Section 393: Falling Ill
Damn it, this room is actually a freezer. He had actually walked into a freezer. Ye Zhong quickly opened the boxes stored inside and saw that they were indeed filled with food.
The temperature was dropping rapidly, and Ye Zhong felt as if he were in an icy wilderness.
No! If he didn't get out of here, his body heat would quickly dissipate. Having a strong physique didn't mean he was immortal. Ye Zhong had studied physiology—if this continued, he wouldn't last long. His cells would lose activity due to the low temperature.
He cautiously approached the metal door and listened carefully. There was no one outside. It seemed the situation wasn't as bad as he had feared.
He pushed the door, but it didn't budge.
Ye Zhong's heart sank. The door was locked from the outside! He pushed again with more force, but the door remained firmly shut.
It looked like he had to use his dagger. Ye Zhong took out his dagger, ready to cut through the metal door. His dagger was extremely sharp, so cutting through the door wouldn't be too difficult.
Just as the tip of the dagger was about to touch the metal door, Ye Zhong's hand suddenly stopped. His mind was racing!
If he forced his way out, it wouldn't be difficult for him to escape. However, doing so would inevitably leave traces. This was a food storage room, meaning someone would inevitably come here during the flight. They would surely notice the damage he caused, which would immediately alert them and likely trigger a ship-wide search.
Ye Zhong's original plan was to leave Tuomu Star undetected. If he forced the door open, that would become nearly impossible. If any clues were left behind, given the Ye family's ridiculously powerful intelligence network, finding him wouldn't be difficult.
After pondering for a long time, Ye Zhong finally put away his dagger. After all, the initiative to break the door was in his hands—he could leave anytime he wanted.
This was a food freezer. Someone would surely come here regularly to retrieve food. He could simply choose a better time to leave rather than forcing his way out now.
With this thought, Ye Zhong felt more at ease. He returned to the corner and sat down, placing the wooden spear beside him. The supplies and ingredients in the wooden box had been nearly depleted after several major battles. Later, he had given some to Guang Wei, leaving only a pitiful amount of medicine. In the end, Ye Zhong packed the remaining items into a waist pouch he had bought in Yuanyuan City. Along with these items, he also stored the payment Han Yue had given him.
When Ye Luo saw him take out such a large sum from the box, he was stunned. Han Yue had paid Ye Zhong an unquestionably enormous amount, enough to make even someone like Ye Luo, who was no stranger to wealth, green with envy. Ye Luo grumbled that Han Yue was unfair—he had helped too but didn't get a single coin.
There were thirty small, dark green metal bars, each about the size of a thumb. They were engraved with intricate patterns. Apart from their green glow, Ye Zhong couldn't see any value in these metal bars. He had never seen this kind of metal before. Unfortunately, he didn't have any instruments to analyze them.
Ye Luo called them Green Duàn Crystal Bars, each representing a significant amount of wealth. As for how much, Ye Zhong had no idea. The Green Duàn Crystal Bars were extremely hard, which was probably why they could serve as high-value currency. At the time, Ye Zhong split the bars in half and pushed one portion toward Ye Luo, but Ye Luo just grinned and pushed them back.
If Mu Shang were here, it would be so much better. He could entrust everything to him and not have to worry about such matters.
Speaking of which, Mu Shang was the only mecha Ye Zhong had ever seen capable of storing items in subspace.
Once settled, Ye Zhong's mind began to wander.
With this departure, he would likely be separated from Rui Bing and the others again. It wouldn't be easy to see them in the future. He felt a slight sense of loss, but there was nothing he could do about it. Ye Luo was right—staying on Tuomu Star was too dangerous for him. Moreover, he had no clues about their whereabouts, so the chances of finding them in the short term were slim.
Even if he did find them, it might not be a good thing. Faced with a powerful force like Ye Yin, Rui Bing and the others would be in constant danger, and he would be constrained as well. After weighing the pros and cons, Ye Zhong ultimately decided to leave Tuomu Star.
No matter what, only by ensuring his own safety could there be a chance of reuniting in the future. Ye Zhong's thinking was calm and不受情绪左右.
Fate was like drifting duckweed. Yesterday's companions might be hard to meet again today. Ye Zhong wasn't a sentimental person, yet he couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion each time. Generally, such feelings rarely appeared in him. He was accustomed to being strong, accustomed to solitude. But in the end, he was still human—a young man in his twenties. Even though he could often be as hard as iron and as cold as ice.
