MORIC - Chapter 107
Chapter 107: Misplaced Anger
Xi Zhoumeng hadn't expected Sheng Yangkui, with her personality, to spill everything at once.
Just based on the fact that this person was the Queen in her past life and still acted this lifelessly, she knew there was probably something wrong with the real Queen.
Compared to those grand conspiracies, she cared more about how exactly Chi Yueshan died.
The book's description of the dwarf planet practical training mostly focused on how Wen Xinghuo dealt with sudden incidents, like outer-domain attacks and mecha damage.
When it came to Chi Yueshan, there was just one cold sentence: a trainee died during the practical training.
After all, Xi Zhoumeng had no sense of participation; watching from an omniscient perspective, she only felt that everything happened too quickly.
The Wen Xinghuo sitting before her wasn't the great hero from the book who had reached the end of the story.
The System, that useless thing, was more like a chat companion system.
Only Sheng Yangkui was an exception.
Xi Zhoumeng and Sheng Yangkui had come from the same private club, and their attire made Wen Xinghuo look all the more plain and drab by comparison.
Anyone who didn't know better might have thought Wen Xinghuo was just the two Omegas' bodyguard.
Sheng Yangkui hardly dared to look at Xi Zhoumeng. There were too many differences in this lifetime.
Xi Zhoumeng was no longer the young lady who had completely lost her composure. She was terrifyingly dazzling, and who knew where her soul had come from, but it had been grafted on to produce a uniquely sharp edge.
When she was languid, her charm was already lethal enough. Now, with the slightest sharpness, she could prick Sheng Yangkui until she had trouble breathing.
Even though ninety percent of her consciousness had been stripped away back then, she still remembered Chi Yueshan's death.
Buried beneath the sharp, serrated teeth of an ugly creature, the scent of blood was even transmitted through a bizarre consciousness link of their kind, forcing Sheng Yangkui into even greater agony.
Even though she was jealous that Chi Yueshan could stand by Wen Xinghuo's side, jealous of their intimacy, and jealous of Wen Xinghuo's methodical arrangements for Chi Yueshan.
She still couldn't accept the death of such a vibrant Omega.
Chi Yueshan didn't close her eyes even in death, as if filled with endless unwillingness, her hand reaching toward the southeast—the direction of the M-Galaxy.
Sheng Yangkui crumpled the priceless fabric of her dress. Her long lashes trembled, and after a long pause, she said, "It was... the Zerg."
Wen Xinghuo showed a surprised expression, while Xi Zhoumeng, toying with Chi Yueshan's hand, seemed completely unsurprised.
"Didn't they say it was an outer-domain attack?"
Sheng Yangkui: "How do you know everything?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "Because I'm not from this world."
Sheng Yangkui could guess that Xi Zhoumeng's identity was different, but she didn't know how to understand it. "Are there other worlds?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "There are. It's like when we watch a TV drama; isn't there another world in the drama?"
The noble Omega before her smiled, the sequins at the tail of her eyebrow shimmering like starlight in the dark night. While tapping Chi Yueshan's fingers, Xi Zhoumeng faintly asked Sheng Yangkui, "Torn to pieces?"
Wen Xinghuo held her breath.
Sheng Yangkui turned her face away and hummed in assent as quietly as a mosquito.
Wen Xinghuo: "How is that possible? The Zerg Tide hasn't arrived yet. Even if it had, the Expeditionary Force on the border would have noticed. It's impossible for it to have spread to the training planet."
Xi Zhoumeng laughed, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Your girlfriend is the Queen, you know. She can do whatever she wants."
Wen Xinghuo: "The Queen and the Zerg..."
Xi Zhoumeng: "You'll have to ask the Princess about that."
After speaking, she sighed. "Our Yueshan died so miserably in her past life. Although the training planets are randomly assigned, you can still choose, right?"
After Wen Xinghuo nodded, Xi Zhoumeng looked at Sheng Yangkui. "Planet R-876, was it?"
Sheng Yangkui nodded. She could barely breathe. Xi Zhoumeng's questions were casual, but her aura was completely different from her usual smiling demeanor.
Xi Zhoumeng: "That planet is very close to the M-Galaxy. It's where Yueshan's Alpha mother was."
Every galactic border has a Rainbow Bridge, which is one of the differences that comes with interstellar evolution reaching a certain stage.
From remote planets, you can see the cityscapes of other galaxies.
Whether in the past life or in the book, it was mentioned that leaving the territory was difficult.
Did Chi Yueshan choose that dwarf planet because she wanted to be a little closer to Jiang Zhi?
How did that Chi Yueshan know?
And did she know that Jiang Zhi was already dead?
The people in her world she was close to, whether by blood or not, were all leaving her.
Even the Wen Xinghuo that Chi Yueshan acknowledged had brought a fatal disaster upon her.
Xi Zhoumeng's tone softened considerably. She picked up Chi Yueshan, and the drunkard in her arms whimpered before snuggling closer into her embrace.
