Zong Lin looked up at the person by the high-rise window, somewhat astonished.
The young man’s white hair flowed, and the colorful sunlight shone on his hair and face. His eyes resembled red glass, and no matter how you looked at it… it indeed seemed like a combination of him and Shen Jie.
Moreover, he did feel a faint sense of familiarity from the man.
“Uncle, uncle, why are you here?”
“Are you here to pick up the kids and take them home? Can you call my dad and ask him to come and pick me up earlier?”
The voices of the children around sounded like chirping birds.
One child curiously reached out and poked his bone wings, then revealed a smile with dimples, saying, “Uncle, the toy on your back looks so realistic.”
Zong Lin whispered softly, “Don’t touch.”
If he hadn’t promptly retracted the bone spikes, the other person would have been pierced through the palm by now.
These children seemed completely unaware of the concept of danger.
After finding the entrance to the core of the domain, he rushed here as fast as he could.
For the sake of saving people, and also for completely dispelling the mist.
Although the Pale Spear was still aimed at Lin Ze outside, the power he could wield was still enough to flatten the building in an instant before him.
However, as he approached, he was stopped by a few small children.
He wanted to leave but was held back by a child grabbing his clothes.
He controlled his strength to pull the child away, but to his surprise, the child started crying loudly.
More and more children were attracted by the commotion. Then a nurse hurriedly walked out and looked very surprised when she saw him. She said, “Mr. Lin, why are you here so early? Your son is still undergoing treatment. Please be patient and wait a while longer. He’ll be able to go home with you soon.”
Who is Mr. Lin?
And who is his son?
Even with years of experience fighting the mist, Zong Lin still felt a bit confused by the situation before him.
If all he encountered were aliens, then it would be simple; he could just use his power to sweep them away.
The problem was that the people before him didn’t seem to be aliens.
But if these people were survivors trapped in the must, their condition didn’t seem quite right either.
Just as he hesitated, he saw the plump nurse take out her phone and make a call.
Then, Zong Lin keenly felt someone upstairs was observing him.
…And then his eyes met with the white-haired youth by the window.
It was too similar.
If he didn’t know that it was biologically impossible for him and Shen Jie to have offspring, he might have thought that there was some relation between them.
Was it just a mere coincidence that they looked so alike?
Or perhaps it was a trap deliberately set by the mist to deceive people?
But if it was a trap, then Jian Mingze wouldn’t have said that the other person had helped him before and wanted to thank him in person.
Zong Lin fell into contemplation.
Who exactly is the young man?
Apart from that, he had an even more pressing question: Shen Jie’s presence vanished from the operating room on the hospital rooftop, and despite searching until now, he still couldn’t find any trace of him.
His lover, such a big person, where could he have gone?
Upstairs, Shen Jie and Zong Lin locked eyes for a moment before both turned their faces away.
“…Doctor,” he couldn’t help but rub his fingertips on the tabletop, “I feel like, maybe you’ve made a mistake.”
Dr. Lin looked at him with concern, “Tong Tong, Mr. Lin is here to pick you up. Aren’t you happy?”
Shen Jie didn’t say anything.
Seeing Zong Lin come in search of him, his mood was indeed good originally.
—The premise was that he hadn’t inexplicably been assigned as the other person’s son.
Even though he and Zong Lin were close, both as partners and family, he didn’t want to shout “Dad” at the familiar, stern face of his lover.
Even in bed, it was out of the question.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Dr. Lin continued to gently persuade, “Don’t be afraid, Tong Tong. Mr. Lin may seem strict, but he’s always cared about you. Hurry downstairs, don’t keep your dad waiting.”
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On the screen were the profiles of three people.
The first was a photo of him in his current exoskeleton form, with white hair and red eyes, and beside it, his personal information was listed:
Name: Lin Tong, followed by his specific gender, age, and personality preferences, all very detailed.
The second photo was of Zong Lin.
Name: Lin Zheng, personality tags included ferocious, alcoholic, irritable, and lacking patience—although the photo was of Zong Lin, these descriptions were completely different from him.
His gaze shifted to the third photo on the screen, where Lin Tong’s mother was supposed to be, and he froze.
The photo was still of him, but it showed his original appearance with black hair and black eyes.
Name: Gu Peng.
Then on the second line: Gender, female.
Shen Jie: “?”
It was one thing to mistake him for Lin Tong, but why would they also mistake his original appearance as female?
The doctor across from him still smiled warmly, “Have you finished? Tong Tong, be confident, you are a smart child, and you will definitely get along well with your family when you go home.”
“After this discharge, don’t come back.”
Shen Jie looked at him deeply.
He knew this Dr. Lin, though not an alien, definitely had something peculiar about him.
But for now, he had to meet with Zong Lin.
Zong Lin had just seen him.
He had to think about how to explain it to him later.
Explaining this would be quite difficult.
Should he say he used magical transformation props to save the world?
What a joke.
