Chapter 47 Part 2
Gu Sui would give him anything he asked for.
He never got distracted during a fight. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his safety.
Realizing he was thinking about Gu Sui while fighting pollutants, he paused.
This was the first time he didn’t have to be constantly vigilant, didn’t have to worry about his teammates, because he knew Gu Sui would be fine, didn’t need his help, could even protect him.
For the first time, he experienced the comfort of having a powerful ally.
Together, they could easily kill a large number of pollutants, but not all of them.
There were too many, even low-level ones requiring time and effort to eliminate.
This was a battle of attrition, and Shi Xu was already exhausted, his strength sustained only by his willpower.
Under Gu Sui’s protection, he called Qi Yu for backup.
The signal, previously clear, was now jammed, the room shielded by a pollutant-created barrier. The guests next door were oblivious. Without backup, they had to kill them all to break the barrier.
As dawn approached, the attacks finally stopped. The 90-square-meter suite was filled with pollutant corpses, their battleground shifting from the bedroom to the entrance. Just as they were about to break down the door, the last pollutant fell.
They didn’t need rescuing. They had handled it themselves.
With the last pollutant dead, the barrier vanished.
Shi Xu’s strength had given out half an hour ago. Usually, he would push through, his willpower keeping him going, his presence crucial for morale.
He couldn’t show weakness in front of his subordinates.
But this time, Gu Sui told him to rest, and he obeyed without hesitation, accepting his protection.
He didn’t have to fight alone anymore. Being protected felt… good.
Gu Sui created a safe space for him, a golden shield protecting him, Sui Sui, and Little Black, huddled in his arms.
His eyelids were heavy, but he kept them open, observing this different side of Gu Sui.
Seeing him serious for the first time had been unsettling. He subconsciously wanted Gu Sui to remain foolish and clingy.
But now, protected by him, he no longer had to worry.
Just like Gu Sui had said, “I’m here.”
He slowly closed his eyes. A warm touch on his cheek woke him. He opened his eyes, meeting Gu Sui’s loving gaze, enveloped by his warmth.
“Wife, should… I get… another room? So you… can sleep?”
Shi Xu looked around. “Is it over?”
Gu Sui’s eyes were filled with concern. “Yes, we can… rest now… You worked hard…”
Shi Xu smiled faintly, his smile slightly strained. “No need for another room. Call Qi Yu to clean up. We’ll go home after that.”
Gu Sui: “Okay, I’ll… listen… to Wife.”
…
Hearing Gu Sui’s voice on the phone surprised Qi Yu. Hearing what he said shocked him.
Rushing to the scene, he worried about Gu Sui’s identity being exposed.
He thought Shi Xu would have hidden him.
Seeing Gu Sui, he felt a wave of relief.
After five minutes, his subordinates still hadn’t noticed Gu Sui was a pollutant. He calmed down, then started questioning their competence—
It’s just an SSS-class pollutant, and you couldn’t even tell?
He conveniently forgot that he himself had spent an entire afternoon with Gu Sui without realizing his true nature.
After criticizing his subordinates inwardly, he turned to Shi Xu, complaining, “Shi Xu, I’m starting to think you’re a pollutant magnet. Why do incidents always happen around you? You’re like that elementary school detective!”
During the half-hour drive, Shi Xu had recovered slightly, his energy returning. He had borrowed a bathroom from the hotel to clean himself, no longer looking as exhausted.
Hearing Qi Yu’s complaint, he chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I also think I’m cursed. Why else would this happen?” He just wanted a relaxing day out with his family.
Perhaps he wasn’t meant to go out, afraid of endangering others.
Qi Yu lowered his voice. “Is it because of Sui Sui?”
He had heard about Sui Sui from Shi Xu, immediately suspecting him as the cause of this pollutant outbreak.
Shi Xu nodded. Qi Yu looked worried. “This isn’t sustainable. How many times has this happened?” This time was different. Previously, it was just two or three pollutants at most, easily handled by Sui Sui. This time, it was wave after wave. They had been here for half an hour, and hadn’t even finished clearing the living room. He didn’t want to imagine how many corpses were in the other rooms.
“How many were there?” How many did Shi Xu and Gu Sui kill?
“There’s no solution. We can’t eliminate all pollutants. We don’t know when they’ll come for Sui Sui. We can only deal with them as they appear.” Shi Xu patted Sui Sui’s head, his tone light. “For Gu Sui and me, this isn’t a problem.”
Even an SSS-class pollutant wouldn’t be a threat.
