Before experiencing love, Lu Yan didn't realize that even just a kiss between lovers could consume more than ten minutes of time.
Pressed to the ground, Tang Xunan shielded him with his wings so tightly that not a single strand of hair was exposed.
Tang Xunan even remembered Lu Yan's cleanliness; the folded wings served as a perfect cushion.
The passionate kiss traveled from the forehead down to the toes.
Even though this once honeymoon sanctuary now had no visitors, at most, a few staff members came to the seaside after work to pick oysters. Lu Yan had a sense of being watched.
System: [It's not just a feeling. Shen Qingyang is still nearby in the sea, his jealous tentacles are branching out. His goal now isn't just the top scorer in the college entrance exam; he wants to become stronger and snatch the princess back from the evil dragon as soon as possible.]
Unfortunately, Lu Yan couldn't see.
If it weren't for the midway interruption by a call from the Prevention and Control Center, which rang for several minutes, Lu Yan would have had every reason to suspect that Tang Xunan would linger here with him until dark.
For Tang Xunan, it was the first time he felt annoyed by how waterproof phones were, enduring minutes submerged in the sea without damage. It was a headache.
He chose to answer the call. On the other end, there was the voice of liaison officer Lao Wang: "Captain Tang, have you found Diteng?"
Before Tang Xunan could respond, Lu Yan's hand slipped under his clothes, tracing a mischievous path along his waistline.
Lu Yan's hand was cool, yet wherever it touched felt like it was set ablaze.
With one hand supporting himself on Lu Yan's side, and the other gripping the phone, Tang Xunan hesitated to breathe. "Found him."
"Alright, Captain Tang. Are you available now? Can we let Mr. Diteng take the call?" Lao Wang asked.
Lu Yan propped himself up on his elbow and whispered to Tang Xunan, "Tell him I'm busy."
His voice was hoarse, sounding like he had just woken up.
Liaison officer: "......!?"
Here, it's worth mentioning that although Tang Xunan was directly in contact with one liaison officer, for the stability of the tyrant, there was often a team of dozens behind him responsible for behavior analysis, psychological comfort, handling miscellaneous tasks, and coordinating with relevant departments.
Therefore, although the voice on the phone wasn't on speaker, everyone wore headphones, albeit without the intercom function.
In other words, although Lu Yan's voice was not loud, it was still picked up by the microphone.
The staff from all departments looked at each other, some bewildered, some shocked, some showing joy, feeling like they had stumbled upon something real.
Finally, it was the experienced Lao Wang Three who waved a large hand, interrupting the microphone with a "snap."
"No signal!" Lao Wang Four, who had been working for only three years, scolded by the 70-year-old third-generation liaison officer, "No wonder with such a high salary, you can't find a partner. Pretending not to hear, then hanging up the phone, do you understand?"
Thus, although knowing someone was around, the liaison officer pretended not to know anything, diligently fulfilling his duties.
Though the call ended, Lu Yan woke up from his half-asleep state.
He squinted lazily and said, "Let's go back."
Tang Xunan: "Okay."
He found a blanket and draped it over Lu Yan. The scorching sun at four in the afternoon reddened their skin.
When Lu Yan returned to the base, his hair was no longer dripping wet, his expression unchanged from when he left. His lips, usually pale, now had a hint of rosy color.
He went back to his room, where his phone, charging on the bedside table, was filled with missed calls, most from his liaison officer, Director Li.
After some thought, Lu Yan took a shower first before dealing with the miscellaneous matters.
The first call he made was to Director Li.
As soon as Director Li answered the phone, tears welled up in his eyes. "You...you went to participate in the Divine Realm operation without even telling me."
"I'm getting old, and suddenly not being able to contact you, I was so worried, I've been losing hair every night."
"Submit a location application to headquarters, saying you've activated the 'Do Not Disturb' mode. If it weren't for the sudden report, I wouldn't have known you were involved in the Divine Realm operation...You're not injured, are you?"
Director Li was indeed of age, and if it weren't for Lu Yan, he would have retired in a few more years.
Perhaps due to declining testosterone levels, Director Li, gradually aging, lacked the slickness of middle-aged men; he was like any ordinary elderly person, worried about his children.
Lu Yan wasn't ambitious but was compassionate toward the weak. Therefore, he treated his liaison officer with relatively more gentleness: "Not injured. I just don't feel like attending meetings at headquarters. Pass on a message for me, though. Let headquarters figure out a way to dissipate the sea fog on Changjia Island; otherwise, the people inside won't be able to come out. Ninghuai has written about the current situation on Changjia in the report. The new generation inside needs to open their eyes and see the outside world."
"We understand," Director Li became serious when it came to business matters, "One of the initial plans to solve the sea fog was for Experimental Subject No. 9, Mr. Ye Liangshan, to use his talent to absorb the fog. This plan was agreed upon by him, but now Ye Liangshan has been kidnapped by the Hounds, and his fate is uncertain. We'll try to make contact with 01 and 07 for negotiations."
After saying this, Director Li couldn't help but smile bitterly, "We trusted the research institute too much back then. Now, the Hound Base has become a new S-level contamination area. Headquarters has evacuated and relocated the personnel around the surrounding counties; that area has become a deserted zone."
