His Match Is an Interstellar Monster

Chapter 34: Landis' Rose

It was not the first time that Xiao Sa had entered Landis' mental sea.

Here, it was still a night of endless darkness, with only a vast desert in sight. The only difference was that, after diligently clearing away the bones and fierce beasts for Landis, a small oasis had emerged at the desert's center.

The sky had no sun, moon, or stars, but this oasis served as a guide that prevented him from getting lost in the desert.

In reality, it was merely a tiny lake. At its edge stood a sturdy, crooked tree. Most of its branches and leaves had withered, with only a few green leaves remaining scattered near the lake.

A small, bright red rose incongruously grew beneath the tree, its bud tightly closed, swaying fragile in the cold night wind.

This seemed to be the safe zone of Landis' mental sea, a sanctuary. The large tree guarded the oasis like a knight, allowing no bones or fierce beasts to approach.

The surroundings were deathly silent. Xiao Sa's psychic energy materialized into a lantern, floating in his palm and casting a circle of light.

Following the direction from his last visit, he let his consciousness slowly float.

Along the way, he smashed innumerable bones, dodged endless quicksands and whirlpools, and knocked down the fierce beasts littering the ground. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the depths of the sea of consciousness.

The surroundings were pitch-dark, with not a single glimmer of light.

The area that his psychic energy lantern could illuminate grew increasingly narrow. Numerous green-glowing wandering souls floated here, eyeing Xiao Sa, the intruder, hungrily. His potent psychic energy was like a beacon, attracting all the contaminated monsters that wished to devour him.

The space around him gradually became unstable, and fierce winds, like blades, sliced into Xiao Sa's skin.

The source of contamination in Landis' mental sea seemed to possess a mind of its own, cunningly lying dormant in the dark, revealing no hints. Numerous spiritual healers had met their end before it.

"Searching blindly like this won't lead anywhere..." Xiao Sa thought to himself.

He recalled that the last time he had triggered a reaction from the contaminated monsters was when he had touched Landis' memory fragments.

Xiao Sa stood still, closed his eyes, and let his intangible psychic energy surge outward from him in all directions, releasing a warm silver glow into the darkness.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and flew toward one of the directions.

In the barren desert, faintly flickering lights stood out particularly. Xiao Sa picked up a shard of a mirror embedded in the yellow sand, and the moment his consciousness plunged into it, his surroundings abruptly changed...

The noisy streets, vendors shouting, colorful shop windows, and the curses of someone chasing a thief in the distance—this was a neighborhood on a lower planet.

Snowflakes danced in the air, melting upon contact with the ground. A woman wearing a worn fur coat emerged from the market, leading a four or five-year-old child. She held a basket of vegetables and bread in her left hand and tightly grasped the child's hand with her right.

The boy had lovely soft golden hair. He clutched his mother's hand tightly, curiously observing each passing shop window until his eyes fell on a striking dark-golden mech model placed in the center of the most prominent window.

It was the newest mech model of the year, a perfectly scaled-down replica.

The boy had seen it on a projected broadcast before. His father served in the military, and the boy hadn't seen him in a long time, only hearing fragments of conversation during his mother's calls.

He knew his father piloted such beautiful mechs, defeating villains like in fairy tales, majestic and powerful.

The boy's eyes seemed glued to the window, and he couldn't move. He tugged at his mother's hand, his hopeful icy blue eyes filled with expectation. "Mom, I want that."

He didn't realize it was just a model. He believed that owning such a mech would make him as strong as his father, able to protect his fragile, sick mother.

The woman looked at him, then at the hefty price tag beneath the mech in the window, and hesitated before saying, "When Dad sends money next month, Mom will buy it for you."

The boy reluctantly cast one last glance at the "limited time offer" sign, his eyes dropping in disappointment, but he didn't throw a tantrum or beg; he just nodded silently.

The woman's heart ached as she let out a soft sigh. "Wait a moment," she said.

