When the Villainous Boss Acts as the Protagonist (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 23.2

Friedrich’s fingers clenched tighter, and the Zerg markings on his neck flickered as if he might enter a mental riot right then and there from the anger toward the “irresponsibly fickle” Ryan.

Fortunately, Fero spoke in time to comfort him:

“Don’t worry. When we get to Qing Garden and find the drugged Ryan, just take good care of him. When the drug wears off and he wakes up, he’ll be very grateful to you. Then you can push all the blame onto me and Saxon. I guarantee Ryan will distance himself from Saxon. With a little more effort, he will definitely fall in love with you again.”

The male spoke word for word, gentle and understanding. In a daze, Friedrich almost thought he was the Ryan from his memory.

The clenched fists gradually loosened under the male’s comfort, and the tension that had been building since his memory awakening slowly eased. Friedrich and Fero moved closer to each other.

It wasn’t until a strong scent of tea hit him that Friedrich, nearly drowning in Fero’s gentleness, snapped awake.

“Sorry!”

Friedrich abruptly pulled away from Fero, his back pressing against the car door. He averted his eyes awkwardly.

“I accidentally mistook you for Ryan…”

Hearing this, Fero’s grip on the car seat tightened.

But on the surface, he remained incredibly gentle. Even though the female had mistaken him for someone else, he could still comfort him:

“It’s okay. It just goes to show how much you love Ryan, to the point of having hallucinations.”

“Yeah, mainly because he used to be like you, unconditionally supporting me and staying by my side. Unfortunately,” Friedrich laughed self-deprecatingly, “everything has changed now.”

“It’s okay, it will come back.”

Fero leaned closer to Friedrich, his tone even softer, like a comfort and a temptation:

“Once we get to Qing Garden, everything will come back.”

“Thank you.”

Facing Fero, who was helping him so wholeheartedly, the last trace of resentment Friedrich held for Fero’s previous deception vanished.

Friedrich looked up, and the gaze he directed toward Fero softened considerably.

“I will remember everything Your Excellency has done for me today. In the future, if there is a female Zerg you have your eye on, I will certainly do my best to introduce you!”

 

“Because you are such a good Zerg, I believe any female who marries you will surely be happy.”

 

Even after crossing into the Zerg world, Fero who was still being hit with the “good Zerg” card—felt the corners of his eyes twitch. However, for the sake of his persona and his subsequent plans, he struggled to maintain a gentle smile.

 

“It’s nothing. As long as you are happy, I am satisfied.”

 

He reached into the car’s refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of ice water, and handed it to Friedrich.

 

“So just relax for now. Here, have some ice water and calm down.”

 

The golden sunlight filtered through the car window, spilling over Fero as he watched Friedrich drink. It looked as though he were plated in a layer of holy light.

 

But was that truly the case?

 

In a place Friedrich couldn’t see, the skull wrapped in thick black mist slowly leaned into Fero’s ear.

 

“Alright, Elio has also departed. I hope you don’t disappoint me with what happens next.”

 

“Of course not!”

 

The corners of Fero’s mouth remained curved upward, but his slightly narrowed eyes were filled with waves of coldness.

 

Now, as soon as he and Friedrich arrived, the good show could begin.

 

When the time came, he would first take the villain who was entering a mental riot and losing consciousness and throw him to Elio, who had held a grudge against Alex since the last banquet. Then, he would take the protagonist gong who was under the influence of the aphrodisiac and throw him to a group of desperate, low-level females who had never had the chance to taste a male’s pheromones in their lives. As for Friedrich.

 

Friedrich would naturally be with him.

 

Fero watched the female’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as he finished most of the bottle of ice water. The smile on Fero’s lips deepened.

 

Advancing the second evolution, the mental riot, “I’m satisfied as long as you’re happy”—all of it was nothing more than an excuse Fero used to lure Friedrich to Qing Garden.

 

The ice water Friedrich was drinking had been tampered with the moment Fero unscrewed the cap to hand it over.

 

The drug he put inside was colorless and odorless. If taken alone, it wouldn’t even affect a female’s body.

 

Only upon coming into contact with the drug the protagonist gong was under would the body react. It would feel as though he were also drugged, but the effect would be much more violent and intense.

 

By then, how could a blurred-conscious Friedrich distinguish who the male approaching him was?

 

After all, the other had just admitted to almost mistaking Fero for Ryan.

 

So, once Friedrich arrived at Qing Garden and the drug took effect, Fero could pretend to be Ryan and act as the “antidote.”

 

Once the female woke up, Fero would cry a little. Meanwhile, news would be leaked that Ryan had been violated by common females and his glands were destroyed. Fero didn’t believe that Friedrich would abandon the one who selflessly helped him, only to pursue a waste of a male who couldn’t even release a trace of pheromones!

