MOGHA Chapter 124

Forty Minutes Ago

Gong Yue and Ye Shanshan stood in front of the laboratory door, peering inside through a crack. The room was lit with the usual cold white lights, and all the equipment had that chilling metallic feel.

Ye Shanshan held a gun in his hand and asked Gong Yue quietly, “Ge, do you think the real Lenny is actually in there?”

“If Durant wants to replace Lenny, he’d definitely want us to kill the real Lenny ourselves. And have the identity of ‘Durant’ ‘die’ right here with us.”

“Just like that staged death Durant pulled off before?” Ye Shanshan nodded. He agreed that judging from Durant’s way of doing things, the real Lenny must’ve been disguised as Durant, waiting to be killed—by their hands, no less.

They carefully pushed open the lab door and made their way past rows of experimental containers and devices. At the very back, there was a white workbench. A man was slumped over it, and from his irregular breathing, the rise and fall of his shoulders and back could clearly be seen.

After confirming there were no traps or hidden weapons around, Ye Shanshan was about to move closer when Gong Yue pulled him back and stepped in front, taking the lead. Shanshan trailed close behind, peeking out from behind Gong Yue.

The man still didn’t move even as they approached. Unable to resist, Ye Shanshan reached out from behind while Gong Yue wasn’t looking, grabbed the man by the collar, and pulled—revealing a very familiar face.

Ye Shanshan squinted to confirm. “Mmm, that’s definitely Durant’s face.”

Ignoring the look Gong Yue shot him, he stepped forward and felt behind the man’s ear. He peeled off a patch of synthetic skin that had been stuck over a birthmark. Then he checked the man’s right hand, which was full of gun calluses. “Knew it. This is the real Lenny.”

As he spoke, he leaned down and patted the man’s face. “Still conscious?” After two light taps, Ye Shanshan pulled his hand back, a little hesitant. “Ge, you try. It feels weird slapping his face. Gives me the creeps.”

Just then, the man’s eyelids twitched. Ye Shanshan instinctively held his breath. After a few seconds, the man opened his eyes. But there was no light in them, like he wasn’t reacting to anything around him.

“Guess fake Lenny planned this out really well—claimed Durant had taken second-gen alpha drugs, so his brain and body were both messed up. Fits the part perfectly.”

Ye Shanshan gave Lenny a rough check-over. Once he had a general idea of the situation, he ran to the supply shelf, muttering to himself, “What drug did those researchers use again? Was it this one? Hmm…”

He went bottle by bottle, trying to recall the scene from memory. After gathering the items, he lined them up, mixed the powders and liquids, and poured the mixture into a medium-sized test tube.

Once it was well mixed, he brought it over, a bit hesitant. “Ge, why do I feel like I’m selling fake medicine? What if this stuff actually hurts him?”

Gong Yue trusted Ye Shanshan more than Shanshan trusted himself. He took the test tube and brought it to Lenny’s mouth. Lenny instinctively swallowed the liquid that entered his mouth.

They gently laid him back down on the table. Ye Shanshan started counting time in his head and chatted with Gong Yue while waiting. “This stuff should take about ten minutes to kick in. If the switch between real and fake Lenny happened when Chris said—when he stepped on that timed bomb—then the real Lenny has been trapped here for about twenty hours. So this medicine should work.”

It was Shanshan’s first time mixing a drug. He was mimicking what researchers had done back on Michius Island, but he still felt nervous.

“It’ll be fine,” Gong Yue said, brushing Ye Shanshan’s hair gently. “Shanshan, don’t worry.”

Ye Shanshan nodded. The Demon King’s comfort had a magical effect—as soon as Gong Yue said that, he wasn’t worried at all.

When the ten minutes were up, Ye Shanshan went to check on Lenny and noticed his breathing had steadied a little. He patted Lenny’s back and was about to call his name to try waking him up—when Lenny suddenly stood, stumbled a couple steps, leaned against a metal rack, and vomited a large mouthful of blood.

“!!” Ye Shanshan froze. His fingers twitched as he looked helplessly toward Gong Yue. “Ge, I didn’t even hit him hard,” he said, a bit panicked. “Did I really give him fake meds?”

