753: Return The Favor

Return The Favor

The boundary of the world had been broken. The truth finally unfolded in front of his eyes.0

He knew it now. He knew that the world he was in was not a real world at all, that he was not whom he thought he was. He had but one mission — to help Lu Yizhou and the man beside him, Zachary.

But here comes the real question. Who was he? Was he human or… was he only created from a series of codes? 

He did not know.

"Luan…" he cradled the severely injured obsidian dragon in his arms as the sky above their head rapidly disintegrated to pieces. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Luan…" he choked on his tears. This was all his fault. The sole purpose of his existence was to assist Lu Yizhou and Zachary, yet in the end he had put Luan as a priority and ended up paying the price for it. It was okay if he was the one who had to suffer. But why… why did it have to be the person he loved?

Blood seeped out of Luan's mouth as he shook his head weakly. He reached out an arm and traced with his finger. [Don't cry.]

A sob escaped his lips and he hugged Luan closer to himself. He really wished that he could take Luan's pain away, he really wished that he was the one who got injured instead. This was not fair. Luan was such a kind and gentle soul. What had he done to deserve something like this? 

"...!"

"...ng!"

Cyrus blinked and lifted his head from Luan's shoulder, hiccuping. "Did… Did you just say something?"

Luan blankly looked at him with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Just then, the voice sounded again, louder this time. "Feng!"

Cyrus' heart trembled for some reason. He looked closely at Luan's mouth and discovered that the man had not opened his mouth at all. No, except for that one time, Luan had not spoken again. He was unable to speak in this world…

So where did that voice come from?

"Feng… Feng, wake up! Listen to me!"

All of a sudden, Cyrus' vision blurred and he saw a flash of memory. In it, Luan was gazing at him with love and affection as he murmured, "I love you…" 

Yet the same person also turned around and whispered to him in utter pain and heartbreak, "I'm sorry, Cyrus… I can't…"

Next, the image abruptly shifted. The person in front of him was still Luan, but the man wore an expression he had never seen before. His eyes were bloodshot and fat droplets of tears rolled down his cheeks. "Is it so shocking?!" He demanded with an anguished look. "Do you think I am a machine incapable of love?!"

Sharp pain tore into his nerves as countless memories exploded in his mind. Too overwhelmed by the pain, he could only gasp and hug Luan tighter to himself. W–What was that?! "L–Luan…" he cried out, his voice barely a whisper. "Luan, I think something is wrong with me…"

More and more memories poured into his mind. They were both familiar yet foreign at the same time. Unable to handle the onslaught of information, he cried out in pain and clutched his head. Hurts… it hurts so much! His head felt swollen and heavy as if lead was weighing down on it, and he could feel warm liquid dripping out of his nose.

Which one was real and which one was only a figment of his imagination? Which one was the real him? He really did not know! God… it hurts! It was so painful he was going to die!

Distantly, the previous voice sounded again, this time a bit panicked. "Feng, listen to me!"

Who…? Who was 'Feng'?! Wasn't he Cyrus? Wait… who was he?

***

At the same time, in the research institute.

"Oh no…!" Dr. Xiao paled when a loud alarm was issued. She pulled up Dr. Feng's vital statistics and gasped when she found that the area around his cranial nerves were dyed in crimson. If this went on, then… Dr. Feng might possibly lose his mobility and worse, his brain might even burst apart! Her fingers flew around the keyboard as she tried to stabilize the man's condition. "Luan, what happened?! Why has his condition suddenly become critical?!"

Luan's voice echoed from the speaker in the monitor room, heavy with dread. "He's too deep in his own subconsciousness. I can't reach him and he… he doesn't allow me to enter either…"

At that moment, a series of rapid footsteps sounded from outside and the door slammed open. "Dr. Xiao!" It was Zachary, and close behind him was Lu Yizhou. They looked like they had put together their clothes in a haste before rushing here. "What happened?"

Dr. Xiao was shocked. "You… You guys…"

"We came because of the emergency alert." Lu Yizhou explained. His gaze cut across the room to the glass panel where he could see Dr. Feng's body lying inside the medical cabin. "What's wrong? Tell us and we will see if we can do something."

Dr. Xiao bit her lips and choked out a brief explanation for Lu Yizhou and Zachary, her eyes overflowing with tears. 

Lu Yizhou furrowed his brow and when he spoke again, it was directed toward Luan. "I think I can do something. But I need 666's assistance." This was not the first time Lu Yizhou had delved deep into someone's consciousness. He had once forced himself into a bug's head in order to read their memory, he had also helped a fellow transmigrator to escape from the system bug that terrorized her. 

Apparently, Luan was also reminded of the same thing. "Can you do it?" he asked, doubtful. It was not like he did not trust Lu Yizhou, but toward the person who was more important than life itself, he did not want to take the slightest risk. 

At first, Lu Yizhou wanted to say 'I will try my best', but he realized how unreliable it sounded and Luan might not allow him to get close to Dr. Feng if he said so. In the end, he forcefully changed his words and nodded, "I can do it. Luan, you and Dr. Feng have helped me and Zeke a lot in the simulator. I have told you, I will definitely return this favor."

There was a few seconds of silence before Luan conceded. "Okay…" he sounded ragged, exhausted. Dr. Feng's condition was getting worse by each passing second. He could not afford to hesitate anymore. "Okay, let's do this."

Lu Yizhou squeezed Zeke's hand and told him to stay with Dr. Xiao, murmuring reassurance that he would definitely be fine. Then, under two pairs of concerned eyes, he entered the medical room, lay inside an empty cabin and smoothly placed the detectors on both sides of his temples. "I'm ready," he told Luan, his eyes closed. "Connect me to 666."

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