Falling into the Abyss

Ethan didn’t know much about physics, but he had once heard that when antimatter comes into contact with ordinary matter, it would immediately annihilate and release a lot of energy, which was one reason why antimatter had not been able to be mass produced and preserved. However, the priest said he could be exposed to antimatter?

“……After I come into contact with it, will I not be annihilated along with it?”

“Before that, of course, we’ll have to do a lot of experiments to make sure that you can withstand the radiation from the God of Order’s egg for some time, like what occurred previously. After that, we will decide whether we’ll let you come into contact with it. I won’t let anything happen to you. After all, you are very precious to me.” There was a touch of tenderness in Tanisiel’s eyes, and he reached out to touch Ethan’s cheek.

Ethan was immersed deeply in his silverish gray irises, and it took a long time before he forced his eyes to look away. “I can’t think of how the God of Order’s eggs can help to create antimatter.”

“Do you know what the traditional way of creating antimatter is?”

“Build a hadron collider, which accelerates particles to collide repeatedly to generate antiparticles, which are then captured by a reducer.” Ethan answered based on what he could recall from the reports he had read about Project Zero previously.

“That’s right. However, it takes a lot of energy and produces very little antimatter, which cannot be stored stably for a long time. Every planetary state in the galaxy has been unable to solve these two problems, but I suspect that the God of Order’s egg may be the key to a breakthrough. Although that little thing is also a mystery to us, Eves, it is obviously capable of stabilizing matter and transforming one type of matter into another. Given enough additional material, it can reduce or increase the number of neutrons or protons in an atom’s nucleus at will. However, we have never tried to use it to convert the charges of protons or electrons.”

“You mean……give protons negative charges, and electrons positive charges……isn’t this technology that can directly transform ordinary matter into antimatter? How could that be possible?”

The priest shrugged. “In my eyes, nothing is impossible.”

Ethan opened his mouth slightly and was stunned for a moment before he asked, “If you Eves have that kind of technology, why don’t you make your own antimatter? Why do you want to help my planet, the Earth Union?”

“It’s very simple. Our religious beliefs do not allow us to create antimatter, a substance that could cause major disasters in the universe. Every time someone mentions it, it is condemned by all the great temples. Our doctrine states that the universe was born with equal masses of matter and antimatter. That is to say, the universe should have been empty, and the matter should have annihilated each other, which was likely to be the cause of the Big Bang. However, a force, probably the power of order, isolated part of the antimatter from our universe, giving rise to the Milky Way and the other galaxies where we now have planets and life. To us, antimatter is as dangerous as a demon and should never be touched.”

Ethan frowned. “So you’re breaking the law? Do your superiors agree with you visiting the Earth Union this time?”

Tanisiel played with the ten-thousand function sphere and said with a smile, “Well, let me put it this way. Besides being a priest, my father, who died, was the Eve’s Duke, so they don’t have much control over me. Other planetary states are secretly developing antimatter weapons. We are the only ones sticking to this outdated doctrine, so we will be annihilated sooner or later. They also understand this truth, but they are afraid to bear the title of a heretic. They don’t want to, so I’ll do it.”

If he was in Tanisiel’s shoes, he was afraid that he would not have the courage to do what he thought was right. He would probably just quietly cast aside his ideas and drift along with the tide all his life.

Even so, didn’t he get himself into the Forbidden City?

“Let’s not talk about official matters. There will be plenty of time to do so tomorrow.” Tanisiel suddenly leaned over and bit Ethan’s ear, causing the Beta’s body to tremble.

“Just now, you said you were not interested. Let’s have a go now?”

Ethan woke up the next morning to find that his wrists were still tied to the head of the bed with the ribbon from the priest’s collar. He pulled but found that he couldn’t break free. When he turned his head, he saw the priest sleeping beside him, embracing him. His long, golden eyelashes cast a faint shadow on his eyelids, and his beautiful nose rested against his shoulder. His sleeping face was exquisite and peaceful.

Ethan’s heart melted. He didn’t want to disturb him, but he couldn’t help it since his arms were so sore that he thought they would snap soon. Therefore, he opened his mouth to call out to him. Who would have thought that his voice would be so hoarse that he could not utter a word? Ethan’s face burned, and he recalled how loud he had moaned last night. He didn’t know whether the room’s sound insulation was good or not, and whether Gray Fur next door had heard them……

He couldn’t move, so his memory drifted back to the decadent and extravagant night they had yesterday. The priest had tied his hands to the head of the bed before pouring red wine on his navel and licking it up. He only had to recall this segment of his memories for him to moan quietly and blush due to shame. He tried to bury himself in the depths of the quilt.

Hearing his low groan, the priest slowly woke up. His eyes were covered with a blanket of sleep as he glanced at Ethan in a daze and gave him a light peck on his jaw.

“Morning.”

Ethan had to clear his throat before he could barely produce his frighteningly hoarse voice, “You……cough, cough……can you release me?”

The priest seemed to realize that they had been exhausted by the end of last night and directly went to sleep and had even forgotten to untie Ethan. He gave Ethan an apologetic kiss on the forehead and untied the ribbon. Ethan moved his arms that he felt were about to snap, but as soon as he tried to sit up, he let out a cry of pain. There was a place that had obviously been overworked, and it felt numb and aching. He shot the laughing priest a reproachful look and stood up, leaning his waist against the railing at the head of the bed. He realized that every inch of his body was bare, so he grabbed the sheet from the bed and limped to the bathroom.

