Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 1018 Beautiful Scenery (Part )

Li Li slowly stood up from the wooden box covered with woven cloth. She took two steps forward like a person whose body was stiff from sitting for a long time, moving her elbows and wrists while taking off her heavy leather gloves. Luo Binhan looked at her from behind with curiosity.

"You ignored the wishes of your deceased friend," she said as she took off her gloves, "and you didn't care about the welfare of the entire race. So now I can only ask you once again, sir - what do you want to do?"

Robinson blinked. "I'm going to prove something," he said. "You know, a lot of people say I look a lot like... like one of my parents, but I don't like that statement. I've always hoped to get a chance to prove it wrong."

"Do you really have to prove it this way?"

"It's the only way to prove it. What else? I'll take a taxi home now, order myself a seafood dinner, and then go to the sauna? Then I can have a good sleep tonight. And tomorrow, my mind will be full of thoughts about how to deal with my sister's questioning. What about the day after tomorrow? Maybe you will arrange for Shi Qi to come to my house, and we will happen to win two tickets for a free trip to Europe when we go to the coffee shop to talk? Every day of my life from now on, I will encounter new situations, those trivial things that can distract me, so I can say to myself: Let's just let it go today, and leave the big things I am determined to do until tomorrow, when the time and atmosphere are more appropriate."

"I just ask you to keep this in mind for now. We can wait for other opportunities. I can guarantee that your life span will be able to withstand this kind of waiting." Li Li added calmly, "especially in the current situation."

"Really?" Robinson exhaled the last puff of his cigarette and crushed it on the ground. "I went back home and lived the life of a rich man day after day, year after year, until finally one day - maybe when my sister's wedding came, or when my own child was born - I found that I had forgotten all the feelings at the time. I had done some bad things, and two friends died? That might have happened ten years ago. Everyone has lost relatives and friends by the time they are forty or fifty, right? Since this happens to everyone, why should I get angry about it? Maybe I will even think that I was quite ridiculous at that time. What resentment? What resentment? After all, isn't this what life is all about?"

"Don't you even believe in your future self?"

"Hasn't everyone who ultimately failed been young before? Have they never sincerely believed that they could remain consistent? They just said 'Just be patient for now' when they were young, and then they endured all the way until they were bloated and finally ended up in the urn. No, Li Li, you can't delay time. This is not a problem that can be solved by sleeping on straw and eating bitter food. I know that time and opportunity are on the side of those who are more prepared, in other words, they will be on your side. As for me? I have only one principle to tell you: the first time is the best, the second is weaker, and the third is the worst."

"You are being too paranoid now!"

"What does it matter? There are many non-biased and generous people in this world. They won't be corrupted by just one person like me, right?" Luo Binhan said softly, with a smile on his face. "I just want to satisfy myself."

Li Li didn't even look back at him. She looked out over the wetlands, her ungloved right hand resting on her waist, like a cowboy in a western checking his gun bag before a duel.

"I understand that you hate the flaws in our species' nature; I can only admit your desire to get rid of them. But, sir, what about those more specific people? Those people you can name, but in your eyes, they are just like ants without any constant nature? Your parents?"

"They don't really need me," Robinson said. "They all have their own places. And to be honest, neither of them is particularly innocent now."

"What about your brother? The one who is closer to you by blood? What did he do wrong in your eyes?"

"When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?" Luo Binhan whistled frivolously. "Besides, he and I are not particularly close. Anyway, he has never been my favorite brother."

"So it seems that Mr. Zhou Yu made a wrong judgment?"

Luo Binhan raised his eyebrows. He didn't know how the topic turned to Zhou Yu. Although Li Li didn't turn around, she noticed his doubts. There was a hint of restrained sarcasm in her voice: "A long time ago, when you just came back here, Mr. Zhou Yu used the correct password to log in to my backup email account and sent an anonymous email to your brother to inform him that you had returned."

"What's your email account?"

"Yes. The confidentiality level of that account is very high, and Mr. Zhou Yu could only get the password from me. The only thing he did with this account was to send that email. However, the wording of that email was not like his habit, and I have to speculate that his action was the result of accepting some kind of advice."

"What kind of advice do you think that is?"

"In my opinion, Mr. Zhou Yu's behavior is like making an unfounded effort. Perhaps he thought that improving your relationship with your brother in advance would be helpful in the future when certain situations arise, and you would exercise self-control for the sake of brotherhood - now it seems that this idea is wrong."

"That's totally wrong," Robinson said. "It's ridiculous and outlandish. If someone was stupid enough to try such an idea, no wonder that idiot was the first to be eliminated. He deserved his death."

