Chapter 114: Promise

“I will never keep anything from you again.”

Zhang Cheng made this promise not on a whim, but because he had already been thinking this way long before. He just never expected to say it in a situation like this.

In Zhang Cheng’s original imagination, this line should have been spoken when Lu Qiuchen accepted his proposal and truly opened her heart to him.

‘I want to be the light in her heart.’

When Zhang Cheng decided to save Lu Qiuchen, he held this very intention. In the time since, he had been striving toward it.

But just a few days ago, Zhang Cheng realized this idea was nothing but a luxury. Even if he became a beam of light, it still wouldn’t reach Lu Qiuchen’s heart.

This was because when he had threatened Lai into helping him and explained his plan—to use his own memories to quickly influence Lu Qiuchen’s perception of him—he heard Lai’s judgment on his plan: “Naive. Laughable. Your plan will never succeed, no matter how many times you try.”

Zhang Cheng quickly pressed for an explanation, convinced that his plan was already quite sound.

“You want to break through the limitations of the Dragon Clan’s memory inheritance with your own strength? Then you might as well give up!” Lai said with a sneer. This made Zhang Cheng feel unfairly treated, but he suppressed his anger and patiently sought Lai’s explanation.

“I haven’t delved deeply into the Dragon Clan’s memory inheritance because it’s beyond my jurisdiction. I only have a basic understanding of how it works. There’s definitely an extremely sophisticated mental suggestion embedded within it, along with strong external protections. Almost no non-Dragon Clan spiritual entity can interfere with their minds. Even I, using conventional methods, find it hard to break through.”

“What you want to do—use your own spirit to fight against the Dragon Clan’s memory inheritance—is absolutely impossible. The inheritance serves to protect their thoughts from strong external interference. To weaken the Dragon Clan’s self-awareness, you can’t rush it; only gradual, subtle change can take effect.”

Zhang Cheng was stunned, vaguely recalling that the Demon Clan could quickly produce demonic dragons—so how did the Demon Clan manage that?

When he asked this question, Lai explained: “What the Demon Clan uses are the unconventional methods I mentioned. To control the Dragon Clan, they first use spirit magic to completely destroy the young dragons’ memory inheritance. The result, as you know, is that those demonic dragons, though somewhat powerful, act purely on instinct and can only fight in coordination with their inner demons.”

After Lai’s explanation, Zhang Cheng finally understood, but worry rose in his heart. The Dragon Clan’s memory inheritance had a kind of mental protection function, yet he was already at the point of no return—he had to act. How could he change her thoughts in such a short time?

Lai gave him an idea: “Weren’t you clever when you tried to scheme against me earlier? Why have you become so dull now? You can’t directly implant your spirit into her mind to break the Dragon Clan’s control—that won’t work. But if you take a roundabout way, and let her realize your goodness on her own, wouldn’t that be better? It would be her own thought, not yours!”

“But you must be careful. After you try to influence her, don’t cause any sudden emotional upheavals. Every idea must have a foundation; the transition must be natural, without sharp twists. Otherwise, the memory inheritance will block those thoughts. How exactly you do it is up to you.”

Zhang Cheng sighed quietly. In the end, it still came down to the “boil the frog slowly” approach.

After much deep thought, Zhang Cheng finally returned to his original plan: for now, don’t try to alter the Dragon Clan’s cognition. Instead, first make Lu Qiuchen develop a favorable impression of him.

If she likes him, surely it won’t trigger the Dragon Clan memory inheritance’s protection.

Zhang Cheng knew that Lu Qiuchen was jealous of him—but what was the root cause of her jealousy? Was it because he was smart and studious, or tall, sunny, and handsome, or because he came from a happy family?

Yes—but not just that. The true reason Lu Qiuchen was jealous was because he was superior to her in all those ways combined. She couldn’t accept that Zhang Cheng was better than her in every aspect.

But the stronger she pretended on the surface, the more fragile she was inside.

Zhang Cheng was now proactively giving Lu Qiuchen a breakthrough by letting her defeat him. He would use the contrast between the two viewings—showing her all his obsession and the darkness in his heart.

Zhang Cheng wanted Lu Qiuchen to see clearly that he was not the flawless person she imagined, not someone who could never be defeated.

He wanted to tear off his last veil of shame to tell her: deep in his heart was a demon, a secret buried too deep to reveal. He had fatal flaws, made mistakes, got lost, and wanted her care.

Afterward, Zhang Cheng would recount Zhang Guang’s plan, the inside story of the game company he had learned, and a series of other things—all through memories shared with Lu Qiuchen.

