I Eat My Own Jealousy Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Recognizing the person, Lanno’s body abruptly stiffened. He blocked Jian Ning, staring at the figure with total vigilance.

Approaching closer, the silhouette stopped and spoke, “Lanno.”

It was Russell. Behind Lanno, Jian Ning’s eyes widened, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. Was Russell here to kill him and Lanno personally?

Amidst his panic, he clutched his last seed tightly, preparing to force plant growth to silently subdue Russell. Even if he couldn’t defeat him, he could stall him long enough to buy time for their escape.

He and Lanno absolutely, positively could not afford to get hurt here. He hadn’t even apologized to Zong Ye for sneaking along yet. Zong Ye’s two personalities hadn’t fully merged, and Tuantuan still hadn’t transformed into a human.

“Brother, are you here to kill me?” Lanno was like a furious little lion, marshaling every ounce of his mental power to crush down on Russell. The air around them instantly grew dense, pressing down on their chests like a massive boulder, making it hard to breathe.

Russell swayed slightly but managed to steady himself, extending a hand toward Lanno. “I’m getting you two out of here.”

Lanno, who had been tensed up and ready to pounce, froze. Jian Ning, who was about to command his plants to attack, was equally stunned. Both looked at Russell in bewilderment.

Footsteps echoed from a nearby tunnel, approaching fast. Russell urged anxiously, “Hurry! I know where Marshal Zong Ye is, I’ll take you to him.”

Lanno and Jian Ning locked eyes. Lanno warned, “We don’t trust you. What exactly are you plotting?”

A look of sheer anxiety washed over Russell’s face. Just then, the footsteps from the adjacent tunnel arrived—it was the remaining assassins hunting Jian Ning and Lanno. Seeing their dead comrades on the floor and the new person standing in front of Lanno, they paused for a fraction of a second. But without missing a beat, they raised their energy guns and opened fire on the trio.

In the split second they had hesitated, Russell had already deployed a portable energy shield, encompassing all three of them inside. The energy blasts failed to penetrate the shield. Seeing this, an assassin decisively swapped weapons and prepared to launch a heavier attack, only to be yanked back by a comrade. “Careful, that’s the First Prince.”

Recognizing Russell, the attackers hesitated. Russell seized the opening, stepped out of the shield, and engaged them in close combat. After dispatching several of them, Russell turned around—only to find the shield empty. Lanno and Jian Ning had vanished.

Jian Ning practically dragged Lanno as they fled, panting heavily. He didn’t forget to ask, “What—what’s the deal with your older brother?”

“I don’t know either.” Lanno felt like his calf was hurting so much it was going numb. His face was deathly pale, dripping with sweat. “Who knows what kind of scheme he’s running. Getting away from him is what matters.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the path ahead hit a dead end. Remembering the crossroad they had just passed, Jian Ning turned back with Lanno, only to hear rapidly approaching footsteps from behind, followed by an unfamiliar commanding voice: “Team one, take the left. Team two, the right. The General’s orders are clear: if you see Prince Lanno, shoot to kill on sight.”

Crap. Judging by the sound, this wasn’t just a few guys—it was an entire squad. Jian Ning looked around frantically. It was a dead end. There was nowhere left to run.

Suddenly, a head popped out from a pitch-black corner up ahead, followed by a faint beam of light shining their way. “Down here, quick.”

Jian Ning jumped in fright, but then recognized the face. It was Russell.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Given the choice between being shot on sight and going with Russell, Jian Ning decisively chose Russell, helping Lanno over to the gap.

Beneath them was a hole, just large enough for one person to squeeze through. He let Lanno drop down first before jumping in himself.

It was another tunnel underneath, but much shallower than the ones above. With Jian Ning’s height, he had to hunch over just to walk. It was pitch black all around; the only illumination came from the faint light in Russell’s hand. Russell didn’t even bother sealing the entrance. He grabbed Lanno to support him and whispered, “Move fast, before they notice this hole.”

This tunnel was only wide enough for two people side-by-side. Russell supported Lanno up front, walking rapidly. Jian Ning followed behind, bent over, using his communicator’s built-in light to see. He asked urgently, “Where are you taking us?”

Russell was stronger than Jian Ning and practically carried Lanno as they sped along. Lanno tried to question him multiple times, but every time he lifted his head, he smashed it against the low ceiling, grunting in pain.

“Keep your head down,” Russell scolded him, before answering Jian Ning. “Like I said earlier, I’m taking you to see Marshal Zong Ye. You guys got incredibly lucky to run right over this tunnel, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to save you in time.”

Would following this path really lead them to Zong Ye? Doubt rippled through Jian Ning’s heart. As he trailed behind them, he scanned their surroundings. They had been walking for a long time, and there was only this single path stretching forward. Not a single diverging route in sight.