She quickly led the boy into the pawnshop next door, and when she emerged, the fur was gone, replaced by a small pouch. She gently warmed her hands by blowing on them, exchanging the pouch for the mech model in the window.

The woman watched her son, who carefully held the model, gently stroking his hair without a word.

Xiao Sa followed the pair silently, entering a regular apartment building. The moment the door opened, he was transported back to that dark desert.

Xiao Sa put down the fragment he had just read and continued searching nearby. The fragment's faint glimmer was like shards of glass left by the retreating tide, and with careful searching, he would always find the next one.

The scene before him changed again.

It was no longer the run-down apartment building on a lower planet but a small detached villa with a sunny lawn and garden. The yard was filled with splendid roses, their full, overlapping petals glistening and clearly well-tended.

A six-year-old boy carefully selected a bouquet of roses from the garden, trimming off the sharp thorns before hurrying inside.

In the center of the bedroom, a frail woman lay on a large bed, her presence almost lost in its size. Her cheeks were sunken, her hair dull and lifeless, but her expression was gentle and kind.

She raised her arm and gently brushed the boy's cheek. A needle tube connected to a contaminated inhibitor and other unrecognizable medications was attached to her hand.

"Mom, I picked fresh roses for you. Will you get better?"

The woman didn't speak, only gently looking at him, when she suddenly coughed forcefully for a while. The medical equipment beside her showed various data points dropping to a low point.

The doctor gave her the last injection of inhibitor and shook his head, whispering quietly among themselves.

After a moment of silence, the boy suddenly put down the roses and ran out. When he returned, he was holding a pile of carefully cleaned mech models in his arms.

He threw them onto the bed and said loudly, "I don't want these anymore! Mom, don't leave me behind!"

But the woman was no longer able to respond to him. The blonde boy leaned over the bed and sobbed.

Xiao Sa stood beside him, just about to reach out to touch his shoulder, when the surrounding scene suddenly shattered.

He hurriedly searched for the next fragment of the scene nearby.

When the light returned, a low-profile aircraft landed on the lawn.

A tall and mighty man led a seven- or eight-year-old boy down. The man was dressed in a neatly pressed military uniform with countless shining medals on his chest.

He led the boy into a luxurious mansion, surrounded by attendants who bowed their heads and addressed the boy as 'young master.'

In the center of the hall was another heavily made-up noblewoman, said to be the daughter of a prominent noble family from Central Star, who married the boy's father after a high compatibility match from Owner Haino's records.

The man gestured toward her and said in a deep voice, "Landis, from now on, she will be your mother. When I'm not around, she will take good care of you."

The noblewoman looked down at the boy from the lower planet and said lightly, "He's of school age now. However, given his background, it's not suitable for him to attend a noble academy. He should be sent to a military academy instead."

Time flew by.

Landis' father was frequently away on military duty, and in the empty yet luxurious mansion, the new wife was the only lady of the house. The boy who came from the lower planet was lonely and silent, always feeling out of place.

At the head of the long dining table, Landis sat alone at the far end.

The attendants taught him that in this place, unlike the uncivilized lower planets, he was not allowed to start eating until the lady of the house picked up her spoon, even if he was starving.

During meals, talking was not allowed, nor were any chewing sounds permitted. No one would feed him as his mother once did.

This was normal, Landis told himself, because he was growing up.

Soon after, the stepmother's belly grew bigger and bigger. Landis knew that she and his father were about to have a new child, and he would soon have a younger sibling.

No matter how cautiously Landis tried to please his new mother, she rarely spoke to him first.

The only time was when Landis accidentally let his mental entity out, which scared the stepmother so much that she screamed and hid behind his father, leading to a severe beating by his father.

On the day the baby was born, Landis went to the garden and picked a bouquet of fresh roses. As usual, he selected the most beautiful and vibrant one, removed its thorns, and carefully wrapped it in pearlized gauze paper before taking it to the stepmother's bedroom.

The stepmother, holding the baby, had a warm smile that Landis had never seen before.

