Chapter 65: The Little Butterfly No Longer Needs to Be Carried

But in the end, Shen Yu still left Ji Laili’s embrace.

It wasn’t that he had strong willpower to resist the little puppy’s affectionate persistence—rather, people were chasing after them.

While they were chatting, Ji Laili had momentarily let his focus on reaching the basement slip, slowing down just a little.

That small delay allowed the Imperial pursuers to catch up.

The other side clearly understood the principle of “villains die from talking too much.” Without a word, they opened fire on Ji Laili.

Ji Laili was about to dodge when suddenly, his arms became empty.

A shadow flashed past, and he looked up.

The previously weak and unsteady Shen Yu, who had claimed to feel dizzy and unable to stand, now radiated an icy, bone-chilling aura.

In an instant, he had transformed into a terrifying, predatory butterfly.

With a swift lift of his arm, he precisely shot down the incoming quantum bullets. The projectiles exploded mid-air into a pale yellow burst of smoke, obscuring vision.

Ji Laili and the Imperial Alphas chasing them instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.

Shen Yu, however, seemed completely unaffected.

He stepped forward, delivering powerful kicks and precise strikes, his elbow cutting through the air with ruthless efficiency.

“Ahhh—!!”

The crunching sound of bones breaking and the screams of agony rang out simultaneously.

The pursuing Imperial Alphas: “……”

Ji Laili, who had been watching in stunned silence: “……”

Through the chilling presence of Shen Yu, the two opposing sides briefly exchanged looks—both falling into speechless shock.

It seemed that Shen Yu’s weakness, dizziness, and instability were indeed gone.

So… he really hadn’t been joking earlier.

“Shen-xuezhang…”

The killing intent and disgust on Shen Yu’s face froze for a moment as he suddenly remembered the persona he had established earlier.

His lips pressed together, and his expression grew even colder toward the Imperial pursuers.

If not for these annoying Alphas ambushing them, he wouldn’t have needed to reveal this side of himself.

Damn it…

But in stark contrast to his icy expression, Shen Yu’s voice was soft and low, as if he were enduring pain.

“My head is spinning again.”

“I feel unwell…”

The Imperial Alphas who had just faced his merciless attacks: “……”

—Gradual horror setting in.jpg—

“Eh? How could that be? Weren’t you fine just now?”

Behind him, the ever-concerned Ji Laili immediately stepped forward, grasping his arm.

It seemed… he wasn’t too suspicious.

The tension that had gripped Shen Yu finally eased, yet a faint, unexplainable sense of madness and regret lingered.

If Ji Laili had reacted differently, if he had shown a different expression just now—Shen Yu glanced at him quietly.

Ji Laili immediately sensed it.

Here we go again.

That incredibly familiar gaze.

Ji Laili had already classified it as: “I’m secretly watching you. Don’t do anything to make me unhappy, or I’ll lock you up in a little dark room. But why haven’t you made me unhappy yet?”

A strange kind of logic—one that screamed possessive yandere.

At first, when Ji Laili figured out what that look meant, he had to resist the overwhelming urge to slap a pair of silver handcuffs onto Shen Yu’s wrists.

Ahem. Professional instinct.

But later, Ji Laili had a change of heart. As a future police officer, he couldn’t just hand out life sentences based on a mere vibe!

If Shen Yu hadn’t done anything wrong yet, it was his duty to guide him onto the right path.

Of course, the main reason was that Shen Yu looked at him like this all the time, and Ji Laili had gotten used to it.

He accepted it quite well and even took a moment to check the blackening meter.

Good. No increase.

Ji Laili supported Shen Yu’s arm, then shot a displeased glance at the Imperial Alphas. “You’re not up to something again, are you?”

They had already attacked Brother Zhai before and used some kind of syringe…

Syringe!

The memory clicked into place—Shen Yu’s earlier strange secondary differentiation symptoms had started after an injection.