Gong Yue took his hand, feeling the way Shanshan’s fingers nervously rubbed against his palm, and reassured him, “See? He looks better now that he’s thrown up.”

Sure enough, as Ye Shanshan looked closer, he saw that Gong Yue was right, and finally let out a breath.

Lenny threw up another mouthful of blood, coughed a few times, then slowly straightened up and looked at them.

Ye Shanshan met his eyes and instinctively raised a hand for a small wave. “Hi.”

Lenny wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his gaze fixing on Gong Yue. “Gong Yue?” His voice was weak and hoarse.

“I’m Gong Yue.”

Hearing confirmation, Lenny let out a breath of relief. Before this, he’d watched with his own eyes as Durant copied his appearance. After some modifications, even he had to admit that once Durant took on his face, body type, even his gait, there was no telling the two apart.

Meanwhile, Lenny had been disguised as Durant and locked up in the lab.

At that moment, he’d understood Durant’s intention—to have Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue personally kill the fake Durant (actually the real Lenny), blow up the lab, while the real Durant—masquerading as “Lenny”—would stay close to them, biding his time.

Thankfully, that hadn’t happened.

Leaning weakly against the metal rack, Lenny chuckled lightly. “Looks like you weren’t fooled by Durant after all.” Then, he quickly explained what had happened: how Durant ambushed him while he was checking for the timed bomb, dragged him to the lab, and swapped their identities.

After hearing everything, Ye Shanshan pointed to Lenny’s arm. “What did he inject you with?”

Lenny followed his gaze and shook his head. “When I woke up, I noticed the needle marks, but I’m not sure what he used. Probably some kind of muscle relaxant. And I’m certain that while I was unconscious, he used some method to make me spill a lot of information—especially about… Youli.”

He paused for a couple of seconds, then explained, “I’d previously gone through some mental training to build psychological resistance, so I have some awareness and resistance to hypnosis. That’s how I know he must’ve used some combination of drugs and hypnosis to extract memories from me.”

His strength slowly returning, Lenny reached under his collar and began peeling off a piece of synthetic skin from his neck, bit by bit. He removed the facial prosthetics, body fillers, and other disguises. His appearance shifted completely—his features and build now looked totally different.

“Now that looks like the person in the photo.” Ye Shanshan quickly sized Lenny up and came to a conclusion.

“Photo?” Lenny was putting everything into the waste bin when he heard Ye Shanshan’s words and asked.

“Yeah, the one you sent to Youli’s mom.”

Lenny’s hand paused. After a moment, he resumed placing things into the bin. His voice was a bit soft. “The swimming photos, right? Even though it’s been so many years… did she—was she happy when she saw them?”

“She was really happy. She talked a lot about you—said you were really smart and mischievous when you were little.”

Standing up straight, Lenny forced a small smile. “As long as she’s happy.” He seemed to recall something and spaced out for a few seconds before snapping back. “Anyway, where is Durant now?”

Gong Yue briefly explained the situation so far, then reminded him, “It’s about time.”

---

The notebook looked exactly like the sketch Bernard’s caretaker had drawn, though the actual cover was worn and frayed.

“After Durant captured me, he kept me locked up here. He pulled out this notebook to read it several times. So when you mentioned it, I knew it had to be this one.” Lenny’s face was pale, and his exposed arms were lined with rows of purplish needle marks. He felt dizzy and pressed a hand to his temple.

Due to the lingering effects of the drugs, Durant could barely speak anymore. His muscles were weak, and his mouth only made indistinct sounds. His eyes glared venomously at Lenny, nostrils flaring, but no one paid him any attention.

Ye Shanshan opened the notebook and, as expected, found detailed schematics of the equipment, locations marked for Elfa ore dispersal, and more. Every line and stroke was handwritten. Both Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue silently recognized Gong Youli’s handwriting.

Lenny was holding the weapon Durant had previously snatched away, carefully cleaning it. As he worked, he said, “I don’t know if this information will be useful to you.” He briefly summarized what he had previously uncovered and what he had seen while in the underground lab.

