Chapter 56

Of course, Su Bingyao had also heard Luo Shang’s heart voice.

Su Bingyao pondered for a moment.

He typed to the panicked Su Mingyao: “His teammates might not know what he’s up to, and to make sure he can follow the plot, Little Shang will definitely protect our lives. He won’t let us die.”

By now, Su Bingyao had realized that Luo Shang was quite tolerant toward them—his so-called “family.”

Even so, Su Bingyao didn’t let his guard down.

Luo Shang’s tolerance had its limits. From his perspective, he indulged them only because he occupied such a lofty position, much like an adult who wouldn’t stoop to squabbling with a child over toys. Adults simply didn’t care about such things, and neither did Luo Shang. That was the root of his indulgence.

But it didn’t mean they could act with impunity. The more Luo Shang tolerated them, the more cautious they needed to be—not squandering this hard-won leniency. It was a finite resource: spend a little, and there was that much less left. They had to cherish it.

“Besides, just like with that skeleton dog, he’ll probably handle it himself. We won’t need to help or even keep him company,” Su Bingyao added.

Luo Shang himself was trying to suppress his extraordinary abilities as much as possible, striving to maintain a peaceful life among them.

The first time he had restarted the world was because he thought he’d let something slip in front of Su Bingyao, prompting him to reboot everything in a hurry to cover it up.

“So, congratulations—you’ve bought yourself one extra day,” Su Bingyao said to Su Mingyao.

Su Mingyao did breathe a sigh of relief, though only a partial one.

Even delayed, those events would still come to pass. At least now he had time for some mental preparation: carefully recalling what had happened over a dozen years ago, running simulations, that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, Luo Shang was still conversing with the System.

[What do you mean by that? I trust Ke Yanjin can control himself for my sake. He’s just a nominal fiancé anyway, and I have no feelings for Shen Changqing.]

Luo Shang said.

[If you truly had that confidence, you wouldn’t be hiding it from him,] the System pointed out sharply.

[…] Luo Shang fell silent.

[Moreover, he might grow jealous that Shen Changqing holds your fiancé title and quietly kill him, then impersonate Shen Changqing to date you. That’s a reasonable projection based on data from his past behavior toward you—it ranks as the second-most likely outcome.]

The System kept pouring fuel on the flames.

[That’s just your mechanical calculation. It’s not reliable,] Luo Shang muttered.

But anyone could hear the lack of conviction in his tone.

To Luo Shang’s face, Ke Yanjin would never act out. But behind his back? That was anyone’s guess.

Truth be told, if Luo Shang’s strength weren’t roughly equal to Ke Yanjin’s—or even superior in raw martial power—Ke Yanjin would have long since imprisoned him, confining him to his side and nowhere else.

Unfortunately for Ke Yanjin, Luo Shang wasn’t some weakling. So he had no choice but to suppress his controlling impulses and play it normal for the time being.

As long as Luo Shang stayed by his side, Ke Yanjin’s mental state held steady.

Where others might weaken from lovesickness, Ke Yanjin grew sharper: more cautious, more paranoid, more profoundly calculating. He weighed every possibility, gathered every scrap of intel, all to avert any separation from his beloved.

Alone, Ke Yanjin had been bolder—even reckless—calculating odds but still gambling on them.

But with Luo Shang as his partner, he wouldn’t risk even the slimmest chance. He sealed every path, accounted for every scenario, ensuring their safety together.

Someone like that would absolutely raze the world in jealousy or murder Luo Shang’s fiancé to claim his place!!!

Luo Shang knew precisely what manner of man his partner was. That was why he refused to spell out exactly what he planned to do upon returning home.

He didn’t want to lie to Ke Yanjin. Lies came easily to his lips with anyone else, but not him. He refused to deceive the man.

Of course, the biggest reason was that Ke Yanjin would see right through it anyway.

As for whether to share the plot details with his teammates, Luo Shang had already made up his mind.

Of course not.

Keeping them in the dark was for Chen Guyi’s and β-62’s own good. If Ke Yanjin ever learned that Luo Shang had hidden it from him yet confided in the others, the fallout would be dire.

Better to keep everyone equally ignorant.

Decision made, Luo Shang quickly replied to them.

“You can stay, but only for one day. I still have business to attend to in this world.”

“Of course.”

“No problem, Senior Brother.”

The two responded.

In truth, Chen Guyi and β-62 had no intention of staying long either. They had gone out behind the captain’s back.

[Where should I take those two tomorrow? Hmm, this world doesn’t seem to have anything particularly fun.]

[It feels pretty retro to β-62. She might get bored. And Chen Guyi comes from some ancient cultivation plane—he’s no good with tech stuff. He might blow up the appliances or something. Better not host them at home.]

[Should I take them to soak in a magma bath in the earth’s crust? Or head to space and show them the star charts here? Or hunt for possible entry points to other worlds on this planet? Or go swimming in the deep sea trenches…]

Luo Shang lapsed into thought.

Meanwhile, Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao were thrilled.

If Luo Shang had planned to entertain his teammates at home, Su Mingyao and Su Bingyao wouldn’t have needed to play host, but it was still their home—and these were some very special guests. They would have had to prepare properly to receive them.

Hearing Luo Shang’s inner voice say he wouldn’t host at home had lifted a massive weight off their shoulders.

