Lu Yu had woken up, and afterward he would inevitably have to face representatives from various countries and give them an explanation. But first, he still needed to undergo some examinations, so there was no need to rush.
After the doctor left, Yan Qiu and Lu Qiao gave Lu Yu and Ji Zhuyun another fifteen minutes alone.
When the four of them met again, Lu Yu’s lips were terribly swollen.
Lu Qiao couldn’t help thinking that every time he and Yan Qiu kissed, his lips were the ones that tended to swell, too. What exactly was the principle behind this? Why, whenever two people kissed, was it always one person’s lips that swelled more easily instead of both swelling together? It wasn’t fair.
Lu Qiao fell into deep thought.
As soon as Lu Yu saw the two of them, he became terribly embarrassed and hid behind Ji Zhuyun, his cheeks flushed red—now this was the Lu Yu that Lu Qiao remembered!
“Lu Yu has already told me everything,” Ji Zhuyun said, his voice becoming heavier as he brought up the matter. “A year ago, when he fell onto the Blue-Eyed Star Nation, he really did encounter Cheng Yi.”
Lu Yu’s little face also darkened.
It was true that the Fourth Imperial Prince had wanted to play a prank on him, but him falling onto the Blue-Eyed Star Nation had been completely unexpected.
At the time, he and two guards had been pushed into an automatic flight capsule. After passing through the spatial passage, they had also arrived on the surface of the Blue-Eyed Star Nation aboard that same flight capsule.
During the fall, all three of them had passed out, and Lu Yu was the first to wake up afterward.
After waking, he anxiously pressed the flight capsule’s distress signal. Then he carefully opened the capsule and looked outside.
It was an extremely desolate place, a sparsely populated street. In the corner of his field of vision, there were even two or three corpses lying across the street.
Lu Yu had never seen such a scene before. His legs went weak from fright on the spot, and he almost vomited.
It was also at that moment that he saw a familiar figure emerge from an alley not far away.
Clearly, before Cheng Yi had been discovered by Sai’er and the others, his methods had still been somewhat crude. At the very least, he hadn’t been wearing a human-skin mask at all times back then.
And Lu Yu had seen Cheng Yi before, so he recognized him at a glance.
At the same time, Cheng Yi recognized him at a glance as well. The instant he recognized Lu Yu, his expression turned cold.
Everything happened within a single second, leaving Lu Yu no chance to struggle. A silent, invisible force struck him, directly and viciously shattering his consciousness body.
By the time Ji Zhuyun finished speaking, his expression had already become extremely grim.
What would have happened if Lu Qiao had never awakened the consciousness race gene and gained the ability to repair consciousness bodies?
A year ago, without his knowing it, he would have lost Lu Yu forever.
Lu Yu was clearly still shaken by what had happened in that instant, and there was little color left in his face.
Ji Zhuyun glanced at him and pulled him into his arms.
“At that time, had Cheng Yi already implanted fragments of his own consciousness body into your consciousness body?” Lu Qiao asked with a frown.
Lu Yu nodded. “When I woke up, I felt that something was wrong. I didn’t remember encountering Cheng Yi, but I knew there was something I had forgotten. And after that, I could clearly feel that there was something inside my body…”
That feeling had been strange and subtle.
Lu Yu knew that he was no longer the person he had once been, that something had invaded him, but he didn’t know what it was.
At the same time, he could feel emotions and personality traits that did not belong to him being implanted into his soul. There were also desires, thoughts, and purposes that were not his own being born within him.
He wanted to regain control over his own body and soul, but he couldn’t. He could even increasingly and clearly feel that he was being controlled.
Under these circumstances, he was brought back to the Empire by people sent by his Imperial Father, yet he felt that returning was actually dangerous.
—Yet he couldn’t call out to anyone for help, nor could he kill himself. His body and soul would not allow it.
He began to take an interest in the world core system. He began paying attention to Lu Qiao. He knew that Lu Qiao had a clear plan, and that this plan would be extremely significant.
Lu Yu was like a conscious marionette, being manipulated by someone else.
Of course, now that Cheng Yi’s consciousness-body fragments had disappeared from his body, his consciousness body had returned to being whole, and the memories that had disappeared had also returned. All the clues had become clear.
Perhaps because Cheng Yi had remained inside his body for a period of time, Lu Yu even retained some of Cheng Yi’s memories.
