Shortly after Chi Yao proposed the plan, Jing Xi had someone purchase over ten thousand chickens.

“You spendthrift.”

Chi Yao looked at the warehouse full of clucking chickens and shook his head helplessly. “We have ready-made ones, why did you have to go buy them?”

Jing Xi kept a straight face: “Old Lu and the others have been raising those chickens for so long, they’ve developed feelings for them.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Even with feelings, they still have to be eaten eventually.

---

In the medical zone, Qiu Shuang and Qiu Tianlin were discussing the medication plan for the chickens.

Their goal wasn’t to poison the chickens to death, but to use the chickens as a medium to neutralize the enemy’s combat capabilities.

Upon learning that his chickens wouldn’t be sacrificed, Lu Meng happily dragged his subordinates over to discuss dealing with the sound waves.

They had defensive weapons against sound waves, but using sound waves to counter the enemy’s sound waves wasn’t yielding ideal results. It required constant debugging and improvements by the mechanics, but they had very little time left.

Jing Xi exported the data recorded from the Flying Dragon’s encounter with the sound wave attack for their reference.

“You don’t need to achieve complete shielding, just control it within a range that is safe for humans.”

When he piloted the Flying Dragon to C85 this time, overlaying the effects of the Flying Dragon and Little Red, although it was uncomfortable, it was still within a tolerable range.

Chi Yao added faintly, “Just do the best you can.”

Jing Xi glanced at him and asked when they came out, “Do you plan to let Extreme Shadow go down there?”

“Do I have a choice in this situation?”

Recalling the creature’s appearance, Chi Yao felt a headache coming on.

Aside from external auxiliary equipment, even he couldn’t control his beast transformation, let alone the others. If the ordinary soldiers from the Flying Dragon and the Shadow Unit went down, they might bleed from all seven orifices on the spot due to the vibrations.

He couldn’t be sure if this battle could be ended solely by ultra-long-range lethal weapons. Regardless of whether the Flying Dragon participated, Extreme Shadow definitely couldn’t avoid it.

Thinking of this, Chi Yao asked, “The restorative agent works, but it’s too stimulating. You need to have Qiu Tianlin modify the formula.”

Jing Xi: “I already told him.”

Chi Yao was a bit surprised: “When?”

Jing Xi looked at him: “You mentioned it to me before you fell asleep. Forgot?”

Chi Yao: “Did I?”

Seeing his expression, Jing Xi knew he really couldn’t remember.

Chi Yao was wondering if he should ask Qiu Tianlin to prepare a batch of restorative agents for backup when his palm suddenly felt warm.

He naturally held the hand and smiled, “Do you need Big Brother to hold your hand to walk?”

Jing Xi: “You… don’t force yourself. If you’re tired or in pain, you can tell me. No need to be shy.”

Chi Yao: “…I’m not?”

Jing Xi: “Ideally, you aren’t.”

Lonely people are always used to carrying everything themselves. He was like that, and so was Chi Yao.

It was just that Chi Yao was usually so lackadaisical that it was easy for people to overlook this point.

---

Under comprehensive surveillance, there was no major movement on C85 for two consecutive days.

Xu Ming reported: “In the last three hours, it still releases pheromones about once an hour, and the sound wave fluctuations aren’t intense.”

The scent it released, capable of inducing beast transformation in modified bodies, was considered by Qiu Tianlin to be a type of pheromone. It existed in some natural flora and fauna, but the effect released by this creature was much more intense.

Chi Yao checked the time: “In one hour, release a portion of the medicated chickens and record the data changes.”

Xu Ming nodded: “There is still no signal from C86. Should we send a defensive warship into the atmosphere to take a look?”

Mentioning this, Chi Yao crossed his arms and leaned against the table, lost in thought.

After returning, he had tried contacting Zhang Sheng several times, but he still couldn’t get through.

Jing Xi: “Let’s wait until the experiment is done.”

Chi Yao nodded in agreement: “Confirm the feeding experiment is effective first.”

Before finding a solution to deal with the creature, entering C86 would be useless.

Taking a step back, C86 was a Level 5 Danger Zone. Even if it were destroyed, it would just be the loss of one planet.

In the current situation, as long as it didn’t affect other planets and cause a chain reaction, it could be ignored for now.

But whatever you fear comes to pass.

While they were waiting for the experimental test data, Pei Zhenyue sent news that beast tides had erupted simultaneously in multiple locations, and the situation was not optimistic.

“I have already dispatched the legions, but the outbreaks were completely without warning. I have a feeling this matter isn’t that simple.”

Pei Zhenyue rubbed the space between his eyebrows in exhaustion, a few more wrinkles appearing on his face. “Jing Xi, you need to pay close attention to the movements on the habitable planets in the Cetus Constellation.”

