As Qin Luo and the others were about to deal with the surrounding worker ants, the ground suddenly shook, and a massive rumble echoed from beneath.

They looked up, and wow! The Chairman had already instantly killed the Ant King!

Liu Hong’s eyes widened: “Is he even human?!”

They hadn’t even started, and he had already “stolen the house.”

Old Bai whistled: “The Chairman is so cool!”

Qin Luo: “Why is the emitter so effective in his hands?!”

Chen Chen: “It’s not the emitter’s problem; it depends on who uses it.”

Hu Feng: “After this league, emitters are going to sell out.”

After a large number of ants were killed, only the outermost ones remained, scattered and disorganized. Since they were already exposed, there was no need to pretend anymore.

Rong Shi simply joined them in clearing out the rest.

The rescue team was still delayed. The students trapped at the cave entrance by the ant swarm had to force themselves to fight for their lives, while also listening to Song Ke wailing. Their mental state was constantly on the verge of collapse.

At a moment of life and death, a first-year student from the Royal Academy shouted at Song Ke.

“Stop yelling!”

Song Ke clutched his shoulder wound, large beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead, his face distorted.

He roared in a hoarse voice: “How dare you yell at me?! Tomorrow, I’ll make your entire family disappear from Imperial Capital Star!”

The student didn’t recognize him and became even angrier when he heard that.

“You’d better worry about how to survive until tomorrow!”

Song Ke’s wide eyes were bloodshot: “You— hiss!“

Speaking too forcefully pulled at his wound, making him grimace in pain, his expression twisted. He was preparing to continue cursing after this wave of pain passed.

“The rescue team is here!”

Someone shouted loudly, and Song Ke’s eyes lit up, telling Lin Rui to go and guide the rescue team over.

“Tell them to come and carry me first!”

“Yes!”

Lin Rui’s heart filled with joy, but just as he stood up, he realized that it wasn’t the rescue team, but Qin Luo’s group.

Qin Luo squatted in front of Song Ke, who was slumped in the corner, desperately trying not to laugh out loud: “Sorry, the rescue team might have to wait. They’re nowhere in sight yet.”

“How is it—” Song Ke gasped repeatedly, craning his body to peer outside.

If something had happened to Song Yu, Qin Luo would never have reacted like this.

Could it be—

“God! How did they do that?!”

“I was wondering how we could last so long, turns out everything outside has been cleared!”

“That Chairman from the military academy is too strong! I’m going to rewatch this live stream playback when I get back!”

“They weren’t even injured at all! It’s a miracle!”

Gasps of astonishment filled the surroundings, making Song Ke’s head buzz. Through a gap, he saw Song Yu and Rong Shi standing far away under a large tree, perfectly fine, not a scratch on them.

He was so angry and in so much pain that he simply fainted.

Lin Rui: “Your Highness—!”

---

The banyan tree Rong Shi had chosen as a pivot was severely damaged, the rope deeply embedded in its bark. If it had been there much longer, it would probably have been severed.

Song Yu put away the rope from his emitter, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a blue object stuck to the bottom of Rong Shi’s emitter, which looked somewhat familiar.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Rong Shi: “A battery.”

Song Yu: “?”

The decapitated Ant King’s half-body lay askew on the ground, green, viscous fluid slowly oozing from the wound. The strong, foul odor made Song Yu feel nauseous.

He frowned, his expression impatient as he searched for Song Ke’s shadow in the crowd.

He had originally intended to break three of Song Ke’s ribs first, then throw him into the ant swarm to “enjoy” himself, but he hadn’t expected the other party to be severely injured before he could even make a move.

“Useless.”

[Hmph hmph, useless.]

Rong Shi: “…”

What does that have to do with you?

Putting away the emitter, they walked around the Ant King towards the cave.

They wanted to see how the “black hand” was doing. If he wasn’t miserable enough, they’d add a few more “cuts.”

“I haven’t settled the address issue with you yet—”

Song Yu was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly felt something strange underfoot.

He immediately tried to retreat, but it was too late.

“Damn it!”

A tentacle shot out from underground, wrapping around Song Yu’s calf and pulling him down.

Almost simultaneously, Rong Shi sensed the abnormality, drew his military knife, and prepared to cut off the tentacle.

But at that moment, the ground suddenly collapsed over a large area, and both of them lost their balance, their bodies sinking downwards.

“Hold onto me.”

Rong Shi’s face was grim. He wrapped an arm around Song Yu’s waist, took out the emitter he had just put away, and fired it at the banyan tree trunk.

After the ground sank, a large amount of soil slid into the ant nest’s passage. Only then did Rong Shi clearly see that what had wrapped around Song Yu was actually the Ant King’s dorsal tentacle.

It had already been decapitated, yet its nerves were still active!

The force on his leg was immense. Song Yu was being pulled by two forces simultaneously, upwards and downwards, and the area from his calf to his ankle was so painful it was almost numb.

