I Married A Degraded Alpha
Chapter 34: Mischievous Yuri

Chapter 34: Mischievous Yuri

Daleks asked the other two, "Do you want to write a letter to Tuz?"

"Sure, let’s write. Consider it as a way to kill time," Ender responded.

"Then I will write more. I will write one to Yuri too, so she won’t feel envious of Tuz having so many friends. I heard from the mecha manufacturing folks that Yuri keeps to herself and barely has any friends. Such a pity." Daleks pulled out a pen and paper.

After some thought, Kilana suggested, "Let’s write two then, one for each of them. However, we’re not close to Yuri, what should we write to her?"

Daleks and Ender fell silent.

"Well, what are you going to say to me?"

A clear and melodious voice echoed from above, bouncing off the cave walls. It was unexpected, making it seem somewhat eerie.

Daleks, startled, hugged Kilana, "Who’s talking?"

Looking around, Kilana asked, "Doesn’t this voice sound familiar to you?"

"It sounds like Yuri," Ender answered.

Gritting his teeth, Daleks said, "Someone must be playing a prank."

"Hello, everyone!" The clear voice echoed again, not only did Daleks and his friends notice, but also everyone in the cave heard it.

"Who’s speaking?"

"Could someone be here to rescue us? That can’t be, the entrance is still blocked by insectoids."

"It might be an auditory hallucination."

"Do you really believe that a thousand people are all hallucinating at the same time?"

"So who is it then, who’s talking?"

Everyone was glancing around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"You’re naughty," Tuss shook his head, a look of affection on his face.

Making a face, Yuri replied, "I was just saying hi to them."

"Who ever greets people without showing their face?" Tuss questioned her.

Yuri didn’t have an answer. She shifted the last piece of metal ore under her feet and tossed it behind her, "Fine, go reconnect with your old friends."

"Well, not that old, just from last term," Tuss replied as he approached the entrance. He was nervous yet also excited, wondering, how they would react to seeing his legs.

"Shall we go?" Yuri noticed he wasn’t moving, and thoughtfully suggested, "Shall I go first?"

"No need," Tuss smiled and said, "Yuri, I’m not that fragile."

Hearing him call her name with a smile, Yuri felt a soft tingle in her ear, like a delicate electric current had brushed against it.

At this point, Yuri and Tuss were less than twenty meters above the cave floor. Tuss found a good spot to land and jumped down in the next second.

A person suddenly dropping from above instantly alarmed the people inside the cave.

Those closest to Tuss swiftly moved away, preparing to defend themselves.

However, when they recognized who it was, they froze, unconsciously looking towards his legs in sync.

"Is that Tuss?"

"He has legs, so it can’t be him."

"Maybe they’re prosthetic legs."

"Tuss?" someone cautiously asked.

Tuss glanced at everyone, responding calmly, "Yes."

Afterward, he looked up at the cave ceiling and called out, "Jump down, I’ll catch you!"

Everyone followed his gaze and looked up.

The next second, another person leaped down.

Tuss caught Yuri in a steady grip. They looked at each other, not even getting a chance to speak before a few others flung themselves at them, their faces contorted and distorted in the struggle.

"Whew, Tuz, you came to rescue us," Daleks blubbered, a mix of tears and snot. "I thought I would never see you again."

Ender clung to Tuss’ neck and said, "Bro, you’re the real deal."

Kilana flopped onto Yuri, and they stared at each other. After a moment, Yuri said, "Hi, long time no see."

Kilana waved back and replied, "Long time no see."

"Get up," Tuss frowned, sounding irritated. "Don’t get your snot all over me."

Daleks stiffened, giving Tuss a mournful look.

Unmoved, Tuss said, "Let go."

Daleks reluctantly let go and stepped back.

Ender did the same, chuckling nervously, "Got a bit too excited, and lost control. Yuri, we didn’t scare you, did I?"

Yuri hopped down from Tuss’s arms and said, "I’m fine, I’m brave."

"Tuz, is your leg a prosthetic?" Kilana asked.

Daleks, equally curious, reached out to touch Tuss’s leg but was avoided.

"Stingy," Daleks mumbled. "Won’t hurt to let me take a look."

Tuss shot Daleks a sidelong glance and replied, "It’s a prosthetic."

"Tuss, how did you get down here?" someone asked, all eyes fixated on Tuss. They were more interested in how Tuss could get them out than in his legs.

"Dug a hole from the top," Tuss scanned the crowd in the cave, "Is everyone here?"

"Except for the three who died, everyone else is here," Ender’s voice was somber.

Tuss nodded. "I’ll go up first, then lower a rope for you guys to climb up."

Just as Daleks was about to ask how Tuss would ascend, a black thread shot out of Tuss’s sleeve. The thread shot towards the opening above their heads and lodged itself in there.

