OVPBM 33

Chapter 33 – Lu Yunwan Stood in Front of Him

Lu Yunwan was signaling Chu Xuanzhou not to speak.

The starship’s resting cabin was exceedingly quiet. To the merman, whose hearing was abnormally sharp, the only sound left was the mingled rhythm of his own breathing and Lu Yunwan’s, weaving together in the stillness.

With his eyes closed, it felt as though Lu Yunwan were right within reach.

In the hazy starlight, he saw that as Lu Yunwan raised his hand, the black silk shirt slipped slightly from his shoulder, revealing a patch of pale skin. The scar on Lu Yunwan’s wrist appeared especially conspicuous.

No one knew how much time had passed before Lu Yunwan finally lowered his hand from his lips.

“Your Highness… I thought you had left,” he murmured softly, his gaze fixed on Chu Xuanzhou, brimming with affection. “It’s good that you’re here.”

As he spoke, Lu Yunwan slowly tightened his grip around Chu Xuanzhou’s wrist.

The merman’s icy body temperature traveled up from his fingertips. Only then did Lu Yunwan let out a faint smile of relief.

The probing from the young man that day seemed to have stirred up a powerful unease within him.

It was as if Lu Yunwan had developed a compulsion. He needed to confirm Chu Xuanzhou’s presence again and again, to make sure he had not left him.

“Your Excellency, I will not leave you,” Chu Xuanzhou said softly.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Lu Yunwan stubbornly shook his head.

He tightened his hold on Chu Xuanzhou’s hand and said in a voice so low it was almost audible only to himself, “Your Highness, promises are the least trustworthy things.”

“Only by keeping you trapped at my side, never letting you leave my sight for even a moment, can I feel at ease…” His expression carried a trace of distress.

Having removed the heavy black formal attire and gloves, the human’s pale and fragile skin, along with the scar running across it, was fully exposed.

Chu Xuanzhou’s breathing grew uneven because of Lu Yunwan’s words.

At that moment, he clasped Lu Yunwan’s hand in return.

Unlike Lu Yunwan, who had hastily fabricated a string of absurd excuses merely to cover up being caught secretly watching in the middle of the night, Chu Xuanzhou was different.

Starlight streamed through the viewport and fell upon Lu Yunwan. Chu Xuanzhou felt as though he might vanish from his sight the very next second.

Driven by instinct, the merman wanted to keep Lu Yunwan by his side forever.

Chu Xuanzhou’s fingers happened to press against the scar on Lu Yunwan’s wrist.

Strength far beyond that of a human surged forward. In an instant, Lu Yunwan had the illusion of being restrained.

Lu Yunwan: ???

“Your Excellency, how did you get this scar?” Just as the sense of unease was about to drown him, Chu Xuanzhou finally could not help but ask.

His touch traced the scar on Lu Yunwan’s wrist in a quiet, lingering sweep.

Through a thin layer of skin, Chu Xuanzhou felt the faint pulse of the human beneath it.

He looked into Lu Yunwan’s eyes and patiently waited for his answer.

…A scar?

Lu Yunwan lowered his head, his gaze drawn to the mark on his wrist.

That scar had already been there when he transmigrated into this body. How could he possibly know what had caused it?

If he casually made up an excuse and it was exposed someday, it would be difficult to explain…

Come to think of it, the original host truly had been a strange person. With the level of technology in the interstellar era, removing a scar could not have been easier.

Yet not only had he failed to do so, but he had also allowed the scar to remain on his wrist.

Lu Yunwan narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled at Chu Xuanzhou. His voice was hoarse. “Your Highness, this is my secret,” he said softly.

In that moment, Lu Yunwan’s gaze grew deeply layered, as if he had slipped into a memory.

His expression made Chu Xuanzhou clearly realize that Lu Yunwan was far more complicated and elusive than he had imagined.

Like the wind, he could pass through one’s world, yet could never be made to stay.

Seeing that Chu Xuanzhou had no intention of letting go, and that prying his hand off would be far too OOC, Lu Yunwan hesitated for a few seconds before deciding it would be better to change the subject.

“Your Highness, you seem to dislike that remark about me ‘winning people over’,” Lu Yunwan said, looking at Chu Xuanzhou with curiosity. “What kind of person do you think I am?”

Lu Yunwan remembered that when someone had mocked him earlier, Chu Xuanzhou had frowned as well. He had looked distinctly displeased.

The young man had not expected Lu Yunwan to ask him such a question.

Yet before Chu Xuanzhou could come up with a suitable answer, Lu Yunwan spoke first.

“Your Highness, I am a dangerous person.”

His voice was soft, his speech unhurried, as though he were merely chatting idly. But the words he uttered were just as “dangerous” as he described.

Lu Yunwan always felt that Chu Xuanzhou trusted him a little too much.

That was not a good thing.

In the original novel, his success had been aided in no small part by his sensitive and suspicious nature. Looking across the entire interstellar realm, the only person Chu Xuanzhou truly trusted had been himself.

Over the past few months, Lu Yunwan had completely come to understand one thing: in this empire ruled by merfolk, placing excessive trust in others was equivalent to handing one’s fate over to someone else to judge.

Chu Xuanzhou could not remain this naïve!

Lu Yunwan decided to take a risk and provoke him a little.

With that thought, he extended his other hand and settled it gently across the back of Chu Xuanzhou’s hand.

Lowering his head, Lu Yunwan smiled. “Your Highness, I have made use of many people before…” As he gently stroked the back of Chu Xuanzhou’s hand, he suddenly asked, “How do you know I will not make use of you as well?”

His tone sounded almost teasing.

In truth, he only meant to give Chu Xuanzhou a slight jolt.

But Lu Yunwan did not realize how lethal those words would be to someone who was already deeply uneasy.

