绝代双骄 林志颖

The man scratched the dark green scales on his face and introduced himself.

“Chen Ziyan.” Ge Xiu answered concisely.

He stared at the teenager sitting opposite him, his probing gaze swept over the fluffy pointed ears on the top of the other’s head and the cat’s tail that swayed impatiently behind him, and finally landed on the clothes he was wearing that were obviously one size too big.

Wu Zhuowen hesitated for two seconds, and then asked carefully:

“So…you’re the kitten that the boss brought back today?”

Ge Xiu didn’t have a happy expression on his face: “…Yes.”

Wu Zhuowen thought about it, but continued to ask:

“So, the reason why you changed back to the appearance of a cat during the day was because you developed a drug that can suppress the animalistic characteristics during the day, and this was a side effect that came after drug lost its efficiency?”

Ge Xiu nodded:

Wu Zhuowen pondered for a moment, his wandered around the delicate distance between the two of them, but he still opened his mouth to cautiously ask:

“So… what is your relationship?”

Ge Xiu’s face was a bit ugly again: “Classmates.”

Shen Boyan didn’t speak, and seemed to acquiesce to that statement.

Wu Zhuowen subconsciously turned his head to look at Shen Boyan, who was sitting beside him — his boss’s expression was light, no obvious emotion could be discerned on his cold and distant face, but his eyes never left the other person’s body for a second.

He wasn’t sure whether it was his illusion, but he always felt that his boss’s expression seemed a bit too gentle.

Wu Zhuowen pondered for three seconds, and finally decided to remain sceptical of the pureness of the relationship between the two.

At this time, Ge Xiu suddenly thought of something and said,

“By the way, do you know what the raw materials I used to make the drug?”

Wu Zhuowen was taken aback and shook his head honestly.

Ge Xiu bent down, unzipped the backpack on the ground, and took out a tube of injection that had been emptied. Remains of the drug shone with a faint green luster on the glass wall under the light.

He pointed to the collar worn on Shen Boyan’s neck: “It’s the synthetic substance hidden here.”

Ge Xiu tapped the glass outer layer of the needle tube with his fingertips, his neatly trimmed nails collided with the hard outer wall, making a slight crisp sound:

“I collected a total of 0.5 mg of samples, and produced about 8 ml of the drug. The side effects caused by it lasted about…”

He lowered his head and glanced at his wrist, then was taken aback.

The watch he wore before had long since been lost from when he turned into a cat.

Ge Xiu poked Shen Boyan with his elbow:

“What time is it now?”

Wu Zhuowen’s eyes widened slightly, he couldn’t imagine that someone would treat the boss with such an attitude, but Shen Boyan took out the phone naturally and replied: “3:25.”

Ge Xiu nodded, looked up at Wu Zhuowen who was still in a dazed state, and continued:

“The duration of the side effects is about three hours.”

He narrowed his eyes: “The next thing is a simple math problem. Since such a small sample amount can cause such a long time of uncontrolled beastization, then think about what would happen when more than fifty times the amount of this material is worn by a potential lycanthrope for over ten years, not only that, but the substance is also under the effect of the energy amplifier. What kind of consequences will it bring?”

Wu Zhuowen was shocked and frightened by the implications of Ge Xiu’s words:

“You mean…”

Ge Xiu used his fingertips to gently poke the injection on the table, watching it roll out of control towards the edge of the table, and said slowly:

“The collar worn by potential lycanthropes is actually a time bomb. Once it faints, the lycanthrope will fall into a state of irrational, full-scale beastization, without possibility of turning back into a human.”

The injection quivered on the edge of the table. There was a majestic pause.

“However, the human body gradually develops resistance to this man-made material.”

The empty glass tube fell down, hitting the ground with a crisp sound, then it bounced twice, with impact that could almost hit one’s heart and then rolled into the distance far away.

“—The day when it happens is not far away.”

This sentence was like a lament, but also like a prophecy, which made Wu Zhuowen’s heart tremble.

The sudden flood of informations coming all at once poured into his mind instantly, making chill rise up from his bones.

Wu Zhuowen suddenly thought of something, his eyes widened abruptly as he stammeringly asked:

“Then, what about the collar on boss’s neck?”

He slammed his hands on the table and stood up, his voice suddenly rose up as said anxiously: “Is there any way you can take off the boss’s collar! This thing can’t be allowed to stay by his side and continue to harm him any longer!”

Ge Xiu took over the conversation: “There is a way.”

But before Wu Zhuowen had the time to become happy, he saw the youth narrow his eyes slightly: “But right now the biggest threat is not the automatic electric shock device on the collar that prevents the collar from being taken off, but that once the collar loses its force, the side effects will manifest directly at once, I’m afraid.”

That meant irreversible turning into a beast without sanity.

Wu Zhuowen heard the undertone of Ge Xiu’s words, he sat down in despair, as if the whole person fell into the bottom of the valley of hopelessness.

Ge Xiu changed his words: “But…”

Wu Zhuowen was taken aback, raised his head, looking up at him in anticipation.

“If you can help me get the relevant experimental equipment and give me enough space and time,” Ge Xiu’s ears quivered and a trace of unquestionable arrogance flashed in his dark eyes: “It won’t be a problem to find a turning point.”

Wu Zhuowen’s thoughts were instantly mobilized: “Yes, yes! No problem! Just give me a list of what you need! We are already an officially recognized terrorist organization anyways, so we can grab all the equipment you need for you!”

