After Picking Up the Rival Boss, It Smells Really Good - Chapter 15

Lu Lian turned at the sound: “?”

“Cough…” Qin Gou choked slightly, “Well, I drank too much yesterday. I didn’t say anything inappropriate, did I?”

Lu Lian picked up a cup and started the coffee machine: “You don’t remember?”

“Not at all!” Qin Gou quickly replied, “Probably just some drunken nonsense, don’t take it seriously!”

Lu Lian brought the coffee over and sat back on the sofa: “You mentioned Ye Wan.”

Qin Gou frowned: “That’s all in the past.”

“I have a new deal here.” Lu Lian interrupted him, “Are you interested?”

“What deal?” Qin Gou took another gulp of water.

“Ye Wan signed a contract with me, regarding a lover’s relationship agreement.”

Qin Gou looked at Lu Lian.

“You don’t need to know the specific details, but I can tell you that I can unilaterally terminate this contract at any time.” Lu Lian took a slow sip of coffee, placed the cup on the tea table, and continued, “I can add this condition to our deal. You help me cross the island, I’ll help you reclaim the Qin family and terminate the contract with Ye Wan.”

“Ha…” Qin Gou looked at him, asking incredulously, “What did you say?”

“It’s all gain and no loss for you, isn’t it?”

Qin Gou couldn’t help but laugh, though his sharp eyes held traces of anger, “Then should I thank you, Young Master Lu?”

Lu Lian remained silent.

Qin Gou took two deep breaths, trying to control his anger, but it seemed ineffective. The mineral water bottle in his hand was crushed out of shape.

“Lu Lian, Ye Wan is a person, not some object to be passed around casually!” Qin Gou stared at him intently, as if trying to bore holes through him, “I really want to know, were you some kind of manufactured android? Why do you always say such inhuman things? Can’t you possess even a shred of normal human emotion?”

“…”

Again. Qin Gou suddenly felt weary. He couldn’t quite articulate what was going through his mind, but every time Lu Lian spoke these emotionless words, he felt inexplicably agitated.

Was he standing up for Ye Wan?

Qin Gou wondered, since when had he become such a romantic hero?

Unable to sort through his tangled emotions, and finding Lu Lian’s expressionless face irritating, his hangover headache pounding severely, he simply strode back to the bedroom in two steps and returned to his room.

Lu Lian watched as Qin Gou slammed the bedroom door shut. He turned back, took another sip of coffee, finding it tasteless.

From every perspective, this deal was advantageous for Qin Gou. Lu Lian hadn’t even demanded additional concessions it could be considered an unconditional compromise. What exactly was wrong with it?

Lu Lian’s gray eyes stared at the rich liquid in his coffee cup. The slightly rippling surface reflected his impassive face, a visage that would turn heads anywhere.

Unfortunately, it was too cold. It drew attention but dared no one to approach.

Lu Lian watched for a while, took another sip of coffee, and suddenly murmured in an almost inaudible voice:

“Angry again.”

Qin Gou spent almost the entire day in his room afterward. While anger was one thing, more importantly, Bai Xianzhe and Dean had sent over the materials.

Bai Xianzhe analyzed the solvent kit and the components of the Artificial Forbidden Core, discovering its structure was almost unheard of. The first injection forcibly suppresses the recipient’s immune rejection, creating a physical cavity in those born without a Forbidden Core to accommodate one.

The Artificial Forbidden Core implanted afterward also appears to be made from some kind of liquid. Once placed in the body cavity, it rapidly invades the body, feeding on its flesh, blood, and mental energy to sustain the Forbidden Core Ability.

Depending on the recipient’s adaptability, many Experiment Subjects fail to overcome the immune response in the first stage, directly going berserk and dying. Even those who reach the second stage are quickly drained of nutrients and struggle to survive.

“I see this more as a form of parasitism,” Bai Xianzhe said. “In the later stages of parasitism, as the body deteriorates and the Forbidden Core can no longer obtain sufficient nourishment, it begins to manipulate the body into losing rationality and attacking others. This is actually the Forbidden Core’s attempt to break free from the body and find another host.”

