Capítulo 27: Lyle the Mad Scientist

Fallan's hot breath warmed Davy's ears. He bit his lower lip, but then the smile still appeared on his lips. Draven and Lyle's argument continued, while Fallan relished the fact that he was the subject of it.

This kind of atmosphere put Davy at ease. With their warmth and the little moments that let him be immersed so deeply in their world, Davy fully engulfed himself in this fantasy.

"You sounded jealous, though?" Davy now joined in the argument, even laughing mockingly. Fallan's eyes twinkled with amusement, and Davy averted his gaze away from him.

"What? Even you think so? I'm not jealous, okay?" Draven's voice became somewhat louder now.

Lyle's arms around Davy tightened as he laughed softly, "Why do you sound so defensive?"

"Well... of course, it's not real, so I'll defend myself?" Draven's voice softened again.

"You definitely sound defensive," Davy said as he laughed, enjoying Draven's rare flustered moment.

"You're enjoying this," Now, Fallan's deep voice rang as he chuckled. Davy didn't deny it, and his smile widened.

Draven, who was about to say something else, stopped and fell silent, as if he had grown tired of defending himself.

The room fell silent for a few moments again. However, the atmosphere was calm and relaxing. The four of them were pressed together as they exchanged warmth as if their bond had strengthened.

"Where is your floating island, Lyle?" Davy inquired after a long moment of silence.

"It's quite a distance from here," Lyle replied. "Why?" he asked.

"I'm just asking, I'm curious."

"Wait, are you interested... in visiting Lyle's floating island?" Draven inquired loudly, as if it were a ridiculous idea.

Davy's eyes were filled with confusion; what was this reaction?

"Is there a problem?" he inquired, lifting his gaze to meet Fallan's, who was also staring at him.

The man, on the other hand, only stared at him without saying anything, but the ghost of a smile on his lips could not be hidden.

"Of course not!" Lyle replied, his soft tone now slightly excited, "Don't mind, the muscle-brained. Do you want to visit my floating island?"

Davy turned, and even in the dim light, the glisten of those emerald eyes was visible as soon as they locked eyes. And how could anyone expect him to refuse?

"Of course, I want to," he said slowly.

Lyle's lips curved into a soft and wide smile, but before he could respond, a loud laugh cut them off. The kind of laugh that was even more intense than Draven's usual laugh. He laughed as if he was about to run out of breath.

Davy furrowed his brows; what was the deal with this redhead again? He averted his gaze from Lyle and turned to face Draven, but since Draven was on the other side of Fallan, he locked eyes with Fallan instead.

The amusement in his blue eyes was more visible now. The scolding words in his throat were stuck, so he asked calmly, "What's wrong?" to both Fallan and Draven.

Instead of responding, Fallan shook his head. "Nothing, just... be careful."

Davy's heart pounded; there had to be something wrong!

In the end, Davy couldn't even find the time to think deeply about his visit to Lyle's floating island as they set out the next day.

***

"It's so amazing," he exclaimed in awe. Mouth agape, eyes fixed on the breathtaking scenery. His hands reached out as if attempting to grasp the shining stars... as they twinkled in majesty.

Davy turned around and looked around. Trying to memorize the phenomena after fully absorbing them.

"It is," a soft voice said, "but not as beautiful as you are." An arm wrapped around his waist as he hugged him from behind.

Davy smiled, leaning his head against the other's chest. Eyes not leaving the sea of stars. "I don't know that you have sweet tooth too?" he teased.

"I don't... it's just for you," Lyle laughed.

They both burst out laughing. They were peacefully traveling through the void as they stood on the deck of the ship transportation required for void travel. In reality, this ship was only for Davy's appearance and convenience.

As a Supreme, Lyle was extremely immune from void complications, unlike normal people would, his body was made up of Chaos origin energy, and traveling in the void was the same as him being a fish in the water.

"I thought a floating island could travel here as well?" Davy wondered, his gaze drawn to the seemingly slow motion of the scenery, which was actually moving much faster than it appeared.