 

Fero’s plan was perfect. He had even thought about how to cry to trigger the maximum amount of guilt in the female once he woke up, and how to utilize that guilt to successfully “conquer” him.

 

Taking a deep breath, Fero smiled as he looked out the car window. Amidst the retreating scenery, the smile on the male’s face grew brighter, as if he weren’t rushing to a place to eat, but rather toward a beautiful future where he successfully won over the protagonist shou.

 

However, while the imagination was beautiful, reality was always cruel.

 

The moment Fero led Friedrich to Qing Garden and pushed open the ajar door, what he saw was not a male slumped by the table with blurred eyes and a fading consciousness, pulling at his collar and crying about the heat.

 

Nor was it Alex, body covered in Zerg markings and devoid of reason, ready to be led away by any male pheromone.

 

Within his field of vision, the male leaned lazily in a wide wooden chair. One leg was raised and resting on the long armrest, knee slightly bent. His right hand rested casually on his knee, fingers spinning a pistol, while his toes tapped along with the rhythm of the spinning gun.

 

If not for the moisture at the corners of his eyes and his slightly flushed cheeks, one could say the Zerg didn’t show a single trace of being drugged.

 

He even had the leisure to greet Fero and Friedrich.

 

“Yo, you’re here.”

 

His tone was as familiar as if they weren’t archenemies, but friends of many years.

 

Fero was at a loss, his eyes instinctively searching the room.

 

Unfortunately, even as he stood at the door and scanned every corner of the private room, he couldn’t find a single soul other than Chu Sicheng.

 

Where was Alex?

 

Where was Elio?

 

And what about that group of low-level females the skull had mentioned?

 

Fero’s body shook uncontrollably. A bone-chilling cold climbed from his tailbone all the way to his neck. It felt as if someone were standing behind him, pressing a knife against his throat.

 

He shrunk his neck, watching the male who was boredly rubbing the muzzle of the gun against a strand of hair. He tried to hold back, but eventually couldn’t.

 

“Where is Saxon?”

 

Even if the cannon fodder Elio hadn’t arrived yet and was absent…

 

What about the villain, Alex?

 

Shouldn’t he be having lunch here with the protagonist gong? Why was there not even a shadow of him?

 

“You want to know?” Chu Sicheng raised an eyebrow.

 

Perhaps the male’s voice was too calm, or perhaps Fero was too panicked by the scene that didn’t match his expectations, but Fero instinctively nodded. He desperately wanted to know the whole picture so he could bring his plan back on track.

 

At this moment, Fero looked like a desperate patient seeking any cure. Unfortunately, “Doctor Chu,” whom he had chosen, had no intention of accepting him.

 

Chu Sicheng wasn’t that kind-hearted.

 

The pistol hanging on his index finger spun twice rapidly before the male gripped it firmly. Chu Sicheng pressed the muzzle against his chin and narrowed his eyes at the two people at the door.

 

His appearance was still just as described in the original text: clean, soft, like an innocent deer in the woods, or a weak rabbit that could only curl up in a female’s palm and beg for protection.

 

However, while the person opposite him stood on a high horse and could only define him by the words in the plot, that innocent deer had grown sharp antlers, and that weak rabbit had revealed sharp fangs.

 

“But why should I tell you? Besides, compared to knowing Alex’s whereabouts,”

 

Chu Sicheng propped his chin on his hand, pointing the gun straight ahead and aiming the muzzle at the female beside Fero.

 

“Shouldn’t you first care about him?”

 

The female, who had felt something was wrong since entering, could no longer stand at the door using the strength of his own legs.

 

He leaned against the doorframe, mouth slightly open. While his chest heaved, his dark eyes had completely lost their focus.

 

If not for the support of the doorframe, he would likely have fallen straight to the floor.

 

Friedrich instinctively licked his dry lips, and his right hand began to tug at his tightly buttoned collar.

 

“Hot…”

 

He spoke unclearly, feeling panicked by everything happening inside his body.

 

“So hot, what exactly is going on?”

 

“Wow, the two of you have so many questions,”

 

Chu Sicheng shook his head as if troubled. “So, whose question should I answer first?”

 

“Or rather…”

 

Chu Sicheng looked at Fero. His smiling expression made the other shudder. “To reduce my workload, why don’t you answer his questions?”

 

“No, no, no, forget it.”

 

Just as Fero moved his lips to speak, Chu Sicheng vetoed the idea before he could.

 

“That’s too much trouble, and there’s the risk of the middleman falsifying the information.”

 

Chu Sicheng retracted his leg from the armrest, stood up, and walked toward the door.

