Chapter 244: Sealed Beast 2.0 (Part 1)

Xingyuan persisted with an unusual, old-fashioned pedantic manner; his methods were clumsy, and coupled with his character issues, he provoked nothing but disgust on Luo Ruian's face. Yet, such a not-so-bright person, once determined to drill into a dead end, was truly someone others could do nothing about.

Sure enough, Luo Ruian stopped insisting, turned around, and silently led Xingyuan toward the factory building.

Luo Qi suddenly recalled that scene from someone else's memory regarding the abandoned factory; in an instant, the damp air mixed with wood dust and the pungent smell of blood resurfaced in Luo Qi's memory, and he felt somewhat uncomfortable for a moment.

The dilapidated factory in Xingyuan's eyes did not make Xingyuan feel too comfortable either. Luo Qi could feel Xingyuan's heartbeat accelerating and his blood pressure rising.

Luo Ruian stopped at the factory entrance, and Luo Qi felt a wave of timidity sweep through Xingyuan's Yajian; at the moment he stopped at the door, Xingyuan almost turned to run away.

Luo Qi was astonished to experience the process of Xingyuan's internal struggle; Luo Ruian turned his head to look at him, revealing a sly smile, and Luo Qi realized that his father was exceptionally good at controlling others, possessing an extraordinary sensitivity to the emotional changes in people.

"Or I could say, out of sight, out of mind," Luo Ruian laughed, gently enticing Xingyuan, "They've bought coffee back, want to go have some? It's a bit too muggy today, I had them bring back iced lattes."

Xingyuan's palms were sweating, and Luo Qi experienced a wave of jealousy; he couldn't help but be startled. It was Xingyuan's jealousy toward Luo Ruian, jealous that he was always composed and decent, and looked better, like a proper Mage.

This wave of jealousy was forcibly suppressed again; Luo Qi couldn't help but marvel at the complexity of the human heart. What suppressed the jealousy was a solemn emotion, one that even brought forth powerful strength, successfully controlling the timidity, retreat, and hesitation.

In order not to give himself another chance to hesitate, he suddenly strode forward; as he passed Luo Ruian, Xingyuan shoved him aside with his shoulder, and Luo Qi tasted a faint sweetness of victory from Xingyuan's heart. Even if this victory was as small as merely resisting the pressure Luo Ruian had placed on him, and having the chance to shove Luo Ruian to the side.

Luo Ruian tactfully stepped back a pace to make way for him, and he pulled open the factory's large door.

Behind the door was a foyer outside the workshop, which probably wasn't originally used for installing lathe machinery; it wasn't as spacious as the workshop, only about fifty or sixty meters, with a table placed in the middle. Most of the room's windows had been nailed shut with wooden boards, the light inside was dim, and as the door was suddenly flung open, the circle of people sitting around the table seemed startled, all turning their heads in unison to look at him.

Luo Qi almost forgot he was peeking into a memory within someone else's Yajian; if he were capable of falling, he would surely have tripped over his own feet and fallen at the doorway by now.

However, Xingyuan wasn't much better off than him, also taking a step back and nearly collapsing to the ground. "Wh... what? People?"

"What kind of joke is that?" Luo Ruian said, "Look closely before you speak!"

Xingyuan focused his vision in a chaotic manner, and this time Luo Qi saw more clearly: those humanoid things had no distinct facial organs. Although they looked like humans, their sitting posture was similar to humans, and their size and physique were close to humans, their body surfaces were covered in hard carapaces; looking closely, they were more like insects.

Their faces were shrouded under the same hard carapaces; Luo Qi did not see eye-like organs and suspected they could sense light, but did not necessarily rely on visual nerves to see the world. Many curled, soft tentacles extended from beneath their faceplates, stretching out in the air, some of them wet and sticky.

Luo Qi felt a bit like vomiting; he thought of the Alien, these things were the kind of stuff that should only appear in nightmares.