Upon hearing this, Jing Xi immediately contacted Jiang Feng.

The stationed legions relied almost entirely on reports from the local garrisons to understand the constellation they were in, but the garrison in Cetus was practically non-existent, meaning the source of intelligence was cut off.

After the call connected, Jiang Feng said respectfully, “During this time, I have established contact with the security departments of all habitable planets. They will contact me directly if there is any situation.”

Jing Xi nodded: “Good. For the near future, have them make routine reports every day.”

Jiang Feng: “Yes, sir.”

Having not seen Jiang Feng, the worrywart, for a while, Chi Yao leaned in next to Jing Xi and laughed, “Having a reliable adjutant saves so much trouble.”

Jiang Feng greeted him, looking a bit embarrassed: “I can’t be the only one idle.”

Jing Xi: “You won’t be idle going forward.”

Jiang Feng’s eyes flashed, and he heard Jing Xi say calmly, “Be ready to deploy at any time.”

Jiang Feng’s eyes lit up: “Yes, sir!”

---

An hour later, a defensive warship escorted the medicated chickens into the atmosphere of C85.

To observe the situation, Chi Yao went along.

The creature had returned to the ground and seemed very well-behaved when viewed from an altitude of ten thousand meters.

When the warship sounded the alarm, Chi Yao waved his hand for them to open the hatch and dump the chickens down through the extending metal chute.

On the surveillance screen, shortly after thousands of chickens landed in the forest, the surrounding parasitic vines that had been quiet began to move slowly. Seeming to confirm the chickens’ combat power, they sped up, and in less than half an hour, digested all the chickens.

The operators who also saw this scene felt their hearts skip a beat.

Those parasitic vines looked no different from ordinary tree vines, but after wrapping around the chickens, they could suck them dry in an instant.

If humans were the ones trapped, the consequences would be unimaginable.

[WARNING! Unidentified sound wave attack detected. Scanning system damaged. Initiating self-check and repair procedures—]

Chi Yao woke up Xiao Hei.

“Help repair the warship.”

The more data collected, the better for analysis.

Xiao Hei flew decisively toward the console: [Easy.]

Chi Yao: “…”

Friendship bought with a ton of energy stones?

The programmers who came along were elites selected from the Flying Dragon and the Shadow Unit, including Xu Ming.

Time was limited, and they were running around busily. Only Chi Yao watched the surveillance screen idly.

Suddenly, Chi Yao felt a stinging pain in his temple.

Almost simultaneously, Xiao Hei’s voice rang in his brain.

[The sound wave aggression is increasing. With this warship’s defensive capabilities, it won’t last long.]

“Hiss—! It hurts!”

“Ugh—!”

Sobbing sounds rang out in the command cabin.

Chi Yao: “Ascend two thousand meters.”

In the surveillance footage, the parasitic vines that had quieted down suddenly began to dance wildly. The eye that he had slashed full of holes suddenly enlarged, looking even more terrifying.

The medicine was taking effect.

Qiu Tianlin and Qiu Shuang had added some paralytic drugs to the pesticide, which could deal with plants like parasitic vines and also affect the monster.

However, the number of prey dropped this time was too small; it probably wouldn’t have much effect.

The people in the command cabin were stimulated by the suddenly intensified sound waves, and almost all of them lost their combat effectiveness.

Chi Yao pulled the pilot away and took control himself.

Just as they ascended, the sound waves suddenly weakened significantly.

Chi Yao looked at the surveillance screen. The dancing parasitic vines had gone limp on the ground, completely motionless, and the color of that eye had dimmed a lot.

It was somewhat useful after all.

---

Back outside the airspace, the Qiu siblings were already waiting there.

Xu Ming compiled the data, and the group dove into the conference room.

Chi Yao sat next to Jing Xi, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

“The chickens are useful. Buy more.”

“Mm.”

Jing Xi raised his hand to massage his temples. “Not calling me a spendthrift this time?”

Chi Yao chuckled softly: “That wasn’t scolding you, it was clearly a term of endearment.”

Jing Xi: “…”

His terminal suddenly vibrated. Chi Yao swiped it open, and his expression changed when he saw it was Zhang Sheng.

He answered immediately: “Where are you?”

Zhang Sheng had shed his usual image of a suited elite; he looked a bit wretched at the moment.

His always meticulous hair was messy and stained with mud, and his shirt was torn in several places and stained with blood.

Chi Yao’s gaze swept over those spots, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Although there was blood, there were no wounds on his exposed skin.

Zhang Sheng leaned against a tree, turning his head to look to the rear right.

“Have you seen it already?”

Chi Yao: “I’m right in C85’s airspace, what do you think?”

Zhang Sheng: “Don’t let it escape. It splits. It’s very troublesome.”

Chi Yao was startled and exchanged a glance with Jing Xi.

They had discussed this issue before.