Ten minutes later, the tunnel ended at a solid wall of dirt. Russell helped Lanno sit down on the ground.

“You said you were bringing us to Eldest Uncle. Where is he?” Lanno demanded, thoroughly confused by whatever his brother was trying to accomplish.

“Inside.” Russell pointed at the dirt wall right in front of them.

Inside the underground headquarters, Zong Ye had his adjutant and two subordinates gather everyone into the main hall. Having been suddenly abandoned, the staff was in a state of utter panic, and the security personnel had obediently surrendered their weapons.

“Marshal, I brought them over to identify everything. Not a single important document was taken,” the adjutant reported, returning quickly to the hall with several chief researchers in tow. He waved them off to wait with the crowd and walked over to Zong Ye.

Zong Ye furrowed his brow tight. Something was wrong. This place was the culmination of over a decade of Horton’s blood, sweat, and tears. He was just abandoning it like this? Even if he managed to kill him and Lanno today, the Emperor was still in perfect health and in the prime of his life. How could Horton guarantee that Russell would inherit the throne? Zong Yue couldn’t give birth anymore, but with other methods, she and the Emperor could certainly conceive another child.

Horton definitely had a backup plan.

“M-Marshal.” The Chief Engineer ran over, drenched in cold sweat. “There’s only enough oxygen left in here for half an hour.”

When the entire headquarters was sealed from the outside, the ventilation and circulation systems had been shut down as well. Preliminary estimates put the head count inside at forty to fifty people. Everyone was in a state of panic, causing oxygen levels to deplete exponentially faster.

Hearing this, Zong Ye checked his communicator. Feiyu still hadn’t returned. He had questioned the engineers and personally inspected every single exit—they were all dead-bolted shut, impossible to break through. The engineers explained that during construction, as a security measure, highly volatile explosives were embedded within the walls and exits. If the doors locked from the outside and someone tried to force their way out from the inside, the explosives would detonate. Given the blast radius of those explosives and their current depth underground, absolutely no one would survive.

Feiyu was their only hope. He had sent it to find a way out half an hour ago, and it still hadn’t come back.

Inside the central waste disposal room, Feiyu zipped back and forth among the dormant machinery. It had scanned the entire underground base, and after running precise calculations, it determined that breaking out from here had the highest probability of success.

Feiyu hovered before the right wall, projecting a beam of light from its spherical body onto the completely unremarkable metal surface. It could detect massive biological frequency fluctuations on the other side. Was the key to their escape behind this wall? Feiyu flapped its wings, ready to fly back and inform Zong Ye, when a sudden clack echoed through the room. A crack opened in the metal wall, and someone poked their head through from the outside.

Recognizing Jian Ning, Feiyu let out a joyful chirp. “Ning Ning!”

“Feiyu!” Seeing Feiyu immediately upon entering, Jian Ning also cried out in relief.

“Ning Ning, how did you get in here?” Feiyu fluttered excitedly, about to launch itself into Jian Ning’s arms, when it spotted Russell helping Lanno through the gap right behind him. Instantly, Feiyu snapped into attack mode. The light node on its chassis flashed wildly as it yelled, “Ning Ning, get over here quickly!”

A targeting laser pinned itself to Russell’s chest, freezing him in his tracks. He had witnessed exactly what Zong Ye’s mecha could do, and he had no desire to get a hole blasted through his torso.

Jian Ning hurriedly explained, “Russell doesn’t have bad intentions! He brought us here.”

“He brought you?” Feiyu eyed Russell suspiciously for a moment before retracting the targeting laser.

Russell exhaled a sigh of relief. He handed Lanno over to Jian Ning and said, “I’ve delivered you. Marshal Zong Ye will take care of you. I have to go.”

“Where are you going?” Lanno grabbed his arm, demanding.

“I’m going to stop Grandfather.” Russell pulled his hand away, turned on his heel, and walked back into the tunnel.

General Horton? Watching his retreating back, Lanno and Jian Ning stared at each other in bewilderment.

“I’ll take you to Master!” Feiyu chirped happily, leading the way. Jian Ning supported Lanno and followed behind the little mecha.

They only had twenty minutes of oxygen left. Zong Ye lifted his communicator, about to forcefully recall Feiyu, when he heard its jubilant electronic voice cut through the terrified wailing of the crowd. “Master, Master! I found Ning Ning!”

Zong Ye’s head snapped up. There was Jian Ning, supporting Lanno, following right behind Feiyu as they walked toward him.

They both looked like a complete mess, especially Lanno, whose calf was a gruesome sight. Zong Ye took wide strides toward them. His adjutant and two subordinates rushed forward, taking Lanno from Jian Ning’s arms.