He’s not a Sailor Moon.
—-
The wooden staircase creaked as Shen Jie returned to the hospital lobby.
Nurse Xiao Jiang sighed with relief when she saw him. “Tong Tong, hurry, Mr. Lin is getting impatient.”
She looked a bit scared, as if she had been frightened by Zong Lin.
To be honest, Shen Jie also knew that apart from when they were at home together, Zong Lin mostly behaved quite aloof, especially towards aliens, adhering to the principle of speaking less and acting more. But it wasn’t to the extent of being associated with ferocity.
It was probably still related to the “setting” of Lin Zheng in the information.
He nodded to Nurse Xiao Jiang.
Nurse Xiao Jiang hesitated for a moment, then hurried over to hand him a handful of candies.
The colorful candy wrappers shimmered beautifully in the light.
“After discharge, you must behave well and not come back,” Nurse Xiao Jiang said.
In the “Inpatient Department,” Shen Jie had already heard this sentence from many people.
Shen Jie walked out of the hospital gates. Zong Lin was still surrounded by children. Due to too many curious children reaching out to touch him, he had retracted the bone wings on his back.
The two men locked eyes.
A gentle breeze swept up the fallen leaves on the ground.
Neither of them spoke first, and the atmosphere was awkward.
Seeing this, Zhang Shihe hurried over, putting on a smile. “Mr. Lin, it’s been several years since the child has seen you due to treatment, so it’s normal to feel a bit unfamiliar.”
Then he turned to Shen Jie.
“Come on, Tong Tong, say hello to your dad,”
Shen Jie: “…”
Calling him “dad” was impossible, absolutely impossible no matter what.
“Mr. Lin,” he said.
Zhang Shihe suddenly became very worried.
She wanted to say something, but stopped herself forcibly.
Zong Lin’s expression was very strange.
At least before, Shen Jie had never seen such a strange… and conflicted expression on his man’s face.
Zong Lin: “You.”
He seemed to want to ask something, but stopped abruptly, then frowned and said, “My last name is not…”
Shen Jie interrupted him, “I think we can go out first and then have a good conversation.”
A curious child nearby asked, “What does the brother want to discuss with the uncle?”
Shen Jie said expressionlessly, “Let’s have a good ‘father-son bonding’ session.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Shihe breathed a sigh of relief. She happily said, “The way out of the hospital is over there.” She extended her chubby hand and pointed ahead.
Beyond the walls of the hospital ward, in the dense forest, a winding dirt road stretched forward, with two forks not far ahead.
The forks extended in two directions, one to the left and one to the right, with a hazy mist drifting through the forest. The paths extended into the mist, making it unclear where they led.
“Remember to take the left fork, don’t go right, the right leads to the graveyard, there’s no way through,” Zhang Shihe reminded.
She then looked up at the sky. The sun was high in the west, indicating it was probably afternoon. Zhang Shihe added, “Also, remember, you must leave here before sunset. The mist in the forest thickens after dark, making it easy to get lost.”
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she continued, “Speaking of which, today feels like it’s been a long day. The children haven’t had this much fun playing in a while. It’s really nice.”
Zhang Shihe looked gently at Shen Jie.
“Child, go on. Make sure to get along well with your family.”
“Okay,” Shen Jie replied.
As he passed by Zong Lin, he whispered, “Follow me.”
Zong Lin hesitated, but then the white-haired youth turned his head, giving him a wink with his left eye.
This action made Zong Lin feel a hint of familiarity.
—When Shen Jie thought of something fun or interesting to do and wanted to drag him along, he would wink at him like this.
Extremely… adorable.
By the time Zong Lin realized it, he was already following the youth out.
He followed behind the youth. The figure was tall and straight, walking with a dignified posture. With white hair and black clothes, the tips of the hair were obviously stained with crimson blood, and the black clothes were soaked with the scent of alien blood.
At this point, Zong Lin had confirmed that the other party was not an illusion or trap of the mist, but another superpower user like himself.
However, he was sure he had never seen the other person inside the Ability Center.
Moreover, there was a feeling of familiarity emanating from the other person.
It pulled him and surrounded him.
Until they were away from the gaze of the people at the Inpatient Department, the youth stood under a tree. Then he turned around, leaned against the trunk, and crossed his arms, looking at him.
Speckled tree shade fell on the youth’s face.
That face combined all the merits of him and Shen Jie. The features were beautiful, the silver eyelashes like fans. Despite the blood-red pupils, when he looked over, there was the same calmness as Shen Jie.
For a moment, Zong Lin was stunned.
He had been in the orphanage since he could remember. There were no blood relatives around him.
After becoming partners with Shen Jie, the other became his only family.
The chances of offspring between ordinary people and those with abilities were very low, so they were not widely accepted in the city.
But even lower than this probability was the union between two adult males.
Excluding extremely rare ability users, the probability of producing offspring was basically zero.