What caught Ye Shanshan and Gong Yue’s attention the most was when Lenny mentioned that while investigating Durant, he had caught a lead: Durant had once ordered some unusual instruments from an underground organization. When Lenny went out just now, he noticed those exact devices were stored in a nearby sealed room.

The two exchanged glances. They both guessed those machines were probably made based on the blueprints in Gong Youli’s notebook.

Ye Shanshan stood up. “Lei—” He paused, thought for a moment, then changed his words. “Uncle Lenny.”

Lenny clearly wasn’t expecting the title and looked momentarily stunned. Ye Shanshan smiled, dimples showing.

“Youli’s mom said you never used to call her ‘jiejie,’ but no matter what, in her heart, you were always the little brother who’d cry and cling to her thigh when you were hungry.” He scratched his head, messing up the hairstyle Gong Yue had carefully fixed. “So we should call you Uncle.”

Gong Yue nodded and echoed, “Uncle.”

Lenny’s grip on the gun tightened until his knuckles turned white. His throat bobbed as his Adam’s apple moved, eyes turning red. He awkwardly averted his gaze, opened his mouth, but couldn’t get any words out.

Ye Shanshan pretended not to see Lenny holding back tears. He figured it was important to protect the other’s dignity, so he waved a hand and said, “Uncle Lenny, let’s go check out the equipment.” Then he turned and walked out the door.

---

They walked around the metal tables and display racks. Ye Shanshan heard footsteps behind him and assumed Lenny wanted to come along. He was just about to turn his head when suddenly Gong Yue lunged, pulling him into a protective embrace as they rolled to the ground together.

At the same time—bang!—a gunshot rang out. The bullet struck a metal rack, sending it toppling backward. Containers and vessels crashed to the ground, shattering with loud cracks. A metal rod smashed into a glass culture dish, which exploded instantly, scattering liquid everywhere and revealing a test subject with deep red skin.

Ye Shanshan quickly realized what had happened. He looked back from Gong Yue’s arms and saw Lenny standing there, eyes blank, clearly not in his right mind. Blood vessels were bulging across the whites of his eyes like they were about to burst.

He was holding a gun, finger already on the trigger. But strangely, one of his hands was forcefully restraining the other, preventing the shot from being fired.

Ye Shanshan scrambled up and frantically checked Gong Yue. There were no serious injuries, but a shard of flying glass had scraped Gong Yue’s face, leaving a small cut below his eye.

Heart pounding, Ye Shanshan cupped Gong Yue’s face, leaned in, and gently licked the wound with the tip of his tongue.

Once he was sure the bleeding had stopped and there was no strange taste—just in case any drug had contaminated the glass—he finally relaxed.

On the other side, Lenny had dropped the gun. Sweat poured down his forehead. Every time his expression stiffened, his eyes would go dull—only to return to normal a few seconds later.

Ye Shanshan realized—he was resisting it.

Looking around, Ye Shanshan grabbed a clean test tube, snapped it neatly on the edge of the table, and approached Lenny. Catching him in a moment of clarity, he handed it over. “Uncle Lenny, try this.”

Lenny took the sharp glass tube without hesitation and stabbed it into the palm of his right hand. Blood gushed out instantly, and the pain caused every muscle in his body to tense up.

But the effect was immediate. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and clutched his wrist tightly to stop the bleeding. At that moment, Gong Yue handed over gauze and clotting powder. Ye Shanshan took it and quickly bandaged Lenny’s wound.

From the blood loss, Lenny’s face turned even paler. His voice was tired. “It’s drugs and hypnosis. It’s still not over. Just now, when you two walked off, I suddenly had an intense urge to kill you both.” He flexed his numb, chilled right hand and gave a cold, lopsided smile. “Durant really thought of everything.”

As he spoke, he clasped his hands together and held them out to Gong Yue. “Tie me up. If something like just now happens again, at least I won’t be able to hurt you.”

Gong Yue nodded. Ye Shanshan took a rope he had on him, and together, they tied Lenny’s hands in a tight knot.

The entire room was littered with shattered glass, various chemicals, and metal instruments. Ye Shanshan paused in thought for a moment, then casually picked up a single-use rubber glove that had fallen to the floor, tore open the packaging, and put it on. He walked quickly back to where he had been earlier.