Landis gathered the courage to offer his bouquet, but the lady's expression changed. She waved her hand and knocked his roses away, saying, "Disgusting! Who let you in?"

It seemed roses couldn't buy love. Landis thought silently.

Xiao Sa crouched beside him, wanting to pick up the roses but grasping nothing. He wanted to say a few words to Landis but remembered that the boy couldn't hear him.

A dazzling white light flashed within the new memory. This time, Xiao Sa saw Landis when he was fifteen.

He had grown into a handsome young man with distinctive features. Years of military school training, enduring harsh conditions, had gradually tanned his once fair skin to a light wheat color.

That day, he had just returned from a field exercise, having gone through great effort to kill a beast mutated from contamination, earning him the top score in the combat department.

His arm was wrapped in bandages, with slight traces of blood. As soon as he entered the house, he heard the sound of beautiful piano music coming from the hall.

It was a piano teacher his mother had specially hired for Field. Field sang a few lines from a hymn, which immediately drew endless praise from his mother and the teacher.

Landis listened quietly in silence.

The stepmother caught sight of him and frowned in disgust. "Why are you standing there? Can't you see we have guests? You're filthy! You don't look like a noble child at all!"

Landis gave her a cool glance but didn't say anything. He quietly went back to his room to tend to his wounds.

As he turned away, he heard a scornful snort, "No upbringing."

Xiao Sa narrowed his eyes, filled with anger. He quietly squeezed Landis's hand, but, of course, he couldn't make contact.

He reached for the next fragment.

As time passed, Landis's younger brother grew up. His father intended to send his younger brother to military school as well.

The stepmother would not agree no matter what. "Is that even a place people go to? Each time you return, you're wounded. Feld is still so young and fragile; how could he possibly endure that kind of hardship? My precious son was born to enjoy life. A grunt's position is not fitting for nobility!"

At the age of twenty, Landis graduated from the military academy and successfully entered the military department, distinguishing himself through exceptional talent and rigorous self-discipline. A broad, well-paved road, the result of years of blood and sweat, lay before him.

On the other hand, his younger brother, Field, was born weak and had to spend his days lying in bed due to illness.

The day before had been Field's birthday, and a grand birthday party had been held in the mansion.

Landis, who had just returned from a small-scale encirclement campaign, hurried back and gave him a carefully selected limited-edition mech model.

But from the bedroom came Field's cold taunt, "Are you mocking me? My dear brother, you are exceptional, whether at school or in the military, everyone sings your praises."

"You, the son of a commoner from a lower planet, are highly regarded by everyone. They say you will become the future head of the family, while I can only lie here, helpless. And you bring me this damned model of a mech to mock me!"

He viciously threw the carefully wrapped gift to the ground.

Landis silently picked up the gift and gave him a cold look, "Is that so? People will always envy what they lack. If you don't like it, just throw it away."

He ignored his brother's hysterical shouts and did not even stay the night at the manor. He immediately boarded a flight back to the military department—he had just received an emergency notification. A large-scale alien creature invasion had broken out on the frontlines, and his father was pinned down there.

Xiao Sa held a new fragment, his eyes tightly following Landis' figure.

As he maneuvered his mech out of the warship, the battle was already at its most intense and chaotic state, with countless alien creatures before him.

Landis held a particle light blade, with black flames fiercely burning across his mech.

He charged through the alien creatures, cutting down countless heads, splattered with the blood of enemies and allies alike.

Landis rushed madly toward the center of the battlefield, where a vast expanse of black fog loomed. Just approaching it, the stench and terrifying negative psychic energy were enough to make one gag.

With a calm expression but an anxious heart, Landis charged in without hesitation.

"Father—" The words stuck in his throat. His father's mech had its cockpit pierced by a massive monster's arm.

From the opening, a figure slowly turned around, and Landis' breath caught. It wasn't his familiar father's face that he saw, but a horrifying, skin-peeled monstrous face!

Xiao Sa's expression darkened as the surrounding space began to violently tremble and collapse at that moment.

