Translator: bittercoffee

Chapter 64: The Movie Screen in the Mind

Zhou Yu knew that Mo Ye wasn’t really here. All of these feelings were by Mo Ye’s design.

Mo Ye withdrew from Zhou Yu’s lips, his gaze dropping. His soft gaze suddenly became extremely powerful, crushing Zhou Yu’s mental state.

Zhou Yu started struggling. He had always been a person with strong self-control, but at this moment, all the nerves he needed to move his limbs with seemed to be tightly bound.

Mo Ye fiercely pressed up against him, and this time his kiss was so passionate that he seemed to want to seize everything from Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu’s lips become a battlefield between them. Mo Ye swept over Zhou Yu’s tongue, disintegrating his will and destroying his defenses.

Zhou Yu fell backwards, but his back was supported by Mo Ye’s hand before he could touch the ground.

Mo Ye pressed down on his body, one hand that was supporting himself placed by Zhou Yu’s neck. He had already locked onto his prey. In his eyes, there was a power that wanted to devour everything. For the first time, Zhou Yu felt a kind of fear.

This fear had nothing to do with losing his life.

Mo Ye’s kiss seemed to want to crush Zhou Yu’s skull. It was like a kiss from a movie that was full of artistic flair, one that Zhou Yu hadn’t thought would exist in real life. But Mo Ye made it a reality. Mo Ye’s desire and madness were all infused into Zhou Yu’s body, seeping into his limbs. His every cell was branded with Mo Ye’s mark. No matter where he went, no matter what happened, Zhou Yu would always remember Mo Ye’s existence, which could not be refused, ignored or denied.

Zhou Yu had the illusion of being killed by him.

“Do you know you almost died today? Do you know I almost never saw you again? This is something intolerable to me, and today you have once again stepped on my bottom line. You frighten me.” Mo Ye’s voice was calm, but there was a bone-penetrating force within such calmness.

What he said was the truth, was what Zhou Yu’s intuition told him.

But at the same time, he warned himself that Mo Ye was an S rank organism, and that everything he said had its purpose.

“Is there anyone you care about in this base, Zhou Yu?” Mo Ye suddenly asked.

His voice was so gentle that Zhou Yu was reminded of when he had stroked the soft fur on his back when he was still disguised as a night spirit.

Zhou Yu couldn’t speak. He knew that Mo Ye could understand all of his thoughts.

“Ah—that’s right, your most important person should be Zhou Qing!”

Mo Ye turned to look at Zhou Qing, who was sleeping on the chair.

“How about this, if you were to die one day, I will let Zhou Qing become my nourishment. What do you think?”

His tone was still gentle, but Zhou Yu felt terrified.

“If you do anything to Zhou Qing, I won’t let you off, even if I have to chase you to the depths of hell, even if you are an S rank organism.”

Zhou Yu’s eyes were glacial.

Mo Ye also smiled, but there was a hint of self-deprecation between his brows. “If you don’t want me to do anything to Zhou Qing, then remember to live well.. Otherwise, I will take Zhou Qing’s life as my revenge against you.”

“Why is it so important to you that I live? Is it because you need my blood? In that case, you can choose someone else.” Zhou Yu didn’t understand Mo Ye’s obsession with him.

The world was so big, with so many choices.

“It’s a pity that there will always be only one Zhou Yu, whether it’s in your world or Nibelungen.”

He lowered his body and gently touched the tip of his nose to Zhou Yu in an exceeding gentle gesture.

Zhou Yu subconsciously curled up his knees, all of his sensory nerves becoming fine and sensitive. Even the temperature at the tip of Mo Ye’s nose was transmitted to his every cell.

At this time, Zhou Qing’s voice suddenly rang out, “Zhou Yu, what’s wrong? Why are you lying on the floor?!”

Zhou Yu blinked. The figure before him that had belonged to Mo Ye completely disappeared.

“I.. just wanted to get up after lying down for so long, but I didn’t expect to..”

Zhou Qing sighed in relief when he saw Zhou Yu stand up, unharmed.

“I was so scared when you slept for so long after you got back! And did you know..”

Zhou Qing hesitated for a moment and did not say the rest.

“What should I know? Tell me what’s going on! Did something happen to Wu Yun?”

“No.. Not Wu Yun. It’s the team member you brought back. He was infected with a virus from the death dahlia and had mutated. His current DNA.. has become very different from humans, and we’ve found a large number of genes that are highly similar to the death dahlia.. In other words, this virus can alienize human beings in Nibelungen organisms.”