"Do you really think so?"

"What? Do you think I was wrong? Do you want to stand up for that dead man?"

"You sound really mad to me."

Luo Binhan was about to say something, but suddenly he saw a glimmer of light in the dark hair behind Li Li's head. He realized that she was still observing him, so he stopped talking. "Whatever you say." He looked up at the sky nonchalantly, "I don't care about the life or death of a half brother."

"And your half-sister? I suppose she's closer to you?"

"How many more people are you going to lift?"

"Your sister is visiting me right now."

Luo Binhan's smile faded a little: "You shouldn't have involved her."

"You forced me to do this, sir!" Li Li said sternly, "Do you think I am willing to do such a thing? Excuse me, but if you insist on destroying our entire race, your sister will also be doomed!"

The anger in her voice was very presentable, with little bravado to be heard. But Luo Binhan just stared at the back of her head. "She'll be fine. After all, she's in your hands."

"You are testing my limits."

"Didn't you just boast that you can stand the test? Since you think you haven't talked about enough principles, then keep up the good work. Taking out your anger on a sixteen-year-old girl? This is not something you can do."

"You sound like you think you know me well."

"Yeah, didn't you even bother to look at 0206's expression?" Luo Binhan shrugged, "If you can really kill a girl younger than your sister, I'll be convinced."

Li Li turned back suddenly. Her expression was generally calm, but her muscles were stiff, which made her look scary. "How did you know, sir?"

"It's very simple. Someone told me." Luo Binhan said, "Besides, I have investigated you before, Li Li. Back then, not long after Zhou Yu was hospitalized, he asked me to investigate your name. At that time, you - I mean, you who have been promoted now - had not had time to erase all traces. I was able to learn something through my connections. After all, it's not easy to keep a family background like yours secret."

"So you remember it."

"You mean the forgetting spell?" Luo Binhan tapped his head. "Yes, on the day I went to No. 206 Dongyun Road, I saw with my own eyes who was hiding behind you and Jing Huang, and a layer of gray glass shattered in my head. At first it gave me a headache, but as time went by, I could feel that things were becoming clearer and clearer, my memory was getting smoother, and I found more and more surprises... You are just one of them. There is another more important thing, that is, Zhou Yu's mother is still alive. She is a witch with some strange abilities, and she ran away from home to protect her daughter. Moreover, I know her former address."

"So you have been looking for her during this time."

"Feng Chuxing is an absolute loser." Luo Binhan said with a smile, "Do you know how many wonderful 0206 gadgets he has in his basement? He had great hopes of setting up a trap to kill me when I invaded his hometown, but he seemed to think that these traps would not work on you, so he did nothing to avoid arousing suspicion... In short, there are a few small devices that are very helpful for long-distance travel. With these things, every time I ask people to stop their cars on the side of the road for help, nine out of ten times I can succeed, especially when I am with my brother who is born with a disability and is in a coma with a high fever - don't be nervous, I didn't really make that kid a fool, but he may be a little lame in the future. A bullet broke his ankle bone, and I didn't treat it seriously."

Li Li remained silent. Luo Binhan looked at the strange, silver-gray hand on her waist, and continued, "It really took me a lot of effort to avoid your surveillance during the journey. But the place where she lives is remote enough, and there are almost no eyes you can use. Besides, I am smarter than Zhou Yu at the time, so I went to live in a nearby village for a few days. I said that my brother who had a high fever was possessed by evil spirits, and someone told me to come here to find a master who could help him. I acted hard enough, and the people there were not bad people, so soon someone quietly pointed out a more specific location to me. Finally, I found 'Zimuniang' in a mountain - that's what the locals called her - to be honest, she looks so much like Zhou Yu, and it makes me laugh to see her farming there. Do you know how she goes to the village market? She drives a second-hand tractor. She also told me some interesting stories about you back then, such as what your sister drew before she committed suicide."

Li Li didn't react. She kept looking back, her eyes like a deep well. "You didn't go to learn farming from her, did you?"

"Oh, of course not. I went to ask her how to get into the city."

"How did she answer you?"

"She told me to get out. Apparently she was on Zhou Yu's side," Luo Binhan said. "But I had a knife at the time..."

"gentlemen?"

"Don't be angry so quickly. That's Zhou Yu's biological mother, I won't do anything to her no matter what. Besides, she's a real witch, the kind that can make you see ghosts, and there's no benefit in using a knife against her. I just put the knife to my neck and told her that I would try it no matter what. Not all souls have to rely on some bullshit ritual to get in there, right? Some people simply die and then get chosen somehow. Maybe I have that kind of luck! She had no choice in the end - after all, I was her daughter's last living friend." "Which ritual did you use?"