The last remaining memory fragment was nearby.

The sky was dark and gloomy, and the cemetery lay bleak.

Landis stood in black clothing, a white flower pinned to his chest, silently before his parents' grave.

His face was expressionless as he held a specially made temperature-controlled glass enclosure in his hands, inside which rested a vibrant red rose.

Landis gently wiped the glass enclosure with a clean silk handkerchief.

This was a simulated flower made of special materials. Landis had carefully preserved it in a glass greenhouse, protected from fear, pain, and the cold frost.

He treasured it meticulously, caring for it like a silent knight, using his hands to shield it from the wind and rain, nourishing it with the unattainable love he once longed for.

This allowed it to remain in perpetual bloom, never wilting, and even the bright red showed no sign of fading.

"Landis..." Xiao Sa spoke softly before him, knowing Landis wouldn't hear. He couldn't help but sigh, "So, you've always been a fool, even as a child..."

Suddenly, a long tear appeared in the sky, and the ground beneath him trembled violently. Xiao Sa's vision fractured instantly.

When he regained his senses, he was still in the boundless desert, but the intense seismic tremors had not ceased. From the depths of the desert below, a strange, otherworldly roar echoed.

"It's finally here." The lantern in Xiao Sa's palm transformed into a silver-white psychic energy blade.

Xiao Sa soared into the air, and the spot where he had just been standing suddenly collapsed into a massive crater.

The dark, abyssal opening emitted countless sharp and eerie screeches, almost rupturing his eardrums.

The once tranquil desert rapidly formed a massive dune as fine sand particles cascaded down, unveiling a colossal monster buried underneath. Its tail, as it swung down, resembled a collapsing mountain range.

Xiao Sa plummeted from mid-air, his psychic energy blade instantly extending as he slashed down hard on the monster's tail!

A pained roar reverberated across the sky.

The dark sky suddenly opened a pair of dark golden giant eyes.

A claw as large as a heavenly pillar descended from the sky, slamming down on him!

Xiao Sa barely soared up in time, only to realize how enormous the contamination monster residing in Landis' mental sea was.

Its entire body spanned the sky, with the other half submerged beneath the desert. In comparison, Xiao Sa was as insignificant as a speck of dust next to a mountain.

No wonder so many spiritual healers have suffered humiliating defeats here; they were simply not on the same level as their opponents.

He couldn't understand why, despite such a massive contaminant lurking in Landis's mental sea, Landis had been able to maintain his sanity for so many years. Was this the formidable willpower of an S-rank strong individual?

The monster in the air turned around, its golden pupils staring at Xiao Sa, its mouth full of sharp teeth gaping wide as if the sky had been torn open.

As it moved, the previously obscured moonlight poured down, spreading a pristine glow over the desert.

Xiao Sa's tall figure floated in the air, his right hand holding a long sword upside down, his left thumb gently wiping his dry lips.

His eyes narrowed slightly, his pupils appearing exceptionally deep. The moonlight grazed his high nose, casting a deep shadow on his cheeks.

Xiao Sa looked up to gaze at his opponent, casually twirling the long sword in his hand before pointing it downward.

He chuckled and said slowly, "This is my domain. An uninvited guest who helps themselves will be turned into cumin barbecue."

With an angry roar, accompanied by an earth-shattering noise, the giant monster lunged at Xiao Sa.

The astonishing force was like the sky falling.

Xiao Sa's mental domain unfolded instantly. He neither dodged nor evaded, rising into the air to meet the giant monster. His silver psychic energy streamed behind him like a long ribbon of light, cloaking him in a dazzling silver battle robe.

The monster's wide-open mouth emitted a strong stench.

Xiao Sa stomped heavily on its head, his entire body straight and sharp as a steel spear, as swift as an arrow, piercing straight into a golden eye.

The giant monster howled in pain, the powerful impact sending Xiao Sa flying through the air.

Countless black psychic threads of contamination spread out like a spider's web, tightly wrapping around him, forming an impenetrable black cocoon that grew tighter and more viscous.

