Eclipse Hunter V4C4: I Hate You; I Love You

Eclipse Hunter Volume 4: Truth and Lies, Separate Worlds

Original novel in Chinese by: 御我(Yu Wo)

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Chapter Four: I Hate You; I Love You—translated by Trespasserby (C/E edited by lucathia)

Dark Sun exited the toy store. Because the model couldn’t be completed in the same day, he still didn’t have anything to show for it. So, he still wasn’t happy.

His microchip came up with several ways to solve the problem. He chose to walk to the barbecue stall he and Ezart had frequented a few times before. It was already past eight o’clock. Most people had already finished eating dinner, while those wanting midnight snacks hadn’t arrived yet. Therefore, there weren’t a lot of people by the stall.

He sat down and simply said to the waiter who came up, “One of everything.”

“The portions here are large. Are you waiting for someone?” the waiter cautioned, both out of shock and with good intentions.

“No, one of everything,” Dark Sun tonelessly said once more.

The waiter’s kindness was met with disdain. But they could only rub their nose and silently curse things like: I hope you’ll be so full you burst. I hope paying the bill ruins you. I hope all the toilets have “under renovation” signs on them so you have to hold it in.

The waiter deliberately made sure dish after dish was delivered as fast as running water. Their efficiency was more than just two to three times greater than usual. Very rapidly, the table was covered in dishes and quite a few chairs were scooted over to put dishes on. And like this, Dark Sun was completely surrounded by plates. It was very eye-catching. The workers and customers all looked his way.

At this moment, Dark Sun began barbecuing the meat with rapid movements. He placed pieces of meat onto the grill, making it so that not even a single space on the grill was left empty. After ten seconds, he flipped them over. After ten more seconds, he put the entire pile of meat into his bowl and covered the grill with meat again.

Following that, he lowered his head to eat the meat in his bowl. When he had eaten half of it, he lifted his head perfectly in time to flip the meat over. Then he lowered his head to eat again. When all of it had been eaten, he swept all the meat that had finished cooking on the grill into his bowl. Then he put more meat on the grill, then lowered his head to eat…

The dishes were like a mountain at first. All the waiters in the stall were frozen staring at the single customer at that table as he repeated the same motions over and over. The mountain of dishes was quickly dealt with.

“When my subordinates reported back to me that you were eating here alone, I almost did not believe them!”

Dark Sun slowly raised his head and looked at the person who had spoken. That person was standing by the front of the stall, a bit of a distance away from him.

“For you not to be hidden you away like a precious jewel by your elder brother is really quite strange, Ri Xiang Ye.”

That person said as he walked closer.

Dark Sun stood up, already prepared to battle.

Bai Lian Xing was a few paces away from Dark Sun when he stopped. He asked languidly, “May I ask for the privilege of having a few words with you?”

Dark Sun did not reply.

The meat on the grill charred, sending out burnt fumes.

“Do not fret. I only wish to ask you a few matters. I swear that I will not harm you.” Once he had said that, Bai Lian Xing suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. “Heh! Perhaps it is not possible I could even hurt you.”

That was indeed true, but Dark Sun still wasn’t going to let his guard down.

“I have not brought anyone with me. I cannot win against you in a fight. Do you believe me yet? I only wish to ask you something!”

Bai Lian Xing saw that Dark Sun still did not respond, and his face darkened. He coldly said, “It concerns my father!”

Dark Sun flatly turned him down, “I am not obligated to answer any of your questions.”

Hearing that, Bai Lian Xing was silent for a while. He knew that Ri Xiang Ye was speaking the truth. Ri Xiang Ye was very strong, and the power behind him was even more frightening. He himself had nothing to use as a bargaining chip that would be capable of convincing Ri Xiang Ye to answer his questions.

“Although I feel this is a bit ridiculous… When I bought this, I asked the shop clerk and he said that you had yet to purchase one. So, I purchased two copies.”

Bai Lian Xing fished around in his handbag until he felt a box. Clearly written on the outside of the box was: “Virtual Lover Game Ultra-Limited Platinum Release Version 8.5.”

What the hell… All the waiters around them had the corners of their mouths twitching. The mood had been extremely tense, to the point that a fight had been about to break out, and now a virtual lover game box had come out of nowhere?

That kind of thing couldn’t possible cause that icy customer to agree to anything, right?

“Fine. Give it to me. I will go with you,” Dark Sun succinctly replied.

“…”

Even Bai Lian Xing was stunned for a moment. He had only tried it because there was nothing else he could do. He hadn’t actually thought Dark Sun would be willing to go with him because of a game… It wasn’t like he was kidnapping a little kid!