"The one that suits me best," Robinson said. "It just so happens that there is a method that is specially prepared for a certain type of person. Zhou Yu's mother called it 'shadowing'. The method is indeed quite strange. I will summarize it simply: it involves seven kinds of blood sacrifices, a large circle of bonfires, a little skin injury, and the shadow of the flame."

"So," Li Li asked calmly, "did you succeed?"

"Obviously only losers would sit here." Luo Binhan bared his teeth at her. "First of all, I'm not the kind of person who fully meets the requirements of the ceremony; secondly, Zhou Yu has blocked the road. So, I also know that this thing is unlikely to succeed."

"Then why do you bother?"

"Lot," Robinham said softly, "I don't have to go in there... My goal is just Lot."

Li Li's hand on his waist dropped down, like a rope being let down and swaying in the wind. "Sir, what did you find in Feng's basement?"

"A lot," said Luo Binhan. "Most of them are probably things you don't like, such as this: Feng Chuxing knows how 0206 induced mutations - they call it mutation - to induce that kind of blood to combine with ordinary people. However, this combination must be completed in a specific environment, not in that city, but halfway to there, a place that most experimenters would describe as a garden or wilderness. If the ritual process is normal, they should not be awake when they arrive there, but 0206 has done some tricks in their heads, and with that kind of blood... they will eventually become like Lot. Initially, this kind of mutation was to allow them to play a role after entering that city, but Li Li, from the example of Lot, we can see that they don't have to enter that city. They can completely turn back halfway with their own strength. You see, now all the elements are complete: I have blood, the mutagenesis equipment that Feng Chuxing gave me for free - it was originally taken by Zhou Wenxing to use for Lot, and fortunately that kid returned it - and Zhou Yu's mother helped me with the ritual."

"Does she know the true purpose of your ritual?"

"I guess she just wanted me to give up. She wanted me to perform the ritual myself and come back empty-handed, and then bring me back from the fire, and then I'd accept the fact. Of course, she was right about that. Fortunately, I'm not really in a hurry to go to the underworld. After all, I still have a score to settle here."

"What do you want to settle?"

"Oh, Li Li, you still can't figure this out with your brain?"

"Sir, Luo De is definitely not a match for Zhou Wenxing. We can confirm this from Mr. Cai Ji. Even if you are stronger than both of them——"

"I'm really different from them." Luo Binhan said, with a strange look on his face. "I don't know what the problem is. Maybe the mutagenesis was not done well, or the blood I got was different from theirs. When I walked halfway along the shadow of the flame, what appeared in front of me was indeed a garden, but... there was already something in the garden. I didn't really see it, but I knew it was there, and... I felt it was waiting for me. This thing was there just to wait for me. It couldn't get out of the garden, so it kept waiting for me to get there. I wanted to wait until the mutagenesis was completed and then try to walk forward to see how the city was blocked, but the thing forced me to flee. I couldn't deal with it, not even once. Before I escaped from the boundary of the garden, the shadow of the thing just brushed my cheek lightly, and when I woke up, I found myself screaming, and Zhou Yu's mother pinched my neck and asked me what I had done."

He reached out and touched the left side of his face. "There are some weird things growing on this side of my face, the kind that you can tell at a glance shouldn't grow on a living person... I had to pull them out piece by piece, otherwise I wouldn't be able to rent a house here. And I can't really let it heal, because I found that those things seem to grow again."

Li Li stared at the scar under his finger: "Do you think this is enough to achieve your goal?"

"At least it's easier than before. Now I don't have to worry about breaking bones."

"But where are you going to find him?"

"I want him to come to me. He'll be back soon, for I have something he wants again. He must come back before I destroy it--in any way."

"Even if he comes, how are you going to defeat him?"

"I didn't plan to beat him," Robinson said. "I just wanted him dead."

"You can't kill him! Not even if you blow up the planet beneath us!"

"That's right. But... on the day I went to No. 206 Dongyun Road, Zhou Yu told me something very interesting. He told me that 0206 had planned to kill Jing Huang, and there were two alternative plans: the first one, it turned out that it could indeed kill Zhou Yu, but I don't like this, the effect of the spirit field blocker is too mild, not to my taste at all. Turn Zhou Wenxing and I into temporary ordinary people? Then you should send people to rush over and capture both of us. But, the second one... the second way can ensure that no one survives. As long as you fall into it, even the gods in Chi County will be doomed."