The virus broke down the barrier between organisms of the two worlds. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

“Did you find Dr. Turing?” Zhou Yu asked.

“No.. Mr. Song is preparing an operation to capture Dr. Turing right now. If you’ve recovered, I think you and Wu Yun might have to leave the base! I really don’t want you to face Dr. Turing, I’m terribly scared that you’ll contract the virus by accident.. I don’t want you to become like Dr. Turing. Haven’t you heard Wu Yun’s description? He’s not human, but a monster!” This was the first time Zhou Qing has had an emotional outburst.

Zhou Yu hugged Zhou Qing tightly and patted his back while saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! See, after all those incidents, I still came back alive. Maybe in Nibelungen, my luck is much better than Wu Yun’s.”

After the doctor’s examination confirmed that Zhou Yu had completely recovered, he left the hospital ward and returned to his room.

In the narrow, empty room, Zhou Yu once again thought of Mo Ye. He didn’t dare close his eyes, afraid that once he fell asleep, Mo Ye would enter his thoughts again. Or maybe he had always been there, only in hibernation, silently observing.

Zhou Yu’s lips seemed to retain Mo Ye’s temperature. He lifted his fingers to cover them, but before his fingers could touch his lips, he put them back down.

That evening, Wu Yun prepared a celebration party. Besides him, Li Qian was also taking part in it. They ate steak and drank specially provided beer in the dining hall. Next to their table was Professor Bai, who was eating with his head down, looking over documents.

He wore rimless glasses and a researcher’s white lab coat. His long eyelashes complimented his warm and elegant features.

Maybe because he felt Zhou Yu constantly looking over at him, Bai Yingting looked up and smiled.

Zhou Yu went and sat down opposite him. “Thank you for taking care of Zhou Qing during this time. I know you’re studying the virus together. I’d like to know what effect the virus has on the organisms of Nibelungen.”

“You really don’t beat around the bush, trying to get the results of my research as soon as you sit down.” Bai Yingting touched the frame of his glasses. “Of course, this is all conjecture. In my opinion, this kind of virus will cause the organisms of Nibelungen to become unable to reproduce and conceive offspring. But reproduction is the instinct of all creatures, so in order to continue to reproduce, they have evolved another way, which is to alienize other creatures. Dr. Turing is the most successful example. I heard that Mr. Song has pinpointed Dr. Turing’s position through his locator. He sent out an entire division of field workers in the two days you were asleep. But do you know what the results were?”

“They were all wiped out, weren’t they?”

It came to no surprise that rushing into action without understanding the biological characteristics of certain organisms would cause the expected result.

“Sort of. In any case, they can’t come back. Dr. Turing has turned them into lizard monsters, and he will soon have his own legion.”

Bai Yingting shifted his sitting posture. He propped his chin up and looked at Zhou Yu. At that moment, Zhou Yu suddenly felt an uncanny resemblance between him and Mo Ye.

They both had a calm and tranquil temperament.

“You know, Zhou Qing really looks up to you, and so does your good friend Wu Yun. I can even feel Mr. Song’s different attitude towards you. As far as he’s concerned, what other field workers can’t accomplish end up being miraculously accomplished in your hands.”

“You want to tell me that I won’t always be favored by luck?”

“I want to tell you that you have to ask yourself, is all of this really your good luck?” Bai Yingting reached out his finger and lightly touched between Zhou Yu’s eyebrows.

Yes, his good luck.. When he fell into the Angel’s Horns, the one who saved him had been Mo Ye. He became the inheritor of Elpis’s memories because it said that Zhou Yu had been chosen by “him.” Who was that “him”? Now it seemed like it might be Mo Ye. On Night Spirit Island, he and Wu Yun would not have lived if it weren’t for Mo Ye. Falling into the overlord silver spider’s lair, it had been Mo Ye who rushed to his side when his heart had been pierced. And last time, when the base had been attacked by the night spirit nurtured by Dr. Carlos and they almost became its nourishment.. Zhou Yu was able to successfully return to his original world, again, because of Mo Ye.

The time they faced the death dahlia went without saying.

Next time, would he still be offered a second chance at life?

“Oh, yes.. Dr. Turing has completely removed the tracker from his hand. Although he’s been alienized by the death dahlia, he still retains his human intelligence. Song Zhi sent a helicopter to track Dr. Turing by aerial photography, but after only 20 seconds of transmitted footage, the helicopter was attacked and crashed by the giant birds controlled by Dr. Turing.” Bai Yingting stood up, his gaze slanting down from above. “Do you know what this means?”