Dark Sun walked up to Bai Lian Xing and took the box in his hand, simply saying, “Let’s go.” Then without further ado, he paid at the front desk and left.

Bai Lian Xing only snapped out of it after Dark Sun had finished paying his bill. Seeing that Dark Sun had already walked out the door, he hurriedly caught up.

“Should we call the police?”

After the two of them had left the barbecue stall, one of the staff inside asked in a tiny voice, “Does this count as a kidnapping?”

Dark Sun didn’t have to spend too much effort before he found a place nearby that was quiet enough to talk: the abandoned sports field that Ezart had previously fought in. There currently were no matches. The entire sports field was dark and as quiet as a grave. The only light was from the nearby multistory complexes, allowing the two of them to just barely make out the path. It definitely was a place to tell secrets to people and to permanently silence them.

Dark Sun walked over to the spectators’ seats and sat down on one of the steps. He opened the outer casing of the virtual lover console, picked up the thin upgrade chip and inserted it into the virtual lover console. Then he began playing on it.

Bai Lian Xing also sat down. When he saw Dark Sun playing on the virtual lover console, he hesitated for a moment but still pulled out his own virtual lover game, too.

He pressed a button. A beautiful woman with supple black hair and cat-like green eyes appeared. She was wearing a sleek, close-fitted outfit, but she was only the length of an arm.

Bai Lian Xing proudly said, “This is my Octavia. What is yours called?”

Dark Sun lifted his head, looked at the girl in Bai Lian Xing’s hands, and replied, “Xiao Ai.”

“Truly a tasteless name… Even her appearance is completely lacking in taste!”

Partway through scoffing, Bai Lian Xing happened to see that Dark Sun had finished upgrading the virtual lover console in his hands. A girl with pink hair and pink eyes, and a face as round as her eyes, had appeared.

“What kind of appearance settings are those?” He couldn’t help but shout. “Are you a pedophile?”

Dark Sun honestly stated, “Ezart set Xiao Ai’s name and appearance for me.”

“What?” Bai Lian Xing showed a disgusted expression and disdainfully said, “So that person was actually a pedophile! Repulsive!”

Repulsive? Dark Sun looked up the meaning of pedophile in confusion. So it refers to someone who likes little girls. But little girls are cute. There is nothing wrong with liking little girls. He didn’t think any more about it.

The two of them played separately with their own virtual girlfriends.

“How do you have children?”

Dark Sun finished reading the instruction manual. It explained that after dating a boyfriend and marrying, children could be produced. With such unclear directions, he didn’t know where to start.

“It is very troublesome! You have to select the social interactions option, participate in more parties, social gatherings, and the like, become acquainted with some men, have a relationship for a long time as well, then marry and a bunch of nonsense. Then you can have children.”

At this point, Bai Lian Xing cast a glance at Xiao Ai and warned, “Furthermore, you set the age of your girl too young. She cannot marry until she is grown up. Currently, she can have a boyfriend at most. It is impossible for her to have children!”

But Dark Sun still selected the social interactions option.

Bai Lian Xing said, “Hey! Were you aware that two virtual lover consoles can become friends?”

“I know.” Dark Sun nodded. He remembered every word of the instruction manual from start to finish, so how could he not know about that function? It was just that until now, he had never run into anyone else with a virtual lover console who could let him use this function.

“Hand it over.”

Bai Lian Xing didn’t bother with niceties at all and grabbed the virtual lover console in Dark Sun’s hands. Then he connected the two virtual lover consoles by their connection ports.

What were originally two virtual lover consoles and two girls combined to make one virtual lover console. The two girls both curiously looked each other over.

“Who are you?” Xiao Ai asked curiously.

Octavia looked side-eyed at Xiao Ai. She unhurriedly said, “Vulgar girl. Do you not know to present your own name before you ask for someone else’s name?”

“Sorry.” Xiao Ai said a little timidly, “I-I’m Xiao Ai. May I ask what your name is?”

Octavia took measure of Xiao Ai for quite a while before she replied somewhat reluctantly, “Octavia.”

Facing Octavia’s unfriendliness, Xiao Ai retreated back into the range of her own virtual lover console. But not too long later, she saw Octavia pull out makeup and apply it to her face. Xiao Ai curiously moved forward to watch, but didn’t dare to talk to Octavia.

“They are incompatible.”

