Pretend to be crazy - Chapter 68

Falson, beaten to a battered mess, lay on the bed with a dazed face, eyes vacant.

He had become obedient.

Shen Yan touched his face, and Falson eagerly pressed his face into his palm, not speaking.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, nor that he couldn’t—his mind was too muddled right now, and whenever he spoke it came out as dirty and vulgar words. Shen Yan didn’t like that; it would dirty his ears.

Looking at his sparkling eyes, Shen Yan chuckled: “Just a little time without beating you and you start getting mischievous again. Beat you until you’re obedient, then after a while, you don’t listen again. Are you suffering from stage memory loss, or do you just like being beaten by me?”

Falson stared blankly at Shen Yan, his Adam’s apple moving slightly, “I like mom to hit me.”

Shen Yan: “See, you’re asking for it again.”

Ah, can’t call Shen Yan ‘mom.’

Really, how could he be so careless?

Falson closed his eyes happily, anxiously waiting for Shen Yan to slap him.

But Shen Yan didn’t move.

He only covered half of Falson’s face.

Falson couldn’t see Shen Yan’s expression slowly fading.

Shen Yan lowered his eyes, looking at the nearby, very realistic mechanical weapon prosthetics.

Falson was prone to trouble.

Should he kill him?

He thought seriously.

Since crossing over, he had killed quite a few people, directly or indirectly. Although he couldn’t remain emotionless when doing it, he could still sleep at night without nightmares.

…Forget it.

Ruan Zhixian didn’t know about his suicide plan, thinking he was just playing house with Falson. Killing Falson now would be too abrupt.

At this stage, Ruan Zhixian might find someone else to replace Falson. That “someone else” would probably also be mentally ill and take time to deal with, so better just have a big landmine.

He let go.

Falson blinked, looking somewhat disappointed.

Shen Yan lowered his head and gently kissed his forehead, sighing.

Falson froze, mouth curling up, just about to lean in sweetly for another kiss, but Shen Yan’s next words immediately plunged him into an icy pit.

“Falson, if you don’t like being by my side, you can leave.”

Falson’s heart seemed to stop for a moment, eyes wide open. After a long while, he said, “You don’t want me anymore?”

Shen Yan said nothing.

Falson struggled to sit up, anxiously approaching Shen Yan, “I know I don’t listen, I’m sorry, I was wrong, I will obey, please don’t abandon me—”

Shen Yan calmly said: “Blaze helped me solve the Paradise Island permission problem, Warren is sensible and acts decisively, and you…”

“You knew the burning kiss would kill me the last time, yet you still kissed me. If the tongue ring drug hadn’t been replaced, I’d be dead now.”

“You always provoke me, treat my punishments as satisfying your own twisted desires. Saying you love me, saying you like mom, it’s all fake. The only one you truly love is yourself. I’m just your tool.”

Shen Yan smiled at him:

“Falson, do you think I should keep you?”

Falson’s eyes reddened, tears welling up. He rubbed against Shen Yan hard, opening his mouth, but could only say weakly: “I don’t…”

In truth, he believed it.

He had always lived in chaos, with a broken logic and fragile mental state. His mind was like a pile of buggy code barely running. Sometimes he looked normal, but if you looked deeper, it was impossible.

Now Shen Yan had laid out a possible logic behind his behavior. It was persuasive. Intuition told him something was wrong, but he couldn’t argue.

His heart clenched painfully, pain spreading from inside his chest mixed with the wounds on his skin. Tears uncontrollably flowed down. He wanted to hold onto Shen Yan but felt unworthy.

Shen Yan silently observed his reaction.

Falson bit his lip, many thoughts rushing in his head. Panic and sorrow made him want to prove himself through death; suddenly reason kicked in, telling him to run because he was being mentally manipulated and that what Shen Yan said wasn’t true. Then he thought, even if it were true, so what? Then he felt he should find a chance to kill Shen Yan so he wouldn’t say such hurtful things again.

Then he found this ironic and funny: many moms came and went before, killed at will, so why was Shen Yan special?

All these thoughts were ended by another kiss from Shen Yan.

His mind went blank.

Shen Yan’s lips were dry yet soft, gently pressing on every inch of his face: forehead, eyelids, nose tip, cheeks, and chin.

Falson’s heart pounded fiercely, not daring to breathe. Shen Yan’s kisses seemed to cover every part, except—

He opened his mouth, lips parted slightly, subconsciously craving.

Shen Yan slowly leaned closer, the warmth from another person growing stronger—hot, warm, soft.

Too slow—this slow-motion moment seemed like countless times Shen Yan had kissed him.

