pjbooks Chapter 442 You did it on purpose!
Chapter 442 You did it on purpose!
Nie Qingcheng nodded and didn't ask for any more details.
After Zhang Yan finished eating his noodles and put down his bowl, Nie Qingcheng immediately got up and took the bowl away.
When she returned, Zhang Yan was already leaning against the sofa with his eyes closed. He wasn't sleepy, but exhausted. The side effects of the consciousness returning to its source, coupled with the mental strain of deep-sea combat, left him wanting to think of nothing at all.
Nie Qingcheng sat down beside him and gently massaged his temples with her fingertips.
She spoke as she massaged the area.
"Qin Xiao called. All five strongholds have been cleared. Not a single person from the Lightbringer group escaped. The nuclear waste and centrifuges have been seized."
"Um."
"Guanxing sent a message that the delay field of the six global gates is operating normally, and the shielding efficiency is stable at 96.4%."
"Um."
Nie Qingcheng stopped.
"Is all you can do 'hmm'?"
Zhang Yan opened his eyes and looked at her.
He responded softly.
"What do you want to hear?"
Nie Qingcheng stared at him for three seconds, then reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him closer.
He kissed her directly.
This wasn't a fleeting kiss, but a deep kiss filled with anger and tenderness, lips pressed together, her teeth gently biting his lower lip.
Zhang Yan didn't move and let her bite him.
When they parted, Nie Qingcheng's eyes were a little red.
Her tone was harsh.
"Zhang Yan, if you dare to get hurt again, I'll lock you in the house and you're not allowed to go anywhere."
"it is good."
"It's not a verbal agreement."
"How can I agree to that?"
Nie Qingcheng loosened his collar and stood up, looking down at him.
"Write a guarantee."
Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment.
"What?"
Nie Qingcheng repeated it carefully.
"Write a guarantee, sign it in black and white, and give me a copy before each mission so I can find out if even a single hair is missing."
"Are you a warlord?"
"More ruthless than warlords."
Zhang Yan couldn't help but laugh when he saw her serious expression, letting out a short snort through his nose.
Nie Qingcheng's gaze softened for a moment, then returned to its icy coldness.
"What are you laughing at?"
Zhang Yan reached out, grabbed her wrist, and gently pulled her into his arms.
"It's nothing, I'll write it."
Nie Qingcheng didn't struggle and leaned against his chest.
"Go and write it now."
"Now?"
"Now, before you run away."
Zhang Yan looked down at her. Her eyes were bright, but there was a thin layer of water in them. He knew that it wasn't sleepiness, but the tears she hadn't shed on the phone three hours earlier when he resurfaced from 3,000 meters deep and communication was restored.
He released her and stood up.
"I'll write it."
There was paper and pen readily available in the study, so Zhang Yan sat down and actually began to write.
After writing the words "guarantee," the pen stopped.
He thought about it.
The main text consists of only one line.
Zhang Yan promised to come back alive.
Sign your name and the date below.
After he finished writing, he picked it up and looked at it. He felt it was too perfunctory, so he added a line of small print below it.
Nie Qingcheng is the highest priority.
He folded the paper and left the study.
Nie Qingcheng leaned against the sofa armrest, holding the remote control and changing channels. She looked up when she saw him come out.
Zhang Yan handed over the guarantee.
Nie Qingcheng took it, unfolded it, and looked at it for three seconds.
"that's all?"
"that's all."
"Just one sentence?"
"One sentence is enough."
Nie Qingcheng stared at the paper, her lips twitching slightly, a very subtle curve that was almost unnoticeable unless you looked closely.
She folded the paper and put it in her trench coat pocket.
Her demand was taken for granted.
"You're cooking tonight. I glanced at the food in the fridge; there's enough for six dishes and a soup."
"When did you start checking the refrigerator?"
"Before you go to Antarctica."
Zhang Yan nodded and walked towards the kitchen.
I opened the refrigerator and found fresh shrimp and beef brisket, as well as green vegetables, tomatoes, tofu, and all the necessary seasonings.
He began preparing the ingredients.
Nie Qingcheng followed and leaned against the kitchen door frame, watching without helping.
She spoke up to remind him.
"Six dishes, no fewer than six."
"You're here to supervise the construction."
"right."
Zhang Yan didn't say anything more, and quickly and skillfully processed the various ingredients.
Nie Qingcheng looked at his hand.
"Are your hands still shaking?"
"It's stopped shaking."
"That's a lie."
Zhang Yan raised his right hand and waved it in front of her; it was very steady, without the slightest tremor.
Nie Qingcheng's gaze lingered on his hand for two seconds before shifting away.
"continue."
An hour later, six dishes and a soup were served. Tomato beef brisket and garlic vermicelli shrimp were fragrant, accompanied by a cold dish of seasonal vegetables, tofu and pork ribs, and a seaweed and egg drop soup.
The two people sat facing each other while eating.
Nie Qingcheng ate very slowly, tasting each dish.