Bai Lian Xing came to that conclusion. But it wasn’t anything surprising. Their designs were too different. It was normal for them not to get along…

Just like Dark Sun and I. We also would never be friends.

“Mm.”

Dark Sun closely watched the two virtual lover consoles because his microchip reported that his physiological responses from anger were decreasing. Playing games is effective!

At this moment, several options appeared on Xiao Ai’s virtual lover console:

“What would you like Xiao Ai to do?

“1. Play with Octavia 2. Ignore Octavia 3….”

Dark Sun chose the first option. Then more options appeared on the console:

“1. Chat 2. Put on makeup together 3…”

Dark Sun chose to chat.

Xiao Ai asked, “Octavia, can I play with you?”

“I hate him.”

Dark Sun lifted his head to look at Bai Lian Xing, who had said the words just now. By this time, he wasn’t watching the virtual lover consoles anymore. However, Dark Sun had absolutely no clue who the person Bai Lian Xing hated was. Is it me? But Bai Lian Xing and said “him” and not “you.”

Bai Lian Xing didn’t explain who “he” was at all and continued to vent, “His rules of etiquette never stop increasing. He loves having people kneel before him and is quick to slap people…”

As Dark Sun listened, he pressed one of Xiao Ai’s options.

“What is even more detestable is that he always threatens me with sending me back to my family and disowning me as his heir!” By then, Bai Lian Xing seemed very agitated and angry.

Dark Sun finally figured out who “he” was: Bai Lian Yue. Only he could dismiss Bai Lian Xing’s status as the heir to the Purple Moon Alliance.

However, Dark Sun didn’t care who Bai Lian Xing was talking about or what he was talking about. The conditions he had accepted from Bai Lian Xing were that in exchange for the upgrade chip, Dark Sun would listen to what he had to say.

He had already obtained the upgrade chip, so no matter what Bai Lian Xing said, he would listen to it until the end.

“He always threatens me with disowning, disowning, disowning! Aside from those words, he does not say anything else to me! Am I only his heir and nothing else to him?” After Bai Lian Xing finished raging, he breathed heavily for quite a while.

Seeing that he was no longer speaking, Dark Sun lowered his head to focus on the virtual lover consoles.

Octavia arrogantly replied, “I do not want to play with you! I detest you!”

Xiao Ai asked sadly, “Why do you hate me?”

Bai Lian Xing said with melancholy, “I have always felt he hated me.”

Dark Sun emotionlessly replied, “If he hated you, he would have simply dismissed your status as his heir or even killed you. He would not need to keep you around.”

Bai Lian Xing had an expression like he had just been dealt a blow. He was stunned for a while and buried his face between his knees.

Since he was no longer speaking, Dark Sun continued to play with his own virtual lover console.

Octavia disdainfully said, “Because you look like you are stupid. I am not going to waste time playing with an idiot.”

Xiao Ai retreated back into her virtual lover console and crouched on the ground, crying.

At this moment, a message appeared on the virtual lover console: “Friendship Failed.

“Would you like to: 1. Try again 2. Argue with Octavia 3…”

Dark Sun hesitated for a moment, then pressed option 2.

Xiao Ai leapt up, rushed into the other virtual lover console, and yelled, “I’m not stupid! Octavia’s the one who’s stupid!”

“What did you say?” Octavia immediately was so furious that her face reddened.

Hearing the conversation from the virtual lover consoles, Bai Lian Xing helplessly smiled, “I really am stupid!”

Dark Sun turned his attention to Bai Lian Xing once again. He was surprised his eyes weren’t wet, but after that moment of surprise, he continued earnestly fulfilling the condition for the exchange: listening to him speak.

“He keeps saying that he will send me back to my family, that he will disown me as his heir. He must have said that at least one or two hundred times?”

Bai Lian Xing began laughing self-deprecatingly before he continued with, “But he has never truly done it even once. Tell me, why does he not do it? If I am so loathsome, why does he not do it?”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Dark Sun replied with the most basic logical answer.

Bai Lian Xing reacted strongly. “Then why does he always say he hates me?! Whenever I make the slightest error, he strikes me, scolds me, and even says he will send me away!”

Dark Sun was wordless. He also did not know.

Bai Lian Xing suddenly leapt up and shouted at the sky, “You bastard! Why do you always make people hate you?

“You soft-hearted, sharp-tongued bastard!

“You clearly love the Sun Emperor to death, but you keep saying over and over that you hate him. You made everything a mess! You huge idiot!”

Dark Sun lifted his head to look at him.

Bai Lian Xing was no longer shouting, but he hadn’t lowered his head to look at Dark Sun. He still had his head raised, looking at the sky.

