found him suspicious.
The boy was stripped naked. Huo Ranchuan saw he had numerous wounds on his body, some still bleeding, likely just inflicted.
At such a moment, a person’s pride is paramount. If it had been anyone else, Huo Ranchuan wouldn’t have shown any mercy.
But now, he couldn’t stop thinking of Bai Nuosi.
If Bai Nuosi saw a teenager, stripped naked and tightly bound for interrogation, what would he think?
Huo Ranchuan sat down, crossing his arms and staring at the boy.
The boy gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at Huo Ranchuan, showing no fear at all.
After a while, Huo Ranchuan told the deputy, “Give him a pair of pants.”
The deputy nodded, pulling a pair of pants from his portable terminal and putting them on the boy.
The boy glared fiercely at Huo Ranchuan, “Why are you giving me pants?”
Don’t think that by giving him pants, he’d acknowledge Huo Ranchuan’s kindness!
Huo Ranchuan took a sip of water, looking at him, “You’re too young. You’re too much of an eyesore.”
“You’re too young”—those two words delivered a ruthless blow to the boy, both in age and other aspects.
The boy, enraged, exploded, “Huo Ranchuan! Who’s too young!”
The deputy quickly slapped the rampaging boy down.
The deputy looked sternly at him, “Watch yourself!”
Was the boy stupid? He was now a prisoner, and Huo Ranchuan was interrogating him. Such a simple statement should have made him crack, but he was too naive. The deputy felt it was unnecessary to interrogate and could just question him directly.
But the deputy continued, sternly, “Where’s your spiritual beast?”
All captured Omegas had their spiritual beasts detained separately. If the person was present but their spiritual beast had escaped, they would be taken to a small black room to forcibly summon the beast back into their spiritual sea.
The boy’s spiritual beast was not present, so the deputy suspected it had already escaped.
The boy gritted his teeth, showing sharp canine teeth, “I don’t know!”
The deputy’s expression turned cold, “Take him to the small black room.”
Later, when the device was activated, if the boy continued to bite his tongue and say he didn’t know, his spiritual sea would start to collapse under the device’s stimulation, unless he decided he didn’t want a spiritual sea anymore, he had to obediently summon it back.
The boy was unaware of the Empire’s punitive devices, but hearing about the small black room meant he knew it wasn’t something good.
He had been locked up in the small black room many times since childhood.
“Wait, wait a minute!”
The boy pressed his body against the ground, refusing to be pulled away by the guards. His eyes fixed tightly on Huo Ranchuan as he loudly said, “You can’t catch me, I’m not part of the mercenary group!”
Huo Ranchuan raised an eyebrow, “But you’re with them. You even injured my two guards.”
The boy: “…”
The boy’s face reddened, looking conflicted, “I was with them, but I’m not part of their group.”
Though he didn’t expect Huo Ranchuan to believe him, he still wanted to earn a chance: “I was captured by them, really!”
Huo Ranchuan didn’t respond, “Even so, you have to bring your spiritual beast back.”
The boy: “…”
The boy was nervous and guilty.
If he had to bring his spiritual beast back, he’d probably have to be locked up in the small black room again.
Moreover, he had finally hidden his spiritual beast from detection. Now, being taken by Teacher Bai, if he summoned his spiritual beast now, all his efforts would be in vain.
If Teacher Bai knew he was from the mercenary group, he’d regret rescuing the bird.
The boy gritted his teeth, “I can’t make it come back. It can’t come back.”
Huo Ranchuan’s face darkened. He initially saw the boy as young and promising, wanting to interrogate him to see if he could be reformed. After all, many star pirates and mercenaries didn’t join willingly—most were driven by desperation. Besides, the boy was only a teenager, likely to stay in the mercenary group for a while.
But if the boy refused to summon his spiritual beast, Huo Ranchuan suspected he had hidden it or that it was lurking somewhere, ready to strike.
Huo Ranchuan stood up, telling the deputy, “Leave him to you. Conduct a proper interrogation.”
The deputy nodded and led the boy to the interrogation room, directly locking him in the small black room. Before closing the door, the deputy looked at the boy with a serious tone, “The commander initially saw you as young and wanted to give you a chance, but you refused. Think about what to do next. I’ll come back in ten minutes. Make sure you have a clear idea by then.”
The boy was locked in the small black room, watching the deputy leave the door, wanting to say something but staying silent.
What to do, he was troubled.
During the chaotic battle, he had tried to escape but failed.
When the mercenary group encountered Huo Ranchuan, they immediately pushed out useless cannon fodder like him, the teenagers.
