Chapter 92: Covenantor (XV)

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Chapter 92: Covenantor (XV)

After three days in the hospital, Shang Ke had recovered considerably. Aside from becoming mentally fatigued easily, everything else was healing well.

When Lu Xiufan entered the hospital room, he found Shang Ke propped against the pillows, head lowered as he reviewed some documents. The two Covenantors sitting beside him were staring at him expressionlessly.

All three noticed Lu Xiufan enter and looked up at the same time. The two Covenantors merely glanced at him before returning their attention to Shang Ke, while Shang Ke naturally gave him a long look in silent greeting.

As Lu Xiufan looked at the three of them, a strange feeling rose in his heart. He had personally permitted these two Covenantors to enter the room, and nothing had seemed unusual when he interacted with them individually. Yet with them sitting beside Shang Ke, the differences between them became strikingly obvious.

The two Covenantors had wooden expressions and dull, unfocused eyes. They seemed immersed in worlds of their own, almost lifeless. Shang Ke was completely different. Although his face showed little expression, his eyes were exceptionally clear, as though they contained an endless space capable of holding everything he saw.

Lu Xiufan vaguely realized that his previous understanding had been mistaken. He had assumed all Covenantors were alike, but Shang Ke was clearly different.

“It’s time to rest,” Lu Xiufan told him.

Shang Ke checked the time. “Please give me another fifteen minutes.”

That was the amount of time he had scheduled with the two Covenantors. Even if he wanted to finish early, they would not agree unless he explicitly ordered them to stop.

Lu Xiufan patiently stood to one side and waited.

“As for the specific implementation, follow…”

The instant the fifteen minutes were up, the two Covenantors began packing their things even though Shang Ke had not finished speaking.

“…the plan we established beforehand.” Shang Ke just managed to finish the sentence before they left the room.

After interacting closely with real Covenantors, Shang Ke discovered that his own imitation was nowhere near convincing enough. At least when it came to timekeeping and their almost obsessive execution of schedules, he was far behind them. Everything had to be planned in advance, with schedules accurate down to the second, or he would be left staring at their backs as they walked away without hesitation. No wonder people called them “robots”: anything scheduled would absolutely be completed, while anything outside the plan would absolutely not be done.

Of course, he could order them to stay and issue new instructions, but he tried to avoid doing so whenever possible so they would not develop lax habits.

“Little Ze, there’s something we need to talk about properly.” Lu Xiufan sat beside Shang Ke with a serious expression.

“What is it?”

“I’m your employer. You’re supposed to obey my orders, especially when you’re in danger.” Lu Xiufan’s tone was stern. “During that accident a few days ago, I told you to jump from the car. Why didn’t you?”

Shang Ke was silent for a moment before calmly replying, “I’m Jill and Yun Ling’s employer. I have an obligation to protect their safety, just as you protect me.”

“Then,” Lu Xiufan stared at him intently, “if I and they were all in danger at the same time, who would you save first?”

Why did that question sound so familiar? How was it any different from the classic internet dilemma: If your mother and your wife fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?

Shang Ke was struck speechless for a moment but still answered solemnly, “I would save you, Sir.”

“But that time, you chose the Covenantor.”

“Because your life wasn’t in danger. Under those circumstances, saving a life should take priority,” Shang Ke argued with perfect seriousness.

“But to me,” Lu Xiufan said one word at a time, “your life is also my highest priority!”

Shang Ke fell silent.

“Promise me, Little Ze.” Lu Xiufan held his hand, his gaze burning. “If you ever encounter danger again, consider your own safety first.”

“Sir,” Shang Ke replied simply, “your life comes before everything else.” Therefore, he would not accept that order.

Lu Xiufan’s heart trembled. He gazed at Shang Ke quietly for a moment, then pulled him into his arms and said in a low voice, “So does yours.”

Over the past few days, the Queen had summoned Lu Xiufan several times. Now that Shang Ke had largely recovered, he finally answered her summons and went to the palace.

In the inner court, besides the Queen and Prince Consort, there was an elderly man: Chang Si, head of the Chang Family.

“Your Majesty.” Lu Xiufan gave a slight bow in greeting.

Chang Si also rose and saluted Lu Xiufan.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the Queen asked about Lady Chang and Yue Xuan, a faint rebuke underlying her words. As a titled prince, Lu Xiufan really should not be interfering in another family’s internal affairs.

“This is not an internal family matter. Lady Chang and Yue Xuan are suspected of conspiring to harm Yue Ze, the eldest son of the Yue Family. I’m investigating them,” Lu Xiufan replied.

“Is that so? I’ve also heard you subjected them to private punishment.” The Queen’s tone turned solemn. “Their status is different from that of ordinary civilians. Any interrogation should be conducted openly, and members of both the Yue and Chang families have the right to observe.”

“Fine.” Unexpectedly, Lu Xiufan did not object.

The following day, Lady Chang and Yue Xuan were transferred into a special interrogation room, and members of both the Yue and Chang families were allowed to visit them.

The moment Lady Chang saw her father, she said, “Father, you must seek justice for us. His Excellency forcibly subjected Little Xuan to Mental Virus removal surgery and turned him into a Covenantor.”

Chang Si’s expression darkened. He turned toward Yue Xuan and saw his wooden expression, which indeed looked no different from a Covenantor’s.

Furious, Chang Si immediately asked the Queen to have Yue Xuan examined. If the examination confirmed that he had been forcibly turned into a Covenantor, he demanded that Her Majesty ensure justice was done.

