Chapter 2869: The More You Like It, the More Afraid You Are of Losing It!
Just as Jiangnan returned, Mila made a torpedo-like flying leap, directly crashing into Jiangnan's stomach!
⁽⁽٩(๑˃̶ꇴ˂̶)۶⁾⁾ “Hahaha! I knew Jiangnan Gege would be fine!”
Lan also pounced over asking for a hug!
But she was already a grown girl, almost as tall as Jiangnan, so being held in his arms felt a bit strange!
Zhong Yingxue's eyes shimmered with starlight, and she couldn't help but smile gently:
˚₊*(ˊॢO̶̶̷̤̫O̴̶̷̤ˋॢ)*₊˚ “I knew you could do it!”
That Liuli Heart Seed had already been hung around Zhong Yingxue's neck!
You know, time in the Cosmic Array is slower; three months passed outside!
Inside, it was thirty months!
During this time, fortunately the Liuli Heart Seed was there, otherwise everyone would have been worried to death!
Wu Liang and Xia Yao were about to not be able to wait. If Jiangnan didn't return soon, they might have to go to the battlefield to temper themselves!
After all, the Carbon Alliance is now deeply mired in war; there isn't much else, but plenty of places to fight!
Xia Yao tilted her head:
(*˘◠˘) “Hmph～ Strawberry flavor? No thanks!”
“Hey～ Here's a citrus flavor! Pay up quickly!”
As she spoke, she directly pulled a citrus-flavored hard candy from her chest treasure pouch!
She handed it to Jiangnan and even winked at him.
Jiangnan saw this, how could he endure?
He immediately stepped forward and gobbled up the milky citrus hard candy!
He cupped Xia Yao's cheeks and kissed her wildly!
Xia Yao's eyes suddenly went wide!
“Mmm～ Mmmph!”
Wu Liang and Xiong Er both twitched their mouths. “Goodness, they're not even hiding it now?”
Jiangnan had a fierce look. “Today I'll show you the power of an ultimate life form!”
Xia Yao flailed her hands and feet frantically; she had never seen such an intense Xiao Nan!
Until Jiangnan had paid back all the interest!
Only then did he let go.
Xia Yao had a “no-no” expression, lost her footing, and collapsed limply on the ground, kicking her legs before going still.
*₊˚(꒪ͦ﹃꒪ͦॢ)*₊˚
Zhong Yingxue covered her face. “Goodness!”
“Are you kissing or sucking her life force?”
“Why does Yao Yao look like she's done for?”
Jiangnan's gaze shifted and landed directly on Qian Benying.
“What are you looking at? You want some too?”
Qian Benying shuddered, quickly turned away, her face red to the point of bleeding, and shook her head wildly.
“No no no… I can't handle it. Ultimate life forms are just too powerful. I definitely can't!”
Jiangnan grinned. “Good! To celebrate the return of Lord Nan Shen, does anyone want to eat hotpot?”
The “no-no” Xia Yao suddenly perked up her wolf ears. “Eat, eat, eat! Let me chew this candy first and then we'll eat!”
Lan: ∑(°口°๑)???
“Wasn't it just Jiangnan Ge who ate it? How did it end up in Sister Yao Yao's mouth?”
“Space… space wormhole?”
“It must have been a space wormhole, right?”
Zhong Yingxue pouted. (◦`~´◦) “Hotpot is fine, but you need to use a proper charcoal pot. I don't want to be a heating gas canister anymore!”
At this, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
“I'll prepare the vegetables!”
“I'll move the table!”
“Alright, alright! I'll do nothing and just wait to eat!”
“Hey? Don't make laziness sound so justified!”
In the blink of an eye, a hotpot feast was set up in the Cosmic Array, steaming hot.
On the plates were all kinds of greens, mushrooms, meat rolls, and many strange alien ingredients.
Many were picked from the Star Farming Clan.
Although Jiangnan and the others had reached a level where they no longer had any need for food, as humans, they still had the desire for good food.
