MORIC - Chapter 149
Chapter 149: A World for Two is About to Begin
Chi Yueshan had fallen asleep again.
In her dream, the space around her distorted before she could even exchange more than a few words with Xi Zhoumeng after their union.
In a dizzying spell, she seemed to witness the stories of countless spaces before finally arriving in an unfamiliar world.
This place was a bit like the Lower World, but not quite.
After all, it wasn't shrouded in gray. Even in a small town, there was still sun and flowers.
But there were no light-brains; everyone used mobile phones.
Chi Yueshan's survival skills were inherently strong, and she could quickly extract useful information even in a strange place.
She got an ID card and, relying on her skills, found a part-time job at a repair shop.
This world had no secondary genders. Men were men, and women were women. Sexual orientation wasn't rigidly defined either.
In a nightclub, she saw women embracing and kissing passionately, and she also saw men walking hand-in-hand into a hotel.
She also saw a family of three stop in front of her toy stall. The atmosphere was so warm that she felt a little envious.
She clearly felt the changes in her own body.
Perhaps in this world without ABO genders, Alpha pheromones didn't have much of an effect on a pregnant Omega.
But she still felt empty, craving Xi Zhoumeng's touch.
At the same time, an invasive, unfamiliar sorrow filled her body. It seemed pregnancy really could make one sentimental. Even though she had earned a small sum, she would still feel lonely at night.
She thought to herself: Why do I have to work part-time everywhere I go? Can't I just experience the feeling of becoming a tycoon overnight for once?
The technology in this world wasn't as advanced as in her own, but many aspects were very similar.
Even without the Zerg or mechas, the planet's political power was still held by a castle in the sky. It was said that the royal family there had protected the galaxy's operation for generations.
The ZR-Galaxy. Chi Yueshan found it somewhat familiar.
During her breaks, she learned about the galaxy's history and some of this planet's secrets.
She discovered that meteorites were highly esteemed in this world, and their production was high, with various uses. Perhaps because meteorites had permeated every aspect of life, it led to a polarization of physical constitution.
People with congenitally poor health and those with excellent health were split fifty-fifty from birth.
But no matter the world, the extravagance of the upper class always felt exaggerated.
For example, in the small town in a district under the capital, Chi Yueshan found that her boss at the repair shop also loved to watch dramas about high-society disputes or the love affairs of the princesses from the castle in the sky.
It was rumored that the prince and princess siblings even had some scandalous news.
Earning money here wasn't as hard for Chi Yueshan as in her own world, but she didn't know when she would be able to return.
She could only save up more. As her belly grew, her movements became less agile, and she had to give up some long-distance part-time jobs.
She remembered one of the countless stories she had seen in the long, turbulent magnetic field before being pulled into this space.
Perhaps it wasn't just a story. After all, if she could travel to another world, it meant that story might have actually happened.
And she herself was in it. Was it a parallel universe?
Wen Xinghuo, the illegitimate daughter from the Lower World whose appearance was not accepted by others, had an extraordinary future, just as she had predicted.
She rose step by step to become the hero of the galaxy.
In that world, Wen Xinghuo was still with Xi Zhoumeng, but that Xi Zhoumeng was completely different from the one who had almost beaten herself to a pulp. She was so radical, and her health was poor. It seemed she genuinely liked Wen Xinghuo.
At first, Chi Yueshan was just passing the time, writing down the scattered stories of the parallel universe she had seen.
But she was just too bored. And she didn't dare make friends in this world, so she simply integrated everything and wrote it into a satisfying interstellar novel.
The readers, at least, didn't cause her this kind of trouble, and the story she wrote, which was ostensibly fiction but actually based on real people and events, was quite popular.
It was technically creative nonfiction, but no one knew.
Chi Yueshan even planted a foreshadowing of Sheng Yangkui's rebirth, since the Sheng Yangkui in that world was so miserable.
What was so great about being a princess? She was just a puppet, and in the end, even her death had to be granted by others.
Wow, I didn't expect Senior Wen to have a secret admirer in the princess.
Then I should probably leave some hope, right?
But Chi Yueshan didn't write about herself. She didn't know how to write it properly.
It was quite embarrassing.
