304: 6.64 Big Fat Zero

6.64 Big Fat Zero

Lu Yizhou's heart was hammering in his ribcage and of course, Jillian whose head was leaning against his chest could sense it vividly. He placed a palm right on where Lu Yizhou's heart was and frowned. "Lu Yizhou, are you okay…?"0

"I…" Lu Yizhou's throat was dry. It was absurd, he was a God thus he needed no food or drink. Yet somehow, he craved for a drink all of a sudden. Liquor, preferably. His eyes were still dancing on the cover of the file, unable to bring himself to turn to the next page. Why did he feel like this? Wasn't this the moment he had been waiting for? Whatever was written inside, Lu Yizhou had a premonition that he would be one step closer to the truth. He might even know who his lover was. But why did he feel like he wasn't ready…? "I might have found something about you."

Jillian and Izher straightened up, waiting expectantly.

Zachary. Z. 

Lu Yizhou stared into their eyes. "Zachary…" It came out more like a soft exhale. "Is that your real name? Zachary?"

The effect on both of them was immediate. Their faces abruptly changed. Colors drained from Jillian's face and his breath hitched on his throat but his eyes remained confused and blank, not understanding his own reaction to it. Izher's eyes turned dazed as if his mind was transported somewhere else, his body trembling ever so slightly. 

"I…" Jillian clutched his chest, a pinched expression on his face. "I don't remember anything but… why am I feeling so awful?"

Lu Yizhou had expected this; afterall, Jillian was a new fragment of his lover hence he might not resonate deeply with the others. But Izher… they had gone through five worlds together. He was but the combination of five people, five personalities and five lives. Lu Yizhou had no idea how many fragments of his lover were there inside the simulators, but Izher might as well be the closest to a whole. 

"Izher…?" Lu Yizhou said carefully, jolting the other out of his reverie.

His eyes were wide and flustered. "I… That…"

"It's okay. Take as much time as you need." With one arm, Lu Yizhou moved Jillian's body to one side whilst opening the other for Izher. "Come here." 

No need to be told twice, Izher instantly burrowed himself into Lu Yizhou's embrace. With a lapful of his lovers on each thigh, Lu Yizhou hugged them close to him and slowly rocked them back and forth, his broad palms massaging the soft flesh on the back of their nape. 

Izher was clinging onto him so tightly his sharp nails almost tore Lu Yizhou's robes apart. Lu Yizhou let him do whatever he wished, placing his chin atop of his silver hair whilst dropping a gentle and reassuring kiss on Jillian's temple. 

He was abruptly reminded of a similar instance from the first world when Ren Zexi was experiencing nightmares during the first few months of his stay. When that time came, he would slip out of his room and snuck into Lu Yizhou's, climb into Lu Yizhou's bed with muffled hiccups and cling onto Lu Yizhou's arm like he could hide from the whole world this way. 

The first time, Lu Yizhou was startled and almost threw the boy off his body. The second time, he tensed but allowed the boy to stick to him. The third time, he had seen it coming thus tentatively opening his arms even before Ren Zexi climbed up the bed. 

Maybe Lu Yizhou was getting sleepy due to the medication or maybe he was just starting to warm up to the sad lonely boy, he wrapped his arms around Ren Zexi and brought him closer to his chest for the first time. And then, he started to rock them gently, back and forth, until Ren Zexi gradually fell asleep. He had done the same to Theodore, Oliver and Terra.

And now, he was doing it again for Izher and Jillian.

Izher's breathing gradually calmed and he had one hand pressed against the pulse point on Lu Yizhou's neck, holding onto him as if Lu Yizhou was an anchor. On the other hand, Jillian had composed himself way earlier, now he was only enjoying the feeling of Lu Yizhou's caresses on him as well as listening to Lu Yizhou's steady heartbeat under his ear. 

Lu Yizhou's heart grew warm and sweet at how endearing both of them were. How he wished he could hide them in his arms like this forever, to shield them from whatever might come.

Lu Yizhou didn't talk, did not feel the need to. He merely offered his presence as comfort, to let them know that he would still be here until the end of the time.

It was Izher who broke the silence first. The silver haired deity snuggled closer into Lu Yizhou's neck and let out a muffled groan of frustration and when he spoke, his cold lips were moving against Lu Yizhou's skin. Honestly, it was ticklish… and very distracting. The fact that Izher kept squirming didn't help either.  "Fuck, this is so embarrasing. Losing my cool over something like this. Fuck." He let out a string of curses, one was cruder than the other. 

Unable to bear listening to it anymore, Jillian snapped his eyes open to glare at him and smacked him on the shoulder. "Stop it, you crass, uncultured man. You sound worse than all my soldiers combined."

Izher quieted down but Lu Yizhou could still feel his lips moving even more rancorously. He smiled to himself. 

Despite his sleazy demeanor, Izher was actually very sensitive deep inside. He felt too much and hence he tried to hide it behind the uncaring appearance. Jillian must have noticed it too, that's why he deliberately drew Izher's attention to himself to spare him from whatever he was thinking about. 

Lu Yizhou closed his eyes and returned to the file that was still ready to be read.

[666: Host, Host, 666 has some good news for you! 666 has been analyzing the method Cyrus used to break the codes. It's nothing like 666 has seen before but worry not, 666 is the most sophisticated, smart and advanced system. 666 will definitely find out the pattern and learn by itself. After that, 666 can crack every file for you!]

[En.] The corner of Lu Yizhou's lips ticked upward. [Thank you.]

[666: W—What *cough cough cough* what are you talking about, Host? Thank you? Gosh, you're making 666 shy! There's no need for thank yous between us! *whisper* just spare half of your points for 666 to shop.]

[666: …Host?]

[666: Host, you're pretending not to hear 666, aren't you?! QAQ]

Lu Yizhou took a deep breath. There were only five pages to the file — or report number 12, as it was stated. Before he could think too much about it, he flipped to the first page. 

There was an anatomy of a human brain drawn in detail with lots… lots of numbers and chemical terms that instantly made Lu Yizhou's vision swim. The table alone already reached up to four pages, and it was filled with unintelligible codes like #178ops, #382hmg, #939lnm, and many others. Even 666 couldn't decipher its meaning.

However, one thing for sure was that they all had different measurements. 

Lu Yizhou scrutinized each line in case there was something that could jolt his memory. Then, halfway through the third page, he found four rows which were strangely recorded as big fat zero. Lu Yizhou's eyes widened. No matter how moronic he was, he still recognized those four formulas.

Dopamine. Serotonin. Oxytocin. Endorphin. 

The chemicals that played a major part in the brain's essential function, ones that affected mood and health.

And his lover — Zachary, that was his name — had none of them. What did it mean? Was it normal for a human not to produce these four chemicals?

He flipped to the last page filled with messy scrawls that were honestly too hideous to be fathomed with human eyes. It was even written with red ink, making it look extra creepy and uncanny. Lu Yizhou didn't think twice before handing it over to 666 and asking it to scan the handwriting and convert it to text. 

Then his eyes landed on the bottom of the page where another word was written in similar handwriting. Just that the size was extra large with additional circles that were drawn tens of times around it, clearly depicting the owner's frustration. 

'FAILURE!'

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