Although homosexuality was already legal before the apocalypse, and the city largely inherited most of the laws from before the apocalypse, in an era where human continuity was the top priority, such unions were never encouraged, and even increasingly resisted by public opinion.
Almost every quarter, representatives from the research institute would come to persuade him to surrender his sperm.
He was a powerful ability user, and even rarer, an attack-type ability in the “Soul” category. When he was young and participated in the “Guardian Program,” he was told that leaving behind excellent genes and offspring for the city was something every guardian should do.
But on this matter, he had never relented.
He didn’t have much obsession with having children. Choosing to be with Shen Jie was purely because they loved each other.
As for whether they could have children, whether it was appropriate to be together, and the pros and cons, none of it was within his consideration.
It was only on extremely rare occasions, when deeply embracing each other, inundated with love and possessiveness, and stroking the swollen belly of his lover due to their own presence, that he had also fantasized about what it would be like if he and Shen Jie had their own offspring.
Perhaps, it would be like this.
“What are you thinking about?” the youth spoke up.
Zong Lin pursed his lips and said, “I’m thinking about your origins and the purpose of appearing in front of me.”
The youth’s appearance was too outstanding and distinctive.
It couldn’t be explained away with just a coincidence.
Moreover, he learned from Jian Mingze that the other person’s name was Zong Lian.
The surname Zong was not very common in the city to begin with.
He couldn’t help but think more about it.
In a sudden whirlwind of thoughts, he even suspected whether the research institute secretly took away his genes without his knowledge and conducted some illegal experiments in human reproduction.
“Pfft.”
But he heard a gentle chuckle from the youth. Slightly tilting his head, he addressed him.
“Mr. Zong, haven’t you figured out who I am yet?”
Zong Lin was stunned.
Then, he saw the youth approaching him step by step.
As the youth approached, his snow-white hair gradually turned into jet-black feathers, his figure elongated, and his cold and tender face became even more beautiful and gentle.
Zong Lin’s pupils contracted.
This is… his lover.
A silver card was placed in Shen Jie’s hand.
“It’s an autonomous exoskeleton capable of humanoid mimicry. I secretly tinkered with it when I had spare time before. It’s crucial for self-defense and survival in critical situations.” He shook the card. “I didn’t bring it when we encountered the mist in the subway before, but I made sure to bring it this time before coming to the hospital.”
“Thankfully I did, or I might not have waited for you.”
Shen Jie said, winking his left eye at Zong Lin.
In fact, an autonomous exoskeleton was technology far beyond the current era. No matter how brilliant Shen Jie’s scientific talents were, it was still unbelievable for him to independently complete such a design.
Although Zong Lin wasn’t into research, it didn’t mean he was unaware.
Shen Jie knew Zong Lin would surely suspect the origin of the exoskeleton.
But even knowing that, Shen Jie still said it like that.
The humanoid mimicry provided by the system encompasses all physiological features convergent with humans, even concealing his original aura, to the extent that not even Zong Lin noticed it at first.
He could have easily fabricated an identity to deceive Zong Lin.
But that would be too exhausting.
Zong Lin was his closest beloved, his trusted partner.
He had exhausted all means to conceal his past and had no intention of hiding his limited future.
For so many years, it was the first time he had something he wanted to do. Or rather, a desire to do something.
It seemed like he was gradually living more like a real human.
This realization brought a sense of joy to Shen Jie.
“Those folks at the research institute have no idea I tinkered with this. If they knew, they’d probably drag me back for study.”
Shen Jie said, extending his arms, tiptoeing slightly, and circling around Zong Lin’s neck.
Zong Lin instinctively wrapped his arms around Shen Jie’s waist tightly.
Shen Jie’s breath was warm against his ear, and the area where his soul had marked his fair neck emitted a sweet scent, mixed with the lingering smell of blood still on his body as he softly spoke to him.
“Lin Ge, you’ll help me keep this secret, won’t you?”
I’m sure the beauty trap will work 😂
I’d call them both “Daddy” 🤷🏼♀️
Yes, seduce his brain into mush so that he won’t think at all!😂
Even without asking him Zhong lin would have keep it a secret 🤭
Glad everything is okay! Kkkkkk I’m relieved they tell the truth to each other, shows how they love and have confidence in their partner! Wu wu wu the single dog status is hurting!
Thanks for the chapter!!
ahahahahha i suspected zong lin will gain a certain kink when seeing zong lian but who would have thought he already has those thoughts even before HAHAHAHAHHAHA it’s always the quiet and aloof guys 🤭
really this kind of people like Zong Lin may be the most guarded and defensive people but when seduced by beauty and temptation they’ll let all guards down for their lover 😂
Shen Jie is really proficient at honey trap ~
Oh my god they’re so cute T^T they just love and trust each other so much, and it’s just such a testament to how much this story isn’t about their relationship drama but rather their relationship strength that Shen Jie just chooses to be honest about his identity T^T truly couple goals