OVPBM 23 Part 3

He smiled faintly, a trace of nostalgia in his gaze. “Your eyes are untainted. They’re just like mine were back then.” His voice was slightly hoarse.

In truth, Lu Yunwan had no idea what the original host had been like in the past.

He had fabricated it all on the spot.

The Regent saw his former self in me… So that is the reason?

Chu Xuanzhou etched the words deep into his heart without realizing it.

Seeing that Chu Xuanzhou had no intention of leaving, the Regent ultimately relented.

He took out his optical-brain and, forcing himself to remain conscious, sent a signal outward. Only then did he gradually sink into a state of sleep.

Chu Xuanzhou had intended to stay by Lu Yunwan’s side the entire time. But a few minutes later, as if remembering something, he quietly rose and swiftly walked toward the other cabin.

—Corpses were piled everywhere.

Once Lu Yunwan’s people arrived, they would certainly search the entire starship and discover these soldiers, dead in such horrific fashion.

Recalling what Lu Yunwan had just said, Chu Xuanzhou did not hesitate. He picked up a quantum gun and, without even blinking, aimed at a nearby explosive.

With a thunderous boom, the cabin was reduced to rubble in an instant, and the bodies were completely destroyed.

At the moment he fired, Chu Xuanzhou stood perfectly still.

The next second, a massive shockwave tore into his left arm, shredding flesh and leaving it a mangled ruin.

Chu Xuanzhou cast a glance aside, then raised the gun and fired another shot into his own shoulder. Sitting alone in the cabin, he patiently waited for the blood to soak through and stain his sleeve red before staggering toward where Lu Yunwan was.

In the past, Chu Xuanzhou had been ruled by the instinct to survive.

But without realizing it, he had finally gained another desire: to remain by Lu Yunwan’s side.

He absolutely could not let the Regent discover what he had just done.

…Chu Xuanzhou decided to conceal the fact that his mental power had already awakened.

* * *

By the time Chu Xuanzhou reached the main cabin, people from Planet Cangrui had already arrived. After a brief treatment in the medical pod, Lu Yunwan’s condition had temporarily stabilized.

The young man saw that Lu Yunwan had changed into a different set of clothes. A black high-neck knit sweater traced the clean, striking lines of his figure with almost artistic precision.

He sat on the sofa with his eyes half closed, his face utterly devoid of color.

Lu Yunwan resembled a black swan fallen from the heavens.

A faint smile lingered at his lips, and the pride and nobility between his brows had already returned to their usual state, as if the frail man who had so rarely revealed vulnerability just moments ago had never been him at all…

But Chu Xuanzhou could tell that Lu Yunwan was merely forcing himself to endure.

He could not afford to show too much weakness in front of outsiders.

Aside from the doctors, Lu Sirong had somehow followed them here as well. His eyes were red as he sat at Lu Yunwan’s side.

The sight before him suddenly felt harsh to Chu Xuanzhou.

“Your Highness… What happened to you?” Catching a faint scent of blood in the air, Lu Yunwan struggled slightly to open his eyes, only to see Chu Xuanzhou covered in blood.

The young man did not speak. He staggered to Lu Yunwan’s side and sank onto the sofa beside him.

Lu Yunwan called for the doctor, then took hold of the young man’s lightly trembling hand.

Chu Xuanzhou’s voice was extremely weak. Lowering his head, he said, “Your Excellency, I was on my way to the medical pod, but I ran into soldiers who had been lying in ambush in the upper cabin.”

He had been attacked from behind and had nearly died there.

The starship happened to be flying past the star beside Planet Cangrui. The intense light shone across Chu Xuanzhou’s face, making his deep violet eyes appear almost pale.

His voice trembled faintly, his tone utterly sincere.

As he recounted what had happened, he furrowed his brows, as though reluctant to recall those bloody scenes.

In the depths of the young man’s eyes, Lu Yunwan saw faint fear and barely concealed fragility.

At once, alarm bells rang in the Regent’s heart.

—No!

Chu Xuanzhou was the Empire’s future ruler. He was destined to wage war across the stars. How could he fear such a trivial scene?

Worried that he might raise the protagonist into a meek little lamb and affect the later plot, Lu Yunwan first smiled and listened to Chu Xuanzhou finish speaking. Then he leaned forward, suspending his hand above the young man’s shoulder.

“Your Highness, what are you afraid of?” Lu Yunwan applied slight pressure, his fingertips brushing against the young man’s shoulder.

A tingling sensation, like a faint current of electricity, flowed from the wound through Chu Xuanzhou’s entire body.

Before long, Lu Yunwan’s fingertips were stained red with blood.

The youth drew in a sharp breath and slowly shook his head.

Seeing that Chu Xuanzhou remained silent, Lu Yunwan mercilessly exposed him.

Gradually, almost imperceptibly, he leaned closer and wrapped Chu Xuanzhou tightly in his arms.

Blowing a breath by the young man’s ear, Lu Yunwan asked with a smile, “You fear blood and death, don’t you?”

Human wounds healed extremely slowly. Although they had been briefly treated earlier, the moment he embraced Chu Xuanzhou, the injuries on Lu Yunwan’s own body split open once more.

The metallic scent of blood rushed forward.

In the era of the apocalypse, whether one was an ability user or an ordinary person, one had to learn to face fear and confront flesh and blood.

…But it seemed he had never noticed the protagonist having such a problem before?

