Exclusive Possession – CH 032

Chapter 32.

The day I left the desolate land, Yi Pucheng formally proposed negotiations with the military. His bargaining chip was the Helen Fortress.

It was said that all the officers in the command post despised Yi Pucheng’s behavior.

According to their analysis, Yi Pucheng had originally planned to seize the fortress without anyone noticing and then launch a surprise attack on the wasteland to plunder its resources before making a hasty retreat. This was consistent with the thuggish style of mercenaries.

As luck would have it, Mu Xian and I stumbled upon their plot, and Mu Xian promptly issued an order for strict defense that very day. With the blitzkrieg impossible, Yi Pucheng, unwilling to fight head-on, opted for extortion instead.

“Luckily, he does not know that the Commander’s currently on his territory,” Ewan said. “Otherwise, this fox would have extorted at least half the Empire’s wealth!”

Youen consulted the emperor and decided to postpone negotiations with Yi Pucheng in the hope of rescuing Muxian during this time.

This mission was certainly dangerous, and we could not have too many people. We had ten people and five planes in total. Adop was the captain, and Mop was the vice-captain. Morin, who was proficient in medicine, was also brought along, and the rest were all elite air force personnel.

Mop and another pilot were flying the plane, while Morin and I sat in the back. After a while, no one spoke; the atmosphere was heavy.

Later, it was Morin who couldn’t hold back any longer. Perhaps because he had regained some hope, he also regained some energy and said to me with a look of emotion, “Miss, true friendship’s revealed in times of trouble. You were willing to take such a big risk for the Commander; he must be extremely moved.”

Having learned from past experience, I realized he was speaking on a public communications channel, so I did not respond.

But he kept rambling on. To stop him, I simply replied, “If you were trapped, I would go to rescue you, too.”

Morin opened her mouth, then immediately grinned happily, turning to ask Mop, “Now that you say so, Miss, should I be happy for myself or a little disappointed for the Commander?”

Mop replied, “You should be sad for yourself! If the Commander finds out, do you think he will challenge you to a duel? My combat strength’s practically in the single digits, isn’t it?”

Several people on the communication channel burst into laughter.

Immediately, someone said, “Merlin, as soon as I see the commander, I will go and tattle on him.”

Another person said, “Morin, if you want us to shut up, bring out all your treasured wines. What would a robot need so much wine for? To use as a lubricant?”

Morin, who had been covering his face in annoyance, immediately shouted upon hearing this, “Bah! That wine was for the Commander’s wedding! You bandits!”

Everyone laughed even harder, and I could not help but chuckle too. But after the laughter subsided, the channel suddenly became incredibly quiet, and the atmosphere inexplicably became heavy again.

“We will definitely rescue the commander,” Adop said in a deep voice.

“Yes,” everyone responded in unison.

However, things did not go as smoothly as we had hoped.

At first, progress was very slow; I could only sense the general direction. But the starry sky was so vast that even a slight difference could lead to a difference of light-years. Sometimes, the further I went, the weaker my senses became, forcing me to start over.

On one occasion, we even jumped right near fifty mercenary ships and were so terrified that we fled in panic. Luckily, they seemed to be resting as well, and by the time they caught up, we had already jumped away.

But this accident was extremely painful for me; the turbulent flight made me so uncomfortable that I just wanted to crash into something and die.

But I never expected that several people would call out to me on the communication channel at that time.

“Miss, pillar!”

“Holding onto the pillar!”

“The Commander’s Pillar!”

I was stunned, and then I realized that our “classic conversation” that day had obviously spread throughout the entire fleet.

Morin chimed in, “What pillar? I want one too.”

The soldiers’ concern made me feel both embarrassed and touched, so I hugged the pillar and ignored Morin.

Suddenly, the image of Mu Xian from that day flashed into my mind: his handsome face, his gentle smile, and his soft voice asking me, “Is flying on my plane really that scary?”

**

Fortunately, as we got closer to the destination, my senses became clearer and clearer, and starting from the second day, we basically did not take any more detours.

However, an unexpected incident occurred later.

As I got closer to Mu Xian, I suddenly felt extremely tired and unable to concentrate, and my sense of direction became blurred. I even heard that voice again, “Kill him,” which was so eerie that it terrified me.

Morin examined my body but could not find the cause. He finally concluded that it might be a sequela of the mental shock I had last time.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said, “but there’s really no other explanation. It’s impossible for someone to be interfering with your brainwaves, right? This is in space; no one could do that.”

Later, he gave me an injection of a stimulant, which worked very well, and I felt energetic again. Three hours later, we arrived at a secluded star field, and I was certain that Mu Xian was there—because the intensity of the sensation was the same in every direction.

But this star field was quite large, and I could no longer pinpoint its exact location.

Fearing detection by enemy radar, Adop ordered the engines to be set to minimum power consumption, and everyone split up to slowly search the area. Finally, after twenty minutes, they spotted a small mercenary space station not far away. Some aircraft wreckage was piled up outside the station. Eight mercenary aircraft were also parked there.