Otherwise, a life without eating or drinking would be so boring?
Looking at the table full of dishes, Jiangnan's appetite was whetted, and he was about to pick up his chopsticks.
Wu Liang immediately winked and said:
(｡･ˇ↼ˇ･) “Nan Ge? It's a rare opportunity, how about a drink?”
Jiangnan chuckled. “What? Trying to knock me out? Let's drink!”
Wu Liang snapped his fingers and pulled out a few bottles of liquor in transparent glass bottles from his chest.
The bottles looked just like the ones used for IV drips.
There wasn't even a label!
Jiangnan was taken aback: =͟͟͞͞(꒪д꒪‧̣̥̇) “What kind of liquor is this?”
Wu Liang said matter-of-factly:
╮(•́～•̀)╭ “100% pure industrial alcohol, of course?”
“With our physical constitutions, how much cheap liquor would we need to drink just to get tipsy?”
“Drink this! Today we must drink until there's not a single drop of blood left in our veins—only alcohol!”
Jiangnan spat blood.
“What? Star Devourer-level big shots have to drink alcohol to get drunk?”
(•́ω•̀٥) “So troublesome? Why not just hook up an IV and inject it straight into your veins?”
Xiong Er curled his lip. (￢̫￢) “If you ask me, Bear Number One has no taste. The starry sky is so vast—isn't there any liquor that can get us drunk?”
“The Star Farming Clan brews all kinds of spirit fruit liquors that are just as good, you know?”
As he spoke, Xiong Er placed several packs of alien fruit liquor on the table.
Wu Liang hugged his industrial alcohol, feeling a bit inferior.
“Damn! Am I falling behind the times?”
“I can't even match Xiong Er's knowledge!”
“Then let's drink!”
In a cheerful atmosphere, everyone sat around the hotpot, eating and drinking, with laughter and joy.
The Cosmic Array's holographic simulation even changed to a snowy plain scene.
Eating hotpot in such an environment—how comfortable was that?
Even Ai Jiang sent a mechanical prosthetic over to join the fun, except everyone was drinking alcohol while she drank motor oil.
At the dinner table, Jiangnan and Qian Benying were fighting with chopsticks, their movements as fast as lightning, like a life-or-death duel between supreme chopstick masters.
The conflict originated from the ownership of a perfectly cooked meat roll.
Xia Yao took the opportunity to pick up a meat roll and feed it to Xuexue.
(∗❛ัꇴ❛ั)⋋ “Xuexue～ Open wide! Ah～”
This made Jiangnan jealous.
Xiong Er and Wu Liang were competing to see who could drink faster; the loser had to give money to Lan.
Lan: (˵¯͒⥎¯)✧
And Mila was using chopsticks to thread meat rolls onto skewers, making Xiao Jiuwo spray fire, and they ate kebabs.
The scene was incredibly lively.
The last time everyone was so happily eating hotpot together was who knows when.
At this moment, Jiangnan seemed to forget all his worries, enjoying every moment, every second, joking wildly.
Qian Benying was so angry she pounded Jiangnan, but only hurt her own hands, stomping her feet.
Bottle after bottle of fruit liquor went down, and Jiangnan seemed a bit tipsy.
Looking at the smiling faces before him, Jiangnan's eyes were filled with reluctance, nostalgia, and cherishment…
Forget worries? How could he forget?
Was all this fake? Unreal? A tampered reality?
If I fail to achieve it, will all this beauty disappear?
I don't know if it was the strong effect of the fruit liquor or the hot steam from the hotpot blurring the world.
Jiangnan felt as if the world before him was blurring, gradually slipping away from him.
As if no matter how he tried to grasp it, he couldn't hold on…
It grew increasingly blurry.
Jiangnan grabbed a bottle of fruit liquor and downed it in one go.
If he tilted his head back, maybe the world would become a bit clearer?
But… it didn't.
After a bottle of fruit liquor, Jiangnan burped and patted his stomach.
