Chapter 61: Born of the Same Root

Li You arrived at the Central Laboratory and met Kris and Qi Yu in Yulian’s office.

Yulian, dressed in a white lab coat, sat at one end of the desk. A massive projection screen unfolded on the desktop, displaying various gene comparison data along with the detection report on the Ancient Dragon that had already been produced.

After not seeing him for a few days, Yulian looked exceptionally fatigued. His dark circles had deepened, and his original single eyelids had swollen into what looked like triple eyelids from staying up late. His entire demeanor was listless, and anxiety was written all over his face.

Li You entered without a sound and nodded in greeting to Kris and Qi Yu. Over the past few days, Kris and General Qi had been out on fieldwork, so Li You had not seen them for several days at times. The fact that they were able to meet here now indicated that the data Yulian had obtained was no small matter—possibly even very serious.

Before long, the door behind him was pushed open, and Li Ze walked in, also wearing a white lab coat and equally full of anxious fatigue. He spotted Li You at first glance and immediately darkened his face. “Yulian, you called Youyou here?”

Yulian, propping up his head, looked up. “I did.”

“You—” Li Ze’s face turned red and purple with anger, his lips trembling, but in the end, he said nothing. He stepped forward, pressed Li You’s shoulders, and said warmly as he lowered his head, “Youyou, we’re here, so you don’t need to worry. Go prepare for the anniversary celebration.”

Li You sensed something off. He turned his head to glance at Yulian, whose eyes hid some preoccupation, then looked toward Li Ze. “What’s wrong?”

Li Ze said nothing and only glared fiercely at Yulian.

“Youyou has the right to know.” Yulian broke the silence.

“He doesn’t need to know!” Li Ze completely lost his temper. He strode forward in a few steps, grabbed Yulian’s collar, pressed him into the chair, and smashed a fist into Yulian’s face. “Damn it! Damn it! And you claim to be his best friend! Is this what a best friend does?!”

Li Ze’s emotional outburst was too sudden, and no one in the room reacted in time. Li You was the first to rush forward, trying to pull apart the two who were fighting, but his strength could not match Li Ze’s or Yulian’s. He could neither pry them apart nor drag them away, so he could only look to Kris and Qi Yu for help.

Kris and Qi Yu exchanged a glance, then quickly stepped forward. One restrained each, separating Li Ze and Yulian.

“Yulian! If anything happens to Youyou again, I definitely won’t let you off!” Blood hung from the corner of Li Ze’s mouth, and his tone was utterly ruthless, like a maddened lion.

The skin at Yulian’s lip was also broken, making him look equally disheveled, but he did not retort. He only pursed his lips, his entire person exuding a heavy air of hostility.

After Kris and Qi Yu separated the two doctors, they took Li Ze to another room. The office was left with only Kris, Yulian, and the baffled Li You.

Li You looked at Yulian. “Yulian, what exactly is going on?”

Yulian slumped in the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling with empty eyes. Only after a long while did he wearily close his eyes. “I’m wondering whether I should tell you at all.”

Li You stayed quiet for a moment, then turned to look at Kris beside him. Kris immediately understood and nodded to him before leaving the office. She even thoughtfully closed the door for them.

“Now it’s just us.” Li You sat down at the other end of the desk, turned off the projection screen, and gazed at Yulian in the opposite chair. “Do you think telling me or not telling me—which is more beneficial?”

Yulian did not open his eyes. He turned his head, using one arm to block his view. Only after a very long time did he speak. “I think Li Ze is right now. You shouldn’t be told.”

“Then don’t say it.” Li You stood and walked to the nearby direct drinking device, poured a cup of hot water for Yulian, sat back down, and handed it to him. “I trust your judgment.”

Yulian said nothing and did not move. After another long while, he released his arm, still gazing upward. “But I know this matter is very important to you.”

Li You sat quietly, not interrupting Yulian’s thoughts. He looked at the worrisome state Yulian was in, lowered his eyes, and gently kneaded the hands resting on his knees. “More than ten years ago, you were the same, always considering things for me. Even when you helped me make the furnace, it was the same.”

“Don’t mention the furnace now.” Yulian seemed to have no choice, smiling bitterly. “Who made you my best friend? If you want something, of course I have to find a way to help you.”

“But who could have thought it would end up harming you instead? So this time, I really don’t dare to make a casual decision, even if you are my best friend.” Yulian looked at Li You, his tone full of helplessness. “But it’s really infuriating. You clearly know I can’t hide things from you. And besides, because of you, my relationship with Your Highness Li Ye isn’t shallow either. I can’t bear to see you in pain, nor can I bear to see him…”

Yulian let out a long sigh. “Anyway, neither of you two is easy to deal with.”

Li You remained quiet. After a moment, he said softly, “Sorry for troubling you.”

“Forget it.” Yulian gazed upward, his eyes somewhat dazed. “Hey, do you remember that time I got beaten as a kid?”

Li You’s gaze shifted, and he looked up. “Yeah, you were just a tiny kid back then, even smaller than me.”

“Weren’t you also just a tiny kid?” Yulian laughed in exasperation, then let his gaze drift empty again. “Before that, I always thought I could be your only playmate. But later I found out you had Li Ye around, so I backed off. You know what my personality was like back then.”

“Yeah, scaredy-cat.” Li You couldn’t help but smile.

Yulian did not refute it, immersed in the memory. “That time, my father beat me so badly I couldn’t even walk. When you found me, I still wanted to play pitiful and cling to you, hoping to stir up trouble between you and Li Ye. But then you went and called Li Ye, who carried me back to the Imperial Palace. During the time I was recovering, you two took turns caring for me, and that’s when I realized how close you two were.”

