IBO – Chapter 26 The Protective Action

This novel contains sensitive and taboo content like R*pe, Mu**er etc. Read only if you are comfortable.

Song Yiran gently cradled the injured little white ferret in his arms and hurried toward the nursery. If he could, he would have liked nothing more than to run the whole way.

But the little white ferret’s leg couldn’t withstand any large movements right now. He couldn’t be sure that if he ran, he’d be able to protect that leg properly. So Song Yiran did his utmost to keep the little white ferret steady in his arms as he walked.

As he walked, fear gnawed at him—fear of what would have happened if he’d arrived any later, if he hadn’t been able to find it in time, if he hadn’t gone looking at all…

Then all he would have found in the end would have been a tiny corpse…

At the same time as he was afraid, he also felt relieved—relieved that he hadn’t ignored that fleeting sixth sense.

If he hadn’t gone to look back then, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life.

A small life, cut short before it could even bloom. A child who had endured so much suffering, who hadn’t yet tasted any sweetness, whose life would have ended in that messy patch of weeds.

Song Yiran couldn’t bear such a consequence.

He couldn’t imagine his younger brother dying in cold grass, nor could he accept his brother dying at such a tender age.

In his vision of the future, his younger brother should live out his life peacefully, then grow old naturally—passing away on a warm bed at home, surrounded by family and friends.

Finally reaching his room, Song Yiran called out for help to Xiao Zhong’er. “Xiao Zhong’er, help! I need the Tentacle Star Household Medical Pod, Type III, No. 25.”

If possible, he would much rather go to a hospital, but the medical technology available there wasn’t sufficient right now. More precisely, medical treatment for beast-form individuals was still at a backward stage.

Because no one was researching that field at all.

But that was fine—other planets had far more advanced medical pods that could treat any species. The only problem was that they were extremely complicated to operate.

Xiao Zhong’er hurriedly took out the medical pod Song Yiran wanted. “Wait a moment first, okay? This medical pod is really complicated to operate. I’ll find the manual—we should read the instructions first.”

“No need. I know how,” Song Yiran said. After getting the pod, he directly placed the little white ferret inside. Then he yanked his sleeves up forcefully and began operating it.

The medical pod was a long rectangular capsule meant for lying down, covered on the outside by a layer of glass. The interior was spacious enough to fit three Song Yirans.

Inside, it was filled with a green liquid that could serve as a nutrient solution, absorbed through the patient’s skin, ensuring they wouldn’t go hungry during treatment.

The external control panel of the medical pod had over three hundred buttons. Depending on the species, the injured area, and the severity of the injury, different operations were required.

Song Yiran’s ten fingers flew as he pressed button after button.

After everything was done, he finally let out a breath and relaxed, sitting down on the floor.

The last time he’d used this medical pod was a long time ago—strictly speaking, in his previous life. Not when he was on Blue Star, but when he was in the interstellar era.

So much time had passed that he could barely remember what he’d used it for back then. But he still remembered how incredibly effective this medical pod was.

Only after relaxing did Song Yiran realize that his face felt strangely cool. When he touched it—well, damn, it was covered in tears.

A face full of tears seriously damaged his handsome image. He scrambled up, wanting to wash his face, only to realize that his legs were trembling nonstop, and his hands were shaking too.

He must have been too scared earlier. Thankfully, his little brother was fine now.

Trembling all over, Song Yiran struggled to the sink and washed his face. Only when the cold water splashed against his skin did he feel a hint of reality return. Ah, every single day…

He just wanted to be a carefree slacker who raised his little brothers, that was all—but why was it so hard?

After washing his face, Song Yiran suddenly sensed that something was off. “Xiao Zhong’er, help me pull up the roadside surveillance footage from that time. I want to take a look.”

He always felt that the injury on the little white ferret’s right leg had been caused by someone.

“Mission guaranteed!” Xiao Zhong’er thumped his chest in assurance.

It was time to prepare lunch. There were still three cubs waiting to be fed. Song Yiran reluctantly stroked the glass of the medical pod and said goodbye to the little white ferret. “Kiddo, big brother’s going to make food first.”

What he didn’t know was that after he left, the cub inside the medical pod struggled to open its eyes. It stared blankly in the direction he had gone, as if lost in thought, before finally closing its eyes again after a long while.

Song Yiran had a bad feeling in his heart. Even while cooking lunch, he couldn’t shake the sense of unease. After tucking all the napping cubs in and covering them with blankets, Xiao Zhong’er came back.

Xiao Zhong’er returned with the surveillance footage.

