89: ancient centipede

"Brother Mo Li, don't worry. I'm doing very well; Uncle and Auntie treat me like their own daughter. Besides, with Sister Ai Yue here, who would dare bully me?"

..."Ahem." Seeing the two of them chatting so enthusiastically at the door with no sign of stopping, Ai Yue cleared her throat to remind them.

"Sister." Ye Rui turned her head and saw Ai Yue coming out, suddenly remembering that Ai Yue had once told her to stay away from Mo Li.

Thinking of this, Ye Rui took a large step back with a "whoosh," her expression becoming less warm. Mo Li was stunned, not understanding why she had suddenly changed.

"What are you doing here?" Ai Yue asked, her voice flat.

"Eh? Ai Yue, Eldest Miss Ai, we can be considered to have escaped back together and shared hardships; how can you treat me like a stranger?" Mo Li dropped his smiling face and put on a look of feigned anger.

Ai Yue remained unmoved, repeating impatiently, "Just tell me, what do you want from me?"

Mo Li rolled his eyes helplessly. "How boring."

As if he were in his own home, Mo Li pushed past Ai Yue at the door, walked into the living room, and sat comfortably on the sofa.

Ai Yue's forehead throbbed with veins at his behavior. Had she let him in? Was he really this casual?

Just as Ai Yue was about to throw the reckless Mo Li out, he spoke first. Hearing what he said, she stopped her movement.

"Ai Yue, a type of giant centipede has appeared outside the base. It's incredibly powerful and eats people; it's already eaten two of our squads."

"Moreover, it has thick skin and tough flesh; no matter how we attack, it's useless. Do you have any way to deal with this giant centipede?"

Ai Yue muttered to herself: 'It's the Ancient Centipede. I can't believe they appeared so soon. This is bad.'

After a moment of thought, she said, "The centipede you're talking about should be the Ancient Centipede that went extinct 300 million years ago."

"Ancient Centipede? From the same era as dinosaurs? No wonder it's so big!!!" Mo Li looked like he had just realized something.

Ai Yue was speechless. Had he ever studied history? Dinosaurs were creatures of the Mesozoic era, appearing 250 million years ago.

The Ancient Centipede went extinct before dinosaurs even appeared; they weren't products of the same era at all, okay?

Ignorance is truly terrifying!

Ai Yue didn't explain it to him because none of that was important.

"As far as I know, Ancient Centipedes are highly venomous and eat plants and small animals..."

"No, no, it eats people! It's definitely not a vegetarian!" Mo Li shook his head like a rattle the moment he heard Ai Yue's first sentence.

Ai Yue ignored him. "The exoskeleton is extremely hard, the legs are like blades, and they are bloodthirsty and brutal, preferring head-on confrontations!"

Ai Yue took a deep breath. "The most important point is that they like to live in groups."

"In other words, if one appears, it means a whole group has appeared?" Mo Li swallowed hard and spoke dryly.

One was hard enough to deal with; he hadn't expected there to be a whole group!

Is heaven decreeing the extinction of humanity?

Seeing the dejected Mo Li, Ai Yue said leisurely, "Although it's powerful, it also has a weakness!"

"Weakness? What weakness?"

Mo Li's eyes lit up with hope upon hearing this.

Ai Yue didn't keep him in suspense and said directly, "The Ancient Centipede is massive and seems invulnerable, but once you find its weakness, it becomes incredibly fragile and easy to kill. Of course, that excludes ordinary people."

"Really? Where's the weakness?" Anxious to know what the Ancient Centipede's weakness was, Mo Li couldn't help but urge her.

Ai Yue's expression remained unchanged. As if she hadn't heard him, she continued, "Its weakness is six inches below its head, where there is a patch of the brightest black exoskeleton. This shell looks tough, but it can actually be pierced with a little force. Once that piece of exoskeleton breaks, the Ancient Centipede dies."

"What? It's that easy?"

"Easy? It's easy for those skilled in combat, but for you, it might not be."

"For me? What do you mean 'for me'? You look down on my combat strength? Let me tell you, when I was killing people in a hail of bullets, you were probably still playing in the mud. How dare you think I'm weak?"

Mo Li didn't know what had gotten into him, but he immediately stood up and shouted.

Ai Yue hadn't expected a casual remark to cause such a big reaction from him.

Her brow twitched. Although she felt her words were somewhat inappropriate, for Ai Yue, she wouldn't apologize even if it killed her.

So she curled her lip and said to Ye Rui, "See the guest out properly in a moment. I'm tired and going to my room to sleep. Unless it's something special, don't call me."

"Oh, I understand, Sister," Ye Rui said obediently.

"You, Ai Yue, come back and explain clearly! Who's weak?" Seeing Ai Yue give him a sidelong glance and nonchalantly return to her room, ignoring him, Mo Li got even angrier.

"Ai Yue!" Mo Li gritted his teeth.

"Brother Mo Li, Sister said I should see you out. You'd better leave," Ye Rui said from the side.

Mo Li was suddenly being kicked out and couldn't quite process it. "Ah? I just got here and you're making me leave? I still have so much to say to you."

"Next time. Goodbye, Brother Mo Li!" Ye Rui pushed Mo Li out the door without mercy.

With a "bang," the door was shut.

Locked out, Mo Li stared blankly at the door for a good while.

He didn't understand. When he arrived, Ye Rui was overjoyed and incredibly happy. How had she become so cold in such a short time? He had even been swept out the door... What went wrong?

After thinking for a long time without figuring it out, he could only let out a sigh and leave helplessly.

Safety Tower Command Center.

"Xiheng, Miss Ai Yue is truly impressive. I didn't expect her to even know about the Ancient Centipede. I wonder how she knows," Cheng Siyu's cool voice rang out in the quiet room.

After leaving Ai Yue's place, Mo Li returned to the command room without stopping and revealed everything he had learned.

"Yes, she is indeed very powerful, unlike other women," Gu Xiheng stated calmly.

Hearing this, Cheng Siyu's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean?

"Yeah, she's the bravest and smartest woman I've ever seen!" Mo Li added.

Gu Xiheng glanced at Mo Li.

"Since we know the Ancient Centipede's weakness, dealing with it will be much easier."

"Yeah, Ai Yue is truly a treasure," Mo Li couldn't help but exclaim again.

Gu Xiheng narrowed his eyes and glanced at him again.

"I say, Gu Xiheng, is there something wrong with your eyes? Why do you keep glancing at me?" Mo Li suddenly questioned Gu Xiheng.

"Who's glancing at you? How ridiculous. I think you're the one with the problem!" Gu Xiheng said calmly with an infuriating expression, then turned and walked out.

"Hey, you clearly glanced at me, and you're actually denying it? Since when did you become such a rogue?" Mo Li chased after Gu Xiheng, chattering incessantly as he followed him out of the command room.

Cheng Siyu's cool face seemed to be covered in a layer of frost as she left in a low-pressure mood.