“You’re great, and Li Ye is great too, even if he doesn’t talk much.” Yulian continued, “Later on, I became friends with both of you. I could tell he was always very wary of others getting close to you from a young age, yet he accepted my presence anyway.”

Yulian smiled lightly. “I’m friends with you, but am I not also friends with him?”

Li You also sank into memories. Hearing this, the furrowed tension between his brows gradually relaxed. He glanced at Yulian. “I never realized it, Yulian, but you had quite a scheming side as a kid, even thinking of disrupting things between me and my brother.”

“I only thought about it, that’s all.” Yulian laughed again.

The atmosphere eased considerably, and the two chatted about many past events.

“In the ten years you were gone, I was in charge of Your Highness Li Ye’s physical checkups and conditioning. He was still as quiet as ever, but whenever it was something about you, if he knew, he’d tell me, and if I knew, I’d tell him right away.” Yulian said, “Youyou, you’re very important. If you didn’t come back, I wouldn’t even dare to imagine how long he—or I—could hold out.”

“I have backups of Your Highness Li Ye’s physical data from earlier years.” Yulian suddenly paused here.

Li You watched him quietly, waiting for what came next.

“In the past few months, we’ve had a lot of testing tasks on those humans infected by abyss pollutants and controlled by them. These people, though polluted, retain human consciousness. They seem no different from normal people usually, but ‘it’ will suddenly erupt at some moment, starting to harm others—and mostly not through direct physical attacks, but by exploiting human thinking to kill, dump bodies, or even frame others.” Yulian’s voice grew heavier and heavier. “This situation is becoming more and more common across the Empire, and that’s why the workload at the Imperial Military and the lab has been increasing.”

“The key point is that recently, we’ve captured the same inert substance in the genes of these infected individuals. This substance shares the same root and origin as the deeply hidden inert substance in the second type of abyss pollutant that infected Li Yiwan.”

“In other words, the pollutants infecting these humans actually come from the same creature.”

Yulian clutched his head with both hands, his voice trembling. “But do you know, Youyou? Yesterday, while sorting files, I found a set of data that completely matches the genes of this inert pollutant.”

With red-rimmed eyes, he looked at Li You. “That data set belongs to Your Highness Li Ye.”

Li You’s heart skipped a beat abruptly.

“I couldn’t believe it. From yesterday until now, I haven’t closed my eyes, desperately trying to find any differences between these two data sets.” Yulian’s hands still clutched his head. “I found them. There are indeed differences between the two data sets, but that only proves the ‘culprit’ comes from the same abyss as Your Highness Li Ye—a creature of the same species, in a sense.”

“Abyss species have extremely strong repulsion toward each other, but also extremely strong assimilation effects. If they grow up together from the gestation stage, in the later stages, one side is bound to die at the hands of the other. Mutual predation is their nature, even for same-species siblings—no exceptions.”

“Youyou, I remember you told me before that during the polar night in Kailenoa District, Your Highness Li Ye went through a very serious bout of his true form’s agitation, but recovered to normal after the polar night ended.” Yulian voiced his speculation. “Perhaps it has nothing to do with Garna; Garna is just surface-level. Your Highness Li Ye’s condition had always been very stable before; it’s impossible for his true form to be stimulated out of nowhere.”

“Perhaps it’s precisely because he got close to another abyss species of the same kind that the mutual repulsion began. After being suppressed by the other, he forcibly pushed it back down.” While observing Li You’s expression, Yulian stated his final conclusion. “The one surviving in Kailenoa District is an abyss species of the same kind with strength on par with Your Highness Li Ye. This trip of theirs is far too dangerous.”

With a sharp scrape, Li You abruptly stood up.

His gaze was dazed, staring fixedly at one spot without moving. A few seconds later, he pinched his own skin and flesh hard to force himself to calm down, but he didn’t look calm at all. “I understand. Thank you.”

Yulian also stood. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find him.” Li You barely thought about it before raising his hand to activate his light brain and send a message to Li Ye. As expected, the message failed to send.

The anxiety in his heart grew stronger. Li You looked up at Yulian. “Yulian, whether you told me these things or not, I’m very grateful to you. You’re my best friend, and also Li Ye’s best friend. Thank you.”

Yulian smiled more uglily than crying. “You giving me the position of ‘best friend’—Your Highness Li Ye wouldn’t object, would he?”

“He wouldn’t. You are the best friend.” Li You gradually calmed down and added, “I’m going to Kailenoa District next. You can’t stop me. If others try to block me, can you help me out?”

“You really want it all.” Yulian supported his forehead with one hand, saying painfully, “That’s exactly why I was hesitating just now about whether to tell you.”

“Yulian, my brother is in great danger right now.” Li You showed a smile—the same one he had once given Yulian ten years ago, during that chaotic summer when the Empire was in utter turmoil.

A gentle, calm smile, resolute and utterly accepting.

“If ten years ago it was for everyone, now it’s for my brother.” Li You lowered his eyes, his voice firm. “My life can’t be without him. I don’t want to lose him, so I have to go.”

“What about tomorrow’s anniversary celebration?” Yulian pressed. “And how are you going to go alone?”

Li You’s gaze shifted. “I have my ways.”

…

Kailenoa District.

The southwestern terminal, in extreme cold.

Li Ye stood atop the glacier, overlooking the black vortex below. His eyes were dark red.

Shrill howls swept in like waves. Li Ye narrowed his eyes and saw a deep crimson dragon tail slowly uncoiling from the massive vortex.

A trace of desolate smile gradually appeared on his originally expressionless face as he locked eyes with the man who burst out from the vortex—a half-human figure atop a dragon head.

The man had long black hair and eyes that were also red. He smiled, his voice frivolous. “Long time no see, my little brother.”