He smiled and stretched out his hand to Li Li, with his palm flat and facing upward, like a child asking for a New Year's red envelope from his elders. "Li Li, I need the 'Jingkou'. Give it to me before tonight, and I will tell you where Fengchuxing is. I have never asked him what the activation code is, and only he knows how to save this planet. You need him, just like I need the Jingkou."

"I can look for it myself," Li Li said. "Since I know where you've been, I can analyze your whereabouts and search for any place where you could hide a living person—"

"I buried him alive," Luo Binhan said happily. "While recuperating at Zhou Yu's mother's house, I learned some carpentry skills. I made a spacious coffin myself, left him an oxygen tank and three small water bags that could be bitten with teeth, and buried him deeper than Zhou Yu. That was several days ago. In order to prevent him from suffocating to death prematurely, I also did a special analysis and calculation."

Luo Binhan reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small portable notebook. He opened the cover and read: "Based on the volume of the container and the oxygen content in the air, plus the additional reserve of an oxygen cylinder, divided by the hourly oxygen consumption of an adult male under extreme conditions, um... it looks like he can only live for another thirty hours at most. Sorry, I didn't mean to stay so late. I was a little distracted by farming."

He snapped the notebook shut and put it back in his pocket. "How is it?" he asked Li Li, "Thirty hours to dig a person out of the vast land beneath our feet."

"You know that the High Spirit Belt Traction Well almost destroyed the Wuyuan Base. It destroyed our entire star system in the blink of an eye."

"Almost," Robinson said, "after the wellhead overflows. In other words, at least ten minutes after it is fully started. Ten minutes is enough for me to finish, I promise."

"Do you think you still have any credibility now? Or have we had few accidents so far?"

"You don't have a choice anyway."

"I have."

Li Li was silent for a moment. Then she said, "You have friends on the moon, too, sir. What do you have to pay for what you lost?"

"I leave them all to you," Robinson replied. "Li Li, as I said before, you are always the one who stays rational among us. As long as you make the right choice, they will be fine. You are always reliable - in fact, I don't know why you are so reliable."

"I can tell you why," Li Li said, "You have investigated me, and you must have heard the rumors about my stepmother."

"I heard some boring love affairs."

"She was a prophet and also a painter. In her early days, she had many imitations of famous artists. One of them was called "Apricot Blossoms," which is now hanging in your sister's home. She entrusted it to a friend in a theater troupe, who gave it anonymously the year your sister was born."

Luo Binhan's raised hand sank slightly. "That painting?" He pondered and recalled, and soon came up with an answer, "What is that? A warning to you?"

"I don't understand it that way. My stepmother had been to Regenberg in person when she was young, but I didn't find any record of her staying in the local hotel. She only left purchase records, including a sleeping bag, a tent, and a camping lantern. I have to think that she went to spend the night in the woods around Regenberg, which was quite abnormal behavior for her. Many years later - even after her death - your sister got lost in the same woods for a whole night. She was still very young at the time, and after being rescued, she told the doctor who examined her a story about a forest fairy. The details of the story were so vivid that the doctor was impressed, so he was able to pass it on to the investigators I sent many years later. The appearance of the forest fairy, at least to me, was very similar to my stepmother. I think some of her actions many years ago changed your sister's fate, just like my sister changed mine."

Luo Binhan listened quietly. "It's fate." He finally said, "It seems that my feeling is right. You will never touch my sister."

"If you have a relative who can see into the future, this is not hard to understand," Li Li said. "If they would rather sacrifice their lives to change the course of certain things, they would never leave the worst option to me. All I have to do is try my best."

"How else can you do this? Ask me to stop?" Robinson asked. "Ask me to stop caring about that wolf out there—"

He didn't finish. Li Li's right hand, which was hanging by his side, was suddenly raised forward; there was a marble-sized hole in the center of the silver-gray palm, and a slight sound similar to that of a jet engine came from the hole. Before Luo Binhan could blink, a blue-white flame shot past his cheek and shot backwards. It was a few seconds later that he felt the pain, as if the sharp tongue of the campfire was licking his scar again. He turned his head to look behind him, and saw a charred line of fire in the middle of the cornfield, and billowing gray smoke gradually grew with the wind; he turned his head back, and Li Li still pointed his palm at him, this time at the center of his face.

“I’m warning you,” she said.

Luo Binhan leaned back slightly, as if to appreciate the scene from a distance, and then looked away, looking at the endless autumn fields in the distance. His eyes were filled with intoxication with the beautiful scenery he saw. "The scenery is so beautiful," he said.

Thanks to @天则律 book friend for the Silver Alliance reward and for encouraging me to update.

(End of this chapter)