As they spoke, Song Yu looked up, and 01 had already vanished.

His face showed no expression, but inwardly, he couldn’t remain calm.

To be able to be controlled by thought and transform into various weapons was already defying nature, and now it could even become a mech?

What incredible thing had Bunny given him exactly?

The venomous bees on the battlefield hadn’t been completely swept away, so Song Yu didn’t have time to ponder that question further.

He couldn’t help but retort sarcastically, “With just this much skill, how have you managed to survive until now?”

Old Lin wiped his face, his expression mortified. Remembering that they had just saved him, he was angry but ultimately refrained from saying anything harsh.

Rong Shi: “You haven’t dealt with bee swarms before?”

He asked, but Rong Shi knew clearly in his heart.

No matter how poorly managed the legion was, they wouldn’t rashly send out an inexperienced reclamation team.

“How could that be?!” Old Lin’s face turned red, and he retorted, craning his neck, “Our team is made up of experienced veterans! It’s just that the situation this time is too bizarre!”

Rong Shi: “Bizarre?”

“Yes!” Old Lin said gruffly, “Before setting off, we repeatedly confirmed that active bee swarms had been cleared, and the few remaining dormant beehives were also located and avoided. But somehow, when we got here, they suddenly—”

As he spoke, a buzzing sound echoed in the air, and three D3 mechs slowly descended.

“Where are the bee swarms?” A voice came from within a mech.

Old Lin scoffed, shouting back gruffly, “By the time you arrived for rescue, everyone would be dead!”

The leading D3 ordered the other two to deal with the remaining few venomous bees. The hatch on the mech’s leg opened, and a tall alpha led a rescue team out.

“You take the wounded up first.”

Qiu Tianhao instructed the rescue team, then walked over to Old Lin: “You couldn’t handle this many venomous bees?”

Old Lin pointed into the forest behind him: “Don’t just look at the sky, look at those.”

Qiu Tianhao’s gaze swept over, and his brows furrowed: “Has a mech already handled this?”

Old Lin: “Some brother passed by here and helped us deal with it.”

How could that be? Qiu Tianhao felt something was wrong.

According to the plan, it was impossible for a mech to pass by at this time, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been sent for rescue.

Catching sight of two young men dealing with venomous bees not far away, Qiu Tianhao’s eyes lit up, and his train of thought was interrupted.

Rong Shi was about to swing his knife, when the venomous bee in front of him was suddenly hit in the head and fell to the ground. He turned his head to look.

“You’re Rong Shi, right?”

Qiu Tianhao walked closer, extending his hand towards him. “I’m Qiu Tianhao, fourth year in the Mech Department.”

[Qiu Tianhao, fifteen years later, is the captain of the Second Legion’s Mech Unit. His skills are comparable to our Old Liu’s, but he’s better looking than Old Liu, hehehe]

Rong Shi: “…”

He reached out and lightly touched Qiu Tianhao’s hand: “Rong Shi.”

“You two know each other?” Old Lin came closer.

Qiu Tianhao: “First time meeting, but I really admire his ability.”

At this, Old Lin’s opinion of Rong Shi underwent a qualitative change.

Qiu Tianhao was a legendary figure in the Second Legion. Even before graduation, he was already a Second Lieutenant, having been internally selected by the legion early on. Now, he was a key cultivation target for the mech unit, having climbed to a height some people could never reach in their entire lives at a young age, and he definitely had a great future.

He had almost no bad habits and was completely different from people like them who just liked to boast.

Anyone he admired must also be excellent!

No wonder he could sweep the battlefield with just a military knife. He was truly wild.

After the number of bee swarms sharply decreased, the difficulty of dealing with them geometrically decreased. With two mechs helping, the situation was quickly stabilized.

The squad had a total of thirty people: two dead, eight seriously injured, and the rest were not much better off.

The medical team carried stretchers and bandaged wounds, busy on the battlefield.

Rong Shi asked Old Lin for the exact location of the incident, then called Song Yu, preparing to go check it out while others were being treated.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a member of the medical team, wearing a white uniform and carrying a medical kit, pass by from the side. Rong Shi couldn’t help but take another look.

That back was very familiar.

“What’s wrong?” Song Yu pulled out a wet wipe to clean the sweat from Rong Shi’s forehead. “Let’s go, weren’t we going to check it out?”

A violent cat acting gentle was truly irresistible.

Rong Shi’s lips curved slightly. He took Song Yu’s hand, which was about to be withdrawn, and walked towards the incident location.

The ground was covered in roasted venomous bees, and the mixed sweet and foul smell made Song Yu’s brows furrow.

“I don’t want to eat roasted meat for a while.”

Rong Shi: “…”

He took out a filter mask from his pocket and put it on Song Yu’s face: “This will help.”

“You wear one too.”

Song Yu felt his pocket, found his mask, and offered it to him.

Suddenly, his chin was lifted, and Rong Shi kissed him on the mouth through the mask.

“No need,” Rong Shi stroked his head. “If I wear a filter mask, I won’t be able to smell your scent.”

Song Yu: “…” Damn.

Couldn’t he give a warning before flirting?

The incident location Old Lin described wasn’t far and perfectly overlapped with the area 01 had circled. Rong Shi had a vague guess, but he needed to see it on-site to confirm.

The further they walked, the more venomous bees there were.

[Detected induction device 100 meters ahead, Master, be careful.]

Little Brother’s voice suddenly sounded in his mind. Song Yu pulled Rong Shi’s hand, conveying the message.

“As expected.” Rong Shi stopped and looked ahead, simultaneously recalling 01.

Song Yu looked around: “Why would an induction device be installed in a place like this?”

[Program cracked.]

The two continued forward, and a flower-shaped pot rapidly flew towards them.