 

“So, I’ll be the one to explain clearly. What do you think, Lord Fero?”

 

Chu Sicheng gave Fero a slight smile. He paused, then added, “Or would you prefer I call you… Jiang Ming?”

 

“!!!”

 

Fero’s eyes widened suddenly. After Chu Sicheng uttered that strange yet familiar name, it was as if a switch had been flipped in his brain. In the next second, those distant, dark memories rushed toward him like a tide, drowning him.

 

“Someone born in the slums, who grew up being oppressed and insulted by the powerful, yet the moment they obtained power, they pointed their blade at those whose lives were equally difficult. Isn’t that laughable?”

 

Fero’s breathing grew more rapid, yet he still felt oxygen-deprived. The feeling of suffocation forced him to open his mouth and gasp for air, to the point where speaking became difficult.

 

“You… you are also…”

 

“Take a guess.”

 

Chu Sicheng still had no intention of resolving his doubts. Lowering his eyes to look at the trembling Fero, Chu Sicheng parted his thin lips and said indifferently:

 

“What I am isn’t important. What’s important is what you are.”

 

You are not a Zerg, because you don’t belong to this world.

 

But you are also not a person.

 

The moment you turned your calculating gaze toward the weak, and the moment your heart was soaked in the black ink of profit, the laws of the world stripped you of your right to be human.

 

From then on, all your names were erased by the rules, leaving only a code rejected by the world and destined to be purged: Bug.

 

The wine glass filled with golden liquid finally touched Fero’s lips.

 

The golden liquid gradually disappeared, and his eyes grew hazy. Before his consciousness completely vanished, Fero heard Chu Sicheng speak again:

 

“Besides Alex, don’t you also want to know where Elio and those other females went?”

 

“Regarding that question, I’ll be kind enough to tell you. Elio was just taken away by his female attendants. As for those other females, they are currently lying in the room you booked earlier.”

 

“You’re so thoughtful. After I finished dealing with them, I was just thinking about where to toss them when the staff came over and said someone had booked a room for the guests in this private room and told us to go rest.”

 

It truly was like being handed a pillow just as one was getting sleepy.

 

“It’s just that I don’t think I’ll be needing it now. You, however,” Chu Sicheng patted Fero’s burning cheek with the wine glass, “seem to be able to use it.”

 

Furthermore, compared to a male whose rank was currently still F-level, those females would much rather taste an A-level male.

 

Chu Sicheng laughed lowly. Then, remembering something, he turned back to Fero before the door to darkness closed.

 

“By the way, now you really can go and sue those disgusting low-level females.”

 

Just like you did to Ryan before.

 

You can complain to your heart’s content, and you can even show your wounds to all the members of the tribunal. You no longer have to worry about your performance not being convincing enough, because all of it has become real.

 

The accusation from the beginning of the plot was like a bullet that, one month later, hit Fero right between the eyes today.

 

The door was slowly closed, leaving the noise completely inside. As for Friedrich on the other side, Chu Sicheng had no intention of finding a match for him. He didn’t even give him an extra glance, leaving him in the private room to painfully tear at his clothes.

 

Didn’t the “righteous” Friedrich pride himself on being the savior of the whole world? He was always sober, restrained, and as devoid of desire as the purest monk. Even in the original text, after he fell in love with Ryan, every intimacy happened only after Ryan actively said he was uncomfortable and wanted it; only then would Friedrich reluctantly offer himself.

 

Then he could just endure it now.

 

He wanted to see how this ice-like general would continue to soberly restrain himself after entering a mental riot.

 

Chu Sicheng walked outside. The sound of glass shattering seemed to come from behind him, but that wasn’t his concern. Since Qing Garden was an industry Fero had built after crossing over, even if Friedrich completely destroyed the restaurant during his mental riot, Chu Sicheng wouldn’t mind, he might even clap and cheer.

 

His light footsteps echoed from the courtyard to the entrance. Chu Sicheng hailed an automated car, entered the address of the nearest isolation center, and leaned back into the seat, closing his eyes to adjust his breathing.

 

[Host, are you alright?] the system asked worriedly.

 

[I’m okay, I can control it,] Chu Sicheng said indifferently.

 

After all, having performed so many villain missions, being drugged was a common occurrence. Chu Sicheng was already used to this feeling. On the other hand, Alex whom he had sent to the isolation center earlier—seemed to be in much worse condition.

 

Perhaps because it was near the Central City, the isolation rooms here were much larger than the ones Chu Sicheng had visited before. Inside the transparent glass were rows of precise medical equipment, white walls, white beds, and white floors.

 

At a glance, everything was an oppressive white. It didn’t look like an isolation room, but rather a secret room for holding high-profile criminals.