She gave her evaluation.
"good."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Nie Qingcheng picked up a piece of pork rib.
"I wasn't praising you, I just said you were alright, you used to do better."
"We didn't need to kill tentacles at a depth of 3,000 meters before."
Nie Qingcheng stopped eating and looked at him.
Zhang Yan kept his head down and ate, pretending not to notice her gaze.
After dinner, Zhang Yan washed the dishes, while Nie Qingcheng watched the news in the living room for a while before going upstairs.
She came downstairs half an hour later.
Zhang Yan was wiping the stove when he heard footsteps and looked up.
Nie Qingcheng changed her clothes.
The neckline of the black silk nightgown was very low, clearly showing her collarbone. Her hair was loose and draped over her shoulders, and although she wasn't wearing makeup, her skin glowed white under the light.
She walked to the sofa, sat down, and curled her legs up. The hem of her silk nightgown slipped down to mid-thigh, revealing a section of her fair calves.
Zhang Yan put down the rag.
"You did it on purpose."
Nie Qingcheng picked up the water glass on the coffee table and took a sip.
"What do you mean, intentionally? I just changed into my pajamas."
Why change into pajamas?
"Pajamas for sleeping."
Zhang Yan looked at her, but she remained expressionless.
He wiped his hands and went over to sit down next to her.
Nie Qingcheng put down her water glass, turned to the side and leaned on his shoulder. The silk fabric was very smooth, and when she brushed against his arm, she carried a faint scent of shower gel.
"Zhang Yan".
"Um."
"I'll go with you on every mission from now on."
"Too dangerous."
Nie Qingcheng's fingers twirled around his sleeve.
"It's more dangerous not to come. Waiting for you here is more dangerous than going to any battlefield."
Zhang Yan remained silent.
Nie Qingcheng looked up at his profile.
"You know what? I didn't sleep for forty hours during those two days you were in Antarctica."
"I know, Qin Xiao said so."
"What else did he say?"
"You said you insulted him thirty-seven times."
Nie Qingcheng's lips curved slightly.
"Thirty-eight times, but he missed one."
Zhang Yan looked down at her; her eyes were bright, reflecting the light.
He reached out and tucked her stray hairs behind her ear.
He gently comforted her.
"It won't happen again. The door is fixed, the lights are dead, the tentacles are cut off, all that's left is to wait. When the twenty-month delay ends, everything will be over."
Nie Qingcheng looked at him.
You're lying.
"What?"
She reached out and poked his chest.
"Every time you say 'I won't do it again,' it will eventually turn into 'one more time.' That's what the Heart of Heaven has told me."
Zhang Yan held her fingers.
"What can it tell you?"
"It told me that you have to go to the lab tomorrow."
Zhang Yan remained silent for two seconds.
"...I just wanted to study that crystal."
Nie Qingcheng stared at him for five seconds before standing up from the sofa.
Her tone left no room for refusal.
"Go ahead, but..."
She bent down, placed her hands on the sofa armrests, and brought her face close to his, so close that she could count his eyelashes.
She stared into his eyes.
"One hour, come up and sleep in one hour."
"it is good."
"If you're more than a minute late, I'll come down and drag you away."
"it is good."
Nie Qingcheng kissed him on the corner of his mouth, then straightened up and turned to go upstairs.
Zhang Yan watched her figure disappear around the corner of the stairs before standing up and heading towards the basement.
The lights in the underground laboratory are always on.
The black crystal, about the size of a fist, was placed in the isolation chamber in the center of the workbench. Its surface had fine, cracked patterns.
Zhang Yan sat down, put on the goggles, and started the scanning program.
The system has begun analysis.
The density of the substance is unknown, the molecular structure is not carbon-based, and the energy characteristics are in a quiescent state.
Zhang Yan gently touched the crystal surface with the miniature probe of the Thousand Machine Arm.
No response.
He tried again, this time releasing a faint resonance wave with the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship.
The crystal lit up.
This was not reflected light but light emitted by itself, with an extremely faint brightness, and then the light began to flow.
A three-dimensional projection emerges from the crystal surface.
It is a set of star charts.
Zhang Yan stared at the projection and recognized the spectral characteristics of several stars.
That's a star outside the solar system, and the core coordinates of its projection are... on the far side of the moon.
A system notification popped up.
Unknown coordinates detected, originating from high-dimensional material residue, coordinates pointing to the far side of the moon, signal characteristics being repeatedly transmitted.
Zhang Yan's hand froze in mid-air.
Resending repeatedly.
This crystal is not a dead object; it is still receiving signals, or rather, it is an antenna in itself.
Receiving signals from the far side of the moon.
His phone rang; it was Nie Qingcheng.
"Fifty-two minutes have passed."
Zhang Yan glanced at the time; it was indeed almost time to go.
He replied immediately.
"Come up right away."
He turned off the projector, resealed the crystal into the isolation chamber, and stood up with only one question in his mind.
What's on the far side of the moon?