Rain drowned the city in shattered reflections.
Neon signs bled red and violet across soaked pavement as thunder muttered overhead. From a distance, Nocturne Club blazed like a living pulse — heart of the underworld — basslines reverberating into the fog. No one entered that club by accident. You came either seeking power… or running toward it.
Yu Zhen did neither.
He stepped from the shadows with medical bag in hand, coat collar pulled high against the storm. His expression was calm, composed — the kind of quiet that came from standing too often beside blood and dying men. In this life, his identity was deliberately dull:
• Underground trauma medic.• Syndicate fixer.• Ghost who kept criminals breathing long enough to return to violence.
But beneath it all…
He felt the tug again.
That same invisible gravity — ancient and relentless — tightening when he crossed paths with destiny.
[WORLD LINK ESTABLISHED — MAFIA REALM] [TARGET RESONANCE: VERY HIGH] [MEMORY FRAGMENT 4 — DORMANT]
Yu Zhen entered Nocturne.
Inside the Lion's Den
The back corridor swelled with thudding bass, cigarette smoke curling lazily between crates of smuggled weapons. Armed guards watched silently from the walls. One scanned Yu Zhen's credentials and gestured ahead.
"Don's waiting."
Yu Zhen wasn't nervous.
He hadn't been nervous in centuries — not in any life.
But the pull grew stronger as the steel doors opened.
Inside waited a wide chamber lined with leather couches and amber lighting. Bottles gleamed against mirrored shelves. And at the center of the room —
Lian Xuan.
Still.
Silent.
Watching.
Tall and sharply dressed in black, sleeves rolled just enough to show faint scars along his wrists — not ornamental, but earned. His golden eyes lifted the moment Yu Zhen crossed the threshold…and locked onto him with predatory precision.
Time folded inward.
The noise faded.
Yu Zhen's chest tightened.
It was him again.
Different life. Same soul.
[SOUL THREAD: ACTIVE] [AFFINITY SURGE DETECTED] [MEMORY ECHO — FRAGMENT 4: 8%]
Lian Xuan spoke first.
"You're later than expected."
Yu Zhen set his bag down calmly."You're breathing. That means I wasn't too late."
A flicker of surprise crossed the Don's face — then something like amusement.
Most men groveled in his presence.
Yu Zhen didn't.
Lian Xuan rose from his chair slowly — deliberate, assessing.
"And if I weren't breathing?"
Yu Zhen met his gaze without flinching.
"Then I wouldn't be here."
The guards stiffened.
But Lian Xuan laughed — low, quiet, dangerous.
"Interesting," he murmured.
He stepped closer.
Not threatening.
Just close enough to feel.
The air thickened instantly.
Yu Zhen didn't step back.
The pull between them intensified, humming across his bones like static.
[RESONANCE INCREASING] [MEMORY PRESSURE: LIGHT]
"You don't fear me," Lian Xuan observed.
"I don't mistake power for danger," Yu Zhen answered calmly."The dangerous ones don't need reputation to kill."
Something sharp glinted in the Don's eyes — not anger, but attraction.
"You talk like you know me already."
Yu Zhen paused.
Because the terrifying part?
He did.
"I know enough," he said softly.
First Contact Under Fire
Gunfire erupted without warning.
Windows shattered inward. Men screamed. Smoke bloomed.
A rival syndicate strike team poured into the adjacent corridor.
"MOVE!" someone yelled.
Lian Xuan was already moving.
He grabbed Yu Zhen's wrist and hauled him behind the bar counter as bullets tore through liquor shelves. Glass exploded around them.
Yu Zhen stayed calm — his hands moving instinctively as wounded men began collapsing nearby.
Blood on suits.
Panic in voices.
And there — Lian Xuan — standing between Yu Zhen and absolute chaos, firing with deadly precision while shielding him with his body.
Time slowed.
Yu Zhen stared at his back.
I've stood behind you like this before.
The memory burned so close to consciousness it made his breath stutter — blazing battlefields / celestial ruins / Lian Xuan standing alone, protecting him from gods.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 4 — AWAKENING: 19%]
The attack ended brutally.
With bodies.
With retreat.
With silence.
The Don's Decision
Smoke settled.
Lian Xuan turned — eyes scanning Yu Zhen first before anything else.
"You didn't run."
"I had work to do."
"You worked while bullets flew."
Yu Zhen shrugged lightly."Patients don't wait for permission to bleed."
The Don studied him longer this time.
Really looking.
The composure.The absolute lack of fear.The ancient calm behind his eyes.
Slowly… Lian Xuan lifted a finger beneath Yu Zhen's chin — forcing their gazes to lock.
"There is something about you," he said quietly, dangerous curiosity thrumming through his voice.
Yu Zhen didn't pull away.
Instead he leaned forward slightly.
"Then keep me close."
The words landed like fate itself.
Silence stretched between them.
[SOUL THREAD SPIKE] [AFFINITY LEVEL: 88%] [MEMORY FRAGMENT 4 — INTEGRATION BEGUN]
Lian Xuan finally dropped his hand.
He turned sharply to his men.
"From now on," he commanded,"Yu Zhen works under direct protection of my office."
No objections.
No resistance.
They knew better.
He looked back at Yu Zhen — golden eyes dark with something too heavy to name.
"You're mine to protect," Lian Xuan said simply.
Yu Zhen felt it echo old vows.
And smiled faintly.
"I've heard that before."
Lian Xuan frowned — as if nearly remembering why that felt true.
[MEMORY FRAGMENTS COMPLETE: 4 / 12]
[CURRENT WORLD TYPE: NORMAL BL — CRIME ROMANCE]
[SOUL THREAD: STRONGLY ANCHORED]