If it remained relatively stationary, like the humanoid beast in Cave 333, even if its destructive power was strong, it wouldn’t affect other planets.

But this one was different.

“You mean it reproduces by splitting?” Jing Xi asked, looking at the screen.

Zhang Sheng: “Watch the sound wave frequency bands. Ideally, do a comprehensive sweep. It’s the season for them to wake up.”

“Season?” Chi Yao frowned.

Even on the same planet, the seasons were different from one end to the other, let alone on different planets.

Even if the season was the same, the temperature, humidity, environment, and other factors were different. Using “season” to generalize seemed a bit strange.

“It’s not that. It’s related to cosmic radiation intensity.”

Zhang Sheng looked at Chi Yao. “I don’t have time to explain too much right now. Be careful.”

The last half-sentence made Chi Yao’s heart skip a beat. In that instant, a strange feeling flashed by, too fast for him to catch.

The image on the screen flickered, and the sound broke up.

The signal was terrible.

Zhang Sheng left the tree he was hiding behind and ran forward quickly.

“Remember the three coordinates I gave you. Don’t get too close to it!”

Chi Yao: “You haven’t answered me yet. Where are you right now?”

Zhang Sheng’s gaze swept over him: “Where do you think?”

That look was inexplicably familiar to him.

But before he could ask again, the screen suddenly went black.

“Fuck.”

Chi Yao cursed under his breath.

He didn’t get to ask anything.

Jing Xi frowned: “Let’s tell the Commander-in-Chief and Commander Lin this information first.”

The two quickly walked towards the rest cabin where Lin Chengde was staying.

“If he says he’s not sure if it has spread, that means it already has,” Chi Yao said with a cold face.

Zhang Sheng spoke and acted cautiously. Based on his understanding of the man, the situation had reached a critical point.

Jing Xi nodded: “The screening needs to be notified and executed by the Commander-in-Chief.”

The two knocked on Lin Chengde’s door. The man had stayed up for two nights and had been asleep for less than an hour.

seeing them arrive together, Lin Chengde had a faint bad guess in his heart.

“Did the experiment fail?”

Chi Yao: “It was very successful.”

Jing Xi dialed Pei Zhenyue’s communication number: “We have obtained some intelligence that we need to discuss with both of you.”

Soon, Pei Zhenyue’s holographic projection appeared before them.

Like Lin Chengde, both men looked haggard, with bags under their eyes significantly larger.

Jing Xi: “We have reliable intelligence that it can split, and it may have already spread to other planets—”

As he spoke, he quickly made markings on the holographic map, simulating the time it would take for it to fly out of C85 airspace and the planets it might land on based on the currently collected data.

Pei Zhenyue: “Then we must focus on screening Cetus. If it flew out, we couldn’t possibly have failed to detect it completely.”

With Li Bo and Chen Bingfeng there, the military couldn’t grasp the true situation of Cetus, but if something flew out of Cetus, the situation would be different.

Chi Yao shook his head: “Not necessarily.”

Lin Chengde looked at him, signaling him to continue.

Chi Yao: “We only know it can split, but we don’t know how small the pieces can be. If they are in a dormant state, they could easily be ignored as cosmic dust.”

Jing Xi: “It’s fine if it lands on an uninhabited planet, but if it lands on an inhabited one—”

With its eating speed, as long as there was enough prey, it could easily grow into a giant one.

Lin Chengde slammed his fist onto the armrest and cursed.

“Making this kind of thing, were they afraid humanity would go extinct too slowly?”

Pei Zhenyue looked at them: “Do you have a solution?”

Jing Xi: “I will create a dedicated sound wave detection program shortly and make it compatible with the Valkyrie system. Please ensure all constellations carry out self-checks.”

Chi Yao added: “Especially those planets where beast tides suddenly erupted yesterday. If they detect sound waves in the same frequency band, they need to be careful.”

Pei Zhenyue looked at him, then at Jing Xi, and agreed: “Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

Chi Yao stood up leisurely.

“No need for pleasantries. Just don’t let Xixi nag me to go to prison after this is over.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Pei Zhenyue/Lin Chengde: “…”

Chi Yao reached out to pull Jing Xi up: “I’m not as good as you at programming, but being an assistant shouldn’t be a problem.”

A smile touched the bottom of Jing Xi’s eyes: “Being my assistant?”

Chi Yao held his hand and walked out: “Only your assistant.”

After the two left, Lin Chengde couldn’t sleep anymore. He draped his military coat over his shoulders and prepared to check on the situation.

“These two boys are working together more and more seamlessly,” Pei Zhenyue sighed faintly.

Lin Chengde adjusted his tie and huffed, “The seedling I hand-picked naturally won’t be bad.”

Pei Zhenyue clasped his hands behind his back and sighed lightly: “How great would it have been if we could have been like them back then?”

