11: Chapter 11 The New Sequence

Whether it was a misunderstanding or not didn't seem important anymore; what mattered was how to live up to this misunderstanding.

Wang Shuo hadn't figured out what to do yet when his train of thought was interrupted by the trio of brothers who entered the room.

He looked up at the six piercing eyes before him, which seemed to want to see right through him, and couldn't help but ask, "What... is wrong with you guys?"

"Not bad! Second Brother!" Zheng Jun slapped his large palm onto Wang Shuo's thin shoulder, his voice loud enough to shatter the windows. "I couldn't tell, you little rascal, you've hit the jackpot with the ladies!"

"Do you know who that is?"

"Chen Xin! Chen Cheng's cousin! You don't know how fierce she was when she came this afternoon! She didn't look at anyone!" Zheng Jun added, "She didn't even look at Chen Cheng!"

He completely ignored Chen Cheng, who was standing beside him with a sour look on his face.

"But she came to visit you again and again! She spent money and exerted effort; the only thing she didn't do was offer herself." Zheng Jun winked and gestured. "Tell me, did you two have some sort of improper relationship before this?"

Wang Shuo was speechless. "I think she's actually quite nice, not as overbearing as Fourth Brother said... Okay, she's a little overbearing, but she's not as terrible as Fourth Brother described, right?"

Wang Shuo hadn't forgotten how Chen Cheng had described Chen Xin before she arrived.

"Let me tell you, Chen Xin is a devil who eats people without spitting out the bones! Anything she doesn't like, whether it's a person or an object, will definitely disappear the next day. She's also very good at pretending, acting all gentle and quiet, deceiving everyone in our family. If she takes an interest in you, remember, absolutely, absolutely must dispel her notions. Remember, never make her angry, or you won't even be able to imagine the consequences! It would definitely be worse than lying in bed for a month!"

Recalling this conversation and combining it with his own recent experience, Wang Shuo felt as though he had been tricked—or rather, tricked by Chen Cheng.

He even felt a bit of sympathy for Chen Cheng. This guy... just how miserable was his childhood, that he's still so full of resentment to this day?

"That's only because it was you." Chen Cheng grunted. "This is the first time I've ever seen Chen Xin talk so much to a stranger. And even... even she helped you up with her own hands?"

As he spoke, Chen Cheng looked at Wang Shuo with some confusion, trying to see what exactly made Wang Shuo different. Could the key reason he had been scolded since he was a child be that he lacked a pair of eyes good at spotting others' merits?

"Exactly!" Zheng Jun's wide mouth split into a grin, his hands moving excitedly, not knowing where to put them, so he just slapped him hard a few times. "We all saw it! You don't know, Chen Cheng said his cousin has a severe mysophobia. Since she was a child, she never let anyone touch her things. For her to touch a stranger, it's like the sun rising from the west!"

"I'm right, aren't I? Fourth Brother?"

Chen Cheng endured the pain and nodded, tacitly agreeing. He was still pondering where exactly he fell short.

In terms of family background, he had the Chen Group behind him; in terms of looks, that was his greatest strength, with no reason to deny it; in terms of knowledge, his grades weren't bad—although not at Chen Xin's level, he was still a freshman at a key university; in terms of personal taste, he didn't believe that he, having received over a decade of elite education, would lose to anyone else.

After thinking it over and secretly comparing himself to Wang Shuo, Chen Cheng frowned and acknowledged his own excellence. Looking at the raw data, Wang Shuo seemed to be far inferior to him in every aspect.

Then, why did the result turn out to be that Chen Xin viewed Wang Shuo differently? Why couldn't he enjoy that kind of treatment?

This seemed to be a profound question, and Chen Cheng was utterly baffled.

"Eldest Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother." Wang Shuo gave a bitter smile and explained, "Don't let your imaginations run wild; I don't have any relationship with her. In fact, this was our first formal meeting."

Zheng Jun was the first to express disbelief.

Chen Cheng also looked at Wang Shuo suspiciously.

Li Li didn't say anything, just adjusted his glasses.

"You all heard our conversation just now, right?"

The three brothers nodded. The hospital room was small, and the soundproofing of the door wasn't great; the three of them had been pressed against the door, so it would have been hard not to hear.

"Then did you associate it with anything?"

"Associate it with what?" Zheng Jun's loud voice started up again. "I'm telling you, Second Brother, you're not being honest at all! Just admit it! You secretly hooked up with Chen Cheng's cousin! Speak! How long have you been dating? How did you meet?"

Chen Cheng also looked at Wang Shuo with a serious expression; if Wang Shuo confessed, he guaranteed he would immediately go back and report Chen Xin! Chen Xin having a secret romance was a huge deal in the Chen family.

"Listen, Eldest Brother, think about it carefully?" Wang Shuo tentatively reminded him. "Guanggu Pedestrian Street?"

"You didn't just mention Guanggu Pedestrian Street; Chen Xin herself mentioned a boyfriend." Li Li adjusted his glasses and reminded him from the side.

"Right!" Zheng Jun immediately perked up. "Are you still not going to admit it? Second Brother! Tell the truth!"

This was practically definitive proof, and the three of them prepared to deal the fatal blow to Wang Shuo, forcing him to give up his resistance.

Looking at the curiosity on their faces, Wang Shuo surrendered and honestly said, "I confess. She is the person I told you about before, the one I accidentally saved in an act of heroism! And the place where I performed this heroic act was Guanggu Pedestrian Street!"

"Huh?"

Zheng Jun was dumbfounded, Chen Cheng looked blank, and Li Li didn't seem to have expected this outcome either.

"Just... that's it?"

Wang Shuo nodded honestly. "Just that."

"So you mean you don't know each other, and you haven't dated?"

"No."

"So you mean this really was your first formal meeting?"