Perhaps it was because this sports field was very dark, but there were an unusually large number of stars in the sky that night. Dark Sun even thought he saw starlight glimmering on Bai Lian Xing’s cheeks.

Bai Lian Xing wasn’t saying anything, so Dark Sun should have lowered his head to continue playing with the virtual lover console. But he didn’t know why he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the stars by Bai Lian Xing’s cheeks.

Bai Lian Xing asked, calmly, “My father… Is he still alive?”

He didn’t wait for Dark Sun’s reply before he anxiously said, “I know that you people announced his death. But I want to hear from your own mouth, hear the Sun Emperor’s younger brother say it. Is my father truly dead?”

Dark Sun was silent for a while. But he directly replied, “He is dead.”

Following that, it was Bai Lian Xing’s turn to be silent for a long time. He asked, “Who… Personally killed him? Was it the Sun Emperor?”

“It was me,” Dark Sun once again spoke. His microchip had concluded that he should frame a random bodyguard he did not know and so on, but he still decided to speak the truth.

Bai Lian Xing was silent for an even longer time. Finally, he wiped his face with his hand and turned around. Looking down at Dark Sun, he haughtily vowed, “From tomorrow, we are enemies. I know I cannot defeat you. You are very strong and are also the Sun Emperor’s beloved treasure… However, I will dedicate my whole life, dedicate a whole lifetime’s efforts. I will kill you! To avenge my father!”

“But don’t you hate him?” Dark Sun interjected.

Bai Lian Xing huffed. “That is not something for you to worry about! I am happy to avenge him. Is that not acceptable?”

“Soft-hearted, sharp-tongued…”

Bai Lian Xing flushed red and roared, “What did you say?!”

Dark Sun lifted his head to look at him and said, “You resemble your father.”

Hearing that, Bai Lian Xing was stunned for a moment before he was finally able to roar, “I am not like that bastard!”

After he finished shouting, Bai Lian Xing’s eyes were red as he growled, “In short, tomorrow you had better be wary of me! I will definitely have revenge. Revenge. Is. Mine!”

Kill him now! Eliminate a future problem.

At this moment, Dark Sun’s warning system sounded. His sharp metal nails silently extended, and he stood up. His eyes pinned Bai Lian Xing down like a predator hunting prey. At the right moment, he would strike to take his life.

Bai Lian Xing also saw the pair of sharp fingernails, but he was unafraid. He coldly said, “You killed my father. Are you going to kill me, too?”

Dark Sun was unaffected by his response. He still coldly watched Bai Lian Xing, searching for the best moment to strike to be certain of claiming his life to prevent future complications.

Seeing that, Bai Lian Xing frowned and thought, Does Ri Xiang Ye really intend on killing me? Why? He had been certain that Ri Xiang Ye wouldn’t make a move against him, which was why he had dared not to bring anyone with him… Ri Xiang Ye wasn’t someone who would kill others randomly.

Although Ri Xiang Ye had killed his father, it was only to save the Sun Emperor!

Seeing that Dark Sun was drawing closer, step by step, Bai Lian Xing also slowly backed away. He was uncertain. Perhaps he hadn’t truly understood what kind of a person Ri Xiang Ye was?

“I do not wish to quarrel with you,” Octavia turned her head away and ignored Xiao Ai.

“But I want to play with you!” Xiao Ai was unwilling to give up.

Octavia was silent for a while but was still reluctant. However, she clearly wasn’t completely against the idea anymore. She pouted and finally agreed, “Fine! You may play with me. I will tell you, though. I still hate you!”

“Heehee. You don’t hate me!” Xiao Ai giggled and said, “Octavia is super stubborn.”

“I am not!”

Dark Sun’s footsteps slowed. He suddenly felt unwell. After a quick inspection, he discovered there was nothing wrong with his body. However, what he was currently about to do made him feel repulsed. His chest ached, and his hands trembled… These were all physiological responses that had appeared due to his unwillingness to kill the other person.

Dark Sun had quickly come to that conclusion. However, even if he was unwilling, he must kill. He absolutely could not allow an enemy to exist and pose a threat…

You can’t kill!

Dark Sun’s footsteps had slowed, but he still continued toward Bai Lian Xing. The latter backed up and was debating over pulling out his weapon. However, he worried whether that action would instead provoke the dangerous person in front of him.

You can’t!

Dark Sun continued to draw closer. This time there was no pause in his footsteps.

No!

