The Max-Level Boss Just Wants to Be a Slacker [Apocalypse] – CH56

Chapter 56: Jealousy

Just like that, two days later, Mo Xiu led the members of his team and left Shanhe Base.

Perhaps because everyone had witnessed Mo Xiu’s strength during the previous mission, most of them actually volunteered to recommend him as the captain of the Blazing Flame Squad this time.

Ever since his rebirth, aside from taking care of Mo Qi by his side, Mo Xiu had little interest in spending energy on other people. He wasn’t particularly interested in this so-called captain position.

It was Cheng Cheng and Xie Wu—mainly Cheng Cheng—who enthusiastically pushed for Mo Xiu to take the role, saying it would look impressive and make command more convenient.

Seeing Xie Wu nodding helplessly beside him, saying he would help however he could, Mo Xiu finally agreed.

Watching Cheng Cheng’s excited expression, Xie Wu felt satisfied. This mission would be extremely dangerous, and he hoped Cheng Cheng could at least be a little happier.

As for Mo Xiu and Mo Qi, judging from what he knew about the two big shots, they probably wouldn’t involve themselves in anything except necessary battles.

But in the end, having them there was the most important thing.

The pharmaceutical factory they were heading to in the suburbs of B City was extremely remote. The journey alone would take several days.

Even more people had joined this mission than the previous one when they searched for the professor. Most of them treated the members of Mo Xiu’s team fairly politely.

However, some people still occasionally revealed traces of disgust when looking at Mo Qi.

They acknowledged Mo Xiu’s strength.

But someone like Mo Qi—who appeared useless and even needed others to serve him—was something they truly couldn’t stand.

If Mo Qi had just been a typical “kept person,” like an ordinary civilian supported by an ability user, someone who knew how to flatter and help out, it might have been acceptable.

For example, Xie Wu handled both inside and outside matters thoughtfully and even helped Lu Pingwan cook for everyone.

But Mo Qi was different.

From beginning to end, he carried himself like a lord. Aside from sweet-talking Mo Xiu and sticking close to him, he seemed completely useless.

To them, he was nothing but dead weight.

They couldn’t stand someone like that, and they even thought the people in Mo Xiu’s team must be crazy.

All of them seemed to revolve around this “useless” guy named Mo Qi, accompanying Mo Xiu in his madness.

Truly birds of a feather flock together.

The team’s overall strength was decent, yet somehow each of them seemed to lack common sense.

Even the base commander’s younger brother had gone mad, calling Mo Qi “Brother Qi.” And Mo Qi didn’t even look embarrassed—acting as if he were someone important.

Mo Qi never cared what others thought.

However, when he looked at Xiong Gangyong—who had always supported them—he noticed that although the man was still trying his best to help the team like before, his mental and physical state was clearly worse than it used to be.

After briefly examining his body with his spiritual sense, Mo Qi believed the issue was related to the demonic energy inside Xiong Gangyong.

For ordinary humans who weren’t demonic cultivators, even isolated demonic energy inside their bodies could still cause negative effects.

Moreover, Xiong Gangyong’s ability level was much lower than Meng Zhen’s had been, making it even harder for him to endure. The symptoms were therefore more obvious.

Mo Qi formed a hypothesis.

Later that day, when he saw Xiong Gangyong happily bringing him some fruit he had just found, Mo Qi directly invited him into the room.

Coincidentally, Mo Xiu had just stepped out and wasn’t there.

Without thinking much about it, Mo Qi began chatting casually while placing his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“You look pretty tired lately. Let me try giving you a quick massage.”

He said it casually, but in reality, he barely applied any pressure.

He only needed the movement as a cover to attempt extracting the demonic energy from the man’s body.

Mo Qi had used similar methods countless times on zombies before. But zombies weren’t human, so he never needed to worry about consequences.

Xiong Gangyong was different.

He didn’t know whether directly removing the demonic energy would disrupt the strange barrier surrounding it—or worse, accidentally cause the man to turn into a zombie earlier.

So Mo Qi was extremely careful.

He only attempted to extract the tiniest trace of demonic energy. If something went wrong, he would still have time to stop it.

Just as he expected, the process wasn’t entirely smooth.

There was indeed some unfamiliar force inside the man’s body. However, the method isolating the demonic energy felt somewhat similar to spiritual consciousness.

So Mo Qi carefully wrapped his own spiritual sense around that tiny thread of demonic energy, slowly pulling it out of Xiong Gangyong’s body and absorbing it into himself.

Because he wasn’t yet skilled at this, the process took quite a long time.

To be safe, he kept his hand on Xiong Gangyong’s shoulder the entire time instead of doing it from a distance, which made the man feel rather puzzled.