If he hadn’t awakened his spiritual power, reacting swiftly, at the moment he was pushed out, he would have been instantly killed by Huo Ranchuan’s overwhelming spiritual force.
Back in his cockpit, Huo Ranchuan opened his smart system, looking through all the mercenaries’ data sent by the deputy.
These mercenaries used fake identities. From the moment they joined the mercenary group, they had left their past lives behind and become someone else.
At the end of the data, Huo Ranchuan pointed to the boy’s photo, “Adean, already 19 years old.”
The deputy nodded, “Yes, he looks like those fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys, severely malnourished.”
Many mercenaries were ordinary people with spiritual power levels below D. In the mercenary group’s roster, Adean was a servant without an awakened spiritual beast.
However, he not only had a spiritual beast but was also A+.
Once awakened, it’s hard to hide, unless he had just awakened in the past two days, and the mercenary group didn’t notice him when they came to ambush Huo Ranchuan.
The deputy lamented, “It’s a pity. Without proper training and cultivation from a young age, based on his potential, he might have been able to awaken to S-class.”
Huo Ranchuan reviewed the mercenary list. There were more than Adean, but the others all had spiritual power. Therefore, Adean was the lowest-ranking servant among them, likely having a hard time living daily life.
Huo Ranchuan knew Adean didn’t have much loyalty to the mercenary group, but he couldn’t let him go easily.
He stood up, saying, “Pay more attention to him. Don’t let him die. I’m going to check on Bai Nuosi.”
The deputy immediately nodded, watching Huo Ranchuan leave.
After Huo Ranchuan left, a guard quietly asked the deputy, “Vice Commander, since the commander spent last night with Teacher Bai in the cave, does that mean Teacher Bai is about to become our commander’s wife?”
Everyone knew that Huo Ranchuan’s loss of control was related to his mating period. Teacher Bai’s ability to quickly soothe Huo Ranchuan indicated a high compatibility between them.
The deputy responded seriously, “Don’t say such things again. Just do your job.”
Huo Ranchuan’s mate would receive much attention. Until everything was confirmed, no rumors could spread.
Teng Snake was supposed to take Bai Nuosi back to the Rose Nursery directly.
But Bai Nuosi knew that once things were resolved here, he wanted to come back and check on Huo Ranchuan.
Regardless, he was still worried about Huo Ranchuan’s safety, as his condition wasn’t good.
Bai Nuosi, wearing Huo Ranchuan’s trench coat, holding the little bird, sat atop Teng Snake. Teng Snake spread its massive wings and took off, leaving Bai Nuosi stunned.
Bai Nuosi: “Oh my God, Baby, you can really fly!”
Excited, Bai Nuosi instinctively called it “baby.”
Teng Snake was thrilled. It gently flapped its wings twice, slowing its speed, and led Bai Nuosi to fly slowly through the air.
The little bird, not being intimidated, stretched out its short, round wings in Bai Nuosi’s arms, flapping hard to keep up.
Proudly puffing up its round chest, it looked at Bai Nuosi with pleading eyes, “Chir chir chir!”
I can fly too!
Bai Nuosi affectionately held it, saying, “Little bird, you’re amazing! You have wings too! When you grow up, you can spread your wings and soar like Teng Snake!”
The little bird happily nodded and patted Bai Nuosi’s arm with its wings, “Chir chir chir chir chir!”
I want to soar with Teacher Bai too!
It even pointed to its head with its wings.
Teacher Bai should sit on its head! Not needing to sit on that dreary black snake. With beautiful plumage, Teacher Bai would feel warm sitting on it.
Teng Snake listened to the little bird chirping happily, realizing it had only known Teacher Bai for half a day, yet already trying to compete for his affection.
Seriously, the snake rolled its eyes.
Bai Nuosi laughed at the little bird’s playful antics.
He scooped up the little bird, pinching its red, pointed beak, “Little one, you’re so cute! You’re truly an angel baby!”
The little bird, proud of its display, rubbed against Teacher Bai’s arm, thinking, as long as Teacher Bai liked it, it could do more.
It loved Teacher Bai so much, scared that Teacher Bai might send it away. No one had ever cared for it like Teacher Bai did, so it didn’t want to leave.
However, its host seemed to be in trouble. Suddenly, the little bird let out a painful “chirp,” covering its head with its short wings, lying in Teacher Bai’s arms, shivering slightly as if enduring pain.
Even so, it continued to endure silently, without making a loud noise, merely persevering in silence.