“Before he encountered me, even before he planned to approach the world core system, he had already discovered a way to control other people. After shattering another person’s consciousness body, as long as he implanted a small portion of his own consciousness-body fragments, he could initially control the other person. It’s just that this ability also damaged his own consciousness body, so he wouldn’t use it easily.” Lu Yu recalled things bit by bit. “After attacking me, he thought of my identity—I am the Second Imperial Prince of the Empire. There are… a lot of things I can accomplish. So he chose me.”
“He was very cautious. Before he was certain of the situation, he only separated a small portion of his consciousness-body fragments as usual. He didn’t completely repair my consciousness body. Instead, he left many gaps, and those gaps were filled with fragments of his own consciousness body. That way, I was controlled by him. On the surface, I still looked like a complete me, but without Cheng Yi, my consciousness body was actually still in a shattered state.”
“During that year, he controlled me and gradually made me distance myself from the people closest to me…” Lu Yu glanced at Ji Zhuyun.
Ji Zhuyun had said that during that year, he had sent Lu Yu messages, and in those messages he had already confessed his feelings to him. But after being controlled by Cheng Yi, the first thing Lu Yu did was block Ji Zhuyun. Naturally, he didn’t see any of Ji Zhuyun’s later messages.
Ji Zhuyun was of no help whatsoever to Cheng Yi’s goal. On the contrary, he could influence Lu Yu’s will, so Cheng Yi would not allow Lu Yu to have any further contact with him.
Lu Yu had also been somewhat desperate at the time, feeling that Ji Zhuyun being close to him would instead put him in danger, so he simply distanced himself from Ji Zhuyun as well.
At the moment the world core system was invaded by the virus, he still loved Ji Zhuyun. The two of them had never clearly confessed their feelings to each other, but the Lu Yu at that time wasn’t the real Lu Yu. He was a combination of himself and Cheng Yi. Therefore, it was naturally impossible for him and Ji Zhuyun to be locked together.
However, Cheng Yi’s control over him wasn’t one hundred percent at the time. So after meeting Ji Zhuyun again, Lu Yu had still unconsciously wanted to get close to him—for example, on this trip, he could originally have brought two guards, but deep down he also wanted to spend some time alone with Ji Zhuyun. So in the end, the two of them had set off together.
However, very soon, the Lu Yu who longed for Ji Zhuyun was once again controlled by Cheng Yi. So at around four in the morning, he ultimately ended up being controlled by Cheng Yi and doing everything he could to make his way to that night-market street.
“During this year, he learned about the circumstances around me, and through me, he also saw the world core system at the research station. I don’t know what exactly he wanted to do. He didn’t let me know about this when he first gained control over me. Even now, I haven’t found anything related to it in the memories he left behind.”
Lu Yu seemed to have a slight headache and rubbed his forehead.
He thought for a moment before continuing. “I only felt that he didn’t dare to act rashly, so every time he only came to look at the world core system before leaving. He didn’t dare to do anything. But it seemed that he had several strange dreams, and gradually, he came to have a definite idea.”
Lu Qiao lowered his eyes slightly.
Cheng Yi should have gradually realized how to enter the world core system through those dreams, little by little.
Just like controlling humans, except that he didn’t need the step of shattering the other person’s consciousness body. As long as he infused his own consciousness-body fragments into it, he could reach the domain where the world’s consciousness resided, and then he would have a way to control the world’s consciousness.
“This part of the memories is really too vague. I can’t remember the details,” Lu Yu continued. “Anyway, after that, he began planning to meet me. To transfer consciousness-body fragments, he still had to be in close contact with the target. Otherwise, most of the consciousness-body fragments would have completely dispersed before reaching the target’s body.”
The consciousness-body fragments Lu Qiao had discovered in the air on the night-market street were clearly the fragments that had scattered during Cheng Yi’s transfer.
He couldn’t completely control his own consciousness-body fragments, but as long as most of them could enter Lu Yu’s body, he could gather his consciousness body together.
That consciousness body might be somewhat smaller than the original, but it was clearly still extremely powerful.
And so, everything developed into what it was.
After Cheng Yi had completely invaded him, Lu Yu had panicked to the extreme. He knew that there was almost no time left, that something was about to happen, and he struggled desperately deep within his soul.
Perhaps because Cheng Yi had been in the process of reassembling his consciousness body at that moment, Lu Yu actually found a tiny opening.
And so, he successfully managed to speak and tell Ji Zhuyun to kill him quickly.
Unfortunately, in the very next second, Cheng Yi’s consciousness-body fragments completely squeezed through the cracks in Lu Yu’s consciousness body and entered inside, forming a new consciousness body.
Lu Yu’s consciousness body shattered once again, and his body was completely taken over by Cheng Yi.