Lu Yunwan did not dwell on it. He decided to start with the scent of blood, gradually helping Chu Xuanzhou grow accustomed to everything he might see and feel on the battlefield.

Lu Yunwan remembered that when he had been very young, his family had captured a zombie, chained it at his side with iron shackles, and forced him to adapt early to such gore-filled scenes.

He had found that method extremely effective.

“Your Highness, there is nothing to fear,” Lu Yunwan gently twined a strand of the young man’s long hair around his fingertip. He tapped lightly along Chu Xuanzhou’s back while murmuring softly, almost like a whisper in a dream, “They are symbols of victory.”

“Just as we can use pain to confirm that we are still alive… You can use blood to confirm victory.”

Chu Xuanzhou paused for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Relying on the fact that he had used an anesthetic earlier and could not feel pain for the time being, Lu Yunwan bravely extended his hand and, like soothing a child, gently stroked Chu Xuanzhou’s back in soothing, rhythmic motions.

His movements were slight, yet blood continued to surge from the wound in steady bursts.

Holding Chu Xuanzhou in his arms, Lu Yunwan did not see that at this very moment, there was not the slightest trace of resistance in Chu Xuanzhou’s eyes.

He pressed the tip of his nose against Lu Yunwan’s shoulder and, through the thin black sweater, greedily inhaled the scent of blood clinging to him.

The image of Lu Yunwan smiling as he disappeared into the light had lodged itself in his heart like a thorn.

Chu Xuanzhou was afraid of Lu Yunwan’s disappearance.

Only now did the warm blood clearly tell him that Lu Yunwan was right here beside him, that his heart was still beating.

A sudden longing for this feeling rose within Chu Xuanzhou.

In a moment when no one was paying attention, he leaned in and, through the thin blood-soaked fabric, secretly brushed his tongue across Lu Yunwan’s collarbone.

The metallic sweetness spread instantly across his tongue, and Chu Xuanzhou slowly closed his eyes.

A beat later, the merman realized that the blood lingering on his tongue had once flowed into Lu Yunwan’s atrium, pumped out forcefully with each contraction and relaxation of his heart.

Then it had streamed into arteries, capillaries… into every corner of his body.

The intense unease in his chest finally began to dissipate, little by little.

The taste of blood soothed the nerves that Chu Xuanzhou had kept taut all this time.

His exhausted and anxious heart gradually calmed as well.

Chu Xuanzhou had deceived Lu Yunwan, yet he felt no guilt whatsoever.

He always remembered what Lu Yunwan had once told him, that deceit was never shameful, and that Lu Yunwan had equally looked forward to the day he would successfully deceive him.

* * *

This time, Lu Yunwan had nearly lost his life. Forcing himself to return to Planet Cangrui, he fell completely into a coma.

Three days had already passed, yet there was still no sign of him waking.

Unlike in the original novel, where the merfolk bloodline and mental power awakened all at once, in reality, Chu Xuanzhou had long since entered a gradual state of awakening.

On this late night, something unexpected occurred.

The Regent’s bedroom was barren and devoid of any trace of daily life. Only the instrument monitoring his vital signs flickered softly like a distant star.

He lay quietly on the bed, his face so pale it was almost frightening.

In sleep, the Regent had rarely shed his smile. Long lashes cast heavy shadows, rendering his features even more delicate.

Yet he was so still it was as though all vitality had left him.

Lu Yunwan looked somewhat lonely.

Chu Xuanzhou possessed the highest level of authority on Planet Cangrui. He could freely enter and leave Lu Yunwan’s room.

As night deepened, he walked in wearing a white T-shirt.

The young man stopped by the window, his entire figure bathed in soft starlight.

Fine black scales had appeared at some unknown time along his wrists, his collarbone, and even at the corners of his eyes.

Chu Xuanzhou looked at Lu Yunwan like a beast staring at its prey.

But in the next second, that feeling vanished completely.

His violet eyes shimmered with starlight, and the youth’s expression held an inexplicable hint of grievance.

“Your Excellency…” Chu Xuanzhou stepped forward slowly. Sitting at the bedside, he gently gathered Lu Yunwan into his arms. “Stay with me.”

His voice was thick with dependence.

The merman in the midst of bloodline awakening instinctively clung to the person before him.

The cold-blooded creature’s body temperature seeped through the fabric to Lu Yunwan’s skin, and his fingertips trembled faintly.

The sleeping Regent had no awareness of the danger.

Chu Xuanzhou rested his chin on Lu Yunwan’s shoulder, soft silver hair brushing against Lu Yunwan’s neck.

He tightened his embrace.

From behind, the two of them looked like lovers holding each other close.

Yet in the very next instant, the merman’s cold lips suddenly pecked at Lu Yunwan’s neck.

Sharp teeth brushed against his skin.

Through the thin layer of flesh, Chu Xuanzhou could feel the pulse at Lu Yunwan’s throat with absolute clarity.

Unable to resist, he leaned closer, relying on instinct as he searched beneath the skin and within the blood for the strength that brought him peace.

He nuzzled against Lu Yunwan as though acting spoiled.

In the blink of an eye, fine scales spread across Chu Xuanzhou’s ankles and even his forehead.

At that very moment, the young man before Lu Yunwan awakened his bloodline completely.

He lifted Lu Yunwan’s wrist and pressed a kiss to the hand marked by a slender scar, the very hand that had once tightly gripped a scepter.