Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 95

For Meng Xuexiao, the concept of reliance was indeed unfamiliar, especially in this high-risk interstellar world where human relationships were inherently fragile. He was far more accustomed to mutual exchange than one-sided dependence.

After all, no one in this world would be kind to another without expecting something in return.

So when Yao Huai posed the question, Meng Xuexiao found himself momentarily at a loss for words.

Logically, he should have given an affirmative answer, as it would strengthen their cooperation. But… his true feelings were otherwise. If Yao Huai detected his lie, a simple question could become a death sentence.

A negative answer, on the other hand, would be equally fatal.

Hesitating briefly, Meng Xuexiao remained silent.

However, he tilted his head slightly upward, gazing up at Yao Huai with wide, cat-like eyes, as if to convey the seriousness and sincerity of his contemplation.

Meng Xuexiao had always been a polite person, habitually meeting others’ eyes when speaking. In terms of etiquette, he never made a single misstep.

But this time, the surrounding darkness was overwhelming. He inadvertently looked in the wrong direction, his gaze brushing past Yao Huai’s profile and landing on the empty space above, making him appear somewhat lost.

Yao Huai observed all this before finally saying, “…Never mind.”

He released the young man’s restraint with a sigh of resignation.

Meng Xuexiao was clearly the type who found it difficult to rely on others. Yao Huai’s keen observation skills allowed him to discern this from Meng Xuexiao’s demeanor: gentle, polite, yet distant. His choice to align with Yao Huai was merely a matter of cooperation and mutual benefit.

But Yao Huai didn’t want to stop there.

He wanted Meng Xuexiao to draw closer, to depend on him more.

Ever since they entered the building, Yao Huai had been monitoring Meng Xuexiao’s heartbeat. In the suffocating darkness and silence, it grew faster and louder, constantly teetering on the edge of its threshold.

Seizing this critical threshold, He spoke, asserting His presence and exploiting the Suspension Bridge Effect, a phenomenon frequently mentioned in human books.

The Suspension Bridge Effect was meticulously documented in human literature, supported by numerous experimental studies. Yao Huai had once believed this to be a foolproof plan.

Yet, it seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

Human-made things are truly unreliable.

The surroundings fell into deathly silence once more, but Meng Xuexiao let out a sigh of relief.

Since Yao Huai had said, “Never mind,” it meant he had successfully bluffed his way out of this life-threatening situation.

He stretched his legs, trying to get off Yao Huai and reach the ground. In doing so, he accidentally stepped on a round, hard object with a triangular protrusion in the middle and two deep, pit-like indentations slightly higher up. It was a… human head. After Meng Xuexiao stepped on it, the head even wobbled slightly from side to side.

Meng Xuexiao, “……”

He could practically feel every hair on his body standing on end!

Knowing what you might step on is entirely different from actually stepping on a human head!

In the end, he silently withdrew his foot, pretending nothing had happened.

When his foot landed firmly back on the wheelchair’s footrest, he immediately felt a surge of relief and stability.

So what if I’m sitting on another man’s lap?

I’ll get used to it, right?

Just like Yao Huai said, dependence…hmm…dependence.

Meng Xuexiao subtly adjusted his posture, carefully avoiding the pulsating femoral artery beneath his legs. Only then did he realize the man hadn’t moved in quite some time.

Meng Xuexiao immediately grew alert, whispering, “Is… is something wrong?”

The young man’s voice snapped Yao Huai back to attention.

The close proximity, the warmth of another person pressed against his body, and the weight on the back of his foot. Meng Xuexiao was already smaller than him, and now, perched on his lap with his feet dangling, his soles occasionally brushed against Yao Huai’s instep, like a kitten padding back and forth.

Yao Huai almost instinctively ignored the blood and mud smearing His feet. It took His mind a long moment to register: Meng Xuexiao was still sitting on him.

Still sitting on him? He had assumed the young man would have gotten up and left long ago. After all, from the moment the Suspension Bridge Effect plan was declared a failure, he had released his grip on Meng Xuexiao.

Wait… did this mean the Suspension Bridge Effect plan hadn’t actually failed?

Leaning forward, Yao Huai wrapped His arm around the young man’s slender waist once more. This time, it wasn’t a restraining hold, but rather the loose embrace of a child hugging a newly acquired teddy bear—a look of delighted surprise at having achieved His desire.