[Little Brother, I miss you!]

[……]

The muddy path had many scattered footprints. Surrounding plants lay haphazardly, and broken branches hung down.

The further they walked, the more obvious the signs of battle became.

Rong Shi held his military knife in his right hand, purposefully walking half a step faster, shielding Song Yu behind him.

Reaching the location of the sensor, they could see a giant tree at least ten people wide through the forest.

The tree trunk had been hollowed out, and occasionally, venomous bees flew out of the tree hole.

Rong Shi: “This is it.”

Song Yu instantly understood his meaning: “Little Brother, activate the induction device.”

[Device activated—]

[Detected harmful wavelength, shielded.]

[Detected harmful wavelength, shielded.]

01 and Little Brother’s warning voices sounded simultaneously.

At the same time, the venomous bees that had just flown out of the tree hole seemed to be suddenly stimulated, dancing chaotically in the air. Dozens more venomous bees flew out of the tree hole, including even newly molted larvae.

Song Yu told Little Brother to turn off the device: “Looks like we guessed correctly.”

This induction device controlled the beehive inside the tree hole. As soon as someone triggered the device, the emitted wavelength would immediately make the venomous bees aggressive.

What was hidden in this vicinity, so secretively?

The two dealt with the escaped venomous bees and explored the area around the giant tree.

Rong Shi: “01, can’t you search it?”

01 flew around, topping a flower-shaped pot, its voice broadcasting directly.

“Can’t find anything. It might have an anti-detection device installed.”

After circling several times and finding nothing, Song Yu impatiently kicked away a stone with his toe, looking annoyed: “Should we just blow it up?”

If there really was something nearby, it was either hidden in the tree or underground.

Rong Shi was about to speak when he suddenly heard the stone hit the tree trunk, making a sound of metal impact. His eyes flickered.

He tapped the tree trunk with his curved finger. The moss-covered trunk was very hard; the impact sound was crisp and echoed.

Not only was the bark metal, but it was also hollow inside.

Rong Shi: “Your luck is still this good.”

Song Yu: “…”

The two circled the tree trunk once before finding the entrance. After 01 cracked the program, a section of the bark sank in, revealing a downward tunnel.

01 automatically transformed into a large light bulb and flew ahead.

Rong Shi led Song Yu inside, casually remarking: “Only at times like this are you most clever.”

“Hehe, as long as I have energy stones, I can be even more clever!”

As he spoke, the surroundings suddenly brightened twofold.

Rong Shi turned his head to look and saw Little Brother also transformed into a large light bulb, leisurely flying ahead, side by side with 01.

01 happily rubbed against Little Brother: “Little Brother, do you want energy stones too?”

A moment later, Little Brother wobbled its light head and coolly replied with one word: “Mm.”

01: “Your master is much richer than mine! If you’re obedient, you’ll never go hungry!”

Little Brother: “Mm!”

The second “mm” was noticeably more cheerful than the first.

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu chuckled: “Did you design Little Brother according to your own personality? He doesn’t like to talk.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Afraid that 00 and 01 would be as noisy, he modified some data. From the results, it seemed he modified too much.

The tunnel wasn’t long, only about two or three stories high before reaching the bottom.

Below was an abandoned laboratory, covered in a thick layer of dust, with spiderwebs everywhere. If not for the two bright light bulbs, it would have been quite eerie.

Song Yu: “This must be it.”

The laboratory that leaked biochemical gas.

Rong Shi: “Mm.”

His gaze swept over various test tubes and instruments as he walked further inside.

He walked all the way to the end but found nothing.

Song Yu put down the experimental logbook in his hand, brushed off the dust from his fingertips, and frowned: “This laboratory is so well hidden, but the research conducted here seems very ordinary.”

Biochemical laboratories weren’t all illegal. As long as they didn’t exceed imperial laws and regulations, they could obtain licenses through normal procedures.

“No,” Rong Shi shook his head, thoughtfully. “Something’s very wrong.”

Song Yu: “There are many unreasonable things. First, the instruments are incomplete, scattered haphazardly, as if just going through the motions. But this could also be explained by some things being moved when the laboratory was abandoned.”

Rong Shi continued: “The layout is very unreasonable. Related research projects are divided into eastern and western areas, and the research room for project B has data for project A.”

Song Yu snapped his fingers: “Any results from the scan?”

01 and Little Brother flew over, one after the other.

01: “Neither Little Brother nor I detected any residual toxic gas.”

“As expected,” Song Yu turned his head to Rong Shi. “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to find out. This runs deep.”

V99 once prospered, but due to an accidental leak of biochemical gas from this laboratory, it spread throughout the entire area, causing countless residents to fall ill.

Later, after a series of remedies, it was found that this harmful gas was extremely easy to adhere to soil, water, and object surfaces, making it almost impossible to clean completely.

After this news spread, a large number of V99 residents fled, and within a few years, it became a barren planet.

Rong Shi had been here more than a decade ago. If the toxic gas had disappeared due to the passage of time back then, and now nothing could be found either, what did that signify?

Either the inability to remove the toxic gas was a lie, or the toxic gas leak itself was a lie.

Using a swarm of venomous bees, a fake laboratory, and various lies to set up such a large scheme, what exactly were the people behind it trying to cover up?

Could it be related to the research on super omegas?

Leaving the laboratory, the two walked up the tunnel.

Their eyes were suddenly flashed by a light. Rong Shi quickly turned to shield Song Yu.

“01!”

Just as Rong Shi embraced Song Yu, a huge explosion erupted in their ears—

---

Author’s Note:

Rong Bunny: Flirting that was agreed upon beforehand isn’t flirting.

Song Cat: Then what is it?

Rong Bunny: Submitting homework.

Song Cat: …