“How could I lie to you? Think about it—hasn’t she been sneaking glances at me? That just shows she cares more! You saw it too—after we parted, she looked back at me once! Don’t overthink it. Cecilia is just awkward like that. We just need to push her more! She’ll confess to me on her own!”
Hearing Childes’ explanation, Laity chose to believe him.
Because he really seemed to be that kind of personality. When he was wronged in Delong’s castle, he didn’t show it, only getting angry after being cursed.
She had endured for so many days with no payoff, but was now holding on just to reap the victory today. Now they had run off without her—what bad luck! She wouldn’t get any satisfaction!
Laity frowned but took a deep breath when the Grey Dwarves gathered around, showing concern. She could only follow them back to the underground city.
Lu Qiuchen brought Zhang Cheng to the northernmost part of Betkur Island and thawed most of the ice covering him, leaving only the hardened ice at his joints to prevent him from struggling.
Ice made by a legendary mage like Lu Qiuchen was extremely cold. Zhang Cheng’s saint-level body could withstand it, but better safe than sorry, lest prolonged exposure cause frostbite.
Although she had just promised Laity a solution, she actually had no real method in mind.
Flipping through the dragon clan’s memory inheritance, perhaps because dragons never experienced psionic outbreaks, there was no record of any remedy for such a condition.
Lu Qiuchen was troubled, watching the painful expression on Zhang Cheng’s face with mounting anxiety.
It had been about ten minutes since Zhang Cheng touched the Celestial Fragment—he had endured ten minutes of pain. Had his brain not been fried yet?
Suddenly, Zhang Cheng’s mouth twitched, the contorted expression vanished, and he closed his eyes, losing consciousness.
Seeing this, Lu Qiuchen ignored the pain caused by psionic contact and immediately extended her psionic energy. She sensed Zhang Cheng’s consciousness was still active and breathed a sigh of relief, though her heart was still uneasy.
This can’t be dragged out any longer! Although Zhang Cheng had the system now, she didn’t know if Beta could keep him alive.
“Right! No system, but there’s Lai!”
Lu Qiuchen suddenly thought of this big shot and called out in her heart, “Lai! Do you have any way to calm Zhang Cheng?”
After a short wait, Lai’s voice appeared in her mind.
“Let me see… hmm, this is easy to solve. It’s simple—his psionic outbreak is already gradually subsiding.” Lu Qiuchen relaxed upon hearing Lai’s answer.
“But…” Lai’s heavy breathing made her anxiety return.
“Because the psionic outbreak lasted too long, his consciousness has fallen into coma. He’s lucky. Others might have become brain-dead. You just need to contact him psionically and awaken his consciousness.”
After hearing the method, Lu Qiuchen sat beside Zhang Cheng and placed her hand on his calm face, inputting psionic energy.
As Lai predicted, touching Zhang Cheng’s psionic energy no longer affected her own. She began searching for Zhang Cheng’s consciousness.
“Found it!” Lu Qiuchen’s psionic energy connected with a living spirit. Excited, she increased the input to awaken Zhang Cheng.
But upon contacting his consciousness, she felt her mind being pulled into Zhang Cheng’s psionic space. Unlike before when entering Kaunte’s psionic space, this time the progress was extremely slow.
Lai noticed the overflowing dissipating energy.
“It’s a faint psionic suggestion. Although its type is unclear, the sender probably has no ill intent… Since the effect is about to expire, I’ll speed up the process.”
After careful inspection, Lai changed his mind and chose to shatter the psionic suggestion. A suggestion from a benevolent entity shouldn’t harm Zhang Cheng. Destroying it was a small revenge.
“But what was that psionic suggestion’s effect? I’m curious. Let me observe any changes in Zhang Cheng,” Lai thought, entering Zhang Cheng’s psionic space.
Since deciding to speed up the plan, Zhang Cheng had been pondering a question.
He guessed that Lu Qiuchen’s inherently kind nature made her unable to accept her mistakes, causing guilt and confusion. Coupled with the dragon mindset’s influence, she closed her heart, becoming as she was now.
He wasn’t an eroge protagonist who could win someone’s heart through physical training. To save Lu Qiuchen, he had to sincerely change her with genuine methods.
But he had already made a near-confession move in haste, and not noticing Lu Qiuchen’s mental state was his biggest recent mistake.
If he could continue gently boiling the frog, that would be great, but Lu Qiuchen hadn’t reacted. He didn’t know if or when she would notice, so he had to prepare for the worst and accelerate his strategy.
If only he knew how Lu Qiuchen felt about his words then, he wouldn’t be blindly guessing and agonizing now.
Since he had resolved to use a strong dose, he must first change her mindset, so she no longer fled from the past but faced and solved old problems actively! But how to open Lu Qiuchen’s closed heart?
When it came to matters of heart and soul, Zhang Cheng immediately thought of Lai. As the spirit realm’s administrator, Lai must have the power to manipulate souls.