Lu Qiuchen, filled with resentment, would firmly remember the faces of those who had hurt her, directly or indirectly.

In the end, Zhang Cheng didn’t hesitate to reveal all his thoughts and actions since entering the game.

The joy of touching her real presence, the pity and concern for what she suffered in the Eternal World, quietly taking advantage of her while she was moved, curiosity about her past, the thrill of system functions, the pride and helplessness when deceiving Leti, panic when being chased by Delong, anger at Trist’s insults on her behalf, scheming with Leti on how to approach her, conversations with Lai, and finally, his current ongoing plan.

Zhang Cheng held nothing back. Even Lai, who was secretly watching, exclaimed: “This kid is truly crazy. Is he really just giving up this time? He even dragged me into it!”

Zhang Cheng also frankly admitted to Lu Qiuchen that the only mistake in this hastily changed plan was that he hadn’t considered how many negative emotions had already accumulated in her heart. He had been far too optimistic.

He now had to use these contrasts to make Lu Qiuchen accept him through her inner struggles! Whether it would succeed or not, he was uncertain. But now that things had come to this, how bad could it get?

“You…” After the second viewing ended, Lu Qiuchen looked at Zhang Cheng with a complicated expression, her cherry lips slightly parted, but she could only utter a single complete word.

When Zhang Cheng had stopped her earlier, she hadn’t left immediately—she wanted to see what other tricks he could still pull. Her attitude toward Zhang Cheng was full of anger and contempt, but now it was complicated.

Did she hate him? Of course—his entire family was no good!

Was she shocked? Yes. That Zhang Cheng could reveal all his dirty, disgusting, despicable, shameless thoughts hidden for so many years—it was impossible not to be shocked.

How could he dare to do this? To even think such things!

Lu Qiuchen felt shaken. As Zhang Cheng said, he was no saint—he was a beast in human clothes, a hypocritical scoundrel!

But to say she had no positive feelings for Zhang Cheng was impossible.

He dared to confess everything to her, dared to face his desires. And though Zhang Cheng himself hadn’t noticed, as an observer, she could easily tell that at certain moments his state was off.

His love for her was too rash and cheap. He had once approached her with a heart of salvation and redemption, winning her forgiveness with sincerity. The emotions in his eyes then were genuine.

But after he returned home during the Spring Festival, everything changed. He wet the bed in his villa, dreamed of her in his sleep, and after meeting her again in the Eternal World, his attitude became even more attentive than before.

Though embarrassing to admit, Lu Qiuchen knew she had a strong charm. When she realized this, she felt annoyed and shy, so she chose to avoid it and didn’t think further.

But now, seeing things from Zhang Cheng’s perspective, the answer seemed obvious: someone had manipulated Zhang Cheng’s spirit!

As to who that person was, Lu Qiuchen couldn’t tell. But she knew it had to be a native of the Eternal World on Earth.

Moreover, after learning three questions from Odwin yesterday, and combining that with Zhang Cheng’s narration, Lu Qiuchen finally realized that Zhang Cheng was just like her—a victim of the Eternal Group’s plan.

Just like herself, controlled, both merely pawns in the same game.

With this thought, Lu Qiuchen sighed softly and vanished from the spiritual space.

Zhang Cheng was right—things had already come this far. What else could she do?

Kill Zhang Cheng? Don’t be ridiculous. Apart from a bit of playful teasing, had Zhang Cheng ever harmed her interests? No. On the contrary, if not for Zhang Cheng’s efforts, she’d be dead long ago.

Though Zhang Cheng’s parents were despicable, Lu Qiuchen believed what they said: even if she hadn’t entered the game during the beta test, the Eternal Group would have discovered her sooner or later during the public launch.

So yes, Zhang Cheng was delusional because of guilt, and his self-assessment was not wrong—he was indeed a paranoid.

Although Zhang Cheng’s score in her heart had dropped, how could she kill a former good friend out of her own insecurity? Besides, would Lai, Beta, and their contract allow that?

Cut ties forever? Thinking of this made Lu Qiuchen furious because it was impossible—the contract still stood. She was truly on Lai’s sinking ship.

And Lai was introduced by Zhang Cheng’s parents; there was no way Lai wasn’t connected to them.

What about self-destruction? She would never do that. That would only please the Eternal Group who wanted to erase her.

So after all was said and done, she still had to face the Eternal Group alongside Zhang Cheng.

But to ask her to forgive Zhang Cheng just like that? Not so easy!