Mu Sicheng and the parrot on the ground stared blankly at each other for a long moment before he turned to the others, spreading his hands. "…..So… Bai Liu just left us here?"
"It's not just leaving us here," Liu Jiayi said, her ears twitching as she glanced toward the door. "He's caused us a huge problem."
Mu Ke frowned. "We need a good excuse for the director if we're explaining why his patient disappeared."
"Or Bai Liu will have another lawsuit on his hands—for abducting a mental patient," Tang Erda said, rubbing his brow. "He went a bit too far this time."
"He's already under the watch of the Heretic Authority, and with the police station monitoring him… the more ordinary people around him, the harder it is for him to enter the game undetected."
Liu Jiayi sighed. "Yeah… so he left us to handle the aftermath."
Mainly because going to the Antarctic would have been useless—Du Sanying's destructive power was visible even to the naked eye, and only Bai Liu had been spared.
Better to leave them here.
The director pushed open the door and froze, staring at the collapsed bed, the mess of blankets on the floor, and the parrot perched beside it.
The parrot jumped and squawked, flapping its wings wildly. "Bai Liu! Bad, bad…! He makes the owner cry, cry, cry!"
It hovered around the ceiling, flicking its tongue, voice shrill and piercing.
"They're hugging and going to heaven! Together they go up to the sky and jerk off!"
The director's pupils trembled. "...What are you saying?!"
The parrot stretched its neck and repeated, "-Jerk off!"
Liu Jiayi, Mu Sicheng, Mu Ke, and Tang Erda: "..."
[Shoot the plane down for a safe landing] should not be reduced to [shooting the plane]! Do you speak human language or not, parrot?!
Tang Erda jumped up, pinching the parrot's wings and beak. It struggled violently as he carried it out to the balcony and tucked it into its cage, giving it water. "...The parrot hasn't had any water for too long. It's squawking nonsense, so I'll let it drink for a bit…"
Liu Jiayi snapped her eyes shut in despair. Tang Erda looked so flustered that he couldn't even speak clearly.
The director's hand trembled on the door handle as he stared in horror at the group. "...What have you done to the patient in room 906?!"
Mu Sicheng closed the ward door as quickly as possible, blocking the director's escape.
Mu Ke took a deep breath and stepped in front of him, hands held calmly. "We can explain."
The director, trapped and terrified, stammered, "I-I-I…! Let me go! I haven't… jerked off with a guy since I graduated college!"
Miles away, over the Antarctic, in the Ross Sea.
On the shaking plane's deck, Du Sanying and Bai Liu, freshly teleported, tumbled across the cabin, unable to stand. Bai Liu grabbed a metal pole to keep them steady.
He kicked the back of a seat and instructed Du Sanying to pull the seat rail down, rummaging under the seat for the oxygen mask and parachute.
Dizzy, Du Sanying pressed the seat, and a parachute and oxygen mask popped out, even with two thick winter suits.
Bai Liu's eyes narrowed. Truly, this boy was lucky.
Most usable equipment on the plane should have already been plundered by the five escorts, yet Du Sanying had found it on the first try.
Bai Liu instructed Du Sanying to get his gear on, sit in his seat, and secure his harness, then hold Bai Liu in place while he put on his own equipment.
Only then did Du Sanying catch his breath, adjusting his oxygen mask. "-Where are the five escorts you said were on the plane?"
"In an emergency like this, they're either in the cockpit or the cargo hold," Bai Liu replied.
He wrapped a parachute around his head to protect from debris and gestured for Du Sanying to do the same.
"I don't need to! Debris can't hit me!" Du Sanying shouted through his mask, voice muffled.
A spanner flew from the side of a fire hydrant, threatening to break his arm, but the plane lurched just in time. The tool grazed his hand and dented the steel plate, leaving his forearm unharmed.
"Just watch!" Du Sanying yelled desperately, ensuring Bai Liu could hear. "It's fine if you hide behind me. You don't need to cover your head!"
Red warning lights flared at the end of the aircraft corridor. A loudspeaker blared a mechanical alarm.
"The aircraft is experiencing unusual weather, with unidentified clouds constantly pushing upward on both wings, causing the aircraft to lurch. Please prepare for an emergency landing – zzzzz –"
Soon, the mechanical announcement was cut off and replaced by a human voice, fast and panicked:
"A crew member passed out on this side of the freighter bay, knocked out by me. Those five body parts—once exposed—are so close together they could cause a severe psychological collapse. It's impossible to parachute out with the metal boxes and carry them all."
"A direct parachute landing with the body parts won't work."
The radio buzzed and crackled, and another voice soon joined in: "But those five metal boxes are specially made and extremely heavy. Landing alone or even with us won't work. We'll have to consider either dumping them into the sea or crashing the plane on land."
Bai Liu and Du Sanying exchanged glances—this was clearly intra-team communication between the five escorts, their radios linked to keep everyone informed in extreme situations.
The discussion continued:
"Definitely not the sea. Water is too fluid. If a metal box stays submerged too long and corrodes, exposing its contents, the body parts could contaminate the world."
"Crashing on land could contaminate the Antarctic just as much if the box is damaged during landing …"
"You can wrap it in a cotton item, like a winter jacket, right?"
"No! Have you forgotten the dried rose leaf? This corpse can alienate anything—even plant-based materials like cotton. Captain Su repeatedly warned us not to wrap the boxes in plant-based items."
"But there simply aren't enough chemical-fiber cushions on the plane, and without cushioning, the high airflow impact will destroy the boxes… unless we use human flesh as padding—a layer of high-density muscle and bone might absorb the impact of a rapid descent …"
"Even if landing on land pollutes the Antarctic, land contamination is easier to manage than ocean contamination! The population density is so low… even if lives are sacrificed …"
"SHUT UP!!!"
A stern voice cut through the argument. Silence fell over the radio for a moment, then the voice continued:
"If we treat sacrifice as a trade-off, what's the point of being a member of the Heretic Authority rather than an ordinary person?"
"As members of the Heretic Authority, we are here to prevent the sacrifice of ordinary people."
Silence followed for several seconds, punctuated only by the sound of static.
"How many boxes are there?" the voice asked.
"In total, Captain… eight," came the reply from the cargo hold.
After a pause, the captain's voice, muted and exhausted, ordered: "All crew, listen carefully. The plane's forced landing will be on Antarctic land. Each person is responsible for a metal box. Wrap it in flesh to cushion the impact, to prevent it from breaking during landing and contaminating the Antarctic, endangering ordinary people."
There was a long pause before a soft reply came: "Yes, Captain."
One crew member hesitated: "Captain… what about the other three boxes?"
The radio was quiet for a few seconds before the captain spoke again, voice almost a whisper:
"Later, you will divide me into four parts—upper limbs, lower limbs, back, and abdominal cavity—and wrap the boxes with my flesh. The ribcage provides the strongest cushioning for one box; the other three …"
The captain's voice trailed off, all energy gone. He muttered as if to himself: "We have failed in our duty… failed Team Su… failed to protect … boxes and ordinary people."