“If it can control normal Nuclear Inhibitor Possessors during this period, it can survive and evolve.” Bai Xianzhe sent the data to Qin Gou. “This is also why it has the ability to disrupt other Mental Seas.”

Qin Gou’s brow was tightly furrowed. If such experiments were successful, they wouldn’t just overturn the existing Forbidden Core order it was terrifying to imagine what those in power might do with this research.

“The escaped Experiment Subject mentioned in the lab logs,” Qin Gou noted the key point. “Subject 256, not only possesses an S-grade Forbidden Core Ability but also doesn’t seem to have died quickly?”

“So I suspect there might be a relationship beyond parasitism,” Bai Xianzhe said.

“Symbiosis.”

By the time all the data and thoughts were sorted out, it was already 2 a.m. Qin Gou emerged from the bedroom. Lu Lian had likely returned to his room to rest, leaving the living room empty.

Qin Gou walked to the curtain and felt along the patterned edge. Sure enough, the miniature monitor was no longer there.

This was expected. Over the past few days, Qin Gou had been placing them while Lu Lian kept discarding them under the coffee table, between sofa cushions, on the clock shelf, in desk drawers. No matter where he hid them, Lu Lian would find and remove them by the next day.

It was as if Qin Gou was playing a game of hide-and-seek with Lu Lian. If there were ever a day Lu Lian didn’t find one, Qin Gou would probably be delighted for a while.

Unfortunately, there had been no exceptions so far.

Qin Gou recalled the message from Dean.

“I believe you’re no stranger to Caberry, Mr. Qin,” Dean said. “He’s the leader of the Nuclear Inhibitor dealers operating near ‘Weeds’ the true head of the trade.”

Qin Gou remembered the blond boy who had induced Lu Lian to drink the Red Potion.

“Speaking of which, there are rumors that the potion he possesses is different from the usual Red Potion.”

“How so?”

“I haven’t managed to get the specifics yet,” Dean said. “In fact, the first generation of Red Potion also originated from him. The ability to directly induce Mental Sea chaos and seize Forbidden Cores is quite remarkable, isn’t it?”

The Red Potion became popular about ten years ago. Its emergence initially caused an uproar, but there had never been an effective way to combat its illegal use. Pelat City ultimately resorted to a massive purge, exiling most Nuclear Inhibitor dealers to Gorgona Island.

How much those families had manipulated behind the scenes remained unknown to anyone.

Based on the information provided by Bai Xianzhe and Dean, along with the laboratory logs, it could be concluded that the origin of these illegal Artificial Forbidden Cores was highly likely connected to Caberry.

An experiment capable of overturning the world was quietly emerging from the swamps and mire.

Qin Gou arrived at Lu Lian’s door. In truth, he had always harbored doubts, how could someone like Lu Lian be so easily deceived into drinking the Red potion?

Not to mention how he later deliberately used Mian Tiao to distract Qin Gou, only to reappear precisely near Caberry’s territory.

And why did he coincidentally show up on the small island of Gorgona right after going missing?

What was his connection to this massive experiment?

Or perhaps everything was part of his plan?

With these thoughts, Qin Gou gently pushed open Lu Lian’s door.

Lu Lian lay asleep on his side, his breathing so faint that without careful listening, one wouldn’t even know another person was there in the darkness.

Qin Gou scanned the bedroom. If his suspicions were correct that Lu Lian had once met Gabriel and even risked himself to join the game it must have been to obtain something extremely important.

What was it? How was it related to the experiment?

Someone as cautious as Lu Lian would most likely not leave such a crucial item in Qin Gou’s house.

It was more probable that he kept it on his person.

With this in mind, Qin Gou quietly approached Lu Lian. He appeared to be in deep sleep, his expression serene in the dim light, like some deity from ancient mythology yet to awaken.

Qin Gou reached out his hand.

The steady rhythm of breathing in the air hitched abruptly. Startled, Qin Gou met a pair of gray eyes now open, their depths swirling like an impending storm.

Before he could react, an immense force seized his arm, yanking him down violently.

The world spun, and he landed on the bed.