In the first place, Lyle could make it faster, but Davy refused. Everyone's dream was to travel through space! He would not waste this opportunity, even if it was only in the virtual world.

"Of course, it could be teleported in the vicinity of our home, but Draven always makes a fuss and he is too scared of my experiment," he laughed softly, remembering something, "He never visited my laboratory again, not even once. Such a coward."

Davy could picture Draven's face when he protested, cursing and rapping for his life. Davy was now curious as to why Draven was so terrified of Lyle's ideas.

***

He might not want to say it in front of Lyle, but... Davy now agreed with Draven that Lyle's floating island and the laboratory should be as far away from civilization as possible. He swallowed secretly, beads of cold sweat threatening to appear on his forehead.

Davy stole a glance at the soft and pretty Lyle, who was happily smiling as he explained his invention; Davy never expected him to be a crazy scientist. If... Lyle was in the real world, would he be long a villain of society already?

"Here, dear, look at this one." Lyle waved a small black ball in Davy's sight. "This small, cute ball right here is enough to blow up an entire lower universe. Isn't that amazing? I actually still in the middle of something, so I had yet to invent an even better version of it." There was something about how an extremely innocent-looking pretty man said this scary sentence in his soft tone.

Davy stepped back, "Ah... is that okay to be handled like that? Would it be too dangerous?" Damn, even waving it, what happened if it suddenly blew up? He didn't know what would happen. Would he die in the virtual world? Was he going to be resurrected or not? Davy didn't want to take that risk. Especially with the mysterious origin of this game.

Lyle only smiled and said, "Of course, this small ball couldn't damage anything here at all." He carelessly dropped the small ball with the strength of an atomic bomb. Davy almost screamed at this, damn, was his decision to visit Lyle's floating island a mistake? So the reason Draven laughed so hard last night was that he expected this? Fuck that redhead!

"But you said... it could blow up a universe?" Davy asked cautiously, his eyes scanning the area for any potential dangers. This place is not for the faint-hearted, even a small ball could be explosive.

Lyle chuckled as he dragged Davy along, the latter walking rather slowly. "Yes, a lower universe, though." he softly answered, while playing with Davy's fingers.

"A lower universe?" Davy glanced at him, brows raising a little bit. Yes, he remembered reading about Chaos Universe being the uppermost universe in the library. So, universes were ranked as well?

Lyle nodded, a soft smile lingering; Davy would never tire of looking at him.

"A lower universe is a universe that is much smaller than the Chaos Universe, and its origin energy is also extremely low, so giving birth to extraordinary people is close to zero," he explained. "A lot of lower universes have a limited lifespan, they basically only have two paths... to be degraded of their level as their origin energy became exhausted or to be devoured as nutrition to a much higher universe."

Davy nodded, not interrupting Lyle. Lyle's explanation differed from Fallan's and even more from Draven's; his tone was soft and gentle, and one would not hesitate to listen.

He got it, so in simple terms, the universe of Davy's reality was only a lower universe when compared to the Chaos Universe. He wasn't sure either, as humans had yet to investigate the mysteries of the universe in their current era, though nearby planets and stars were now accessible to those who could afford them.

Anyway, why would he even compare them when the Chaos Universe existed only in the virtual world?

"So, universes also devour each other?"

"They do, it was one of their innate abilities; after all, the universe's first instinct, aside from creation, was to grow."

"Then... did the Chaos Universe devour a lot already?" he inquired, merely curious.

He enjoyed hearing the stories of this universe. The history of the virtual world he had been treating as his reality for the past few weeks.

Lyle's steps slowed as the fingers playing in Davy's hand stopped moving. Davy cocked his head, staring at the man. Lyle's smile faded as he stared at the front, slightly distracted. Davy couldn't figure out why Lyle had suddenly gone silent. Was it because of his question? He pursed his lips, unsure what the problem was.

Lyle then turned to face him, smiled softly, and tightened his grip. "A lot... and it will happen again, soon." As he finished, Davy noticed a flicker of determination in his emerald pupils. Davy couldn't respond after that.