Chapter 277: An Old Acquaintance

Luo Qi finally understood the reason he had entered this memory; it was not just because this was the first time the Alien had been awakened after being placed under a Seal, nor was it just because these Aliens had been chosen by an old bag of bones to be tools for slaughtering their own kind—most importantly, this memory contained the keywords Luo Qi needed.

Resurrection, rebirth, coming back from the dead, life extension... in short, these were synonyms, all linked to the same meaning. Luo Qi had vaguely bundled his complex needs and sent them to the Society's labor Ghosts, who had performed the selection and identification for him; this was the result of that selection. The result was that standing before Luo Qi was an old thing whose body was about to be scrapped, an old bag of bones, an Old Venerable, someone who knew full well that a Mage could be reborn. He could even choose the time to be reborn himself; if there really were such a thing as a "Ship Ticket," this old thing could even decide the date the ship sailed. What a high-ranking and powerful Mage, yet a schizophrenic patient who argued with himself; the world of Mages relied on this Old Angel to choose who got a second chance and who did not. Was this not a huge joke?

But there were still some prickling sensations brushing across the bottom of Luo Qi's heart; he vaguely glimpsed a ghost, and in his subconscious, a puzzle was about to rise to his surface consciousness.

Just then, a sudden move by the Alien Queen interrupted his thoughts. He had been thinking deeply, his consciousness in a peaceful state, but the consciousness he was attached to and had entered suddenly launched a frigid attack. The feeling was like being suddenly called upon by a teacher to answer a question while dozing off; the sudden tension almost dragged his heart out of his chest.

The Alien Queen launched an attack on the Old Mage, and the dragging sensation of gravity distortion shoved Luo Qi hard; he had a premonition that he might vomit all over the Alien Queen in the outside world later.

The Old Mage looked as if he were fumbling for something in his sleeve, not sensing the Alien Queen's movement at all. But in fairness, Luo Qi knew this could not be blamed on his failing eyesight; Luo Qi himself was under the biological perspective of the Alien, and in the eyes of an Alien creature, even the moment a house cat pounces on a mouse could be considered slow motion.

Although Luo Qi was filled with disgust for the Old Mage, he could not help but feel a pang of anxiety at this moment. Regardless, it was truly lamentable that someone who was planning a rebirth ritual could be caught off guard and scratched to death by a monster.

The Old Mage did not even turn his head; his old neck might have been stiff, and if he turned too abruptly, he might have fainted. Yet even in this situation, the Queen did not succeed; a massive, majestic power in the Consciousness Space abruptly suppressed the Queen's impulse to attack. She had used all her determination to accomplish this, and the pain she received was of equal value. She screamed, and the mental agony of this, as far as Luo Qi was concerned, was like having his entire family flayed alive in front of him.

Fortunately, he had some foresight and had already guarded against such emergencies. The Queen glared angrily at the Old Mage, and that old man finally fished a golden pocket watch out of his sleeve, taking his time to look at the time.

Luo Qi could recognize the approximate era of that pocket watch, and he also understood a bit why the Old Mage was dressed like a Daoist. Perhaps because of an irreconcilable aesthetic, the Mages walking in human society in this era might all look like Daoists; Mages and Mages were finally categorized under the same entry. After all, the yin-yang hairstyle of this era was truly a bit perverted.

The Old Mage turned his head back and revealed a cold sneer, "My legs and feet might not be very nimble, but my brain is still working fine."

No one responded to him; he was dazed for a moment, then continued to mutter, "Sigh, nowadays we are all like this; the soul is not yet weary, but the flesh is already decrepit. But actually, my beauty, what do you think the flesh is? It is just the thin neck of a jade vase. Fine porcelain, with a big belly to hold things, but a narrow opening."

Luo Qi squatted in the world of consciousness and sighed; if the Queen also had vocal cords, she would likely send him a "fuck you" right now.

What was all this rambling? To the Alien Queen, the victim, if he kept talking, these Alien survivors would probably all go collectively insane. In Luo Qi's view, these words were nothing more than excuses for himself to survive.

It was just that this Old Mage was clearly in an unstable mental state.

Luo Qi did not know if the Alien Queen realized this; after all, she had not been dealing with humans for long and might not be able to grasp human mental states. Although Alien creatures were a telepathic race, since Luo Qi could not directly enter the Alien's Mental Network, looking back at the human mental world from the Alien's perspective should also have its threshold.

However, his Majesty the Queen was indeed clever; her eyes remained fixed on the Old Mage, as if she could see other shadows beneath his aged body. She extended a hand, that black hand comparable to the scythe of the Grim Reaper, and slowly reached toward the Old Mage, without aggression; she had been completely stripped of her ability to attack by the Mage. Having lost the ability to attack, the way she reached out truly had a touch of the Queen's elegance.

The Old Mage was amused, "Don't feel it's unfair, my beauty. What you are enduring is just an arrangement, not even fate, just an arrangement. When you are needed, you come out to slaughter; when you are not needed, you sleep here. You can still sleep for a long time, until the next time the Seal is broken."

The Queen ignored him, and she suddenly said in consciousness, "I have seen you."

Oh my. Luo Qi was startled; was this a pickup line? Did "I have seen you" here mean the same thing as "I have slept with you"?

The Old Mage smiled slightly, "This is my first time seeing you, my beauty."

The Queen tilted her head, as if looking at the Old Mage's appearance from a different angle; she extended her slender fingers covered in black armor in front of the Old Mage, and vaguely performed a motion of tracing his facial contours. Luo Qi felt as if he had eaten a mouthful of sand, his teeth aching.

"I recognize you." The Queen raised her head, her narrow eyes squinting even tighter, her antennae swaying gently, and she transmitted her consciousness, "You just said, the flesh is not important?"

It was as if a thorn had pricked Luo Qi's spine; he almost jumped in shock.

"Your consciousness makes me feel familiar; not exactly the same, but familiar." The Queen slowly moved her body, pacing around the Old Mage, "I recognize the taste of this consciousness; I will never forget it."

Luo Qi's non-existent body trembled, cold sweat streaming down his spine; he had never thought the Alien was this smart. Or perhaps he was just too slow and had never considered this possibility at all.