The intimacy was so natural, as if she was born to be this close to Xi Zhoumeng.
No matter the time, no matter the lifetime.
Sheng Yangkui was on the verge of tears. She had bitten her lip until it bled and said painfully, "I'm sorry."
Xi Zhoumeng shook her head. "But there was nothing you could do, right?"
She usually looked languid, preferring to sit rather than stand, unwilling to do any work, as if she were physically weak and short of breath.
But she picked up Chi Yueshan with ease.
She lowered her eyes to look at Chi Yueshan's face, then turned to Wen Xinghuo. "I'm in no mood to ask about anything else. Since you two like each other and don't want to reach that predetermined ending, just talk it out properly."
She held Chi Yueshan tightly. The "paper person" from the serial she used to follow had become a physical entity, and now she had heard the person involved describe the ending.
An unfamiliar heartache welled up in her, making Xi Zhoumeng want only to cherish her.
Xi Zhoumeng had always been very bold, and she was wealthy enough to be extravagant.
Sheng Yangkui had run into her at the club, and she didn't know if it was truly a "chance encounter." By the time she had finished changing her dress, Xi Zhoumeng had already arranged everything.
A lady-in-waiting respectfully saw Sheng Yangkui into Xi Zhoumeng's car. Xi Zhoumeng politely thanked her and said she would take the Princess to try on new dresses properly.
What kind of dress takes a whole night to try on?
Of course, the lady-in-waiting wouldn't think too deeply about it.
Those who remained were silent for a long time.
The suite's theme was so luxurious it felt glaring to Wen Xinghuo.
A scheduled AI robot delivered a full rack of dresses, and a message from Xi Zhoumeng appeared on the screen.
【I've already picked out the outfits for the palace banquet. The Princess can wear whichever one she likes, or take them all if she likes them all.】
【I've secured the Wen family's spot for this year for Wen Xinghuo. I hope the content of your conversation tonight will give us something to do when we appear at the palace banquet together.】
Sheng Yangkui was nearly blinded by the luxurious gowns.
Even though she had been chosen to enter the royal palace at a young age and wanted for nothing in terms of food, clothing, and expenses, it had never reached such an exaggerated level.
It wasn't without reason that people said Xi Zhoumeng was more of a princess than the Princess herself.
Even the Queen didn't have her level of ostentation. Some dresses couldn't be hung on an ordinary rack; at this moment, the lights in the closet lit up one by one, revealing nothing but priceless ready-to-wear garments.
Wen Xinghuo's clothes were also hanging inside.
Sheng Yangkui cautiously glanced at Wen Xinghuo.
Wen Xinghuo's expression was unreadable. She just sat there silently, but her hands were clenched into fists with so much force that blood seeped from between her fingers.
Sheng Yangkui gasped and subconsciously reached out to take Wen Xinghuo's hand.
The moment she reached out, she was fiercely embraced by Wen Xinghuo. The hug was both gentle and ferocious, even giving Sheng Yangkui the illusion that she was about to be crushed.
Sheng Yangkui's hands trembled, but in the end, she wrapped them around Wen Xinghuo's neck.
Wen Xinghuo's pheromones weren't pleasant, easily reminding one of battlefields, of bloody slaughter—not gentle at all.
But in Sheng Yangkui's eyes, she was so gentle. It was the warmth of a hand covering her eyes in the final second of her consciousness in her past life.
This Alpha's palms were calloused, and her pheromones, wrapped in the lingering warmth of ashes, were etched into Sheng Yangkui's soul.
At that moment, she was actually exceptionally satisfied, because Wen Xinghuo would never know how many years Sheng Yangkui had longed for this kind of intimacy.
Not just brushing past each other in the academy, nor distant greetings.
Let alone dancing together.
If it's possible, could you kiss me?
Sheng Yangkui didn't dare to say it, nor could she. Her life of suffering and powerlessness had come to an end.
To be held by her beloved in the end was a worthy death.
But there was no use in a deeply sinful, cowardly person being reborn.
Her jealousy returned with a vengeance, and the changed circumstances caught her off guard when she was completely unprepared.
It had turned into an intimacy she had never dared to imagine before.
At first, it was a low whimper, then it became loud wailing.
The person in Wen Xinghuo's arms trembled as if the heart in her chest was about to burst out, her sobs filled with vivid anguish.
The Alpha, who was in love for the first time, clumsily stroked Sheng Yangkui's hair. She tucked Sheng Yangkui's hair behind her ear, lowered her head, and carefully kissed the corner of her eye.
"Are you willing to tell me?"
"Everything."
How could Wen Xinghuo not know this was a wound?
But Xi Zhoumeng had picked at it without any concealment, revealing a side of herself for Chi Yueshan's sake that Wen Xinghuo had never seen before.
Between the lines, there was a clear intention to blame Wen Xinghuo.