More and more people read it, and many gave donations. Somehow, they even started competing with each other.
She had a very arrogant number one fan on her leaderboard.
The amount of money from the donations even surpassed what Chi Yueshan earned from writing the book.
After much thought, Chi Yueshan contacted the person.
Other authors did this too, letting readers name supporting characters.
The person seemed to have their days and nights reversed, and their replies were a bit slow.
And a bit perfunctory.
At first, they suggested names like Cuihua and Green Hair.
Then, for some reason, they had a change of heart.
First, they sent a sentence.
【I like the dawn redwood under the moon in the pond water.】
A few minutes later: How can I not retract this?
【Forget it.】
【Just call her "Chi Yueshan".】
Chi Yueshan didn't see it until she woke up the next day.
She was stunned for a long, long time.
So long that tears splashed onto the table, so long that she was almost late for work.
Chi Yueshan touched her belly and thought: So this is your world.
No wonder you muttered about what bad luck it was to transmigrate into a book in such a godforsaken place when you marked me.
Back then, I thought you'd gone crazy from differentiating into an Alpha.
At this moment, Chi Yueshan had never missed Xi Zhoumeng so much.
She couldn't even distinguish between the dream and the world outside it, or which world the outside should be.
It seemed her dream was meant to be a folded space, all for her "dream."
Xi Zhoumeng returned to the place where she had separated from Wen Xinghuo, only to find that the situation here was also dire.
Real Zerg and mechanical Zerg were fighting, their fluids splattering everywhere. Wen Xinghuo's mecha stood tall amidst the chaos, looking stable, but it seemed it was also on its last legs.
After all, Wen Xinghuo's mecha was powered by high-grade fuel. Even though they had prepared a lot for this trip, they hadn't expected the Zerg to come out in what seemed like full force.
Moreover, they had prepared for Xi Mingguang's arrival, but unfortunately, Xi Zhoumeng's dear Alpha mother had yet to appear.
The heavy snow sealed the mountains, and even the cold machinery seemed to be clad in an armor of snow. As a new wave of Zerg retreated, Xi Shuang took advantage of the brief respite to go to Wen Xinghuo's mecha cockpit.
Xi Zhoumeng picked up Chi Yueshan and found that she had a fever.
Her whole body was scorching hot, and she kept talking nonsense.
Xi Zhoumeng gave her a fever-reducing shot, holding Chi Yueshan and listening to her unconscious whispers.
She didn't know what Chi Yueshan was dreaming about, but she was crying constantly.
And saying it hurt a lot.
Xi Zhoumeng lovingly kissed her lips and gave her a nutrient supplement.
Her mecha's propulsion was driven by fuel and her spiritual power, so she was also quite exhausted.
A few tubes of nutrient solution only managed to clear her head slightly before a new Zerg Tide arrived.
This time, Xi Zhoumeng clearly sensed that the leading Zerg was different.
Over the comms, Wen Xinghuo sensed it too. She reminded Xi Zhoumeng, "This is an unrecorded Zerg type."
And compared to the other grotesquely ugly ones, this high-grade Zerg was surprisingly fresh and refined in appearance.
It had wings as thin as a cicada's, with iridescent patterns flowing on them, and even the antennae on its head were...
Xi Zhoumeng: "A Mary Sue Zerg?"
I think I've seen it before.
Just now, in the images the system showed me.
Wen Xinghuo didn't understand. Xi Shuang, who had been tearfully re-bandaging Ling Xun's wounds, suddenly burst out laughing.
Sheng Yangkui quietly explained to Wen Xinghuo, "It means a person... uh, or thing... that's so exaggeratedly perfect it's unrealistic."
Wen Xinghuo felt that the term should be applied to Xi Zhoumeng, but she didn't dare say it.
But there was someone in the cockpit who loved to stir up trouble: "As expected, Mary Sues only lock onto other Mary Sues."
Xi Zhoumeng narrowed her eyes. "What did you say?"
Xi Shuang scratched her head. "Just kidding."
Xi Zhoumeng looked at the distant Zerg. She had a feeling that it was looking in their direction.
The snow was falling heavily, and their vision seemed to become a vast expanse of white.