If dependency could be quantified, what was Meng Xuexiao’s current level of dependence on him?

And if… He continued to prolong the Suspension Bridge Effect, would that number continue to rise?

Yao Huai narrowed his eyes, even his mercury-like pupils beginning to tremble—the unmistakable sign of a cold-blooded creature reaching the peak of excitement.

Meng Xuexiao suddenly felt the surrounding temperature drop slightly. He shifted uncomfortably, then gripped the nearest thing he could find—Yao Huai’s pants.

The loose fabric tightened abruptly.

“What’s happening?” Meng Xuexiao repeated, his voice even softer and lower than before, as if terrified of raising his voice and alerting others.

“We’re… almost there, right?”

When they first entered the building, he had been tense, wondering if they would immediately run into Zhuoyue. Now, he almost wished they would just get it over with. Every second of searching and waiting felt like torture.

Clinging to Yao Huai’s pants, Meng Xuexiao turned his head, stubbornly seeking Yao Huai’s eyes again, as if searching for some kind of reassurance.

This time, whether by chance or something else, he actually found them.

The young man’s eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, his pale pink lips bitten repeatedly.

He was relying on him.

Yao Huai’s mind made this judgment.

The instincts of a hunter and predator swiftly identified the optimal moment to strike. He’s already starting to rely on me, Yao Huai thought. If I push further… this dependence will grow even stronger, even faster.

Almost immediately, His pants were tugged again, like driftwood clutched by a drowning man. His brain, operating at peak intensity due to extreme excitement, felt like that driftwood—pulled briefly underwater by the drowning man’s desperate grip.

Before he could think, the words slipped out, “Mm, almost there.”

The moment the words left His lips, Yao Huai instantly regretted them.

This isn’t the best approach at all.

But in the next instant, He heard Meng Xuexiao finally exhale a breath. The intense emotional turmoil—the pounding heartbeat, the joy of survival—all culminated in that single, fragile sigh.

Meng Xuexiao was still afraid of being caught by Zhuoyue.

For a rare moment, Yao Huai felt a pang of pity.

He almost wanted to tell Meng Xuexiao that here, no matter what sounds he made, Zhuoyue would…

…Never mind.

He controlled the wheelchair, continuing forward.

After an unknown amount of time, Meng Xuexiao gradually began to perceive faint details in the darkness.

The sound of wind whistling through cracks, and the scattered starlight filtering through the gaps.

This sensation… felt like a sudden breach in a sealed barrier, as if a previously frozen progress bar had resumed its forward march.

Before Meng Xuexiao could fully process this, another piercing scream erupted, this time lacking the distant, echoing quality of the previous ones. It seemed… much closer—

“Your turn. Where is the Federal Military Department’s main energy reserve depot?”

The moment he heard those words, Meng Xuexiao immediately recognized the voice,

It was Zhuoyue’s!

In a room just a few meters away, bathed in an eerie, cold light, the elongated shadow of a young man stretched across the floor, a scepter clutched in his hand. The scepter’s crown-shaped head was studded with numerous jewels.

Though the jewels were rounded and smooth, their distorted shapes in the elongated shadow made them appear strangely menacing.

In the room, the young man used the crown-tipped scepter to lift the chin of a figure kneeling on the floor. The scepter’s slender shaft pressed against the man’s throat, choking him and causing saliva to pool on the ground.

“Pah! You think… you think… this will make me tell you?!” The man gasped, his voice ragged but defiant.

The young man sighed, as if singing an aria, “Indeed. How many is this now? Your Federal Logistics Department executives are truly admirable.”

With a flourish, he raised the scepter and brought it down with calculated force. The crisp, chilling crack of shattering bone echoed through the room.

The blow had struck the man’s spine. The stubborn Logistics Executive immediately collapsed, clutching his back and writhing in agony.

Another strike followed, this time targeting the man’s arm.

The bone snapped cleanly, its jagged, white end piercing through the skin and exposed to the air in a gruesome display.

Yet the young man remained unmoved, as if savoring the dull thuds. The scepter descended again, striking the man’s thigh, then his neck.

Finally, the scepter’s tip slowly pierced the Logistics Executive’s skull.

The slender, sharp tip of the staff pierced through the back of the Logistics Executive’s head with a soft “Pfft” sound.