Everyone was both excited and worried.

The exciting thing was that the wreckage might be from the last battle, and Mu Xian was likely brought here with the wreckage; the worrying thing was that his injuries must be serious, and it was unknown whether he had been captured.

Captain Adop demonstrated excellent command skills. He first reported our location to Eun so that if we failed, we would have no choice but to risk attracting the attention of Ip City and having them send a large force to launch a strong attack.

Then Adop divided us into two teams. He led three fighter jets and six people to distract the enemy planes outside the space station; the others took the opportunity to sneak into the space station to find Mu Xian.

“I will spare no effort to destroy and delay the enemy aircraft to buy you time,” Adop said before departing. “Please give my regards to the commander.” He spoke very lightly, but my heart felt a little heavy.

Previously, because of Mu Xian’s domineering attitude towards me, I assumed his soldiers must be arrogant and cocky, and I did not have a good impression of them. But after spending these past few days with them, I’ve discovered they were actually a group of passionate, lovable, and respectable soldiers. I like them very much. Now, Adop was facing a huge risk, fighting three against eight.

“Take care,” I said. “We will meet up after we rescue Mu Xian.”

Adop smiled at me: “Miss, take care too. If things go wrong, Mop will protect you and help you retreat first. Sending a woman to the battlefield to rescue the commander is a disgrace to the entire fleet.”

A few minutes later, disguised as reconnaissance aircraft, they “accidentally” flew over the space station and then quickly “escaped.” They even activated their faster-than-light engines to make it look like they were about to jump. Adop believed them, and the enemy aircraft were indeed attracted, swarming out to give chase.

As they flew away and disappeared from sight, we quietly flew to the space station.

The entire barrel-shaped air force station was eerily quiet, as if no one was there. We first checked the lower two levels, where the personnel lived, but found nothing. This left everyone slightly disappointed. If Mu Xian was not on the space station, where could he be?

Because of our previous experience with Mu Xian on the space station, we were extra careful. Upon reaching the third level, following the previous procedure, Mop and two lieutenants went first, while Morin and I waited until we confirmed that no one was there before entering.

Mop gestured by the door to indicate that no one was there, and we immediately followed him inside.

Large, black iron frames stood upright, piled high with metal boxes of all sizes. The dim, soft lighting created a misty atmosphere inside the cabin, blurring everyone’s silhouettes.

Although it looked like no one was around, there was no guarantee that the injured Mu Xian might be hiding behind the shelves. So we tiptoed over and checked each row.

The innermost row of iron frames had an open space between it and the bulkhead; the light was dimmer, and it was completely silent there. Mop and his two companions, guns in hand, walked over, turned around, and stopped.

Morin and I followed, and then we were shocked to see at least ten men, some lying down and some sitting on the ground, all turning to look at us.

When Mop recalled the events of that day, he insisted that it was because Morin and I, being rookies, were extremely unprofessional. He said he clearly gestured that there was danger and we should not approach. But because I was vigilantly looking to the other side, I did not notice Mop’s gesture, and Morin was even more blunt: “I saw it! I thought you were letting us pass.”

So, at the very moment Morin and I appeared, the mercenaries, having recovered from their shock, mostly grabbed their guns and confronted us. Only one or two remained lying on the ground, motionless.

I stared at those dark gun barrels, feeling my whole body stiffen. The same situation had happened twice! And this time, Mu Xian was not with me; there were no reinforcements outside, and the enemy outnumbered me even more.

Mop and the others were clearly stunned. The cabin was eerily quiet, with only the men’s slightly heavy breathing audible. But even I knew that if either side made the slightest move, a brutal gunfight would erupt, and everyone would die.

Even when my mind was completely blank, my eyes still worked. I saw that each of them was covered with a blanket; obviously, they had been sleeping there, and that was why they had not noticed us. I also saw that most of them were wrapped in bandages and covered in blood, so they must be wounded soldiers.

However, wounded soldiers probably did not have much fighting spirit, right?

My palms were sweaty, my heart was pounding, and images of great men and Mu Xian flashed through my mind. I felt a surge of unprecedented pride and courage driving me forward. Driving me to break this deadlock and protect Mop and the others!

I spoke, mimicking someone’s arrogant, emotionless voice: “Lieutenant, disarm them; Mop, check the other floors; notify Adop…”

They were all staring at me, their expressions unreadable. I felt a little uneasy, but I quickly steeled myself, thinking I was going to take the plunge anyway. So I hardened my voice: “Close the underlying layer…”

Just then, I suddenly saw a person who had been lying down sit up abruptly in the distance behind the wounded soldiers. The light was so dim, and I was so nervous, but as soon as I saw his blurry figure, I felt a heavy jolt in my heart. And when he quickly looked up at me, his delicate and gentle face and dark, deep eyes were faintly visible, and my breath almost stopped.

It was him! Even though I could not see him clearly, I was sure it was him!

