An uninvited guest

Cheng Qi reached the surface.

He discovered that Foolish Boy really was meticulous.

Foolish Boy had disguised the underground shelter's exit with heaps of garbage again, welding or gluing it all together. Without the Gray Storm sweeping through, the camouflage held firm.

Once the entrance was completely closed, it blended into the nearly identical garbage mountains all around it. No one could spot anything unusual.

And not far from the entrance...

Stood the shack Cheng Qi had once lived in.

Foolish Boy had propped it back up, but there was no doubt that it was merely a decoy.

Yet this little detail was enough to put other people's suspicions to rest.

After all, Cheng Qi would keep coming and going around here, and he certainly needed somewhere to call home, at least on paper.

"Perfect."

Cheng Qi nodded. "Foolish Boy really lives up to being a Nanny Robot."

Then...

Cheng Qi waited quietly for Mo's shipping box, tilting his head back to look at the sky.

The two warships belonging to the Interstellar Alliance squad he had spotted earlier were still hovering near the edge of the atmosphere.

"Why haven't they landed yet?!"

Cheng Qi was puzzled. Usually, these people who called themselves superior beings were utterly disgusted by Earth. They came and went in a hurry, unwilling to stay even a second longer.

A faint sense of alarm arose in Cheng Qi's consciousness.

Along with that sensation came a sound, like two thin pieces of crystal rubbing and knocking against each other.

"Is this a Silicon-Based Lifeform's 'sixth sense'?"

Cheng Qi performed a partial siliconization, turning his eyes into glittering diamonds.

Only then did he notice that the underside of the enormous ship overhead was constantly emitting wide-range scanning beams.

Those beams were not visible light, so the naked eye... or, more precisely, the naked eye of a carbon-based lifeform, could not detect them.

Cheng Qi narrowed his eyes.

Crow, the pilot, had said that he had come this time to look for something.

Cheng Qi had originally thought Crow's rumors were unreliable. Now it seemed that Crow's sources really were dependable!

After examining the beams carefully for a moment...

Cheng Qi found that the Starship's scanning beams could only reach about fifty meters underground at most. They could not detect his underground shelter at all.

Although they could detect the tunnels, plenty of scavengers on Garbage Earth made a living by digging. Tunnels like those were everywhere, nothing unusual.

Xiao Qiong's father had died underground digging just such a tunnel.

Rustle...

Cheng Qi suddenly heard a faint noise behind a garbage heap about five hundred meters away.

That was thanks to his genetic enhancement. Otherwise, he probably would not have noticed it.

"What's that?"

This was the second time. Cheng Qi kept feeling that something alive was lurking nearby.

The last time, Cheng Qi had seen a "quarter of a person" struggling to crawl across the ground during the Gray Storm.

Some kind of creature?

Or a scrapped robot that had suddenly activated because of some reverse short circuit?

Cheng Qi shifted his feet slightly.

Just then, Mo's voice came through his communicator: "Get ready to receive the box."

Looking at the chaotic, desolate garbage heaps ahead, Cheng Qi stopped.

He turned back toward the sky and saw a black Biotechnology Box, considerably larger than usual, slowly appear in the distance.

The previous boxes had been about the size of a shoebox. This one was as big as a small freezer from the old era.

"Tsk, tsk..."

"Mo learned his lesson."

"This time, he got a bigger box so he could load as much into it as possible."

"At worst, he'll make a few return trips..."

Cheng Qi pursed his lips. "That means I won't get a chance to keep the box."

Cheng Qi glanced again at the two warships hovering overhead. The box followed an ingenious route, making precise use of the scans' blind spots.

Earth was under blockade, and now they had even sent in soldiers.

Mo had guts, smuggling right under their noses.

Cheng Qi shook his head. "Merchants. With enough profit on the line, risk means nothing."

The Gray Storm had passed completely.

The air currents were very stable, and the refrigerator-sized Biotechnology Box landed smoothly in front of Cheng Qi.

Cheng Qi studied the Biotechnology Box before him. It was simply an enlarged version of the smaller boxes, with no technological upgrades.

Of course, with the amount of material needed to build it multiplied, its price must have increased many times over.

What a shame.

How much alloy could such a little box hold?

Five hundred ingots at most?

How many trips would that take?

Somewhat helpless, Cheng Qi slowly stepped forward and pressed the box's switch. With a pneumatic hiss, its door slowly opened.

"???"

Cheng Qi froze.

Inside the box sat a chair that fit perfectly.

And on that chair sat Mo, dressed in a suit and polished shoes, one hand resting on a cane and his legs crossed. Steady as a rock, he watched Cheng Qi in silence.

"Why'd you come too?"

Mo's stare made Cheng Qi feel a little uneasy.

Mo's expression remained aloof and formal. "Give me a pull. I can't get out."

"..."

Cheng Qi had to put some strength into pulling Mo out of the box. He had not expected the man to go to such lengths to ship himself here.

Too large a box would be easily intercepted. Too small, and he would not fit.

Left with no choice, Mo had chosen the tightest possible fit, leaving himself perfectly wedged inside.

Cheng Qi sounded exasperated. "Why come in person when it's so risky?"

"You think I wanted to come?"

Mo looked aggrieved as he turned and slowly stroked his Biotechnology Box. "If I didn't come myself, it could be like throwing a meat bun to a donkey."

"You didn't study history properly, did you?"

Cheng Qi corrected him. "The saying is 'throwing a meat bun to a dog.'"

"Right."

Mo suddenly turned to look at Cheng Qi. "A dog indeed."

Cheng Qi's neck stiffened.

Did he just set me up?

Higher-Grade Gene Bearers play so many word games. Doesn't he get tired?

Just then...

Cheng Qi noticed how frail Mo was. He needed a cane to walk, and his physical condition was much worse than last time.

"Let me make it clear that I don't mean to look down on you because of your status."

Mo said, "I find it hard to believe you can produce 12,450 ingots of high-entropy alloy. That's practically imposs-"

At that moment, Mo froze completely and swallowed the rest of his words.

Because Cheng Qi had walked over to the shack and slowly pulled back the tarpaulin with a swish.

The dazzling reflected light nearly blinded Mo.

There stood four pyramids, each a full seven meters tall.

Earlier, Cheng Qi had ordered Iron Mom to stack the 12,450 ingots of high-entropy alloy inside the shack.

The valuable high-entropy alloy was stacked layer upon layer, every dimension precise to an astonishing degree. Like an exquisite work of art, it shone with a pale golden glow.

Ding!

Cheng Qi tapped a pyramid, producing a crisp ring.

He tilted his head back with a grin and launched straight into showing off. "Boss Mo, have you ever seen a dog this rich?"