 

Guided by a staff member, Chu Sicheng arrived outside the room where Alex was being held.

 

Before opening the door to let Chu Sicheng in, the female Zerg in the white lab coat held the door he had just unlocked and emphasized the danger of the female inside once more.

 

“General Saxon’s reaction during this riot is stronger than any before, and his consciousness is nearly gone. If you go in now, there is a 90% chance you will be harmed. For your safety, why don’t you reconsider?”

 

“No need,” Chu Sicheng shook his head. “If there’s a 90% chance of being harmed, doesn’t that leave a 10% chance of not being harmed?”

 

“But…”

 

The staff member wanted to say more, but by then, Chu Sicheng had already pushed open the door and walked in.

 

The auto-locking door closed rapidly the second the male entered. The sounds from inside disappeared completely, leaving only the sight of Chu Sicheng’s back as he walked toward the female Zerg.

 

Alex’s wrists were chafed again.

 

Specks of fresh blood splattered onto the white sheets, looking like roses blooming in the snow.

 

“Don’t… don’t come over!”

 

Chu Sicheng heard the female struggle to spit out those three words. He must have recognized him and wanted him to leave.

 

As expected, no creature can escape “forgetting their roots.” In the previous isolation room, Alex hadn’t been nearly this friendly.

 

Chu Sicheng raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the female’s lips, which were bitten raw from pain.

 

Bright red beads of blood flowed along the crack of his lips until they stained the entire area a beautiful red.

 

Chu Sicheng slowly reached out, appearing as if he wanted to touch that red. However, before his fingertip could even touch the edge, he was forced to retract it because of the female’s sudden snap of sharp teeth.

 

“Truly like a dog.” Chu Sicheng laughed lowly, then looked at the tie around Alex’s neck, which had loosened from his struggling.

 

Chu Sicheng blinked, his fingertips moving slightly. In the next second, that pure black tie was in his hand.

 

Then, he wrapped the black band around his fair hand. With a slight pull, the tightening band whistled through the air. When the female opened his mouth again to bite, Chu Sicheng directly gagged him with it.

 

“Even if you act like a dog, if you aren’t good, you need to be punished.”

 

Chu Sicheng lowered his head and gripped Alex’s chin with his right hand, forcing him to face him directly.

 

“Alex, tell me, who am I?”

 

Within those reddened green eyes, it was as if a beast were roaring.

 

The chains restraining the female’s wrists rattled incessantly, sounding as if the female who had lost all reason, might snap them at any moment.

 

However, Chu Sicheng acted as if he couldn’t see or hear it. He only looked down at Alex and repeated himself:

 

“Alex, who am I?”

 

Who am I, Alex?

 

Do you still know?

 

Are you still sober?

 

In a daze, a faint scent of citrus seemed to wrap around Alex. The sharp pain in his head seemed to lessen slightly, and a beautiful blue-grey gradually appeared within that murky green.

 

At that moment, Alex heard the male repeat the question once more:

 

“Alex, who am I?”

 

Who are you?

 

His unfocused green eyes flickered imperceptibly. His pink tongue pressed against the fabric in his mouth. Like a young Zerg who had just learned to speak, Alex used all his strength to blur out a single word.

 

“Ry…”

 

“Ry…an.”

 

“Ah, you’re saying I’m Ryan, is that it?”

 

Chu Sicheng smiled. His grip on the female’s chin loosened, as if rewarding him for answering correctly. However, in the next second, he suddenly increased the pressure.

 

“Too bad, you guessed wrong.”

 

The tie sank deeper into his mouth. While saliva continuously secreted, Alex felt the male’s fingertip lightly land on his lip.

 

New blood welled up from the wound under the friction of the finger. Chu Sicheng watched his finger be stained red by Alex’s blood bit by bit. He licked his lower lip, then slowly spoke, saying to the female word for word:

 

“Remember this: in the future, when I ask you ‘Who am I?’, remember to answer that I am your Zerg Lord.”

 

“Now, let me ask you once more: who am I?”

 

The male spoke in a low voice, sounding like a god offering the most patient guidance to a believer.

 

Alex’s saliva flowed down the corner of his mouth, which he couldn’t close, and the corners of his eyes were soaked with overflowing tears. He didn’t look like someone in a mental riot, but rather like someone who had been bullied severely by a male and couldn’t resist—only able to follow the male’s words and speak obediently:

 

“Zerg… Lord.”

 

“That’s right, what a good boy.” Chu Sicheng smiled.

 

“Now, tell your Zerg Lord: do you want me to help you?”

 

Earlier, you said you wanted to help me when I was drugged.

 

Now, Alex, tell me: do you want us to help each other?