"All in?" uncle Wen looked at everyone with a wide smile.
"Yes~" Yue excitedly looked at him. "Uncle. I missed you..."
"I missed you too, kid," he glanced at him with a small twinkle in his eyes. "Strap yourself up, kids. We are going home..." he went back to his co-pilot seat and strapped himself down.
"That's it? That's your welcome? Dad, I'm right here!" Qian leaned forward with a pout. "Are you still angry that I did not come back home?"
"Yue, do you hear something? I hear a pig snorting so loudly. Tell that pig that he is grounded until further notice," he laughed out loud.
"Old man!"
"What old man, huh? You knew that a fucking meteor was going to hit us, yet you decided to get holed up in your research center instead of coming back home. Don't you dare open your mouth, you brat? I will fucking sew it shut!"
Qian silently sat back in his seat. "Because that it's my life's work. How can I abandon it when we are in a breakthrough? You would have done the same."
"no, I would have come back home to family,"
Qian Wen suddenly scoffed loudly. "Wrong answer. I remember the day mom waited for you, you never were there. Don't you dare preach me, old man? I grew up independent because you were never fucking around,"
Wen glanced back with a small glare. "You want to talk about this now?"
"Yeah, when else do you want to talk? Because you never talk! All you know how to do is work or stay holed up in your study looking at documents. Who do you think I inherited my workaholic skills?" Qian snapped back.
Yue, who was sitting very close to him, could not handle the tension any longer. "Stop it. You both love each other and miss each other. Let the past be in the past, this is a chance for us to start anew,"
"Anew my ass, that man will never change his strict ways," Qian grumbled, leaning close to Fan Xui and closing his eyes tightly.
Uncle Wen sighed loudly and glanced back with a look of guilt. "Qian I..."
"Save it, I don't care and I don't want to care."
They both sulked in each corner. This was supposed to be a happy reunion. Instead it turned into a fight.
The tension in the air was so tight that you can easily cut it with a butter knife.
Yue desperately wanted to change the subject. "Uncle Bohai? Is that you?"
"Yep kid, nice to see you again," Bohai glanced back with a wide smirk. "Heard you went to H, didn't know when you returned,"
"I came back just a few days ago. How have you been? How are you holding up?..."
"I've had worse days... my grandmother.. She passed. I am arranging a funeral for her. But none of the funeral houses are willing to take her in,"
Yue frowned deeply. He unclipped the buckle and crawled up close to him. "Uncle, are you going to bury her?"
"Yes... it's our tradition," he glanced at him with brows raised. "Why is it a problem?"
"I know it is not my part to say this, but you should not bury her. Instead, try cremating her.
Bohai hesitated.
"We don't know much about this virus yet. If in case the virus somehow contaminates our soil and underwater resources, we might end up in a deeper problem,"
Uncle Wen cleared his throat. "You are right. I did suggest for the undead to be burned. The crematory houses have been full. It's better to build another one with a powerful incinerator, or have the fire ability user to burn it all down."
"Hmm..." Yue secretly moved a bit close to uncle Wen. "Uncle. You know about the second meteor, right?"
He glanced at him in shock. "What do you know?"
"It's about to descend..."
"You mean that?" Bohai suddenly whispered to him, nodding towards the window.
Yue leaned forward and glanced out. The late evening sky was golden and beautiful, but a few spots of golden shimmering lights appeared breaking through the clouds, creating a small tail in their way.
"It's here!"
It was quite far, but in an hour or two it will reach them.
"Uncle, you know the protocol, right? Follow the book,"
"hmm..." uncle Wen glanced back. "Go strap yourself. I don't want you flying out of this chopper like a kite,"
Yue sat back down and strapped himself down. His eye glued to the window, watching the shimmering lights approaching them.
A hand suddenly held his.
He glanced to the side to see Fan Xui smiling softly. "It will be okay,"
"I hope so...."
Qian, on the other hand, glanced at him with a small frown. "What book are you talking about?"
"It's... a book... we kind of found a book that predicts all these events. Uncle Wen has a copy!"
