Chapter 221: Re: I Only Need 72 Hours To Fall In Love With You

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Chapter 221: Re: I Only Need 72 Hours To Fall In Love With You

The excruciating pain nearly made Shang Ke pass out, but sheer willpower kept him conscious. A bewitching Crimson Skyfire was being tattooed across his chest while an irritating voice echoed in his ears, repeatedly asking questions he could not answer. A powerful sense of déjà vu washed over him.

Ah, now he remembered. A strange System had sent him into another world and required him to complete a mission before he could return.

What was his mission again? Shang Ke’s thoughts were muddled, and his body trembled uncontrollably under the brutal torture. Blood mixed with sweat until he was soaked through. All he could do was keep thinking to distract himself from what was happening to his body.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his mind: 【Pain perception reduced by 100% (time limit: 45 hours). Two hours of self-healing granted per day. Perfect Expression Pack upgraded to Perfect Image Pack—no matter what mishap our dear Host encounters, the Host will maintain the legendary flawless face and figure from every angle, achieving beauty with style, beauty with depth, and beauty beyond the mortal realm.】

Shang Ke: “…”

【Only forty-eight hours remain until the interrogation ends. Dear Host need not worry about anything. You only need to focus on being “beautiful.”】

Shang Ke: …What the hell did “being beautiful” mean? Was that really his mission?

【Dear Host is so clever. Your mission is indeed to be “beautiful.” Once the interrogation is over, recover from your injuries, hook a handsome man, settle down, reach the pinnacle of life, and unlock the “Happily Ever After” achievement.】

That was his mission? Shang Ke could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. His memories might be fragmented, but his instincts told him this was definitely not how things were supposed to work!

【Please do not doubt the System’s sincerity. The System has undergone a magnificent upgrade and is now officially called the “Perfect Life Partner.” Its mission is to help its Host enjoy happiness and fulfillment in every lifetime.】

Shang Ke: That actually sounds rather wonderful…

【The System is constrained by this world’s rules and cannot remain for long. Whenever Host needs assistance, send the System a mental “come-hither glance.” Make sure it is strong enough, or the System will not receive it.】

Something was definitely wrong! Was this really the same System he remembered? Its entire personality had changed!

Shang Ke wanted to ask a few more questions, but the System had already disappeared.

The interrogation continued, but with his pain perception reduced by 100%, the torture itself no longer threatened his consciousness. The instruments and drugs being used on him still made his muscles spasm from time to time, however, and blood and sweat continued to stream down his body.

As the hours passed, the torture grew increasingly severe. Over the course of dozens of hours, Shang Ke endured poisoning, hypnosis, burning needles, slow slicing, and finally the shattering of all four limbs.

Even with all pain nullified, the repeated abuse still pushed his body to a dangerously critical state. Without two hours of self-healing each day, he probably would have been left permanently disabled even if he survived.

When the forty-five hours of pain suppression ended, Shang Ke forced himself to endure another two hours. Then, just as he remembered, he smiled toward the metal wall. For an instant, he seemed dazzlingly radiant. Using the last of his strength, he slowly and firmly declared, “Kruse will fall.”

Then he could finally, blissfully, pass out…

While he lay unconscious, Ravel, the “protagonist” of this world, launched the counterattack he had been preparing for so long. Shang Ke’s declaration—“Kruse will fall”—became the resistance’s rallying cry. In only seven hours, Ravel led them in seizing the initiative in the war.

When Shang Ke woke again, he was already lying in a hospital bed and receiving the best treatment available.

“How is he?” Two people were speaking outside the ward.

“The broken bones can be repaired with our equipment, but how fully he recovers will depend on his constitution. The real problem is the biological toxins in his body. If there were only one or two, we could deal with them, but there are twelve different kinds… I have to say, the fact that he survived torture like that is nothing short of a miracle.”

“Do everything you can to heal him.”

“You don’t need to tell us that. We’ll do everything we can. This child survived House Kruse’s torture through sheer willpower. How could we bear to let him keep suffering?”

The conversation sounded both familiar and strange as it drifted intermittently into Shang Ke’s ears. His hazy memories gradually sharpened. After a car accident left him in a vegetative state, his consciousness became bound to a System. From then on, he traveled through world after world, completing missions and earning rewards.

He remembered having already passed through several worlds, but his memories of them were scattered and incomplete, impossible to piece together in full. His memories of this world had also returned little by little after he regained consciousness.

This was the first world he had ever entered. Coming here a second time meant this must be a Return Key revisit. No wonder the System had not issued a mission—returned worlds were not bound by mission restrictions.

Once he understood that, Shang Ke felt completely at ease. He closed his eyes and drifted peacefully back to sleep.

There was little suspense left in what came next. Ravel would win the final victory and become the new ruler of the Draconis Empire. The only remaining danger was the assassination attempt that would occur on the day of the memorial ceremony.

“You’re awake?” A tall figure approached the bed, a faint note of concern in his deep voice.

Shang Ke gazed at him quietly, his eyes still hazy.

“Your vocal cords were damaged. It may take some time before they recover.” Ravel sat beside the bed and continued calmly, “We’ve won. From now on, we’ll eliminate House Kruse’s remnants one by one.”

Shang Ke smiled at him, his smile clear, beautiful, and warm as a rainbow after a storm.