He drew his military knife and painstakingly bent down, trying to cut off the tentacle.

But before the knife could even touch the tentacle, a long leg covered in barbs thrust towards them.

“Ah—!”

Screams echoed from afar.

Song Yu soon heard Qin Luo’s heart-wrenching yell.

“You’re not dead yet, why are you screaming so loudly?”

Song Yu retorted with a cold face, powerfully sweeping his military knife horizontally to block the long leg’s attack.

Rong Shi added a kick, pushing the long leg away, then looked around.

The Ant King’s body was sinking, and they were currently directly above its body, in the dangerous center, most vulnerable to attacks from its long legs.

If they continued to sink, Song Yu’s leg would be torn off.

Suddenly, another long leg thrust from behind Rong Shi.

Song Yu pressed on his shoulder, flipped him around, and used the force of the flip to swing his military knife.

After several back-and-forths, they simply couldn’t cut off the tentacle on his leg!

“Mmph!”

Song Yu’s bangs were damp, and sweat trickled down his smooth cheek: “Never mind, don’t worry about me.”

His low voice held an almost imperceptible tremor, and Rong Shi knew he was at his limit.

If they couldn’t change the situation, it was either death or losing a leg to survive.

Neither outcome was something Rong Shi wanted to see.

Three long legs suddenly thrust towards them simultaneously, giving them nowhere to escape.

Rong Shi simply couldn’t free his hands to help.

“Let go!” Song Yu yelled sharply, “If this continues, we’ll both die!”

Rong Shi gave him a deep look and said lightly, “Alright.”

His body suddenly went slack, and Song Yu plummeted into the collapsing pit.

He watched as the three long legs collided.

If they had been any later, they would have been impaled.

“Why did you come down too?!” Song Yu looked at Rong Shi, who was clinging to him tightly.

After putting away the emitter, Rong Shi drew his knife with a backhand, and using the momentum of their fall, took the opportunity to cut the tentacle on Song Yu’s leg.

“If I didn’t come down, I’d just watch you die?”

They soon fell onto the Ant King’s body. Rong Shi switched to the emitter, looking up for a place to anchor.

But the impact of the Ant King’s descent was too great. After the ground sank, it led to a large-scale collapse. If they didn’t get out soon, they would be buried alive.

There was a small rock protrusion on the upper left. Song Yu pointed to it, urgently saying, “There!”

Rong Shi immediately fired the emitter, but it was intercepted halfway by the Ant King’s tentacle, which then swung towards them.

Song Yu was about to dodge, but his left foot suddenly ached, and he almost fell.

Rong Shi shielded him and rolled to the side.

They avoided the attack but missed the only chance to get out.

Large amounts of sand and soil crashed down, the light gradually disappeared, and everything went black.

Rong Shi shielded Song Yu with his body, muttering, “Don’t move.”

“Are you crazy?!” Song Yu couldn’t believe it. “I don’t need your protection!”

At such a critical juncture of life and death, this person was still protecting him without hesitation. Why?

He suddenly heard a soft sigh near his ear, a deep, magnetic voice vibrating, making his ear itch.

“Just pretend I’m protecting a little cat.”

Song Yu’s heart skipped a beat, and just as he was about to ask for clarification, a sudden impact prevented him from asking further.

They were like stones thrown off a cliff, tumbling down, bumping and crashing.

---

Who knows how long it had been, Song Yu regained consciousness from the darkness, his eyes still pitch black, and a sharp pain in his leg.

Once his mind fully returned, a wave of panic washed over him.

“Rong Shi? Rong Shi?”

Falling from such a height and being buried in the earth, even an iron body couldn’t withstand it.

The person on top of him didn’t respond for a long time. Song Yu gritted his teeth and called out twice more.

His limbs couldn’t move; only his head could make small movements.

He could only rub his head against the other person, accidentally pressing his face against theirs.

It was still warm. Song Yu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

“Rong Shi, wake up?”

“Rong Shi, when the hell are you going to wake up?”

“Rong Shi?”

…

Song Yu’s voice became drier and drier, his heart feeling as if it was being pricked by needles, a continuous, dense pain spreading to his fingertips.

How could a menace like Rong Shi die so easily?!

In the quiet space, a wronged and cautious voice suddenly spoke.

[Master, please stop bullying the benefactor.]

Song Yu: “…”

All the bitterness in his stomach vanished without a trace.

Song Yu’s voice was cold: “01?”

[I’ve used too much energy today, and the weight I painstakingly gained is gone again, woohoo—]

Song Yu: “Is one spaceship full enough for you when we get back?”

[Enough, enough, enough! It’s more than enough! Thank you, benefactor! Love you~]

Song Yu’s face completely turned cold.

“Are you still pretending?”

Rong Shi: “…”

This little traitor.

Song Yu was so angry his teeth ached. He turned his head and bit fiercely on someone’s face.

“Hiss.”

Rong Shi pulled his face out of someone’s mouth: “I just woke up too.”

