Chapter 33

Xi Yuan didn’t wake up quickly, but his condition improved day by day. His heartbeat became stronger and more stable, and his responses to what Qin Fei said were becoming more frequent. At first, only his eyelids would twitch, but now his fingers could move in response to his words, even lifting slightly to express his intentions.

Seeing this, Qin Fei’s mood lifted as well.

In such a strange place, if it weren’t for Xi Yuan accompanying him, being his emotional support, he might not have been able to handle everything as well as he had. Even though Xi Yuan needed his protection, just knowing that someone was there beside him, and remembering how strong and composed Xi Yuan had always been, gave him reassurance. Now, Xi Yuan was about to wake up. Soon, it wouldn’t just be Qin Fei talking to himself in the silence, but the two of them discussing their next steps together.

He had never studied wilderness survival, but Xi Yuan was different. Having served for many years on the border, his rank of Major General hadn’t been given lightly. It had been earned through his own sweat, step by step.

As the days passed, Qin Fei spent more time talking to Xi Yuan. He would also update him on the situation outside. Every morning, he would check the cave entrance to observe the outside world. Each day, the temperature dropped more, and the winter on this planet seemed colder than the winters on most other planets.

It wasn’t just cold outside, there was a strange silence as well. No animals were moving around, and there were no signs of zergs or exotic beasts. It felt as if the place had turned into a barren wasteland with no life remaining. Qin Fei sensed something was wrong but didn’t know exactly what the problem was. He was more eager than ever for Xi Yuan to wake up so they could discuss it together.

Because of the cold weather, Qin Fei began to organize all the clothing in their spatial ring that could be used to keep warm, all the while talking to Xi Yuan.

“The temperature outside is getting lower and lower. I don’t know if these clothes will be enough to help us get through the winter. Fortunately, the animal skins from the hunt are still here, especially the fur of those giant rabbits, it’s very thick. But I don’t know how to process it, so it’s just piled up in the storage room. Looks like I’ll have to figure out how to process it. If they could survive here, their fur must be very effective against the cold. Xi Yuan, do you know how to handle furs?”

He asked, not really expecting an answer. After all, he had gotten into the habit of talking to himself during this time alone.

“I do,” came the hoarse response, causing Qin Fei to swallow the words he was about to say in surprise. He quickly turned to look at Xi Yuan.

Sure enough, the person on the bed opened his bright eyes, his usual emotionless face now carrying a smile as he looked at him.

“Xi Yuan! You’re awake?!”

For a moment, Qin Fei joyfully put down the clothes he had been holding and embraced him.

“Mm, I’m awake, my Master.” Xi Yuan’s hoarse voice made Qin Fei quickly grab some water, test the temperature, and feed it to him.

Xi Yuan drank several mouthfuls, and his voice became a little clearer. “My Master, I’m awake. I’m sorry for troubling you all this time. You’ve done very well, outstandingly so. Now, why don’t you tell me everything that’s happened from the beginning? I haven’t fully recovered yet, but even a non-fully-recovered queen can still do a lot.”

Qin Fei also had confidence in this. He carefully explained everything that had happened from the moment Xi Yuan woke up until now. Some things Xi Yuan had already heard him mention, but hearing them again would surely lead to different thoughts, since he hadn’t necessarily mentioned everything the first time around.

“Do you still remember those two alien beasts?” Xi Yuan asked.

“Yes, I do. I’ll draw them for you,” Qin Fei replied. He then took out a blank piece of paper and a pen and started sketching.

He not only drew the two massive dinosaur-like alien beasts, but also the four large birds that looked just as imposing.

Although he had never specifically learned to draw, he was capable of simple sketches, and soon he had drawn a rough representation of the creatures. They may not have been exact, but their key features were captured.

Xi Yuan leaned against Qin Fei, looking at the sketches for a long time before shaking his head.

“They’re not listed in the empire’s encyclopedia of exotic beasts,” he said with certainty.

“Right, I’ve never heard of them either. And that deer taller than me, or those chickens as tall as that,” Qin Fei said, gesturing the height with his hands.

“Everything here is unknown, but one thing is clear—everything is exceptionally large.”

After Xi Yuan woke up, his recovery was rapid. On the first day, he was weak and could only lie in Qin Fei’s arms while being fed and watered. By the second day, he could feed himself and drink on his own. By the third day, he could get out of bed and walk around. By the fourth day, he was already able to move the large stone at the cave entrance to check the situation outside. It was hard to believe that just a few days ago, he had been lying in bed, completely dependent on Qin Fei for food and water, unable to wake from his deep slumber.

—

Ten days later, Xi Yuan said he had fully recovered.

Qin Fei: “…”

Watching Xi Yuan use his sharp claws to swiftly carve a path through the hard rock layer, something that had taken Qin Fei several days to accomplish, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Moreover, Qin Fei noticed that all the tasks he had been doing were now taken over by Xi Yuan. The furs, bones, and beast teeth piled up in the storage room had all been processed by him. The fur, somehow tanned, had become soft and warm, especially the fluffy rabbit fur, which, when spread on the bed, nearly tempted Qin Fei to roll around in it.

Even the chores of eating and drinking had been taken over by Xi Yuan. In addition, he had somehow found a knee-high robot from some corner. After tinkering with it for a while, Xi Yuan told Qin Fei that he had added some basic functions to it, such as temperature testing, cleaning, ice-making, heating, and even distilling pure water from river water. Since the river was frozen, they had been collecting clean snowflakes falling outside the cave as their water source, but worried about its cleanliness, they would boil and settle it before drinking. Now, with the robot to purify it, they felt much safer.

It instantly freed them from many of the household chores.

“…”

Qin Fei, who hadn’t noticed that the round lump in the corner was actually a robot that could help with household chores, was left speechless.

Why had he overlooked this and done so many trivial tasks by hand? Was it because he was used to humanoid robots and had thus overlooked how bizarre the appearances of many robots could be?

The round lump was actually quite a common design, but Xi Yuan, being tactful, didn’t comment on it, likely to avoid embarrassing his dominant male.

To leave the planet, one typically relies on a spaceship or a mech. Spaceships were out of the question—they couldn’t possibly store one in their space ring. As for mechs, Qin Fei’s had been taken by Xi Yuan and used during that incident. In the battle, his mech had been damaged, and the backup was also destroyed. With no options left, they had to use Qin Fei’s mech, but that too had turned into a pile of scrap metal. Even the remains were nowhere to be found.

Xi Yuan checked, and there were two light brains, along with two spare ones, but since there was no internet here, they could only be used for simple recording, calculations, and photo-taking functions.

There was also a small floating hoverboard, a couple’s travel hover car, two portable medical pods, and… a broken escape pod. Besides these larger items, there were scattered repair tools and small tech products.

None of these could help them build a spaceship to fly off the planet.

However, apart from these technological items, they weren’t entirely without hope of leaving.

As long as they could reach level nine, they could resist the planet’s gravity and fly off.

If Xi Yuan could break through to level 8 and become a level 9 queen zerg, or if they tamed a level 9 high-level beast, they would be able to leave.