Chapter 14

The atmosphere in the makeshift camp was suffocating and oppressive.

Lu Cheng struggled to sit up from the stretcher. The wound on his shoulder burst open with the movement, instantly staining the bandage red, but he was completely unaware. Those eyes, always filled with tenderness and heartache, now only contained burning anxiety and a hint of panic on the verge of collapse.

"Where's Yaoyao?! Where is he?!"

He grabbed the arm of a team member next to him with such force that he cried out in pain, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing against him. "Why am I the only one back?! Is he still in there?!"

"Mr. Lu! Calm down, you're injured!"

Professor Zhou hurried forward and held him down. "Student Lin Yao and Young Master Qin have been separated, but we are trying to locate them. You can't..."

"Let me go!"

Lu Cheng suddenly shook off Professor Zhou's hand, his eyes bloodshot. The pressure of an S-level strong man burst out uncontrollably, and electric arcs crackled around him.

"How can he survive in there alone?! He's so weak! He can't do it without me! He needs me!"

He struggled to rush deeper into the dungeon, his mind full of Lin Yao trembling in front of the polluted beast, helpless and vulnerable.

It was a treasure he had created with his own memories and overflowing love, a treasure that he needed to protect at all times.

"Brother Acheng, are you crazy?!" Xia Wei rushed over, trying to calm his raging emotions with her mental barrier, but was repelled by the violent lightning energy. Her face turned pale, "You're not even going to give up your life for that piece of trash?!"

"He's not trash!" Lu Cheng roared, his voice trembling with despair, "He is me... me..."

The rest of his words were interrupted by a violent cough, blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, his body swayed, and he almost couldn't stand.

The severe pain in the body was far less than the panic in the heart... Yaoyao was gone. The Yaoyao who could not live without him was now facing the unknown horror in the copy alone.

Just then, there was a commotion at the entrance of the camp.

"They're back! Master Qin and Lin Yao are back!"

Everyone's eyes instantly focused on them. Qin Mu was seen holding Lin Yao and walking towards them with big strides.

Lin Yao's trouser leg was torn, and his exposed calf was wrapped with a simple bandage made of Qin Mu's torn clothes, with blood oozing out faintly.

He had one arm around Qin Mu's neck and his head rested on Qin Mu's chest. His silver hair was a little messy, his face was pale, and he looked pitiful.

However, when Lin Yao looked across the crowd and saw Lu Cheng, who was staggering in the center of the camp, with blood at the corner of his mouth and only despair and panic in his eyes, the weak disguise on his face froze for a moment.

Lu Cheng also saw them.

He saw Qin Mu's arms around Lin Yao so powerfully and intimately. He saw Lin Yao leaning against Qin Mu's arms, a gesture of complete dependence.

He even saw... there seemed to be a faint, relaxed, and even... a hint of joy on the corner of Lin Yao's mouth?

This thorn pierced Lu Cheng's heart deeply.

In an instant, all the doubts that had been forcibly suppressed grew and entangled like poisonous ivy.

An unexpected encounter while unconscious on the edge of D7 area...

Three months of unconditional dependence and demands on myself...

That F-rank strength that seems to never be able to truly improve...

Gladly accepting the third-level citizenship status after the ID chip was replaced...

And now, in the arms of another powerful protector, I feel at ease...

For the first time, a cold and cruel thought struck Lu Cheng's mind, which was filled with love, so clearly.

Perhaps, there has never been any wandering for love, only a carefully planned climb using him as a springboard.

He, Lu Cheng, was just the most convenient and useful tool for this silver-haired boy to seek refuge in City D.

And now, Qin Mu, the young master of City B, a tool with a higher status and more abundant resources than him appeared... So, he was abandoned.

Anger at being exploited? No, that's too superficial.

The pain of betrayal? No, that's too direct.

What filled Lu Cheng's entire chest at this moment was a deeper despair and sadness that almost tore his soul apart.

He looked at Lin Yao, his eyes no longer filled with fervent love, but like broken glass, filled with incredible fragility and... the confusion of being abandoned by the whole world.

His tall body was slightly hunched, and the wound on his shoulder and the pain in his heart made him look vulnerable, as if a gust of wind could blow him down completely.

"Oh……"

A very light, self-deprecating and nasal laugh escaped from his throat, but it was more heartbreaking than any roar.

Lin Yao had never seen Lu Cheng like this.

In the old world, losers had only two outcomes: death, or a lingering struggle that was even more terrifying than death.

Their expressions were numb, resentful, and hysterical, but definitely not... like Lu Cheng at this moment, as if the light of the whole world had been extinguished, leaving only endless, suffocating darkness and fragility.

That kind of fragility is not a lack of strength, but a collapse of faith and the shattering of spiritual pillars.

Without any warning, Lin Yao felt a strange, sharp pain in his heart.

The pain came so suddenly and so intensely that even his arms around Qin Mu's neck stiffened for a moment.

Laugh at him! Lin Yao's rationality screamed in his head.

How foolish! To fall apart like this over a love that might be fake.

In the old world, such a weakling wouldn't survive the first day. He's so vulnerable right now, killing him is a piece of cake. Laugh at his vulnerability!

But... he couldn't laugh.

