Chapter 282: Favoritism
Li Zhuang wasn’t fooled and asked bluntly, “Do you think he’s involved?”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t harm me.” Even though their relationship had been tense before, Zhuang Mingxu was stubborn to a fault, especially with him. That personality was amplified many times.
“So confident?” Li Zhuang asked.
Lu Weiyi thought seriously this time, then actually smiled. In a joking tone he said, “Maybe that’s the confidence of being the favored one.”
Yes, he always knew he was the favored one.
People say that emotional security comes from oneself, but in truth, being openly favored is the root.
Li Zhuang laughed, amused for a long time, then waved him off. “I accept your plea. Go talk to the others.”
Before Lu Weiyi could say anything, Li Zhuang agreed, which only made Lu Weiyi feel more guilty. “Sorry, this time…”
“It’s not your fault. Since everyone followed you out together, they were prepared to die at any moment. You don’t have to take all the responsibility on yourself,” Li Zhuang said, trying to comfort their overly responsible team leader.
With his purpose achieved, Lu Weiyi didn’t stay any longer. He got up to meet the others, only to see Li Zhuang reclining with his hands behind his head, looking anything but like someone recovering from illness—instead, he looked relaxed.
He returned to his usual carefree self and called out to Lu Weiyi, “Young master, come, I’ve got some good news for you.”
Lu Weiyi rolled his eyes at him.
Li Zhuang laughed heartily. “You’ll regret it if you don’t listen.”
Lu Weiyi ignored him and walked out slowly. After two steps, he couldn’t help himself and tossed him a cigarette.
Li Zhuang didn’t reach out immediately like usual but took it slowly, seeming unhurried. Lu Weiyi knew Li Zhuang wasn’t capable of quick reactions.
He put the cigarette to his nose and sniffed. “It’s my favorite brand. Since you’re bribing me…”
“When we were at the institute, Zhuang Mingxu once hinted to me a Morse code message. It said, ‘Dean is safe, he’ll find a way, just hold on.’”
Lu Weiyi was momentarily stunned, then heard Li Zhuang continue, “Maybe your rescue was too timely; he didn’t get the chance to act.”
Li Zhuang’s voice wasn’t low, and the rooms on the second floor were close, with doors open. Although everyone was resting, after a big disaster, some people naturally wanted to talk to stay awake.
The first to express dissatisfaction was Antonio. He was already thinking about how to severely beat Zhuang Mingxu, making sure he wouldn’t have a good time and also wouldn’t leave any evidence for Lu Weiyi to use against him.
Hearing Li Zhuang’s words, which seemed like an attempt to clear Zhuang Mingxu’s name, he loudly asked, “He only entered my lab, but I didn’t hear him—how come?”
“He probably tried to give you a hint, but…” Li Zhuang paused, then asked, “Can you read Morse code?”
“…” Antonio was silent.
“You don’t understand Morse code?” Lu Weiyi asked incredulously, as if that were something strange.
“Do you?” Antonio countered.
“I don’t,” Lu Weiyi answered confidently, which made the others listening feel a bit embarrassed. He added, “I’m not a mercenary.”
“Antonio’s a mercenary? So cool,” Lu Xi asked in surprise.
“Wow, a real profession,” Gu Qingyue said.
“Our team really has hidden talents,” Xu Sa added.
They bantered back and forth, and Lu Weiyi noticed most of them were actually awake. Though their physical conditions seemed poor, their spirits were fairly good.
Antonio’s identity was exposed, and he didn’t explain much but reminded Lu Weiyi, “Li’s explanation is one-sided. I want to wait until Dean wakes up and ask him before deciding whether to fight.”
“…” Lu Weiyi thought. Looks like he really held a grudge.
Seeing everyone awake, Lu Weiyi straightforwardly announced the tentative handling plan. With Li Zhuang’s support and Ning Yuan, who had also woken up, backing him up, no one objected.
A huge weight lifted slightly from Lu Weiyi’s heart.
He went downstairs to eat. The painkillers were mostly worn off, and the suppressed reactions felt stronger than before.
Lu Weiyi could no longer pretend everything was fine. Holding his head with both hands, he buried his face between his knees, wishing he could knock himself out to pass out.
But there was still much to do. Without trusted people around, he couldn’t even rest.
He needed to ask about Zhuang Mobai’s medication, see when they might recover…
He had to find out details about the hunter guild’s squad involvement…
He had to check if any Capital forces were making moves…
The more he thought about it, the more overwhelmed Lu Weiyi felt.
He wondered if Zhuang Mingxu ever felt this way in his past life—and how he coped then.
When Lu Weiyi appeared in the space, Zhuang Mingxu was around a rather abrupt underground lab, pondering what was inside.
The fully enclosed walls formed a single unit, so at first he didn’t recognize it. He thought it was one of Lu Weiyi’s scavenged basements and considered whether to go inside.
