I Eat My Own Jealousy Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Zong Ye was suddenly stunned. Outside the door, Simon’s face darkened; he pushed the door open and entered, shouting angrily, “Shangjiang Zong Xun and his wife passed away fifteen years ago. They are heroes of the Empire. How dare you slander them?!”

“They are heroes of the Empire, but they were also parents,” Horton stared at Zong Ye. “Everything they did, Yuanshuai Zong Ye, was all for you.”

Zong Ye’s lips pressed tightly together, his gaze dark and heavy. “What do you mean?”

Horton interlaced his fingers and placed them on the table in front of him, recalling events from the past.

In the beginning, the black market was just a simple private laboratory researching human mental power. Sixteen years ago, Zong Xun and his wife suddenly showed up, volunteering to provide funding to support the lab’s research. But relying solely on a few individuals for funding was far from enough for the research. Thus, Zong Xun and his wife came up with a method: hosting underground auctions to conduct trades, thereby earning commissions to support the laboratory’s research.

“It could be said that they single-handedly helped establish the black market, right up until fifteen years ago when Zong Xun and his wife perished in the war against the invading Zerg,” Horton concluded his recollection and looked at Zong Ye again. “The reason they did all of this was to save you. Sixteen years ago, during the time you were kidnapped.”

Zong Ye listened with a dark expression. Hearing this, his relaxed fingers suddenly clenched tight.

Jian Ning waited for Zong Ye all night, but he never returned. By the time he finished lunch the next day and needed to head to the academy, there was still no sign of his return.

Messages sent to him went unanswered. Feeling gloomy, Jian Ning went to look for Guanjia Abel. He wasn’t in the living room or on the lawn outside. After asking a servant, he found Guanjia Abel in the basement.

“Yeye, why did you come down here?” Jian Ning walked up to Guanjia Abel, who was staring blankly at a box in front of him.

“It’s nothing. It’s too dark and damp down here, Jian Shaoye should go back up.” Guanjia Abel bent down, but Jian Ning preemptively picked up the box for him. “Yeye, you go first, I’ll help you carry it up.”

Guanjia Abel didn’t refuse. He led the way upstairs and had Jian Ning place the box on the table in the living room.

“Yeye, what’s inside this?” Jian Ning asked curiously, looking at the seemingly quite old box in front of him.

Guanjia Abel reached out and gently stroked the box. “These are old belongings left behind by Laoye and Furen.”

It was the first time Jian Ning had heard Zong Ye’s parents mentioned. He looked at the box with some confusion; Zong Ye’s parents had been dead for quite a long time, so why bring out their old belongings now?

“Isn’t Jian Shaoye heading to the academy? Da Shaoye has business at the military headquarters and can’t make it back, so I’ll have the driver take you,” Guanjia Abel withdrew his hand and looked up to say.

“…Oh.” Jian Ning nodded, went upstairs to grab his suitcase. Tuantuan knew he was leaving and clung to him affectionately, biting his collar to stop him from going. Jian Ning scratched the cub’s chin, comforting him softly, “I’ll be back tomorrow. Stay here and be good, don’t run around, and listen to Guanjia Yeye.”

Guanjia Abel stood to the side, watching their interaction with complex eyes. Jian Ning bent down, placed Tuantuan on the sofa, ruffled the cub’s fur once more, and was about to head out the door when Guanjia Abel suddenly called out from behind him, “Jian Shaoye, I need to make a trip to the military headquarters. Could you come with me?”

“Sixteen years ago, Da Shaoye was kidnapped once,” Guanjia Abel slowly opened up as they rode the hovercar toward the military headquarters.

“At the time, Da Shaoye was fourteen. The ones who kidnapped him were interstellar pirates that Laoye had once hunted down. Those pirates hated Laoye to the bone, so naturally, they wouldn’t treat Da Shaoye well. On the way to the pirate lair, Da Shaoye suffered a great deal of torture. Those pirates also wanted to destroy Da Shaoye to make Laoye suffer.”

“The easiest way to destroy a male with outstanding mental power is to induce mental power rampage, forcing them into their beast form so they can never turn back into a human. The pirates locked Da Shaoye up, giving him only a meager amount of water and meat every day, depriving him of vegetables grown by Planters, just waiting for the day his mental power went into rampage.”

“Da Shaoye’s mental power behaved very strangely from birth; it manifested later than his peers and was extremely unstable. By the time he was fourteen, his mental power was still in a state of constant fluctuation. While teetering on the brink of mental power rampage, Da Shaoye’s mental power suddenly spiked, breaking through to S-grade. He slaughtered his way out of the pirate lair single-handedly, just in time to meet Laoye, who had rushed over with the army.”

“Laoye led the army to wipe out the pirate lair, but Da Shaoye’s mental power was already extremely dangerous. He was at constant risk of slipping into mental power rampage, turning into a beast, and never being able to change back.”

“The accompanying military doctor at the time, Dr. Goode, measured Da Shaoye’s mental power and found it had soared to double S-grade. He came up with a method: splitting Da Shaoye’s personality into two, with each personality taking half of the mental power to counterbalance each other.”

“After splitting into two personalities, Da Shaoye’s mental power remained at S-grade. The method worked, and his mental power was stabilized from the edge of rampage. However, this method couldn’t permanently guarantee Da Shaoye’s safety. Laoye and Furen wanted to find a true cure for Da Shaoye, but the Academy of Sciences at the time was controlled by a bunch of pedantic old men who only knew how to scheme against each other all day, without doing a single useful thing. Laoye and Furen had no choice but to turn their sights to private laboratories, which led to the early establishment of the black market.”