Bai Lian Xing suddenly stopped. Staring at Dark Sun’s face, he told him, “You are crying.”

This time, Dark Sun finally stopped advancing. He touched his cheeks. Damp… How? Dark Sun does not cry!

Isn’t the emotion-suppressing switch on? There shouldn’t be emotions. How could there be tears?

Bai Lian Xing saw that he was crying and hesitating. He hastily said, “Do not kill me. I still have to take revenge for my father!”

Dark Sun looked at him in disbelief.

Begging the person you want to kill not to kill you?

Taking revenge for someone you hate?

Although his mouth says he hates him, his actions are full of love!

Dark Sun was trembling as he said, “Why are humans so conflicting? So hard to understand?”

Bai Lian Xing froze. Then he coldly replied, “What a joke. Are you not the same? You clearly are not someone who would kill me, yet you are forcing yourself to kill. I can see that you are crying, so why do you insist on putting on an unfeeling, callous face? Ri Xiang Ye, do not be stupid. You will not kill me!”

Ri Xiang Ye… Is the same?

He clearly wanted to smile at his brother, but kept Dark Sun’s unfeeling expression.

He clearly wanted to go into the toy store, but because he wasn’t willing to, he was in a deadlock outside the store door with Ezart.

He clearly wanted to love his brother so much, wanted to love An Te Qi-bàba, wanted to go eat midnight snacks with Ezart, wanted to chat with Elian and the others… But he had suppressed all his emotions and shut everyone out.

He rubbed his face. His whole face was covered in tears. He wasn’t Dark Sun at all. He was Ri Xiang Ye. And he had always been.

Ri Xiang Ye raised his head and asked, “Bai Lian Xing, you said you would be my enemy starting from tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“You would spend a whole lifetime getting revenge?”

“Yes.”

“Then I… Can I not have to feel guilty for killing Bai Lian Yue anymore?”

“You do not have to, because I will make you pay for it!”

After Bai Lian Xing coldly pledged that, he walked past Ri Xiang Ye without paying him any mind. He picked up his Octavia and then left the sports field. As he left, his back faced Ri Xiang Ye the whole time as though he were confident that Ri Xiang Ye wouldn’t make a move against him.

“I let a person who wanted to kill me go. Why? It’s so strange! Maybe in the future he’ll come to kill me, and then I’ll still have to kill him!”

Ri Xiang Ye raised his head to look at the sky. Such a strange self… Am I more human like this and less like the spawn of a demon?

It wasn’t until late at night that Ri Xiang Ye arrived home. He stood in the entrance hall and saw that there were still a lot of bodyguards in the living room tidying up. It had originally been an absolute mess but it was almost completely cleaned up now. Only the holes in the wall still needed to be repaired.

Ri Xiang Ye felt very apologetic when he saw that. No matter how you put it, he was the one completely responsible for the mess. He was just about to walk into the living room to help clean up when DSII also happened to open the hidden entrance and entered the living room carrying a new coffee table.

Ri Xiang Ye instantly stopped and stood in the entrance hall. A strong emotion swelled in his heart…

I hate DSII!

He hated how DSII looked exactly like him. He hated that DSII could also protect his brother, and was even more obedient than he was. He hated that DSII also got to say “Gēge” and that Gēge would call DSII “Xiao Ye”… What he hated even more was that Gēge would call DSII “Ah Ye!”

DSII looked at Ri Xiang Ye, set down the coffee table, and stared fixedly at Ri Xiang Ye. His face still remained in a faint smile.

However, Ri Xiang Ye knew that DSII had already determined him to be an enemy. In addition, an enemy with an extremely high danger level. If Ri Xiang Yan hadn’t repeated the order that DSII was not allowed to attack him, then the two of them would have already started another fight to the death. Furthermore, this time DSII would have been the one to make the first move.

The confrontation between the two of them caused all the bodyguards around them to grow nervous.

While the bodyguards were unsure of what to do, Ri Xiang Ye jumped up and took the path farthest away from DSII to go upstairs. He stepped once on the wall and then leapt directly up to the second floor.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Ri Xiang Ye was originally planning to return to his room, but as he passed by his brother’s study, he saw that the study door was half open and there was light inside.

Is Gēge still working?

Is he… Looking for me?

Ri Xiang Ye sneakily peeked through the gap in the open door. Unexpectedly, he saw the head of golden hair spread across the black desk, making the hair seem even more brilliant… Ri Xiang Yan was sprawled out on the desk, fast asleep.

It was currently only midnight. Normally, Ri Xiang Yan wouldn’t go to sleep until at least three in the morning.