Squatting down, Ye Shanshan ignored Durant’s hateful glare and directly pinched his jawbone with his thumb and forefinger, forcibly prying open his mouth.

After careful inspection, he didn’t find anything in the mouth, so he forced it open wider with two fingers. Then, with his left hand, he extended his index and middle fingers into Durant’s mouth, reaching down into the throat—only then did he touch what he was looking for.

He dug out a white pill, pulled off the glove in disgust, and tossed it aside, relaxing as he spoke, “The anesthetic I used is very strong, but since Durant had a backup plan, he definitely wouldn’t have prepared just one escape route for himself.”

That’s why, after discovering Lenny had been controlled, Ye Shanshan became concerned that Durant might have hidden a drug capable of giving him a short-term boost, which could nullify the effects of the anesthetic.

Fortunately, it was caught in time—because the muscles in the throat had gone limp, the pill got stuck and wasn’t fully swallowed.

Once Ye Shanshan stood up, Gong Yue pulled him close, holding him in his arms with one hand covering his ears. Then, without hesitation, he fired four precise shots—each one aimed at Durant’s limbs, striking directly at the wrist bones.

Blood began to flow from the bullet holes. Durant’s whole body convulsed in pain, breathing in ragged gasps, but unable to make a sound.

Just then, a deafening explosion suddenly went off, shaking the objects on the ground.

Ye Shanshan, his ears still covered by Gong Yue, didn’t feel much of an impact. He stepped out from Gong Yue’s embrace and asked, “So, did Chris just toss explosives directly?”

Lenny let out a low cough and chuckled, “Probably.”

A few minutes later, Chris arrived with several trusted men.

They were all covered in dust, but after confirming that Gong Yue and Ye Shanshan weren’t hurt, they finally relaxed. Then, seeing Lenny and Durant—who looked exactly the same—it only took a moment for them to realize what had happened.

Lenny gave Gong Yue a curt nod and said, “Neither Durant nor this underground lab can be left behind.”

Chris’s gaze swept over Lenny’s bound hands and turned to Gong Yue. “Young Master, according to reports, someone started heading this way about half an hour ago.” As he spoke, he handed over a report.

Gong Yue took it and quickly skimmed through it. He then stated the decision he had already made in his mind: “Chris, Durant is yours. Get every piece of information you can out of him.” As he spoke, he looked toward Ye Shanshan, who understood his meaning and calculated quickly, “Ten hours.”

“As for the people coming—hold them off for ten hours,” Gong Yue ordered, then turned to Lenny. “We won’t leave anything behind.”

Having received his instructions, Chris didn’t say anything more, simply assuring Gong Yue, “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back.”

---

The temperature in the storage room was a bit low, and the space was large, but there were only two machines stored inside.

Ye Shanshan quickly recognized one of them. He pointed and said to Gong Yue, “That’s the gene regulator—the place I was born.”

The entire instrument was barrel-shaped, with a silvery-gray exterior wrapped in numerous metal wires and pipes. The middle part was transparent, allowing a view of the interior.

Next to the gene regulator was a device of a rather strange shape, looking exactly like the one drawn in the blueprint.

Ye Shanshan stood in front of the device and pressed a round button in the upper right corner. A needle, about the length of a fingertip, extended from inside.

While Gong Yue wasn’t looking, Ye Shanshan quickly aligned his fingertip with the needle and pressed down slightly. The skin broke, and the needle pierced deeply into his finger. Yet, no blood dripped down the metal needle — it was directly absorbed.

“According to the information left by Mama Youli, no one but me can activate this machine,” Ye Shanshan said, trying to divert Gong Yue’s attention from the pain in his fingertip. “This needle collects my blood sample to activate the radiation from the Alpha ore and synchronize with the chip in my brain.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen that had remained dark lit up. Ye Shanshan again felt the same sensation as when he had fallen into the water before — as if something in his brain was about to catch fire, and waves of pain surged through his head.

Noticing his furrowed brows, Gong Yue placed his hand gently on his head and softly massaged. Ye Shanshan relaxed into Gong Yue’s embrace, closed his eyes, and just like last time, recited all eighty-one keycodes in his mind.

