387: 7.77 Think Of Yourself

7.77 Think Of Yourself

0Oppressive silence weighed down inside the office. Lu Yizhou looked at Moshe's agitated state and couldn't help letting out a sigh. Slowly, all the while maintaining eye contact, he reached out toward Moshe's hand and led him to sit on the couch. They would need to sit if they were going to have a lengthy talk.  3

"It's never my intention to keep you in the dark." Lu Yizhou clasped Moshe's hand in his lap and rubbed his knuckles, uncertain whether it was to comfort Moshe or himself. Maybe both. "I was afraid that you would be… overwhelmed by the amount of information you have to digest. I shouldn't have assumed that. It's my fault."

Tension seemed to bleed out of Moshe's shoulders albeit he still eyed Lu Yizhou with wariness. Lu Yizhou wished he could kiss the emotions away. He pursed his lips and dropped his gaze to their interlaced fingers. "Let me start from Regius' death, because that is the most pressing matter right now. I must say… I did not mean for that to happen."

When Lu Yizhou had skin-to-skin contact with Regius — preferably the tip of his fingers to the other's head — it would enable 666 to connect Lu Yizhou's neurotransmitter with Regius and in exchange, 666 would be able to access Regius' memory to filter who might be the other bug they were searching for. 

The process was the same with the previous world when he had pulled Cyrus into his mind. Back then he could just use his spiritual power. But in this world with no magic, Lu Yizhou and 666 had no choice but to do everything manually. It certainly couldn't be done with just anyone or else Lu Yizhou could have dipped his hand into everyone's memory right now.

666 had warned him early on that no ordinary human would be able to endure the invasive power of the system. Regius' mind would most likely be shattered afterward, turning him into a mindless fool. What would be the best ending for the bug other than that? Regius wanted to be set free from his suffering thus Lu Yizhou would grant him that. 

After successfully breaching Regius' mind, they started to filter the person who might be the bug. They must be someone with a medical background and had come into contact with both Regius and Zion before. It had been surprisingly easy because as soon as they entered the criteria… only one person came up.

Cruz. An infamous doctor who had been blacklisted from the medical field due to his malicious research to enhance human's capability. When the scandal broke out, he had killed four people with various reasons of unfortunate deaths when in fact, he had been using them as guinea pigs for his research. After that, he became an underground doctor who treated criminals and those from dubious backgrounds. 

He was most likely the one who had created the drug — no, it could only be him. Lu Yizhou was almost 90% certain. 

Who could have guessed that after his and Regius' connection was severed, rather than turning into an idiot, Regius would go through a series of powerful seizures instead? 

"I have to get rid of Cruz as soon as possible before he creates another problem." Lu Yizhou finished with a firm tone. "Right now, he is most probably under Cobalt Fang's protection. It's okay. Now that their leader is in a coma and their right hand man is in your hands, they are in their most vulnerable state. I will be able to sneak in easily to kill him."

"'I'…?" Moshe, who had been listening silently without words, suddenly piped in. His eyes narrowed in displeasure. "You mean you're going by yourself?"

Lu Yizhou's mouth parted only to close again. How should he tell Moshe that he had the temporary skill 'Invisibility Cloak' that would enable him to sneak in unnoticed without freaking him out or worse, being seen as crazy? 

In the end, he could only settle with, "Moshe, it will be most effective for me to do this alone. This is my fight, and you have your own fight. Right now, Zion is still a wild factor we can't predict. If the worst case scenario indeed happens, you have to be prepared because he will definitely come after you right away."

He could see the understanding in Moshe's eyes even if the man was still unconvinced. Moshe was taking this better than expected, but Lu Yizhou would prefer him to give some kind of reaction — anything other than this muted silence. 

Distressed, he squeezed the man's hand in silent comfort. "Sweetheart, I don't want anything to happen to you—"

Lu Yizhou's words seemed to have bumped against a sore spot because Moshe snapped harshly in the next second. "Then what about me?!" He seethed, golden eyes blazing in anger. "Don't want anything to happen to me… ha! Have you ever thought that I might feel the same? That I don't want anything to happen to you either? Why do you keep trying to take everything onto yourself? You have always been thinking about my safety but have you ever thought of yourself?!" Moshe's chest was heaving by the time his outburst ended. The last note of his voice seemed to echo in the space between them, lingering with the faint tone of heartache and concern.

Lu Yizhou stared, wide-eyed in shock. Of all the reactions Moshe could give, he had never expected this one. Moshe was… telling him to prioritize himself? "I…" Lu Yizhou was at a loss of words, uncertain of what to say in response. "It's not…"

Moshe suddenly froze and his eyes widened imperceptibly. His mouth had been running on its own and it wasn't until now that the implication of his own words sank into his mind. Wasn't he just blatantly confessing that he was worried about Lu Yizhou… above his own safety, above his clan members' fate, above thousands of innocent citizens if Zion was indeed insane enough to attempt the heinous act like in the original plot — in other words, above everything else?! 

He had never expected that out of the shocking information Lu Yizhou had told him, he would be fixated with the man's very safety instead! He should be angry, should be incredulous, should be critical and wary so how… how could he just…

Heat started to creep up Moshe's cheeks and he gritted his teeth in irritation. He stood up abruptly, intending to cool his mind down when his wrist was grabbed and he was pulled back down to the couch. "Let. Go." He tried to yank his hand away to no avail. 

Lu Yizhou's grip was so strong that it was nearly bruising. "Moshe, look at me," came his gentle, obnoxious tone that did not fail to cause Moshe's heart to skip a beat. This time though, it was laced with hesitance. Moshe begrudgingly offered Lu Yizhou a glance from the corner of his eyes and the sincere loss he found in those magnetic silver eyes was enough to make him frown. 

Alright, he admitted what he had said was quite (very) embarrassing but did he not make himself clear already? So why did Lu Yizhou put on such a look as if… as if no one had ever said such a thing to him before? 

"I…" Lu Yizhou swallowed, trying to dig out any suitable words to say. "Thank you for your concern but… I dare to make this plan because there's a ninety percent possibility that I will succeed. I admit that when it comes to certain matters, I am quite a high risk taker." He lifted his gaze to look into Moshe's, smiling lightly. "Thank you. It's very nice… to have someone say that to me, unexpectedly."

"Foolish," Moshe couldn't help berating, without any heat except for the one on his cheeks of course. Lu Yizhou was so good, how could no one ever tell him anything like this before? What about Z? Hmph, such a lousy lover that man was. Surely, Moshe was a hundred times better than him— wait. What kind of thought was that? Lu Yizhou was not his lover! He was just a pet, a high quality, entertaining pet! To hide the fluster due to his own treacherous mind, he stammered out, "I–It's common sense to think about yourself first. If there comes a day when you and I are stuck in a peril, I will still save my own life before yours." 

"Really…?" Fortunately, Lu Yizhou didn't seem to realize his turmoil. Instead, his eyes crinkled with genuine delight. What was he so happy about? Moshe grumbled. He really couldn't fathom what was running in Lu Yizhou's mind. "That's right, you should do that."

Moshe's jaws ticked. There it was again, the feeling that his own attack had landed on soft cotton. He was the one who had said it but the notion of leaving Lu Yizhou behind to save his own life still left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. How he wished he could go back to five minutes ago to slap himself silly so he wouldn't babble out this nonsense!

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