Zhou Yu replied, “This means that Dr. Turing is just like an A rank organism, with the ability to manipulate creatures in lower ranks.”

“That’s why the situation forced Mr. Song to consider if he should send field workers out into the tiger’s den without any preparation. As for sending Dr. Turing more material to be alienized, he shouldn’t do it again. But it’s impossible that Mr. Song will give up.” With that, Bai Yingting left.

A week later, Zhou Yu, Wu Yun and other elite field personnel received notice to come to the base’s core conference room.

There were more than ten participants, all of whom were greatly experienced and had survived numerous missions.

Song Zhi went straight to the point and took out the aerial photographs.

In the image, Dr. Turing was walking among the mountains and forests. He is wearing a coat that has been stripped off from the body of a field worker. There are more than a dozen lizards monsters crawling around him.

When the helicopter flew over Dr. Turing, he looked up with his hands in his pockets. His face was no different from that of an ordinary person and it even had a sense of poise and elegance. But his golden eyes were strange and beguiling. His gaze seemed to penetrate through the picture and pierce deep into everyone’s minds.

This feeling of it diving into the depths of his thoughts reminded Zhou Yu of Mo Ye. The difference was that Mo Ye’s smile always carried an aristocratic elegance, leading one to inexplicably appreciate each of his gestures. No matter how tense Zhou Yu was, his mind would still subconsciously relax its vigilance because of one of Mo Ye’s small movements.

But Dr. Turing had a bloodthirsty, murderous aura.

His lips were pulled up into a smile, and in the next second, more than a dozen strange birds? charged at the helicopter from all directions, swooping down and striking with decisive momentum.

The helicopter sent out a sonic wave blast. The first flock of strange birds was shaken off, but the second flock charged. The sonic waves didn’t have enough time to start up and the helicopter crashed seconds later.

Everyone let out the breath they’d been holding, and Zhou Yu subconsciously clenched his fingers. This kind of Dr. Turing felt like he had no weakness, even up close.

Song Zhi was sitting in front of everyone with his arms crossed. His eyes coldly swept over everyone, as if he had already understood their inner thoughts, weakness, and fear.

There was dead silence in the conference room.

Song Zhi said, “Sending another helicopter to carry you into Turing’s attack range would undoubtedly be suicide, so we need to take a long-distance sniping approach. There is no shortage of excellent helicopter pilots and higly-accurate snipers among you all. I want these two talents to work together. I look forward to your test results.”

“You look forward to our test results? What test?” Wu Yun had a bad feeling about this.

Everyone present showed a puzzled expression.

Song Zhi said, “I will give you a day to stabilize your mood.”

“That’s it?”

“What’s the target? Turing? “

“What are the test rules?”

A heated discussion started up, but Song Zhi had no intention of answering. He got up and straightened out his clothes. “Meeting adjourned.”

“Damn it.” Wu Yun swore in a low voice.

When Zhou Yu left the meeting, Song Zhi came to his side and said in a calm voice that only Zhou Yu could hear, “If I were you, I would go to see Mo Ye.”

That name sent a tremble through Zhou Yu’s brows. Song Zhi was unaware, but it was possible that Mo Ye was presently watching them through Zhou Yu’s eyes and ears, watching them like a movie’s audience.

“I won’t go.” Zhou Yu said coldly.

Before he had a clear understanding of Mo Ye’s true intentions and his own categorization of Mo Ye, seeing him again would only mess up his thoughts.

Song Zhi said with a smile, “You will go. Unless you want us to continue making the same mistakes we made before, only Mo Ye will give you the right answer.”

This assignment also included Wu Yun. Zhou Yu didn’t want the people he cared about to be in any danger. He knew Song Zhi was right; he had to go to see Mo Ye.

When he came to the glass wall once again, it was already midnight. Except for the researchers and guards on patrol duty, everyone was fast asleep.

But the room Mo Ye was in was as bright as day. He stood on the other side of the glass with his hands in his pocket, as if he’d been waiting for a long time.

This room wasn’t big, but Zhou Yu knew that Mo Ye could see the bustle through his eyes.

His smile seemed to have been carefully calculated, curving up gracefully, brushing past Zhou Yu’s nerves.

Everything about him seemed to be designed to please Zhou Yu, with his aesthetic standards.