Although he was touched that Brother Qi wanted to help massage him, the strength was so light that it felt no different from not being massaged at all.

Mo Qi had always regarded Xiong Gangyong as a simple-minded young man, so he hadn’t thought too deeply about the situation.

What mattered more was whether removing the demonic energy would succeed.

When humans were completely corrupted by demonic energy and lost all life force, they became nothing more than decaying walking corpses.

But what about someone who had only just been infected?

If the soul hadn’t been fully destroyed and the body was still functioning normally…

If his experiment succeeded on Xiong Gangyong, then perhaps people like this could be saved before turning into zombies.

Mo Qi knew exactly what such success would mean.

Mo Xiu would be safer.

Everyone he cared about might no longer need to fear unexpected infection.

As long as he was present and acted in time, they could avoid becoming zombies.

Feeling the extra thread of demonic energy inside his body, Mo Qi was satisfied with the result.

However, it seemed he still needed practice.

After repeating it several times and becoming more familiar with the process, he should be able to remove demonic energy quickly—even when it was wrapped up like this.

In that sense, Xiong Gangyong really was the perfect practice subject.

While Mo Qi was focused on serious work, he had no idea how his actions looked to others.

Some people in the team glanced through the open door and saw Mo Qi “massaging” Xiong Gangyong inside the room.

They immediately showed expressions of surprise and disdain.

So that’s why the base commander’s younger brother defended this guy named Mo Qi so much.

Turns out he had been “seduced.”

Everyone knew Mo Qi belonged to Mo Xiu, yet he was secretly flirting with others behind his back.

How shameless.

Even as a kept person, he lacked the awareness of one—he should at least know who his real patron was.

Others noticed Mo Xiu returning from outside after finishing some personal matters and looked at him with expressions of anticipation.

Let’s see what happens now.

This guy contributed nothing yet lived comfortably.

Today they would watch how Mo Qi made a fool of himself.

Mo Xiu had originally been puzzled by the looks people were giving him.

But as he approached the room and saw what was happening inside, he immediately understood.

If he hadn’t understood how others viewed his relationship with Mo Qi before, ever since his recent awakening, many things had become clear.

Sometimes just a glance was enough to understand everything without words.

But those people were wrong.

He and Mo Qi had never been in a patron-and-kept relationship.

Nor were they a couple, as Xie Wu believed.

He was merely someone secretly in love… someone who hadn’t yet dared to confess.

He knew he liked Mo Qi.

But what about Mo Qi?

Did he like him even a little?

Mo Xiu couldn’t be sure. He didn’t know whether Mo Qi would accept him if he confessed.

But seeing Mo Qi’s intimate actions with Xiong Gangyong still made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Again it was Xiong Gangyong.

Why was it always this guy?

Mo Qi’s hand was even resting on his shoulder, massaging him. Mo Qi had barely ever given him a massage!

Mo Xiu felt sour inside.

What was so special about this guy anyway?

Sure, he was young, strong, energetic, and not a bad person.

If he were simply a normal teammate, Mo Xiu wouldn’t have had any opinion about him.

But the problem was—

Why did he always seem to attract more of Mo Qi’s attention than anyone else?

In the past, Mo Xiu could have convinced himself that it was normal.

Xiong Gangyong was their teammate. Of course Mo Qi might show him some care.

But things were different now.

Mo Qi wasn’t just his brother and family anymore.

He was the person he loved.

When someone liked another person, of course they would feel possessive. Of course they would want that person’s attention and gaze to focus on them.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, Mo Xiu knew clearly—

He was jealous.

But so what?

He liked Mo Qi.

If Mo Qi could stir his emotions and make him jealous, wasn’t that perfectly normal?

He had lived two lifetimes and this was the first time he had ever liked someone.

He absolutely didn’t want to lose to some unexpected rival!

Especially one who looked like the bald, beardless Cheng Yaojin from the old TV dramas he used to watch.

Still, Mo Xiu remembered that Mo Qi didn’t yet know about his feelings.

As a proper pursuer, he had to behave well. He absolutely couldn’t let Mo Qi think he was petty or unreasonable.

He needed to stay calm.

So on the surface, Mo Xiu maintained a calm expression.

But his feet honestly sped up as he walked into the room.

Seeing that Mo Qi was still focused on “massaging” Xiong Gangyong and hadn’t even noticed him entering, Mo Xiu clenched his teeth.

Taking a deep breath, he deliberately stepped closer and smiled at the man.

“Mo Qi, what are you two doing?”

Mo Qi: Huh? Why does my back suddenly feel a little cold…?

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