Lust System: Conquering the World Beauties

Liam shook his head slowly as his eyes stayed locked on the old image on the screen like he was trying to force it to change just by staring at it hard enough.

”No... no no no,” he said under his breath, then louder as he turned slightly toward Lana. ”Lana, this is not the Cain I fought. I clearly explained to you what he looked like.”

His tone carried frustration now, not anger but confusion that didn’t sit right with him.

Lana didn’t react immediately. She just kept looking at the screen for a moment longer, her fingers still hovering near the keyboard. Then she finally spoke.

”I know.”

Liam paused.

That response didn’t match what he expected.

Lana straightened slightly and shifted her focus fully to him now.

”Cain wasn’t just a scientist,” she said calmly. ”He was also an archaeologist.”

Liam frowned slightly.

That detail alone didn’t make things clearer. It only made everything feel more scattered.

Lana turned back to the screen and changed the image again, her fingers moving quickly over the keyboard. The old photograph faded and another document opened. This one looked more like a scanned historical record, yellowed paper, handwritten notes, dates and stamps scattered across it.

Her voice followed immediately after.

”May twenty first, eighteen thirty two.”

Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned in a bit closer without realizing it.

Lana continued.

”It was recorded that Cain found something in Egypt. Something important enough that he immediately flew back to Russia to research it further.”

She paused for a brief second as another file opened beside it.

”And that was when the accident happened.”

Liam tilted his head slightly.

”Accident?” he repeated.

Lana nodded once.

”His laboratory went boom.”

She said it bluntly, like she was reading something that had been written in a report rather than describing a catastrophe.

Liam didn’t interrupt. He just stared at the screen, waiting.

Lana’s voice continued, a little slower now.

”Everything turned to dust. His partner was also incinerated in the fire. And three thousand people died from the explosion.”

Liam’s expression shifted instantly.

His eyes narrowed further as he processed the scale of it.

”Three thousand?” he repeated again, this time quieter.

Lana nodded.

”All burned. Completely incinerated. The explosion leveled the entire town around the laboratory.”

Silence filled the room for a moment after that.

Even Anya, who was still carefully working on Liam’s hand, slowed slightly as she listened without meaning to.

The more Liam heard, the more his expression changed. Not disbelief anymore. Something closer to calculation. Like he was trying to fit pieces together that refused to align.

Three thousand people.

A town erased.

A lab explosion powerful enough to wipe everything around it.

Then something clicked in his mind.

His eyes shifted slightly, sharpening.

If that many people died... including Cain’s own lab in the center of it all...

He slowly looked at Lana.

”Wait,” he said quietly. ”If three thousand people died in that explosion... including Cain’s laboratory...”

His voice trailed slightly as the thought formed fully.

”How did he survive?”

Lana leaned forward slightly again, her fingers moving over the keyboard. The image on the screen changed once more.

This time it showed something different.

A burial site.

A coffin.

Surrounded by men in old scientific clothing standing in formation like witnesses.

Liam’s eyes locked onto it immediately.

And then he saw the face inside the coffin.

His breath paused slightly.

It was Cain.

The same face.

The same burned, destroyed appearance.

But here he was clearly dead.

Or at least that was what the record suggested.

Lana spoke again quietly.

”Except he didn’t survive.”

Liam blinked once.

”Huh?”

He stepped closer to the screen now, studying it properly.

The image was clear enough now. Cain lying in a coffin, lifeless, surrounded by scientists and officials. The documentation beneath it labeled him as deceased. Presumed dead after the explosion.

Liam exhaled slowly through his nose as he leaned back slightly.

”So he died,” he said slowly, thinking out loud. ”But somehow... not only did he survive...”

His eyes flicked back to the image again.

”He made it till today.”

Lana nodded once.

”Yes.”

Liam stayed quiet for a moment, processing it. The contradictions were stacking too fast. First the explosion. Then the burial. Then yesterday’s fight.

He finally asked the question that had been forming in his mind since the beginning.

”Is there anything about his powers?”

Lana shook her head immediately.

”No.”

Then she added, more seriously now.

”Liam... he was never heard of again after he was declared dead. Not until we saw him yesterday.”

That silence hit harder than the rest of the information.

No history.

No records.

No evolution trail.

Nothing.

Just disappearance.

And reappearance.

Liam exhaled heavily, rubbing the side of his neck slightly as he looked away from the screen for a moment.

Too many unknowns.