Ri Xiang Ye was a little surprised. He gently pushed open the door and walked into the study. His movements were light and didn’t make the slightest noise.

He slowly walked to the study’s desk. Ri Xiang Yan was leaning sideways on the desk, so his face was visible. His brow was tightly furrowed, and he tossed and turned. It was clear he wasn’t sleeping very soundly.

“Ah Ye…” He suddenly murmured.

Ri Xiang Ye was scared silly. He thought he had been discovered. But when he looked carefully, Ri Xiang Yan still had his eyes tightly shut and clearly hadn’t woken up.

Gēge is sleep talking? Gēge is dreaming and calling out my name! He was a little bit happy.

He was a little curious and stood there without moving. He wanted to listen to what else his brother would say while dreaming.

Ri Xiang Ye stared with wide eyes, quietly waiting. Waiting to hear his own name.

“Ah Ye… I’m sorry. I’m sor…”

A single tear slid down the monarch’s cheek. The sleeping monarch looked as frail as a child. It was only in moments like this where he would permit himself weakness.

Ri Xiang Ye felt his heart ache when he saw that. He couldn’t help but reach out to wipe away the tear on his brother’s cheek, and softly called out, “Gēge…”

Ri Xiang Yan’s body stiffened. He reacted quickly. In an instant, his head was up and he quietly cried out, “Ah Ye?”

Oh no! I’ve been discovered.

Ri Xiang Ye’s reaction was also very fast. He purposefully showed a brilliant smile, knowing that this would cause his brother to believe he was DSII.

As expected, Ri Xiang Yan froze. Then he showed an expression of disappointment and unhappily said, “Oh, it’s DSII! What are you standing here for? Leave.”

This time, Ri Xiang Ye was the one who froze. Doesn’t Gēge like DSII a lot? He even nicknamed him Xiao Ye. Why would he tell him to leave? And he even used the name DSII, not Xiao Ye…

At this point, Ri Xiang Yan realized that he had unwittingly fallen asleep. He had really been too tired lately. He rubbed his temples. As he rubbed them, he looked at Ri Xiang Ye, losing patience at seeing that he was still there.

But he thought for a moment and commanded, “Bring me a cup of coffee.”

“O.K.”

Ri Xiang Ye immediately nodded and then urgently left the study, running toward the kitchen. He wanted to brew a cup of coffee for his brother so that his brother’s headache would go away sooner.

As Ri Xiang Yan watched him run off, an odd feeling welled up in his heart. He blankly thought, Something seems wrong?

At this moment, the door to the study opened again. A familiar and incredibly adorable face peeked in from behind the door, beaming as its owner said, “Gēge, the living room is all tidied up.”

Ri Xiang Yan had an extremely bizarre expression. He couldn’t quite figure out what was going on. But he did remember that he had sent DSII to go clean up the living room. As a test, he asked, “DSII?”

“Yes, Gēge?” DSII jumped out from behind the door, beaming and energetically replying with a loud voice.

Something has to be wrong!

Ri Xiang Yan was a bit groggy from having just woken up. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening. He was silent for a while before saying, “DSII, go make me a cup of coffee.”

“Sure! Gēge, how much sugar and creamer do you want in your coffee?” DSII smilingly asked.

Sugar and creamer? Ri Xiang Yan suddenly realized something. He instantly commanded, “Find An Te Qi immediately. Now. Leave this instant!”

“O.K.!” Having received this urgent command, DSII instantly turned around and left.

Ri Xiang Yan tapped his fingers on the desk and waited. Although his expression was tranquil, his fingers drummed faster and faster…

Finally, there was a knock on the door. The fingers incessantly drumming on the desk’s surface also stopped.

Ri Xiang Yan pretended to have his head down, looking at documents. Then he lightly called out, “Enter.”

A person walked in, bringing the fragrance of coffee with them. That person gently placed the coffee onto the desk.

Ri Xiang Yan offhandedly said, “Thanks, Xiao Ye.”

That person clearly stiffened.

Ri Xiang Yan lifted up the coffee, took a sip, and casually said, “You can go back to rest.”

“Understood.”

The person left the study somewhat stiffly.

Once they had closed the door, Ri Xiang Yan looked at the door to the study and took another sip of coffee. Then, for the first time in the past few days, he showed a faint smile.

“Ah Ye, you still make the best black coffee.”

So Gēge still likes DSII after all!

After Ri Xiang Ye furiously stormed out of the study, he leaned over the banister looking for any sign of DSII. He almost had the urge to find and fight him again. But he didn’t spot DSII.