“The black market?” Jian Ning was greatly shocked. “Zong Ye’s parents were involved with the black market?!”

To think Zong Ye and his parents had such a history.

Guanjia Abel nodded. “In the beginning, the black market was just a laboratory researching mental power. It was only with the funding and organization of Laoye and Furen that they began hosting underground auctions to raise the funds needed for research. The underground auctions back then were different from how they are now. They only auctioned items Laoye and Furen brought back from various planets. The prices were lower than the market rate, and some items were quite rare, but all the items were completely legal. Because the prices were low and the goods were high quality, their reputation gradually grew. The underground auctions attracted many customers and merchants, gradually developing into a trading platform. Laoye and Furen collected commissions to fund the lab.”

Guanjia Abel sighed at this point. “It was developing very well, but fifteen years ago, Laoye and Furen passed away in the war against the invading Zerg. Their deaths were extremely sudden, and they left no last words. This matter regarding the laboratory was kept hidden from everyone; Wanghou, the two Shaoyes, and I were all unaware.”

Jian Ning voiced his hesitation, “Then how does Yeye know about it now?”

“Da Shaoye sent a message earlier, saying Horton gave up Laoye and Furen, and asked me to look through their remaining belongings. That’s how I found these materials related to the laboratory from back then among the documents Laoye and Furen left behind,” Guanjia Abel patted the box next to him and said.

“Which means, even though the black market was developed by Mr. Zong and Mrs. Zong in its early stages, all the evil deeds the black market is doing now were solely the work of Horton after he took control of it. It has nothing to do with Mr. Zong and Mrs. Zong,” Jian Ning pursed his lips, summarizing with righteous indignation.

“Correct,” Guanjia Abel nodded. “That’s why I need to bring these materials over, to prove the innocence of Laoye and Furen.”

“But Yeye…” Jian Ning gently stroked Tuantuan, who was lying on his lap, feeling a bit of unease in his heart. “Zong Ye’s two personalities are meant to protect him from falling into mental power rampage. If they completely merge… will it be dangerous?”

Guanjia Abel paused. He had also thought of this and was extremely worried, which was why he brought Jian Ning along.

“Aren’t they not completely merged yet?” Guanjia Abel patted Jian Ning’s hand to comfort him. “It will be fine.”

Outside the interrogation room at the military headquarters, Simon breathed a sigh of relief after reviewing the materials Guanjia Abel brought. He patted Zong Ye’s shoulder comfortingly, “I knew it, Shangjiang Zong Xun and his wife were not that kind of people.”

With a solemn expression, he pushed the door open to go in and reprimand Horton.

“Why did you and Tuantuan come?” Zong Ye reached out and ruffled Jian Ning’s hair. “Weren’t you supposed to go to the academy?”

Jian Ning held Tuantuan. The hovercar had started and stopped along the way, and the little cub had already fallen asleep in his arms, his ears drooping, his small head buried in the crook of his arm, and his tiny tail wrapped around his arm.

“I heard about your parents from Guanjia Yeye, so I came to see you.”

“Wait a moment. After the interrogation with Horton is done, I’ll take you to the academy.” Zong Ye checked the time, asked Jian Ning and Guanjia Abel to wait outside, then pushed the interrogation room door open and went back in.

Simon had thoroughly berated Horton, feeling much better. He declared, “There’s no need for further interrogation. You can spend the few days you have left in prison.”

He turned around to call Zong Ye to leave, but Horton suddenly asked, “Yuanshuai Zong Ye, how is the merging of your two personalities progressing?”

Zong Ye looked at him expressionlessly. Horton smiled and spread his hands. “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t have the capability to plant a mole in your house. It’s just that the mental power radiating from you has increased quite a bit.”

Simon frowned, only then remembering that Horton’s mental power was also S-grade. Others might not be sensitive to Zong Ye’s mental power, but between those of the same grade, changes in mental power could be clearly felt.

“No need for you to worry. It hasn’t reached the point of complete fusion,” Zong Ye said coldly, his face blank.

Horton looked at him with a smile. “Normally, it wouldn’t have. But you’ve forgotten, the other day, your arm was slashed by my knife.”

Outside the glass wall, Jian Ning heard their conversation and instantly looked nervously at Zong Ye’s arm.

Zong Ye’s expression remained unchanged as he coldly asked, “You tampered with the knife?”

“That’s right,” Horton admitted freely. “The drug coated on the blade can help accelerate the merging of your two personalities, as long as you underwent personality fusion during this period.”

Zong Ye’s eyes darkened. That day at the royal palace, Horton’s target wasn’t Bixia Simon at all; it was him. Horton deliberately exposed a flaw so Zong Ye would recognize him, using the assassination attempt on Simon as cover to slash him. Waiting a few days before asking to see him was perfectly timed to ensure Zong Ye relaxed enough to undergo personality fusion, allowing the drug from the wound to accelerate the process.

He had meticulously planned his escape route long ago.

“You wanted me to come help you beg Bixia for a lighter sentence. Therefore, you certainly wouldn’t want me to slip into mental power rampage. So, did you have the lab develop a method to prevent me from going into mental power rampage?” Zong Ye asked calmly.

His calmness somewhat surprised Horton. He paused before speaking hypocritically, “Although your parents have passed away, I have always remembered their original wish. After researching for so many years, the laboratory finally succeeded in modifying a person a month ago. He can awaken you when you fall into mental power rampage.”

As soon as his voice fell, Zong Ye’s communicator rang. He tapped to open it, and Colin’s voice came through, “Yuanshuai, we found someone in a secret room in the underground headquarters.”

Author has something to say: Guess who it is?