Chapter 1685: Deception

Chapter 1685: Chapter 1685: Deception

Ji You tried out the folding knife in her hand. She gave it a light swing and the blade flew out; with a slight twist of her wrist, it came back again.

Only then did she start walking, taking the lift from the deck straight to the security inspection room.

Inside the snow‑white walls of the inspection room, where rows of cables, instruments, and light screens were neatly arranged, He Bi heard the sound of footsteps, "da-da".

His heart stirred.

Then he forced himself to calm down, carefully observed the few black dots on the Spiritual Silk, and discovered that those black dots hadn’t done anything at all.

Huh?

Did it not react to Ji You’s arrival? Or did it have some other plan?

Right at that moment, He Bi suddenly felt a bit of regret. He thought he shouldn’t have dragged Ji You into this. If Ji You couldn’t deal with it and ended up being held back by it, or even hurt by it...

Then—

He would deserve to die a thousand deaths and still not be forgiven!

Thinking of this, He Bi realized his emotions had suddenly fluctuated too much. He immediately suppressed them, forcing both his mood and his spiritual wave to return to their original, calm state.

Of course, while he was thinking, he was also deliberately using the Spiritual Silk he could control to surround the two threads that were tainted with black dots. He Bi wasn’t sure whether this would have any effect, maybe it was completely useless?

After all, the other side had already invaded his Spiritual Silk and, following the Silk, infiltrated into his Spiritual World...

He Bi had never imagined such a situation could occur, which was why, when he retracted the Spiritual Silk he had released, he had brought those two contaminated strands back with him as well.

It was extremely cunning; while it did all this, He Bi hadn’t sensed a single thing in advance.

This feeling of having his entire body and spiritual power controlled by the other party made He Bi both furious and gave him a massive headache!

He did have the patience to fight it, and he had the patience to slowly drag it out, see who would be the one to kill whom in the end, but—

He didn’t have the time.

Right outside this door stood his junior schoolmates.

He couldn’t wait.

The opponent was sneaky, coming and going without a trace. Its true strength was totally unknown. He couldn’t even guarantee his own safety—how was he supposed to protect the juniors behind him?

...

He Bi’s face sank into a dark scowl.

And then—

He heard Ji You raise her hand and knock on the door.

"Scumbag! Open the door!"

He Bi: "..."

That voice was full‑chested and loud, with a faintly indecent undertone, very much Ji You’s style. Hearing it, the stuffy oppression in He Bi’s chest actually vanished in an instant.

His heart loosened, and even his breathing felt smoother.

The corner of He Bi’s mouth lifted as he snorted, "You don’t have hands? Can’t open it yourself?"

As soon as Ji You heard that, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Then she quickly shut it behind her. The moment she pushed the door, Chu Jiaojiao, Yue Qiguang, Shen Changqing... everyone present moved at the same time!

At that exact instant, under Shen Changqing and the others’ operation, layers of light screens dropped around the outer perimeter of the security inspection cabin. Those screens rapidly turned into Protective Shields, completely isolating the cabin. From the outside, the inspection cabin was now wrapped in one layer after another of Protective Shields.

Cockpit.

Before leaving, Ji You had calmly ordered everyone to gather in the cockpit and not take a single step away. So everyone was there.

Chu Jiaojiao had one hand pressed to her chest and the other gripping a Longsword. She stared at the isolated inspection cabin, a hint of worry in her eyes: "Can they handle it? What if the other side isn’t in the inspection room anymore but somewhere else in the spaceship, and we have no way to see it—what do we do then?"

Shen Changqing’s refined face was very calm. He stared at the monitor, but since the inspection room had been forcibly isolated and the spaceship’s internal network was completely cut off, the monitors could no longer display real‑time footage inside; they could only show the outside of the inspection cabin door... After a brief silence, Shen Changqing said, "I trust Ji You. Since she said there’s no trace of it anywhere else in the spaceship, then there isn’t."

Yue Qiguang was slightly surprised. He glanced at Shen Changqing and said, "You can trust that idiot No. 4444 now? Ahem..."

He cleared his throat and changed tack, "I also trust that idiot No. 4444. So we just have to follow orders: guard the spaceship and don’t let a single Monster inside!"

Liu Fufeng sat on the floor of the monitoring room, leaning against the wall. He hugged his legs, his body trembling slightly. His teeth were clenched tight, and he didn’t let out a single sound.

"What are you afraid of?" Yue Qiyuan looked at him, slightly puzzled.

Liu Fufeng lifted his head from the crook of his arm. "You can’t feel it?"

Yue Qiyuan: "?"

"I..." Liu Fufeng pressed his lips together. He wanted to say it outright but was afraid of startling the snake, so he could only grit his teeth and hold back. Even his spiritual power was being forcibly suppressed; he didn’t dare let out the slightest ripple.

Yue Qiyuan wanted to ask more, but suddenly realized something and hurriedly shut his mouth.

The next second.

Yue Qiyuan felt something scratching at his palm. His heart gave a jolt and he looked down, only to see Liu Fufeng writing in his hand:

[I’m afraid of being eaten.]

Yue Qiyuan: "!!!"

At once, Liu Fufeng withdrew his hand.

Yue Qiyuan forced himself to stay composed and looked at Liu Fufeng sitting on the ground in a completely un‑elegant pose. This guy was clearly scared out of his mind, his shoulders kept jerking, but Liu Fufeng’s spiritual power showed not the slightest fluctuation. In fact, if Liu Fufeng’s whole big body weren’t blatantly sitting right in front of him, Yue Qiyuan felt he might not even notice him.

From this, it was clear just how strong Liu Fufeng’s control over his own spiritual power was.

Yue Qiyuan felt he himself couldn’t do that.

Liu Fufeng said he was afraid of being eaten, which meant—this thing might be the same type as whatever had eaten Ji You’s Spiritual Silk.

So among the people here, Shen Changqing, Liu Fufeng, and himself... these Spiritual Talents might all be the other side’s side dishes?

Thinking of that, Yue Qiyuan suddenly felt extremely unconvinced again.

It wants to grab someone as a side dish?

Who’s whose side dish isn’t decided yet.

His eyes flickered. Yue Qiyuan held his breath. Ji You had said that although this thing couldn’t be seen, touched, or sensed... it wasn’t that scary. As long as everyone was careful and collectively pretended they didn’t know anything, they could fool it.

Once they fooled it, everything would be much easier.

...

On the other side, as soon as Ji You stepped into the inspection cabin, she saw Senior He Bi lying on the examination table. Aside from his face being slightly pale, everything else seemed normal. The expression on his handsome face was also perfectly casual. When he saw Ji You, he even said mildly, "Done squatting in the outhouse?"

Ji You replied with total seriousness, "Yeah, done. Barely managed to finish in three minutes this time."

He Bi: "..."

Ji You rolled her eyes at him, saying in disgust, "Senior, what are you still lying there for? Get up already. We’re pressed for time—we have to hurry out and investigate."

With that, Ji You immediately reached out to pull He Bi up.