Chapter 44: This Ain’t Cruelty, It’s Mercy.

Lu Zhanxing’s rough hand came down on Shao Ye’s back with a light pat, the kind that was meant to comfort but still carried the weight of someone used to giving orders.

“Ah Ye,” Lu Zhanxing began, his voice low and deliberate, “these past few days, I’ve been wrecked thinking about you. I didn’t have it in me to leave you like that. But now that you’re awake, it’s time for me to get back to the frontlines. I’ll take you to the Lu family’s ancestral home in a bit. You’ll wait for me there—safe, sound, and in one piece. Got it?”

Shao Ye didn’t answer. He just sat there, silent as stone, listening. His eyes flickered with something that wasn’t quite anger, wasn’t quite sorrow—something stuck halfway in between.

Lu Zhanxing frowned, concern etching deep lines into his face. “Ah Ye, the rebels… they’ve been using some new drug, something we’ve never seen before. It’s turned their soldiers into rabid animals—mindless, fearless, charging straight into death like they’ve got nothing to lose.”

He paused, his voice tightening. “And their mechas? Their neural links have hit levels we didn’t think were even possible. They’re fighting like devils, and it’s tipping the odds against us. I’d give anything for this war to end quick, but if it drags out—if it becomes some endless, soul-sucking grind—I…” He hesitated, jaw clenching. “I might not be there for you and the baby when you need me most. I’m sorry.”

The words hit Shao Ye like a fist to the gut. His chest caved in under their weight, dragging him into a pitch-black void where the last fragile sliver of hope shattered like brittle glass.

“Ah Lan…” His voice was barely more than a whisper, trembling and raw. “She… she used the D-drug, didn’t she? She swore to me—swore—that she wouldn’t.”

Lu Zhanxing’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of realization dawning. “You know about the D-drug? She didn’t use it on you, did she?”

The D-drug. A nightmare concoction, the kind of poison that turned people into hollow shells. No cure, not even close. Just a cocktail of addiction, hallucinations, and psychotic breaks waiting to blow someone apart from the inside. One dose, and you’re hooked for life. Try to quit, and it’s like being eaten alive from the inside out—ants crawling under your skin, fires licking at your nerves, an ice storm freezing you solid. You lose your mind, your dignity, your soul.

And even if you keep using? It still tears you down. Organ failure, skeletal thinness, death in months, maybe years if you’re “lucky.” Worse yet, if someone’s pregnant while on it, the kid’s born into hell—an addict before they even take their first breath.

Shao Ye shook his head, his voice hoarse. “No… she didn’t use it on me.”

Relief flashed across Lu Zhanxing’s face, and he exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for hours.

But Shao Ye wasn’t done. Guilt clung to his features like a shadow. “Lu-ge…” he began, voice cracking. “The D-drug… it was made by Boss Bai, for building his empire. And… I’m the one who told Ah Lan about it. I begged her not to use it—begged her. She promised me she wouldn’t. But then I ran. I ran, and maybe—maybe if I’d stayed, she wouldn’t have…” His words broke apart, leaving behind nothing but regret and a truth too bitter to swallow.

Lu Zhanxing reached out with a single finger and pressed it lightly against Shao Ye's lips, shutting him up before he could spill another word. His gaze was soft, almost tender, but his voice sliced through the air like a blade—calm, cold, and brutally honest. "Ah Ye, stop blaming yourself. This isn’t on you. You’ve got to wake up. When someone’s dangling power and profit in front of her, Shao Lan’s not holding onto her conscience. She promised not to use the D-serum? That was just sweet talk—straight-up lies to keep you in check."

“What?” Shao Ye’s eyes went wide, like he’d just been punched in the gut. Shock and disbelief swirled in his expression, his lips parting in an almost silent gasp. “She lied to me?”

Lu Zhanxing gave a small, knowing nod, his tone unwavering. "The rebellion didn’t just start messing with the D-serum yesterday. You know how addictive that stuff is. It doesn’t ruin you all at once. At first, it’s manageable, almost harmless. But judging by how deep the rebellion’s hooked now, she’s been dosing her troops for at least a month.”

“A month?” Shao Ye’s voice cracked, his stare drifting into some dark, empty space. His mind reeled. A month ago, she was still swearing up and down—so earnest, so damn convincing—that as long as he stayed by her side, she’d listen to him. No D-serum. No more shortcuts. No betrayal of morals.

All lies.

Every damn word. She never quit the D-serum, never planned to. And peace? A pipe dream. Until she claws her way to the top of the Eight Galactic Systems, her hunger for power won’t be satisfied.

Shao Ye dropped his gaze, his shoulders caving under the weight of despair. His chest burned with helplessness, with betrayal so sharp it felt like it could cut him in half. Tears spilled over, defying his pride, streaking down his face.

“I thought—” His voice broke. “I thought she’d just lost her way for a moment. I thought she’d wake up, see the damage, and turn back. I thought… I thought I could save her.”

Lu Zhanxing’s chest tightened at the sight of him unraveling. It was like watching something fragile shatter in slow motion. He released a soothing wave of pheromones, desperate to ease Shao Ye’s anguish.

Then, like a switch flipped, Shao Ye’s hand shot to his neck, feeling for something beneath his collar. Relief washed over him as his fingers found the hidden flash drive still in place. Pulling it free, he held it out to Luzhan Xing, his eyes shadowed with regret and determination. “Lu-ge , I’m in this mess whether I like it or not. I share the blame for how far this has gone. On here,” he tapped the drive, “is everything—every vulnerability in the rebellion’s third-gen mech systems. One hit with the code I wrote, and their entire mech army’s done for. Scrap metal. No second chances.”

