Chapter 44
The ward was quiet; neither of the two spoke.
The training the staff of the Time Bureau went through reminded them that their main focus was to complete their orders and mission objectives, even if it meant death. Most of the staff, including him, were alone, each with their own story and past that they were unwilling to recall. They were all people who had “died” once.
Although the first rule of the bureau was clear, the safety and rescue measures within the bureau were quite adequate. Apart from the year the Time Fortress got destroyed and the sudden appearance of the Great Demon, the staff was basically safe. The Bureau had given them a new life and another meaning to their existence, allowing them to make up for the limitations they faced before their consciousness dissipated, so they were quite happy to work for the Bureau.
So before this, Gu Xiyu had never questioned his decisions. Lu Ziqing’s risk value and the stability of the world were his primary goals. For him, as long as he could complete the mission, he could even “sacrifice” himself.
This was the first time he had felt the word “care” so intuitively.
Perhaps he couldn’t give an emotional response directly, but Lu Ziqing’s mood was proof that his simple and brutal way of doing things might be wrong. At least for Lu Ziqing, this matter had not been handled properly, and it might bring him some degree of repercussions.
Gu Xiyu looked at the distraught boy by the bed and subconsciously replied, “Okay, I’ll pay attention in the future.”
“So you’re no longer angry about me going abroad?”
Lu Ziqing felt aggrieved when he heard him mention this: “How dare I be angry with you? What if you just swallow pills and threaten me next time?”
The corner of Gu Xiyu’s mouth twitched helplessly, and Lu Ziqing became even angrier: “You’re still smiling?”
“I smile when I’m happy.” He spoke casually and grasped their fingers gently.
He really felt…happy?
He withdrew the smile from his mouth and added, “Also, I didn’t take drugs indiscriminately.”
“I suspected that there was a problem with the supplements from the Lu family. They ran out at home, but I hid some in the second drawer on the left side of the dresser. Get them for me when you go home, and get them tested at the hospital for evidence.”
“…… supplements?” Lu Ziqing did not expect it and was really shocked.
Gu Xiyu saw his expression getting worse, and immediately warned him: “I have a grasp of the situation, you should not alarm the snake, wait for the report results to come out.”
Lu Ziqing clenched his fist, suppressing the temper that was about to erupt, then he reached out to rub the top of Gu Xiyu’s head helplessly, “My father knows about your hospitalization and the money has already been paid. I’ll go and help you take care of the admission procedures and other things.”
After leaving these words behind, Lu Ziqing left his ward.
Lu Ziqing usually looked like a rebellious child who hadn’t grown up, but he was actually quite sensible and stable.
The message interface on the panel flashed with a notification, and when Gu Xiyu took a look, it was a response from the sub-bureau.
[Hello mission executor. This is the L12-31 sub-bureau. In response to your questions and feedback, we have the following answers for you.
Regarding whether the latest W-XH3771 intelligent system will have a reset situation in each world, yes, this is a normal phenomenon, please don’t worry. The latest type of system focuses on efficiency, portability, and the highest response. Because of the close relationship with the main system of the central station, the system’s data is reset in order to prevent it from overlapping with other mission world data when feeding the main system. Please don’t worry, all the data is successfully stored in the main system before reset. The hibernation setting in the few hours after entering a new world is to ensure that the data is cached and collated, and these are normal phenomena. According to our prediction, this situation will not affect the execution of the mission.]
[Secondly, we have obtained the latest results regarding the status of the current mission target’s soul. The main soul is still being held at Abandoned Hub X and is in a stable slumber state, so the possibility of influencing a soul fragment and affecting the mission is 0.0001%]
[Thirdly, the connection between the sub-bureau and the central station data is good, the control room is tracking steadily, and your status is under our control. We are keeping a close eye on the mission execution, so please rest assured. We have also done a scan and test of your intelligent system, and the results are as follows; based on all the data summary, the system is operating normally, and no possibility of intrusion exists.]
[Finally, thank you for contacting us. There is also nothing wrong with the operation of the branch for the time being; please do not worry.]
[Keep it up, we are waiting for your return!]
Gu Xiyu read this message back and forth several times before closing his eyes and closing the panel.
Since the sub-bureau had said so, there shouldn’t be any major problems with the system except for being weird.
The mobile phone sitting on the table beside the bed suddenly vibrated gently. Gu Xiyu opened his eyes and grabbed it to see the name of the person sending the message before tapping in without a moment’s hesitation.
At the same time, the Time and Space Management sub-bureau far away –
“Director, I’ve tried all the codes, but the Great Demon’s energy is far beyond the frequency we can use to hack, and hacking into Hub X’s systems remotely won’t work at all.” The crowd in the control room was still having a bad day.
