Chapter Ninety-Three: A Variety of Encounters

Morning light poured through the window.

Liu Shaoyu opened his groggy eyes and saw a white ceiling above him.

His head felt a little off. Where am I? he wondered. Then he remembered: he had gone in for a genetic test. So now he should be—

It seemed that after the experiment began, he had drifted into sleep. He might even have dreamed.

"Thomas, how long was I asleep?" When a human is in hibernation, the computer does not sleep.

"Nineteen hours and forty-five minutes."

So it was the next day already? Liu Shaoyu thought. He hurriedly opened his communication log.

Xin Qingyi

Honestly, there you go disappearing again.

Xin Qingyi

I ordered new clothes today and wanted to show you, but you weren't around again.

Xin Qingyi

What's wrong? Why still no connection?

Xin Qingyi

Long Ruyuan told me. Contact me when you wake up~

The screen was full of messages from Xin Qingyi, and the warmth of it all settled softly in Liu Shaoyu's heart.

He ignored, for the moment, the monkey's messages mixed in between and quickly sent a communication request.

"Sorry, the person you are trying to reach is currently in a communication session. Please try again later."

He had no idea who Xin Qingyi was speaking with, so Liu Shaoyu could only wait. While he waited, he sent a request to the monkey as well.

The moment the call connected, the monkey complained at once, "Boss, where did you disappear to this time?"

Liu Shaoyu smiled apologetically. "Um... I was unconscious for a while."

Clearly, the monkey had not been informed of this by Long Ruyuan. Hearing that Liu Shaoyu had been unconscious, the monkey's face immediately turned worried.

"Unconscious? Are you all right?"

Liu Shaoyu answered with a smile. "I'm fine. I was just testing something."

Seeing that Liu Shaoyu truly did not look unwell, the monkey finally relaxed and continued, "The time has been set. He'll be back on Earth tomorrow and stay for about three days. I arranged for the meeting the evening after tomorrow. See if that works for you."

"Good, that works. Where will it be?"

"You know how it is with people like that... the meeting place won't be disclosed until right before the appointment."

Liu Shaoyu thought that made sense. Business like this could hardly be aboveboard. And on Earth, of all places, caution was only natural.

"All right. Thanks for handling it."

"Hey, what are brothers for? No need to thank me."

After they said their goodbyes, the communication ended.

Only then did Liu Shaoyu remember that he had not yet taken a careful look at the information about that person, but now was obviously not the right time.

He had been awake long enough, so someone should have come by already, shouldn't they? he thought.

As expected, not long after, the room door slid open. Long Ruyuan came in alone.

Seeing that it was Long Ruyuan, Liu Shaoyu nodded with a smile. He also noticed beads of sweat already standing on Long Ruyuan's forehead.

"What's wrong? Sweating that much?" Liu Shaoyu asked.

"Don't even ask. As soon as I got back, the old man dragged me straight into training," Long Ruyuan complained immediately.

With his keen instincts, Liu Shaoyu suddenly sensed that something major was about to happen, which was why the actions of these prominent families had all become so strikingly similar.

Nothing more than strengthening the direct descendants' personal power. Long Ruyuan's training, Xin Qingyi's rebirth enhancement, and the mechs. Liu Shaoyu even wondered whether the third Dragon Battle machine had been prepared specifically for Long Ruyuan.

"When did you reach the tenth level?" Liu Shaoyu asked.

"That was when I was little. In our family, every descendant has to reach the tenth level before the age of eighteen," Long Ruyuan replied casually.

Then Long Ruyuan's face suddenly took on an expression that clearly carried a great deal of meaning. "Want to know your test results?"

Of course he did. He had even passed out for half a day just to test himself—wasn't it all for this result?

"Go on."

"Good heavens! I've never seen anyone completely destroy a laboratory on their first test! Your energy reading already exceeded the peak of S rank."

Liu Shaoyu heard this and thought... completely destroyed the laboratory? Good lord, they weren't going to make him pay for it, were they? He didn't have a single cent on him now...

"Destroyed?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes! By the final stage of the test, even the walls had started to crack. After they brought you here, the staff went back to clean up the lab, and everything in it turned to dust the moment they touched it." Long Ruyuan described it with vivid enthusiasm, not hiding a trace of his excitement.

The more Liu Shaoyu heard, the colder he felt. A laboratory that had to be worth a fortune, just from thinking with his toes... all reduced to powder. How much was that going to cost?

He had already decided to keep pretending to be unconscious.

But then...

"Is someone coming to see me?" Liu Shaoyu asked suddenly.

Long Ruyuan, who had been excited a moment before, abruptly calmed down.

Surprised, he asked, "How did you know?"

Following Long Ruyuan through the corridor on the tenth level, there was not a sound apart from their footsteps.

Everything was unfolding exactly as Liu Shaoyu had guessed. Long Ruyuan had indeed come this time because someone wanted to see him. And that person was no stranger.

It was Long Ruyuan's father.

Liu Shaoyu clenched his fists and found himself strangely tense. For some reason... he had a faint premonition about this meeting.

It was not a bad feeling. Rather, it was the sense that something would happen. He had many guesses.

In a daze, he could almost make out the face of the person he was about to meet.

He shook his head, forcing his wandering thoughts back into focus.

Long Ruyuan noticed Liu Shaoyu had suddenly stopped walking and turned back to ask, "What's wrong?"

Liu Shaoyu had already gathered his composure again. "Nothing. I just seem a little nervous."

Long Ruyuan laughed when he heard that. "Actually, I get nervous every time I see him too." With that, he continued walking forward.

Liu Shaoyu knew that the two kinds of nervousness were not the same.

He thought to himself, what's going on? Why is this happening?

He did not dwell on it further, only quickened his steps to catch up with Long Ruyuan, who had already gone ahead.

Long Ruyuan stopped and turned back to Liu Shaoyu. "We're here."

Then he pressed the doorbell lightly.

"It's me. Liu Shaoyu has arrived."

As soon as the words fell, the room door slid open to the side.

Following Long Ruyuan inside, Liu Shaoyu found the room neat and antique in its arrangement. The entire place was wrapped in solid wood, giving it an air of old-world elegance.

At the desk near the inner side sat a middle-aged man who looked remarkably similar to Long Ruyuan.

"Father," Long Ruyuan said.

The man Long Ruyuan addressed as father was reclining slightly in his chair with his eyes closed, resting. At the call, he slowly opened them.

Sharpness. That was Liu Shaoyu's first impression of those eyes. Unlike the feeling given by Master Wang or General Hu, whose presence carried the murderous aura of soldiers, Long Ruyuan's father gave off something different at first glance—ruthlessness. It was not a pejorative word. On second thought, considering this man's profession, it was perfectly understandable.

"Hello, Uncle," Liu Shaoyu said with a slight nod and a smile.

Whatever the reason, he still felt that something was about to happen this time. But there was a universal rule: one does not strike a smiling face.

The man saw Liu Shaoyu, and the gloom on his face gave way to a smile as he examined him closely.

"So alike. Truly alike," Long Ruyuan's father said with a long pause between the words.

Yet those brief four words stirred no small wave in Liu Shaoyu's heart.