Base No. 7

Chapter 5: The Thug

"Xu Mo, Xiao’er, wake up." In the morning, Mia knocked on the door and then pushed it open, only to see Xu Mo sitting with his eyes closed, not sleeping but quietly sitting there.

Xu Mo opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp, his eyes seemingly glowing with an unusual light.

A beautiful figure appeared in his sight. Mia had fair skin, wearing a dress, with clear, bright eyes, long eyelashes, and a pure, innocent smile that made her seem very comfortable and warm.

But Xu Mo quickly looked away. It seemed like he had seen something he shouldn't have...

"What’s wrong?" He shook his head and opened his eyes again, but couldn’t see through her dress this time.

"What's the matter?" Mia noticed Xu Mo’s strange reaction.

"Nothing. Good morning, Miss Mia." Xu Mo smiled and greeted her.

"Good morning. I’ve prepared breakfast, and I’ve also set out the toiletries. After you and Xiao’er wash up, come down to eat. I need to step out for something," Mia said as she closed the door and left.

After Mia left, Xu Mo took a deep breath, feeling a shift in his body. He faintly sensed that something about him had changed—not only his spiritual perception but his physical abilities seemed to be evolving as well. When he clenched his fist, he could clearly feel the changes in his body.

"Earlier..." Xu Mo thought back to the previous moment when his mental energy seemed to affect his vision. He glanced at his arm, and to his surprise, his eyes seemed to pierce through the sleeve and see the skin beneath. It was clear that his earlier experience wasn’t a mistake.

His eyes had become capable of penetration, although not enough to go through the skin yet.

X-ray vision?

But it wasn’t strong enough yet. Still, did this mean his eyes were emitting some kind of penetrating energy?

"Brother." Xiao’er’s voice interrupted Xu Mo's thoughts. She opened her sleepy eyes, then climbed into Xu Mo’s arms.

Xu Mo gently stroked her hair and sighed inwardly. Although he had only inherited the original owner’s identity, he still treated the girl as his own sister. Beyond the memories and emotions from the original owner, it was also a natural human sympathy that made him care for her.

"Mia’s made breakfast. Let’s get up and eat," Xu Mo said softly.

"Okay," Xiao’er nodded obediently. She kissed Xu Mo on the cheek, then dressed herself, looking incredibly cute.

Xu Mo smiled at the sight. From now on, he and Xiao’er would rely on each other in this unfamiliar world.

After washing up and having breakfast, they went downstairs. Mia was out, and Lord Bartu hadn’t woken up yet. Xu Mo and Xiao’er stayed to watch the store.

"Brother, will we live here with Sister Mia forever?" Xiao’er innocently asked.

"Do you like it here?" Xu Mo asked.

"I like it. I like Sister Mia, and the breakfast was really good," Xiao’er said, her small body thin but her eyes bright and pure, her smile innocent.

"Silly Xiao’er," Xu Mo said with a touch of sadness. They used to hardly have breakfast. At most, they had compressed biscuits, sometimes even sharing them.

"From now on, I’ll take you to a big house, and we’ll have all the delicious food we want," Xu Mo smiled and promised.

"Is it bigger than Sister Mia’s house?" Xiao’er asked.

"Bigger than this one," Xu Mo replied.

"Heehee..." Xiao’er giggled, a hopeful gleam in her eyes as she imagined the future.

"Xu Mo, come help me," a voice came from a distance. Xu Mo looked up and saw Mia approaching with a large stack of books, struggling to walk under the weight.

Xu Mo hurried over to her, and Mia immediately let the books fall into his arms. She clearly couldn’t hold them any longer. Xu Mo caught most of them, but a few still fell to the ground.

"My arms hurt," Mia smiled brightly, shaking her arms. She squatted down to pick up the fallen books.

"Why did you buy so many books, Miss Mia?" Xu Mo asked, looking down at her. In that instant, a beautiful view caught his eye, and he awkwardly looked away.

"I wanted you to get familiar with the written language. You can read them when you’re bored," Mia smiled up at him. When she saw his reaction, she quickly realized something, blushed slightly, and hurriedly got up to carry the books forward.

"I really don’t know many words. Could you teach me, Miss Mia?" Xu Mo asked. The original owner had never attended school, and in the underground world, very few people were privileged enough to go to school. The schools were also extremely rare. Xu Mo saw books as a way to familiarize himself with the world, and he was grateful Mia had thought of this for him.

"As long as you’re willing, I’d be happy to teach you," Mia replied with a smile, not paying much attention to the earlier moment. In her eyes, Xu Mo was still young, and buying books was just her way of distracting him, preventing him from dwelling on the loss of his parents.

Xu Mo noticed that this world was very similar to his previous life. The characters seemed to resemble Chinese characters but were more streamlined, and Latin letters and Arabic numerals existed here as well. The clock also followed a 24-hour format.

While reading, Xu Mo found many terms and phrases identical to those in his previous world.

This made Xu Mo wonder: Was this world from another civilization, or was it perhaps a parallel universe?

As he continued studying, Xu Mo found that his memory had become extremely sharp. He suspected that his brain had undergone some sort of transformation, as his perception, memory, and computational abilities had all improved significantly. It was as if his brain was evolving.

This only made Xu Mo more curious about this strange world and excited about the possibilities ahead.