He can’t be with An Te Qi-bàba, right?

“Bàba is mine too!”

He growled and then jumped downstairs, scaring numerous bodyguards as well. Under everyone’s shocked stares, he sat down on the only intact sofa and pressed the button for basement two.

He descended to basement two, and sure enough, DSII was there. DSII was currently passing some implements to An Te Qi.

Livid, Ri Xiang Ye rushed at DSII. DSII, now sensing Dark Sun’s hostility, swiped a scalpel from a steel tray next to him.

Seeing that, Ri Xiang Ye extended his steel fingernails…

While the two of them were about to face off, An Te Qi was completely oblivious. He looked at the data displayed on the apparatus, picked up a pen and paper to take notes, and from time to time, frowned as he looked at the experimental subject on the operating table. He seemed to be contemplating what action to take.

“Should I excise the damaged portion first? It wouldn’t be good if it affected the normal portion.”

After An Te Qi finished muttering to himself, he immediately commanded, “DSII, prepare to operate.”

As he gave the command, he didn’t even turn his head and also completely failed to notice that there was an extra person in the lab.

Although DSII had received the order, he was currently confronting a highly dangerous opponent, so he didn’t begin preparing the experiment… However, An Te Qi didn’t notice at all and only continued to observe the experimental subject.

At this moment, Ri Xiang Ye happened to notice that an earnest An Te Qi was about to begin operating on…

“Bai Lian Yue?”

Ri Xiang Ye blurted out, so shocked that he forgot to remain on guard.

On the operating table was none other than Bai Lian Yue, who he had killed with his own hands. Even more important was that he didn’t look dead. Ri Xiang Ye even watched the white sheet covering Bai Lian Yue’s chest move up and down.

Bai Lian Yue is still alive!

After hearing that shout, even An Te Qi, who had a single-minded focus on his experimental subject, finally noticed something was wrong. He suspiciously looked back and happened to see two of Ah Ye…

An Te Qi froze. He looked at the Ah Ye closer to him, then looked at the Ah Ye farther away from him… He called out, “DSII?”

“Yes,” the closer Ah Ye, who was DSII, loudly replied.

An Te Qi looked at the Ah Ye farther away from him. That’s the real Ah Ye, then… But why would he be here and with an expression that seems like shock?!

Ri Xiang Ye retracted his fingernails. He looked at the person on the lab bench as he walked over. He couldn’t help murmuring, “Isn’t Bai Lian Yue dead? I killed him!”

“According to medicine, he is dead.”

After An Te Qi had stared at Ri Xiang Ye for a while, he lowered his head to look at Bai Lian Yue. He slowly explained, “A portion of his brain was indeed damaged. Fortunately, I had brought a complete set of medical equipment with me at the time so that I could treat your injuries. I immediately put him on an artificial circulation so that he could survive, but he was already vegetative. However, if I could successfully use a microchip to replace the parts that were damaged, then perhaps he could make a full recovery.”

“If Bai Lian Yue could recover…”

Then Bai Lian Xing won’t have to seek revenge?

Ri Xiang Ye was extremely happy. Bai Lian Xing was the first person to play the virtual lover game together with him, and he had let Bai Lian Xing go. If possible, then he didn’t want to have to kill Bai Lian Xing with his own hands sometime in the future. As soon as he thought about the possibility of having to kill Bai Lian Xing out of self-defense, he felt uncomfortable.

“However, I don’t have any microchips on hand that I could use anymore.”

An Te Qi had been wracking his brain over it. He used to have at least ten microchips, but back when the Sun Emperor had gone to the laboratory to bring back Ah Ye, the Sun Emperor had everyone “permanently silenced” and everything completely burned to ashes.

That bro-con doesn’t care at all about the terrifying sums of money that lab spent. All of that research would have had a huge impact on the worlds of medicine, science, and combat. He didn’t even care about all the business opportunities from those results.

To protect Ah Ye’s secret, the Sun Emperor didn’t even spare a glance at that other stuff and completely annihilated the laboratory.

Back then, An Te Qi had felt his heart ache but hadn’t possessed the courage to beg the Sun Emperor to at least save a microchip… After all, who knew if the Sun Emperor would have also shoved him into the blaze too?

Because the laboratory had been thoroughly destroyed, he didn’t have a microchip he could use as a replacement. So even he couldn’t do a thing for Bai Lian Yue’s condition.

But it looks like I don’t need to wrack my brains anymore.