He didn’t want Lai to forcibly change Lu Qiuchen’s mindset, only to help pull her into his inner world and show her his true thoughts.
But he couldn’t be completely open—some thoughts had to be concealed. That was why he needed Lai.
Zhang Cheng wanted Lai to hide parts of his strategy, like his romance plan, so he could fully open his heart without worrying that Lu Qiuchen would see unpleasant things and lose faith, ruining the plan.
The plan was bold and risky, but it was the best he could come up with. Opening his heart and letting Lu Qiuchen understand was like placing a high-stakes bet.
But Zhang Cheng believed in himself—it wasn’t gambling. He was confident of victory.
Even if he couldn’t completely melt the ice in Lu Qiuchen’s heart, he could at least open a crack.
Nothing touched the heart more than genuine feelings.
Though this might sound boastful, Zhang Cheng’s efforts for Lu Qiuchen could move many people, and he believed Lu Qiuchen was among them.
After consideration, Zhang Cheng asked Lai for help but was rejected.
“You want me to manipulate across worlds? I no longer have that ability,” Lai replied.
Hearing this perfunctory answer, Zhang Cheng didn’t believe it. Lai had sent them from the spirit realm to the Eternal World and said he could return with the Celestial Fragments. How could he be powerless now?
But Zhang Cheng was indeed blaming Lai unfairly. Lai was tightly controlled by Beta. To do such things, he would have to bypass Beta’s surveillance.
Beta helped Lai collect Celestial Fragments, hoping to use Lai’s power to break free from the Eternal Group. That was why Beta ignored Lai’s previous actions. But Zhang Cheng’s rescue of Lu Qiuchen was unrelated to Beta. How could Beta help Lai here?
Zhang Cheng, anxious and disbelieving, threatened Lai by passively collecting Celestial Fragments, striking a nerve with Beta.
After Lai conveyed this, Beta lifted restrictions again. Lai finally entered Zhang Cheng’s psionic space, set up some illusions, and left part of his energy in the Eternal World to guide Lu Qiuchen as a backup.
That was why Lu Qiuchen hadn’t thought of Lai earlier. Lai also feigned detecting Zhang Cheng’s abnormal state to lead Lu Qiuchen into the psionic space.
Zhang Cheng was confident and unafraid that Lai would leave any backdoors in his mind. He knew Lai would not turn on him easily as long as he was useful and until he collected all Celestial Fragments.
Lai needed Lu Qiuchen to gather the fragments, and Zhang Cheng was the intermediary linking them. If something happened to him, Lai would have trouble contacting Lu Qiuchen, and without the contract’s binding, Lu Qiuchen might stop working for Lai.
Lu Qiuchen entered Zhang Cheng’s inner world and was captivated by the memories playing before her.
From his confusion and guilt after the accident, to discovering the company’s secret and planning revenge, to seeing his posters resonating with him, and finally following him into the game—the past two and a half years of Zhang Cheng’s efforts and perseverance were fully displayed before Lu Qiuchen’s eyes.
Although there were no tears in this mental realm, Lu Qiuchen felt her eyes blur.
The memory playback ended, and she stood dazed in this psionic space, her thoughts drifting to Odwin’s earlier answer and her own reflections.
What exactly was the relationship between Zhang Cheng and herself?
Zhang Cheng felt a strong guilt toward her, something she had already sensed before. The unreserved honesty displayed just now let her understand her friend’s true feelings even more.
Thinking back, her ability to accept and forgive Zhang Cheng was partly due to their past friendship softening her heart, but more importantly, she sought scarce security from him.
The events afterward also aligned with her feelings. Zhang Cheng actually risked entering the game for her sake. But if their roles were reversed, she would never take such a risk for him.
Zhang Cheng had given so much. Even Laity, who briefly interacted with the two, could feel his care for her. Yet despite this, she harbored doubts about Zhang Cheng’s resolve—it was like being an ungrateful wretch.
“I just want to enjoy the feeling of being cared for a little longer. I shouldn’t tell Zhang Cheng about this yet…” she thought after learning about the Eternal Group’s intentions and considering Zhang Cheng’s status as a native of the Eternal World.
Compared to Zhang Cheng’s steadfastness, her selfishness stood out even more.
She was only using Zhang Cheng’s guilt to bind him to herself, drawing security from this arrangement. Could she accept this with a clear conscience?
She wanted to enjoy the security he brought but immediately doubted he would stay when trouble arose. Could this really be trust?
Thinking this way, she found her own character vile and despicable. And with Zhang Cheng as a comparison, she realized just how despicable she truly was.
Did someone like her deserve Zhang Cheng’s care? Apart from accidentally having a good appearance, what made her worthy of his efforts?
Seeing Zhang Cheng’s honesty only deepened Lu Qiuchen’s self-doubt.