In the middle of his shower, the shower curtain swished open. Ethan’s face was covered with shampoo foam, and he couldn’t open his eyes. However, with the scent of light sandalwood and a hint of desire, he knew it was Tanisiel. His heartbeat accelerated again, and he felt another naked chest press against his back, the hot water meandering down the two bodies.

“Let’s shower together?” The priest stroked his back, and his long fingers slid down his spine.

Ethan whispered, “Don’t do anything strange!”

“Is it strange to wipe your back?”

“Don’t touch it! Ah…”

As a result, the shower that could have been finished in ten minutes extended to an hour, and Ethan later found two rows of teeth marks under the collar. Ethan had to pull up the collar of his nonhuman uniform to block the two rows of purplish-red marks.

The priest left first. Ethan had just fastened his last button when he heard the door open. Gray Fur stood at the door, looking at him with an ambiguous but absolutely unkind smile.

“Looks like you had a good sleep last night?”

Ethan put on his glasses and didn’t answer his question. He tried to avoid him as he walked out, but Gray Fur grabbed him by the arm and whispered, “So that’s why that alien insisted that you take part in this experiment? Because he likes your ass?”

Ethan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “Listen, after I meddled with you and Typhoeus previously, I almost lost my life on Neptune. Aren’t we already even?”

“Even? Have you misunderstood something?” Gray Fur coldly raised a corner of the lips and said, “I just dislike you.”

After he was done speaking, he pressed the electric shock button to his collar for no reason. Ethan suddenly felt as though his neck had been violently twisted before the numbness and convulsions spread rapidly throughout his entire body. He had only seen other people get electrocuted before, and it was the first time personally experiencing it. He couldn’t even make a sound, and his entire body seemed to be out of control, like a bowstring that was so taut that it might break at any moment. He couldn’t think, and his brain felt like it was about to explode.

It was a quick electric shock, but it felt like a life and death journey. Ethan lay on the ground, sucking in air like a dehydrated fish. He could see Gray Fur’s boots in front of him, pointed lazily at his forehead.

“Don’t think that you’re on an equal footing with me when you’re an Eve’s toy, you trash.” He pulled a cigarette out from his pocket before holding it in his mouth and lighting it with a lighter. “Do you think that alien can save you every single time?”

Ethan tried not to look embarrassed when he entered the medical laboratory where Tanisiel was located. Still, the priest apparently noticed something and frowned slightly.

“What happened?” Tanisiel looked at Gray Fur with some displeasure.

Gray Fur casually replied, “The higher-ups passed down orders to not allow him to communicate with unauthorized citizens. He just broke the rules.”

Ethan wanted to calm down and avoid Tanisiel’s searching eyes, so he grabbed the dry skin of his back of his neck. He noticed Tanisiel was not the only one in the lab. There was also a Beta that seemed to be about 60 years old, appearing scholarly with an elegant demeanor. The name tag on his chest read “Dr. Thomas Bruno”. There was another younger Alpha as well, who seemed to be a doctor, wearing gloves as he prepared some medical equipment for drawing blood.

“You must be Mr. Eldridge.” Dr. Bruno did not wait for Tanisiel to introduce him. Instead, he stretched out his hand first and expressed himself in a friendly manner, “I am Dr. Bruno, who is in charge of this project.”

Ethan clasped his hand and nodded humbly. “I’ve seen your name in many reports.”

“Yes, I saw you a few times when I occasionally returned to the Energy Bureau, but you might not remember me. It’s a pity that we have to acquaint each other under such circumstances.”

The other party’s sincere tone greatly impressed Ethan. He was very surprised that he was willing to shake hands with him. Most legitimate citizens would avoid any form of contact with nonhumans, not to mention physical contact.

“I’ve finished all the preparations,” the doctor standing on the other side said, “Mr. Eldridge, please sit here.”

The process of drawing blood was quick. The doctor was about to analyze his blood sample with a very complicated and precise instrument in the laboratory. The priest and Bruno did not seem to want to leave. Gray Fur was politely invited out, probably because they did not want to disclose too much information to unrelated personnel.

Ethan watched the doctor drop the blood sample from the test tube onto a sensor, which was slowly retracted into the square machine. After a while, the smooth screen on the box began to show numerous blood cell patterns and a series of complex data. After the doctor gestured, it even began to accurately display some information about the nuclei and DNA inside the white blood cells.

Ethan saw that the doctor’s expression didn’t seem to be right. He kept flipping through the information interface, and with a sudden click, he stood up and looked at Ethan. “Sorry, there may be something wrong with the blood sample I just took. Would you mind if I took a little more?”

Ethan didn’t know what was going on, so he said, “It’s fine.”

Tanisiel came up and asked, “What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know. It may be that the blood sample that I took just now was contaminated, or there may be something wrong with the machine. Let me try again.” The doctor’s voice was a little hasty, but his actions were crisp. He drew a little blood from Ethan’s arm again and sent it into the machine for analysis.

However, the doctor’s frown did not show signs of dissipating, and his wrinkles deepened. He even rebooted the machine. His face appeared as though he had seen a ghost.

“What’s the matter?” Now, even Dr. Bruno was bewildered.

The doctor took a few steps back. He shook his head and looked at Ethan. “This blood sample……it’s not quite right.”

T/N: Thank you VBaby for your Ko-Fi support !