663: His Own Choice

His Own Choice

1If someone were to ask him how he lived his life as a lone survivor of the great massacre when he was only a three years old toddler, Lu Yizhou would reply it was just like a rollercoaster ride. He was not given the time to breathe even for a moment.

In that planet where nobody was alive aside from him, he spent most of the time beside his sister's corpse as he was still too young to comprehend the meaning of death. He still believed that she was only asleep and would wake up soon after.

In his indistinct memory, he only had a faint impression of a huge black shadow which covered the whole sky, fierce and imposing, carrying with it the thick scent of smoke and steel. A few days had already passed since the tragedy, and he was already delirious due to the prolonged thirst and hunger. In such a state, he could not fight back even as people came to take him away from his sister, from his home — forever.

It was not until he got a bit older and was exposed to many people from all walks of life that he realized it was a pirate ship which usually roamed the galaxy. They often took advantage of ravaged and destroyed planets to scavenge around, trying to see if they could find something precious and worth selling. 

Azure Planet was abundant in its natural resources. Compared to Capital Planet that supported advanced civilization with robots dominating all aspects of life, Azure Planet still retained its archaic beauty. Let alone robots, the most sophisticated technology they had on themselves was the terminal. Only a few important figures owned it, as it was simply out of obligation so they would not be out-of-touch with the other planets in the Alliance.

The sky in Azure Planet was always clear blue, with many clear rivers and waterfalls which add to the natural beauty. Yet after the massacre, blood dyed the water into murky crimson and thick waves of dark clouds shrouded the sky, leaving an air of stillness and death that soaked deep into the soil.

Of course, the most valuable thing the pirates found on this ruined planet was a living toddler Lu Yizhou.

They did not know Lu Yizhou's real identity, but it did not pose a problem either. What was the use of it when his hometown was no more? The most important thing was that he looked good, like a little young master who had been pampered since birth, and all his organs were healthy and intact.

And just like that, Lu Yizhou was sold in the illegal black market. As for what the buyer intended to do to him, whether to raise him as a slave, dismember him to sell his inner organs, or train him into a skilled servant, they could not afford to care.

Lu Yizhou shuddered and forcefully extracted himself from the arduous memory of that year.

"So…" he forced the words out through a constricted throat. "Zeke is the artificial baby you created that year, whereas Zachary was the real Crown Prince. So why did you guys keep calling him by that name? If I were him…" he would despise this name with every fiber of his soul, was what he did not say but was understood by the other two nonetheless.

Dr. Xiao looked angry again, but because the one who raised the matter was Lu Yizhou, this newcomer who knew nothing, she could only swallow the anger down and sulk by herself. 

"This matter is rather complicated. Not many people know the truth, but 'Zachary' is actually the name we have chosen first for the baby. Do you know what it means? 'The God remembers'…" a hint of melancholy appeared in her eyes as she let out a forlorn sigh. "We gave him this name in hope that he would grow up safe and sound, that he wouldn't be burdened by how he first came to be. Everyone takes him as an 'artificial baby', but I beg to differ. He is no different than any other humans, it's just his initial DNA that was taken from the Crown Prince. As per their temperament, their habits and the way they carried themselves, it is totally different."

It was the King who carelessly decided that he wanted to name the Crown Prince as 'Zachary' too. Alas, no matter how aggrieved and infuriated Dr. Xiao was, she could not go against the monarch. 

Perhaps it was because she was the one who had taken care of Zachary ever since he was an embryo, Dr. Xiao was especially protective when it came to him. She was usually gentle, refined and cheerful, yet if somebody were to talk bad about Zachary in front of her, she would get mad like a rabid dog and bite them until they cried for mercy. 

When she entered 'mother hen' mode, even Dr. Feng was unable to refute or go against her.

For her, 'Zachary' had always been this baby whom she had raised with her own hands. Even if the King sent out a decree to officially name the two Crown Princes as such, she was adamant that the true owner of the name should be this young man who was currently in a coma. 

"The only one who calls him 'Zeke' is the deceased Queen…" a wry smile flashed across Dr. Xiao's face as she explained to Lu Yizhou. "Maybe she felt guilty… or maybe she just wanted an affirmation that Zachary is not the son she gave birth to, I couldn't say for certain. But Zachary likes that name very much. He only ever permitted his mother to call him that." 

"That's why… when I heard that he introduced himself as 'Zeke' to you, I realized that he treated you differently than others," Dr. Xiao finished with a gentle smile.

"...But why?" Lu Yizhou voiced the question once again. "Why me?" 

He could not understand why Zeke gave him all this preferential treatment when he was certain that they had never met in the first place. Dr. Feng had informed him that it was all because of Zeke that he could take part in the project, because Zeke reacted to no one other than him. It was as if… they had a past that he was totally unaware of. 

But Lu Yizhou was sure that he had not met his lover before, otherwise there would be no way he could ever forget someone like him… 

No matter from which angle he saw it, they were two people who lived in entirely different worlds with no way to intersect, except for… the night of the royalty's assassination three years ago!

Lu Yizhou was startled when the thought sprung up in his mind. That's right… on the night of the assassination, he had killed every royalty there was in the Imperial Palace, yet he did not see Zeke or the sickly Crown Prince anywhere! 

Judging from the timeline, when Lu Yizhou went on his killing spree, it was about time when Zeke fell into a coma. He was stunned by this revelation. Was it only a coincidence or… had something happened three years ago that he was unaware of? 

Moreover, what about the sickly Crown Prince? Why wasn't he in the Imperial Palace? That day, Lu Yizhou was enthralled with the rabid satisfaction of revenge that he did not think too much about it.

Was it possible that the Crown Prince was still alive somewhere in this galaxy?

"About that…" Dr. Xiao replied, interrupting his line of thought. "Maybe you should wait until he wakes up before you can get your answer. I am also confused about the reason why Zachary chose you of all people."

Lu Yizhou trailed his gaze over to the slumbering young man. "When will he wake up? And why is he in a coma in the first place?"

"I assure you, it won't be long. It's entirely thanks to you that Zachary can live to see this day. As for the reason why… he chose it himself."

Lu Yizhou snapped his gaze to Dr. Xiao, incredulous. For a second, he thought he had heard wrongly. "...What did you just say?"

Dr. Xiao reckoned that Lu Yizhou might not be able to accept the answer easily and hence, she patiently elaborated, "He is in a coma due to his own choice. It's because he volunteered to join this project. Alas… perhaps due to his childhood upbringing, we discovered that the system is simply unable to make changes to his brain. It was not until you appeared that we got a different response for the first time."

The female doctor finally dragged a hologram screen in front of Lu Yizhou and pointed at the brain diagram she had opened previously. "This is the evaluation report of Zachary's brain. I won't go into details with you about the problems. Simply put… he is unable to produce any emotions since he was born."

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