"Yes."

"So you mean the reason she looks at you differently and helped you into bed is because you are her savior?"

"If the criminals really intended to harm her... that would be correct."

"So everything has a reason?"

"Everything has a reason."

...

The problem that had Chen Cheng completely baffled finally had an answer, but he didn't feel any excitement. It was like an explorer who held high expectations for a treasure before an expedition, only to find a map at the treasure site that just said, "Just kidding." No one could be happy with such a result.

The three brothers came with high spirits and left disappointed, leaving Wang Shuo alone in the empty hospital room, staring blankly at the lights on the ceiling.

The three brothers, under the guise of "good intentions," told Wang Shuo to take this opportunity to savor the taste of loneliness. Otherwise, even if Chen Xin was just a stranger now, no one could say how things would develop in the future; perhaps Wang Shuo would never have the chance to taste this loneliness again.

Regarding this, Wang Shuo expressed deep disdain... to frame their revenge for not having their curiosity satisfied in such a fresh and artistic way—he was still a patient, for heaven's sake!

However, now that he finally had some free time, Wang Shuo could finally sort through everything he had encountered over the whole day... oh, no, over the past month.

First was the inexplicably appearing cousin of Chen Cheng.

At first, when Wang Shuo learned that the person who covered all his expenses wasn't Chen Cheng, but a cousin of Chen Cheng he had never met, especially when he racked his brain and couldn't remember where he had seen this little sister named Chen Xin, he was completely at a loss.

Who is Chen Xin? Why did she come to see him? Why did she pay his hospital bills? What is her relationship with him?

One question after another was driving Wang Shuo, who had already been sufficiently stimulated, crazy. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had just received another Brain Domain enhancement, bringing his Brain Domain to the "uninitiated" level mentioned by The Figure, he would likely have fallen into a coma for a few more hours.

Fortunately, these questions had just been given a satisfactory explanation.

This let Wang Shuo breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn't a person who could comfortably accept charity from others. If someone unconditionally did favors for another, then that person was either after the other person's money or their body.

Whether it was money or his body, Wang Shuo didn't want others to covet it, even if the other person was a stunning beauty.

Getting what you need from each other is the secret to a long-lasting relationship.

Since Chen Xin's help had a reason, then regardless of what that reason was—whether it was a misunderstanding or something else—Wang Shuo felt he needed to do something. At the very least, the hospital money had to be repaid; that was the bottom line.

This should not be difficult to accomplish, Wang Shuo thought carefully.

Once the question of who Chen Xin was had been resolved, then as for Chen Xin's attitude toward him... from Wang Shuo's perspective, it was quite normal.

Perhaps in Chen Cheng's view, it was already an almost intimate behavior, but please... you and Chen Xin grew up together, and if he wasn't mistaken, the relationship didn't seem very good. Do you expect Chen Xin to treat someone she hates like a normal person?

How could that be possible... even Wang Shuo himself, looking at Chen Cheng's handsome face, sometimes wanted to give him plastic surgery, let alone Chen Xin, who already disliked him immensely...

From Chen Xin's perspective, she had actively flirted with him when she encountered difficulties... well, she had actively used him as a scapegoat, which easily caused resentment. And then, from Chen Xin's point of view, the stranger she had dragged in as a scapegoat had been injured because of her, and it was a very serious injury, to the point where he had been lying there for over a month. Her heart must have been filled with guilt, self-reproach, and even a hint of regret; she must have wanted to compensate him.

Based on the above analysis, all of Chen Xin's actions had a reasonable explanation.

Wang Shuo felt that his guess was most likely correct.

Chen Xin was a bit like his own father. His father was also cold and icy, ready to lash out at him at any moment, but wasn't his heart filled with burning fatherly love for him? It was just that this fatherly love was like a mountain, making Wang Shuo feel a bit unable to bear it.

Thinking of his father, a stern, silent face flashed before Wang Shuo's eyes, and... Wang Shuo quickly shook his head, driving his childhood trauma out of his mind.

The second thing was the culprit that caused his month-long coma—the core of a Humanoid Race civilization from a different universe.

After waking up, Wang Shuo still hadn't recovered from the magnificent history of the Humanoid Race civilization. If it weren't for the three brothers from his dormitory interrupting him, and the problem of Chen Xin bothering him, forcing him to face the immediate issues first, he would likely have been unable to wait to test the truth of what The Figure had said—who could guarantee that what The Figure said was true?

Wang Shuo closed his eyes, but his brain began to operate at high speed, like a precision machine, silently increasing its speed.

"The core energy has been exhausted to the critical point, intelligent life form Wang Shuo."

"I have just controlled the remaining energy of the core to conduct a second enhancement on your Brain Domain, allowing you to barely possess the ability to access the core. However, your Brain Domain is still too fragile to withstand large amounts of data feedback. If the data you access exceeds the upper limit of your brain, you will be in mortal danger."

"My mission is complete, intelligent life form. I will dissolve myself shortly. Before I dissolve, I will leave a gift for you in the core."

"Our civilization originated in the 387th year of the Moor Calendar and was destroyed in the 1338th year of the New Era."

"Our civilization has already completed its mission."

"Our civilization was brief, yet glorious."

"Our civilization..."

The Figure closed its eyes with reluctance, its form slowly dissipating before Wang Shuo's eyes.

Wang Shuo suddenly opened his eyes.

"Host status change detected... Starting the core..."

"Core startup complete... Executing highest sequence..."

"Highest sequence failed... Enabling preset... Querying preset target..."

"Confirming authorization... Authorization confirmed..."

"Execution complete."

"Highest sequence updated: First sequence information confirmed—"

"Neural connection initiated... Data transmission channel being established..."

"Core fusion program enabled... Final fusion beginning."

"Fusion target, first sequence: Wang Shuo."