238: 5.48 Open The Door!

5.48 Open The Door!

Early the next morning, four of them gathered in Doctor Wyatt's office. Lu Yizhou thought that he would need more time to convince Doctor Wyatt but it seemed like the guide already had some discussions with General Ethan last night thus as soon as Lu Yizhou laid down one of the reasons he had prepared — what is the best way for us to extract information from the King except for having me as the medium? — Doctor Wyatt begrudgingly agreed.2

It was Terra whom Lu Yizhou was concerned about. 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Terra asked for the nth time today whilst holding onto the hem of Lu Yizhou's sleeve, looking very much like a lost child.

Alright, here he was again, using those large puppy eyes and fluttering his enviably thick lashes on Lu Yizhou to get what he wanted because he clearly knew that Lu Yizhou was weak toward it. Lu Yizhou had to stare off the side of his head so as to not be swayed by the dangerous temptation. "I have decided." He replied. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to me."

Terra was crestfallen after realizing that using his charm wouldn't work. "But what if something happens? What if… What if…" 

Lu Yizhou wouldn't allow him to stew in the dark thoughts any longer. Pulling Terra closer by his waist, Lu Yizhou bent down to catch his lips into a fervent kiss. Terra let out a squeak of surprise and a few incoherent grumbles before his eyelids fluttered shut and he leaned into the kiss. Someone was clearing their throat right behind him but of course, it was ignored. Lu Yizhou gave Terra's bottom lip one last nip before drawing back. He breathed in Terra's scent and murmured into his lips. "I will finish this as soon as possible."

Turning around, he nodded toward Doctor Wyatt with a deadpan look as if he hadn't just been caught kissing in public. 

"Are you sure about this?" The doctor confirmed again with a poorly veiled concern in his eyes.

Lu Yizhou nodded and took the small crate from Doctor Wyatt before entering a transparent glass room where his condition would be directly monitored. Lu Yizhou took a seat on the single chair and connected multiple instruments on his body. Then he offered Terra an assuring smile through the glass before opening the crate. His nose wrinkled at the foul odor that wafted from inside. The King laid limply inside and he looked a size smaller than the last time Lu Yizhou saw it. Of course, parasites needed their vessel to survive. The King hadn't fed in a few days, it was apparent why it had slimmed down rapidly. 

Actually Lu Yizhou didn't even need to kill the King, did he? Starving the King would be equal to killing it slowly and if he was truly the 'brain' of all parasites, then they only needed to wait until it died to exterminate the brain-sucking creature once and for all. 

Alas, the King was too precious to die just like that. Lu Yizhou picked up the caterpillar-like creature, closed his eyes and put it right beside his ear.

His touch-sense perceived it clearly when the King came to life as it sensed the nearby source of energy. It wiggled into Lu Yizhou's ear eagerly, the slimy sensation it left on his skin and the squelching sound nearly made Lu Yizhou's stomach churn. The veins on his forehead throbbed and he clenched his jaw firmly as he waited for the King to latch itself on his brain.

He felt the King's movement vividly as if thousands of ants were crawling beneath his scalp. The hair behind his nape stood on its end and his body gave off an alarm to warn him against the intruder, but Lu Yizhou vehemently kept the barrier down and let the King pass. Worry streamed into him from the bond which Lu Yizhou answered with nothing but determination and comfort, careful to keep Terra from sensing his discomfort.

[The King: bzzz…bzzz…]

[The King: heheh, I don't know how stupid this sentinel is to offer his body to me but I won't complain. Holy—this body is a thousand times better than Merrick's. So powerful, so hot and delicious. This King has been too hungry! Mamma Mia, bon appetit!]

[The King: Lo and behold, the power of—]

[666: Hiiii, newbie! Welcome to the club! This is 666, at your service! How may 666 helps you?]

[The King: AAAAAHH!!! W—What the fuck?! Who are you?! This body is already occupied by another parasite?!]

[666: *pout* 666 has just introduced itself to you! And 666 is not a parasite, unlike you! How rude of you to assume that!]

[The King: What the—]

[Cease the talk.] Lu Yizhou let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling that everything was so ridiculous. [Start, 666.]

[666: Aye, aye, Host! Fret not, parasite, this won't hurt. Well, maybe just a little bit.]

[The King: W—What are you two going to do to—AAAAAHHH!!!] 

In the next instant, electricity jolted through Lu Yizhou's body and he flinched. Darkness flashed in the back of his eyelids and for a while, his brain was overwhelmed by myriads of memories and information. Not his, but the King of parasites. 666 was right, the King was truly the brain of all parasites. Lu Yizhou caught a glimpse of how it came to life, being so small and surrounded by all wildlife, struggling to latch onto the nearest source of life to survive. It then multiplied and multiplied and the memories it carried became larger and larger. 

