绝代双骄 林志颖

Zuo Yan lifted the quilt and sat on the edge of the bed.

Ge Xiu blinked, “Dr. Zhao…has he worked for you for a long time?”

“Yeah.”

Zuo Yan took off his nightgown, revealing his sleek, sturdy upper body.

“How well do you know him?” Ge Xiu adjusted the pillow and turned to look at Zuo Yan beside him.

Zuo Yan moved forward.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his deeply carved face looked oppressive under the light, and his eyes were deep: “So you’re interested in this type?”

Ge Xiu: “…”

“What are you thinking about?” He gritted his teeth and raised his eyebrow in disbelief: “furthermore, isn’t Dr. Zhao almost fifty years old?”

Zuo Yan leaned back and shrugged, looking downwards at Ge Xiu who was beside him, with a hint of a smirk on his lips:

“Who knows, maybe you prefer the mature type.”

Ge Xiu: “…”

He couldn’t bear it any longer and kicked Zuo Yan fiercely under the quilt: “Speak of business.”

“Hiss.” Zuo Yan exaggeratedly gasped: “It hurts.”

Ge Xiu raised his eyebrows threateningly.

Only then did Zuo Yan straighten his lips, and replied earnestly: “It can’t be said I know very well, but his background and experience is very clear to me — so, which aspect are you more curious about? You might as well be more specific, I will also give a better answer.”

Ge Xiu rolled over and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

The specific question…

this request was indeed a bit difficult.

Because the information he has right now is still too little, there are too many mysteries that have not been clarified, and there is no specific starting point.

But Ge Xiu had a vague premonition in his heart — the opportunity he had been waiting for might be hidden in it.

Setting tasks can definitely ensure more control over the people who are put into the virtual world. By imposing punishments, it is ensured that the fate of the characters does not exceed the designed range, as well as promoting efficient task completion.

But out of the four worlds Ge Xiu experienced before, none of them had used this method.

The technology was definitely mature enough.

Then the reason why they didn’t use this method must have been because they were concerned about something — a great opportunity to exploit this loophole.

And Xiao Yi’s reappearance may be also related to this.

There were now two questions in front of Ge Xiu: Was Doctor Zhao in this world and Xiao Yi in the first virtual world the same person? And… does Xiao Yi really exist?

He turned his head and looked thoughtfully at Zuo Yan beside him.

Moreover, “Xiao Yi”‘s identity this time was Zuo Yan’s family doctor “Doctor Zhao”. If it weren’t for Zuo Yan, Ge Xiu would have never gotten the chance to see “Doctor Zhao”. His identity arrangement this time was so special… Could it be that Pandora wanted to take the opportunity to tell him something?

But every time he enters a new world, the memory and identity of the other will be reset.

Any question about outside this world can’t bring any results, and there was a risk of being spied on by the outside world.

Ge Xiu pondered for a while, and finally asked:

“Do you call him here often?”

“Of course not.” Zuo Yan was a little surprised, as if he did not expect Ge Xiu to ask such a question: “He’s my a family doctor, of course I call him only when I’m sick, but my physical fitness has always been good, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Ge Xiu: “…”

Don’t worry? Don’t worry about what?

Where did this person’s thoughts stray?

He took a deep breath and asked seriously: “You… When was the last time you called him here?”

Zuo Yan thought back carefully: “Three or four years ago? Probably.”

The smile on his lips deepened: ” Don’t worry, he’s not my type, I like you more…”

Ge Xiu narrowed his eyes expressionlessly and kicked him again.

“Hi.” Zuo Yan sucked in a breath of cold air: “It hurts.”

Ge Xiu said indifferently: “No, you still don’t hurt enough.”

He stared at Ge Xiu: “It doesn’t matter if it hurts a little more if it’s you.”

Ge Xiu: “…”

He turned his head to the side, avoiding the other’s sight, and then kicked Zuo Yanyi again under the quilt with his feet — this time lightly, barely making him feel an itch. His voice did not fluctuate, and one could hardly hear any superfluous emotions: “…Go turn off the lights.”

Zuo Yan took advantage of the situation and grabbed the soles of the other’s feet.

The warm finger burned like a brand on the slender protruding ankle bone, and the contrasting warmth made Ge Xiu shrank subconsciously. He tried to retreat, but he could not break free from the opponent’s palm.

He frowned: “Let go.”

Zuo Yan couldn’t help but raise the corners of his lips.

He leaned closer, his broad shoulders and strong chest radiated vigorous heat, just by getting close it brought an invisible sense of oppression.

The palm of his hand slowly slid upward along the graceful calf, and every inch of the fitted skin seemed to be on fire.

Zuo Yan’s eyes were slightly dark, and his deep voice was a little hoarse:

“Will there be any benefit to me?”

Ge Xiu showed up a pure and kind smile, instead of retreating he pulled the other party closer: “What benefits do you want?”