According to the data they had been able to access so far, Commander Gu had completed the first world and had done so with the beautiful result of getting the world’s danger value down to zero. Judging from the fact that he had already entered the second world, there was nothing wrong with him personally, which was something to be thankful for.
Even so, they could not leave Commander Gu unattended and leave him in the dark. The Great Demon had an unpredictable temperament and a sick mind. He even looked like a madman who couldn’t think properly when he first came in, so who knew when he would explode and harm Gu Xiyu?
The director scratched his hair in annoyance, turned to another console staffer, and asked: “What of the sub-system, the one on Commander Gu? I remember that it has an emergency contact program on it that we can use to bypass the intelligent system and directly communicate with Commander Gu. Have you guys tried it out?”
The girl in the white lab coat shook her head, her ponytail swaying with her movements, “No, the Great Demon must have placed an energy field over the sub-system on Commander Gu when he (the Great Demon) temporarily connected to the central station. The frequency we set up at the beginning is no longer working, we can’t contact the commander at all ……”
In short, Gu Xiyu was now cut off from everyone in the outside world by the cage that the Great Demon had woven around him. The only way to reach him was to break through the existence of the Great Demon.
The team they had sent there not long ago to directly attack Hub X-Central Station had not only failed but had almost died there.
The funny thing was that they had come back alive only because the Great Demon had shown mercy.
“Director, the ninth-level general administration has just sent us a message!” The female deputy suddenly spoke in surprise, “It says that Commander Lin has recovered from his injuries and will return to our branch immediately and will also assist us in resolving the rescue operation regarding Commander Gu!”
The Commander Lin she was referring to was the previous Commander of this sub-bureau, who was temporarily recuperating in the ninth-level realm due to his injuries.
——
At Gu Xiyu’s request, Xie Chunhua did not know about his health problems and hospitalization, and only thought he had gone back to the Lu family early.
Lu Ziqing submitted the supplements for testing, and the test results soon came out. It turned out that not every batch had harmful drugs, and some were safe in order to confuse the public. Only Gu Xiyu had kept an eye out and secretly left a small amount of almost every kind after learning about this from Auntie Zhang, so this result was enough to be used as evidence against the Lu family.
Since he had prepared in advance, he certainly didn’t have only this card.
Gu Xiyu contacted lawyer Li, who had helped him with the land deeds left behind by the original owner’s grandfather, and the other party recommended a friend who was particularly good at handling cases in this area to help him with these matters.
When the Lu family received the lawsuit, Lu Mingren, who had heard about the matter, was so angry that he left the office before the end of the day and rushed straight to the main residence to confront Lu Chenghe.
In Lu Chenghe’s study, Lu Mingren was so angry that he slammed his desk: “Father, are you crazy? So what you said about the wedding was actually all a lie?
Lu Chenghe’s expression was no longer kind, but cold and cruel like a mafia’s: “How can there still be such evil things in this day and age?”
Lu Mingren couldn’t believe it: “Did you really tamper with those supplements?”
“Father, Ziqing and I are also family members. You knew full well that we were also likely to eat those things, and even so, you still sent them? Aren’t you afraid that your grandson and I will get hurt?!”
Lu Chenghe’s response was quite cold-blooded: “So? Didn’t I say that those things for my dear ‘daughter-in-law’, so of course it’s better if you didn’t touch them.”
Lu Mingren laughed and said, “I think what you really think is that you have so many children and grandchildren, and it wouldn’t matter if something were to happen to me and Ziqing, would it?”
Lu Chenghe sat on the other side of the table with a long pipe smoking at his mouth and did not reply.
“Is our Lu family that short of money? Do we have to use such underhanded tactics just to obtain a piece of land at the lowest cost?”
At the mention of money, Lu Chenghe’s reaction was a little big: “Yes!”
The rise and fall of his chest was very strong: “I’m not afraid to tell you now, don’t look at our family as a big one, but in this era, everyone is moving very fast, and there are more and more competitors, so the Lu family is only superficially beautiful now! Let’s not mention that your company’s performance this year has dropped a few percentage points compared to previous years, the situation of the other companies is just as bleak!”
“How many of your brothers, uncles, and aunts are reliable? The company is being run by them with corruption at the top and mismanagement at the bottom, and the profits are not as good as they used to be. The Lu family is in desperate need of money-making projects to stabilize the situation and to be honest, we really can’t afford to buy the land in Gu Xiyu’s hands with our entire wealth!”
Lu Chenghe laughed bitterly at that. “The Lu family was once a glorious family, but now they can’t even afford to pay for a piece of land.”