For a moment, Lu Zhaxing just stared, stunned silent. Then, suddenly, he grabbed Shao Ye in a bear hug, his voice bursting with gratitude. “Ah Ye, you’ve just handed me a miracle. Without their mechs, the rebellion’s done for. This war could finally end.”

Shao Ye forced a smile, but it was more a grimace—strained, lifeless, utterly hollow. He felt no relief, no pride, only the gnawing ache of betrayal. Helping Lu Zhaxing meant one thing: destroying Shao Lan.

The mechs were her trump card, the backbone of her army. Without them, she’d be crippled, grounded. And when she realized it was her own brother who drove the knife in her back, how would she look at him then?

How deep would her despair cut?

Betraying her was like carving out his own soul. But what choice did he have?

So, let’s get this straight—Shao Lan had the nerve to break his promise first. She secretly dosed up on that D-serum behind his back.

And now? Who owes who? Who the hell even knows anymore.

*

By afternoon, sunlight was slicing through the car windows, bathing the interior in a golden glow.

Lu Zhanxing, with his usual bossy swagger, had Shao Ye chauffeured back to the grand Lu family estate in a private car—complete with a full medical entourage tagging along. His excuse? The guy was having a baby now and needed round-the-clock doctors on standby, like some sort of royal decree.

Shao Ye, sitting there with his arms crossed, couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Inside, he was screaming, Seriously? Announce it to the whole damn world, why don’t you?

The sheer embarrassment was enough to make him wonder if he’d ever show his face in public again.

But then, the thought of Lu Zhanxing heading off to the front lines softened him up. If all this over-the-top fuss gave the guy even a sliver of peace, Shao Ye figured he could suck it up for a while.

As the car glided through the estate gates, Shao Ye got his first real look at the legendary Lu family ancestral mansion—and boy, did it live up to the hype. The place was so enormous, it took them two solid hours to drive from the front gate to their living quarters.

Who even needs that much land?

The absurdity of it all reminded Shao Ye of something else. He turned to Lu Zhanxing and asked, “What about your brother? What’s his deal now?”

Lu Zhanxing’s face darkened slightly, but his voice stayed calm—eerily calm. “He defected. Joined the rebels. He’s one of Shao Lan’s top lackeys now. You didn’t run into him over there?”

Shao Ye blinked, caught off guard. His mind raced back to his days among the rebel ranks. Sure, Shao Lan had kept him on a tight leash at first, but later she let him roam freely. During that time, he’d made a point of studying the rebels’ key players—scientists, generals, anyone who had Shao Lan’s ear. But one thing was for damn sure: he’d never crossed paths with Lu Xinglan.

“Didn’t see him,” Shao Ye said after a moment.

Lu Zhanxing seemed surprised for a split second but then brushed it off. Made sense, really. Shao Lan would’ve done everything to keep them apart. The last thing she’d want was Shao Ye connecting any dots about Lu Zhanxing.

Typical Shao Lan mind games.

Still, Shao Ye had another question brewing. “And Alice, your stepmother? What’s her take on this? I mean, you shot at Xinglan back in the Dust District. Didn’t she flip out?”

“Oh, she was pissed,” Lu Zhanxing said flatly, barely a hint of emotion in his tone. Then, with that same unnerving calm, he added, “She was pissed I didn’t aim for a kill shot. Said I should’ve ended him right then and there.”

Shao Ye’s jaw dropped. He stared at Zhanxing like he’d grown a second head. For a long moment, he couldn’t even form words. When he finally did, they came out in a rush: “Wait, what?! Alice is your stepmom, right? Xinglan’s real mom. And she wanted you to kill her own son? Are you kidding me?”

“That’s not cruelty,” Lu Zhanxing said, his voice as steady as ever. “That’s mercy.”

Mercy?

The word rattled around in Shaoye’s head like loose screws.

What the hell was Lu Zhanxing talking about?

He had to ask. “How the hell do you figure that? Why?”

Lu Zhanxing leaned back, his voice now laced with something colder. “The Lu family has rules. Loyalty to the Alliance above all else. Betray the Alliance, and you’re done. Your mind gets thrown into a neural prison—endless torment, no escape. The pain in there makes any real-world suffering look like a joke. Shooting him? That’s the kindest thing I could’ve done.”

For once, Shao Ye was left speechless.

"Psychological prison?" Just hearing those two damn words made Shao Ye’s skin crawl and every hair on his body stand on end. His scalp tingled, and a sharp chill shot straight up his spine.

It wasn’t just punishment—it was pure, unrelenting hell. An eternal damnation of the soul, locked in endless torment without the faintest hope of escape. Compared to this twisted nightmare, death seemed like a mercy. A clean break.

Lu Zhanxing didn’t bother sugarcoating it: “Alice might be Lu Xinglan’s biological mother, but don’t let that fool you. She’s sharp, calculating, and she knows where her loyalty lies. When push comes to shove, she’d choose duty over blood without a second thought—even if it means cutting down her own son.”

The car pulled up in front of the residential complex, where rows of maids and bodyguards were already lined up like a ceremonial guard of honor. At the far end of the formation stood Alice herself, radiating elegance like she owned the place. White lace gloves hugged her hands, and a delicate folding fan hung from her fingers. Her signature poised smile—a mask of grace and control—remained unshaken.

But this time, seeing her felt... different. Shao Ye couldn’t see her as just another aristocratic woman playing dress-up. No, there was something bigger about her, something formidable. For the first time, he saw her not as a noble, but as a force to be reckoned with. A woman who could shake the heavens if she damn well wanted to.