Sui Sui, having stayed up all night, his eyes bloodshot, yawned repeatedly, but refused to sleep, nuzzling Shi Xu’s hand.
Shi Xu wiped the tears from his eyes. “Go to sleep.”
Sui Sui shook his head, clinging to Shi Xu’s leg. “Sui Sui… no sleep… Sui Sui… stay with… little dad…”
Seeing Shi Xu stop to rest during the fight seemed to have scared him. He was worried about Shi Xu hiding his injuries, clinging to him, also worried about more pollutants appearing. He wanted to protect Shi Xu in Gu Sui’s stead.
“Sui Sui… will protect… little dad… Little dad… tired… Little dad… sleep… Sui Sui… wait…” His childish words were surprisingly touching.
Shi Xu’s heart warmed. Before he could respond, Qi Yu said, his voice choked with emotion, “Wuwuwu… Shi Xu, I envy you so much! Can I adopt Sui Sui?”
Shi Xu rejected him coldly. “No.”
Qi Yu quickly came up with another request. “Can I borrow him for a few days? Just to experience being a dad?”
Shi Xu’s rejection was even colder. “Don’t even think about it.”
As Shi Xu hugged Sui Sui, Sui Sui snuggled closer, calling him “Little Dad,” making Qi Yu even more envious.
“Just you wait, I’ll find a partner soon.”
Shi Xu delivered a casual, yet devastating blow. “Finding a partner is one thing. Whether they’re willing to have a child with you is another. Don’t force anyone. Have some mercy on those poor girls.”
Qi Yu: “…” Fuck!
Since Shi Xu needed to be questioned, Gu Sui spoke to the investigator instead.
Before Qi Yu arrived, Shi Xu had coached Gu Sui, telling him to avoid mentioning Sui Sui. They didn’t know why the pollutants attacked, so Gu Sui just had to play dumb.
He did a good job, the investigator believing his lies.
When asked who killed the pollutants, Gu Sui lied again. “My wife.”
His proud tone made the investigator pause. “Your wife?”
Gu Sui’s invisible tail wagged. He proudly said Shi Xu’s name.
Investigator: “…”
Holy shit, this was more interesting than the pollutant attack!
Maintaining his professionalism, he resisted the urge to pry, but Gu Sui, unprompted, offered him a generous serving of dog food.
“Do you want to hear our love story?”
The investigator’s eyes lit up.
Yes!
Gossip about Captain Shi wasn’t something you heard every day!
After listening to Gu Sui’s half-hour long, one-sided narration of their “love story,” his initial curiosity turned to numbness. He tried to change the subject, but Gu Sui always steered the conversation back to their relationship.
His message was clear—
You have to know our love story. Listen carefully, and remember every word.
The investigator regretted his earlier curiosity.
This creature wasn’t deterred by his coldness, nor intimidated by the Anomaly Management Bureau, oblivious to social cues, his incessant chatter deafening.
Just before his eardrums exploded, he seized an opportunity, making an excuse to escape.
Gu Sui, unable to stop him, glared at his retreating figure, grumbling, “I… was just… talking about… Wife’s proposal… Why did… he leave?”
He turned to an esper nearby, smiling brightly. “Do you know Shi Xu?”
The esper: “…”
The former captain of the Anomaly Management Bureau? Who didn’t know him?
“He’s my wife! Hehehe…” Gu Sui blushed. “Want to hear… how we met? It was… love at first sight…”
The esper: “…”
I know, I was there when you told my superior. Did you forget?
Half an hour later…
The esper wanted to scream for help!
Upon arrival, Qi Yu identified himself. The hotel manager gave them an empty room. Shi Xu rested for almost an hour, but Gu Sui didn’t return.
The questioning shouldn’t have taken long. He had already told Gu Sui what to say. He should have been back half an hour ago.
Shi Xu, rested, went to find him, spotting him in the corridor, along with a very unhappy-looking esper.
“My wife… is so cute… I love…”
Shi Xu grabbed the back of his collar, silencing him.
“Wife, why… are you here? Shouldn’t you… be resting?” Gu Sui’s eyes lit up, turning and hugging Shi Xu.
Ignoring the esper’s curious gaze, Shi Xu pinched Gu Sui’s cheek, his voice sharp. “Why are you taking so long?”
Gu Sui cried out dramatically, bending his knees, suddenly shorter than Shi Xu, pleading, “Wife, I… wrong! Don’t be… angry! I apologize!”
The esper: “…”
Holy shit, Captain Shi’s partner looked like he could crush a low-level pollutant with one punch, but he was so submissive in front of Shi Xu?!