With a soft “click,” it was as if knowledge had been directly “injected” into Ye Shanshan’s brain. Countless details about the Godmaking Project and the Alpha serum rushed through his mind like a flood, washing over his consciousness.

He withdrew his finger and turned around, leaning directly on Gong Yue’s shoulder. One hand loosely gripped the other’s shirt. The blood flow in the arteries on both sides of his neck noticeably sped up, his limbs slowly grew cold — it was not a pleasant feeling.

Gong Yue unfastened his clothes, wrapped him in a warm embrace, skin to skin, gently patting him in silence. At the same time, he pressed a finger to the puncture wound on Ye Shanshan’s fingertip and kissed it softly.

After a dozen minutes or so, Ye Shanshan finally stood up straight. A little dazed, he spoke to Gong Yue, “Ge, this feeling is so strange.” He tried to describe it, “It’s like an elementary school student being forced to memorize a thousand pages of a PhD dissertation in one minute. I don’t even understand half of it.”

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ye Shanshan met Gong Yue’s gaze. His eyes sparkled like they were filled with stars.

“Ge, Mama Youli and I — we can heal you now.”

---

It was a clear moonlit night, with no wind and no waves.

The fleet surrounding the island had already withdrawn. The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the clouds cast shadows of varying depths. Silvery moonlight poured down like a gauze curtain, making the sea shimmer with light.

Following three deafening explosions, the vegetation on the western side of the island began to collapse. Dust billowed up, trees toppled, and boulders tumbled. Then, seawater surged in, and the entire western side of the island sank into the ocean like a sheer cliff falling away.

On a reef protruding above the water at the edge of the archipelago—where vegetation was sparse and most of the surface was bare rock—Ye Shanshan stood at the edge of a rocky outcrop, watching from afar with Gong Yue as half of the island was swallowed by the sea. He instinctively reached up and touched the top of his head.

“Shanshan.”

Hearing Gong Yue call his name, Ye Shanshan turned his head reflexively and met his gaze. For some reason, his heart skipped a beat. Feeling a bit uneasy, he quickly looked away and forced a conversation topic.

“You remember now, don’t you? The first time we met, it was like this too. And later, I even got a name,” he glanced at the sky, “There are so many stars tonight too—they’re really bright—”

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing that Gong Yue had suddenly dropped to one knee before him.

Only when Gong Yue took his hand and was about to speak did Ye Shanshan, startled, finally grasp what was happening.

Before Gong Yue could say a word, Ye Shanshan blurted something out without even thinking, his words flowing smoothly:

“Gong Yue, are you willing to give the rest of your life to me? I promise to take care of you like a delicate flower, protect you, never let anyone bully you. I’ll love you—only you. In this world, everyone else is just someone else.”

He said it all in one breath. Then, ignoring his wildly pounding heart, Ye Shanshan leaned down and carefully kissed Gong Yue on the lips, a bit nervous. “Will you?”

Still kneeling, Gong Yue looked up at him with a gentle smile tinged with helplessness. “Shanshan, I absolutely will.”

Ye Shanshan kissed him again, then stood up straight and extended his other hand to Gong Yue. “Alright then—my future belongs to you too.”

---

End

Author’s Note:
The main story ends here, but there will be extras to follow! After all, Shanshan hasn’t made money yet to clear Gong Ge’s shopping cart, the movie hasn’t premiered, and the love hasn’t been fully shown off (?). Everything that hasn’t been wrapped up will be explained in the extras.

I just think this is the perfect place to end the main story—very complete. So tomorrow at 8, we’ll continue with the extras. Mwah~

Yes, it’s true—I wrote 11,000 words today. Finally hit that elusive daily 10k. Time to stretch!

Thank you, my lovely fairies~ Ahhh I love you all so much! Bigger love than the sea of stars! You’re the best, the absolute best! Truly, so much love for you!!!

Also—would you consider bookmarking/following the author? Heart eyes~ ❤️

Lastly—I want to publish a Shanshan personal fanbook! If anyone would buy it, I’ll do it. If not, that’s okay—I mostly want a physical copy for myself (covers face). I’ll post a poll on Weibo soon. If you’re interested, please go vote~ Another big heart for you!!

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