Trusting each other completely, entrusting their backs to one another with peace of mind.

Lin Chengde looked at him with disdain.

“You have feelings for me?”

Pei Zhenyue: “…Who has feelings for an old relic like you?”

---

In order to make the sound wave test program as precise as possible, Chi Yao and Jing Xi re-analyzed all the collected sound wave data, including frequency and curve changes.

This kind of test program existed not only on warships but even on ordinary mechas, but the precision wasn’t that high.

When it involved that thing, Jing Xi had to be cautious.

During their break shift, Jing Xi and Chi Yao sat facing each other on the living room carpet, sharing two rows of virtual keyboards, working on the program together.

While drinking water, Jing Xi looked up at Chi Yao.

The other party’s expression was focused and didn’t notice him stealing glances.

A man at work is indeed the most charming; it was true.

Jing Xi was watching entranced when suddenly the other party frowned, and his pupils turned into vertical slits.

“Yao Yao.”

Jing Xi unconsciously held his hand. “Feeling unwell?”

Chi Yao shook his head, and in the blink of an eye, his pupils returned to normal.

He was slightly irritable: “It might be the restorative agent taking effect.”

Changing genes couldn’t be achieved with a single injection of restorative agent, especially since the drug was still in the early stages of development. Many things needed further improvement.

Jing Xi went around and sat next to him.

“Does it hurt?”

Chi Yao smiled, about to say he felt nothing, but meeting Jing Xi’s concerned gaze, he swallowed back the words at the tip of his tongue.

“My right leg felt like it cramped just now. It’s a bit uncomfortable.”

Hearing this, Jing Xi rested his leg on his own lap and started massaging it directly.

“Is this better?”

Chi Yao: “…”

Better my ass.

Just now only the leg was uncomfortable; now even his heart was uncomfortable.

Seeing Jing Xi massaging him so earnestly, Chi Yao tried to distract himself by writing code.

One minute later, distraction failed.

“Xixi—”

Chi Yao pressed down on his hand, tilted his head slightly, and kissed him. “If you keep touching me, I’m going to turn into a wolf.”

Jing Xi was startled. How could he be in the mood for kissing? He pulled the man up, wanting to walk out.

“Let’s go find Qiu Tianlin.”

Privately, even if Chi Yao turned into a wolf, he would like it very much.

But at the same time, he knew Chi Yao resisted it greatly and couldn’t accept his beast form.

If Chi Yao didn’t like it, he had to find a way to solve it.

Chi Yao pulled him back and sat him on his lap.

“Understand now?”

Only when he felt something poking him did Jing Xi react.

He reached out: “I’ll help you.”

His attitude was too frank, which conversely threw Chi Yao off.

Chi Yao grabbed his mischievous hand and said hatefully, “Save it up. You can pay it back all at once later.”

Jing Xi: “…”

---

The two spent two hours finishing the program and test-running it on the three super AIs.

There was less than an hour of rest time left. Chi Yao held Jing Xi as they lay on the sofa, waving at Xiao Hei.

“You guys are allowed to go out for some air. Don’t run too far.”

The three spun around in joy and quickly ran out of sight.

Chi Yao pulled the blanket over the two of them and kissed the back of Jing Xi’s fair neck.

“Hurry up and catch up on sleep.”

Jing Xi interlaced his fingers with Chi Yao’s and closed his eyes.

Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes silently.

Beside his ear was the sound of Chi Yao’s steady breathing.

Jing Xi got up quietly, but just as he moved, the arm around his waist tightened.

“It’s not time yet.” Chi Yao’s voice was lazy and deep, sounding very sleepy.

Jing Xi: “I’m going to the bathroom.”

He walked towards the bathroom. Passing the bedroom door, he glanced at Chi Yao, then walked in softly.

Displayed on the open virtual screen window was the fingerprint from Zhang Sheng’s business card.

He had compared it with the public database before, and there was no match.

Looking at this fingerprint, Jing Xi recalled the nervousness Zhang Sheng unconsciously revealed towards Chi Yao during the video call today, and that final look in his eyes.

Previously, he thought this Zhang Sheng was an imposter replacing the real Zhang Sheng, possibly an unregistered citizen, hence the inability to find fingerprint information. But now, he had other conjectures.

Perhaps suspecting this was too rash, but it bothered him greatly.

He opened the military’s internal system, logged into the fingerprint section with his rank of General, and imported Zhang Sheng’s fingerprint for comparison.

[Fingerprint Match Successful.]

Jing Xi’s heart skipped a beat, and he clicked open the comparison result.

A file popped up in a new window.

The portrait in the upper right corner was a face that was both strange and familiar to Jing Xi.

He immediately scanned the name field in the first row of the file on the upper left, which boldly displayed two characters—

Bo Jin.