The suspicious squad

Mo gripped the test tube tightly.

His expression shifted between shock and doubt, and a fine sheen of sweat crept over his forehead.

He raised his head and looked solemnly at Cheng Qi. "I'll start investigating as soon as I get back. If all of this is true, then my Mo Family owes you an enormous debt, Cheng Qi. If you ever need us, my entire family will go through fire and water for you."

"You're making too much of it, Boss Mo."

"I just don't want to lose a source of income."

Cheng Qi waved a hand. "So what exactly does your family do? Are you all goods merchants?"

"I have to admit I misled you."

"Mo isn't actually my surname."

Mo straightened his chest. "Our family's surname comes from a name that shone brightly throughout a thousand years of Huaxia's history. Every member of our family is his descendant. Our surname is Mo-the Mo in Mozi."

At that moment, a sacred reverence appeared in Mo's eyes. "The current head of our family is named Mo Yu. But he left for the stars a hundred years ago and has yet to return."

"Oh, Mo Yu...!"

Cheng Qi shrugged. "Never heard of him."

"Whatever the case, you didn't stand by and do nothing about my family's situation."

Mo spoke earnestly. "As an initial token of my gratitude, there's some information I must share with you."

Mo glanced up at the two starships in the sky.

"It's about this Interstellar Alliance combat squad."

Mo's expression grew grave. "Before arriving on Earth, they bought a large quantity of weapons and ammunition from the Interstellar Black Market. That makes no sense. As regular military personnel, they already have an ammunition allotment, yet they chose to buy more. That means they have combat plans that fall outside their orders."

"Outside their orders?"

"Combat?"

Cheng Qi frowned. "What exactly are they trying to do?"

"It's all unknown."

"No one knows what shady business they're hiding."

Mo looked at Cheng Qi. "From here on, you need to be careful. Or rather, all of Garbage Earth needs to be careful."

Mo could hardly wait to head back.

As though he had tapped into some hidden potential, he stuffed himself back into the refrigerator-sized Biological Transport Box.

Cheng Qi rummaged through his backpack, pulled out a bottle of blue drink, and tossed it into Mo's arms.

He smiled. "Drink it on the way."

Mo's face turned several shades of purple. The cramped space left him no choice but to hold the bottle, though disgust was written all over his face.

"Didn't you say this drink had been poisoned?"

"Do you want me to drink it on my journey, or send me on my final journey?"

Cheng Qi grinned mischievously. "Since this drink is poisonous, it's bound to become garbage sooner or later. Destroying it would be such a shame. Rather than let it go to waste, why not find a way to ship it all in here and give it to me?"

Cheng Qi's eyes lit up. "After all, this drink does slightly enhance physical strength."

"You..."

Mo struggled to wrap his head around that. Finally, he sighed. "Let's talk after I've finished investigating."

As Mo's transport box gradually disappeared beyond the atmosphere,

Cheng Qi stared at the two starships in the distant sky, his brow slowly furrowing.

Then he called Foolish Boy on his communicator and told it and Xiao Qiong to return to the Shelter immediately.

"Wow, who's this?"

Inside the underground Shelter, Xiao Qiong stared at the little white mouse on Cheng Qi's shoulder, her dark eyes shining. She was only a six-year-old girl, after all. By nature, cute little animals like this held an irresistible appeal for her.

"Her name is Zhi Zhi."

"She's our new member from now on."

Cheng Qi smiled. Foolish Boy and Xiao Qiong were covered in mud and had gathered another sizable haul of wood and soil. It seemed they intended to keep working on the underground Shelter.

"Zhi Zhi?"

Xiao Qiong reached out a finger and gently stroked Zhi Zhi's fur. "Then you'll be my second pet from now on!"

"Second?"

Cheng Qi blinked. "Who's the first?"

"Foolish Boy."

Xiao Qiong rolled her eyes and pouted. "Foolish Boy is such a goof, and it talks funny. It's... my first pet!"

Foolish Boy raised its gleaming arm. "Who's a goof? I'm drop-dead handsome, all right?"

Xiao Qiong got busy.

After searching through the woodpile for a long time, she found a handful of dry grass, wove it into a tiny straw hat, and placed it on Zhi Zhi's head.

With that little accessory, Zhi Zhi became a hundred times cuter.

She stood upright like a person, wearing her straw hat with her paws folded across her chest. Her snow-white whiskers quivered, making her look like a little mouse sprite.

The hat also perfectly concealed the exposed brain and pink crystal on Zhi Zhi's head.

Xiao Qiong thought nothing of Zhi Zhi's originally rather frightening head. In this apocalyptic wasteland, sights like that were nothing unusual.

Besides, Xiao Qiong didn't know what a proper pet was supposed to look like.

"Those two starships overhead aren't a good sign."

"Neither of you is to leave the Shelter for the time being."

Cheng Qi gave his instructions seriously. "Foolish Boy, contact Monkey and the others. Have them stop buying for now and find somewhere to hide if they can. I'll let them know when they can start working again."

"Gotcha."

"Don't you worry about a thing!"

Foolish Boy wasn't actually a fool. It wouldn't do something brainless like sneaking off on a whim when it knew there was danger.

"Xiao Qiong."

Foolish Boy lowered its head. "You heard what Cheng Qi said, right? We're staying here for now. Besides, we've got more work than we can handle. We ain't going anywhere."

Xiao Qiong nodded firmly. "I'll listen to Cheng Qi."

"Attention, all scavengers in B24 District..."

"Attention, all scavengers in B24 District..."

Just then, an announcement from the Scavenger Alliance came through the old communicator.

"All scavengers, please proceed to the Scavenger Alliance headquarters immediately."

"We will gather to welcome the Interstellar Alliance combat squad."

"This concerns our fate. You must show them the utmost respect."

Cheng Qi frowned as a sense of unease rose within him. "You two stay here. I'll go alone."

Then,

Cheng Qi put on his hole-riddled scavenger cloak.

He made sure the Extreme Warrior Armor was completely concealed beneath his outer clothing.

Then he checked his Jet Turbine Shoes and Anti-Gravity Gloves.

Finally, he checked his eyes.

The light-refraction ability unique to silicon-based genes had perfectly concealed the three rings of light in his pupils.

He took a deep breath.

Cheng Qi walked toward the exit, one step at a time.

"Let's see what the hell this interstellar combat squad is really up to!"