Seeing the gray-haired old man worrying about the family’s future, Lu Mingren still insisted on disagreeing with him even though he felt pity. “Then you can’t almost kill someone because of this!”
“Anyway, the lawsuit letter has already been sent here, and you should be prepared to face the consequences for coming up with such a bad solution just because you’re desperate!”
Lu Chenghe had indeed designed this matter with a desperate mindset, if he hadn’t really been desperate, he wouldn’t have resorted to such extreme means. In theory, this matter should have been carried out perfectly. The dosage of the drugs was specially calculated, and they could break down Gu Xiyu to death without being discovered.
He didn’t understand. Even if Gu Xiyu did take out some supplements and shared them with the rest of the family, his body should still be in a very poor state, so how could it be something that could be cured after a few days of hospitalization? On the other hand, his health was so bad that he was vomiting blood, this meant that his body had suffered a lot of damage, and there was no way he would be fine as he was now!
No, he had to do something, even if he had to ……
Lu Mingren suddenly spoke again: “You want to kill him, and then use my relationship with him to obtain the property he acquired during the valid marriage. But even if this plan succeeded, I’m afraid I would have disappointed you.”
At these words, Lu Chenghe looked at his son in confusion and saw him pushing up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and saying, “I forgot to tell you that Gu Xiyu and I divorced a long time ago.”
“What did you say?! You, how dare you-” Lu Chenghe was so agitated that he got up from his chair, ignoring the pipe he had dropped on the floor. “Impossible, how, how could no one find out …… ”
“When did you divorce?” Lu Chenghe asked as he opened a drawer and rummaged through his little notes.
Lu Mingren remembered that date and calmly reported it. He didn’t know what Lu Chenghe saw, but the moment he heard his answer, his entire body helplessly fell back into a chair, his eyes blankly staring at the notebook in his hand.
He covered his chest, his features wrinkled close together, “You, Mingren, you are obviously the most obedient child in this family ……”
Lu Mingren: “Yes, but I often wonder if I would be living a different life if I hadn’t been so obedient before and let you arrange everything.”
——
Gu Xiyu later learned that the person Lawyer Li recommended to help him with things, was Xu Chengxuan’s biological father, Xu Wenyi.
He only discovered this when Xu Wenyi came to the hospital to meet him and the system suddenly brought up a profile about Xu Chengxuan’s biological father. Because of this incident, he and Xu Chengxuan met more often. Xu Wenyi was doing quite well in the legal profession, and his days were quite busy. Knowing that they knew each other, he would sometimes directly ask his son to deliver some important documents to him after school or pass on some words when he offered to come and visit him.
“…… Well, my father sent the copy to your email, so you can check it when you have time. He said that the Lu family has also got a team of lawyers to deal with this matter at the moment, so it might be a tough battle for a while, but you’ve got things pretty well prepared, so don’t worry too much.”
When Lu Ziqing came over carrying the chicken soup cooked by Auntie Zhang, he happened to see a scene of Gu Xiyu smiling and talking to Xu Chengxuan.
“……”
He was slightly upset again in his heart. His little mother hadn’t even smiled that nicely at him!
Gu Xiyu glanced at Lu Ziqing, who walked to the bed with a stinky face and inadvertently bumped Xu Chengxuan. He sighed helplessly in his heart before asking Xu Chengxuan who looked like he was lost in thought again, “You’ve been in a daze ever since you came in, did you encounter something?”
Lu Ziqing coughed lightly and said discontentedly, “I’m also very unhappy, why don’t you ask me if I’ve encountered anything unpleasant at school?”
Gu Xiyu asked smoothly, “What unhappy things did you encounter?”
“…… I lost my eraser!”
“Okay, I’ll buy you a new one when I get out of the hospital.” After replying, he turned his attention back to the dumbfounded Xu Chengxuan.
“….”
Before Xu Chengxuan could answer him, the voice of the intelligent system suddenly rang out in his mind: [Your mission target isn’t Xu Chengxuan, aren’t you afraid that Lu Ziqing will be unhappy?]
He paused and answered, “The male protagonist’s condition is also quite important, so of course I need to give him proper attention.”
“As for Ziqing – I’ll find time to coax him later.”
Lu Ziqing didn’t say another word, and Xu Chengxuan, who had been torn for most of the day, suddenly whispered, “I haven’t seen Mianmian for a few days, and she’s been taking time off from class.”
His tone sounded low, and he even carried a rare trace of bewilderment.
When Xu Chengxuan said this, Gu Xiyu remembered that he had indeed not seen Lin Mianmian ever since he was admitted to the hospital, and had not even received any messages from her.