But why was he lying among the wounded mercenaries? Ah, his chest was bandaged; he must be seriously injured, pretending to be a mercenary and staying here. He has always been resourceful!

A surge of joy welled up inside me. I gazed at him from a great distance, my heart pounding wildly. I thought to myself, “Great! Robots have eyesight far superior to humans like me; they must have seen Mu Xian, too!”

“Close the underlying layer, close the underlying layer… the underlying layer…” I suddenly froze, realizing that I was still talking!

What was the bottom layer shutdown again? Oh my god, how could I be so distracted! I completely forgot what happened next.

I could not catch my breath, and my entire momentum seemed to dissipate instantly. I stood there for a few seconds, then abruptly shifted my gaze from Mu Xian’s face back to the wounded soldiers.

Several people stared at me, strange expressions slowly appearing on their faces.

Then five or six people stood up with guns in hand.

“Who are you?” someone shouted. “Put down your weapons. You only have three guns. Do not be a pain.”

“Is this woman out of her mind?” someone said. “Oh, she’s quite pretty.”

I completely messed up, feeling incredibly embarrassed and ashamed. I thought to myself, “Oh no, Mu Xian’s injured again. Are we going to be wiped out by the mercenaries?”

“Miss, raise your hands and stand behind me,” Mop suddenly whispered.

I did not understand, but I did as he said. After I stood still, I suddenly understood his intention—he probably wanted to protect me but was also afraid that my sudden movement would cause both sides to open fire, so he asked me to raise my hand to indicate that I had no weapon.

Perhaps because I was a woman, or perhaps because the mercenaries were afraid of a gunfight, no one actually shot at me. But standing behind Mop, I felt anything but at ease.

“Put down your weapons!” a mercenary shouted.

Mop and the others stood there, motionless and silent. I thought they were definitely waiting for Mu Xian’s instructions. But if Mu Xian spoke, would he not reveal his identity?

What should we do? What would Mu Xian do?

In the midst of this tense atmosphere, a deep and gentle voice suddenly rang out.

“Shut down the underlying turbine.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I did not expect him to take the risk of speaking. I also did not expect his first words to be to finish the lines I had just dropped.

A sentence that only I could understand.

Suddenly, a faint moisture welled up in my eyes—he knew what I was about to do; he understood how much courage it took for me to say those words.

Suddenly, I felt that those words were more comforting than any of the inexplicable “affectionate” words he had ever said to me. The embarrassment and awkwardness I felt vanished instantly. Looking at the mercenaries, I suddenly regained my confidence; his calm words gave me that confidence.

His words clearly stunned Mop and the others. The mercenaries immediately sensed something was wrong, and two men behind him immediately aimed their guns at Mu Xian: “Captain, what did you just say?” It seemed that Mu Xian had indeed infiltrated their ranks.

Mu Xian did not dodge, nor did he even look at them. Only his calm voice came: “Mop, move aside.”

Now, not only were the mercenaries confused, but we were also puzzled. Wasn’t Mop protecting me? Why did he tell him to move aside?

But Mop immediately dodged away. I was separated from him by more than a dozen mercenaries, staring at him.

“Ah!” “Ah!” Cries of pain suddenly rose and fell.

This was absolutely the most bizarre scene I’ve ever seen.

In the dimly lit space, amidst the tense atmosphere, the mercenaries suddenly seemed to have suffered a massive impact, their bodies slamming against the bulkheads and metal frames on both sides simultaneously. It was as if countless invisible hands in the air were grabbing them and throwing them away. They were smashed on their heads, bleeding profusely, their faces bruised and swollen. Finally, they all crashed to the ground, weapons scattered everywhere, struggling but seemingly unable to rise again.

“Commander!” Mop and the others behind him shouted excitedly and joyfully.

Just then, I suddenly felt a heavy yet gentle force push up my back, my feet instantly left the ground, and in a flash, Mop and the others appeared behind me like a gust of wind.

In the blink of an eye, I landed, and Mu Xian’s tall figure and handsome face were right in front of me. Now I could see clearly that there was some blood on his fair cheeks for the first time, and his short black hair looked messy.

Only those eyes remained as black and clear as a bottomless abyss, making me suddenly feel uneasy.

Was everything just now his mental energy? Was he not violently shaken? How could he still have such strong mental energy?

So when he told Mop to move aside, he was trying to clear the way, and then…

Then hug me.

He had his arms around my waist, and my face was pressed against his chest. His head was buried in the crook of my shoulder, and his strong arms tightened around me, so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

My cheeks suddenly flushed, and my heart pounded wildly. But when I heard his steady, strong heartbeat, I suddenly felt clearly…

Down-to-earth.

But now that we were in enemy territory, retreat was the best option. I was about to look up and speak when his heavy body suddenly pressed down on me. Caught off guard, I was knocked to the ground. Turning my head, I saw his cheek pressed against mine, his brows slightly furrowed, his eyes tightly closed, and his breathing barely audible; he had already passed out.