Yan Junyu sat on a single-seater sofa, leaning forward with a sharp gaze, facing Qi Ze, who was massaging his forehead and groaning softly.
"Tell me, what kind of business relationship do you have?" he spoke in a deep voice.
"It happened like this," Qi Ze chose his words carefully. "Last time, I assembled an arm for him. He thought my skills were very good, so he appreciated me a lot. Later, when he heard that I got nine certificates in one go, he thought I was a rare genius, so he hired me to design new limbs for him."
"Does designing new limbs require nude photos?" Yan Junyu curled the corners of his mouth, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes.
"Of course, just like making clothes requires taking body measurements, making limbs also needs a model, right? I'm a perfectionist. I can't stand my works having any flaws. It must be the best, most in line with the customer's demands." When it came to armoring, Qi Ze slowly straightened his back. He almost forgot that when he had asked for the nude photos, he hadn't had any dirty intentions. Why should he endure this kind of judgment?
"Fine, this reason passes," Yan Junyu's stern expression didn't soften. "Then let me ask you one more question. What is your relationship with Li Ziqian?"
"Mechanic and client relationship," Qi Ze answered without hesitation.
"What is your relationship with Ouyang Ye?"
"Friends."
"What is your relationship with me?"
Qi Ze fell silent, pondering for a moment before hesitantly saying, "Perhaps something akin to a guardian and the one being guarded?"
Yan Junyu closed his eyes, filled with frustration and an unfillable sense of loss. He gritted his teeth and continued, "Do you still have feelings for me? Like how you confessed, liking me so much you couldn't help it, dreaming of me every night, your gaze unconsciously focusing on me whenever you saw me, wanting to be partners and spend the rest of your life with me. Do you still have that feeling?"
If only he could go back in time? The words that used to annoy him, even make him laugh, now sounded so sweet when he recalled them. Just a little bit, he was so close, he could have openly and rightfully possessed the youth in front of him.
Qi Ze's cheeks flushed as he asked uncertainly, "Did I really say that?" How could it be so cheesy?
"It was you, your feelings were intense, your words sincere. Now," Yan Junyu spoke with difficulty and slowness, "do you still like me?"
"Yes," Qi Ze's response made his heart leap, only for it to plummet in the next moment, "but it's just the liking of a friend, unrelated to love. Now I understand that that feeling was like a fledgling's attachment, more of a dependency."
"I guessed as much," Yan Junyu's cheeks paled. "If I had agreed back then, perhaps that dependency would have slowly turned into real affection. That's very possible... it would have been a hundred percent like that..." In the end, he was nearly mumbling to himself, layers of regret and pain piling up in his heart.
"But now, I've fallen for you, so I want to ask, do I still have a chance? Not to go back in time, but to start anew." He finally said what he had been brewing for a long time.
Qi Ze showed a 'just as I thought' expression and waved his hand. "No, you don't understand what you're doing at all? Don't you find it strange? When you woke up from your coma, you suddenly changed your attitude towards me. It's such a sudden thing. Your feelings for me are not what you call 'like,' but..." gratitude.
The last two words, he couldn't bring himself to say them. Bringing back the dead, such a thing was too shocking and bizarre. Except for the people he could trust around him, he wouldn't let the outside world know. Even if Yan Junyu had lost his memory, his subconscious would tell him how to repay cause and effect. That's why, when he suddenly changed his attitude, becoming more intimate with Qi Ze, he didn't resist, not even giving it much thought.
But clearly, while Qi Ze didn't give it much thought, Yan Junyu had misinterpreted it, mistaking this gratitude for love and trying to get a response.
"What is it, then?" Yan Junyu pressed with a stern voice.
Qi Ze broke out in a fine sweat on his forehead. After a long period of painful thought, he cautiously answered, "It's curiosity?"
"Curiosity?" Yan Junyu didn't think much of it as he smiled. "You have so many secrets, have you ever seen me probe into them? If it's curiosity, I should have grabbed you, locked you in a cage, taken you to a research lab to have you studied." Seeing the teenager's wary gaze, he immediately added, "But I didn't do anything. I will never harm you, nor will I pry into your secrets, unless you tell me yourself. This isn't curiosity, nor is it some messy feeling, it's just like."
Qi Ze was at a loss. He most feared dealing with such a Yan Junyu. The man's stubbornness was not a joke when he was set on something.
"I don't want you to answer me right now. I just want you to know my feelings, my emotions," Yan Junyu knew he wouldn't get a result today, so he took a step back. "You don't have to feel burdened. Just consider me someone you can trust, even someone you can use. I'm willing to do anything for you."
