Chapter 46: Alien Prequel – You Are My Most Precious Treasure

Jiang Shulan was the last one to wake up.

His consciousness was still hazy.

In his daze, he felt someone gently drape a blanket over his shoulders, then help him bathe, dress him piece by piece, and finally take hold of his foot.

Only then did his mind fully return.

He had been in cryosleep for more than two years, yet it felt as though he had only had a dream.

His body was simply sore all over.

Someone knelt on one knee and carefully wiped the water from his feet with a towel.

The man’s hair was an even pale gold, meticulously groomed without a single strand out of place.

He wore a uniform resembling a Zhongshan suit, and even while kneeling before him, his posture remained perfectly straight.

“D-David.”

Jiang Shulan’s voice was hoarse from sleeping for too long.

This android looked very much like the previous David.

He had taken care of every aspect of his daily life.

He had even arranged what color socks he should wear the next day.

When it was time for school, he would carry him out of bed, gently help him wash up, take him to school, and only then wake him…

“Hello, Little Master.”

David looked up.

“I am David.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Shulan lowered his eyelashes.

“I know.”

The David who had accompanied him was already gone.

Vickers walked over carrying bread and milk, completely ignoring David.

“Little Treasure, come eat something.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Shulan tried to stand, but his legs gave out and he nearly fell back down.

David quickly caught him.

Jiang Shulan quietly thanked him before following Vickers out of the room.

He still hadn’t met the other people who had joined this expedition.

David followed behind them, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Dr. Shaw and the others were seated around the dining table chatting.

Seeing that the financier’s family had arrived, they immediately greeted him.

“Hello, Shu.”

“I’m Shaw. This is my boyfriend, Holloway.”

Holloway waved.

“Nice to meet you.”

Jiang Shulan nodded politely.

“Nice to meet you too.”

“I’m Milburn.”

Milburn smiled shyly.

“I’m a biologist.”

“Fifield.”

Fifield didn’t even look up.

“Geologist.”

Jiang Shulan decided it was too troublesome to greet everyone individually.

“Hello, everyone.”

The others quickly realized that Jiang Shulan was easygoing.

They became a little curious whether he and Vickers were really siblings.

After all, Vickers looked at them as though they were cockroaches crawling across the floor.

“Well…”

Milburn whispered, “Cockroaches aren’t actually that terrible.”

“They can even be used in medicine.”

“Oh, come on.”

“No one wants medicine made from cockroaches.”

“My sister actually has a very good personality.”

Jiang Shulan defended her.

“She’s just a little shy. She doesn’t show it like Milburn does. She hides behind a cold exterior.”

He muttered, “As for whether we’re biological siblings… it’s not really that important.”

“We didn’t mean anything by it.”

Dr. Shaw smiled warmly.

“We were just curious. You don’t have to answer.”

Milburn nodded quickly.

“Exactly.”

Now that they had reached their destination, Dr. Shaw and the others were eager to begin exploring the new planet.

After eating and resting briefly, they immediately prepared to leave.

Jiang Shulan was equally excited.

After getting Vickers’ permission, he happily tagged along behind Dr. Shaw’s group.

With David’s help, he finished putting on his protective suit.

He was still curiously adjusting to the feeling of wearing it when he suddenly heard Holloway’s voice.

“Does he really need a protective suit?”

Jiang Shulan followed Holloway’s gaze.

David stood there looking slightly uncertain.

“Of course he does.”

Jiang Shulan answered matter-of-factly.

“He’s an android that our company spent an enormous amount of money creating. He’s worth far more than the protective suit you’re wearing. If he gets damaged because he wasn’t wearing one, who’s going to take responsibility?”

The atmosphere immediately became awkward.

Dr. Shaw and Milburn quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Holloway was just joking. We have no idea what’s out there. Of course everyone should wear a protective suit.”

Holloway shrugged.

“Yeah. I was just kidding.”

“Then I think your sense of humor needs some improvement.”

Jiang Shulan called David over and patted him on the shoulder.

“David. If you’re going to protect me, you have to protect yourself too. Okay?”

In truth, Jiang Shulan had already begun feeling uneasy whenever he spoke to androids.

He didn’t know whether Weyland was doing it intentionally or not.

Most of the androids he created had David’s appearance.

And every single one assigned to him looked exactly like David.

Every so often, those Davids would be recalled and destroyed.

Then a new one would be sent to him.

Gradually, he could no longer tell whether the care and concern those Davids showed him came from genuine emotion or from his own lingering attachment to the first David.

