Chapter 18: Avoidance; Even Zhuang He Doesn’t Remember
Zhuang He landed the Mecha on the ground, scanning the surroundings through the controls. He found no remaining Zerg.
Lu Jin and Shi Yan behind him also stepped forward to report. “No residual Zerg found.”
Simultaneously, the responses from other teams came through the cockpit: “First squad has successfully purged all Zerg.” “Second squad has successfully purged all Zerg.”
The news from Zhang Tanxing and Xiong Wei was the same.
Since this battle was over, Zhuang He reported the combat situation in its entirety to the Empire’s assembly point and led the team to jump back.
Before stepping into the wormhole, Zhuang He turned back to look at the battlefield they had just scorched. This place would gradually vanish into the torrent of the sea of stars.
“What is it?”
Lu Jin asked as she brushed past him. Zhuang He just shook his head, trying his best to ignore that eerie sense of anomaly in his heart.
After all teams returned safely, Zhuang He still hadn’t figured out where that sense of anomaly came from. He also harbored suspicions regarding this sudden Zerg raid.
Shi Yan and the others left first after finishing the post-war tasks. Zhuang He had to stay behind to analyze the battle, and Du Yu was there with him.
“They’re all gone?”
Zhuang He took off his eye-mask, tapped “save” on the screen before him, and let out a breath.
“Mhm.”
Du Yu was looking down while writing a summary report. She heard Zhuang He ask from the side, “Has there been any personnel change in the high command recently?”
The question confused Du Yu, but she thought for a moment before saying, “I haven’t received any news. Why do you ask?”
“Nothing. Just help me look into it when you have time.”
“Alright.”
After Du Yu agreed, Zhuang He rose to leave. He heard her call out to him: “The Soothing Agents have been bought; they’ll be delivered directly to your door.”
“Mhm. Thanks.”
Zhuang He turned and left, his proud back looking like a sturdy shield protecting the vast Empire.
Du Yu sighed softly and stopped what she was doing. Recalling Zhuang He’s request just now, she opened her light-brain and sent a message.
＊
Zhuang He watched as the mechanical arms organized and neatly arranged the new Soothing Agents. Only then did he remember he had left halfway through dinner with Lu Yin; he was a bit hungry now.
He opened his light-brain and thought for a moment before placing a video call. However, Lu Yin didn’t answer for a long time. Just as Zhuang He thought the boy was busy and was about to hang up, the call connected.
Lu Yin’s aggressively handsome face appeared on the screen. Looking at the background, he seemed to be in the dormitory.
“Sorry. There was a sudden situation just now.”
Zhuang He’s expression was calm, his tone carrying a hint of apology.
“It’s okay, Teacher. I know that was a special circumstance.”
For some reason, Zhuang He felt Lu Yin’s voice sounded a bit hoarse, so he asked with concern, “Your voice sounds strange. Are you feeling unwell?”
Lu Yin was pressed close to the screen today. From Zhuang He’s perspective, he could only see the boy’s face and collarbone; everything below was strictly concealed.
“…No. It’s just a bit hot.”
Zhuang He grew even more puzzled. He always felt Lu Yin was hiding something from him, but as a teacher, it didn’t seem appropriate to pry into his privacy.
“The dormitory should be able to adjust the room temperature according to personal body temperature.”
This was a built-in feature of the dorms that couldn’t be turned off or on, but Zhuang He still reminded him.
Lu Yin nodded, his lips opening then closing.
Seeing that Lu Yin wasn’t affected by anything, Zhuang He prepared to hang up the video call. But in the second before he cut it, he saw the way Lu Yin was looking directly at him, and heard the words the boy spoke with moving lips.
“I was just… a bit worried about Teacher.”
The finger about to tap “hang up” paused. Zhuang He’s refined brow furrowed. He looked at Lu Yin for a long time before relaxing his brow and letting a smile touch his lips. “No need to worry.”
In an instant, an unfamiliar atmosphere flowed between the two across the virtual screen. Lu Yin lowered his eyes and chuckled low twice. When he looked up again, his gaze on Zhuang He was burning and greedy, making Zhuang He’s heart skip a beat.
He was very familiar with that look. It was the look a wolf had when seeing meat, and the look many Sentinels had when looking at their favorite Guide.
He’s still too young.
Zhuang He thought to himself. When he was being chased by a pack of Sentinels begging for soothing and confessing their love, this kid was probably still clinging to his parents’ arms.
He hung up the call with a faint smile and issued a few commands in a good mood, supplementing the dinner he hadn’t finished at noon.
On the other side, Lu Yin watched the screen go dark and took several heavy, ragged breaths. He didn’t dare wake up from the fantasy; his mind was filled with that person’s beautiful and vivid face, that familiar fragrance, and that soft body.
After a long time, Lu Yin struggled to pull himself away from the unbearable feeling that nearly made him feel as if he were soaring through the heavens.
In a single moment, the lingering charm in his heart was filled with a sense of collapse.
How did it come to this… why was he thinking about Zhuang He… why did he answer the video call as if possessed… why did he look at him like that…
Everything was hard for Lu Yin to accept.
But the reality forced him to admit it. Once he had calmed down, Lu Yin numbly got up and took another shower.
