OVPBM 15

Chapter 15 – He Wanted Nothing More Than to Crush Lu Yunwan in His Arms

If he was going to put on an act, then he would see it through to the end.

Lu Yunwan did not return to the Regent’s residence. Instead, he directed the mecha to head toward the other end of Planet Cangrui.

The original host’s family was buried here.

Unexpected yet somehow fitting, the grave of the original host’s family was arranged very simply. There was only a small stone stele and a mound overgrown with grass.

It sat nestled against a low hill, with a pool of clear blue lake water spread out before it.

“Brother Yunwan… This is your first time coming to pay respects,” Lu Sirong said softly after wiping down the gravestone. He bit his lip and turned to ask the person opposite him, “Aren’t you going to come take a look?”

Lu Yunwan hesitated for a moment before finally walking over.

The original host bore a faint resemblance to the couple in the photograph. They looked very young, and their eyes, as they gazed toward the camera, were filled with pride.

If Lu Yunwan remembered correctly, the year this couple passed away was precisely when the original host had yet to betray humankind or step onto a dark path, when he was at the height of his ambition and glory.

He had just become a Major General and had represented the human race at the Empire’s once-a-month roundtable conference, proposing important legislation. He had been regarded as the hope of humankind.

Clearly, all the mess that followed had nothing to do with him. And yet, seeing the smiling faces in the photograph, Lu Yunwan could not help but feel a trace of guilt.

Was that why the original host had never come to pay respects either?

Chu Xuanzhou followed behind Lu Yunwan and slowly bowed toward the gravestone.

Although the original host’s desire for control had been excessive, he had treated Lu Sirong fairly well. The boy did not seem particularly afraid of him.

Just as Lu Yunwan straightened up and prepared to leave, Lu Sirong finally could not hold it in anymore. He accused him rather abruptly, “Brother Yunwan doesn’t look sad at all.”

There was not the slightest hint of sorrow in his eyes.

That’s because I don’t even know them at all!

Lu Yunwan desperately wanted to say that. But constrained by his role, he forcibly swallowed the words back down.

This time, he did not deliberately force a sorrowful expression onto his face.

Lu Yunwan smiled gently at Lu Sirong, stepped closer, and raised a hand to lightly stroke the boy’s soft brown hair. “Sadness comes from longing.”

“Doesn’t Brother Yunwan miss them?”

“Of course I do not,” Lu Yunwan shook his head. He did not spare the gravestone another glance and instead walked straight toward the starship. “I think I will be seeing them very soon…”

He stopped at the hatch of the starship and slowly turned back, revealing a faint smile to Lu Sirong.

“Since we are about to meet, anticipation is more appropriate.”

Lu Yunwan turned and returned to the starship. From afar, it looked as though he had been swallowed whole by the massive, menacing hull of the vessel.

His retreating figure was lonely beyond belief.

* * *

Lu Yunwan’s words startled Lu Sirong badly. The boy immediately forgot about his accusation, hurriedly changing the subject and livening the atmosphere.

“Brother Yunwan, last time we met, you promised to take me for a ride in a mecha. How about we head out now?” he said eagerly, eyes shining.

“Today?”

“Mhm!!!” Afraid that Lu Yunwan might refuse, he even dragged Chu Xuanzhou over. “His Highness the Ninth Prince should come too.”

After discovering that he had not inherited the original host’s mecha piloting skills, Lu Yunwan had seized every moment to practice using a simulator. At this point, taking a mecha out for a spin was no longer a problem.

Once Lu Sirong brought it up, his own hands started itching as well.

Lu Yunwan had always been bold to the extreme. After less than five seconds of hesitation, he stood up.

Why not… give it a try?

The black giant mecha lifted off from the starship. In the blink of an eye, the dark red poppy totem ignited the silent starry space.

The circular cockpit walls were made entirely of a glass-like transparent material. The instant it burst out of the ship, Lu Yunwan found himself surrounded by stars.

A crystal-blue giant star, clear as droplets of water, swept past the viewport at high speed. Not far away, planetary rings wound around a planet like silken ribbons.

He subconsciously held his breath.

In his previous life, Lu Yunwan’s body had been frail. He had barely ever gone outside. The silent, starry sky had mostly been the only scenery he had ever seen.

Lu Yunwan had never imagined that one day he would be able to break free from the shackles of gravity and swim among the stars himself.

This was not Lu Yunwan’s first time piloting a mecha, but it was the first time he had stepped so deeply into the universe.

The massive mecha traveled along the wide navigational route. Lu Yunwan deliberately controlled its speed.

Before long, they had already crossed an entire star system.

Yet just as Lu Yunwan gradually relaxed and prepared to return, an accident struck without the slightest warning.

In his field of vision, the ice-blue star grew larger and larger.

Lu Yunwan tried to maneuver the mecha to turn away, but a wave of suffocation and dizziness intertwined and surged over him.

His hand gripping the control lever began to tremble uncontrollably, and his vision suddenly blurred beyond recognition.

“Warning! Warning! Course deviation detected!”

“Warning! Mecha has deviated from the navigational route! Please beware of the star ahead!”

What is going on?!

The words Song Feiyan had spoken not long ago burst back into Lu Yunwan’s mind.

‘Heard you almost died. Can’t even pilot your mech anymore.’

Lu Yunwan had once test-driven a mecha and found no issues at all with the original host’s mental core. He had guessed that the original host’s inability to pilot a mecha might have been psychological.