“Youngster… I’ve already uploaded the footage to your light-brain. But… let’s go outside to watch it first,” Xiao Zhong’er suggested.

Song Yiran was very good at taking advice, so he turned and walked out into the courtyard.

In the moment before he tapped to play the footage, the ominous feeling in his heart swelled to its peak. After he opened it, he finally saw the truth…

The afternoon sunlight gently bathed Song Yiran, yet after watching the surveillance footage, he felt chilled to the bone.

He was so enraged by the beast’s actions on the recording that his entire body trembled. Song Yiran stormed over to the storage room, flung the door open with a whoosh, and began rummaging through things inside.

Afraid that Song Yiran might go to extremes, Xiao Zhong’er hurriedly tried to dissuade him. “Bro, murder is illegal! Let’s not act on impulse. Otherwise, all that awaits you is years of staring through iron bars and crying! Then the cubs at the nursery will really have no one to take care of them. Can you bear to see them crying every day at the nursery, waiting for you to finish your sentence? Before you even come back, they’ll starve to death! Bro, let’s calm down first! We can take other measures to get revenge on that scumbag!”

Song Yiran kept rummaging through the items as he replied, “I’m not stupid. Of course I know killing is illegal. I just want to repay him in his own way.”

Xiao Zhong’er asked, “Then how do you plan to get revenge?”

At that moment, Song Yiran finally found what he had been looking for.

As he pulled out the solid wooden baseball bat he’d searched for so long, he sneered. “If it likes breaking other people’s legs, then I’ll let it taste what a broken leg feels like too.”

Xiao Zhong’er thought this method was good as well. This was exactly how a beast like that should be dealt with.

“Anything else I can help with?” Xiao Zhong’er asked.

Song Yiran said, “Help me find where this beast lives—and its family connections.”

That afternoon, C District, 3C Street, Residential Apartments, third floor, Room 315.

The middle-aged man had just gotten off work. When he returned to his apartment and opened the door, he discovered that everything inside had been smashed. Aside from the walls and the sofa in the living room, every single item had been completely destroyed.

His first reaction was to call the police. But before he could even open his light-brain, a force shoved him violently into the apartment, sending him crashing onto the floor, now pitted and gouged from the destruction.

The middle-aged man tried to get up and run, but his body felt as if it had been numbed by something—he couldn’t move at all. At the same time, the front door shut with an eerie finality.

He wanted to shout for help, but just then a young man walked out of his bedroom.

The young man’s expression was utterly calm, as if he were simply taking a leisurely stroll.

Yet the already deformed baseball bat in his hand proclaimed him to be the culprit who had turned the apartment into ruins.

The “culprit,” Song Yiran, seemed to see through the middle-aged man’s intention to cry for help and said mockingly, “Go on! Scream! Scream as loud as you can! Do you think anyone will come save you?”

The middle-aged man didn’t know what he was up to, but he still shouted for help with all his might. There was no response at all.

After a long time, his throat grew hoarse from yelling, yet still no one answered.

Meanwhile, Song Yiran sat on the sofa, watching the middle-aged man as if he were some kind of performing monkey. Only after the man finally gave up shouting did Song Yiran reveal the truth.

“I set up a soundproof barrier here a long time ago. Even if you scream your throat raw, no one will hear you.”

The middle-aged man couldn’t figure out what Song Yiran intended to do, but judging by his posture, today he would either die or at least be flayed alive. He immediately chose to beg for mercy.

“Big brother, spare my life! If you want money, I still have two hundred thousand in my card. If you want sex, I can do that too! Big brother, please spare me! I have an elderly mother at home. I’m her only child—what will she do if I’m gone? I’m the pillar of this family, it can’t survive without me! Big brother, please spare me!”

Song Yiran sneered and said slowly, “El, I remember your mother lives on B District, 2B Street. What was her name again? Ah, right—her name is ‘Eka.’”

El’s heart jolted. This man had even dug up his name and his mother’s situation—he had clearly come prepared.

He immediately began begging desperately on his mother’s behalf. “I was wrong, I was wrong! I beg you, please don’t touch my mother, I’m begging you! She really doesn’t know anything! She doesn’t have many years left to live, and her health is poor. Her memory’s bad too—she poses no threat to you at all! Just come after me alone, don’t touch her, I beg you!”

El was sobbing uncontrollably, his face covered in tears and snot.

Song Yiran felt that looking at El’s face for even another second was an assault on his eyes. He asked, “Do you know why I came looking for you?”