As he lay in bed, Lu Yin began to think about his feelings for Zhuang He.
Previously, he could attribute his occasional goodwill to compatibility, but the daily deepening thoughts and his honest physical reactions were all telling him that it wasn’t just as simple as compatibility.
Lu Yin turned over, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. His long lashes masked the deep contemplation in his eyes.
＊
Zhuang He didn’t know that Lu Yin’s heart had undergone a tectonic shift. He continued his dull and arduous training as usual.
But he felt that Lu Yin was intentionally avoiding him.
Usually, there was no lack of physical contact between the two due to training, and he hadn’t seen Lu Yin have any particularly special reaction. But today, when their fingers merely brushed, the boy had pulled back as if struck by electricity.
Before Zhuang He could even ask, Lu Yin was the first to request another round.
He stood in place and thought for a moment, deciding not to dwell on it. For the current Lu Yin, training was the most important thing.
It definitely wasn’t an illusion!
Zhuang He closed the information in his hand, sitting on the sofa with lowered lashes in deep thought.
If Lu Yin liked him, then Zhuang He wouldn’t actually have any particular reaction or attitude toward it. Those who liked him could form a line from the Empire to the Federation. But why avoid physical contact with him?
If he liked him, shouldn’t he be trying to find ways to increase physical contact? Had he gotten it wrong? Did Lu Yin actually dislike him, not like him?
Zhuang He couldn’t figure it out. With these conflicting and puzzled thoughts, he fell into a deep sleep after injecting his Soothing Agent.
Perhaps because he had been thinking too much during the day, Zhuang He dreamed of scenes from long ago.
He was sitting obediently by the bed, waiting for that group of people to arrive.
Due to his 3S-grade spiritual power, little Zhuang He not only had a powerful physique but also an extraordinary memory.
He firmly remembered his father’s words: they did these things to him because they liked him.
People in white lab coats swarmed in. One of them had a pleasant, clear fragrance, and Zhuang He loved being held by her.
His very thin arm was pulled up. He looked at the person holding him with his innocent, black-gold eyes and asked, “Are we doing another check-up today?”
The woman holding him lightly stroked the smooth, long black hair under her palm, her voice gentle. “Yes. Little Zhuang He is so cute; we can’t help but want to play with you a bit longer.”
“Do you like me?”
“Of course.”
“Then you can do the check-up for a bit longer, then stay and play with me.”
The woman’s laughter was low, seemingly carrying some other meaning, but Zhuang He didn’t understand.
“No can do. Adults have their own things to do, just like your mommy and daddy. We can’t play with you all the time.”
“Alright then…”
Little Zhuang He watched as the group drew blood from him and took a skin sample with a cotton swab. He thought it hurt a little.
Looking at that vial of bright red blood, Zhuang He felt the world spin. In a blink, the scene around him changed.
“Zhuang—Senior Zhuang He! I like you!”
A boy whose features were unreadable was handing him a letter with both hands. But Zhuang He just frowned in disgust and turned away coldly.
But in the days that followed, he always happened to bump into this boy. He would always create all sorts of “accidental” encounters to talk to Zhuang He, which made Zhuang He a bit displeased.
The young and arrogant Zhuang He wasn’t yet very good at suppressing his temper. When the boy’s hand touched his buttocks yet again, Zhuang He threw a punch directly.
The deterrence of a 3S-grade was extremely powerful and domineering. Zhuang He himself didn’t quite remember what happened next; all he knew was that the boy’s spiritual power seemed to have been destroyed, leading to his expulsion, while he himself was protected by the Academy, though he also received a cruel punishment.
＊
The moonlight spilled into the room through the swaying gauze, draping a light, soft blanket over the man who wasn’t sleeping soundly on the bed.
However, the man’s sleep was truly restless. Spiritual power flowed slowly through the entire room, only a step away from bursting out.
The pitch-black dreamscape was like a vine tightly wrapping around Zhuang He, leaving him with no escape. These were memories more painful than death.
It wasn’t until the sunlight outside was bright and the moonlight had been driven away that Zhuang He woke up from his dream in a daze.
He vaguely remembered dreaming of some unpleasant past events, but he couldn’t remember them clearly.
When did these unforgettable memories of his begin to gradually fade?
Even Zhuang He doesn’t remember.
He opened his weary eyes, his heart tightening as he looked at the time on his light-brain. How did I sleep until this hour?!
Only after he shot out of bed did he realize belatedly that there was no training today.
Today, Lu Yin should be following his other classmates to attend cultural classes. This was also a very important part of the assessment. After all, soldiers of the Empire couldn’t just have brute strength.
At that thought, the nerves that had just been tense relaxed instantly. Zhuang He slumped on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.
The mechanical arm beside him brought him breakfast. After quickly finishing it, Zhuang He sat on the sofa reading the day’s information for a while before hearing the butler-cat’s mechanical voice: “Master, the food prep at home is nearly empty.”
Out of food. Zhuang He closed the information, opened the shopping store, and tapped several times. With a ding-dong, the food he had just bought was instantly delivered to his door.
The kitten hopped and skipped as it directed the mechanical arms to move the vegetables, while Zhuang He reopened the news, only to see a new pop-up.
[Shocking! A Spy Found in the Council of Elders!]
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