Chapter 43: If One Beating Isn’t Enough, Then Two!
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One week later, Dong Du finally came out of the isolation ward. Raptor held a small flower basket at the door to welcome him. As soon as he came out, he was showered with flowers by a little robot.
His chestnut-colored curls were mixed with petals, like a woolen blanket woven with patterns.
Behind Raptor stood Novisane, and behind him was the sly Meng Ruan with a dog-like appearance. Dong Du just glanced at them and crouched down to rub the smooth little iron head of Raptor. “Raptor, do you miss me?”
The LED display on the little robot’s screen drew a big smiley face. “I’ve missed my master.”
It raised the flower basket in front of Dong Du. “This is a flower basket General Zhu sent to celebrate the master’s first heat. General Zhu couldn’t come personally due to a meeting, so he asked me to send his regards.”
Dong Du raised an eyebrow. Before his hand touched the flower basket, Novisane took it and handed it to him. “For someone who doesn’t have time to come, he likes to leave his presence. Little peach, I’ll help you with this.”
“Okay,” Dong Du agreed and turned to look at the grudging Meng Ruan. “What are you doing? You’re almost peeling off the wall.”
Meng Ruan mumbled a few times with his lips, still not daring to say the words Novisane warned him. He quickly slipped from behind the wall to Dong Du’s side, presenting two black cards like treasures. “Little prince, let’s go watch a movie. After going to space, there won’t be much entertainment.”
“Ah, that’s true,” Dong Du said, adjusting his smart ring as he walked out.
The smart ring connected to Li Sheng’s communication, and he quickly answered, “Have you finished the isolation period?”
“Yes.” Dong Du’s voice softened. “Can you come out?”
After talking for a while, Dong Du hung up the communication. Meng Ruan stared at him with shining eyes. He nodded coldly, “Let’s go.”
“Hey!” Novisane was displeased. He grabbed Meng Ruan’s collar and threw him to the back. “Are you going to the movies with him?”
Meng Ruan dared not say anything but hummed a couple of times. As an alpha, even if he didn’t exercise much, he must weigh more than 100 kilograms. This Novisane actually lifted him with one hand. Such a rude person is not worthy of the little prince.
“What’s wrong?” Dong Du looked at Novisane innocently. “Do you want to come too?”
Novisane was defeated by his natural look. He sighed helplessly, “Forget it, if you want to go, go. But, no…”
“No what?” Dong Du asked, making Novisane unable to say the next sentence about Meng Ruan being too close.
Novisane, in a bad mood, bit off the candy. He scowled, “Can’t I accompany you to the movies?”
“But you didn’t buy a ticket.” Dong Du bent over, summoned Meng Ruan from Novisane’s arm, and said, “Hurry up, let’s go.”
Meng Ruan happily squeezed over and followed Dong Du.
The mechanical neck of Raptor stretched and retracted twice, gliding on wheels, returning to Dong Du’s room. It was going to sun the quilt for the little master.
Everyone who came to pick up Dong Du was happy, except for Novisane. He walked toward the high tower with a small flower basket and casually threw it into the trash halfway.
Dong Du couldn’t find where the Black Gold Fortress cinema was. He followed Meng Ruan and, when they reached the cinema entrance, suddenly rushed ahead of him. Dong Du rushed towards a sitting omega in a wheelchair.
“Dong Du.” Li Sheng waved to him, ignoring Qin Yi behind him. He pushed the wheelchair to meet him. “I heard you went to fight in the Wandering City. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“No.” Dong Du turned around to show that he was doing well. “Why are you here with him?”
“We’re about to hold a wedding.” Li Sheng shrugged. “I’ve bought the tickets. Let’s hurry in.”
Li Sheng’s purchased tickets were for the same show as Meng Ruan’s. Thanks to Qin Yi’s arrangement, their seats were also next to each other. Qin Yi lifted Li Sheng to his seat, and Dong Du sat next to Li Sheng. The two alphas sandwiched them in the middle.
This was Dong Du’s first time watching a movie. With modern technology, even 3D movies were becoming more realistic. They didn’t even need to wear glasses, and from the beginning of the movie, there was a feeling of being in the scene.
Meng Ruan chose a romance movie. It told the story of an alpha being deceived by an omega to fall in love. When the alpha was heartbroken, another omega appeared, sunny, positive, and took the alpha out of the shadow of a breakup. In the end, the two fell in love and lived happily together.
Dong Du sighed with emotion at the plot. It wasn’t as good as the melodramatic and stimulating soap opera that the sisters at the base had mentioned, and in his boredom, he let out a yawn. At the corner of his eye, he noticed that Li Sheng seemed to be moved by the plot. Qin Yi silently wiped away Li Sheng’s tears.
Dong Du: “…”
His friends turned out to be different from him.
Meng Ruan, sitting beside him, was also sniffing, and Dong Du turned to him in shock, only to find him looking intensely at him.
Meng Ruan leaned towards Dong Du and whispered, “Come over here so that we can sit together.”
Dong Du’s face became serious, and his tone was heavy. At this moment, he exuded a sense of educational significance. He solemnly said to Meng Ruan, “Do you know what I hate the most when watching movies? I hate those lovey-dovey couples, especially the ones who cling to each other in the dark.”
Meng Ruan exclaimed in confusion, and he scratched his head slightly. “But Xia En used to like sitting close together. He didn’t let me sit on the other side.”
