TWP 5: Be my dog

Clutching his stomach and frowning, Lin You’s consciousness gradually shifted from the memory of encountering this mad dog a month ago back to Cole in front of him.

A plan long in the making, one that had lingered in his mind for years, was now… finally within reach.

He raised his head expressionlessly, facing Cole who was staring at him quietly, “Why did you have to see me?”

“You really don’t know?”

Cole dropped his smile, approaching Lin You step by step, backing him against the wall.

“You… are the creator, so you must understand why I wanted to see you, or is all of this something you orchestrated?”

“Creator? Are you joking? I’m just a researcher being controlled.” Lin You met Cole’s gaze without fear. As he approached, Lin You’s chin was grabbed, forced to look directly into those eerie golden eyes.

A familiar yet foreign killing intent surged, but Lin You simply smiled. “What? Are you here to ask me for a kiss? Are you some love-struck virgin?”

“Virgin? Do you think I’m a fool easily tricked?”

As Cole lowered his head, bringing his face closer to Lin You, he could slowly, slowly smell a hint of sweetness, like the inside of a fruit filled with honey, the sweetness sealed beneath the skin.

The scent triggered a joy and desire from the depths of his being.

But this joy only made his expression even colder.

“You did something, didn’t you?” Cole cupped Lin You’s face in his hands. “Because you created ‘us,’ you must know…”

Lin You remained composed, raising an eyebrow at Cole. “Are you referring to what? You crave my flesh and blood, want to infect me, but can’t, so you’re in pain, is that it?”

Exposed so directly, Cole wasn’t surprised, but instead let out a cold laugh. “So, what did you do?”

“Did you think that as the creator of the E-virus, trapped in this hellhole, I wouldn’t fight back at all?” A twisted smile appeared on Lin You’s face, and he placed his hands on Cole’s cheeks as well.

Cole’s eyes were icy, without a word.

“Did you ever wonder how you knew that I was your ‘creator’? Do you have psychic powers?” Lin You read Cole’s expression, amused as if he had discovered something interesting.

“It’s because of the instinct and information engraved in your genes.”

“You will understand that I am the one who created you. You will like and admire me from the bottom of your hearts. In your eyes, I am your ‘King,’ your ‘Creator.'”

Cole maintained his glare, muttering, “If you only needed to control us, why did you make us crave your flesh and blood? Did you want us to tear you apart?”

“That’s why I hate dealing with perceptive high-level infected like you.” Lin You tilted his head back, the reflection on his glasses obscuring his eyes. “You’re the hardest to manipulate.”

“E-virus infected who can retain self-awareness and high intelligence might be able to temporarily resist their instincts. The existence of someone like you cannot tolerate someone being superior.”

“So, making you crave my flesh and blood is a necessary sacrifice.”

“I might be attacked by you, but that’s okay, because when you attack me, you will definitely taste my flesh and blood.”

“Once you taste it, you will be addicted.” Lin You bit his finger, placed it on Cole’s lips, and gently smeared it, staining his originally rosy lips with an ambiguous dark red.

“The more you eat, the more you will fear losing me forever, because you’ve never tasted such delicious food. You won’t be able to eat anything else, and you’ll only see me.”

“Gradually, you will be interfered with by the information engraved in your genes, and from body to mind, you will become my prisoner, Cole Martinez.”

He didn’t look at Cole’s eyes, but stared at his lips, a bit of his rosy tongue peeking out. The wetness he felt on his fingertip made him want to laugh.

“Or, should I call you Prisoner No. 330712?” Lin You tilted his head. “My believer, my newly tamed little dog.”

Although Cole was furious, he could only barely resist the mixture of lust and inexplicable pain.

Indeed, as Lin You said, the reason he wanted to find Lin You so badly was because he couldn’t forget the scent of Lin You’s blood. This month of withdrawal, like a drug addiction, made his chest feel like a thousand hands were scratching, a suffocating itch, like a thousand ants gnawing at his heart, making him impatient.

He wanted to resist Lin You’s scent, but Lin You’s blood exuded that sweetness, the warm body in front of him, the soft touch in accidental contact, the sweet juice, Lin You’s body, Lin You’s scent, Lin You’s body, Lin You’s scent…

Cole’s face was grim, and various thoughts collided and intertwined in his mind.