(*¯ㅿ¯*;) “Burp～ I'm a bit stuffed. I'm going outside to use the bathroom and get some air. Don't steal my meat rolls, okay!”
As he spoke, he directly disappeared from the Cosmic Array.
And as soon as Jiangnan left, looking at that empty seat, the atmosphere in the room quieted down.
The smiles on everyone's faces gradually faded, their eyes filled with obvious worry.
Xia Yao gave a bitter smile. “Xiao Nan… he was really just forcing himself. He's always like this, sigh～”
“The way he looked at me was unsettling… reluctance, nostalgia, as if he was going to disappear…”
Wu Liang sighed. “Something must have happened, right? Something we can't solve or help with…”
“Nan Ge didn't even need to be urged; he kept drinking bottle after bottle. Before, he would always try to cheat!”
Mila's eyes dimmed. “I can feel that Jiangnan Gege isn't as happy as he seems!”
“He must be hiding something in his heart, right?”
Everyone was a companion and brother who had come this far with Jiangnan.
They all understood Jiangnan perfectly; perhaps Jiangnan didn't even know himself as well as they did.
How could everyone not see that Jiangnan had something on his mind?
And this time, it was probably unusually serious.
That nostalgic look made everyone uneasy.
Zhong Yingxue's expression turned serious. “Ai Jiang? What happened?”
If anyone knew the most, it must be Ai Jiang, right?
Ai Jiang shrank her head.
ᥬ(๑◔◠◔ิ)᭄ “D-do I have to say it?”
Zhong Yingxue nodded, looking serious.
Ai Jiang sighed. “Jiang Fan wants to use the Final Black Hole Jet to destroy the world, restart the Starry Sky World, in order to rescue the main entity.”
Wu Liang, who had just taken a sip of liquor, sprayed it all over Xiong Er's face, looking shocked.
∑(°口°๑) “Wha… what?”
Everyone was stunned for a moment.
Ai Jiang weakly picked at her fingers.
ᥬ(๑◔﹏◔ิ)᭄ “But… this isn't the most urgent. The most urgent is something else. The master didn't tell anyone, not even Black God. I… I don't know what it is either.”
Everyone was completely dumbfounded. What could be more terrifying than Jiang Fan wanting to destroy the world?
In this short time, what exactly had Jiangnan experienced?
And yet he could still force a smile when he returned, trying to reassure everyone.
Zhong Yingxue took a deep breath and looked at Xia Yao.
“Are you going?”
Xia Yao shook her head. “I can't talk him out of it, and I can't untie his knot. You have to go.”
Zhong Yingxue bit her lip and nodded, then her body suddenly disappeared.
…
On the surface of the central planet of the Cosmic Array, Jiangnan's figure suddenly appeared.
He casually found a spot to sit, looked up at the Milky Way Star Domain, and gazed at the brilliant night sky.
Every time he thought about how the present reality might collapse, leave him, and cease to exist, Jiangnan felt a deep fear.
The more you like it, the more afraid you are of losing it.
And at this moment, Jiangnan really had a feeling of not knowing what to do.
No matter how great his abilities were, he couldn't solve the problem before him.
Jiangnan wiped his nose, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his Alternate Dimension, and opened it clumsily.
He took one out and put it in his mouth.
Jiangnan didn't smoke, but at this moment, he wanted to try…
Just as Jiangnan was about to light it, the cigarette in his mouth suddenly lit up with red light and then burned to ashes, turning into nothing.
Jiangnan was startled, and then Zhong Yingxue appeared, slowly sitting down beside him.
She reached out, unwrapped a White Rabbit milk candy, and stuffed it into Jiangnan's mouth.
“Don't smoke. It doesn't suit you. Besides, smoking is harmful to your health.”
“Eat candy instead~ It's quite sweet.”
Jiangnan froze, then grinned, casually resting his head on Zhong Yingxue's shoulder, looking out at the deep starry sky.
“Mm~ It's pretty sweet…”