Chapter 235: Back To That Key Moment ⑦

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Chapter 235: Back To That Key Moment ⑦

“…At present, our treatment drug has achieved a critical breakthrough, and we are hopeful that…”

The speaker’s endless explanation drifted into Lu Xiufan’s ears. He raised his head in confusion, his unfocused pupils gradually sharpening. Everything before him felt both familiar and strange: the laboratory, the researchers, his elder brother Lu Xiuqi, the treatment drug, and…

Little Ze!

Lu Xiufan’s breath caught, and his heart nearly stopped. Little Ze, who had left him more than a decade ago, was standing before him alive once more.

“Ah!”

At that moment, a scream rang out. Lu Xiuqi, standing nearby, suddenly went berserk and lunged at a researcher, biting down hard on his ear. He then broke free of the others restraining him, seized a metal chair, and hurled it toward the central AI terminal.

Lu Xiufan’s pupils contracted sharply. He would never forget this scene. Every time he remembered it, regret consumed him. Why had he not been faster? If he had only been a little faster, he could have saved his Little Ze!

The chair flew past his eyes. Lu Xiufan exploded into motion and grabbed one of its metal legs, the momentum dragging him several steps forward. Even though he fought with all his strength to stop it, the back of the chair still struck Shang Ke on the back of the head.

Shang Ke gave a muffled groan and collapsed.

“Little Ze!” Lu Xiufan’s eyes turned bloodshot. He threw the chair aside and rushed to Shang Ke, carefully gathering him into his arms before checking his breath with trembling fingers…

Alive. He was still alive.

Lu Xiufan tipped his head back and released a long breath, relief flooding his face.

The laboratory had descended into chaos, but Lu Xiufan no longer had the attention to spare for his still-rampaging brother. He picked Shang Ke up and hurried toward the medical room, ordering the captain of the guards to handle the aftermath before he left.

He had no idea why he had been reborn, but he thanked Heaven for giving him the chance to change history. As long as he could save Little Ze, he would pay any price without hesitation!

【Brain repair in progress… Estimated time: three months…】

【Dear Host, my apologies. Because the System must obey the laws of each world, it cannot precisely control the time and place of every rollback. Some injury to the Host is therefore unavoidable. Please forgive the inconvenience.】

Shang Ke: …Since when did you become so polite?

【The System has too many virtues to count. Dear Host simply failed to notice them before.】

Shang Ke: Could you at least learn to use idioms correctly before discussing your virtues?

【Dear Host, you are currently brain-damaged. A decline in comprehension is perfectly normal.】

Shang Ke: I take back everything nice I just said about you.

【Conversation concluded. Dear Host, please enter Elegant Sleeping Beauty Mode and awaken in three months.】

Shang Ke had always known the System was unreliable, but even he had not expected it to be this outrageous.

He had no idea what plane of existence the System used to calculate “three months,” but when he finally woke up, three years had already passed!

Three months and three years were worlds apart, okay?!

Shang Ke lay in the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had only just awakened, and his mind was still foggy. When he noticed the date displayed on the wall clock, his memories of this world slowly returned.

According to the timeline of his previous life, this was the third year after his “death.” He wondered how Lu Xiufan was doing—and whether the treatment drug had been successfully developed.

“Little Ze.” As he was lost in thought, a slightly strained voice sounded beside him.

Shang Ke turned his head. Lu Xiufan strode over, crouched beside the bed, and gripped his hand tightly. The excitement and joy in his eyes could not be concealed. “You’re finally awake.”

Shang Ke moved his lips, apparently wanting to say something, but his throat was too dry and raw for him to make a sound.

“Don’t rush. Take your time.” Lu Xiufan summoned the doctor. After a series of examinations, tests, and an IV, they finally confirmed that Shang Ke was conscious and that his mental faculties had essentially returned to normal.

Lu Xiufan sat beside the bed and quietly watched Shang Ke sleep. Years of depression, pain, and regret all dissolved in that moment into simple contentment and peace…

Three days later, Shang Ke could already sit in a wheelchair and wander freely around the villa. During that time, Lu Xiufan also told him about several major events from the past three years. First, Lu Xiufan had turned the various political factions upside down and purged a large number of corrupt elements. Many great families had suffered devastating losses, while newly rising powers seized the opportunity to emerge. The Empire was now in a critical period of political realignment.

Second, the Covenantor treatment drug had received an international patent and was being exclusively manufactured and sold by a commercial organization under the Lu Family.

Shang Ke’s brain had also been healed by the treatment drug, greatly extending the shortened lifespan imposed on Covenantors. However, the drug could not completely repair the damaged emotional centers. Whether a Covenantor could regain normal emotional responses depended on the individual’s own recovery.

Shang Ke had assumed this would not be a problem for him at all. He had been perfectly capable of expressing emotion even before being treated, much less afterward. To his surprise, however, he discovered that he could not control his facial muscles.

He spent quite a while making faces at the mirror, yet his face stubbornly retained the same aloof, composed expression.

What was going on?

Just as he was puzzling over it, the System suddenly spoke. 【The situation is this: the Host’s seventh cranial nerve—commonly known as the facial nerve—was damaged. Although the System made every effort to repair it, a few minor problems remain.】

“Don’t I still have the Perfect Expression Pack? Didn’t you say that ‘no matter what kind of accident the Host encounters, the Host will always display the legendary flawless expression from every possible angle’? And now a little facial-nerve damage is enough to defeat it?”