But that wasn't the kind of information Lu Yizhou wanted. He gritted his teeth and delved deeper into the King, more and more. He wanted to know the time before it came to life. Right… when it was only a bunch of illegible codes. 

His surroundings gradually blurred and his body quivered as if he had gone through a period of turbulence and then, everything became smooth and easy. Weightlessness overwhelmed his senses and he slowly lost sight of where he was. His body turned numb and light, it was like he was slowly dispersing and becoming the same as the air around him. Lu Yizhou's head tipped back and he opened his eyes to see a boundless sky, no longer was he in the glass room and he couldn't hear anything either except for his own heartbeat. If he squinted closer, he could see the streaks of crimson and orange in the sky were actually made up of rows of ceaselessly moving numbers. A small smile graced his lips.

At long last, 666 had hacked into the kernel highway of the main server.

Unfortunately, Lu Yizhou was unaware that around him, the situation had turned into chaos.

***

Outside the glass room, everyone held their breath, eyes fixated on Lu Yizhou's still figure. For the first few minutes, nothing happened but Terra couldn't shake off the feeling that something wrong might happen. He didn't even realize that he was biting his nails until Doctor Wyatt piped in. "It's not a good habit to bite one's nails. Don't do it too often."

Terra paused before reluctantly lowering his arm. Ever since he regained a fraction of memories from the past, it seemed like this was the first time he had been alone with Doctor Wyatt — and yes, he was deliberately ignoring General Ethan's presence in the corner of the room. Terra was still very much intimidated by the sentinel and that's why the further they were, the better. 

"You seem different, Terra. If I hadn't paid attention to you for a whole year, I might even say that you have become a completely different person." The doctor's words made Terra pause. Could it be…? No, how could Doctor Wyatt know about his memory? That's impossible, Terra shook the thoughts off. Then the doctor turned to him and offered a thin smile. "Well, I am glad that you're happy. That's the most important thing."

Terra blinked slowly. For a split second, a different man was standing in front of him, a completely different face yet the aura he exuded was similar to Doctor Wyatt. "Don't give up." He said. "I just want you to be happy." But then when Terra blinked again, the image had vanished like sand slipping through his fingers. He couldn't recall it again no matter how hard he tried. What was that…? He was sure that it wasn't the memory from the time he had spent with Lu Yizhou so… was it the memory prior to that?

Terra opened his mouth to say something but then his body suddenly jerked and he gasped. It was as if he was being electrocuted. Doctor Wyatt promptly grabbed onto him for support and yelled something but his attention was wholly focused on the sole figure inside the glass room.

"No…" Horror dawned on him when Lu Yizhou's body began to spasm, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he tipped sideways, falling to the ground with a loud crash. In a blink of an eye, Terra already pounced on to the door, banging. "Open it! Open the door! He… He is—"

All around them, alarms blared out loudly and the screen that was showing Lu Yizhou's vital stats was flashing in red. 

On the ground, Lu Yizhou was still convulsing. This time, he lurched and coughed out a mouthful of blood. Blood. Terra's heart abruptly chilled and he could see nothing but the crimson that was swimming on the edge of his vision. His ears were buzzing noisily and he felt like someone had just pulled his feet down to the bottom of the abyss. "OPEN THE DOOR!" He screeched, almost losing his mind. "I TOLD YOU TO OPEN THE DOOR!"

"W—Wait." Doctor Wyatt was clearly sweating buckets and his face had gone pale. "We have already discussed this before. First, we have to make sure that it's completely safe—"

He wouldn't open the door, Terra's mind supplied numbly. How could Terra wait? How could he bear to wait outside whilst his beloved was suffering inside?! Don't worry, Lu Yizhou had murmured against his lips just a few minutes ago, nothing will happen to me. Terra's breathing turned ragged as fury shot up to the top of his head, covering his eyes in a layer of crimson haze. If the door wouldn't open, then he only had to knock it down. If they didn't allow him to get close to his beloved, then—

KILL!

No one was allowed to stand in his way to his beloved!

Doctor Wyatt's eyes widened as he sensed the rampaging aura exuded from Terra. He only had time to erect a barrier to cover himself and his partner before Terra's power exploded into the air. It was so intense that they could feel the stab on their skin, crashing right into them with the force enough to crush their bones into powder. The lightbulb above their heads broke into pieces, and the bulletproof and fireproof glass room shattered as well. Disregarding everything, Terra jumped in and made his way to Lu Yizhou, step by step, stalking toward the bloody figure on the floor with single minded attention.

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