He stood up with strong emotions: “This bunker is big enough, don’t worry! If it’s not enough, the pangolins can continue to dig…”

Ge Xiu suddenly thought of something, interrupting Wu Zhuowen’s passionate speech:

“Speaking of which, after the war ended, didn’t the government declare that all the members of your organization have been wiped out?”

Wu Zhuowen shook his head: “It’s just what they thought. Most of us died on the battlefield, and some of us were captured and imprisoned for life in special prisons, while some rebels who sold our intelligence received special protection and prosperity — only a small number escaped from their encirclement and control, so we and…” he glanced at Shen Boyan and changed the words that he was about to blurt out half-way “…our leader got separated.”

“The social control regulations were getting stricter and stricter. Older lycanthropes died, but there were also new ones constantly being born, but of course there were other long-lived species like me with a lifespan of 150 years, so we have also survived.”

Wu Zhuowen explained patiently:

“It wasn’t until half a month ago that we finally got in touch with the leader, and our organization started to operate again.”

All of these contents have never appeared in any official materials and they have indeed answered a lot of his doubts.

Ge Xiu nodded in satisfaction.

After talking about this, Wu Zhuowen’s energy came back again, he asked enthusiastically:

“By the way, besides these, do you need anything else?”

Ge Xiu tilted his head and thought for a while, then replied: “Wait a minute, I’ll send you an address of a warehouse, you can move here all the equipment and notes from there.”

Wu Zhuowen agreed.

When he was about to go out, Ge Xiu stopped him from behind again: “Oh, and also, are there any potential collar-wearing beastmen in your organization?”

Wu Zhuowen froze for a second: “Why’s that?”

“I need to conduct more in-depth research on the collar, that is the only way to ensure the success of the follow-up experiments.” Ge Xiu explained.

At this moment, Shen Boyan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said:

“Can’t I do it?”

Ge Xiu was startled and turned to look at Shen Boyan.

“You just need a collar for research, right?” Shen Boyan touched the cold metal on his neck with his fingertips with dark eyes. His expression was still light as he asked Ge Xiu casually:

“So, can’t I?”

Ge Xiu: “…”

He turned to look at Wu Zhuowen who was standing beside him: “So, is there no one else?”

Shen Boyan also turned to look at Wu Zhuowen.

Wu Zhuowen’s scalp tightened, and he couldn’t help but shake slightly under Shen Boyan’s silent gaze: “No, no more.”

“…”

Ge Xiu glanced at Shen Boyan.

Shen Boyan looked back without changing his expression, no guilt visible on his face at all.

Ge Xiu was expressionless: “…That’s fine.”

Shen Boyan nodded: “Okay, then it’s settled.”

He raised his hand and unbuttoned his buttons one by one, his movements smooth and unhesitating.

Ge Xiu was taken aback: “Wait…why are you unbuttoning?”

Shen Boyan paused: “Didn’t you need to study it?”

Ge Xiu: “…That’s not now.”

Wu Zhuowen was keenly aware that of the change in the atmosphere, so he hurriedly threw a sentence “I’ll go and prepare the equipment.” Then he quickly slipped out of the room as if his tail was on fire.

Once again, only Ge Xiu and Shen Boyan were left in the room.

They looked at each other, with no words to say for a moment.

Ge Xiu shrugged: “Forget it, I have nothing else to do now.”

He stood up, walked in front of Shen Boyan, and ordered, “Open up the collar a little more.”

Shen Boyan’s lips curled slightly and he obediently opened two more buttons, then raised his head, exposing the collar on his neck completely.

Ge Xiu raised his hand and lightly touched the metal frame of the collar, frowning slightly.

The collars he had contacted before were all inactivated after being removed. This was the first time he had closely observed the working collar in human form — it was still a bit difficult to research the possible side effects it may bring without taking it off.

Shen Boyan raised his head.

He could feel the other person’s cold and delicate fingertips crossing the edge of the collar from time to time, touching the skin on his neck, swiping lightly like a feather, making a numb itching sensation spread everywhere from the small piece of skin that was rubbed against. The feeling gnawed on his blood and bones, making it a sweet torture.

His Adam’s apple rolled up and down involuntarily.

Shen Boyan frowned and began to wonder if he had made a wrong decision.

But at the moment when this idea came up, it was directly killed in cradle — let Chen Ziyan do this to others? impossible.

At this moment, he felt itching under his chin, as if something fluffy was gently sweeping across the skin, so Shen Boyan raised his hand subconsciously and reached out towards that place.

——and then caught a handful of fur.

The thin, delicate membrane was covered with soft and fluffy tiny hairs, and shook slightly after being caught in his palm.

Ge Xiu’s restrained voice came from below his line of sight: “…let go.”

Was this… his ear?

Shen Boyan pinched subconsciously.

The next second, he felt a blow to his lower abdomen.

Shen Boyan sucked in a breath of cold air and slightly arched his waist from the pain, he covered the place where he had just been hit by the opponent’s knee with a frown.

Ge Xiu distanced himself from him and looked down at the man in front of him.

His eyes were bright, the black deep eyes flickered with dark burning inferno, as a layer of light red, not knowing whether from shame or anger, spread on his cheekbones.

Corners of Ge Xiu’s mouth twitched without a smile:

“Please don’t move your hands and feet during work hours.”

——————————————————————-

The author has something to say:

Not to be rude, I just want to ask:

What about non-working hours?