“But what did Xia En do?” Dong Du lowered his voice, so even Li Sheng sitting next to him couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Talking about this, Meng Ruan felt wronged. “Xia En lied to me.”
“Yes, so don’t sit close to me. I’ll lie to you too.” Dong Du crossed his arms and sat up straight.
Meng Ruan asked, “Lie to me about what?”
Dong Du thought carefully, pondering seriously. “It seems you really have nothing to be lied about. Don’t sit close to me. Movies are different from real life. You have to live in reality.”
Until the end of the movie, Meng Ruan was still immersed in the mistaken belief that as long as he had something to be lied about, the little prince would sit close to him. He sent a message to his old man, asking how much inheritance he could expect in the future.
Old man Meng angrily replied, “Not a penny!”
Meng Ruan was stunned. What happened? Wasn’t his dad the one who loved him the most?
After watching the movie, it was already late. Qin Yi had to take Li Sheng back, and Dong Du had no particular place he wanted to go. He wanted to go back to the high tower to sleep comfortably with Raptor’s considerate service. However, Meng Ruan didn’t want to. He wanted Dong Du to accompany him for a stroll.
After thinking for a moment, Dong Du led Meng Ruan into a small alley.
What to do when an alpha keeps bothering you? Just give them a beating.
The only person who came out of the alley was Dong Du himself. He hummed a tune, returned to the high tower, and slept without any guilt under the attentive service of Raptor.
The next day, early in the morning, another meeting was scheduled. This time, many more people were participating, and the meeting would be broadcasted live on the internet, allowing the entire nation to participate. The meeting began with Xi Yuan summarizing recent actions against the Wandering City. Then, Dr. Xu Yiling presented a report on the study of the bug race.
Through the study of live bugs and bug eggs, the research institute outlined the general life structure of the bugs and identified three possible “dead gates” – the neck, abdomen, and bug eye.
The meeting was lengthy and filled with various reports. After the meeting, Dong Du remembered almost nothing except for the three “dead gates” of the bugs. As for their ecology and social system, he didn’t pay attention at all. However, when it came to the guy who pirated his face, he still listened. That should be the bug queen, the breeder of all bugs.
The large meeting adjourned, but there was another small-scale operational meeting to be held. This meeting had fewer participants, and it would be broadcasted live on the internet as well. Zhu Di hosted it and announced the formation of the next attack team. All research results needed to be confirmed through practice; they couldn’t just stay at the observation level of the Wandering City.
Dong Du’s team remained almost unchanged, except for Dr. Xu Yiling no longer participating. Hill, who had lost her team members, was assigned to their team.
Two medics and seven sharpshooters – their task was to capture the bug queen.
Chu Xuhuan and Meng Ruan, among others, did not attend the meeting.
The meeting attendees were well-prepared early, waiting for Dong Du to arrive in a small conference room to announce the mission objectives.
As Dong Du approached the door, he heard laughter and teasing inside, especially from Qi Lin and Hill. They were mocking Meng Ruan, asking if he had been tied up in a sack the night before.
Meng Ruan, angered and embarrassed, scolded them, “You guys don’t understand anything!”
Dong Du naturally pushed open the door to the meeting room. He didn’t even glance at Meng Ruan’s face. However, Meng Ruan, seemingly undeterred, gazed at him with a resentful and affectionate look.
“We won’t waste time with unnecessary formalities,” Dong Du sat in a swivel chair. He had never conducted a meeting before and couldn’t deliver an opening speech like Xi Yuan. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, “Our small team’s next mission is to capture the Bug Queen. Have you all seen its images?”
“What?”
The meeting room erupted into protests, especially Lion, who slammed the table heavily, “Isn’t this sending us to our deaths?”
Dong Du indifferently pulled out a dark object from his pocket and slammed it on the table, “Or should I send you on your way right now?”
It was the controller for a bomb.
Lion reluctantly sat back down, “We’re teammates now, why are you still… really, this is not conducive to unity.”
Dong Du responded with indifference.
Zhu Di would inform them of the specific operational guidelines later. After announcing the mission objective, Dong Du adjourned the meeting. Chu Xuhuan and others remained in monitoring mode. Trying to talk to Dong Du was futile. Hill, Qi Lin, and others planned to have a drink before the battle, while Meng Ruan followed Dong Du.
Dong Du walked fast; he walked fast. Dong Du walked slowly; he walked slowly. Then Dong Du stopped, turned to Meng Ruan, and asked, “Why are you following me?”
“I, I want to talk to you for a while,” Meng Ruan’s eyes blinked.
Dong Du thought for a moment and decided to teach him a lesson.
He took Meng Ruan to the training room on the first floor and told him that if he could defeat him, Dong Du would agree to a condition.
Meng Ruan’s face turned red with joy. He thought Dong Du was giving him a chance. However, during the fight, he realized he was no match for Dong Du.
Meng Ruan: “…”
He should have trained more!
Dong Du picked up his coat from the floor, glanced coldly at Meng Ruan lying there, “Practice more.”
On the second floor, he met Zhu Di, who had been watching them. “General, I request to remove Meng Ruan from the team. He is not suitable for this mission.”
Zhu Di didn’t immediately respond; he stared at Dong Du in silence for a while before coldly replying, “He applied to join the team himself.”
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