62: Surviving the disaster

Ai Guosheng and his wife also realized at this moment that they had been talking to Ai Yue for a long time. Everyone knew that after being exposed to the toxic rain for half an hour, one would suffer body-wide convulsions, foam at the mouth, and die a painful death.

It had been more than half an hour since they were brought over to see Ai Yue, yet she showed no symptoms.

Could it be...? The couple's eyes were filled with hope as they stared expectantly at Gu Xiheng, wanting to hear the answer they hoped for from his mouth.

Time passed second by second as everyone waited restlessly for the results to come out.

"Young General, someone from the laboratory is here. They want you to go over."

Gu Xiheng nodded at Ai Yue and strode out of the isolation zone with long strides.

An hour later, Gu Xiheng hurried back. He only held an umbrella and was not wearing an isolation suit.

He arrived at the isolation room where Ai Yue was being held with a relaxed expression and opened the isolation door: "Ai Yue, you aren't infected. The toxic rain has disappeared. It's just ordinary rain falling outside, and the virus in the puddles on the ground has also vanished."

Ai Yue's expression was full of surprise upon hearing this. So that was it; the toxic rain had actually turned into ordinary rain as it fell. No wonder she was fine after being drenched.

This rain could be considered to have washed the entire earth. What was baffling was that the toxic rain had come and gone so mysteriously; no one knew if there would be any lingering aftereffects.

Ai Yue breathed a great sigh of relief. She thought she was about to meet the King of Hell, but unexpectedly, it was just a joke played by the heavens.

Li Shilan patted her chest, which had nearly suffered a cardiac arrest, and grabbed Gu Xiheng's sleeve to offer her heartfelt thanks. Ai Yue also sincerely thanked him, and then the family of three returned home, feeling incredibly fortunate.

On the way home, Gu Xiheng's assistant caught up to them and specifically instructed them not to go out before the rain stopped. If they lacked food, they should contact Gu Xiheng via walkie-talkie or satellite phone, and he would help them.

Naturally, Ai Yue didn't want to keep bothering Gu Xiheng and quickly declined. She expressed that to thank him for his help this time, if he ever needed anything she could help with, she would definitely do so!

Little did she know that because of this polite remark, she would lose something.

After returning home, she let out Da Wang and let it frolic around her parents. Ai Yue returned to her room and slipped into her Space to take a good bath.

Emerging from the Space feeling refreshed and comfortable, she curled up in bed and fell into a deep sleep.

This day had truly been thrilling and full of ups and downs.

After the toxic rain disappeared, the entire Safety Tower resumed normal operations. Everyone's enthusiasm for work was unprecedentedly high; they even braved the rain to go out and earn food rations. If there hadn't been a turn for the better, everyone would have starved to death.

The crisis of the Safety Tower vanished along with the toxic rain.

After Ai Yue returned home, she didn't plan to go out for a while. Through this incident, she felt that upgrading the Space shouldn't be rushed. The trajectory of the current natural disasters was completely different from her previous life, so she decided to stay obediently in the Safety Tower and accompany her parents.

Her daily life was relaxed and pleasant. She spent ten days leisurely, either petting the tiger, training, reading, or watching movies she had previously downloaded, all while eating and drinking well.

Early one morning, her parents went out to work. Ai Yue was curled up in bed eating snacks and binge-watching a TV series. Just as she was enjoying herself, the doorbell rang.

Ai Yue immediately got out of bed, walked to the door, and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Gu Xiheng."

Hearing it was him, Ai Yue opened the door. "Why are you here? Do you need something?"

"Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?" Gu Xiheng said to her awkwardly, looking at Ai Yue, who was still in her pajamas.

Ai Yue then realized she hadn't invited him into the house, so she stepped aside. "Come in."

Gu Xiheng sat on the sofa as naturally as if he were back in his own home. He poured himself a glass of water, and after drinking it, he pointed to the kettle. "You don't mind, do you?"

Ai Yue shrugged to show she didn't mind. She pulled over a chair and sat opposite him across the coffee table. "One doesn't visit a temple without a reason. You certainly didn't come just for a glass of water. If there's something on your mind, just say it."

Ai Yue got straight to the point.

At this, Gu Xiheng fell silent. He looked at Ai Yue, then at the room's furnishings. He opened his mouth and closed it again, keeping his eyes on Ai Yue, hoping she would ask again.

Ai Yue's heart stirred. Seeing his posture, she knew it couldn't be anything good. She refused to ask and instead poured Gu Xiheng another glass of water. "Young General, have some water."

"Mm."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Ai Yue wasn't in a hurry; she had nothing to do anyway, so she wouldn't mind sitting there with him all day. Gu Xiheng was different; as a figure with actual power in this base, he had many things to attend to.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, Gu Xiheng took a deep breath and spoke. "Ai Yue, you must have guessed that I came today to ask a favor. I won't beat around the bush; I want to borrow your marauder."

Ai Yue's hand holding the water cup paused. Her face showed no expression. After a long while, she finally spoke: "You should know that the marauder is my lifeblood. With it, I can go out without any worries."

"I know. It was meticulously customized by me. I know its performance perfectly well. One could say it's even more formidable than an ordinary marauder. I'm just borrowing it and will return it immediately after use."

"I'm sorry. I would consider other things, but I cannot agree to this." Ai Yue refused mercilessly.

You must be joking. With the marauder in hand, she could avoid most risks. She only had this one vehicle. If she lent it out and then wanted to use it, what if they refused to return it, saying the mission wasn't over? More importantly, they were definitely going to use it in an extremely dangerous place; there was no telling if her vehicle would come back in one piece.

Gu Xiheng hadn't expected Ai Yue to refuse so directly. He looked at her intently and said, "You said last time that to thank me for my help, you would definitely help me if I ever needed anything, right?"

He really didn't want to use that as leverage, but he had reasons why he had to do this. He desperately needed the marauder.

Seeing Gu Xiheng's determined gaze, Ai Yue avoided his eyes and thought for a moment. "Right, I said that. You help me, I help you; it's long been unclear who is helping whom. But it seems you really do need it. Take it." After agonizing internally for a long time, Ai Yue finally handed the car keys to Gu Xiheng.

She wasn't kind, and she didn't care about keeping her word. For the past two years, she had only looked after her own small family. As for the lives of others, she only felt sympathy but would never specifically go out of her way to change someone else's fate out of a momentary whim.

But this time was different. If she didn't agree, they would surely find other ways to make her agree. Since she would have to lend it sooner or later, she might as well give it up readily.

After all, they were staying on someone else's turf.

As the keys to the marauder were handed over to Gu Xiheng, she had a premonition that this vehicle would never return to her hands from now on.

Regardless, this time would count as clearing the debt of gratitude for the care Gu Xiheng had shown her family since they entered the Safety Tower.