The Queen gave an ambiguous response and cast Lu Xiufan a subtle glance. He remained completely indifferent, as though the matter had nothing to do with him.

Chang Si brought Yue Xuan to the Royal Hospital for a Covenantor identification examination, which generally involved analyzing the brain for the virus and testing neuronal reflex responses through controlled stimulation.

Yue Xuan sat in a metal chair and underwent the examination. Not long after the machine activated, the previously vacant Yue Xuan suddenly screamed. His expression twisted violently as he struggled desperately against the chair. Everyone watching outside changed expression at once.

He was clearly not a Covenantor!

The machine emitted a piercing alarm, and the doctor immediately shut it down. Several medical workers approached to help Yue Xuan out, only for him to suddenly bite one of them on the arm, his eyes vicious like a demon’s.

“Little Xuan!” several members of the Chang Family cried out.

“Argh!” Yue Xuan let out a beastlike roar and snapped at anyone who came near him, appearing completely deranged.

Lady Chang shouted anxiously, “Hurry! Help him!”

With the help of the other medical personnel, the doctor injected Yue Xuan with a sedative and finally calmed him.

“What’s happening?” Lady Chang demanded.

The doctor’s expression was equally ugly. “He isn’t a Covenantor at all. Why did you insist on a Covenantor identification examination? Didn’t you know this kind of test can harm a normal brain?”

The doctor had warned them beforehand to perform a routine examination first, but they refused. Convinced that Yue Xuan had already become a Covenantor, they wanted the identification report as quickly as possible.

A Covenantor’s neurons were different from those of an ordinary person and would not react to the machine’s stimulation. A normal person’s nervous system, however, was highly sensitive. Even slight stimulation could trigger enormous emotional fluctuations, with the exact response varying by individual. Excitement would intensify, sadness would deepen, fear would become stronger, anger would grow more violent…

In Yue Xuan’s case, the strongest impressions buried in his consciousness were fear and anger. The machine amplified them immediately, sending him into a state of madness.

The doctor was preparing to perform a full examination when Yue Xuan abruptly opened his eyes, seized the doctor by the throat, and hissed venomously, “I’ll kill you! Kill you!”

The doctor’s face turned blue and his eyes bulged. Just as he was about to be strangled, the people behind him rushed forward and, with great difficulty, pried Yue Xuan’s hands loose before injecting him with another sedative.

Yue Xuan collapsed limply onto the bed, but his eyes remained open, the vicious light in them particularly terrifying.

The doctor coughed violently several times before rasping angrily, “Now we can be certain that Second Young Master Yue is absolutely not a Covenantor—and his emotions are exceptionally ‘rich’!”

The expressions on the Chang Family members’ faces became extremely complicated, their suspicious gazes drifting toward Lu Xiufan.

Lu Xiufan sat on a bench, coldly watching the farce unfold before him.

“Since that’s the case, you can handle the rest yourselves.” The Queen rose gracefully and left with the Prince Consort.

Although her face showed no displeasure, her tone clearly conveyed dissatisfaction with the Chang Family.

“Your Excellency, what exactly did you do to Little Xuan?” Lady Chang demanded, staring directly at Lu Xiufan.

Lu Xiufan replied indifferently, “I merely treated him the same way he treated someone else.”

With that, he turned and left as well.

Back then, Lady Chang had injected Yue Ze with a psychotropic drug that drove him temporarily mad. He was then mistaken for a Mental Virus patient and forcibly subjected to the removal procedure, turning him into a Covenantor. Lu Xiufan had likewise injected Yue Xuan with a psychotropic drug—but this one did not cause madness. Instead, it temporarily deprived him of sensory awareness.

Lady Chang had already convinced herself that Yue Xuan had been turned into a Covenantor, so she insisted on immediately subjecting him to a Covenantor identification examination. The test instead overstimulated his nervous system and drove him mad. Under the effects of the psychotropic drug, that madness would become permanent unless they truly put him through the Mental Virus removal procedure.

In reality, the drug’s effects would last only half a month. Back then, they had used one dose of a psychotropic drug to make Yue Ze appear insane, then turned him into a Covenantor. Now Lu Xiufan had used one dose to make Yue Xuan appear mentally vacant, then let them personally push him toward genuine, lasting madness.

It was simply repayment in kind—and in the end, they had brought it upon themselves.

But this matter was not over. There was an eighty- to ninety-percent chance that the attack on Shang Ke had been orchestrated by the Chang Family. What sort of generous return gift should Lu Xiufan prepare for them?

A layer of icy frost settled over Lu Xiufan’s eyes.

The moment he stepped into Shang Ke’s hospital room, its warmth immediately calmed him.

Shang Ke was marking something on the screen of his personal terminal.

Lu Xiufan moved closer and saw a calendar on the screen, with every date from the second through the tenth circled.

“What’s this?” Lu Xiufan sat beside the bed and wrapped an arm around his waist.

Hmm? He seems to have lost quite a bit of weight. I’ll have to fatten him up properly once we get home.

“These are the days I missed work,” Shang Ke said seriously. “I’ll have to make them up later.”

Lu Xiufan raised an eyebrow. “How do you plan to make them up?”

“I currently have two options,” Shang Ke replied. “One: work an extra two hours every day until I’ve made up the missed hours. Two: trade quality for quantity and use special services to compensate for the missing work hours.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Xiufan decisively chose the second option.

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