Xi Zhoumeng pulled the control stick and said to Wen Xinghuo, "I'll attack from the front, you cover the rear."
After speaking, she transmitted the current map, where dense green dots represented this wave of Zerg.
Xi Zhoumeng had circled an area on it, telling Wen Xinghuo to attack according to the circle she had drawn.
Xi Shuang and Ling Xun, the two patients, were crammed into Wen Xinghuo's mecha cockpit. Unable to join the battle, they could only watch Wen Xinghuo's control screen.
Xi Shuang: "Zhoumeng never learned this stuff before. How is she doing it?"
Only two mechas were facing a new wave of Zerg, including a high-level one. And after several rounds of fighting, their fuel was running low.
Xi Zhoumeng left the front to herself, allowing Wen Xinghuo's mecha, which excelled at close combat, to attack directly from behind.
Ling Xun leaned on Xi Shuang's shoulder, her eyelids drooping, her body weak from her injuries. Out of curiosity about the battle, she kept her eyes open to watch.
She said listlessly, "I'm so useless."
Xi Shuang pulled her closer into her arms. "What are you thinking? Their ancestors were all top-tier military officers, not to mention their mechas are made of different materials."
She was a person who was good at self-consolation. At this moment, despite being covered in injuries, she could still cheerfully comfort her cousin, "Don't compare. It's enough for everyone to contribute what they can."
Ling Xun hummed in agreement.
She reached out and hugged Xi Shuang's waist, thinking of the image of this person dying in battle in her dream.
She felt like crying again.
Both of them were covered in the thick smell of blood, yet huddled together, they seemed indestructible.
Sheng Yangkui looked at Wen Xinghuo, then at the two cousins huddled together behind her, and thought: This time, it will definitely be a different future, right?
Although Xi Zhoumeng was a proper Omega in this world, she had a Commander Alpha mother. The Xi family possessed a wealth of information, which was an inherent asset of a great family.
If not for Xi Mingguang's feat of marrying young back then, the Xi family might have been taken down long ago.
When Xi Zhoumeng was truly bored, she would glance through it. Coupled with her top-tier spiritual power, she didn't need to painstakingly ponder many things; her brain simply calculated them naturally.
This wave of Zerg was much harder to deal with than the previous ones.
The Xi family's mecha was inherently defense-oriented, perhaps because its first owner was a commander who didn't engage in combat often.
After being modified by Chi Yueshan, its defense coefficient was even higher, and its attack power was also significantly increased.
Xi Zhoumeng piloted the mecha as if arranging flowers, rarely resorting to brute force.
Most of the time, she moved slowly and deliberately. She wasn't in a hurry, which in turn made her enemies impatient.
And once they became impatient, Xi Zhoumeng would seize the opportunity to execute them cleanly.
Xi Shuang watched her mecha advance elegantly through the chaotic snow and exclaimed, "Why is this fellow still acting like this even as an Alpha?"
Ling Xun: "A mecha's personality is also related to its wielder's."
Wen Xinghuo's style was very different. If Xi Zhoumeng was arranging flowers, she was making it rain—a rain of blood, her wildness self-taught.
Beneath a somewhat overly calm exterior was a scorching heart. Her will was truly bright, which made her mecha seem to carry its own fire, capable of burning the Zerg to ashes.
The plan Xi Zhoumeng had arranged was nearly perfect.
The only flaw was her inability to estimate the combat style of this undocumented Mary Sue Zerg.
Unlike the almost copy-paste attacks of the low-grade Zerg, this one hadn't moved at all, merely adjusting its position in response to the two mechas' movements.
Until it was surrounded.
Its body was enormous but not ugly, and it kept staring at Xi Zhoumeng's mecha. It gave off an extremely strange feeling, as if it had no attack power at all.
But that was clearly not the case. Any low-grade Zerg that carelessly bumped into it was mercilessly killed. Those wings, which could be called beautiful, were incredibly sharp, like an enhanced meat grinder.
Wen Xinghuo activated the bombardment function and was just about to take aim when Xi Zhoumeng suddenly shouted, "Don't!"
Wen Xinghuo retracted the command, but one shot still slipped through, striking the Zerg's multicolored shell.