With a barely audible sigh, Ye Zhong thought of Mu Shang. Suddenly, he missed Mu Shang intensely, deeply!
"Mu... Shang... where are you now?" In the freezing cold freezer, a young man's soft murmur was faint yet clear.
Ye Zhong was sick! By the time he realized it, he had already been in the freezer for fifteen hours! His patience had indirectly led him into this trouble.
He had been to many planets but had never stayed in such a cold place. In the Five Major Star Domains, even slightly better clothing came with automatic temperature control, so few people fell ill due to weather changes. The clothes Ye Zhong was wearing now were made of ordinary plant fibers, given to him by the City Lord when he was at the Green City Manor. Tuomu Star had no distinct seasons, with moderate temperatures year-round, so Ye Zhong hadn't worn much.
On the contrary, for ease of movement, Ye Zhong preferred light and thin clothing.
He didn't have much concept of temperature; he only knew it was very cold, extremely cold! If no one came soon, he decided he would break the door down.
Although he wasn't a doctor, he knew his body very well and was highly sensitive to its changes. He could clearly feel his current weakness and his stamina rapidly draining away.
If this continued, his situation would become dangerous!
Ye Zhong had always been very attentive to his health. Back on the garbage planet, where medicine was scarce, falling ill was very dangerous. Coupled with Ye Zhong's naturally robust physique, he rarely got sick.
But he had never stayed in such a low-temperature environment for so long. Combined with his emotional fluctuations, it ultimately led to him falling ill!
Cold! He was cold all over! Ye Zhong couldn't help but shiver. His condition had deteriorated badly. He felt weak all over, his mind could no longer stay calm and clear, and his strong physique didn't offer much help against the cold.
Just as Ye Zhong was about to break the door down, footsteps came from outside.
Although he could feel his weakness, Ye Zhong hadn't completely lost his senses. He quickly retreated back into the corner, noticing his sluggish movements. He could only苦笑 inwardly.
Click—the sound of a mechanical lock. The door opened.
A man walked in. As soon as he entered, the man shivered involuntarily and muttered, "It's so cold! Who turned the temperature so low?" Shaking his head, he walked toward a metal box in the corner, opened the lid, and bent down to search inside.
The man happened to have his back to Ye Zhong.
How could Ye Zhong let such a golden opportunity slip? Despite his dizziness and shivering, his remaining rationality told him this was the perfect chance!
Hunching over, he grabbed the wooden spear beside him. Struggling to control his unsteady legs, Ye Zhong quietly slipped out of the damned place from behind the man.
The sudden change from low temperature to room temperature made Ye Zhong's legs tremble.
The scenery before his eyes began to blur. Ye Zhong felt as if the world was slowly drifting away from him. His whole body felt weak, the powerful sensation he usually had was gone without a trace. He suspected that anyone could easily kill him now.
His feet felt as if they were stepping on cotton, soft and powerless!
He had to find a safe place quickly! Even in such a state, a sliver of clarity remained in Ye Zhong's mind!
His vision was blurry. Ye Zhong felt as if he were flying! If anyone saw how Ye Zhong was moving at that moment, they would be utterly astonished. Ye Zhong's movements weren't as sluggish as he imagined. On the contrary, he was still very agile. And whenever he heard the slightest sound, he would immediately hide, as nimble as a feline.
Unfortunately, Ye Zhong was completely unaware of all this.
There was only one thought in his mind—find a safe place!
He was now completely in a state of unconsciousness. His evasive movements were merely combat instincts formed through long-term battles!
In his blurred vision, Ye Zhong vaguely saw a door. Without any hesitation, he pushed it open. He felt he was reaching his limit!
Ye Zhong tried hard to open his eyes wider to see the room's layout, but his eyelids wouldn't obey. No matter how hard he tried, they didn't respond. Instead, the scene before him was rapidly growing more blurred.
Darkness! A patch of darkness! In his hazy vision, Ye Zhong seemed to have spotted a patch of darkness.
Ye Zhong didn't know how he squeezed into that patch of darkness, but once his entire body was nestled within it, he finally breathed a sigh of relief! At that moment, he lost his last shred of consciousness. The moment he passed out, his hands were still tightly gripping the wooden spear.