665: Three Years Ago

Three Years Ago

2Dr. Feng and Dr. Xiao were watching Lu Yizhou closely through the glass window, taking in the gentleness and heartache in his eyes as he gazed down at the comatose young man.

"Stop crying," Dr. Feng deadpanned. "It's not like anyone is dead."

Dr. Xiao's eyes were as red as a rabbit. The former royal doctor was currently overwhelmed by the surge of emotions in her chest and was unable to stop the tears from falling. "I… I just can't help it. The child has definitely suffered so much outside, otherwise why would he run here for help? The last time I saw him, he was only less than one year old. Back then, he could already call me 'Xiao' with a sweet, milky voice. And in a blink of an eye, he…"

Dr. Feng immediately knew what the other person was talking about. He also felt like he would never be able to forget that day. 

Three years ago, on a cold winter night, the wind was biting and harsh, and the security department had already issued several warnings for the citizens to stay indoors because they had already detected signs of blizzards later on. 

In such freezing weather, nobody would be willing to move, let alone go outside. 

Yet, Zachary had trudged through the road blocked by heavy snow, clad in a heavy down jacket, and forced his way step by step to the research institute. His silhouette painted a very lonely image amid the vast expanse of whiteness. Everyone was frightened silly, thinking that he was a wandering ghost who decided to knock on their door in the middle of the night.

The impression Dr. Feng had of the young man was actually very thin. After all, he was only involved in the initial process of the fetus development, making sure that the baby's brain would develop healthily without any problems whatsoever. He was not interested in the political intrigue that might arise in the future. Thus, as soon as baby Zachary's growth was determined, he immediately left the team and chose to build his own project — the immersive simulation system.

He did not have any close attachment to Zachary like Dr. Xiao did.

To be honest, he had no idea why he decided to shelter the young man either. If he had to pinpoint a reason why, perhaps it was out of gratitude for the continuous care the deceased Queen had shown for him.

At that time, the news of the royalties' annihilation had not spread on the planet yet. Everyone had no idea what Zachary was doing out of the Palace, nor did they know why he decided to come to the research institute of all places. 

The young man was only eighteen years old that year. On the cusp of stepping into adulthood, he had a kind of ethereal beauty and youthful charm that made him stand out in the crowd. Drenched by snow, his shoulder-length hair was disheveled and his complexion was very pale, adding a touch of fragility to his delicate features. Yet he still stood ramrod straight like the wind and snow could not deter his will at all.

His golden eyes though… they contained bone-chilling gloom and perseverance that did not suit his age. As he swept his gaze over everyone in the research institute, they found chills running down their spine for reasons they could not comprehend.

The young man had directly zeroed in on Dr. Xiao amongst the crowd, apparently still remembering her even after years. Then, with a hint of tremble in his voice, he gritted out through chattering teeth, "...I need your help."

Dr. Feng would never forget those eyes for the rest of his life. They reminded him too much of a wounded beast who struggled desperately inside a thorny cage, wrathful and ferocious. Sometimes, they even flashed behind his eyelids during moments when he was monitoring the young man's brain activity data.

He glanced at the teary woman beside him and could not help but let out a sigh. That day, when Dr. Xiao finally recognized the young man who was standing before her, she had also burst out into tears like this before smothering him into a tight hug. Precisely like a mother who was reunited with her long-lost son after bitter years of separation. It would have made a touching scene if the young man in question had not stayed still without any expression on his face as if he was not a human but a living and breathing jade doll.

The rest was history. Zachary voluntarily divulged his own condition and then, they came up with a plan to treat it. Fortunately, Dr. Feng's system was very versatile and could be used at a time like this.

"What do you think he has experienced outside?" Dr. Xiao wondered out loud, not for the first or second time during the past three years. She had an uneasy look on her face. "Zachary and Lu Yizhou… they could be considered as enemies, right? After all, it is Zachary's father who has commanded that massacre–"

"You have thought too much about it," Dr. Feng cut her off before her imagination could grow wilder and end up scaring herself. "They are two rational, calm-headed adults. Lu Yizhou can see that Zachary is not involved in this messy matter, whereas Zachary…" he suddenly trailed off, at a loss of words.

In the first place, why was he so fixated on Lu Yizhou? 

Nobody knew the answer except for himself.

Dr. Feng did not dwell too much on this matter. "More importantly, you have forgotten one crucial problem." He did not keep the other person in suspense. As soon as he received Dr. Xiao's questioning hum, Dr. Feng asked in a flat and emotionless tone. "Where is the other Crown Prince? Until now, we still have no news of him. He may be dead somewhere without us knowing, but… there is a very big possibility that he is still alive." He did not address the Crown Prince by name as he, too, felt that the name 'Zachary' should belong to the comatose young man.

Contrary to his expectation, Dr. Xiao was not too concerned. She gave a nonchalant shrug. "So what if he is still alive? Their competition is very silly and meaningless in the first place. Now that the King is dead and the monarchy is no more, why should they still fight with each other? Rather than that… they can be considered twin brothers, can't they?"

Shudders ran down Dr. Feng's spine when he imagined that there were two Zachary's in this world, one was more twisted than the other. He opened his mouth to say something when his terminal gave a few continuous beeps. 

Seeing that it was the technical personnel who was calling him, he accepted the call. Almost immediately, the person's anxious voice rang out in the air.

"H–Head Administrator, I think you should come to see this!"

Dr. Feng's brows furrowed lightly. "What's wrong? Is there another bug again?"

The other person had no idea how to explain it either. "Err… it's not really a bug, but I don't really know what to make of it. We have just done a check-up on system 666's log data and found quite a lot of ludicrous points. It's better if you come and see for yourself! Oh, wait a moment! We found this in the backlog of the last simulation. Please take a look!"

The technical personnel sent him a video that was saved in 666's memory space. Dr. Feng's brows were knitted even more tightly. Usually, the check-up they did was only limited to the log data. As for the scene extracted from the simulation itself, they had never seen it before. No wonder the technical member was so anxious that they decided to call him.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Feng told the other party, then clicked open the video.

Curious, Dr. Xiao moved closer to peek into his terminal.

A hologram screen popped up in front of their eyes, displaying the bird's eye view of a massive steel cage. This should be taken from a surveillance camera. The two people's eyes were immediately locked into the slender figure who was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. 

They could only see the person's side profile, but it was already enough for them to discern who it was. It was none other than… Zachary! In the video, he looked much younger, perhaps only fifteen or sixteen years old. The wall beside the youth was covered in dense scrawl in crimson ink, and there was already a pool of blood forming on the ground from the gash on his hand.

Dr. Xiao let out a sharp gasp and covered her mouth, her eyes reddening once again.

The youth lifted his head to stare right into the camera. His complexion was ghastly and the messy tears on his face made him look quite pitiful and wretched. 

"Are you there…?" he asked in a weak, shaky voice.

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A/N: please read the announcement in the author's thought below. Thank you so much!

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