But Shen Yan stopped just inches away, looking at Falson’s flushed face, raised an eyebrow, and quickly smiled.

“Want to kiss?”

Falson was sweating from excitement, eagerly leaning forward to kiss him, but was pushed down and thrown back onto the bed.

This fall seemed to wake him from a dream.

Shen Yan got up, picked up the scattered parts, and piled them beside Falson, leisurely saying: “No need for you to like me more. Learn to obey first, then you can kiss.”

“Last chance, Falson. Don’t disappoint me.”

Shen Yan left.

Falson watched his departing back, suddenly began breathing heavily, chest rising and falling, staring fixedly at the ceiling, crying or laughing.

He really seemed unable to leave Shen Yan.

.

Falson always found a way to piece himself back together.

The next day, he appeared as usual, proactively telling Shen Yan he was going to meet with Ruan Zhixian and the others, doing his best to work for Shen Yan.

Shen Yan saw him off. Before leaving, he sincerely promised he would behave, obey, and satisfy Shen Yan.

He even showed Shen Yan the new implant he bought on the island, planted in his chest.

Beneath the skin faintly glowing were the characters “Shen Yan.”

If he acted aggressively toward Shen Yan, a micro-bomb inside him would explode, precisely destroying his heart.

This product was designed for high-risk criminals needing restraint. Falson, however, installed it on himself.

Shen Yan wanted obedience, not his life. Though it didn’t meet expectations, in the short term, Falson wouldn’t cause trouble again.

Pretty good.

Shen Yan kept watching how things developed.

Outside, the conflict between the old and new factions escalated. He kept busy stirring trouble—during the exhibition, he led Gen to blow up several military bases. The scene looked large and frightening but actually no one was hurt except military base data and products.

Guests were shocked, the exhibition stopped, and many demanded to leave the island.

The once lively Paradise Island suddenly cooled, only staff remained.

The military base manager was uneasy.

The new faction attacked the old faction’s bio company and labs; the old faction attacked military bases.

The attackers had been caught—Gen, from the old faction.

The manager thought they had lost control and acted rashly, forgetting the military bases were backed by District One. So he carefully organized a meeting, inviting leaders from both factions to reconcile.

No one responded.

They instead mocked him.

Both sides thought the manager was from the other side, and the reconciliation was a trap where they’d be killed.

The manager was furious but helpless. Seeing the situation worsening beyond his control, he reported to District One.

He thought District One would empower him or send someone capable.

Unexpectedly, District One sent personnel down directly!

This caused a huge problem.

The manager nervously prepared to meet the officials. However, they said keep it low-key—the matter was complicated, and not to publicize it.

The manager sweated profusely, lost sleep, and browsed online to pick out a coffin for himself, convinced he was doomed.

District One rarely intervened directly, but when they did, it was with overwhelming force.

He was sure that after this incident, those involved would face a purge.

For District One, the faction reshuffle was just swatting a fly.

On the third day after arranging his affairs, a flying vehicle landed at Paradise Island’s Ant Hotel.

A man stepped out, extending a long leg.

He wore sunglasses covering much of his pale face, exuding refined elegance.

He entered the hotel.

At the same time, the manager got a message that at 3:30 PM, the leader wanted to meet him in Room 902 of the Ant Hotel’s lounge.

The manager almost fainted, clutching his chest.

He took some special pills to calm himself, anxiously dressing well.

But his effort was wasted.

Before leaving, a nanny robot suddenly malfunctioned and knocked him unconscious.

Qi Cong was not the true manager of the Paradise Island military base.

But lately he was bored and overheard this matter, taking it over unceremoniously.

An outsider could see clearly the old-new faction dispute was clearly stirred up by a third party.

Moreover, this third party seemed to be targeting District One.

The destroyed labs were top contributors to data.

No matter how bold the new faction was, they wouldn’t dare disrespect District One.

This third party was blatantly opposing District One.

Under absolute suppression, even if some resisted propaganda, their dissatisfaction with District One remained only thoughts, not a threat.

This was the most intense rebellion in a century.

So it was interesting.

Qi Cong didn’t arrive early to wait. He slept until past 4 PM and leisurely went to Room 902.

He opened the door, making a surprised “tsk” sound.

No one was inside.

The manager was timid, how could he leave without notice?

Something wasn’t right.

Footsteps came from behind, interrupting Qi Cong’s thoughts.

Turning around, he was shocked, pupils trembling.

Shen Yan, wearing a tracksuit and a baseball cap, tipped his hat and smiled: “High priest, long time no see.”