our secret base

Chapter 21 The Astronaut Inside the Whale
"According to your observations, Teacher Gao and her previous victims were controlled by leeches. They are about the size of small mammals and are not very destructive. Even so, because they cannot be observed by ordinary people, it is difficult to With the characteristic of taking damage, these monsters can prey on human beings as food..."

"So, how far can the huge monster in the sky we saw just now do? Just imagining it like this makes people feel like it's hard to breathe."

"In addition, the various characteristics of the leeches are obviously different from any biological group on the earth. They come from another world completely different from the real earth-a brand new and unknown planet. How did they come to the earth? ? How much does the planet itself mean? On the planet, does it carry a civilization composed of intelligent life like humans?"

Miss Xie's hand was placed on the table, her five slender fingers slowly closed together and clenched into a fist, as if she wanted to hold something firmly in the palm of her hand.

"I want answers to these questions. For that, I need the help of the two of you."

"... I always feel that what you said is not something that junior high school students should think about."

At this time, Ji Chunzao, who hadn't spoken since just now, spoke weakly.

"You don't understand this. It's because we are still in junior high school that we think about it."

Yan Jingxing coughed dryly, expressing that he understood very well.

"Huh? Has Jing Xing thought about it too?"

"Of course I've thought about it. It's rare to even meet aliens, and I'm sure I want more, such as superpowers or something."

After hesitating for a moment, Ji Chunzao nodded slightly.

"Well, it would be a good thing if there is a way to deal with those alien monsters. ... But, Yuzhi, you probably haven't seen a spirit leech attacking a person with your own eyes, right? It's really dangerous."

"I understand, but danger and opportunity have always coexisted. And it is precisely because I know this unknown threat is imminent that I feel the need to act as soon as possible."

"Actually, even if we don't do anything, the danger won't take the initiative to come to the door? I don't know what's going on elsewhere, but in this Baiyue Town, at least since Chunzao's parents disappeared, Hasn't it become unsafe?"

Compared to being eaten by alien bugs and turning into a pitiful lunatic without knowing it, I would rather face danger, even if I feel scared and fearful——When he said this, Xie Yuzhi's tone was very firm.

Yan Jingxing and Ji Chunzao looked at each other.

"I agree with you. So what are you going to do next?"

"Chunzao told me that your most important goal right now is to find the 'astronaut', and I think this idea is fine."

"Now I can use the ability to 'call aliens'," Ji Chunzao said in a low voice, "but the astronaut didn't appear, what appeared was the monster floating in the air."

"That's what it means that this method is temporarily unworkable, but I still feel that your goal is correct."

Miss Xie is very confident.

"Don't worry, since I joined, things will of course be different." Her eyes fell on the boy, "Jing Xing, let me ask you, you said he is an astronaut, what kind of spacesuit is he wearing? "

Yan Jingxing was stunned.

"……good question."

"It's a good question, right?" The girl smiled slightly, "This is the only clue that can be used right now. Do you have a way to draw it?"

"But I don't remember very well," he shook his head, "and I can't draw at all."

"It doesn't matter. I will collect all the styles of astronauts in the world in the form of pictures, so that you can look at them one by one, and confirm the country and year of the manufacture of the space suit you see."

Xie Yuzhi said.

"If it doesn't look like it, then it may be aliens—I mean, real aliens, they have a... civilization different from humans, and have even developed corresponding space navigation technology, even The spacesuits are all similar."

Astronauts are the crystallization of human technological civilization. If other civilizations have produced similar things and can travel to other planets, it will undoubtedly prove that they are ahead of human beings.

……

The torrential rain outside the window has not yet stopped.

Heavy drops of water hit the glass, making a "cracking" sound, and occasionally there were muffled thunder rolls, and the flashing electric light illuminated the whole room transparently and brightly, as if it were daytime.

As the night darkened, drowsiness gradually came to my mind.

Seeing that Ji Chunzao next to him had already started yawning, Xie Yuzhi told them to go back to the room to rest, and promised that the work of collecting information on the spacesuit would be completed within the next two days.

When the little girl staggered out of the room, Yan Jingxing followed her steps, opened the door and came to the corridor.

At this moment, Miss Xie's voice sounded from behind.

"Wait, I have something to tell you."

He turned his head and saw the girl was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, her face was calm and graceful after she put down the teacup.

"When you went to the bathroom just now, I apologized to Ji Chunzao again."

she said softly.

"Chunzao probably won't care."

"She really doesn't care, but I can't help it." Xie Yuzhi sighed, "In my opinion, she is too generous. If someone questions my opinion of my parents without authorization, I will never want to Look him straight in the eye."

"Just treat her better..." Yan Jingxing thought for a while, "Aren't you two roommates?"

Xie Yuzhi shook her head, as if she had other plans.

"Yan Jingxing, I also have something to tell you."

"Ok?"

"Thank you for that 'seeing the future' dream you just shared with me."

"You've said it before."

"Well, I said it. But, you probably can't understand my mood..."

Speaking of this, she seemed to want to explain her thoughts, and her voice sank slightly; but at this moment, there was thunder outside the window, drowning out all the sounds in the room noisily.