After enduring so much without losing the purity of his heart, Cage’s strength and optimism deeply moved Ravel. The day Ravel personally carried his battered body out of the interrogation room, he had already decided to take care of the young man. Seeing that smile now only strengthened his resolve—not merely because Cage was General Utrecht’s son, but because his silence and courage had saved countless members of the resistance.

Shang Ke’s gaze unconsciously drifted to Ravel’s hand. His palm was bare; the familiar mole was nowhere to be seen. Even so, Shang Ke knew with absolute certainty that this man was his lover.

Just as in the previous timeline, Ravel set aside three or four hours every day to stay with him, personally changing his dressings, feeding him, and helping him clean up.

With the System’s help, his injuries were not severe enough to leave him paralyzed this time, but the toxins in his body still made him suffer. Every day, his condition cycled between healing and deterioration. Fortunately, he recovered faster than he worsened, and with the doctors’ treatment, he would eventually regain his health.

Shang Ke kept thinking about the assassination attempt at the memorial service, counting down the days and afraid that a single oversight might put Ravel in danger.

So focused was he on worrying about Ravel that Shang Ke completely forgot he himself was about to run into trouble.

“Cage, long time no see.” On the eighth day of Shang Ke’s recovery in the hospital, a young man appeared in his ward.

Gabriel was Cage’s father’s adopted son. He had always wanted to replace Cage as heir to House Bick.

“Look at you now, barely clinging to life. How pitiful. Do you know you only have a few days left to live?” Gabriel looked down at Shang Ke, mockery in his eyes.

The moment Shang Ke saw him, he remembered what was supposed to happen next. Taking advantage of Cage’s inability to care for himself, Gabriel had come specifically to gloat—and had slapped him hard across the face.

In the previous timeline, Shang Ke had been too close to death to bother with him. This time, however, he would most likely survive, so there was no way he was taking that slap again. His bones had not fully healed, but he should at least be able to block it.

After venting years of resentment, Gabriel raised his arm exactly as Shang Ke remembered and swung hard at his face.

Shang Ke knew the room was under surveillance, and he also knew Gabriel carried a jammer. Gabriel clearly believed no one would discover what happened here after Shang Ke died.

Shang Ke raised an arm to shield his face. With a sharp crack, his bones protested and his elbow dislocated again.

Compared with being slapped in the face, Shang Ke would gladly take the dislocated elbow.

According to the original course of events, Gabriel should have left soon after venting his anger. This time, however, he stayed. Instead, he pulled a syringe from his pocket. It contained an unidentified blue liquid, and Shang Ke had no need to guess whether it was anything good.

Shang Ke’s pupils contracted. In the previous timeline, Gabriel had known Cage was going to die and therefore had no reason to do anything more. This time, with proper care, Shang Ke had a very real chance of recovering. He knew Gabriel did not want him to survive, but he had not expected him to actually try to kill him.

Shang Ke stared at him without expression, his other hand hidden beneath the blanket and ready to move.

“You really are hard to kill. Even torture like that couldn’t finish you off.” Gabriel pinned Shang Ke’s dislocated arm and sneered. “But that’s fine. Dying now works just as well.”

With that, he drove the syringe straight toward Shang Ke’s vein.

Shang Ke shot out a hand and seized Gabriel’s wrist. The needle barely pierced his skin, drawing a single bead of blood.

All four of Shang Ke’s limbs had been shattered during the interrogation. Even with the System accelerating his recovery, seven or eight days was nowhere near enough time to heal completely. He had to use nearly every ounce of strength he possessed just to stop Gabriel from forcing the needle into his vein.

There were still numerous unidentified toxins in his body. If Gabriel poisoned him to death now, even the doctors might never discover the true cause.

“Stop struggling and accept your fate!” Gabriel put more force behind his hand, and the needle sank a little deeper.

Accept his fate? That was the one thing Shang Ke hated most!

Crack. Shang Ke heard a bone begin to break, but he still refused to let go. Gritting his teeth, he silently counted the seconds. He only had to hold out for another half minute before an orderly came to check on him.

Gabriel had clearly realized the same thing. His eyes sharpened as he changed his grip on Shang Ke’s wrist and twisted hard.

Shang Ke let out a muffled grunt. His arm broke and fell limply to his side.

When Gabriel raised the syringe again, Shang Ke rolled off the bed and used the momentum of his body to slam into him.

Gabriel staggered backward several steps. The momentum sent Shang Ke tumbling from the bed as well, knocking over the IV stand in a chaotic crash.

Lying on the floor, Shang Ke felt as though every bone in his body had come apart. What happened to the happy, blissful rebirth he had been promised? Could this clichéd assassination plot get any worse?

The commotion finally drew the attention of the people outside. Footsteps rapidly approached the ward.

Gabriel’s face went deathly pale as he finally realized how badly things had gone. Thanks to Shang Ke’s stubborn resistance, what was supposed to be a secret murder had become an attempted killing backed by irrefutable evidence.

Then Gabriel caught sight of the syringe he had brought, still lodged in Shang Ke’s arm. Since he had already been exposed, he decided he might as well go all the way and kill Cage first!

With that thought, Gabriel lunged at Shang Ke, seized the syringe, and rapidly injected the toxin into his body.

Shang Ke’s body went rigid.

This is bad.

After struggling so desperately for so long, had he still ended up poisoned after all?!

He refused to accept this!!!

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