“Actually, while his consciousness body was shattered, he couldn’t use consciousness power to attack other people at all. So if I had been able to die before he successfully ‘revived,’ then even if his consciousness-body fragments escaped again, there wouldn’t have been anyone at the scene for him to control. Before long, his consciousness-body fragments would have completely lost control and simply scattered away.” Lu Yu still looked somewhat regretful. “By the way, what exactly did he want to do? Could it be that he still wanted to control the world core system?”
Ji Zhuyun couldn’t bear listening when he heard the words “die.” He knocked Lu Yu on the head and said with a dark expression, “Don’t say things like that next time.”
Lu Yu rubbed his head and said quietly, “But if we can’t stop Cheng Yi, I’m afraid he’ll do something even more terrifying.”
Ji Zhuyun glanced at Yan Qiu. He didn’t ask anything more and merely said calmly, “Anyway, he’s already gone.”
In fact, Lu Qiao knew that even if Lu Yu had died at that time, it would have been useless.
While Cheng Yi’s consciousness body was shattered, he couldn’t use consciousness power to shatter someone else’s consciousness body and thereby control another person. But he could directly invade the world core system.
Just as Lu Yu had said, over that distance, although he would lose many of his consciousness-body fragments, which also meant that much of his power would be weakened, he would still be able to invade the crystal.
Of course, under those circumstances, his power would be weakened again and again. By the time Lu Qiao entered inside, perhaps with Lu Qiao’s current strength, he would have been able to directly restrain Cheng Yi.
But Cheng Yi had clearly considered this as well, so he chose the safer method.
Lu Yu had failed to kill himself, so Cheng Yi reassembled his consciousness body inside Lu Yu’s body, used his consciousness power to knock everyone unconscious, and then he could drive the hovering vehicle safely and steadily to the crystal, where he could inject all of his remaining consciousness-body fragments into it.
…All that could be said was that, fortunately, the worst possible thing had not happened. And now, in the eyes of everyone else, Cheng Yi’s attempt to control the world core system had also become nothing more than a “fool’s dream.”
The four of them fell silent for a while.
Both Lu Yu and Lu Qiao looked utterly exhausted.
Lu Yu thought of something, tugged at Ji Zhuyun, and said, “You shouldn’t stay by my side anymore. You actually wanted to return to the military, didn’t you? Don’t give up on your dream because of me. Before, I actually didn’t want you to come either. It was all because of Imperial Father…”
Ji Zhuyun frowned. “I’m not at ease if I’m not by your side. If the Fourth Imperial Prince does something like that again—”
“He won’t,” Lu Yu reassured him. “He was punished very severely by Imperial Father that time, and during this past year, he hasn’t had much contact with me.”
Yan Qiu suddenly said, “Once you and Lu Yu are married, no matter how bold the Fourth Imperial Prince is, he won’t dare provoke the Ji family, much less Lu Yu.”
The Ji family was also a major clan that could not be underestimated.
The moment those words came out, Lu Yu: “!!!”
Ji Zhuyun froze, then smiled. “That is indeed true.”
Lu Yu’s face turned bright red, and he stammered, “M-Married?”
“What? Do you want to fool around with me?” Ji Zhuyun teased him.
“N-No, of course not!” Lu Yu’s eyes widened. “But, but you really want to marry me? Don’t you need to think it over a little more?”
“No need to think about it anymore.” Ji Zhuyun covered his forehead.
If he hadn’t spent so long struggling and hesitating over the relationship between himself and Lu Yu back then, perhaps Lu Yu wouldn’t have secretly followed the Fourth Imperial Prince in an attempt to sneak off to the military camp just to see him.
Once they had started dating, he and Lu Yu would certainly have been in frequent contact. If Lu Yu had gotten the idea of coming to the border, he would definitely have noticed immediately and stopped him.
Then what happened afterward—Lu Yu being controlled by Cheng Yi—would never have happened.
Ji Zhuyun was filled with regret whenever he thought about it now.
“No need to think about it. Right now, I just want to take you home with me immediately,” Ji Zhuyun said.
The moment Lu Yu heard this, he smiled like an idiot.
After thinking for a moment, he asked bashfully, “Then… when should we register our marriage?”
He was shy, but when it came to taking the initiative, he was very proactive. His question stunned the other three people.
Ji Zhuyun recovered and said, “How about… immediately after we go back?”
Lu Yu pressed his lips together with a smile and nodded desperately.
Lu Qiao stared at the two of them in shock, then looked at Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with a great many implications.
Lu Qiao swallowed.
W-What… what was that supposed to mean? Could it be that Yan Qiu was this eager too?