“You know I won’t answer any of your questions for free.” Mo Ye turned his face sideways. Light and shadow left a shadow of faint yet inexpressible sorrow on his face.

Zhou Yu asked calmly and indifferently, “Then what price do you want?”

“If I said I wanted you, would you give it to me?”

Mo Ye’s expression was a bit childish, which reminded Zhou Yu of when he had looked at himself with those same naive eyes when he was still a night spirit.

Zhou Yu couldn’t help but wonder if they were Mo Ye’s, or merely the highest level of camouflage belonging to S rank organisms. Even though he possessed insight into everything, he could make people relax similar to a child.

“Song Zhi has already sent you my blood, hasn’t he? If you’re not full, just take it. I don’t care.”

Mo Ye suddenly held his stomach and laughed. His eyelashes trembled, and the light danced between them.

“Zhou Yu, you’re so cute. I said I wanted you, but you say you can give me all of your blood. These seem like two different things.. It’s like if I said I wanted the world, but you only gave me a grain of sand. “

“Then what else do you want? I don’t know what else I can give you.”

“Do you understand the implied meaning of “all”? Language is clearly a human invention, yet it seems like you don’t know it as well as I do. Zhou Yu, you have all of me. And now I can only settle for second best. How about watching a movie with me?”

Zhou Yu replied, “I’m sorry, but there isn’t a TV set here.”

Mo Ye shrugged his shoulders, “You can use your phone.”

Zhou Yu’s expression didn’t change, but in his mind, he recalled the scene of watching “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” with Mo Ye in his arms.

No matter how much he missed it, he had to restrain himself.

“I’m sorry, my phone was confiscated by Juli Corp when I arrived.”

“What a pity, Zhou Yu. But you know, there’s another way for me to watch movies.” Mo Ye stretched out his finger and tapped on the glass in boredom.

Zhou Yu’s body, not in his control, went forward. He also reached out his hand and tapped each place where Mo Ye touched.

Their fingers were in the same rhythm and position, yet they could not touch.

“Oh? What method?” Zhou Yu surprisingly wasn’t angry at the fact that Mo Ye was controlling him.

“Picture in your mind the most touching scene in the movie. You know I can see it, so please let me see it.”

Zhou Yu closed his eyes and slowly, the final scene in the movie appeared in his mind’s eye: Benjamin becomes a baby and is held by Tracy in her arms. The aging Tracy seems to be comforting Benjamin, telling him that even if their time flowed in the opposite directions, they will still have each other, heading to different destinations. The sunlight warmly brushes over their figures, leaving a shadow laden with meaning.

This had always been Zhou Yu’s favorite scene, and the best ending for Mo Ye in his own imagination.

Then, the picture slowly faded into the scene of himself holding Mo Ye and watching a movie on his phone.

“Did you do that on purpose?” Zhou Yu opened his eyes and looked at Mo Ye.

Mo Ye said with a light smile, “If my ability can be an excuse for you to miss the time you spent with me, then I don’t mind admitting it. Or, I can give you another excuse. When you say to yourself, ‘Don’t think about Mo Ye,’ on the contrary, your brain will take the hint to keep thinking about me.”

“Do you mean to say that I think of you, not by your design, but because of my own hints to myself?”

“I’m saying that you’re too defensive against me, but oftentimes, the stronger defense is precisely because you know you’ll fall.”

Mo Ye inclined into the glass, his breath clouding it with a faint layer of mist as he spoke. His eyes like obsidian also blurred, and because of this, Zhou Yu had a deeper desire to see clearly into his heart.

“I know I’m about to use up your patience for the day. What’s the first question you want to ask me?”

“Tell me how you think we can kill Dr. Turing,” Zhou Yu said.

Mo Ye chuckled and replied, “You already know the most straightforward and effective way, that is, to let me control your body. I will kill it just like I killed the death dahlia, as long as you can become the vector for my abilities.”

“Then I think Song Zhi’s approach is more effective.”

“Oh? Let’s hear Song Zhi’s approach,” Mo Ye asked with interest.

“Snipers will ride in helicopters outside of his control and attack range and kill him in one shot.”

“Then, do you know how many meters Turing’s abilities are effective up to? And it can still detect the helicopters by controlling other creatures. Maybe you think 1000 meters is enough, but it could very well be farther than that. Think of when I had been very far away from you and still able to enter into your body and control your nerve impulses. Dr. Turing is the same.”

Mo Ye looked at Zhou Yu as if he was looking at a child. He seemed to be saying,?you failed today’s homework.