In mere moments, the black cocoon brightly lit up, completely piercing it as a silver sun rose in the air.

The massive psychic energy of an S-rank, condensed to the extreme, exploded, illuminating the night as if it were day.

The surging psychic energy spread, silver flames flowing, igniting the entire giant monster.

It howled frantically, desperately rolling on the desert, its dark, sticky, foul contamination slowly receding.

After what felt like an eternity, it could no longer endure, and with its long tail, it split the desert open with a crack.

The massive body squeezed into the crack, and countless grains of sand surged towards the crack like quicksand in a vortex, until it was completely submerged.

Landis' mental sea regained its tranquility, with the sky-obscuring body no longer present, and a faint moonlight poured down from the sky.

In the center of the desert, the oasis shimmered, the rippling lake surface breaking the shimmering reflection of the moonlight.

Xiao Sa sheathed his long blade and gently landed beside the oasis.

The polluted monster in Landis' mental sea hadn't formed overnight; its energy accumulation was staggering, and even Xiao Sa's psychic energy was almost depleted.

He gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, sat by the lake, and casually picked up a handful of sweet, refreshing spring water, smelling a cedar-like woody scent.

"After all the effort I've put in, it's not too much to drink a mouthful of your spring water, right?" Xiao Sa unhesitatingly gulped down two mouthfuls.

His ears slightly twitched, and he heard a faint whining sound from behind.

Turning his head, he saw it was a black lion cub.

It was no taller than his calf, appearing out of nowhere, huffing and puffing as it ran towards him, before throwing itself into his arms, meowing non-stop.

"Kitty!" Xiao Sa exclaimed in surprise. The cub's mane had hardly grown yet, and its furry head was barely different from a black kitten.

It exuded a cedar-scented pheromone identical to Landis, its two front paws wrapped around Xiao Sa's neck, and began licking him right away.

The young black lion was incredibly cute.

Xiao Sa stayed calm, lightly bit the cub's ear, and cuddled it non-stop until the cub became so soft from the petting that it let out an excited yowl and ran off.

Xiao Sa patted his legs and stood up from the ground, feeling the exhaustion from the fight and the session of cuddling the cub wash over him like a tidal wave.

Just as he was about to exit Landis' mental sea, he suddenly noticed a red rose bud under a withered tree. Somehow, it had slightly bloomed without his noticing.

A lone rose bud, its stem covered in thorns, trembled in the night wind.

Xiao Sa looked up at the withered tree that provided it shade, noticing only a few pitiful leaves remained.

He clapped his hands together, and a shovel appeared suddenly in his palms. Immediately, he dug a large pit next to the tree.

Xiao Sa bit his own finger, and a drop of blood mingled with pheromones and concentrated psychic energy condensed into a small sapling, which he planted next to the tree.

Xiao Sa was finally satisfied and closed his eyes, letting his consciousness gradually fade away from the mental sea...

※※※

The bedroom curtains were drawn shut, blocking out all light.

Xiao Sa was awakened by his rumbling stomach, his physical strength and psychic energy severely depleted, in urgent need of replenishment.

As he slowly regained consciousness, his mind felt sluggish, unable to tell if it was day or night.

His sleeping posture was as usual, holding a warm and resilient pillow, deeply nestled in the middle of a soft large bed, his arms filled with the familiar scent of his mate's pheromones, which was extraordinarily reassuring.

He tightened his arms and took a deep sniff of the fragrance in his arms, like a starved wolf that had just caught the scent of a banquet, and without hesitation, he bit down, hearing immediately Landis's muffled groan.

"Xiao Sa..." Landis's voice was hoarse, as if it had been scorched by fire.

Xiao Sa forced open his eyes and saw a chest marked with various unmistakable marks, including two fresh bite marks.

He blinked slowly and, after pausing, looked up to meet Landis's deep and intricate icy blue eyes.

Heh, what lazy wolf, clearly just a puppy that hasn't been weaned yet!