The luminous pearl that was not given away returned to Cheng Jin’s hands, and he really wanted to ask his husband if he had lied, but he didn’t know how to bring it up. The day before Lu Tao was scheduled to undergo a personality erasure surgery, the world was shocked by a piece of news that went viral.

It was about the “chimera” experiments, which somehow got leaked and spread wildly online. The topic of human experimentation has always existed for centuries, mostly criticized if discovered any lab conducting such experiments in secret would be disgraced and face legal consequences. There had been cases where involved personnel were sent to the penal colony on Hell Star.

But now, these human experiments had been exposed, and there were anonymous claims that the main orchestrator was the Minister of General Affairs, Indira, along with quite a stringent chain of evidence. The news spread in the morning caused a worldwide uproar, and by evening, every channel that Cheng Jin turned on was dominated by this scandal.

Cheng Jin didn’t understand much about these issues, but he was worried that he might not even have a chance to say goodbye to Lu Tao. Whether it was the primary personality or a derivative one, they might not have the time to return now, right?

However, when he was about to go to sleep at midnight, disappointed, Lu Tao came back. Dressed in a crisp military uniform that wrapped around his lean body, it was a sight that would usually accelerate Cheng Jin’s heartbeat. But seeing his indifferent and cold expression, Cheng Jin knew this was not the person he had been waiting for, so he almost subconsciously asked, “Where is he?”

Lu Tao narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly restraining himself. After a few seconds, he said, “I only have one hour for you.” Cheng Jin looked at him, puzzled. Lu Tao explained simply, “Minister Indira has fled. I’ve been tasked to capture him.”

Cheng Jin was shocked, exclaiming, “Fled? Why? Is what the news said true? Did he really initiate those human experiments?”

Lu Tao did not elaborate further, only repeating, “You only have one hour. Once the time is up, I will take back control of the body!” Cheng Jin was even more astonished, “You can now control the switching of personalities?”

“This is my body,” Lu Tao emphasized. He had been able to control the switches using his willpower alone for the past three days and now could even precisely manage the timing. He looked at Cheng Jin, his tone low, “Make good use of this chance to say goodbye. I will indulge you this one last time. From now on…”

Cheng Jin couldn’t bear to hear what would follow, cutting in excitedly, “You, switch to him…”

Lu Tao seemed hurt by his attitude, clenching his teeth, but ultimately said nothing more and closed his eyes. Ten seconds later, when he opened them again, his eyes were brimming with laughter. A radiant smile spread across his face, and Cheng Jin, teary-eyed, quickly threw himself into the man’s arms.

The solid chest he found solace in didn’t push him away; warm, strong arms wrapped around him securely, and a series of kisses fell on his forehead, nose, and lips. “Baby, I’ve missed you.”

“Sob… Husband, I’ve missed you too…” Cheng Jin held him tight, as if fearing he would slip away, almost wishing he could meld them together. A naive thought suddenly popped into his head, “Husband, with today’s advanced technology, can we transfer your soul into my body? That way, we’d always be together!”

Lu Tao chuckled, ruffling his hair and pinching his cheek, “You’re really adorable.” Cheng Jin earnestly asked, “With ‘chimera’ experiments being successful, couldn’t we do it?”

“‘Chimera’ involves merging two individuals by selecting and fusing genes. But the primary personality and I are the same person, the same genes. Strictly speaking, I don’t have a separate soul, just a separate set of memories,” Lu Tao tapped his head, “So if I leave the primary personality, I wouldn’t have a consciousness.”

Cheng Jin felt downhearted, “So tomorrow, you will really disappear…”

Lu Tao felt a pang in his heart but, being mature, had come to accept this outcome, chuckling lightly, “Sweetheart, are you sure you want to waste our time on something fruitless? The other Lu Tao’s time standards are extremely strict. We’ve already wasted five minutes.”

Cheng Jin was stunned, “You know what he just said? Do you, do you have his memories?”

“No, but we have a special way of communicating, ever since we knew of each other’s existence.” Lu Tao wiped away Cheng Jin’s tears, his voice exceptionally tender, “Initially, it was messages left on the light screen, later through more effective communication devices.” He tapped the communicator on his wrist, “He stores important matters in here, and those messages get transferred directly to my mind when I take control of the body.” He sighed slightly, “There goes another minute wasted.”

Worried, Cheng Jin had thought about what they would do before parting, whether to be physically intimate or something else. But now, with his heartstrings taut, he could hardly relax, and his earlier plans were scattered, hardly able to recall any.

Lu Tao seemed to read his thoughts, smiling lightly as he picked Cheng Jin up and carried him to the bedroom. Cheng Jin wrapped his arms around his neck, blushing and teary-eyed, thinking Lu Tao had other intentions. But Lu Tao just kissed him, dimmed the lights, held him close, and gently stroked his back with a tender, deep voice, “Let’s just talk.”