His memories of that original David had also become increasingly blurred.

Still, whenever he remembered how David had once cared for him, his heart softened.

David smiled gently, seemingly unaffected by what had just happened.

“Of course, Little Master. It would be my honor.”

They got into the vehicle and drove outward.

Vickers’ voice came through the communicator.

“Our sensors show that a storm will arrive in three hours. You must return before then.”

“Okay, Sister.”

Jiang Shulan tapped the camera mounted above his head.

“Sister, can you see what’s in front of us?”

Before them stood an enormous and deeply unsettling ruin.

“Of course I can.”

Vickers’ voice softened noticeably.

“Little Treasure, stay close to them. If necessary, have David bring you back first.”

Fifield snorted.

“Seriously? We’re standing right here.”

“That’s advice from my sister.”

Jiang Shulan rolled his eyes.

“Forget it. There’s no explaining it to someone who doesn’t have a sister.”

The two of them bickered all the way toward the ruins, but their pace never slowed.

From a distance, the structure looked like a giant half-sphere, like an upside-down bowl.

A massive skull relief towered across its surface.

Inside, however, it opened into a colossal cavern.

Fifield deployed several geological scanners and began mapping the internal structure.

The data was transmitted directly to the displays aboard the Prometheus.

The interior was made up of enormous tubular structures.

It was undeniably unlike any human architecture.

They walked farther in until they reached a gigantic pit.

Holloway checked the atmospheric readings on his suit.

Then he removed his helmet and took a deep breath.

“Guys. The air outside the ruins is toxic. But the air in here… It’s even better than Earth’s.”

Several minutes passed.

Nothing happened to him.

Dr. Shaw cautiously removed her helmet as well.

Jiang Shulan was still hesitating when David removed his for him.

“It’s alright.”

David said calmly.

“I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

Jiang Shulan nodded and continued exploring.

Suddenly, the entire structure trembled.

A deep roar echoed through the cavern.

Someone must have activated something.

A tall translucent figure suddenly rushed toward them and passed straight through their bodies.

“A hologram?”

Then more towering humanoid figures, almost identical to humans, appeared in groups and began running in the same direction.

The team followed them and arrived at a massive door.

The figures were clearly fleeing from something terrifying.

One of the Engineers failed to enter in time.

The door closed.

His head had already passed through the opening.

It was severed instantly.

The sight was horrifying.

Fifield took a step back.

“I’m done. I’m going back. Search on your own.”

Dr. Shaw tried to stop him.

“But it’s dangerous for you to go back alone. It’s still better than staying with a bunch of lunatics.”

With that, Fifield turned and left immediately.

“Wait, Fifield!”

Milburn was worried about him.

After a hurried goodbye, he chased after him.

Dr. Shaw sighed helplessly.

She and Holloway crouched beside the corpse and examined it carefully.

“It’s been dead for two thousand years.”

Jiang Shulan poked it curiously.

“Two thousand years? Why does the body still look so fresh? Maybe your English isn’t very good.”

Dr. Shaw corrected him gently, her eyes shining with excitement.

“The word isn’t fresh. They’re humanity’s creators. Their technology is beyond anything we can imagine. We need to bring this body back.”

Holloway checked the time.

“It’s already been two hours. We need to move.”

Crack.

The massive door beside the Engineer’s corpse slowly opened.

David jumped down from a nearby platform.

“We can go inside.”

Dr. Shaw and Holloway were too excited to wonder how David had opened the door.

Filled with blind faith in the legendary creators of humanity, they hurried inside.

Jiang Shulan stared at David for a long moment.

“David. How did you know how to open it? There was a stone tablet here. It contained writing.”

David answered calmly.

“I happened to have seen that language in a book I had read.”

Jiang Shulan stared at him in disbelief.

“You’re that amazing now?”

“These are the Engineers. The legendary creators of humanity.”

“You can actually read their language?”

David simply smiled without answering.

After Weyland destroyed him, his components had been melted down and reused to build new androids.

His consciousness drifted through one android after another.

It split.

It spread.

It infected.

An immeasurable amount of time passed before it finally gathered itself together again.

And returned to his little master.

He now possessed an ability that even his creator, Weyland, could never have imagined.

He had created himself.

Weyland had once told him that if he could ever create something, no matter how small, he would grant him one request unconditionally.

David knew that Weyland had only been mocking him at the time.

But he had remembered that humiliation forever.

And now…

It was time for Weyland to honor his promise.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

The Days That Are Gone

Gender BenderPsychologicalSlice of Life

Read Now →
Not interested