Different from some contamination areas adjacent to big cities, the base chosen by Gong Weibin was in a low-population-density area, deliberately chosen for concealment, with relatively low property prices, so the evacuation was relatively convenient.
Headquarters once considered directly leveling the Hound Base, but those ordinary pollutants could be dealt with using nuclear weapons, yet they couldn't kill 01. The surviving 01 might pose an even greater danger and retaliate in extreme ways, which nobody wanted to see. Besides, nuclear weapons themselves had immense hazards.
As a sentient perfect evolved being, 01 also weighed the pros and cons; currently, both sides were keeping a low profile. The difference lay in Headquarters' clear understanding that 01 was merely biding its time. In its morbid mindset, humanity was trash that needed to be eliminated. The distinction lay only in whether humanity would be phased out by time or by 01 itself.
The current solution depended on hoping that the spiritual threshold of the centenarian Tang Xunan would rise a bit more, or that more Tier S Awakeningers would emerge; otherwise, this problem was genuinely insurmountable.
Director Li: "By the way, Headquarters, through a vote, has decided to award you a Glory Medal as thanks for your contributions to human society. You can collect it at the Grand Hall, but, of course, you'll remain anonymous... What do you think?"
The First-Class Glory Medal was the highest individual honor in the field of pollution disease prevention and control. So far, there were only four recipients worldwide.
Lu Yan had seen it in the rookie training manual when he first joined the Special Operations Department. Unlike ordinary medals, the Glory Medal was particularly expensive.
The medal itself was quite valuable due to the materials and craftsmanship, an exquisite piece of art worthy of museum display.
Each Glory Medal was personally designed and crafted by contemporary jewelry design masters. It took several months to set the gems on the olive leaf tray, attach the ribbon, and complete the work.
The gems on the medal were selected by the designer himself and were often quite valuable.
For example, the main gemstone on Tang Xunan's family medal was a 128-carat yellow diamond, said to have been obtained from a well-known luxury goods company. The reason was that the designer felt that the yellow diamond looked very much like Tang Xunan's eyes.
Lu Yan thought for a moment and replied, "Alright, send it to K City." He preferred peace and quiet and had no interest in attending any award ceremonies.
"Understood. Additionally, there's a task reward of twenty million contribution points. It's expected to be deposited into your account within two working days."
Contribution points weren't currency and had no physical form. However, to maintain social stability and, in line with the most common Tier E special effect medicines, there was a fixed conversion ratio, forming a distinct value system with minimal inflation.
Twenty million contribution points nearly emptied the A City Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center's inventory of decades.
If it weren't too embarrassing, Headquarters even wanted to ask if Lu Yan could pay in installments.
Lu Yan hung up the phone and silently calculated.
Twenty million contribution points. In cash, it was two trillion. But considering that contribution points could be exchanged for money, while money couldn't be exchanged for contribution points, hardly anyone would do such a thing. And these twenty million contribution points didn't even incur taxes.
[With this money, I can ask the Fifth Research Institute to customize a submarine. It'll be convenient for going to Laiye.]
"Has the technology been acquired?"
System: [Given current human capabilities, there shouldn't be any problem ensuring that this submarine safely reaches the outskirts of Laiye.]
Lu Yan stayed on this small island for a week, mainly to teach Tang Xunan how to swim and dive.
Tang Xunan had a strong learning ability and quickly adapted to underwater combat techniques, but still found it challenging to survive underwater for extended periods.
Lu Yan once took him down 400 meters underwater without any equipment.
At this depth, Lu Yan had to transform into a merman to continue descending.
There was no light here; it was pitch black all around.
According to the system, the environment around the outskirts of Laiye and the 400-meter deep sea were similar.
Communication underwater wasn't possible, so Lu Yan judged Tang Xunan's current state based on the system's analysis.
He held Tang Xunan's wrist to prevent him from being swept away by the underwater currents.
In the deep sea, even night vision wasn't very useful, but the other's golden eyes were faintly glowing. It occurred to Lu Yan that during the surgery, it was recorded that Tang Xunan had been implanted with a pair of eyes that would never go blind.
After several dives, Lu Yan finally determined: Tang Xunan's survival limit in an oxygen-deprived environment was 66 minutes. By the 60th minute, his consciousness would begin to blur. Beyond 67 minutes, irreversible brain damage would occur.
Descending to 400 meters took 6 minutes, but returning, if he wanted to avoid decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis, with his physical condition, it would take at least 30 minutes. Considering combat injuries, it was estimated at 40 minutes.
This was already quite fast; for an ordinary person, to avoid accidents, it would take at least ten hours to slowly return from 400 meters underwater to the sea surface.
In other words, if he was underwater without an oxygen tank, Tang Xunan could only stay for 20 minutes.
This was the limit that Lu Yan could allow him to disappear from sight.
Water torture and suffocation were common torture methods.
Tang Xunan couldn't breathe underwater without gills. After a while, it would become very uncomfortable.
But Lu Yan had never heard him complain.
"I want to be with you." Tang Xunan hooked his little finger around Lu Yan's, "If you must go to that coordinate, remember to take me with you."
The system gave a cynical evaluation: [A work dog that's afraid of being useless and abandoned by its master.]
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