An Te Qi looked at Ri Xiang Ye, who was looking at Bai Lian Yue. He didn’t know what Ri Xiang Ye was thinking, but he looked very happy and the corners of his mouth had lifted. He clearly hadn’t noticed that he had stopped pretending.

An Te Qi pushed up the small spectacles resting on his nose and smiled slightly. He purposefully put on an act and said, “Ah Ye! Your brother just said he wanted to kill me again…”

As soon as Ri Xiang Ye heard that, he anxiously blurted out, “What? Gēge is trying to kill Bàba again?”

He turned his head to look at An Te Qi, his expression full of anxiety and worry. An Te Qi looked back at him without the slightest trace of nervousness on his face. He was even wearing a smile.

By this point, Ri Xiang Ye’s expression had gone from worry to confusion. The two of them stared at each other for a while before Ri Xiang Ye let out an “ah.” He stared wide-eyed at An Te Qi and his expression was a little panicked and nervous. He didn’t seem to know what to do.

“Kid, you’re really so…”

An Te Qi smiled as he shook his head. He said, a bit helplessly, “Who would have thought that laidback Ezart would have been the one to see the situation most clearly?”

“What did Ezart say?” Ri Xiang Ye blinked and asked, puzzled.

“He said you were just pitching a fit and were angry, and that after a while you’d be fine.”

An Te Qi dryly smiled. Everything really had turned out fine after a while. He had wracked his brains so much before remembering DSII’s existence; the Sun Emperor had used so much manpower to search for that secret laboratory; but all of their efforts weren’t nearly as effective as Ezart’s single sentence—Ah Ye would be fine in a bit.

“No wonder you still like Ezart so much even though he ignores you. Even though Elian and his group were so worried about you, they still couldn’t beat Ezart’s understanding of you.”

Ri Xiang Ye looked at An Te Qi, not quite understanding. But he was very curious. Ezart understands me?

“I really didn’t need to worry about you at all.” An Te Qi rubbed Ri Xiang Ye’s head and laughed as he said, “You picked the friend that would understand you best right from the start!”

“Ezart?” Ri Xiang Ye’s head drooped. He gloomily said, “But today all he did was ignore me, and he even went to school by himself!”

“That’s because…”

An Te Qi hastily wanted to explain, That’s because of the Sun Emperor’s order… Ah ah! The Sun Emperor still doesn’t know that Ah Ye’s already back to normal.

“And Elian and the others, they didn’t come to see me at all today,” Ri Xiang Ye said, feeling wronged and aggrieved. He was about to cry.

“Ah!”

An Te Qi opened his mouth to start explaining, but then thought better of it. At the moment, the most important thing to do was to tell Ri Xiang Yan. Explaining things could wait until Ri Xiang Yan came down, since it would better if he personally explained it to Ah Ye.

As he walked over to the telephone, he said, “I’ll go tell your brother that you’re fine.”

An Te Qi was lifting up the phone when Ri Xiang Ye anxiously said, “Don’t tell Gēge!”

An Te Qi froze and asked back, “Why?”

“No reason…”

Ri Xiang Ye replied a little guiltily. Then his gaze fell on DSII over to the side and he said grumpily, “Anyway, Xiao Ye is around. As long as Gēge has Xiao Ye, he’ll be fine.”

Pitching a fit indeed… An Te Qi dryly smiled and felt admiration toward Ezart once again.

An Te Ri initially felt that this wasn’t quite right, but he thought, Whatever! I’ll wait until the Sun Emperor really can’t take it anymore and wants to send me to the grave with Ah Ye. It won’t be too late to tell him then.

Anyway, the Sun Emperor’s put the pistol to my head plenty of times. Being able to make a king like him squirm is really pretty satisfying.

An Te Qi shrugged, hung the phone back up, and said as he walked back to the lab bench, “In that case, I’ll let DSII exist for a few more days.”

“An Te Qi-bàba, what do you mean?” Ri Xiang Ye asked, not understanding.

“Remember how I don’t have any microchips to treat Bai Lian Yue with anymore?”

An Te Qi reminded. Then seeing that Ri Xiang Ye had nodded, he continued explaining, “Before you returned to normal, I was using DSII to test various ways to get you to recover, so I couldn’t use him. But if you’re all better now, DSII isn’t necessary anymore. With some adjustments to his microchip, it can be used on Bai Lian Yue.”

Hearing that DSII might be destroyed, Ri Xiang Ye was stunned. He looked to DSII, who was still standing there with a faint smile, just as before.

I still hate DSII! I definitely hate him!

But…