Yan Jingxing saw the girl's lips move, but couldn't hear her words.

He was startled by the sudden thunder, subconsciously covered his ears, waited until the sound passed before letting go, and opened his mouth in doubt.

"What were you talking about?"

Xie Yuzhi replied:

"It's nothing, I just want to ask, if you want anything, I can buy it for you. My father will give me a sum of money every month, anyway, I don't usually use much."

"……what?"

"Take it as a reward. You have done me a great favor."

Yan Jingxing shook his head immediately without thinking.He didn't feel like he was really helping.

"Need not."

Next, the two spoke almost at the same time, and their voices overlapped:
——"Really no need? Don't you have something you want?"

——"Since we are friends, you don't have to be polite to me."

"……what?"

Xie Yuzhi opened her eyes slightly, looking at him in surprise.

"Friend? Me? Can I?"

It's not that Yan Jingxing couldn't understand her feelings, because at the very beginning, he was also full of doubts about Chunzao's words, and it was inevitable that he would reveal this suspicion during the communication, so he couldn't help but feel guilty afterwards.

But the "mermaid girl" was really broad-minded, and she always acted like she didn't care, so Yan Jingxing naturally didn't care.

"Is there anything wrong with this? We are all companions who have seen alien creatures together. It is normal to be friends."

...No, wait a minute.Yan Jingxing muttered with a guilty conscience, thinking about it carefully, it's really not normal for boys and girls of our age to make friends point to point.

Of course, he wouldn't say that out of his mouth.

"Really, friend." Miss Xie put her hand to her mouth, as if to hide her expression at the moment, "You may not care, this is a big deal for me, I have to ask the chef to make five layer cake towers to celebrate the extent."

"It's too exaggerated."

"Counting Chunzao, that's two."

"No, no, she didn't promise to be your friend."

"Eh? Ah..."

It was rare for Xie Yuzhi to feel a little flustered.

"You mean, she might not want to? Why?"

"Because... I lied to you, haha! She has already regarded you as a friend, can't you see it?"

Yan Jingxing waved his hand with a smile, turned around and walked to his room.

Xie Yuzhi watched his back disappear into the corridor, and then looked away.

It was half an hour before her usual break.The girl picked up the usual bedside reading and started reading. The title on the title page was "On Livy".

After turning a few pages, Xie Yuzhi found that the concentration she was so proud of seemed to have suddenly failed tonight.

There was rumbling thunder and rustling rain outside the window, but these natural sounds could not possibly affect her thinking...

The girl put down the book and stared blankly for a while, then suddenly faced the empty place and smiled softly.

The light laughter quickly disappeared into the air.

"...That's why I said, you can't understand my mood."

*
After Yan Jingxing returned to his room, he lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling in a daze.

At this moment, his heart was surging, thoughts in his mind were complicated, and he felt that there were too many things to consider, and he had to think seriously.

However, Simmons lying under him was too soft and comfortable, coupled with the sound of the rain outside the window, it played a good hypnotic effect, so he only thought for a while, and soon fell asleep. Very heavy and fragrant.

Until a rapid knock on the door sounded, waking him up from his dream.

"Well, what's the matter..."

Yan Jingxing rubbed his eyes and got up from the bed.

He glanced out the window. The rain had stopped and the sky was indigo.The sun seems to have not yet fully risen, the light is hazy, and the color of the earth is clear and refreshing.

"Yan Jingxing, are you awake?"

The person who knocked on the door was Xie Yuzhi.

"Wake up, wait for me to get dressed."

Yan Jingxing jumped out of bed, put on his trousers neatly, and asked:
"Is it time for school?"

The girl outside the door replied:

"No, it's still early, but I just received a strange message and I want to explain the situation to you."

He opened the door.

Xie Yuzhi was wearing a light gray plush pajamas, with one hand caressing the contour of his chest, he was breathing rapidly, as if he had run all the way.

Surprise remained on her expression, as if she had heard something incredible.

After Yan Jingxing was woken up, his head was still a little unconscious, and he stared blankly at her.

"Uh... so, what's going on now?"

Xie Yuzhi put down his hand, raised the photo in the other hand and handed it to him.

"Look, is this person the 'ghost astronaut' you saw?"

Yan Jingxing accepted the photo in doubt.After looking at it for a while, his eyes widened, and his head suddenly came to his senses.

really like...

The photo shows a man in a dirty space suit, "him" covered with greasy blood, lying on a sandy beach, next to reefs and tattered fishing nets.

Although the appearance of the astronaut in his memory was very vague, the remaining impression in his mind coincided with it in an instant.He couldn't help asking:
"What is this? Where is this picture from? When was it taken?"

"Today in the early hours of the morning."

Xie Yuzhi took a deep breath, trying to keep her tone calm.

"Calm down and listen to me. Because of yesterday's heavy rain, the sea level rose. Today, when some fishermen went to the beach to recover their nets, they found a stranded whale on the nearby coast."

"—Then, they found a corpse in a space suit from the whale's belly."

(End of this chapter)