Read Novel Full Chapter 143 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (3)
Chapter 143 - Banana Flavored Boss Gong (3)
Translated by Hua Li ^_^
The forever eighteen-year-old ”Shi was a scar in Gou Liang’s heart that he couldn’t share with anyone.
In retrospect, out of the eight worlds he’d been through, only Shi Yu and Meng Hao had initial appearance ratings of four and a half stars.
Meng Hao had evolved into the son of the Beast God and successfully maxed out his appearance score with the final half-star. However, Shi Yu had missed his chance to mature.
Gou Liang had often imagined what he would look like when he grew up.
His eyes might become deeper, his features more chiseled, his frame broader, his height taller, his smile perhaps a bit more, or maybe a bit less…
But the moment he saw Shi Buyu, he knew this was Shi Yu.
Shi Yu at thirty.
It wasn’t because his appearance matched what Gou Liang had imagined; it was simply the truth, even though it seemed unbelievable.
In reality, the targets or, more precisely, the fragment bearers, shared certain similarities in appearance. Most notably, they all had those sharp, aloof eyebrows and star-like eyes, along with their strong, handsome features.
That’s because their soul bodies were composed of fragments.
In other words, the fragments were the target’s soul body.
This explained why the system couldn’t detect the fragments’ location within the target’s soul body.
Gou Liang had realized this by his second world, but he initially thought that he could only see Shi Yu’s—or his lover’s—true form when all the fragments were collected, reassembling the broken soul into its most original, complete state.
Perhaps by then, he would have no regrets.
But he never expected to fulfill his deepest, most secret desire here and now.
“Shi Yu…”
He cried so hard that his face scrunched up.
The way his face squished together was so ugly it broke all the limits, yet Shi Buyu felt a strange pang of sadness in his heart.
Suppressing the urge to comfort him, a skill he hadn’t yet mastered, Shi Buyu awkwardly pulled out a towel he used for wiping sweat and handed it to Gou Liang, saying, “Mr. Tang, I’m the third son of the Shi family. But you got the name wrong; I’m Shi Buyu, not Shi Yu.”
Sighing heavily, he added, “Stop crying. The deceased are gone. It’s already a blessing that you survived. Your Uncle Tang and the others would be happy in the afterlife. Wipe away your tears and live well; that’s the best way to honor them.”
Even with his exceptional intelligence, Shi Buyu couldn’t have guessed that the “Fatty Tang” in front of him was his first love from several lifetimes ago. He only saw Gou Liang’s overwhelming sorrow as the grief of losing family.
Thinking this, Shi Buyu even felt a bit envious.
At least Gou Liang could cry openly, unlike himself, who couldn’t shed a tear even if he wanted to.
“No, you are Shi Yu—wah!”
[Beeeeep—!!!!]
[Master! Snap out of it!! Target might remember Tang Fatty but might not recognize Little Strawberry! Are you sure he’s not as petty as Big Grape?! Stop your mouth, my dear Master!]
Shocked back to his senses by the system’s outburst, Gou Liang quickly clamped his mouth shut, feeling both aggrieved and frustrated.
Seeing that his consoling words only made Gou Liang cry harder, Shi Buyu decided to keep quiet and simply shoved the towel into his hands.
Gou Liang didn’t take it. He was crying with such focus, his small, narrow eyes fixed intently on Shi Buyu as if he had committed a terrible crime.
Shi Buyu twitched his lips in resignation and said, “Fine, I’ll serve you, alright?”
With that, he roughly wiped Gou Liang’s tears with the towel, not gently at all.
Before he could withdraw his hand, Gou Liang suddenly lunged at Shi Buyu like lightning—
“Little Shi Yu!”
He wanted a hug.
Boom!
The 300-pound weight slammed into Shi Buyu’s chest, causing the modified vehicle to shake.
“What’s going on?”
“Boss?”
Without a response, Yu Lin and Qin Bei became immediately alert.
“…Damn.”
Caught off guard, Shi Buyu winced in pain, his breath knocked out for three full seconds before he managed to squeeze a sound out of his throat. He grumbled and pushed at Gou Liang, “Get the hell off me!”
“No…”
“If you don’t get off, I won’t be polite!”
“You wouldn’t dare…”
“Damn it, watch me!”
As the struggle intensified, the car continued to rock, and Yu Lin quickly hit the brakes.
Qin Bei, trained to respond swiftly, leapt through the passenger window onto the car roof, signaling to the second vehicle, while Yu Sen joined him in keeping watch. Zhou Gao jumped out of the car and rushed over.
Meanwhile, Shi Buyu, trapped under Gou Liang’s massive body, didn’t even budge from the hard braking. He was about to forcefully push Gou Liang off when the latter, through a nasal voice, said, “You’re exerting 700 pounds of force; you’ll break my spine.”
Shi Buyu: “…”
He lessened the force and heard Gou Liang say, “Anything less than 700 pounds, and you can’t push me away. Forgot to mention, I awakened a strength ability.”
Shi Buyu: “…………”
He gritted his teeth, “What do you want?”
Gou Liang righteously replied, “I have skin hunger. If you don’t let me hug, I’ll feel uncontrollably uneasy, and I won’t stop crying.”
