647: 10.42 We Wait

10.42 We Wait

The rest of the journey from the wardens and staff area to the administrative offices were smooth sailing. All the doors were unlocked for them as if a supernatural force was at work, and coupled with the fact that everyone was deeply asleep, it's like they were navigating through a dead prison.2

Christian and Percy fell into a daze. Christian, because he knew exactly how difficult it was to get here and that was exactly why he could not wrap his mind around their current situation whereas Percy… 

Well, Percy just thought that his luck was quite good. As he expected, going with this group was the right decision! He could not believe how easy it was for them to reach the front door!

Lu Yizhou stared at the two idle protagonists in front of him and thought that he had made a grave mistake. What did he think earlier when he decided to bring them along? The journey only looked very easy due to 666 and Pandora's contribution. 666 deactivated the alarm and traps, then unlocked the door for them. Pandora's hypnosis ability had put everyone under deep sleep, enabling them to escape from attention. Or in other words, even if he did not take Christian and Percy, he could still perfectly make it out of here. Lu Yizhou could not help but sink into self-contemplation.

Christian and Percy did not realize that in Lu Yizhou's eyes, they had changed from 'lucky charm' to 'useless burden'. 

Past the administrative offices were the registration area where they had gone through when they first came in. After that, they would be able to escape from this place! 

Christian leaned against the wall and stuck his neck out to observe the situation outside. He could see a few armed guards and trained dogs as they patrolled around the area. Far in the watchtower was a rotating light that could illuminate thousands of meters away. When the light approached where he was, Christian agilely retreated back to the wall and turned to ask Lu Yizhou, "What now?"

He completely did not realize that he had taken Lu Yizhou as the leader of the group. No, not only him, but everyone was also looking at Lu Yizhou and waiting for his arrangement.

"Now…" Lu Yizhou opened his mouth slowly. "We wait."

Wait?? Percy's eyes widened in surprise, but when he wanted to ask further, Christian had beaten him to it, offering an explanation to Lu Yizhou's concise sentence. "It is a little past ten now. If we want to catch everyone off guard, then we have to wait until late into the night when their response is the slowest."

Lu Yizhou hummed in agreement. "Two o'clock. We will act by then. First thing first, Christian, you should go out and immobilize the guard dogs. I have counted it, there will only be two guard dogs in each shift. As long as the dogs don't bark, then no one will be alarmed."

Two dogs did not pose a problem for Christian. He merely shrugged and accepted the task. "What about you?"

"The watchtower," Lu Yizhou said. "There are snipers there. It will be troublesome in the long run so I will resolve them first."

Christian almost blurted out, 'Are you fucking crazy?! They are holding rifles!' However, when he recalled Lu Yizhou's ruthlessness when he dealt with the corpses as well as his inexplicable power both when he altered Christian's memory and controlled the mechanism in this place, he forced himself to swallow his protest. Unknowingly, a strange sort of belief started to form in his heart. 

If it was this person, then he could definitely do it.

In the end, he merely snorted and sat down on the ground, leaned his back on the wall and closed his eyes to save his energy. Knowing that the conversation was over, Percy could only follow along and tried to calm himself as well, still holding the metal bar in his hands.

Lu Yizhou felt a sudden tug on his shirt and he turned to find Pandora mouthing to him, "I will go with you later." 

He did not want to be left behind again. Pandora did not know where this urge came from, but an unpleasant feeling always swelled in his chest whenever he saw Lu Yizhou's back going further from him. It was like… he was afraid that this person would go and then never come back anymore. He stared deeply into Lu Yizhou's eyes to let the man know that he had made up his mind.

The refusal was already on the tip of Lu Yizhou's tongue. Of course, he wanted Pandora to stay behind with the useless Percy where it would be the safest. But then, he recalled that his lover had never been weak. He did not always need Lu Yizhou's protection. He could perfectly stand up for himself and annihilate his enemy without mercy. In the previous simulations, even if he had a weaker physique, he did not hesitate to put himself in front of Lu Yizhou and bare his teeth to the enemy. It was this tough and independent side of him that caused Lu Yizhou to fall head over heels in the first place.

In the end, he simply heaved out a helpless sigh and gently tucked the errand strand of Pandora's hair behind his ear. "Okay," he said softly. "Pay attention to safety. I don't want you to get hurt, especially not in front of me."

Pandora rolled his eyes. Then suddenly, he reached out to pinch both of Lu Yizhou's cheeks. He did not hold back his strength at all as if wanting Lu Yizhou to know how discontented he was. "Foolish," he uttered in a low voice. "I should be the one saying it to you. After all, I am already…" he choked on his words, unable to continue any longer. He was already… what?

Something almost surfaced in his mind at that moment, but before he could grasp onto it, it had slipped away like sand flowing between his fingers. When he tried to clench it in his palm, a familiar pain struck his head and he could not help but gasp in agony.

"...!!" Lu Yizhou was shocked when his lover suddenly clutched his head with an agonizing look on his face. His already fair complexion became even paler and cold sweat broke out on his skin. Lu Yizhou held the person in his arms and asked in an anxious tone. "What's wrong?!"

"No… Nothing…" Pandora was hissing through clenched teeth. He had no choice but to give up and let the blurred memories float away from him. Again. It had always been like this for years. He thought that something would change after the door to his memory was opened by a crack, yet unfortunately, the result was still the same. Perhaps… it was not the time for him to regain his memory yet. He composed his breathing and waited until the pain subsided before raising his head to look at Lu Yizhou's distraught face.

Pandora could not help but smile as he tilted his head to take a chomp out of Lu Yizhou's beautiful chin. "Don't look like that," he murmured in reassurance. "I am okay."

Lu Yizhou still could not rest assured. "What was that?" One second Pandora was still fine and dandy, yet in the next second he suddenly keeled over and trembled in pain. How could Lu Yizhou back down just because his lover said that he was fine?

"Just treat it as a…" he paused. "...sequelae." Then without giving Lu Yizhou any chance to inquire further, he tucked himself closer to Lu Yizhou's chest and shut his eyes comfortably, yawning. "I am sleepy. Wake me up when we're ready to attack, okay?"

Helpless, Lu Yizhou could only shift Pandora to a more comfortable position as he himself leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest. The night continued to deepen, and only the even breathing of four people could be heard amidst the intermittent sound of guards reporting their patrol information to the main system.

Taking advantage of the long respite, Lu Yizhou finally had the time to digest the origin of the curse. 

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