El’s mind raced as he tried to recall everything he’d done recently. “Tax evasion? Reselling company property? Leaking company documents…”

Seeing that El rattled off a long list without hitting the point, Song Yiran lost patience and slammed the surveillance footage right in front of his face. El had just finished watching it and was about to beg again when Song Yiran stepped hard on his face.

“El: Big brother, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have bullied the weak, I shouldn’t have bullied children! Big brother, I was wrong, I really was wrong!”

Song Yiran treated El’s words as nothing more than background noise. He opened his light-brain and made a call.

With his face firmly pinned underfoot, El couldn’t see Song Yiran’s expression, but he guessed the call must be to the police.

El quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Being caught by the police was far better than being caught by this young man. If he fell into this young man’s hands, he might very well lose his life here.

If it was the police, at worst he’d just go to prison.

But once the call connected, the voice that came through was one El knew all too well—it was his mother’s voice. “Hello, who is this?”

El felt as if his brain had frozen solid. He had no idea what Song Yiran intended to do to his mother.

He didn’t dare raise his voice, afraid his mother might notice something was wrong. He could only beg through low, breathy sobs: “I’m begging you, don’t touch my mother. If you want anything, come at me! I’m really begging you. My mother’s health is poor—she can’t take any stimulation.”

Although El’s voice was very low, his mother still heard it. “El, is that you? What happened? Are you alright?”

El looked at Song Yiran with a face full of pleading. Song Yiran knew what he wanted him to do, so he nodded in agreement.

Song Yiran tossed aside the baseball bat that had already been bent out of shape, then pulled out a brand-new one.

He squatted down and grinned maliciously at El. “Don’t make a sound later, okay? Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what your mother might receive tomorrow.”

As he raised the baseball bat toward El, Song Yiran calmly replied to the call.

“Eka, how have you been lately? Oh, I’m really sorry—my apologies, I dialed the wrong number. El? I don’t know that person. You must have heard wrong. Goodbye, ma’am. I wish you a pleasant day.”

After hanging up, Song Yiran smugly admired his “masterpiece”—El’s legs had already been broken by him.

Still not enough.

Song Yiran took out the potion he’d gotten from Xiao Zhong’er, pried El’s mouth open, and poured it in.

This drug would make his legs never heal properly. They would keep healing and rotting, healing and rotting, endlessly cycling, with no one able to cure it.

For the rest of his life, he would only be able to drag around these ruined legs.

After finishing everything, Song Yiran clapped his hands in satisfaction. As he left, he didn’t forget to issue a warning: “Don’t call the police—unless you want your mother to receive something… strange.”

Song Yiran walked away feeling light and relaxed, replaying things in his head along the way. “Xiao Zhong’er, you handled all the surveillance that caught me, right?”

Xiao Zhong’er: “Don’t worry, everything’s been successfully replaced. Hehe—wasn’t that shove I gave him especially vicious?”

Song Yiran: “Yeah. Vicious.”

Xiao Zhong’er: “Did I imitate his mother’s voice well?”

Song Yiran: “Super convincing! I’ll make you something tasty when we get back.”

Still, Xiao Zhong’er had one thing he didn’t quite understand. “Why did you have me disguise my voice and pretend to be his mother? We could’ve just called his mother directly.”

“When adults make mistakes, they have to bear the consequences themselves.” That was Song Yiran’s answer.

Xiao Zhong’er still didn’t really understand, but he silently etched Song Yiran’s words into his heart.

After they returned to the nursery, a spark suddenly flashed in Xiao Zhong’er’s mind. “Wait—no, that’s not right. How did you know about the tentacle planet’s medical pod? And you could use it without even reading the manual. You… you are—”

Song Yiran admitted it outright. “Yes. I remembered everything. Xiao Zhong’er, you’ve worked hard.”

The moment he heard the admission, Xiao Zhong’er’s eyes instantly reddened, quickly filling with tears, looking like he was on the verge of crying.

“W-waaah… why didn’t you tell me? Was it… was it that if I hadn’t asked, you were planning to never tell me for the rest of your life… wuuu…”

“I was wrong. I’m sorry—I should’ve told you earlier. I was actually planning to tell you in the next couple of days. Really, I wasn’t lying. If I lie to you, I’m a dog.”

Seeing Xiao Zhong’er about to cry, Song Yiran hurried to comfort him, afraid he might start shedding little pearls of tears.

Sniffling, Xiao Zhong’er asked, “R-really? You didn’t lie to me?”

Song Yiran nodded solemnly. “Absolutely didn’t lie to you. I really did plan to tell you in the next couple of days. If I lie to you, I’m a dog.”