It vanished as if a drop of water had fallen into a lake.
Wen Xinghuo: "What is this thing?"
She watched the snow fall and noticed that the snowflakes were also being absorbed by this Zerg.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Fall back."
This thing seemed to have its own magnetic field. If they got any closer, they might fall into a folded space again.
Was it really just a high-grade Zerg?
Its wings still emitted a golden glow, which at this moment possessed a twisted kind of beauty.
Another chilling crawling sound, and waves of Zerg converged again from all directions, as if they were back at the very beginning.
Xi Shuang cursed.
Sheng Yangkui held her breath.
She had never seen so many Zerg. The Zerg Queen's lineage was passed down through generations. If their goal was to completely defeat humanity, why would they lie dormant?
Their reproduction rate was so fast. Where on earth did these things come from?
Could it be that there was more than one Zerg Queen?
The royal history of the ZR-Galaxy had no records of the first queen's life. Sheng Yangkui had also paid attention and tried to find some historical clues, but she only learned that the first queen was also one of a set of triplets.
Wen Xinghuo: "We're going to the base."
There were more automated attack mechas there. Wen Xinghuo suspected that if they continued to be worn down, all of them would die here once their fuel ran out.
Wen Xinghuo's physical body could hold out for a while, but not against such a large number of Zerg.
Besides, if humans could have fought with their bare hands, mechas wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere back then.
Xi Zhoumeng: "Do you think we can leave?"
Wen Xinghuo couldn't help but look at the feed Xi Zhoumeng switched to. It turned out that the ground beneath the thick snow was also teeming with Zerg.
And the Zerg-mimicking machines they thought could serve as a defense had been mostly destroyed.
These things stood on the damaged machinery, seemingly mocking humanity's foolishness in silence.
Xi Shuang: "Did the wireless device's error report get uploaded?"
She had almost forgotten they were in a practical training exercise. In a situation like this, the supervisor should at least be of some use, right?
Wen Xinghuo: "I found the supervisor's body when I came in."
She pursed her lips, still thinking about how to escape.
One high-grade Zerg was completely manageable for them, even if this Zerg had never been documented before.
But a group of high-grade Zerg along with low and mid-level ones was a huge problem.
With their fuel about to run out, the probability of them being completely wiped out was very high.
At that moment, Wen Xinghuo heard an alarm from Xi Zhoumeng's side.
Xi Zhoumeng's mecha had run out of fuel.
Just as Wen Xinghuo was about to speak, she heard Xi Zhoumeng say—
"Wen Xinghuo, come here."
Wen Xinghuo: "What?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "Now's your chance. I'm giving Chi Yueshan to you. I'll cover the rear."
Wen Xinghuo almost thought she had misheard.
Xi Shuang also looked up in shock. "Are you okay, Zhoumeng? Even if you're an Alpha now, there's no need to pull this kind of self-sacrificing drama to save the day."
Sheng Yangkui: "We leave together."
Xi Zhoumeng let out a laugh. "I have no desire to die together."
She confirmed that the surrounding Zerg were all low-level. When Wen Xinghuo's mecha approached, she used her mechanical tail to toss Chi Yueshan into Xi Shuang's arms with extreme speed, along with a small box that looked like a jewelry case.
"I briefly connected to Xi Mingguang's comms. She's almost here. Give this to her."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Coordinates Y1C7, Z2R4."
Wen Xinghuo subconsciously looked and saw that it was indeed an excellent breakthrough point.
Xi Shuang: "Are you crazy? Your mecha's defense, no matter how high, can't withstand that many high-grade Zerg, can it?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "Listen to me."
She possessed a natural leader's charisma.
Wen Xinghuo nodded, no longer delaying. "Okay."
The Moon-Swallower mecha carved a path of fire through the snow. The corpses of the low-grade Zerg burned with a foul stench. Xi Zhoumeng's mecha was like a silver flower blooming in the snowfield.
Under Xi Shuang's shocked gaze, Xi Zhoumeng met the swarming high-grade Zerg head-on. Pure white snow mixed with viscous biological fluid, as if a red rain was falling from the sky. The silver light was sharp and invincible.