This was nothing but gratitude, Qi Ze was going mad but couldn't bear to say anything more to provoke the other person. Without a doubt, Yan Junyu was the most affectionate, the most grateful person he had ever met. He had seen people turn on others once their use was spent, but Yan Junyu was like a breath of fresh air, nourishing Qi Ze's heart.
To have been saved by him on his first day stranded in this world, Qi Ze felt very fortunate.
"No, I don't need you to do anything for me," he waved his hand to emphasize. "I'm very grateful for saving me that day. We are friends who can trust each other, not a relationship of using each other."
Yan Junyu fixed him with a steady gaze, not saying a word. When Qi Ze was about to squirm under the scrutiny, he abruptly changed the subject. "Send me Li Ziqian's photos."
"What do you want his nude photos for?" Qi Ze's eyes went wide.
"Send them over," Yan Junyu directly opened the receiver, his attitude very forceful. Qi Ze had no choice but to send the photos over, then watched blankly as he tapped left and right on the smart-brain screen, busy as a bee. About five minutes later, he sent back the edited photos, saying coolly, "That's good enough."
Qi Ze took a good look and nearly swore out loud. What was this crap? Apart from the limbs, Li Ziqian's handsome face, body, and private parts had been cut out. What was once a blood-tingling nude photo was now a ghostly photo with limbs hanging in the air and the torso disappeared. It wasn't just for appreciation; one glance made one's hair stand on end.
"Is it necessary to do this?" Qi Ze laughed in frustration.
Yan Junyu's reason was very justified. "You still have nine years, six months, and seven days before you reach adulthood."
"But I'm a carbon-based lifeform, with only a hundred years, or even a few decades of life. According to that, I'm already an adult!" Qi Ze was a stubborn one; the more he was told not to do something, the more he wanted to do it.
"But there are no such regulations in the empire's laws," Yan Junyu rubbed the bristling top of his head, mollifying him. "Be good, these photos won't hinder your work, and they'll make you more focused. All right, I still have a few documents to handle, I'll go to the study first."
When he reached the corner of the stairs, he finally remembered the real business. "By the way, I've transported a few scrapped T4s for you. They're in the maintenance bay. If you're interested, you can take a look. They're yours now, dismantle them however you like."
"Don't think you can erase your tyrannical behavior with this! You violated my human rights!" Qi Ze angrily waved his fists, not knowing that his outraged appearance was like a fierce little beast, only making Yan Junyu find him cute, rather than a threat.
"Just as you said, I'm your guardian, and it's my responsibility to discipline you," Yan Junyu turned and went upstairs, his cold face finally showing a hint of a pleased smile.
Qi Ze was blocked by his own words, stammering for a long time without finding an argument. When Young Master Yan was about to disappear at the end of the corridor, he struggled, "Wait, don't cut out Li Ziqian's abdomen. I still need to help him improve his lower abdomen!"
Yan Junyu left the first floor without even turning his head.
Qi Ze sat on the sofa and sulked for a while. When Mo Tianlei came back from school and was preparing to marinate the roast meat, Qi Ze returned to his bedroom with a resentful expression. He had just opened the folding space, ready to light three incense sticks for the sect, when he heard a crisp sound from the smart-brain. The stiff old man, Yan Junyu, had sent him an email.
"What does he want to say now?" he muttered as he opened the email and was stunned. It was a picture, consistent in style with the previous few. The limbs, head, chest, and private parts had been cut out, leaving only the abdomen alone. While the eight abs were very beautiful, when presented against a bright red backdrop, it looked somewhat like a scene from a dismemberment case.
Qi Ze was rendered speechless, thoroughly and completely. When it came to ruining pictures, no one could be better than Yan Junyu. He typed a series of exclamation marks, added a few 'bleeding' emoticons, and forcefully clicked the send button.
A few seconds later, Yan Junyu sent a message through the chat software. "Did you know? Actually, my figure is better than Li Ziqian's."
"Well, send me a few pictures, let me see for myself!" Qi Ze's anger eased slightly, sensing an opportunity.
"After we establish a relationship," Yan Junyu dangled a bait.
Qi Ze deflated like a punctured balloon, chuckling a couple of times before retaliating. "Then you wait. I still have nine years, six months, and seven days before I reach adulthood."
"Alright, it's settled. I'll wait for you," Yan Junyu hammered down the decision, with no further messages.
Qi Ze, "..."
No, who said Young Master Yan was nothing like Old Master Yan? He was clearly well-learned!
- Li Ziqian sat in the flying car, rubbing a ball of metal back and forth in his hands. At that moment, the smart-brain sounded, and he glanced over, finding it was a letter from Yan Junyu.
"In the future, if you're going to send pictures, please refer to the above for processing." Below this sentence were several pictures attached, either limbs or abdomens, looking somewhat eerie.