“How did you get in here?” Zong Ye pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from Jian Ning’s face, looking him up and down to check for injuries.

Jian Ning was half-dead from exhaustion. He collapsed into a chair, took the handkerchief, and wiped his own face. “Russell brought us in.”

“Russell? Where is he?” Zong Ye unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it to him.

“He dropped us off, said he was going to stop General Horton, and then just left.” Jian Ning took a gulp of water, then grabbed Zong Ye’s hands, checking him over. “You’re not hurt, right?”

“I’m fine.” Seeing that Jian Ning was uninjured, Zong Ye let out a breath and reached out to rub the boy’s head before turning his attention to Lanno. His adjutant was currently re-bandaging Lanno’s leg.

“Lanno stays here. You and Bell keep an eye on him and these people. I’m going up to contact Colin and have him send men down. Horton definitely has a backup plan.” Since Jian Ning and Lanno got in, there was absolutely a way up. Zong Ye checked his communicator—still no signal. He gave the order to the adjutant and one subordinate.

Before he even finished speaking, Jian Ning jumped to his feet. “I know the way out. I’ll guide you.”

Zong Ye nodded. Taking the other subordinate and Feiyu, they headed straight for the waste disposal room.

Passing through that hidden little door, Feiyu automatically kicked up its brightness, turning into a glowing spherical lightbulb to illuminate the path ahead. Zong Ye inspected the excavation marks along the walls. They were sloppy and hasty, clearly dug in absolute secrecy. The small door they just came through was likely built clandestinely as well. To bypass the base’s internal security systems and the engineers, both inside and out, required an immense amount of effort.

It seemed this entire string of events had nothing to do with Russell. Russell couldn’t have discovered this underground base very long ago. After finding it, he must have snuck in secretly and then began carving out this access point and the tunnel.

The moment they emerged from the small door, the communicator’s signal bars jumped back to life. Zong Ye quickly fired off a message to Colin, ordering him to bring a team to the tunnel entrance.

After sending the message, he turned to Jian Ning and asked, “Are you tired?”

“…A little.” Jian Ning nodded. Running for his life and dodging assassins all the way while hauling a heavy Lanno had utterly wiped him out.

Zong Ye suddenly reached out, grabbing his arm to stop him. He crouched down right in front of him. “Get on. I’ll carry you.”

Jian Ning jumped in shock. He glanced nervously at Zong Ye’s subordinate. With a stranger right there, how could he possibly have the nerve to be carried piggyback?

The subordinate rubbed his nose, proving his incredible situational awareness. “I’ll go scout ahead.”

He practically bolted down the tunnel. Zong Ye added calmly, “Feiyu, go with him.”

Feiyu, acting as a massive floating lightbulb, flapped its wings and zoomed off after the subordinate.

Jian Ning scratched his cheek awkwardly before leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Zong Ye’s back.

Zong Ye hoisted him up and continued walking, saying, “Tell me how you and Lanno ran into Russell.”

Jian Ning recounted everything from the moment they fell into the crevice. When he finished, he asked, “What about you? How did you end up locked inside?”

Zong Ye gave a brief rundown of his own ordeal. Jian Ning was stunned. “General Horton orchestrated all of that? So Russell dug this tunnel after he found out about it?”

“Likely.” Zong Ye nodded.

No wonder. The tunnel was dug in such a haphazard, chaotic manner—it was as if whoever dug it was desperately searching for something. Jian Ning tightened his arms around Zong Ye’s neck, a look of realization dawning on his face.

“Who gave you permission to sneak along in the first place? Refusing to stay in your room, and having the sheer audacity to run into these underground tunnels alone with Lanno.” Zong Ye abruptly changed his tone, interrogating him.

Jian Ning gulped, defending himself guiltily, “I-I was just worried! Plus, if it weren’t for me and Lanno, you’d still be locked in there right now.”

Zong Ye scoffed coldly, “So I’m supposed to thank you?”

Jian Ning rested his chin on Zong Ye’s shoulder, curving his eyes in a flattering smile. “Oh, no need for that.”

“We will settle this when we get back. And Lanno, too. Sneaking out on his own is one thing, but dragging you into it?” Zong Ye shifted his arms, bouncing Jian Ning slightly higher on his back, his voice freezing over.

Jian Ning buried his face in Zong Ye’s shoulder, too cowardly to utter another squeak.

Having woken up at the crack of dawn just to beat Zong Ye to the punch, followed by a nerve-wracking, life-or-death escape that lasted ages, the moment Jian Ning relaxed against Zong Ye’s shoulder, he unconsciously drifted right off to sleep.

Author has something to say: Same as before, updates will be at 6 o’clock from now on.