Shi Buyu cursed, “Hunger my ass!!”
At the same time, Yu Lin swiftly opened the side truck door—
Yu Lin: ?!!!
Zhou Gao, who rushed over, “What’s happening? What’s wrong with the boss—holy shit!! You fat bastard, what are you doing to the boss?!”
Shi Buyu: “………………”
*
The car arrived at the armory “peacefully” and on schedule.
The emergency weapon reserve of City A was located in the basement of the national bank, featuring the world’s top security systems, far surpassing even the Jia family’s underground lab, and storing highly lethal weapons.
Since Shi Buyu walked out of the lab alive, his military rank and records had been classified as S-level secrets. His rank couldn’t be further elevated, but his clearance was raised to the level of a lieutenant general, granting him access to all but a few places in the country.
The armory was naturally no exception.
Although the weapons’ effectiveness against the beasts was limited, it was clear that humanity’s future victory against them would depend on supernatural abilities.
But for now, given people’s unfamiliarity with these new powers and the weakness of the abilities themselves, reliance on conventional weapons was still significant.
After equipping themselves, the clock pointed to 4 AM.
The team planned to rest for a day in the armory as per their original schedule—to adapt to the beasts’ habits, they had to switch to a nocturnal lifestyle.
At this moment, Gou Liang was attempting to connect to the satellite equipment.
Electronics was the original host’s forte, so Gou Liang didn’t need to hold back. His thick, stubby fingers flew across the keyboard with such speed that it was impossible to track their movements, leaving only a blur of white.
Zhou Gao was greatly surprised, and Gou Liang unabashedly declared, “Except for one specific activity, my hand speed is definitely faster than yours.”
Zhou Gao hadn’t caught on yet and asked, “What activity?”
Gou Liang gave him a condescending look, his IQ of 150 shining through, and then opened his mouth at Shi Buyu, who immediately fed him a military-grade nutrient gel tube, which Gou Liang started sucking on like a pacifier.
Yu Lin clapped his hands in agreement, laughing, “In that regard, Old Zhou, you’re definitely faster than anyone!”
“What activity… damn it! You bastard!”
As everyone burst into laughter at the implications, Zhou Gao rolled up his sleeves, ready to pick a fight with Yu Lin!
Yu Lin ducked behind his brother Yu Sen, shouting, “I’m complimenting you, big brother! Who doesn’t know you were a sharpshooter before retirement? Here, not even the boss would dare say he’s faster.”
Zhou Gao, seeing this cheeky rascal laughing while offering insincere compliments, snorted.
He decided to let it go magnanimously, but as he sat down, he emphasized, “I don’t shoot fast in those moments. If anyone doubts it, we can drop our pants and compare right now.”
Qin Bei cursed him, then glanced at Shi Buyu, who was intently watching the computer screen, and at Gou Liang, who had already finished his seventh tube of nutrient gel but still held the tube in his mouth. He muttered, “The boss doesn’t look like he has a grudge against the fat Tang guy. His attentiveness seems more like he’s catering to a lover from a past life.”
That was Gou Liang’s seventh tube of nutrient gel, enough to sustain their entire team for three days.
Yu Sen frowned, “Does anyone else feel like they’re burning through energy faster today?”
He was also feeling a bit hungry, which was unusual for someone of his physique.
The others exchanged glances, clearly feeling the same.
Zhou Gao, less perceptive than the others, didn’t ponder the implications of increased resource consumption. Instead, he glanced at Shi Buyu, muttering, “What’s the boss looking at? His eyes are practically glowing.”
Unable to resist his curiosity, Zhou Gao crept up behind Shi Buyu to take a peek, seeing Gou Liang engrossed in his work.
As he saw what was on the screen, Zhou Gao gasped.
Shi Buyu quickly stopped him, and the exclamation Zhou Gao had been about to let out was stifled.
Seeing this, the others gathered around to take a look.
After understanding what Gou Liang was doing, even Jiang Ren, who had remained calm during the apocalypse, showed a look of surprise.
On the screen, there were ten small windows. The largest one in the center was filled with data they couldn’t comprehend, while eight of the small windows showed the satellite’s internal components in high-speed operation. The last window displayed a live feed of the satellite maneuvering through space to evade the beasts and reach the celestial territory of China—Gou Liang was fighting off the beasts in space to seize what little remained of the satellites.
The reason for the communication breakdown was not only the destruction of the ground-based satellite stations but, more critically, the damage to the satellites in space during the beast invasion.
The reception stations could be repaired and rebuilt, but given the current state of depleted technological personnel, once the satellites were destroyed and communications crippled, recovery would be impossible.
After Gou Liang downed three more tubes of nutrient gel, the windows displaying the satellite’s internal structures were replaced with satellite imagery, showing real-time footage of the planetary surface in patches.
“This is incredible…”
Zhou Gao couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, while the others were quickly drawn to the satellite footage depicting human cities ravaged by the beasts and the beasts roaming freely, all with heavy hearts.
Even though they had braced themselves for the grim reality, seeing it with their own eyes was still heart-wrenching.