Li Ziqian stared for a long time, finally realizing these were all his own photos, except for certain parts that had been cut out. Damn, was Yan Junyu crazy? To ruin his beautiful photos like this! Filled with anger, he was just about to protest when the metal ball in his hand crumbled, and silver-white powder scattered on the ground.
A'kui took out another piece of metal from the Interspatial Button and said softly, "BOSS, this is Type I alloy, five times stronger than U alloy. Try it again."
Li Ziqian immediately forgot about Yan Junyu's inexplicable words and took the metal to continue kneading. Since getting these arms, he hadn't tested their effects, only knowing they had a sense of touch and could move, but not too sensitively. However, when he easily crushed Li Zichen's wrist bone, he dimly realized that even without sensitivity, these arms, which were only prototypes, contained a terrifying power.
The U-type metal was like a ball of dough in his hands, shaped at will. Now, this Type I alloy was only a little harder than dough. It was enough to slightly clench his fingers for it to snap.
With a piercing crack, the metal crumbled again. A'kui took out a piece of T alloy and stuttered, "BOSS, how about this?"
"I can't knead it," Li Ziqian shook his head.
"But you left some fingerprints," in just a few days, A'kui's world view had been destroyed and rebuilt several times. But he still couldn't remain calm.
"Really?" Li Ziqian squeezed hard, indeed seeing a few depressions on the smooth metal surface. This was D-type alloy, the main raw material for making D-type mechas, capable of withstanding dozens of particle cannon shots. But now, it was like a piece of wood in Li Ziqian's hands, seemingly hard, but with a little effort, it could be broken.
"To leave fingerprints on D-type alloy means you can easily injure a 2S-rank ability user. BOSS, these arms are only half-finished. If they were completed, what kind of destruction would they cause? Master said he could help you recover to your peak state, it seems he wasn't lying!" A'kui's face was full of excitement.
"I never thought Master was a liar," Li Ziqian said in a deep voice.
A'kui ruthlessly exposed him. "You had me check Master's address back then, saying you were going to tie Master up and take him to the Black Thorns Manor, forcing him to return the three billion star coins, then shatter his teeth so he couldn't deceive people anymore. Those were your exact words."
"Is that so? Then you must have remembered wrongly," Li Ziqian continued kneading the D alloy, his expression very natural.
A'kui, "..." After spending some time with Master, BOSS's face had thickened!
When master and servant returned to the dormitory, that piece of D alloy had been kneaded into a circle, then from a circle to a square. Li Ziqian seemed to have fallen in love with this game, holding a piece of metal in each hand and kneading until the wee hours of the night before going to bed. The feeling of regaining power was wonderful, so wonderful that he spent the whole night immersed in a joyful dream.
Qi Ze didn't need sleep. He usually spent his nights armoring, meditating, or messing around with some new gadgets. He had spent a few days making a mini mecha, the exterior completely modeled after T3, with an autopilot system installed inside. The energy compartment behind it had been modified to use both black crystals and white crystals.
He first stuffed a white crystal into the energy compartment and pressed the start button. The mini mecha's eyes flashed, then it began to walk slowly. A moment later, it ran nimbly. It jumped into the air, opened the particle gun hidden on its shoulder, and aimed at a vase for a sweep. The vase shattered instantly; if not for the barrier in the room, it would have awakened everyone in the house.
Qi Ze looked at the vase and felt the effect was good, so he stuffed a black crystal in. This time, the mecha started much faster, almost entering battle state the moment the start button was pressed. It leapt up and swept at all targets.
The targets Qi Ze programmed into the system were the five vases in the room. The expected effect was to shatter the vases, but gradually, the mecha that absorbed the black crystal began to lose control, just like a cultivator in a berserk state, its firepower becoming increasingly fierce.
The particle guns shrunk to the extreme, hitting a special person was like being bitten by an ant, only causing a bit of pain. But now, the situation was clearly wrong. The particle bullets it spewed out turned into violent energy balls, turning the vases into powder and almost piercing through the wall. If not for the defensive formation holding up, the building would have been destroyed by the collapse of the load-bearing walls.
Qi Ze was also taken aback and quickly hid in a safe corner, using spiritual energy to muffle the deafening explosions. It took a long time for several vases to be completely shattered, and he thought the matter was over. But he hadn't expected that the mini mecha would bounce into the air and explode in a loud boom!
Unprepared, Qi Ze was struck by the intense shockwave and slammed into the wall. His face was covered in scorched marks, his nightgown tattered, revealing the inner Dharma robes. Had he not luckily not taken off the Dharma robes, he might have been severely injured. The room was filled with a thick demonic aura, and it was almost impossible to see within three meters.
