411: Chapter 408 Note: You have used one free chance.

Shen Mingyuan tossed his phone aside, stared at the 3,000 yuan transfer record for two seconds, then picked up his phone and clicked on Long Qingyun's avatar.

Transfer: 1,500 yuan.

Long Qingyun replied almost instantly: [??? Where did this 1,500 come from?]

Shen Mingyuan typed: [Fleeced it from the person who asked me for your photo.]

Long Qingyun's side was silent for a few seconds, then sent a string of ellipses: [... ]

[Oh, it was that New Federation organization, right?]

[Yeah.]

Long Qingyun sent another string of ellipses, even longer than before.

[Forget it, whatever.] He sent another message, [I'm going to film now, leaving. But hey, I got some money out of it. I can buy more cat food now, yay!]

Shen Mingyuan smiled and typed: [Alright, goodbye.]

[Goodbye.]

—

The film set.

When Long Qingyun arrived, the set was already bustling. Lighting, cameras, and props crew were moving back and forth, while the director sat behind the monitor flipping through the script.

Wei Ziqing was in a corner doing warm-up exercises—leg presses, stretching, and rotating his wrists—his movements were very practiced. Beside him stood a rack with a set of plain white armor prop suit, a one-to-one custom-made replica of his transformed appearance. The prop suit was much lighter than the real armor, but it looked quite convincing.

Long Qingyun walked over and stood beside him.

Wei Ziqing said without looking up while pressing his legs, "If you don't fight, you can't survive."

Long Qingyun was stunned for a moment, then realized he was talking about the acting.

"You've memorized your lines quite well."

Wei Ziqing straightened up, glanced at him, and continued rotating his wrists.

"How's that Qing Lian at your place doing?" he asked.

Long Qingyun's expression immediately became subtle.

"She's fine," he said, pausing. "It's just... sigh, she's been teasing me a lot lately, making me feel really embarrassed."

Wei Ziqing's movements paused, and he turned to look at him.

"Oh, really?" He nodded, his tone flat. "In that case, could you please stop flaunting your romance in front of me?"

Long Qingyun was taken aback: "What? I'm not a furry—"

"No," Wei Ziqing interrupted, continuing his stretching, "You are 'free'."

Long Qingyun spread his hands innocently: "If that's what you think, there's nothing I can do."

Wei Ziqing nodded, his tone certain: "So, you're admitting it then."

"I'm not, I'm not!" Long Qingyun got anxious. "No, you are, you are, you are, you are, you are!"

Wei Ziqing didn't respond further, just looked at him with a faint smile. That expression clearly said: Keep making excuses, I've already made up my mind.

Long Qingyun felt uncomfortable under that gaze and finally gave up resisting, sighing.

"Fine, fine, fine, I am, I am, alright?"

Wei Ziqing finally looked away and turned toward the set.

Long Qingyun followed behind, still muttering: "No, I'm really not..."

Throughout the day's filming, Wei Ziqing maintained that "I know everything but I won't say it" expression. Every time Long Qingyun met his eyes, he felt the other was saying 'you are free' with his gaze. He tried to explain and refute, but Wei Ziqing just smiled and never changed his tune.

By the time they finished work, Long Qingyun had completely given up.

"I'm leaving." He waved weakly at Wei Ziqing.

"Yeah." Wei Ziqing nodded, watching him leave.

—

When Wei Ziqing returned to the base, it was already dark.

The hallway lights were bright. Just as he turned a corner, he saw Lu Jianchuan standing at the door of Officer Jin Gu's office. Lu Jianchuan was still wearing the thick clothes from the Arctic expedition, with obvious fatigue on his face, holding a stack of documents and a portable data disk.

Golden Bone took the items and looked down at them for a bit.

His expression gradually became solemn.

Wei Ziqing stopped and watched from a distance. After Golden Bone finished reading the last document, he looked up, met Lu Jianchuan's eyes for a second, then said nothing, turned, and walked away quickly, almost running.

Wei Ziqing then walked over.

"Brother Lu." He glanced in the direction Golden Bone had disappeared. "What's going on? Officer Jin Gu's face... why did he look so terrible?"

Lu Jianchuan was silent for a while.

"Nothing," he said, his voice low. "Just discovered something... something like an alien civilization."

Wei Ziqing was stunned.

"Alien civilization?"

"Yeah." Lu Jianchuan nodded. "Golden Bone probably thinks it's too serious and is rushing to handle it."

Wei Ziqing blinked, digesting the information, then suddenly blurted out:

"That's great! When are we sending a signal to the M78 Nebula? I can't wait!"

Lu Jianchuan looked at him, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Wei Ziqing smiled.

"I'm joking." He dropped the unserious expression and looked at Lu Jianchuan earnestly. "So what is it exactly? That alien civilization thing."

Just as Lu Jianchuan was about to speak, footsteps came from the end of the hallway. Shen Mingyuan and Ye Ouyang walked over one after the other. Shen Mingyuan was still holding his phone, seemingly replying to a message.

"What's wrong?" Shen Mingyuan looked up and saw Lu Jianchuan. "You're back? Where's Cynthia?"

"She didn't come back with me," Lu Jianchuan said. "She has her own business."

Ye Ouyang leaned in, his eyes bright: "Brother Lu, I just heard something about an alien civilization? What's the deal?"

Lu Jianchuan looked at the three of them and nodded.

"Let's talk in my room."

The four of them entered Lu Jianchuan's dormitory. Once the door closed, Lu Jianchuan recounted the Arctic events from start to finish—the professor's disappearance, the hole under the ice, the frozen ancient creatures, the ice-making mosquitoes, the giant mecha, Cynthia's appearance, the star-like black hole, the tentacles, the mecha being dragged in, and finally, the giant sword stuck in the ice.

The three of them listened, silent for a few seconds.

Ye Ouyang was the first to speak, his voice carrying uncontrollable excitement: "Whoa—that's incredible?!"

He hopped in place.

"Does that mean I'll be able to pilot a mecha later too?!"

Lu Jianchuan glanced at him.

"That's not necessarily certain."

Shen Mingyuan leaned against the wall, arms crossed, thoughtful.

"Speaking of which," he said, "The Forger seems to have been quiet lately. Does he know about your trip to the Arctic? Can he find out anything about that mecha?"

Lu Jianchuan took out his phone and clicked on the gray icon with a white border.

"We'll know if we just ask in the group chat."

He typed:

Lu Jianchuan: @.** Are you there? I have something to ask.

After sending it, he placed his phone on the table. The others gathered around, staring at the screen.

After about a minute, a message popped up.

.**: What is it?

Lu Jianchuan: About that mecha I encountered in the Arctic. How much do you know?

The other side was silent for a few seconds.

.**: I'm considering whether I should tell you everything about this.

.**: But on second thought, I might as well.

Then came a long string of messages—about the special waves emitted by the sword, how it was interfering with spatial coordinates, how there should be another identical mecha in the Antarctic, and how they covered the entire Earth from north to south to prevent something from being transmitted through those coordinates.

The four of them stared at the screen; it was a lot of information to take in.

Ye Ouyang scratched his head: "So... this mecha is protecting us?"

Shen Mingyuan nodded: "You could say that."

.**: But as for what's actually going on, I don't really know either.