Gou Liang’s fingers never stopped moving. After about ten minutes, a buzzing sound emerged, followed by increasingly clear transmissions: …Jiuzhu Base, united with all survivors, never lose hope…
Upon hearing this, even Zhou Gao, who was usually quite rough around the edges, felt his eyes sting.
Simultaneously, at the Jiuzhu Base.
“Sir, sir! Come quickly! We’ve regained ultra-shortwave and microwave connections! Communications are back online!!”
“Really? How did this happen?”
An elderly man hurried over.
His student, face flushed with excitement, explained, “Twenty minutes ago, a hacker accessed my computer, claiming to be a survivor from China trying to recover the satellites. I figured my computer didn’t contain any classified information, and no one would joke about this right now, so I agreed. Turns out it was true!”
“Thank goodness, Heaven’s blessings!”
Seeing the control room’s row upon row of extinguished red warning lights and the green lights indicating normal operation, the old man’s eyes welled up with tears.
Wiping away his tears, he put on a headset, trying to remain calm as he tentatively asked, “This is the Jiuzhu Base Communication Station. I’m the communication officer Zhang An. Can you hear me? I repeat, this is…”
Before he could finish, a young voice came through the headphones, “This is City A. I’m Tang Tang, a survivor from City A. There are six other survivors with me.”
Hearing this, the leaders, who had been informed of the situation, quickly arrived.
After a brief overview, the leader put on the headset and said, “Hello, this is Jiuzhu Base. I’m Yao Sanjun, the director. Can you hear me?”
With a snap, a crisp and resonant sound of military boots coming together echoed, followed by a chorus of familiar yet long-missed voices reporting to the leaders through the headphones:
“Officer number 00107, subordinate of China’s First Army, Major General Shi Buyu, salutes you!”
“Officer number 00114, subordinate of China’s First Army, Lieutenant Colonel Yu Sen, salutes you!”
“Officer number 00115, subordinate of China’s First Army, Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Ren, salutes you!”
“Officer number 00118, subordinate of China’s First Army, Major Qin Bei, salutes you!”
“Retired officer number 00109 of China’s First Army, former Lieutenant Colonel Yu Lin, salutes you!”
“Retired officer number 00121 of China’s First Army, former Major Zhou Gao, salutes you!”
“Major General Shi, you’re alive! That’s wonderful, wonderful…”
With tears streaming down his face, Director Yao stood up and saluted across the distance, responding firmly, “Officer number 00103, subordinate of China’s First Army, Lieutenant General Yao Sanjun, salutes you!”
Even Gou Liang, who lacked a strong sense of national belonging, was moved to tears by this scene, let alone the others.
—As long as there is a single soldier in China’s uniform left standing, the nation will not perish.
This belief needed no words; they held it firmly and were ready to face any challenge.
After their emotions settled a bit, Lieutenant General Yao inquired about Shi Buyu’s next plans.
Upon learning that Shi Buyu did not intend to return to Jiuzhu Base but instead planned to continue his mission outside, Lieutenant General Yao, one of the few aware of Shi Buyu’s mission, immediately expressed his support. He said, “Major General Shi, feel free to proceed. Don’t worry about Jiuzhu Base; we will defend this last line of defense with our lives if necessary.”
“Yes, sir!”
Shi Buyu responded.
Then, Gou Liang discussed with the communication station’s technicians about the usage of the newly acquired satellite—most of the satellites in space had been destroyed, and China’s satellites were almost completely wiped out. So Gou Liang had commandeered some dormant satellites from other countries, which they weren’t familiar with.
After explaining a few things to watch out for, Gou Liang said, “I’ve secured two satellites this time, one is on standby. If you need it, just let me know. Also, based on my soundwave tests earlier, a certain frequency of soundwaves seems to have a repelling effect on the beasts. I used it as a defensive layer for the satellite. However, this frequency is also harmful to humans. I don’t have the equipment or personnel here, but you might want to see if you can utilize it.”
If successful, this could be a lifesaving tool!
“Thank you so much!”
Everyone was ecstatic.
After the communication ended, Qin Bei wiped away his tears and said despondently, “I never thought that apart from us and Lieutenant General Yao, the First Army…”
China’s First Army was a confidential internal organization, though named an army, it consisted of only fifty members, including the country’s top-ranking officers and their elite special forces.
After the apocalypse broke out, it was their sacrifice in slaying multiple beasts that provided Jiuzhu Base with essential data on the beasts and the existence of superpowers.
Those data, filled with the blood and dreams of many, are beyond anyone’s imagination.
Shi Buyu’s usual smile vanished as he silently mourned for his fallen comrades.
Gou Liang felt a pang of sympathy but considerately didn’t interrupt him.
Allowing them three minutes of silence, Gou Liang then spoke up, “Little Shi Yu, come over here.”
“No respect for your elders.”
Shi Buyu rubbed his face, returning to his usual state, and lightly tapped Gou Liang’s head in a show of dissatisfaction.
Gou Liang snorted— ‘”Shi‘, who would want to call him that awful name!
Ignoring him, Shi Buyu turned his attention to the computer screen that Gou Liang had pointed out, only to see the title on the encyclopedia page: “Skin Hunger.”