Zuo Yan suddenly had a bad feeling.

The next second, as if to confirm his conjecture, the young man in front of him slammed his head, and the hard skull hit his chin.

“…Hiss.”

Zuo Yan covered his chin and fell back heavily on the bed, the mattress shook twice from impact.

“It doesn’t matter if it hurts a little more, right?” Ge Xiu asked with a smile: “Is this enough?”

Zuo Yan laughed out loud, then raised his hands in surrender and compromised:

“Enough is enough, I was wrong, I was wrong.”

He leaned out and turned off the overhead light.

The room was instantly shrouded in darkness, and the heavy curtains blocked all the light from the outside world, making the whole room feel like a space isolated from the world. It was pitch-black and one could not see one owns fingers. It was so quiet and only hear ones own breathing and heartbeat could be heard.

Ge Xiu closed his eyes and sorted out the clues he had so far in his heart.

According to the particularity of “Doctor Zhao”‘s identity and the fact that he must be in contact with Zuo Yan in order to meet him, his appearance this time should be a reminder that Pandora deliberately put here by taking advantage of this loophole in the manipulation of the virtual world. The discreet manipulations done by the other were, firstly, to conform to the character design inside the virtual world, and secondly, to avoid prying eyes from outside the world.

But the question was… what message was he trying to convey?

As the character data that Ge Xiu encountered in his first world, Xiao Yi appeared in this world again, and replaced the character setting of “Doctor Zhao”…

Ge Xiu was startled.

He opened his eyes and stared at the dark chaotic center, his eyes slightly darkened.

Since Xiao Yi can replace, or cover the character of “Doctor Zhao”, then—

Lulai, Elinor, Rowett, Haines and Zuo Yan.

Could they also be… character that had been covered by someone?

They themselves exist in the virtual world model framed by the outside world, and have complete identities and settings, but they have been replaced and covered by the existence of “him”. “He” appears again and again his side in this way, and the reason why “he” has no memory every time is probably because it conforms to the original setting of the character.

The existence of this unspoken rule also enables Xiao Yi to live and deal with things as Doctor Zhao, but Ge Xiu can still capture a little familiarity in his words.

His essence hasn’t changed, he’s just forced into a frame that doesn’t belong to him, so he’s forced to show a different appearance from before.

—and “he” was the same.

However, why did “he” choose these identities to cover it?

Ge Xiu suddenly recalled the electronically synthesised sound coming from his ears when he signed the keeping contract.

It was “promoting” and “pushing forward”.

This shows that Zuo Yan, in the original virtual world’s structure, was supposed to torture him and obtain pain value from him.

That’s why the mission wanted him to sign a keeping contract — because it was included in their planned design.

If one thought about it according to this logic…

Lulai Sivir, the god of war who defected from the alliance. In order to confront and suppress the rebels under his command, the Alliance mobilized cheap labour from lower galaxies and sent them in all directions.

He was able to set the fire of rebellion and stun the entire interstellar.

Even if Ge Xiu was lucky enough to escape from the starship carrying the slaves, he would still be forced to get involved in the war and suffer the pain of the war.

Elinor, the last Fenrir in the second world, fell into the opposite side of the continent after being deprived of his divinity.

Fenrir was a species that adapted to darkness, especially when it harboured hatred in its heart — and when he becomes a dark followed, he would be inevitably be devoured by the dark elements, and he will start to kill according to his instinct, and strengthen himself by hunting the flesh and blood of creatures in the abyss.

And Ge Xiu was the “key”. The fallen Elinor was bound by the seal. If he wanted to return to the mainland to take revenge, he must go through the gate that could only be opened with the “key”, so the two must fight.

Vallen Rowett, a tyrannical monarch, moody and with a bloodthirsty temperament — Great Duke William, who bought the merman, was his distant relative.

Haines Erost, the leader of the interstellar mercenaries — came to the thieves ship just when Ge Xiu was sold as a slave to a businessman.

Zuo Yan, the arms dealer who covered the sky with one hand — Wang Xuejiu’s two gatherings were held in his property.

According to the logic of all these worlds, these characters would undoubtedly become the biggest stumbling block on Ge Xiu’s road.

Their choices directly or indirectly affected the pattern of the entire world. If the pain index they bring could be quantified, they would inevitably become the biggest source of pain.

Ge Xiu was slightly startled.

He stared at the pitch-dark ceiling, his eyes looked into the distance without focus, his eyes fell into the empty and dark void, as if he was thinking about some distant and profound question. The sound of breathing of the man laying beside him was steady and rhythmic, reaching his ears unhindered.

——In each world the choice was careful and meticulous.

However, whether the character was of high standing, extremely influential or powerful… it was not the reason or basis for the other party to make a choice.

…would he be able to protect him.

Could he minimize the damage brought on him.

This was “his” selection criteria.