What was happening before his eyes now told Lu Yunwan that his previous guess had only been half right.

The original host did indeed have a psychological disorder, and this disorder had been carved into his brain and inherited by Lu Yunwan himself.

Short-distance test runs were fine, but once time stretched on, all the problems were exposed.

The mecha maintained its previous speed, inching closer and closer to the star.

Waves of dizziness surged over him again and again.

Lu Yunwan’s hand lost strength and slipped off the control lever. His entire body sat rigidly in the pilot’s seat, unable to move at all.

The light outside the viewport grew increasingly intense. Before Lu Yunwan’s eyes, there was nothing left but a blinding white.

Is this the end… Lu Yunwan’s consciousness gradually blurred, and his eyes slowly narrowed.

“Your Excellency!”

At that moment, the cockpit door was slammed open.

Chu Xuanzhou looked over in shock. “What are you doing?!”

Aside from the incessantly blaring alarms, everything in the cockpit appeared normal.

From Chu Xuanzhou’s perspective, the Regent dressed in black was sitting in the pilot’s seat with uncanny calm.

Cold light spilled over Lu Yunwan’s body, making the Regent’s skin look pale to an unbelievable degree.

His eyes were slightly closed, and his hands hanging quietly at his sides, showing no intention whatsoever of maneuvering the mecha away from the star.

All of this fell into Chu Xuanzhou’s eyes and left only one conclusion.

Lu Yunwan was seeking death.

He was choosing self-destruction.

Chu Xuanzhou’s voice was like a blade, tearing apart the terrifying silence around Lu Yunwan’s ears.

Lu Yunwan forced his eyes open and looked toward the young man with all his strength. “Your Highness, why are you here? Why didn’t you go to the… escape pod?”

Lu Yunwan’s voice was extremely faint, as if he were talking to himself, yet it landed clearly in Chu Xuanzhou’s ears and made him certain of his earlier conclusion.

—Lu Yunwan truly intended to abandon Lu Sirong and himself and go to his death alone.

Chu Xuanzhou’s heart sank before he even understood why.

“Your Excellency the Regent, before I gain power… before I defeat you, are you leaving already?”

The mecha drew ever closer to the star. Cold light poured in from all directions, splashing over Chu Xuanzhou’s body.

In those beautiful violet eyes, Lu Yunwan saw fear, helplessness, and even a hint of anger…

Wait, what does the protagonist mean by this?

He doesn’t think I’m trying to kill myself, does he?

Taking another look at the protagonist’s gaze, Lu Yunwan felt that he might have guessed correctly…

This is one hell of a misunderstanding!

Perhaps Chu Xuanzhou’s sudden appearance had broken Lu Yunwan’s intense focus on the mecha.

The dizziness that had tightly wrapped around him just moments ago suddenly eased quite a bit. Lu Yunwan immediately seized the opportunity and placed his hand back on the control lever.

He slowly gathered his mental power, reclaimed control of the mecha, and issued a command.

“Activate autopilot mode.”

“Return.”

The mecha finally came to a stop and slowly turned around.

This series of simple actions completely drained all of Lu Yunwan’s strength. The next second, he slumped back against the seat.

Exposing the fact that he could not properly pilot a mecha was clearly an extremely unwise move.

Lu Yunwan decided to go along with the protagonist’s assumption.

He lowered his head and slowly adjusted his breathing, then spoke softly to Chu Xuanzhou. “Your Highness, I cannot let you accompany me.”

After speaking, feeling slightly better, Lu Yunwan tried to push himself up by bracing against the seatback. Unexpectedly, the moment he stood, his knees gave out. Had he not reacted quickly, he would probably have ended up kowtowing directly to the protagonist.

…But the actual situation was not much better than that.

The moment he fell, Lu Yunwan latched onto the merman’s cold, solid arm on pure reflex.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already half-collapsed into the other’s arms.

Ahhh! A lifetime of reputation!

Lu Yunwan closed his eyes in despair. With a hardened heart, he simply pretended to be exhausted and said directly, “Your Highness, let me hold you for a while.”

The warmth of a human body passed through the fabric. Chu Xuanzhou was startled, then, without a moment’s hesitation, wrapped his arms around Lu Yunwan. “All right, Your Excellency.”

This was the first time he had ever experienced such a warm and tranquil embrace.

Without a trace of stray thoughts, it was calm to an almost unreal degree.

In his arms, Lu Yunwan revealed a fatigue he had never shown before, fragile as though he might turn into starlight and vanish in the next second.

Chu Xuanzhou’s fingers trembled slightly.

…Why is Lu Yunwan like this?

Why did he keep seeking destruction, even yearning for death?

For the first time, Chu Xuanzhou felt an overwhelming curiosity toward a human.

Never had he wanted more than now to know exactly what kind of person Lu Yunwan truly was.

The young man could not help but lower his gaze. The man resting quietly in his arms had thick, fan-like lashes that were trembling lightly from pain.

They fluttered like the fragile wings of a butterfly.

At the instant Lu Yunwan stepped toward destruction, he produced an incomparably dazzling beauty, a beauty that struck straight into Chu Xuanzhou’s heart and etched itself into his memory.

The mecha was moving away from the dangerous star, and the light before them gradually dimmed.

Chu Xuanzhou could not help but tighten his hold around Lu Yunwan, subconsciously wanting to stop his destruction.

Yet at the same time, he could not resist holding him even tighter, wanting… to crush Lu Yunwan within his own arms.