In Xi Zhoumeng's eyes, the Wen Xinghuo from Sheng Yangkui's past life, the hero of the interstellar age...
...had utterly failed to protect Chi Yueshan.
Sheng Yangkui was practically embedded in Wen Xinghuo's body. She nestled in her arms and was about to subconsciously bite her lip when Wen Xinghuo pinched her chin.
Wen Xinghuo: "Am I not qualified to know? Or do you hate me?"
She had eyes as dark as lacquer, a determined will, and a resolute gaze. Sheng Yangkui could never refuse her.
Even in the past, Wen Xinghuo would never have made any requests of her.
Sheng Yangkui: "How could that be possible?"
Her face was only the size of a palm, her lips stained with blood. "I am just the Queen's vessel."
The pain of having her consciousness stolen in her past life seemed to return with a vengeance. Sheng Yangkui rubbed her face against Wen Xinghuo's palm, like a kitten's innate attachment.
"In everyone's eyes, each generation's Queen is just a shell. Her consciousness is stolen by that thing, and when the body reaches its limit, it will choose the next person."
Among the many galactic nations, several had hereditary Queens.
Usually, the national structure was similar to that of the R-Galaxy: the Queen would select someone from the royal family, who would be raised in the royal palace and then succeed the throne after being chosen.
They could not marry, could not bear children, and had to be female Omegas.
"So when one becomes the Queen, does that person die?"
Wen Xinghuo wiped away Sheng Yangkui's tears and asked her softly, like a lover's whisper.
Sheng Yangkui shook her head. "I don't know, but I still have my consciousness."
"After a complete invasion, it can share all my memories and can act very much like me."
"Whether it's movements, expressions, or habits, even..."
She closed her eyes. "The fact that I like you... it knows that too..."
Xi Zhoumeng's earlier sharpness had left a deep impression on Sheng Yangkui. She furrowed her brow in pain. "I didn't want to, but... but it just..."
Wen Xinghuo: "What made you like me?"
After speaking, she paused. "When."
Sheng Yangkui: "I liked you the very first time I saw you."
These words were hard to say. Sheng Yangkui buried her face in the crook of Wen Xinghuo's neck as she spoke. Feeling the other's scorching body heat, she said with her eyes closed, "You were very, very good to Chi Yueshan. I was so jealous, but I had no way of getting close to you."
Sheng Yangkui's voice was very, very soft. Even though many years had passed here, she still didn't sleep well.
She dreamed of the past, sometimes unable to distinguish between then and now.
"I thought about engineering a chance encounter with you, to say hello. But you were so busy, always walking so fast."
"Unless Chi Yueshan was standing beside you."
Sheng Yangkui stared blankly, her voice like a murmur. "She was so lively, and seemed to be happy with everyone. When you stood with her, you weren't so serious either; you were always smiling."
"Lately, I've been dreaming a lot about that time. When I wake up, I feel like I did something wrong."
"Should I not have stolen you away? Should I not have appeared at that time? Maybe you would still..."
Wen Xinghuo didn't speak. The aromatherapy diffuser in the room steamed, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights were still brilliant.
She wasn't that Wen Xinghuo, after all.
And she only acknowledged this Sheng Yangkui.
"Did that me... like Chi Yueshan?"
After a long pause, Wen Xinghuo asked.
Sheng Yangkui shook her head. "I don't know. I never heard any news about you two getting married. Instead, I heard that an Alpha once pursued Chi Yueshan very intensely, even challenged you, and then lost."
Wen Xinghuo: "Then she and I weren't in that kind of relationship."
She said it with great certainty.
"Besides, I'm not the type to pledge myself to someone just because they saved me."
Wen Xinghuo picked up Sheng Yangkui. Due to the sudden feeling of being suspended in the air, Sheng Yangkui gasped and hooked her arms around Wen Xinghuo's waist.
Wen Xinghuo walked with a steady gait, carrying Sheng Yangkui to pick out a dress.
"I like you simply because you are Sheng Yangkui, not because you are the Sheng Yangkui who saved me."
The questions asked, one by one, during those unbearable nights were the reason Wen Xinghuo had held on until now without collapsing.
In truth, she could have survived without Sheng Yangkui. It's just that no one knew her heart had once been full of holes, with no one to mend it.
Xi Zhoumeng had no intention of going back either.
The elevator descended slowly. She glanced in the mirror, then looked down at Chi Yueshan, who looked fast asleep.
"Are you really drunk?"
She gave her an impolite jolt. "Stop playing dead. I can't carry you anymore."
Only then did Chi Yueshan open her eyes. "If you can't carry me, don't force yourself."
Although she said that, she had no intention of getting down.
Her face was flushed and she reeked of alcohol. While she wasn't dead drunk, she was indeed a bit dizzy.
Xi Zhoumeng: "I suddenly really want to kiss you."
Chi Yueshan, who had been prepared to be put down, was momentarily stunned.
Then she became a little annoyed. "Do you announce it before you enter when we're in bed?"
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