Too many gaps.

His mind didn’t like that.

After a moment, he looked back at Lana.

”For now,” he said more softly, ”you need to sleep. You look stressed out.”

Lana opened her mouth immediately like she wanted to argue.

”No, I can still help—”

But she didn’t get to finish.

Liam stepped forward and before she could react properly, he lifted her off the ground in one smooth motion.

Her feet left the floor.

Her eyes widened slightly.

”Liam,” she said immediately, hitting his chest lightly with her hand. ”This is embarrassing.”

He didn’t respond to that. He just adjusted his grip slightly and held her properly as he turned his body.

Anya paused mid-bandage for a second, looking up at them.

”Wait here,” Liam said calmly to her.

Then he started walking out with Lana still in his arms.

Lana sighed, clearly annoyed but not resisting fully, her hand resting lightly against his shoulder now instead of pushing him away.

”You really didn’t have to carry me like this,” she muttered again.

Liam glanced down at her briefly.

”You were going to stay up all night.”

”I wasn’t—”

”You were.”

She didn’t reply immediately to that.

Instead she just looked away slightly, clearly realizing he was right but not wanting to admit it.

As they moved down the hallway, the mansion felt quieter again, the earlier tension still lingering in the walls but momentarily pushed aside by movement.

Liam adjusted his hold slightly as they walked, steady and unbothered, while Lana eventually stopped struggling and just leaned in a bit more than she intended to.

Liam carried Lana through the hallway without rushing, his steps steady as the mansion slowly quieted down around them. The tension from the earlier discussions still lingered in the air, but up here it felt different, almost distant, like it belonged to another part of the world.

He pushed a door open with his shoulder and stepped inside.

The room was large.

Not just large but built with a quiet luxury that didn’t try too hard to show off. The bed alone was wide enough for multiple people, covered in soft dark sheets that looked untouched. The lighting was warm and low, coming from hidden fixtures in the walls that gave everything a calm glow. It felt like a place designed for someone important who rarely got to rest properly.

Lana looked around slightly as Liam walked further in.

Her brows lifted a little.

”Whose room is this?” she asked.

Liam adjusted his grip slightly before answering casually.

”Irina’s.”

Lana paused.

That made her look around again, this time more carefully.

”Should we even be here?” she asked, lowering her voice a bit.

Liam gave a small smile like it wasn’t something worth worrying about.

”She already told me I can use it,” he said simply.

That seemed to settle it for her.

Lana let out a soft breath and then moved out of his arms, dropping lightly onto her feet. She stretched her arms upward, rolling her shoulders as the tiredness finally started to hit her properly now that she had stopped working.

Her body loosened up slowly as she stretched again, tilting her head slightly from side to side.

Liam just watched her for a second without saying anything.

Then he stepped closer.

Lana didn’t notice immediately. She was still focused on stretching out the stiffness in her shoulders.

But then she felt him behind her.

His arms came around her gently, pulling her in from behind in a quiet embrace.

She paused.

Liam leaned in slightly, his face close to her neck, and pressed a soft kiss there. It wasn’t rushed. It was warm, slow, almost instinctive, like he had just followed what felt natural in that moment.

Lana exhaled lightly, her hands lowering as she registered him holding her.

His voice came softly near her ear.

”You’re still tense.”

Lana turned her head slightly.

”I’m fine.”

But he didn’t move away.

Instead he kissed her neck again, a little slower this time, his hand resting lightly at her waist as he held her close. There was no pressure in it, just closeness, like he didn’t want her to drift too far into her thoughts again.

Lana finally turned around fully to face him.

Her expression was calm but her eyes were a little sharper now.

”What are you doing?” she asked quietly.

Liam looked at her like he genuinely didn’t understand the problem.

”I was just trying to help you relax,” he said.

That made her pause for a second.

Then she let out a small breath through her nose, almost like she was trying not to smile.

Instead of arguing, she stepped closer on her toes and kissed him.

It was brief at first, but it didn’t stay that way.

Liam responded immediately, pulling her in closer as the kiss deepened. His hand steadied her at her back, holding her firmly but gently so she didn’t step away.

For a moment the world outside the room didn’t matter.

Just the quiet space.

The soft light.

And the fact that neither of them was really thinking anymore about anything else.

After a few seconds, Lana pulled back slightly, her forehead still close to his.

”Idiot,” she murmured softly, though there was no real heat in it.

Liam smiled faintly at that.