In the next second, Tuss quickly climbed up the thread and within half a minute, he reached the hole and vanished.

"He’s so fast. Tuss is still the same Tuss, impressive," someone gave a thumbs-up.

"He’s impressive alright, but I’m more curious as to why we didn’t hear any noise when they were digging?"

This comment made others sense something was off, and they turned their questioning gaze towards Yuri.

Yuri knew she had miscalculated, but kept a calm face, explaining, "Maybe because we took a curved path while digging, not a straight one."

The crowd still looked confused.

Yuri wiped an invisible sweat off her brow. She and Tuss did choose a path through areas with metal, so their path wasn’t entirely straight. And to make climbing easier for the others, they had dug several grooves as well.

"Hey, let’s not worry about all that. We’re saved now, that’s what matters most," Daleks said with a laid-back attitude.

The others nodded in agreement.

Soon, Tuss threw down several ropes from the entrance and swung down himself.

"Wow, cool!"

Everyone watched his smooth maneuver, expressing their awe.

Unfazed, Tuss landed beside Yuri and said, "The ropes are securely fastened above. Start climbing."

Everyone’s eyes lit up, each eager to be the first to ascend.

"Omega and Beta go first," Tuss commanded.

Omega was in the worst physical condition, having stayed underground for half a month, their mental state visibly weaker than Alpha and Beta. Everyone agreed with the decision to let them go first.

And protecting Beta was an instinct ingrained in the Alpha’s genes, so no Alpha in the room disagreed with letting Beta ascend first.

Everyone started climbing in an orderly fashion, while Tuss was pulled aside by Daleks and others, curiously examining his legs while asking about his whereabouts over the past few months.

"You should’ve gotten this prosthetic sooner. With it, you wouldn’t have had to take a semester off," Delamak commented.

"Him taking a semester off gave you, the perpetual second-placer, a taste of being the best," someone mocked.

Delamak didn’t take offense and said, "It wasn’t a hard-earned first place. I’m not interested."

"Tuss, are you going back to school next semester?" someone asked.

Tuss gave a nod, looking at Yuri beside him, "I’ll be returning to school."

Yuri knew he meant that both of them would return together. She didn’t object to going back to school. Being a student again sounded nice.

"Tuss, was it just you two digging? How long did it take?" another person asked.

Tuss fell silent, considering how to make his made-up story convincing.

"Not long, two days," he finally said casually, without any trace of embarrassment.

Yuri nodded, seeming to believe in his statement.

"What about you guys? How did you end up in this cave?" To avoid their continuous questioning, Tuss decided to change the subject.

"It’s a long story, but in short, disastrous," came the reply. "We first encountered a sandstorm and found a rock cave for shelter. Then insectoids appeared and chased us deeper and deeper until we unknowingly ended up here."

"Fortunately, there was this cave, or we would’ve ended up in the insectoids’ stomachs."

"And thankfully, you guys came."

"By the way, did only you two come? Where are the teachers?"

"They’re also searching for you, even the military has been deployed," Tuss answered.

On hearing about the military deployment, everyone’s faces registered a flicker of unease. "Has this become a big deal?"

"Over a thousand military academy students are missing, what do you think?" Tuss retorted.

"We might have made the news," Daleks muttered, "I didn’t think my news debut would be like this."

Over a thousand people, all military academy students with superb climbing skills, had been in the cave. After two hours, fewer than twenty people remained.

"Tuss, I’m going up first," Delamak announced, his hand already gripping one of the ropes.

Tuss nodded and replied, "See you at the top."

After saying that, Tuss turned to Daleks, Ender, and Kilana, "You guys should go up too."

"No, I want to stay till the end, with you," Daleks declared.

"Yuri isn’t in a hurry, so how can I go first?" Ender decided to stay put.

"Yuri should go up first, we’ll cover the rear," Kilana stated firmly.

Tuss frowned, "I’m going to guard the entrance. Each and every one of you should go up, don’t stay and hinder the progress."

Tuss walked towards the entrance, Yuri followed him.

"Another day of being dismissed by Tuz. Ah, this familiar scene, these familiar words, truly nostalgic," Ender sighed dramatically.

Ignoring him, Daleks stated, "I’m going to help Tuz. Even though he’s got a prosthetic leg now, it’s hard to tell how effective he is. I need to keep an eye on him."

After considering for a moment, Kilana also decided to follow.

Tuss took over at the entrance, relieving the two students who had been on guard duty. They breathed a sigh of relief and stated, "Tuss is as reliable as ever."

They had been worried about being left behind, but it turns out, they had been misjudging the situation.

Tuss didn’t say a word, just nodded slightly and took over the weapons they were holding.