The moment he noticed someone watching him, Zhuang Mingxu quickly turned around and went into a defensive stance—even though he knew this was Lu Weiyi’s space, it was still unfamiliar territory.
Seeing the familiar figure, his muscles relaxed. He quickly walked over to Lu Weiyi. “Xiao Yi, where have you been?”
He reached out to touch Lu Weiyi’s body to check for injuries, then gently stroked his face. “You look awful. What happened?”
“Have all our team members been rescued?”
Lu Weiyi didn’t answer the question but looked at him. “Back when we left Capital, when you were starting up and being suppressed by the Zhuang family and trapped everywhere—how did you manage to hold on?”
Zhuang Mingxu was stunned, then fell silent for a moment as if recalling the past. Then the corner of his mouth lifted into a small smile. “I don’t think I needed to hold on.”
Meeting Lu Weiyi’s always calm gaze, he explained, “What I wanted most, I already got. Any hardships that come later, I accept.”
What he wanted most…
Lu Weiyi knew what he meant. It was this calm, caring attitude that always made Lu Weiyi feel justified.
“Life is full of disappointments. To have one thing go well is enough to be content,” Zhuang Mingxu said calmly, without any embarrassment.
When Lu Weiyi followed him, he had mental illness, was silent, and never spoke even when uncomfortable. That made Zhuang Mingxu the one who spoke clearly about everything.
Lu Weiyi’s tense nerves loosened a bit. His weary body swayed slightly, and Zhuang Mingxu pulled him into a serious embrace. “Xiao Yi, what’s wrong?”
Leaning on Zhuang Mingxu, Lu Weiyi’s eyes were unusually blank, his expression full of pain. “I forcibly upgraded, and it feels like my head’s about to explode.”
When Zhuang Mingxu was at the Qingyuan base, he had carefully inquired about those powered individuals whose upgrades had failed and exploded. Without exception, the earliest symptom they all experienced was a headache.
His heart skipped a beat, and his face instantly darkened as he closely examined Lu Weiyi’s expression. He pressed his finger on Lu Weiyi’s brow. “Is it here?”
Unconsciously, his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Lu Weiyi nodded.
Zhuang Mingxu immediately felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.
Lu Weiyi tried to appear calm to comfort his confused beloved, but his facial muscles twitched for a long time, forcing out only an awkward smile. His mouth opened and closed like rusty gears stuck, unable to utter a word.
“I just went to the Zhuang family. I told them I wanted fourteen powered people to experience the suffering our team went through, and only then would I let them go.”
“The laboratory video got leaked.”
“My uncle is planning to lead a team to break away from the Zhuang family.”
“Our team members can’t move now, and their powers haven’t recovered.”
“They must be blaming me.”
“I…”
Lu Weiyi’s headache muddled his thoughts, and he spoke incoherently and in fragments.
After being reborn, Lu Weiyi only wanted to lie low, but Zhuang Mingxu’s accident forced him to stand up. He had a lover with limited mobility, a child who didn’t understand the world, and family members without powers.
At first, he wanted to become strong enough so that no one in the team would consider him a burden. Gradually, he took responsibility for the team, and all the pressure unknowingly shifted onto him.
Even though he had lived two lives, he didn’t have enough experience to handle everything smoothly.
Zhuang Mingxu looked at the well-being of the person he protected—the one who had steadfastly carried him through the hardest year, who had stubbornly healed his disability—but now was lost and self-blaming because of him and his family. A wave of bittersweet pain and heartache welled up inside him.
He hugged Lu Weiyi tightly, kissed his brow, and said firmly and gently, “I’m here, Xiao Yi. Don’t be afraid. Don’t think about anything else. I’ll help you sort everything out, okay? Don’t think anymore.”
Lu Weiyi gradually calmed under his deep, dependable voice.
“Let’s leave the space first. You need to rest, alright?” Zhuang Mingxu whispered as his lips touched Lu Weiyi’s cold skin.
Lu Weiyi habitually obeyed, and in an instant, they returned to the bedroom in the villa.
Zhuang Mingxu settled Lu Weiyi onto the bed and glanced at the painkillers on the bedside table. Seeing him instinctively press his brow, he picked up a pill and asked, “Does this help?”
Lu Weiyi nodded.
Zhuang Mingxu immediately poured out two pills according to the dosage and handed them to him. After Lu Weiyi took them, he lay down holding him. After a while, Lu Weiyi, who had been tense the whole time, breathed steadily and fell asleep.
Zhuang Mingxu quietly left the room, immediately attracting the attention of several people in the living room.
“Zhuang Mingxu? What are you—” Xu Yi spoke first, but Zhuang Ai Yi next to him jumped up and ran toward Zhuang Mingxu, not forgetting to complain, “Big Daddy, someone bullied my Little Daddy, and his mouth is bleeding.”
This was a suggestive situation.
Especially since many had once coveted Lu Weiyi. Zhuang Mingxu furrowed his brows and looked at the two adults.
Qi Lin roughly explained what had happened and asked, “Where’s the Captain?”