Chu Xuanzhou did not believe there was anything about himself worth being used by Lu Yunwan.

And yet, Lu Yunwan’s words still made him unconsciously imagine it.

Chu Xuanzhou discovered that he was not afraid of being used. The only thing he feared was that after the “use” was over, Lu Yunwan would leave him…

In the starlight, Lu Yunwan noticed a trace of unease surfacing in Chu Xuanzhou’s eyes.

Worried that he had gone too far and might reduce the protagonist’s trust in him to nothing, Lu Yunwan immediately stopped while he was ahead.

Taking advantage of the moment, he slowly pried open the fingers that were tightly gripping him. Then he guided Chu Xuanzhou’s hand to rest against his own neck.

“Your Highness, do you remember the first time we met?”

Human skin could at best be described as warm, yet Chu Xuanzhou felt as though his fingertips had been set ablaze.

“I remember,” he said.

“When dealing with a dangerous person, remember to always keep your hand around their throat,” the Regent said softly with a smile.

As Lu Yunwan finished speaking, Chu Xuanzhou abruptly withdrew his hand.

Lu Yunwan gave Chu Xuanzhou a faint, unreadable smile, then retreated from the room at a measured pace.

The silver hatch slid open and then closed again.

Even after Lu Yunwan had left, the warmth at Chu Xuanzhou’s fingertips refused to dissipate.

His fingers curled into a tight fist as though by doing so he could preserve the human’s lingering warmth.

That night, after spouting his nonsense, Lu Yunwan returned to his room and promptly fell asleep.

But separated from him by only a single wall, Chu Xuanzhou no longer felt the slightest trace of drowsiness.

The unease in the young man’s heart grew wildly.

Lu Yunwan’s words echoed over and over in his mind throughout the night.

The activity Lu Yunwan had added at the last minute was to remain on Planet Chenmu to discuss the specific matters of the foundation.

The next morning, accompanied by Principal Fang Yixue, he once again arrived at the military academy.

“Your Excellency, aside from rewarding outstanding human students, part of the foundation’s funds will also be allocated to the treatment of the wounded. At present, the Planet Chenmu Medical Center has more than seventy injured individuals with severe damage to their mental cores.”

In the interstellar era, medical pods could treat nearly all illnesses. However, they were powerless to help soldiers whose mental cores had been damaged in war.

Those whose mental cores had been severely damaged in war could only rely on machines to sustain their lives.

According to Lu Yunwan’s understanding, such machines were exorbitantly expensive. Fewer than ten medical centers in the entire interstellar realm were equipped with them.

The Imperial Military Academy was one of them.

Lu Yunwan nodded.

After a brief hesitation, Fang Yixue continued, “Most of the injured here at the Imperial Military Academy are classified as Level 2 damage. They have not completely lost consciousness, but their minds are severely clouded, and they exhibit significant aggression.”

Most of these cases occurred when pilots met with accidents inside their mecha, when mental power suddenly backlashed against their mental core, causing irreversible damage.

Those with Level 1 mental core damage were only a step away from death.

They could do nothing but lie inside nutrient pods, barely sustaining their lives.

After listening to Fang Yixue’s description, Lu Yunwan felt that the outward symptoms of what he called “Level 2 damage” were strikingly similar to humans in his memory who had been attacked by zombies.

He could not help but grow curious.

“May I take a look?” Lu Yunwan asked casually while idly twirling his cane.

Fang Yixue hesitated. His instincts told him that the place was far too dangerous, but when he thought of the Regent’s enormous funding, he ultimately nodded. “Of course, Your Excellency.”

The Imperial Military Academy’s medical center had been built beneath the waters of Planet Chenmu. The small starship carrying Lu Yunwan and the others slowly descended into the ocean. Before long, a silver structure appeared before his eyes.

Lu Yunwan noticed several soldiers standing guard outside the medical center, armed with loaded guns.

He gave the area a brief, indifferent glance, then followed Fang Yixue into the medical center.

Not a single window could be found within the massive metal structure, and the corridor leading inward seemed unusually long.

After passing through the third door, Lu Yunwan finally saw the full extent of the medical center.

Dozens of blue-lit instruments lined the walls. Severely damaged mental core patients were bound to the machines.

The moment they noticed someone entering, their gazes snapped toward them.

That look was one Lu Yunwan knew all too well… It was exactly the same as the humans who had been attacked by zombies.

It seemed that whether the cause was a virus or mental power backlash, once the mental core was damaged internally, the outward manifestations were indeed identical.

After a few seconds of silence, a sudden roar erupted in the hall. The guards behind Lu Yunwan immediately tightened their grips on their quantum guns.

“Your Excellency, be careful—” Fang Yixue had just begun to warn him when he saw, not far away, a burly soldier break free from his restraints and charge toward the exit.

He had been confined here for years. Even after losing his reason, at the sight of the open hatch, he still rushed forward on instinct.

And as fate would have it, the person standing at the entrance was Chu Xuanzhou.

Seeing this, the soldiers of the Yanwei Legion immediately took aim.

Yet in the very next second, the well-trained men simultaneously lowered their quantum guns.

Delicate equipment was everywhere inside the medical center, and the firepower of a quantum gun was excessively destructive.

Even if they killed the injured soldier, the “bullet” would continue flying forward. It would inevitably cause even greater chaos.

In the span of only a few seconds, the frenzied patient had already sprinted to the doorway under the urging of pure instinct.

The guards at the Regent’s side rushed forward, but an instinct forged in the apocalypse made Lu Yunwan step to Chu Xuanzhou’s side at that very moment.

At the same time, he reflexively activated his mental power.

“Your Highness, be careful!”

Chu Xuanzhou saw only a blur of black flash past his eyes. In the next instant, Lu Yunwan was standing in front of him.