Who knew what guests from the Reincarnation Space might enjoy? Sure, Luo Shang had their backs and could guarantee their survival, but that guarantee might come only after he let his teammates have their fun, exposed an anomaly, and then reset the world.

At that point, the two of them at home would be the ones in trouble.

Better that they stay away!

He had probably learned from Sophia’s last visit. This time, Luo Shang was picking spots outside human habitats—deep in the earth’s crust, out in space, the deep sea, and so on. That ensured no one would spot them.

At this moment, Su Mingyao felt a twinge of gratitude toward Luo Shang. He even seemed like a decent guy.

But he snapped out of it right away, chalking it up to Stockholm Syndrome.

Maybe Luo Shang really had oppressed them for too long, Su Mingyao thought. The guy might not have meant to, but the psychological damage was real enough.

It had them cowering in fear of him, bending over backward to obey.

Anyway, tomorrow would be a great day—a normal one, free of the supernatural!

After chatting it over with Su Bingyao, Su Mingyao settled in for a good night’s sleep.

Then, as he lay in bed, a faint song drifted to his ears, followed by the clash of battle from some battlefield. It was so vivid it nearly jolted him upright.

Su Mingyao shot out of bed and checked his phone. Su Bingyao had messaged him.

“Luo Shang seems to be watching a TV drama.”

Su Mingyao: Fuck!

What the hell are you doing watching TV dramas late at night? You’re not human—you don’t need sleep. But I do!

He couldn’t exactly storm over and tell Luo Shang to cut it out. That would expose the fact that he’d been eavesdropping on his inner voice nonstop. It might set the guy off…

Su Mingyao put himself in Luo Shang’s shoes. If he didn’t want his thoughts overheard, neither did Luo Shang. He absolutely could not let on.

Why the hell could he hear Luo Shang’s inner voice anyway? It was pure torture!!

Earplugs couldn’t block this long-range mental broadcast. In despair, Su Mingyao flopped back onto the bed to wait it out.

Unable to help himself, he messaged Shen Changqing.

“I am so jealous that you and Luo Shang don’t share a villa…”

Shen Changqing: ?

“He’s not human anymore, so he doesn’t sleep at night. He’s playing TV dramas in his head.”

Su Mingyao typed.

He figured Shen Changqing would join him in griping about Luo Shang. But the reply caught him off guard.

Shen Changqing: ??

Shen Changqing: !!

“Can I come over to your place right now?” Shen Changqing asked.

Now it was Su Mingyao’s turn to spam question marks: ???

Are you nuts?? I just said it’s noisy as hell. You want to come here? Hell, I want to go to your place!

With his memories from his past life, Su Mingyao had spent way more time at the Shen family home than his own. It didn’t feel weird at all.

“Cough, well, when we were putting on that act earlier, he was playing that TV drama. It’s pretty good,” Shen Changqing’s message popped up.

“I want to keep watching.”

Su Mingyao was speechless for a few seconds.

You were watching his mental TV drama while we were performing?

Luo Shang could do whatever—he was in the judge’s seat. He could nap for all anyone cared.

But what the hell were you, Shen Changqing?

You watched it right in front of him? Ballsy move. And it worked. Guy’s got nerves of steel.

“That’s because it really is good!” Shen Changqing hammered out in a rush.

Yeah, yeah. If it sucked, you wouldn’t have risked your life to watch it, Su Mingyao thought.

“Even if I can only hear the sound right now, I still want to listen.” Shen Changqing said shamelessly.

“How about you listen to it first and then tell me the plot, and after that, I’ll tell you.”

Su Mingyao said that he really wanted to sleep.

Shen Changqing thought for a moment, then began typing the content he had seen last time into the chat box, trying to recommend it to Su Mingyao and get him hooked too.

After that—

Su Mingyao listened to the TV series all night long and was full of energy the next morning. Even during breakfast, he was still savoring it.

The Su Family had a tradition of eating breakfast together in the morning. Su Mingyao, Su Bingyao, and Luo Shang would all gather at the dining table to exchange information and talk about what they had been doing lately or any interesting things.

This was a rule set by Li Qingshu, a way to bring the brothers closer.

Although Luo Shang had already reached the stage of fasting and no longer needed to eat, he still had to pretend.

Besides, he quite missed the breakfast made by Aunt Zhao at home; it had been several hundred years since he last ate it.

He adjusted his sense of taste down to the sensitivity level from before he entered the Reincarnation Space, sat down at the table, and prepared to enjoy it.

At that moment, his two brothers arrived as well.

Su Bingyao yawned as he walked to the dining table, while Su Mingyao had two dark circles under his eyes, which looked a bit comical. However, both of them were in pretty good spirits, and the way they looked at him was filled with anticipation and excitement.

The Labrador Dog circled excitedly around the dining table, doing its best to play the role of a gluttonous dog.

“You guys… what’s up? You look a bit tired,” Luo Shang asked.

“It’s nothing. I bumped my eyes into the cabinet when I got up this morning,” Su Mingyao lied without batting an eye.

That TV series was really good! He could understand Shen Changqing now!

At first, Su Mingyao had been a little annoyed, but once he was fully immersed, he actually hoped dawn would come a bit later so he could finish listening.

Su Bingyao felt the same way. They had even been so captivated that they weren’t as afraid of eating breakfast with Luo Shang anymore!