Looking at Lu Cheng's eyes that had lost focus and were filled with endless pain, looking at the glaring blood at the corner of his mouth and his shaky body, Lin Yao found that his cold rationality, which he was proud of, had become uncontrollably stagnant for the first time.

The stinging sensation persisted stubbornly, interfering with his judgment.

"Tsk...trouble."

Lin Yao cursed in his heart and quickly made a rational decision - to appease.

This tool is still useful.

He provided identity protection, academy resources, the opportunity to approach the copy, and even the potential utilization value of his father Lu Tianheng.

Moreover, regarding the emotion experiment, the data provided by Lu Cheng's sample is the richest and most extreme. If we just discard it and then look for and cultivate a new sample, it will not only be time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the results may not be ideal.

From the perspective of input-output ratio, appeasing Lu Cheng and maintaining the status quo is the optimal solution.

As for this little bit of appeasement? It was just a show, a trivial cost that he had to pay as a vested interest.

In a flash, the confusion on Lin Yao's face faded away, and instantly switched to an expression that was a mixture of great surprise, deep worry and strong grievance.

He struggled violently to get out of Qin Mu's arms, his voice filled with tears and eager desire: "Acheng! Acheng! Let me down!"

Qin Mu subconsciously hugged him tightly: "Don't move, your leg is injured."

Lin Yao ignored him and pushed Qin Mu away with force. He staggered on one leg and limped towards Lu Cheng with an extremely embarrassed yet determined posture, almost pouncing on him.

"Acheng! I'm back! I'm sorry... I'm sorry for making you worry."

He rushed in front of Lu Cheng, ignoring the wound on his leg, stretched out his hands and tightly grasped Lu Cheng's blood-stained lapel, raised his face, and his blue eyes were filled with tears, which were pure, unadulterated dependence and fear.

"I'm so scared... I'm afraid I'll never see you again! Master Qin saved me... but I just want to be with you. Only with you... do I feel safe..."

His voice was trembling, and every word he uttered was filled with gratitude for surviving the disaster and absolute attachment to Lu Cheng.

At the moment of pouncing, he even "accidentally" rubbed Lu Cheng's neck with his cheek, like a frightened little animal that finally found its owner, and let out a slight whimper.

Lu Cheng's stiff body was shaken by the sudden hug and hot tears.

The real touch in his arms, the familiar smell with a hint of blueberries, and the undisguised "only you" in Lin Yao's words... were like a warm tide, instantly breaking down the cold wall of doubt he had just built.

The maximum level of favorability and the unforgettable impression created by imagination once again prevailed.

The cruel thought just now seemed so absurd and ridiculous in the face of Lin Yao's straightforward and passionate confession and dependence.

"Yaoyao..."

Lu Cheng's voice was hoarse and broken. Almost instinctively, he carefully raised his uninjured arm and tremblingly hugged the trembling body in his arms.

The huge ecstasy and fear of regaining what he had lost overwhelmed him, and the wound on his shoulder seemed to be less painful.

"It's good that you're back... It's good that you're back... It's my fault for not protecting you..."

He lowered his head and buried his face in Lin Yao's silver hair, greedily absorbing this real sense of existence.

Xia Wei, who was standing by, dug her nails deep into her palms, almost drawing blood.

She watched Lu Cheng being comforted in an instant and treating that bitch like a treasure again. The jealousy burning in her eyes almost turned into reality.

He must be eliminated! Only when Lin Yao disappears completely will Brother Cheng see my good side!

This idea grew wildly in her mind, becoming clearer and more urgent than ever before.

Qin Mu watched Lin Yao push him away without hesitation and pounce on the injured Lu Cheng. Seeing the unreserved trust and dependence on Lu Cheng in his eyes, the desire to conquer in his heart not only did not go out, but instead ignited a stronger flame, mixed with a hint of... strange throbbing that he himself did not even notice.

In this new world where resources are scarce, everyone is in danger, and people are willing to betray each other for a little benefit, people like Lin Yao who are pure, infatuated, and stick to their original intentions in the face of better choices are like white lotuses blooming in the mud, rare and precious.

He wanted to get him, and even more so, he wanted to protect this purity that was so precious in his eyes.

For this, he is willing to make more efforts, even... some not-so-glorious costs.

City Lord Lu's previous suggestive proposal for cooperation no longer seemed so difficult to accept.

Lin Yao leaned in Lu Cheng's arms, feeling his violent heartbeat and tightening arms. His face still maintained the fragile expression of surviving a disaster, but his heart was filled with cold calculation.

The appeasement was successful and the tool status was stable.

Xia Wei's murderous intent has almost become tangible, and we need to be on guard against it.

Qin Mu's eyes became even more scorching, and his exploitable value increased.

The leg injury...can serve as an excuse for a "reasonable" rest and avoid certain investigations.

As for the long-gone stabbing pain in his heart? It was merely a minor system disturbance, completely eliminated by his powerful rationality.

Emotions are tools and weaknesses, but he, Lin Yao, will never repeat the mistakes of these idiots in the new world.

He closed his eyes and buried his face deeper into Lu Cheng's neck, acting like a lover seeking comfort after being frightened, but the corners of his mouth curved into a cold, controlling arc that no one could see.