"Do you have one?..."
"Yeah sure..."
"Can you give it to me?" Fan Xui suddenly whispered.
"Yeah, sure....." Yue awkwardly glanced at Tian.
She gestured for him to stay calm.
In just a few minutes they already reached the base.
A few soldiers stood there in the hangar, glancing at them with the look of hostility.
The chopper landed smoothly.
Uncle Wen first climbed down with his head held high. "Why are you all waiting here?"
A taller, well-built man walked upfront of the crowd and sneered at him. "You used our military vehicle without authorization,"
"Authorization?" uncle Wen just raised a brow. "I was voted to be in control of this place according to my seniority. You think I don't have the authorization to take a chopper if I want to?"
"That has changed. We are in control now," the man laughed, looking down on him. "You are nothing but an old cronnie. Only the powerful have the right and authorization and we are taking over your villa." The man said as a matter of fact.
Yue frowned deeply. This was the first stage of the soldiers rebelling. When he entered the base a few years later, he had heard that before Fan Xui took control, there was a huge rebellion against Qian's father. He almost lost his life in that.
Thankfully, Fan Xui and Qian Wen were strong enough to suppress them.
But now the situation is very different. Fan Xui is still recovering from his coma. He might look okay, but he was straining a lot of climbing up and down. And Qian.... he looked like he did not have any abilities.
"What is the problem here?" Hary said hopping down in style. "Is this mutiny? Wow, seems like you guys have everyone by your side."
The man just sneered.
Hary just peered at them. "Tian, I was craving for someone's action, looks like we just found ourselves our new target,"
Tian smirked widely. "Look like we found a bunch of rats."
"What do we usually do with rats?" Hary wrapped his fists tightly with a roll of bandage. "Enlighten me, what is your glorious name? You see, I don't fight strangers. I would very much like to put a name to that rat-like face,"
"You!" the man held up his tight fist. A small flame lit it up like that of a torch. "Make sure to remember the name Deng Li, because that will be the last name you....."
A huge flame ball hit him smack on the face. As soon as it hit him, it disappeared, only burning away his hair.
"Ah! A bald rat! Do it again..." he excitedly looked at her.
Rolling her eyes, Tian held up her fists. A huge roaring flame ball filled up quickly. "Who's ready for their haircut?"
The men stumbled back, mumbling in fear.
"You! You burnt my hair!!!! I will kill you! I will kill you!!!" the man charged at them with guns ready.
"Did you hear that Tian? I heard that rat squeal." Hary spread out the metal like a glistening screen. It caught the bullets in mid-air. "Now let's catch the rat," a fragment of it separated. It rolled over like liquid metal and wrapped the Deng Li tightly.
Everyone looked stunned at them.
"How did you....get me out of here? hey you!" Deng Li glanced around. None of his previous comrades were prepared to help him out.
"Caught the rat," Hary laughed out loud like a villain.
"Why are you guys insulting rats? Rats are cute, that man is a donkey." He mumbled, walking past the men. Fan Xui walked beside him, glaring at the soldiers.
Tian nodded. "Deng Li? His name does sound like a donkey. Nice one Yue,"
Watching this, uncle Wen revealed a secret smile. His heart had been unsettled all along because of the unrest in the military base. But with these strong youths by their side, it will be very easy to survive.
Qian and Prisitsky casually walked past all of them with the two bags carefully held in hand.
"I call dibs on the biggest and advance lab!" Prisitsky shouted.
"This is my father's place. I get the good lab! Hey! You stinky tofu! I will never ever work together with you!"
"Who wants to work with you?! I will make my own mark on this earth with my awesome discoveries while you sit in your lab looking at the project that went up in flames. Literally,"
"Fuck you!"
"Fuck you too! But I prefer younger blonds!" Prisitsky laughed out loud, running into the base.
Yue watched everything calm down quickly as it began. The ones who rebelled were captured.
But the problem was not over yet. There were still forces in the shadows waiting for them to fall from grace.
'I won't let that happen though..' Yue held Fan Xui's hand and walked in, hand in hand.