Cheng Jin softly hummed in agreement, gripping his hand, wanting to intertwine their fingers, “What shall we talk about?”

“Let’s talk about the past. Like, how did you fall in love with him?”

They had discussed this question when they first started dating, but at that time, Lu Tao was in an “amnesiac” state, so Cheng Jin hadn’t told him the truth.

Cheng Jin didn’t understand why he wanted to talk about this, but eager to please, he obediently said, “It was love at first sight. There was a basketball game at the military school, and I went to see it. Then I saw him… so handsome, something just clicked right away, and then I tried everything to be with him.” Cheng Jin blushed as he spoke, “He was just really handsome, like, really really handsome, even the way he wiped sweat was attractive!”

Lu Tao stared at him with a smile, “With all this praise, should I be jealous?”

His tone was indeed a bit sour, but he hid it well. Cheng Jin, unsure how to respond, asked cautiously, “Are you upset?”

“Why would I be? Isn’t he also me? Initially, it was just based on his looks. If it had always been me, you would definitely love me to death!” Although Lu Tao said this, his tone wasn’t very sure. Being as astute as he was, he could clearly understand Cheng Jin’s pre-transformation personality.

A spoiled young master, who had everything he wanted and only kept strong desires for those who resisted him—the more he couldn’t have something, the more he wanted it.

While his love for Lu Tao wasn’t entirely for such reasons, there was still a bit of that factor involved.

But more than that, it was Lu Tao’s own charm.

Not just a handsome face, but also strong abilities and determination, everything he did was to perfection—how could such a person not be likable?

From the moment he faced danger, the derivative personality knew he was inferior to the real Lu Tao, so his mental strength continuously waned, eventually being completely dominated by the other and now powerless to resist.

“Yes,” Cheng Jin kissed him voluntarily, “I love you very much right now.”

Lu Tao met his gaze, at times hating his own sharp observational skills. The real Lu Tao didn’t like making eye contact with Cheng Jin, nor did Cheng Jin dare to look him in the eye, but he could, and thus he could see Cheng Jin’s true feelings clearly.

From the day he could differentiate them, Lu Tao could see different emotions in Cheng Jin’s eyes.

He was indeed fond of him, cared for him, and was happy to see him, but this affection was different from the past obsession that was hard to suppress.

He ultimately couldn’t replace the real Lu Tao’s position in his heart, even though he was so heartbroken about their parting.

They exchanged tender kisses, savoring each other’s tongues and swallowing saliva, the kisses long but not overly passionate. Cheng Jin, kissing and crying, couldn’t stop his tears from falling. Lu Tao comforted him, holding him in his arms, gently patting his back, and even humming a lullaby by his ear.

The familiar singing felt surreal to Cheng Jin, who seemed confused for a moment before quickly regaining clarity, whispering softly, “You sing very well.” Then even more softly, “He never sings to me…”

Lu Tao chuckled softly, “Consider it a wish fulfilled.”

Cheng Jin smiled, smiling until he closed his eyes, then slowly drifted into sleep.

With each tick of the digits on his wrist, Lu Tao felt his heart twist. Before slipping into a blurred sense of chaos, he wrote a note on their shared “message board”—take good care of him.

Cheng Jin felt as if he had a beautiful dream, but upon waking up, that dream turned into an illusion. He sat up abruptly, finding himself alone, and the date on his wrist had changed to the 12th.

The schedule on his ticket indicated it was time for him to leave this place.

Having said goodbye to the second personality, Lu Tao, he should have no regrets, but not having said goodbye to the primary personality left him feeling hollow.

His luggage was already packed, and the household robot, seeing him dressed to go out, came over somewhat surprised, “Young master, the master told you to stay home and not to run around, saying it’s chaotic outside.”

Cheng Jin was stunned, “When did he say that?”

“This morning at six o’clock! He told Cheng Cheng after coming out of your bedroom.”

“This morning? At six o’clock?” Cheng Jin was stunned, having felt all night like he had slept in Lu Tao’s arms, so he thought it was just a dream. Could it be that Lu Tao really slept beside him last night? How could that be?

The slight tremor in his heart was quickly crushed, and Cheng Jin shook his head with a light laugh, “It’s okay, I’m just going out for a walk.” He took a deep breath, patting the robot’s sleek head, “Take care of the house. Later…” He had thought about taking Cheng Cheng with him, but the procedures for a robot to leave the country were complex, and Cheng Cheng had always preferred Lu Tao, so he decided to leave it behind.

“I will!” The robot replied cheerfully.

Cheng Jin smiled, his smile tinged with indescribable bitterness. He sat on the sofa, turned on the light screen, and opened the divorce application page again. After only hesitating for three seconds, he pressed the red button.

The page quickly processed the request, notifying him that his application was successful, and his marriage to General Lu Tao would be dissolved within 24 hours. Cheng Jin watched the countdown timer, his heart aching sharply. Unable to bear it any longer, he quickly turned off the light screen, picked up his few pieces of luggage, and walked out.