What about Brother Zhai? Wait, no—he had only seen blood on the needle tip of the syringe that fell to the ground.

A quick glance had shown that the inside of the syringe was empty.

So Brother Zhai should be fine.

Relieved that his comrade wasn’t in danger, Ji Laili turned his attention back to the group of Imperial Alphas with a sharp, distrustful glint in his crescent-moon eyes.

Shen Yu’s abnormal secondary differentiation was definitely connected to them.

“Xuezhang, are you okay? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else? Wait here—I’ll take care of them for you!”

Ji Laili spoke confidently, releasing his grip on Shen Yu’s arm.

But as he turned, a hand caught his.

“Together.”

“Huh?” Ji Laili’s eyes widened in surprise, his crescent-moon eyes rounding in confusion. “But you’re still—”

Shen Yu remained expressionless. “I was just momentarily overwhelmed. A brief discomfort. I’m fine now.”

“Besides…”

His dark eyes settled on Ji Laili’s face. “They did something I cannot forgive.”

Ji Laili froze.

For some reason, he felt as though he had done something wrong.

His face heated up, and he scratched his head awkwardly. “Then let’s do this together!”

Shen Yu hesitated briefly, a little surprised by Ji Laili’s immediate agreement.

But before he could react further, Ji Laili had already charged toward the Imperial Alphas!

Shen Yu lowered his gaze. When he lifted it again, he was once more the untouchable prodigy of the Federation’s military academy, standing high above on his divine pedestal.

Thus, the fastest-running Imperial Alphas were granted the rare opportunity to witness the combat prowess of the two.

There was no need to say much about Shen Yu—over the years, he had accumulated far too many titles.

As the Federation’s sworn enemy, the Empire had long dedicated efforts to studying him.

They thought they understood him well.

Yet, to their utter shock, in less than a year, another monster had appeared—Ji Laili.

Ji Laili’s mind was entirely preoccupied with finding the antidote. Most of the time, he only fought reactively—his priority was to locate the cure as quickly as possible.

He wanted to lessen the burden on his comrades and the group of freshmen who were already severely exhausted.

But now—!

The moment he thought about the suffering Shen Yu had endured during his differentiation period, and how Zhai Yifei had nearly met the same fate, an uncontrollable rage ignited within him.

He couldn’t truly eliminate these people, but taking a little interest back? That was fair game.

By the time the ground was littered with defeated Alphas, Ji Laili was also exhausted from the fight.

Hearing approaching footsteps, he let out a carefree laugh and, on instinct, opened his arms toward Shen Yu—ready to scoop him up and run.

The moment he spread his arms, he suddenly remembered—

There was no need for that anymore.

Shen Yu wasn’t weak, nor was he unsteady on his feet. His precision in battle had been impeccable. There was no way he was still dizzy.

The little butterfly no longer needed to be carried.

Ji Laili blinked nonchalantly, subtly lowering his outstretched hands.

“Mm, now that we’re done here, let’s—”

His crisp voice was abruptly cut off.

As if frozen in time alongside the unspoken trace of disappointment that had yet to fully surface.

His open arms were suddenly filled by a soft body, fitting against him seamlessly. The embrace was tight—firm, unyielding—bringing with it the cold yet intoxicating sweetness of Shen Yu’s pheromones.

Ji Laili was caught completely off guard.

For a brief moment, his expression flickered with pure bewilderment.

Then, confusion. Hesitation.

Instinctively, he held his breath.

His heartbeat stuttered.

From within his arms, a voice asked, “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”

The little puppy stammered twice before silently tightening his arms around the butterfly that had fallen into his embrace.

Thinking himself clever, flawless in his diversion, he quickly changed the subject.

“I was just thinking… ah, youth really is great. Look at them—out like a light the moment they hit the ground—”

“Uh, no, no! I mean—” Ji Laili scrambled, his ears inexplicably warm. “Let’s hurry and find the antidote while we still can! Hahaha… let’s go, let’s go!”