He reached out and grabbed Lin You’s neck, his pupils contracting sharply. “Then, Assistant Lin You, I should kill you as soon as possible, right?”

“Heh.” Lin You chuckled, as if Cole’s threat was just a child’s tantrum to him.

This laugh somewhat provoked Cole.

Cole’s eyes were filled with malice.

“Cole.” Lin You stared unflinchingly into Cole’s golden eyes. “The virus outbreak in Gowe City, there’s a high-level infected there. You’ve heard him calling for the infected to gather, haven’t you? Hmm?”

Cole frowned, his ears twitching, as if seriously discerning something.

“…What are you doing?”

“He’s been noisy since last night, so I blocked him.” Cole’s eyes darted around before returning to Lin You’s face. “…He wants to see you? Why?”

‘Comrades, come to Gowe City, and if possible, bring the creator to Gowe City!’

This was the information Cole read.

Not only that, but there was also the message that high-level infected left for Reid.

‘I know what you’re hiding. Hand over the creator, deadline three days, or I will control the zombies to attack other cities.’

“Could it be… he also wants to kill you, you arrogant bastard?” Cole’s lips curled into a cold smile, revealing the sharp canine tooth on the left side of his mouth. “Or should I just crush your neck right now?”

The neck under his palm was slender, and he could feel a faint pulse. With just a slight squeeze, the head of the sneering man in front of him would fall to the ground like a severed tree.

“You want to get rid of this genetic entanglement, right?”

Lin You’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke, and Cole felt the undulation in his palm, momentarily stunned, releasing his hand as if burned.

“I can help you,” Lin You said. “As long as you cooperate with me and go to Gowe City, protect my safety—”

“You dare, who do you think you are?”

Cole was furious, interrupting Lin You with a sharp shout, his tone unquestionable and threatening. His fangs were bared, his golden pupils narrowed, and he grabbed Lin You’s shoulders, saying in a hushed voice:

“Say another word, and I’ll bite you to death!”

“Come on.” Lin You lifted his shirt, a seductive smile on his face, revealing the still unhealed wounds on his stomach. Cole finally understood the source of that subtle sweetness; they were the two holes he had poked in Lin You last month.

“Come and try, Cole? Kill me?”

Damn it!

The sweet scent on Lin You’s body and the agitation of wanting to devour him but being unable to act constantly assaulted Cole’s mind.

Clearly a damned food, yet he seemed to be able to control him, making him annoyed, a narcissistic and useless scientist who thought he was superior.

Creator? Was he joking? Did he think he was God?

He could easily crush him…

Cole didn’t answer, but instead, with a grim expression, punched Lin You in the face.

The punch wasn’t with full force, but it was enough to sting Lin You.

The force of the air caused a short but intense pain to strike. Lin You’s face was turned to the side, his glasses flew off, his vision blurred, followed by a dull pain and a warm sensation, slowly falling from his nose, and he tasted rust in his mouth. His teeth, which weren’t properly closed, seemed to have cut his lip.

Like a wolf encountering a threat, Cole bared his teeth, revealing the sharp fangs that had torn apart countless human bodies, his pupils rapidly contracting as he glared at Lin You.

“I really will kill you!”

However, in Lin You’s eyes, all of this was just Cole’s bluff.

“Heh, is that so?” Lin You leisurely raised his face. Without his glasses, Lin You looked a little younger, lacking some of his unfathomable aura, but his still dark eyes met Cole’s directly.

“But you will only be controlled by your genes forever, never able to eat such delicious food as me again, and from then on, you will wander in pain and regret, Cole.”

“If you want to be released from your genes, then cooperate with me… no, be my dog.” Lin You laughed, then continued, “In exchange, although you can’t eat me, I can lend you my blood to quench your thirst, how about it?”

Lin You tilted his head, the congestion from his nosebleed making it a little difficult for him to breathe.

“So, still want to eat?” Lin You calmly wiped the blood between his nose and lips with his index finger, and reached out to Cole. “My blood.”