【Dear Host, do you know what ordinary facial-nerve damage looks like? Facial paralysis, crooked eyes and mouth, slurred speech, drooling… Without the beautifying effects of the Perfect Expression Pack, the Host would be practically unfit for viewing, okay?】

“Is it really that serious?” Shang Ke was skeptical.

【The System may have exaggerated “slightly,” but it cannot be denied that the Perfect Expression Pack has played an indispensable and highly positive role in preserving the Host’s appearance.】

Shang Ke: “…So I’m stuck with a poker face from now on?”

【Not necessarily. The Perfect Expression Pack will continue repairing the Host’s damaged nerves. At best, it may take one or two years. At worst, seven or eight. By then, the repair should be more or less complete.】

“One or two years versus seven or eight years—isn’t that range a little ridiculous?”

【You should be grateful it can be repaired at all.】 The System replied irresponsibly.

Shang Ke: You’re no longer the System I knew—the one that screwed me over without limits but at least dealt in facts.

Just then, Lu Xiufan entered the room. Seeing Shang Ke sitting by the window and looking into a mirror, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shang Ke shook his head to indicate that nothing was wrong, then set the mirror on the windowsill and turned toward him.

Lu Xiufan moved behind Shang Ke and pushed his wheelchair farther into the room. “There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

He lifted Shang Ke onto the sofa, tucked a pillow behind him, and covered him with a blanket before saying, “To prevent anyone from harming you, I publicly announced that you had died and secretly transferred you here. Now that you’ve recovered, I need to arrange a new identity for you.”

Lu Xiufan looked at Shang Ke, his eyes overflowing with tenderness. “Little Ze, what would you like to be called?”

Shang Ke took his hand and traced two characters across his palm: “Shang Ke.”

“Shang Ke… Keke…” Lu Xiufan murmured softly, then smiled. “All right. From now on, you’re Shang Ke. Not Yue Ze of the Yue Family, and not the Covenantor Shang Ze, but a truly free man—Shang Ke.”

Light shimmered in Shang Ke’s eyes, as lively as Lu Xiufan remembered.

Lu Xiufan cupped his face and lightly kissed his lips. “Keke, once you’ve recovered, shall we go traveling?”

While Shang Ke was momentarily distracted, he felt something cool settle around his wrist. Looking down, he saw a watch-shaped camera strapped to his left wrist.

“Happy birthday, Keke.”

That hand-drawn picture of a cake had been one of Lu Xiufan’s regrets in his previous life. July 19—he had engraved the date into his memory. From now on, every year on that day, he would give Shang Ke a cake: a sweet, real cake.

“Happy birthday, Young Master Ze.” Fei Lin entered the room pushing a large cake, smiling as he offered his wishes.

Shang Ke’s eyes curved slightly. The change was tiny, but anyone could easily sense his delight.

“Keke, make a wish.” Lu Xiufan lit the candles for him—eight in total. Including the three years he had spent unconscious, Shang Ke was twenty-six this year. “Whatever you wish for, I’ll make it come true.”

He had plenty of wishes. They could spend a whole lifetime fulfilling them.

Shang Ke suddenly tipped his head up and planted a kiss on Lu Xiufan’s mouth.

Before the flowers in Lu Xiufan’s heart had time to fully bloom, he saw Shang Ke reach out toward Fei Lin as well.

His expression darkened. “Not this one.” As he spoke, he shot his butler a warning glance.

For the first time, the ever-loyal and dutiful Butler Fei defied his master’s wishes. Fearlessly, he walked to Shang Ke’s side and solemnly offered up his cheek.

Shang Ke wrapped an arm around him and gave his cheek an emphatic smack of a kiss.

Lu Xiufan glared darkly at the beaming Fei Lin and privately wondered whether it was time to exercise the authority of the head of the household…

In truth, Shang Ke had never attached much significance to birthdays. The only reason he had left a hand-drawn cake on his computer was a passing whim. He had no idea that this tiny “whim” had remained in Lu Xiufan’s heart for half a lifetime.

Of course, spending a birthday with the person he loved was still a joyful thing, and Shang Ke deeply treasured the care behind it.

That night, after soaking in a hot bath, Shang Ke curled up in bed and used his computer to organize his photographs.

Just then, Fei Lin entered the room carrying a hot drink.

“Young Master Ze.” He first placed the drink on the bedside table, then said, “There is something I would like to ask of you.”

Shang Ke stopped what he was doing and turned toward him, gesturing for him to continue.

Fei Lin looked worried. “His Excellency has had a very difficult few years. He was repeatedly targeted by terrorist attacks and nearly lost his life several times, leaving him with many old injuries and lingering conditions. The doctors have repeatedly told him to recuperate properly, but he keeps putting it off. As long as Young Master Ze remained unconscious, he could not find a moment’s peace. If this continues, those old wounds and chronic illnesses may become impossible to treat. I hope Young Master Ze can persuade him.”

Shang Ke’s expression darkened slightly. He closed the computer, had Fei Lin help him into the wheelchair, then wheeled himself toward Lu Xiufan’s bedroom.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard deliberately muffled coughing from inside.

Shang Ke pursed his lips and pushed the door open without hesitation.

Lu Xiufan raised his head alertly. When he saw Shang Ke, his expression stiffened.

Shang Ke’s gaze swept over the medicine bottle on the table and the glass of water in Lu Xiufan’s hand, and realization dawned.

No wonder Lu Xiufan had not shared his bed these past few days. Shang Ke had thought the man had finally conquered the primal force raging inside him and transformed into an innocent gentleman who understood abstinence. Who would have guessed he was genuinely ill—and had been hiding it because he did not want Shang Ke to find out…

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