Xi Zhoumeng's mecha fuel was also running low. The AI on the central console kept issuing warnings, and at the same time, the high-grade Zerg attacked again.
At that moment, Chi Yueshan, in Xi Shuang's arms, suddenly woke with a start. She shot her eyes open, and as if realizing something, she stumbled towards the pilot's seat.
"Open the hatch!"
Chi Yueshan roared.
Wen Xinghuo shook her head. "She entrusted you to me."
Xi Shuang: "Yueshan, calm down. Zhoumeng must have her..."
Chi Yueshan: "You shut up!"
Instead, it was Ling Xun who said weakly, "Let her go."
Wen Xinghuo said nothing.
Chi Yueshan stared at the screen, where she could barely see anything but the cold glint of Xi Zhoumeng's mecha's longsword.
It was as if someone was still fighting a lone battle amidst the swarm of Zerg.
Chi Yueshan thought of the palace she had seen in her dream. Xi Zhoumeng had been just like this then, too. Walking up the long steps bathed in blood, step by step, she had slain the source of her suffering.
What about this time? She's not alone.
She has me.
In the end, Wen Xinghuo opened the hatch.
It wasn't far, but Chi Yueshan didn't need her help. Wearing the coat Sheng Yangkui had draped over her, she stumbled and ran forward.
The wind and snow howled. She ran so hard that the world seemed to lose its color.
And just like that, she burst into Xi Zhoumeng's line of sight.
Xi Zhoumeng was still testing whether the magnetic field she needed existed around these Mary Sue Zerg, her mind rapidly calculating the data transmitted to her by the system. If she could find a matching peak value, perhaps she could return to the world she had transmigrated into.
She still needed to deduce for herself how much of an effect the Magnetic Star Meteorite could truly have.
But before Xi Zhoumeng could finish her calculations, she heard a familiar voice amidst the blazing sun and flying snow.
Chi Yueshan had actually come.
Xi Zhoumeng subconsciously looked over, but she failed to notice the high-grade Zerg in front of her had already attacked. Her mecha still had a vulnerability that Chi Yueshan hadn't been able to completely repair yet.
It had troubled Chi Yueshan for a long time back then, and she had felt very guilty, thinking her skills were lacking.
Instead, it was Xi Zhoumeng who had comforted her, saying that high defense was just as good, and besides, she didn't need to use a mecha anyway.
The Magnetic Star Meteorite did seem to weaken the Zerg's combat strength, and Xi Zhoumeng wanted to test it further. But at that moment, the mecha was struck at a weak point, and her spiritual power was affected as well. The defense at that vulnerability was too low. The attack on the mecha was reflected onto her, and the sharp pain in her abdomen almost made her curse out loud.
But more than her own pain, Xi Zhoumeng was afraid of Chi Yueshan being torn to shreds.
Is this person crazy?
But Chi Yueshan was indeed tough. She cleverly brought out the mecha belonging to Jiang Zhi that she had bound to her light-brain.
An Omega couldn't pilot it, only hide inside. She was clearly forcing Xi Zhoumeng to turn back.
Xi Zhoumeng was furious and rushed towards Chi Yueshan's mecha. The high-grade Zerg behind her became even more frenzied upon seeing that mecha and followed closely.
Xi Zhoumeng used her mechanical tail hook to pry open Chi Yueshan's hatch, trying to bring her to her side. But the high-grade Zerg attacked unexpectedly. Chi Yueshan fell heavily onto the snow. Xi Zhoumeng, disregarding everything else, also leaped down from her mecha's cockpit.
The high-grade Zerg was so enormous that its approach made the other Zerg stop swarming. Xi Zhoumeng held Chi Yueshan, and where she should have been thinking of some tragic, romantic poem, her only thought was—
It's over. I haven't even married this person yet.
I just made a big boast. How embarrassing would it be if I can't fulfill it?
She didn't realize that the magnetic field around them was changing more and more drastically. Chi Yueshan actually had the presence of mind to retract her mecha and tell Xi Zhoumeng to hurry up and retract hers.
Xi Zhoumeng was at her wit's end, about to scold her, when an invisible vortex appeared and twisted the space around them.
The moment she and Chi Yueshan retracted their mechas, they vanished from the spot.
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