The space was small, forcing them to speak in close proximity.

Song Yu: “What’s the situation now?”

Rong Shi propped himself up slightly: “We rolled into the ant nest.”

Song Yu gained a little space and used his hand to feel the surrounding environment.

But what he touched wasn’t the texture of mud, but metal?

This question had just flickered through his mind when he heard Rong Shi say: “01, turn on the light.”

[Can I use energy-saving lights? (whispering)]

Rong Shi: “…”

Rong Shi: “Yes.”

Suddenly, the space brightened. Song Yu’s eyes narrowed from the glare. Once he adjusted, he almost thought he hadn’t woken up yet.

Hadn’t they fallen into an ant nest? What was this blue metal space?

If he had to say, it looked a bit like a mech’s escape pod.

Rong Shi: “Expand the space.”

[O-one time?]

Rong Shi: “Five times.”

[Wuwuwu—I’m thin again!]

The space, which was originally just enough for an adult to lie flat, gradually expanded. Rong Shi propped himself up, helped Song Yu sit up, and checked his leg.

His leg indeed hurt a lot, but Song Yu’s attention was completely drawn to this strange object.

“What is this?”

“Don’t you know?”

Rong Shi carefully took off his military boot, rolled up his pant leg. His slender calf was covered in bruises, and his ankle was severely swollen. He immediately frowned.

Song Yu was silent for a moment, then tentatively asked, “01?”

Rong Shi: “Mhm.”

He ran his hand over the metal wall. Song Yu’s expression was calm, but his mind was blank.

“What exactly is it?”

Rong Shi: “An auxiliary tool made by combining special metals and nanotechnology.”

[…]

Did his great 01 not deserve the name of an armored suit?!

Seeing that Rong Shi was willing to answer, Song Yu became interested and kept asking many questions.

Rong Shi answered what he could, gently pressing various parts of Song Yu’s leg bone to confirm that the bone was fine.

“01, scan.”

[Scanning tool 01 is at your service—scanning now—scan complete—this service has concluded, thank you for using it.]

The sudden mechanical voice made both of them pause.

Song Yu: “…Is it broken from the fall?”

Rong Shi checked the pop-up virtual window for the inspection report: “It’ll be fine after a few years of starvation.”

[QuQ]

Rong Shi: “Your bones are pretty hard, not even damaged like this.”

The corners of his lips subtly curled upwards, then he suppressed it, which to Song Yu looked like teasing.

“If my bones weren’t hard, how would I have survived until now?”

Rong Shi: “Scan the internal topography of the ant nest.”

The scan quickly appeared before them, accompanied by 01’s whiny voice.

[Don’t deduct my energy stones, I won’t do it again—]

Song Yu found it amusing: “Where did you get your hands on this?”

Rong Shi: “Custom-made.”

The interior of the ant nest was vast and complex, comparable to a city. Their current location was a  hole in the warehouse area, about fifty meters in a straight line from the surface, and they had drifted over a thousand meters during the fall.

Aside from the soil that had slid down with them, there were no collapsed areas here.

Rong Shi told 01 to withdraw from this xue hole.

The space actually moved. Song Yu’s eyes lit up.

Rong Shi saw him looking around like a curious child, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

After withdrawing, 01 shrank back, turning into a large light bulb floating in mid-air in front of them.

Everything inside the hole was clearly visible. There were some licorice and fruits placed here, looking very clean.

It could actually undergo such a massive transformation?! Song Yu was even more tempted.

“Where did you get it custom-made? I’ll pay ten times the price.”

Rong Shi: “It’s not for sale, but it’s not impossible if you want it—”

Song Yu: “I want it!”

Rong Shi looked into his eyes: “I haven’t set the conditions yet.”

Song Yu: “You name it, anything goes.”

Rong Shi shook his head helplessly, turned his back, and said, “Come here, I’ll carry you on my back.”

Song Yu: “No need.”

Seeing him try to walk out on his own, Rong Shi’s face turned cold: “Do you want a piggyback ride or a bridal carry? Choose one yourself.”

Song Yu: “…”

Five minutes later, they were walking down a narrow tunnel.

Song Yu had his arms around Rong Shi’s neck, leaning on his back, smiling casually: “If you weren’t a love rival, you’d make a pretty good friend.”

Rong Shi, carrying him: “If you weren’t an alpha, you’d make a pretty good wife.”

As they walked, they exchanged playful insults. When they reached a certain point, Rong Shi’s foot suddenly hit something. He looked down and saw a syringe.

“01, left.” Rong Shi turned into the nearest hole.

The moment they stepped in, both were stunned.

There was actually a laboratory in this hole within the ant nest?!

---

Author’s Note:

Song Cat: Actually—I really want to be friends with you.

Rong Bunny: But I don’t want to be your friend.

Song Cat: …

#First time in life proactively asking for friendship and being rejected#

Later—

Rong Bunny: Why be friends when you can be a wife and be happier?