The Young Man lightly tapped the corpse and ordered the Alien Beast beside him, “Drag it aside.”

There was a rustling sound as the Alien Beast dragged the body away. It even offered the young man a handkerchief.

The young man casually took it and wiped his hands carelessly, “Who’s next?”

Besides the fallen Logistics Executive, there seemed to be others in the room, now huddled together in a panic, accidentally knocking over several items.

“Then, you’ll do,” the young man said, pointing at someone at random.

The staff was withdrawn from the corpse’s head and slowly pointed at the chosen “lucky” individual. “The Logistics Executive just said he didn’t know where the Federal Military Department’s main energy reserves were. Do you?”

Hearing this utterly ruthless question, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but hold his breath.

Earlier, as he stepped over the dismembered corpses in the corridor, he had been wondering, Were these all the members of the Federal Logistics Department? Were they all dead?

But at that moment, Zhuoyue had already given him the answer, albeit invisibly. The last few members of the Logistics Department remained in the room where Zhuoyue was.

Unfortunately, these individuals would soon become corpses as well.

This side of Zhuoyue sent a chill down Meng Xuexiao’s spine.

Before this, he had understood Zhuoyue’s brutality and viciousness, but he had rarely witnessed Zhuoyue actually killing someone, let alone…

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but glance at the identification card that had fallen near the door when the corpse was dragged away. It appeared to be a work ID, with the words “S-Class” neatly inscribed on it.

With nothing more than a cane—one that seemed ordinary save for its exquisite craftsmanship and aesthetic value—Zhuoyue had utterly shattered every bone in the S-Class operative’s body through sheer brute force.

Meng Xuexiao gasped, drawing in a sharp breath.

Zhuoyue was far more terrifying than he had imagined. Thank goodness… Yao Huai is here with me this time.

As if sensing Meng Xuexiao’s lingering gaze on the door, Yao Huai spoke up, acting like the most reliable of partners.

“Should we make our move now?”

“Now? Is it safe?” Meng Xuexiao asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Logically, Zhuoyue should be at his most vigilant right now, shouldn’t he?

“You decide,” Yao Huai said, his demeanor genuinely indifferent.

Indeed, waiting indefinitely wasn’t a good strategy. Once Zhuoyue finished dealing with the people inside, he might turn his attention to them next.

“Then… let’s do it.”

Meng Xuexiao tried to sound composed, but his hand, clenched tightly around Yao Huai’s pants, betrayed his anxiety.

Yao Huai noticed the nervous gesture. A faint smile curved his lips as he reached down to grasp Meng Xuexiao’s hand, giving it a gentle shake. “No matter what happens, prioritize your own safety.”

“I… of course I know that…” As an F-Class, Meng Xuexiao understood he couldn’t offer any real assistance. Protecting himself and avoiding becoming a burden was the best he could do.

He dismounted from his wheelchair, planning to find a good hiding spot as soon as he entered.

It was said that the most dangerous place was often the safest. When the fighting inevitably broke out, Zhuoyue and Yao Huai would be too focused on each other to notice a small fry like him. The Alien Beasts Meng Xuexiao had originally feared—the ones that might suddenly leap out—certainly wouldn’t foolishly wander into a battlefield where Gods were clashing.

Yao Huai nodded slightly and maneuvered his wheelchair forward. The wide chair blocked most of Meng Xuexiao from view, and Meng Xuexiao cooperated by hunching over, concealing himself in the shadow cast by the wheelchair.

Yao Huai’s sudden appearance at the doorway immediately drew the attention of everyone in the room. Zhuoyue and the few remaining Logistics Executives all turned to look.

Zhuoyue raised an eyebrow, his expression remaining neutral as he shifted into a more alert stance, drawing his scepter to his side.

The Logistics Executives, each a shrewd survivor, immediately sensed a glimmer of hope. They stared at Yao Huai with pleading eyes.

The figure sat in a spotless wheelchair, his long, silver-white hair cascading down his back. He stood in stark contrast to the blood-soaked, mangled room where several people had just been executed, resembling the divine statue near the Federal Military Department.

It was said that gods and the world’s consciousness were born together, filled with love for every living being.

Could his sudden appearance here mean their desperate prayers for survival had been answered?

Trembling, they stammered, “Are you… here to save us?”

