I Conquered the Villain Boss Chapter 88
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 88: A City Where Stars Could Be Seen
"It's a notebook." Without getting hung up on Guo Zhehao's hesitant answer, Si Xu came up with the answer himself.
Qin Huai was holding a notebook in his hand. Looking at the familiar cover, Si Xu's smile became even colder.
That notebook belonged to Jiang Yize –– he had seen Jiang Yize take it out more than once in the laboratory before. The cover of the notebook was a beautiful sketch of plum blossoms blooming in the snow.
For the young man who had lived in the laboratory since he could remember, the plum blossoms in the drawing that he had never seen before were really very special, so when he wasn’t doing experiments, he loved to stare at the drawing.
Every time Jiang Yize noticed his gaze, Jiang Yize would show off to him with a little pride about his wife's superb drawing skills –– he was a grown man in his early thirties, but when he mentioned the word "Mumu", he smiled like a child who got candy.
Because of Jiang Yize and the “Mumu” he mentioned, Si Xu had a deep impression of this notebook.
Qin Huai left the blockade zone quietly and returned here again after getting the notebook from the Jiang family's house.
Although he had little contact with Qin Huai, he knew that the man was very vengeful and had once bitten off the ear of a staff member in the laboratory.
The base tried to kill him, but when they failed to capture him, they set up a blockade zone and trapped him for half a year. It was only natural that he would come back for revenge.
Unexpectedly, when he saw his former subordinate being killed, Si Xu was not as angry as Chu Yuan. Instead, he strangely understood Qin Huai's thoughts.
In this apocalypse, the strong were respected. Min He and the members of the fourth team were not as skilled as Qin Huai, so they should not blame him for their deaths.
However...
"That guy and I really don't get along."
For him, revenge was as simple as a single blow, clean and neat. Yet, Qin Huai deliberately tortured his opponents with cruel means, letting them die in agony and despair...
"How silly," the man briefly commented.
"Professor Si..." Hearing Si Xu's mumbling, Guo Zhehao hesitated and asked, "Will you avenge Min He and the members of the fourth team?"
Qin Huai's superpowers were too strange. There might be many superhumans in Xiling base, but Si Xu was probably the only one who could deal with him.
"Avenge?" Si Xu asked in confusion, "Why do you say that?"
Guo Zhehao was stunned and blurted out, "Captain Min and her subordinates were harmed by Qin Huai. Aren't you going to avenge them?"
Compared to Guo Zhehao's agitation, Si Xu looked very calm. "I won't seek revenge."
"You..."
"Si Xu!" A clear female voice interrupted Guo Zhehao's angry questioning.
Outside the open door, the girl's slender figure floated in like a butterfly spreading its wings.
She skipped to the young man, grabbed his hand, and her fair cheeks were slightly flushed with surprise.
"Why are you here? When did you arrive? Have you finished your work in the laboratory? Are you here to see me?"
Si Xu patiently replied to her series of questions, "Yes, I came to see you."
"Hehe." After getting the key answer, Jiang Ran's silly smile became more obvious.
After she greeted Guo Zhehao, she led Si Xu out and said, "Si Xu, come and have a look. Captain Chu and I found something very important in the blockade zone."
As Guo Zhehao watched the two leave, the intense emotion in his eyes was replaced by anger. He clenched his fists, his eyes fixed on the last frame of the footage, and his eyes suddenly turned red.
……
Since Qin Huai escaped, the blockade zone had lost its meaning of existence, so there was naturally no point for them to stay there.
After leaving the blockade zone, Chu Yuan held a simple internal meeting to arrange the subsequent work. Jiang Ran led Si Xu to wait at the door of the conference room. She waited until Chu Yuan finished the meeting before pushing the door open and entering.
"Seventh Brother." When Chu Yuan saw Si Xu again, he exhaled and apologized guiltily, "It was my fault that Qin Huai ran away."
That guy's ability evolved too fast. Now that they had let him escape this time, it was uncertain how his ability would evolve when they met again next time.
