Chapter 396: The Biggest Winner

"I've troubled you these past few days," Luo Qi said with a straight face.

"Bullshit," Du Zhengyi muttered over his glass, then beer moistened his throat.

"A great kindness is beyond words," Luo Qi said perfunctorily, reaching out for the beer bottle. Just as his fingers were about to touch the label, the bottle slid smoothly three centimeters away across the table. He turned his head to glare at Du Zhengyi, seeing his big brother—whom he still felt was beyond his reach—drinking leisurely, as if he hadn't noticed what Luo Qi was doing, and as if he hadn't been the one to do it. He threatened irritably, "Do you believe I'll offer myself to you?"

"Let's settle the accounts first," Du Zhengyi said slowly, giving Luo Qi a threatening glance.

"What did you do to her? Did you store her away? We need to settle the score with her properly," Luo Qi said, playing dumb. Having failed to steal the beer, he ordered indignantly, "Grill some mushrooms for a disabled person!"

"That account can't be settled; she has already been wiped," Du Zhengyi said. Not stooping to his level, he took the plate of mushrooms and, following his wishes, spread them on the stove in front of him. The flames licked warmly beneath the wire mesh, blue smoke rose, and the edges of the mushrooms began to dry out.

Luo Qi looked at him in astonishment. Surprise, admiration, relief, and regret flashed across his face in an instant. Du Zhengyi took it all in; that person who claimed to do "Luo Qi" better than he did had never managed to produce so many emotions in an instant, let alone try to push them all onto his face at once. Of course, one couldn't say that the maximum value of the opposite of a poker face was better, but this was indeed more "Luo Qi."

"Oh my god, you cursed at me!" Luo Qi cried out again, acting surprised.

Du Zhengyi, holding the tongs to flip the mushrooms, paused. "Did I curse at you?"

"An—noy—ing—pest—you cursed at me! My ears are exceptionally sharp right now! I can even sense intent with such strong directionality!" Luo Qi's cat-like eyes rounded. "So this is the kind of word you use to curse people? You should have called me a moron! Or a freak!"

"Shut up!" Du Zhengyi scolded him in a low, annoyed voice.

Luo Qi let out a happy sound.

"As for thanks, you don't need to say it to me," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi raised his eyebrows, his eyes shining. But it was no use; Du Zhengyi continued to say what he wanted to say in his own way. "No one will hold you accountable for the things you didn't do. But, knowing there is no result, why bother doing it?"

"Hmm..." Luo Qi said thoughtfully.

"Young man, that answer makes me very uncomfortable," Du Zhengyi said.

"Don't bother me, don't bother me, I'm pondering a question."

"What question?" Du Zhengyi said patiently.

"I'm wondering if you actually know that the person sitting at the table next to you, with their back to you, thinks you are rejecting my pursuit," Luo Qi said.

For a moment, Du Zhengyi's indignant expression was practically spectacular. Luo Qi quickly turned serious. "Brother, do you know that although that thing isn't a Progenitor Mage, and her memories might not be complete, she is, after all, a product of the Ancestor Era! How could you wipe her? How could you wipe her!! You could have at least left a scrap of her behind! I went through so much trouble and held on in there for so long because I thought you and I were definitely of one mind! If I had known, I would have torn off a piece myself!"

"You wanted to keep a scrap? You say it so lightly, kid. Do you know that when facing that kind of thing, your brain could be replaced bit by bit at any moment? You didn't act rashly and knew how to use strategy; consider yourself lucky this time. Besides, she was indeed left with a scrap," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi knew he was bound to be scolded. He had been nodding "mm" perfunctorily the whole time, but at the end, he froze, then his face filled with joy. "You did it? Where is it? Is it with Doctor?"

"Are you hoping you can trick Doctor and steal the thing back from him? And what were you planning to do then? You formulated the strategy so readily at the time; did you plan from the start not to come back empty-handed?" Du Zhengyi watched Luo Qi calmly.

Luo Qi looked back into his friend's black eyes, which seemed to see through everything; his own reflection was in those deep wells. But what could that do? Wasn't it all to save his life? He revealed a crafty, faint smile, showing his little teeth, and the icy mask on his friend's face indeed cracked.

He smiled even wider, but he was also met with a light round of strikes from Du Zhengyi. "But Doctor? Do you really think Doctor can overcome the will of a Progenitor Mage?"

Luo Qi blinked in confusion, then suddenly an answer was on the tip of his tongue. "Fuck."

"Right, that is the only choice," Du Zhengyi said. "Everything has a price."

He watched the frustration on Luo Qi's face with satisfaction, feeling somewhat gleeful. Even though they had paid this price together.

"Fuck," Luo Qi muttered. "I went through all that trouble, isn't this just working for someone else's benefit?"

"Yes, and he is the person you saw."

Luo Qi looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

"There is one more detail that I finally have the mood to recall now," Du Zhengyi looked at Luo Qi and said in a low voice, "For some reason, she knows him."

All the playfulness on Luo Qi's face vanished, and his expression became as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Hardship truly makes one grow," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice, stuffing all the burnt mushrooms into Luo Qi's plate.