CHAPTER 104: CHAPTER 104: SENDING A BED WARMER

When Ruan Li woke up, she found herself in a seemingly ordinary room. Although it was somewhat small, it was tidy with a bed, wardrobe, and bathroom, and even the pajamas she wore were intact.

Where is this place?

Curious yet cautious, she explored the entire room, but found nothing unusual. However, the only door out was locked.

The Smart Brain on her wrist was also missing, and she didn’t even know what time it was.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

Ruan Li called out to the empty room, asking if anyone was there.

No response.

She leaned against the door lock, attempting to pry the door open herself.

But it was an electronic lock; it was impossible.

She didn’t know how long she’d been in the room, but she felt it must have been three or four hours.

Ruan Li rubbed her empty stomach and said to the room, "Hey, I’m hungry!"

Clearly, her captors didn’t intend to mistreat her.

There was a faint mechanical sound from the ceiling, and with a click, a delicate food box was transported down.

Ruan Li didn’t go for the food box immediately; instead, she carefully looked around again and turned off the lights.

On the blank wall opposite the bed, she spotted a miniature camera hidden in the corner.

Just as she picked up a hairpin and was about to smash the camera, a hurried voice sounded.

"Wait, don’t break it, Little Li; if you break this one camera, countless others will be installed."

Lan Ruo’s gentle voice spoke up.

"Lan Ruo, why did you lock me in here?" Ruan Li remembered this neighbor she hadn’t seen many times, her faint memory leaving an impression of a delicate and pregnant female.

"It’s not that I want to lock you up, and this doesn’t count as imprisonment, um... you can consider it protection. This is the safest place in the entire interstellar region."

"... Ruan Ying, I know it’s you."

Her pure, clear eyes gathered light; she lacked sharp judgment and adequate wariness but pronounced her conclusion based on an instinctive sense of crisis.

The girl in front of the monitor pouted, apparently not expecting her to figure out the real person behind it all.

"Xiao Ruo, it’s not your fault." Ruan Ying’s gentle voice sounded, her mechanical wheelchair moving in front of the monitor.

"Little Li, a mother won’t harm you."

A voice as gentle as the sea came from the speakers. Clearly, Ruan Li was not inclined to trust someone so suspicious.

They were soon forced to terminate the conversation. Ruan Li opened the food box, five dishes, one soup, and some dessert, all perfectly suited to her tastes.

Ruan Li didn’t let her stomach suffer, enjoying the meal quite a bit.

After eating her fill, she began negotiating with Ruan Ying again.

"I need the Smart Brain."

Ruan Ying: "The signal here is blocked; the Smart Brain would be just a piece of scrap metal."

"At least give me a clock then?"

The ceiling lifted a panel, and a few small robots flew in, carrying a clock, which they installed on the wall.

Ruan Li continued to make demands: "I should at least have some entertainment."

"How about watching TV shows? But watching for too long could harm your eyes." She sounded just like a considerate mother, allowing some indulgence but not without discipline.

Ruan Li: "Why exactly did you bring me here?"

"Mother is your only family in this world; I won’t harm you."

After that, no matter what Ruan Li said, no one responded to her.

The TV directly across from the bed began streaming.

It was now 6:50, and Ruan Li noticed the morning news on the TV, realizing today was her birthday.

On her birthday, her mother locked her up under the guise of protection.

The more Ruan Li thought about it, the more absurd it seemed; fortunately, she wasn’t Ruan Ying’s daughter.

Ruan Ying watched the news absentmindedly, as the quiet room had only this sound-making thing.

Her eyebrows gradually furrowed, thinking she misheard the news content, until the image transitioned.

[The content being broadcast now concerns the Beastman uprising on M Star. On the night of January 20, Interstellar 3387, a large number of Beastmen experienced atavism on M Star, and about 40% of them lost their rationality. At the same time, an Evolved Ferocious Beast attacked the planet—

Scene: Blazing fires continuously burned, igniting the entire sky, a fierceness akin to a burning sunset, like the last flare of life. Drones zoomed in on the scene, ashes and corpses all over, impossible to distinguish between Beastman or Fierce Beast.

M Star once was a planet famous in the Empire for its rich resources. This disaster broke out very suddenly, and the Empire has already dispatched a large military force for rescue. May the deceased rest in peace.]

It was as if a passage of text and images squeezed into Ruan Li’s mind, but they quickly drifted out the other side.

The broadcast video was too blurry for her to clearly discern whether the place in the footage was where she initially went.

Her blank mind suddenly realized that Bai He and Bai Ci should have left...

If they returned ahead of time to celebrate her birthday, they would have left early.

The news ended, Ruan Li comforted herself within, they still hadn’t encountered problems; even so, she asked the person on the other end of the monitoring, "Have Bai He and Bai Ci left M Star?"

Her voice was hoarsely frightening.

"There has been no news at present."

"Did you orchestrate the Beastman atavism and the Evolved Ferocious Beast as well?"

"Yes."

Ruan Li stared straight ahead, letting out two laughs at the corners of her mouth: "The Light of the Empire, genius mechanical biologist, if they knew all this was your doing, would they still honor you with such accolades?"

Ruan Ying’s voice was as calm as water: "These honors were never what I pursued; I’ve never gained them, nor would I fear losing them."

She paused for a moment, then said lastly: "Your emotions are fluctuating a lot now; don’t worry, I won’t do anything to your Beast Husband."

Indeed she wasn’t worried; Ruan Li would undoubtedly hold a savior’s altruistic spirit, after all, she was her flesh and blood’s direct daughter, the cold-blooded indifference flowing in the same vein.

The conversation ended once again.

"Hey, Little Li, sending you a bed warmer," Lan Ruo’s teasing voice came from the opened window.

She tossed something red into the room with a whoosh.

Ruan Li’s brows furrowed slightly, sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the familiar red in the dim corner. It lay lifelessly in the corner, light falling on its damp, matted tail.

"... Xu Mo?" she hesitantly said.

Sounds came from outside the door: "When we brought you back, it kept following closely behind, refusing to leave no matter how hard we tried. We had no choice but to bring it to you."

"By the way, it’s injured. If you don’t care about its life or death, you don’t have to worry about it."

Ruan Li rushed over in a few steps, cradling the little fox in her arms, its weak breaths like dandelions ready to flutter away with a gentle breeze. Its blood-soaked fur clung stickily to its fevered body, with occasional twitching limbs accompanied by a few stifled, pained whimpers.