Coughing, Qi Ze took out an ink-absorbing stone and quickly absorbed the demonic aura. Then he looked around: all the furniture was destroyed, turned into a pile of fragments that couldn't be identified. That mini mecha didn't even have any residue left. As he had expected, black crystals were indeed very useful, but their power was too great and hard to control.
"Good stuff!" his eyes gleamed with excitement. When he was in Qianyuan Continent, he had been very interested in the armoring techniques of the demonic sect, but due to the distinction between right and wrong, he didn't dare to openly study them. But now, no matter what he wanted to do, no one could stop him, he could put all his ideas into practice.
When he took out pen, ink, paper, and inkstone to record all his thoughts, his door was knocked on. Too excited, he had forgotten his scorched appearance and the mess in the room, so he flippantly opened the door and asked impatiently, "What's the matter? Not sleeping in the middle of the night?"
"That's exactly what I want to ask you," Yan Junyu stared straight at him, questioning sternly, "What dangerous experiment are you conducting?"
"Junior, I felt the house shaking," Li Ziqian's gaze was lower, and he saw the scene of the explosion at once, hesitating, "You... set off a bomb?"
Yan Junyu didn't care whether the house would collapse. He pulled the person into his arms, felt him up and down, and then scanned him with a scanner. When he was sure there were no external or internal injuries, he took the person to his bedroom, pushed him under the shower and poured water on him, until the teenager finally looked human again. Then he wrapped him in a towel and put him on the bed.
"Tell me, what have you been doing?" his expression was extremely cold, like a torturer interrogating, but what he held in his hand was not a weapon, but a hair dryer.
"I made a mecha model, but I might have connected the wires incorrectly, so it exploded," Qi Ze said vaguely.
"What kind of model could cause such a violent explosion? Do you know this could have endangered your life? Alright, I won't pry into the specific reasons, but since you admit I'm your guardian, I'd like to set a few rules for you." Yan Junyu spoke word by word. "First, no dangerous experiments without protection; second, no going far without my permission; third, no returning home later than half past nine; fourth, no making friends online, no revealing your privacy; fifth, no early love; sixth, no logging into porn sites, viewing porn pictures; seventh, if you're away from home for more than four hours, you must call and inform me of your itinerary..."
Without any need for thought, he proposed more than twenty prohibitions in a row. Not only was Qi Ze stunned, even Li Ziqian was surprised. As for Ouyang Ye and Mo Tianlei, because their strength was too insignificant, they hadn't even noticed tonight's commotion.
"Junior, aren't you being too strict? Which boy of this age isn't mischievous? You should leave a little private space for Younger Brother Qi, shouldn't you?" Li Ziqian tried to fight for a little freedom for Master.
"I'm only afraid my requirements are too low," Yan Junyu rubbed the teenager's fluffy hair and said coldly, "For now, these are the rules. I'll add more as appropriate later. I hope you understand that this is all for your own good. If it wasn't out of care, who would care about your life or death?"
Qi Ze's protests were all strangled by the last sentence. He lifted his head and looked at Yan Junyu seriously, responding obediently and incredibly. Although the wording was slightly different, his father had said the same thing to him. When he had gone astray, his father had always pulled him back in time. Those words of earnest advice seemed to still be echoing in his ears now.
"Be good, go to sleep," Yan Junyu was gazed at by the teenager's wet eyes, his heart instantly turning soft. Just as he was about to send the person off, he changed his mind. "The robot is still cleaning the room, let's squeeze together tonight."
"But he can squeeze with me as well," Li Ziqian smiled and spoke.
"You're not very agile, go back and sleep by yourself," Yan Junyu pushed the wheelchair without further ado. Sensing Li Ziqian had activated the brake mode, he simply lifted him up with the wheelchair and sent him back to his room.
"Here you go," he handed two metal balls to the other person. "I noticed that you've been playing with balls all night, so I've prepared two toys for you. Senior, I hope you enjoy them."
"No, I wasn't doing it for fun!" Li Ziqian hadn't finished speaking when the door was mercilessly shut. He patted his rigid legs, his expression somewhat gloomy, and easily flattened the metal ball. Only then did he laugh softly. No matter what, he would have a good dream tonight.
When Yan Junyu returned to the room, Qi Ze had already taken off his bathrobe, crawled into the quilt, and fallen asleep. He curled up in a fetal position, naked as a baby. It was a sleeping posture showing a severe lack of security. A stifling pain welled up in Yan Junyu's heart. Without prying, he could guess what the child had experienced.
His eloquence, demeanor, ability, all repeatedly indicated that he once had an extremely prominent family background. But now, he wandered alone in the world, without a home, without support.
Yan Junyu covered the frail body with a quilt, gently held it in his arms, without any lascivious thoughts, only treasuring.