But there was no answer.

Before the Logistics Executives could even react, their bodies had already turned to ash, erased from existence between Yao Huai and Zhuoyue.

With the obstacles and time-wasters gone, Yao Huai launched his attack on Zhuoyue.

Both Yao Huai and Zhuoyue moved with blinding speed. Even Meng Xuexiao, who wanted to observe closely, couldn’t make out their movements clearly. He could only feel the increasingly violent tremors beneath his feet.

Then, he saw them stop near a wall. Yao Huai grabbed Zhuoyue by the collar and slammed him heavily against the wall.

An entire wall suddenly collapsed, sending dust and frigid air rushing in. Meng Xuexiao could even see the silvery moon hanging overhead.

“ROAR!”

Immediately afterward, Meng Xuexiao heard an earth-shattering roar from the Dragon Clan, so furious that the remaining structure trembled violently three times.

The young man Zhuoyue, who had been thrown against the wall, had vanished. In his place stood a Golden Giant Dragon, towering even taller than the entire building.

Through the shattered wall, Meng Xuexiao couldn’t see the dragon’s full form, only its dangerously arched neck and bloodshot, basketball-sized golden Dragon Eyes.

The golden scales on Zhuoyue’s neck had burst open, revealing several deep, bone-deep wounds. The surrounding scales, once gleaming gold, were now shattered and lifeless, their color faded to a dull gray-white.

Then, it roared again.

Even Meng Xuexiao could tell that Zhuoyue was now at a severe disadvantage.

Are we… going to win?

At that moment, Meng Xuexiao could even hear his own heart pounding wildly. Before this, he had never imagined that defeating a boss like Zhuoyue could be so effortless.

Just as his blood was boiling with excitement, Meng Xuexiao heard a rustling sound approaching from the distance.

Was it… an Alien Beast?

It was understandable why Meng Xuexiao would think so. The sound was eerily similar to the one Zhuoyue had made earlier when ordering the Alien Beasts to drag away the corpses.

Moreover… Meng Xuexiao cautiously scanned his surroundings. It seemed he hadn’t seen the Alien Beast since they entered this room.

But no matter. If it was an Alien Beast, even if it did come, it wouldn’t dare enter this room where gods were clashing. After all, who would risk being caught in the crossfire of such intense bladeplay?

Besides, Zhuoyue didn’t seem like the type to hold back for his subordinates.

Therefore, Meng Xuexiao just needed to lie low. When the Alien Beast arrived and saw the situation inside, it would surely retreat in the face of such overwhelming odds.

Meng Xuexiao meticulously checked his hiding spot again. He feared nothing except the Alien Beast discovering him and revealing his presence to Zhuoyue, which could jeopardize the battle.

Then he noticed the pile of corpses nearby.

These were the Logistics Executives whom Zhuoyue had executed after their interrogation yielded no results. The diligent Alien Beast janitor had thoughtfully stacked them together earlier.

Meng Xuexiao’s gaze landed on a face frozen in death, its eyes still wide open. His leg involuntarily twitched, but he forced himself to hobble toward the pile.

What could be more inconspicuous and safer than blending in with the dead?

Finally, he gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and squeezed into the pile of corpses. He even pulled one of the bodies over himself, leaving only half his face exposed.

He deliberately kept his face pressed downward, fearing his expression might betray him.

The rustling sounds grew louder, indicating the Alien Beast had reached the doorway.

Meng Xuexiao held his breath.

Sweat from his body mingled with the corpse’s blood, clinging tightly to his skin.

In that moment, he felt as if he had returned to the pitch-black, silent corridor from before, time once again frozen.

Then, the voice trembled, and Meng Xuexiao guessed the other person must have seen the scene inside the room.

Sure enough, the next instant, he heard the sound of frantic footsteps retreating down the corridor.

But Meng Xuexiao remained cautious. He continued holding his breath until he could no longer bear it. By then, the Alien Beast’s presence had completely vanished.

Meng Xuexiao’s eyelashes fluttered once, and he finally ventured to open his eyes.

Then, he met a pair of golden Dragon Eyes.

The silver-haired young man was crouched directly above him, staring intently. Strands of silver hair nearly brushed Meng Xuexiao’s nose. He had no idea how long the young man had been standing there.

It was a face identical to Zhuoyue’s.