"There’s no need to apologize." Si Xu said matter-of-factly, "It's good enough that you survived the battle with Qin Huai."
Qin Huai was the most cunning person, and he had a mutant psychic ability that no one knew about. It hadn’t been easy for Chu Yuan to break the influence of his psychic power.
"Seventh Brother, Qin Huai..."
"I’ll kill him." Si Xu replied, "I’m worried about leaving that mad dog roaming around outside."
After Si Xu said that, Chu Yuan did not continue to dwell on Qin Huai. "I plan to have the team leave for the base tomorrow, but I want to take Qi Yuan to Fengyang first. Seventh Brother, what’s your plan next?"
"I’m going to the Jiang family’s house first." Since he came all the way here, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the Jiang family’s house first.
After a pause of a few seconds, before Chu Yuan spoke, Si Xu added, "Jiang Ran, come with me." After saying that, he put one hand on the top of the girl's head and stroked it.
Chu Yuan, "... Okay."
……
Not liking the cold architectural style of the blockade zone and the bloodstains everywhere inside, Si Xu took Jiang Ran to rest in the car at night.
Without the bright lights, one could see the sky full of stars at night.
Jiang Ran leaned on the lowered car window. She looked at the starry sky, then at the young man leaning against the car, and smiled.
After smoking a cigarette, Si Xu lowered his eyes and glanced at the smiling girl. "Jiang Ran."
"Yeah?"
"Do you like stars?"
"Yes, I do."
"In the world you lived in, could you see a starry sky like this?"
Jiang Ran blinked.
When asked this question, she was a little confused for a moment.
The world she lived in... Only a few months had passed since she came here, but she realized that her impression of the original world had unknowingly become blurred.
"In some places, yes." Jiang Ran recalled, slowly describing the world she had lived in, "In the city where I lived, the street lights and lights in various shopping malls and stores were turned on at night, and it was very bright. I couldn’t see the starry sky or the stars."
"Do you like a city like that?"
"..."
"Think carefully. Don't you think that a city where you can see the stars like now is better?"
This question...
Jiang Ran was silent for a moment and shook her head firmly.
Si Xu raised his eyebrows unexpectedly and chuckled. "Don't you like a city where you can see the stars? Don't you like stars?"
"I like stars, but I also like bustling cities." Jiang Ran, who was leaning on the window with her chin resting on her arms, sighed softly. "Although there might be many bad people and things happening in such a city, I felt very happy when I woke up in the morning, hearing the laughter of the children in the orphanage.
Many strangers seemed to be in a hurry, but they would slow down to help the elderly with disabilities when crossing the road. The owner of the breakfast shop would feed the stray dogs on the street corner with leftovers every morning. Once, a child in the orphanage had acute gastroenteritis, and the cab driver took us to the hospital for free...
Oh, by the way, when I was in the orphanage, I would receive clothes, books and toys donated to the orphanage by many people. They would not leave their names and never came to the orphanage to ask us for anything in return. "
The girl looked at the starry sky, smiled slightly, and described the world she once lived in with words full of gratitude.
"Si Xu, even though I couldn't see the stars in that city, it was also very beautiful –– it was full of life and earthliness, but was also very special."
Was that so? Si Xu took out a cigarette, but before he lit it, he suddenly remembered something and stopped lighting the cigarette.
Jiang Ran tilted her head and looked at him, puzzled. "Si Xu?"
"Can you stand the smell of smoke?" he asked.
It turned that you were worried about me? She opened the car door and got out, taking the lighter from him.
With a clear "hiss" sound, a small flame danced in the night wind.
Jiang Ran used her hands to block the wind and put the lighter in front of him. "It's okay for me, but it's better to smoke less."
She wanted to light a cigarette for him? Si Xu smiled and lowered his head to light the cigarette with the fire in her hand.
"Jiang Ran."
"Hmm?"
"I've never seen a world like that." Si Xu looked up at the dark blue sky and the stars in the sky, and said with some regret, "I don't know what this city originally looked like."