Gu Sui wanted to show off their affection, but Shi Xu, not wanting to give him the opportunity, dragged him into the empty room, closing the door behind them, launching into a “punishment.”
“Ow, ow, ow! Wife, gentler!”
Initially, Gu Sui pretended to be in pain, hoping for Shi Xu’s sympathy, but seeing his indifference, he dropped the act.
“Mmm… feels good… Wife, hit… here… feels so good~ Heehee, I love… being hit… by Wife~”
Qi Yu, forced to witness the scene: “…”
Hey, are you two forgetting I’m here?
Don’t ignore me!!!
Having given their statements, and with Qi Yu’s intervention, they didn’t have to return to the Anomaly Management Bureau for further questioning, free to go home.
Qi Yu assigned a trusted subordinate to drive them back. Sui Sui, finally exhausted, fell asleep in Shi Xu’s arms.
Gu Sui insisted on squeezing into the back seat with them, poking Sui Sui’s cheek, grumbling, “Always clinging… to my Wife… That’s my Wife… Have some… respect…”
He never learned his lesson, his earlier punishment quickly forgotten.
Shi Xu, ignoring him, closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.
The subordinate, having witnessed the scene, couldn’t calm down.
Who said Captain Shi’s partner was ordinary?
If that was ordinary, what were they?
…
During the pollutant attack, Shi Xu’s room had been shielded by a barrier, no one knowing what happened inside.
After the incident, however, almost everyone in the hotel knew.
The hotel, located next to the theme park, was crowded. The Anomaly Management Bureau uniforms were conspicuous, easily noticed by the guests. Qi Yu couldn’t silence everyone. The news spread quickly.
[Holy shit, they killed an entire room full of pollutants in one night? Captain Shi is amazing! Even without being captain, he’s still the strongest.]
[Of course! He didn’t retire due to injury! He’s only 24, his career just starting. I still don’t understand why he resigned.]
[Because of his partner, duh. But his partner is really handsome, tall and well-built. I used to only have eyes for Captain Shi, but now… there’s another.]
[This is what you call ordinary? I knew it was fake news!]
[Seriously? After what his father did, you’re still calling him Captain Shi?]
[What does that have to do with him? Qi Yu said his father abused him since he was young. They’ve cut ties long ago.]
[Wuwuwu, I feel so bad for Captain Shi, suffering so much. I’m glad he’s finally happy. I hope he’ll be even happier in the future!]
[Did you notice? His partner is a man! How did they have a child?]
[Maybe they adopted?]
[Our Captain Shi is so kind and beautiful~]
The kind and beautiful Shi Xu, upon returning home, immediately went to bed with his adopted son.
Since accepting Gu Sui, his nightmares had stopped. Tonight, however, they returned.
He was lying in his bed, his limbs bound by black ropes, too strong for him to break.
Something heavy pressed down on his legs, his neck and head also restrained, unable to see what it was.
Despite the bright sunlight outside, the room was dark, the white curtains bathed in a red light, casting an unsettling crimson glow over the room.
The weight shifted, moving up his legs, pressing down on his abdomen. He finally saw it.
It was a creature with Sui Sui’s face, but its golden hair and eyes were black, its pale skin covered in dark, web-like cracks, like parched earth, a gruesome sight.
His heart pounded, a chill running down his spine.
The creature, the size of a soccer ball, Sui Sui’s size when he first hatched, sat on his stomach, its small hands kneading his belly, its childish voice sharp and piercing.
“Little dad, I want to go back. Let me go back!”
Go back where?
His gaze fell on his own abdomen.
The creature grinned, revealing sharp teeth, its small hands transforming into blades, reaching for his stomach…
He jolted awake, staring at the familiar ceiling, the familiar bedding and scent, still trapped in the lingering fear of the nightmare.
The curtains swayed in the breeze, a ray of sunlight illuminating his face, bringing him back to reality.
The room was bright, not the unsettling crimson of his dream, no stench of blood. Just a nightmare.
His heart calming, he heard soft snores, his gaze falling on Sui Sui, curled up on the other side of the bed.
Little Black’s bed was too small for him now, but he still insisted on sharing it, hence the curled-up sleeping position.
He mumbled in his sleep, rolling over and snuggling into Shi Xu’s arms.
His face was clean and pale, his hair a bright gold, his eyes hidden behind thin eyelids.
Shi Xu gently stroked his soft hair, the image of the monstrous child from his dream making his smile falter.
He remembered Housekeeper Zhou’s words: That egg is evil, it brings misfortune.
