Yue Shi raised his leg and aimed for the executive’s head, intending to crush it with a single stomp and silence the noisy thing forever.
The executive lay on the ground, shaking like a leaf. He watched as the sole of the shoe grew larger in his vision, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks, unable to even close his eyes in time.
At the critical moment, something entangled him.
It was a thread, thinner than spider silk and nearly invisible to the naked eye.
The thread flew in from a certain direction, silently wrapping around the executive’s shoulder and giving a violent tug.
The executive’s entire body slid across the ground like a baseball player sliding into home, dragged a significant distance away.
Yue Shi’s foot missed its mark and slammed into the ground.
Boom!
The earth split apart.
With Yue Shi as the center, web-like cracks spread in all directions, only stopping once they reached over ten meters away.
Yue Shi looked down, then shifted his gaze toward the dragged executive. He raised his hand and gave a casual pull toward that direction.
His palm made contact with the thread, and it pulled taut as if he were grabbing a kite string.
A massive resistance came from the other end; clearly, someone was pulling hard from the other side of the thread.
Yue Shi remained motionless as he added a bit of strength to his grip. Spatial cracks rapidly spread along the length of the thread.
A moment later, something was dragged out from the other end of the line.
It was a young boy.
He had white hair and white eyebrows, with features so exquisite he didn't look like a real person. His eyes were narrow and long, and his skin was snowy white. He wore a long black robe.
He was dragged out of the void by Yue Shi just like that, stumbling a step before regaining his footing.
There was no panic on that handsome face, only a slight frown, as if he were dissatisfied with the manner of his entrance.
He raised his hand, his fingertips twitching slightly as countless invisible threads vibrated and circled around him.
“You’ve finally decided to show yourself, the true boss of the Deep Blue Route,” Yue Shi said, looking at the boy.
The boy’s gaze swept over Yue Shi’s face before looking down at the executive sprawled on the ground, and then at the four men and women Yue Shi had just killed.
“How did you see through it? That they were just puppets,” the boy finally spoke, his voice cold and clear.
Yue Shi said, “The threads. I saw those threads.”
“From the moment those four appeared until they made their move, there was a thread above each of their heads.”
“Others might not be able to see them, but they cannot hide from my eyes.”
His gaze fell upon the boy’s fingertips, where countless hair-thin threads were gently drifting.
The boy’s fingers curled slightly, causing the threads to wind around his fingertips.
He looked down at the executive lying on the ground.
The executive was covered in blood, the stumps of his limbs showing strange, dark-grey cross-sections. He lay there curled up like a pile of crumpled rags.
The boy’s fingers moved, and several invisible threads flew out from his fingertips, wrapping around the executive’s severed limbs.
The cross-sections aligned, and then the threads stitched the limbs back onto the executive’s body.
The executive felt his arms return, and his legs as well.
He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, not daring to move or speak. He only stared with wide eyes at the white-haired boy before him.
The boy looked down at him, his beautiful eyes devoid of any emotion.
Seeing this, Yue Shi tilted his head. “Why do you care so much about this person? You didn't even lift a finger when those other four were being killed.”
The boy’s fingers paused as he said casually, “The meaning of this person is different.”
The executive’s mind went blank.
He didn't remember ever having any interaction with this true boss of the Deep Blue Route.
Having worked in the group for so many years, he had never seen this person, and didn't even know a boss existed.
As a proxy pushed to the front, he had only ever seen the four individuals Yue Shi had called puppets.
Why was his meaning different?
Could it be... an illegitimate son?!
In an instant, the executive’s gaze changed.
Exactly who was the father, and who was the son?
The boy looked down, happening to meet his gaze.
The executive’s body reacted faster than his brain. His bitter and resentful expression instantly transformed into one of humble, fawning flattery, like a dog finally seeing its master, desperately wagging its tail.
The boy smiled, his eyes curving and the corners of his mouth turning up to reveal a bit of a canine tooth.
However, the words he spoke caused the executive’s smile to nearly freeze on his face.
“I just love seeing you make that groveling sycophant expression—humble, lowly, and forever undignified.”
The executive’s heart skipped a beat.
He didn't know if he should be afraid, relieved, or if he should keep smiling.
So he simply maintained his original expression, making his face look even more fawning, humble, and lowly, as this clearly improved his chances of survival.
Seeing this, the boy’s smile deepened.
Yue Shi stood to the side, appreciating the scene with interest. His gaze shifted back and forth between the boy and the executive a few times before he offered a very biting critique:
“This guy... he wouldn't happen to be a clone of your enemy or something, would he?”
The boy’s smile froze for a split second.
Yue Shi continued his venomous commentary: “I’m guessing you probably can't get revenge on your actual enemy, so you made a clone to mistreat to your heart's content. Seeing him make that humble expression makes you think you’re trampling on your true enemy.”
“Honestly, I see this substitute trope everywhere; it’s boring and shameless.”
The level of despicableness in this act was on par with Yue Shi’s own moral character.
The boy’s face changed. The smile completely vanished from his handsome features, and his expression turned gloomy as if a sore spot had been poked.
His fingers clenched, and countless invisible threads vibrated frantically around him.
Yue Shi laughed heartily. “It looks like I guessed right.”
“Has anyone ever told you that people who talk too much are prone to being stuffed in a sack and beaten to death?” the boy said fiercely.
“So what?” Yue Shi shrugged indifferently.
The boy pursed his lips tightly. The character prototype for the executive wasn't actually his enemy, but a former companion.
They had originally started from the same point, but at a certain crossroads in life, they had made different choices.
He had missed his opportunity, while the other had walked onto a path to the heavens.
One step ahead meant being steps ahead forever, and the distance between them grew wider and wider. Gradually, he couldn't even see the other's back anymore.
Two people with such a massive gap could no longer remain companions. The boy gradually became a burden who only held the other back, his contribution to the team becoming negative.
The boy had the sense to leave on his own initiative.
After that, when they met, they had fewer and fewer topics in common until there was no overlap at all, and eventually, they stopped seeing each other entirely.
The boy felt a certain amount of resentment in his heart. Over time, this resentment became a thorn buried deep in his soul.
As a stand-in, the boy had implanted many of the prototype’s strengths into the executive, yet he didn't want him to be that excellent. He wanted the man to always revolve around him, to be his subordinate, to bow and scrape, and to flatter him...
“What are you thinking about? You have a bit of a creepy look on your face,” Yue Shi spoke up, interrupting the boy’s memories.
The boy glared at him fiercely, seemingly very dissatisfied that Yue Shi had interfered with his trip down memory lane.
Rate on N.U.
