Chapter 35: The Admiral’s Rut (Part 3)

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Lucas originally didn’t want to bully Luo Ran, after all, his mood wasn’t too good right now.

He was gradually able to realise something, and guessed that he might be in his rut.

But that guy sent himself up, and even jumped around to provoke him…

Bang——

Lucas pressed Luo Ran onto the bed with his own weight and glared at him, looking no different from the rumoured killing god.

Luo Ran saw it clearly now.

He laid there in a daze, still a little confused.

Ah, he’s not crying.

…No, what was he thinking?

Wasn’t he wasting his time? Even if he thought with his knees, he’d know that Lucas would never have anything to do with tears.

…Then.

He’s done for now.

Luo Ran smiled stiffly and tried to defend himself. “Admiral… I-I didn’t mean to, I thought…”

“You thought?” Lucas raised his eyebrow.

Luo Ran’s hands were still clasped above his head. Lucas pressed against half his body, and with his knees digging into Luo Ran’s legs, there was no way for him to move.

In this posture, he was completely subdued, completely unable to resist.

“I thought you were unhappy…” Luo Ran said nervously.

He really couldn’t get the words ‘I thought you were crying’ out of his mouth.

“I really, truly, am unhappy,” Lucas said with a dark look, “I want to bully someone, to release my anger.”

“…” Luo Ran closed his eyes and submitted to his fate.

Lucas made a light sound, then gripped and raised Luo Ran’s ankle.

Luo Ran: “…?!”

Lucas… tickled Luo Ran’s foot.

“Ah…!” Luo Ran rolled around, trying to escape, but Lucas simply shifted sideways and pinned him in place.

At this moment, Lucas was half-kneeling on the bed next to Luo Ran’s waist. One leg was bent with a knee pressed against Luo Ran’s chest to prevent him from getting up, and the other knee supported himself on the bed.

Lucas held Luo Ran’s foot up with one hand at the ankle, and the other tickled his sole.

“A-Admiral…!” This posture was too ambiguous, plus Luo Ran was ticklish, and he couldn’t take being scratched like this. He was tortured so badly that reflexive tears came out, and kept struggling and twisting like a fish out of water.

“Haah… stop!” The usually calm Secretary Luo couldn’t help letting out begging and gasping sounds mixed with uncontrollable whimpers, looking extremely uncomfortable.

Lucas turned towards Luo Ran. “Do you know what you did wrong!”

Luo Ran gasped for breath. “I know.”

Lucas continued to ask, “Whose secretary are you?”

“Yours,” Luo Ran replied.

Lucas put down Luo Ran’s ankle, and was only reluctantly satisfied at seeing his current embarrassed appearance.

Although a fire still burned in his heart, he knew that he couldn’t keep messing with Luo Ran when he saw him blushing and dishevelled, because his mind had also become chaotic.

Very, very chaotic.

He also had some extreme thoughts.

His head hurt again.

Lucas rubbed at his temples as he got up. “You better remember it, next time, find me and I’ll…”

He stopped, then turned and left without another word.

Luo Ran, still lying on the bed, stared blankly at Lucas’ departing figure.

Then, after a while, his face and ears slowly began to burn.

Luo Ran didn’t know what he was doing either.

Only…

Just now, it seemed, a little, not suitable for a relationship between an employer and employee.

But it wasn’t his fault this time… probably.

It was the proud and territorial lion who absolutely didn’t allow others to rob his prey. Even if he was a mere secretary, he had to clearly lay his claim.

Luo Ran patted his cheeks and got up to make preparations.

He asked Adjutant Wang Qiuyang to surround the house with their people, but to also stay a certain distance away from Lucas, and only allow beta patrolmen to bring messages between them.

“The admiral is more vulnerable during this time, so Adjutant Wang, you must guard him well. Adjutant Lu and I will return in an hour.”

Wang Qiuyang also understood this was a rut. He gave Luo Ran a crisp salute and replied, “Yes sir!”

Before leaving, Luo Ran filled the house with incense and arranged for a special beta to stand guard. As soon as Lucas fell into his rut, they would immediately close all the windows, lock the doors, and directly enter isolation, then send someone to notify Luo Ran.

After arranging all this, Luo Ran brought Lu Cheng and Shen Xiluo to look for Prince Andika.

Luobing’s royals all lived in the eastern residential area. Not only were they surrounded by their own soldiers, but also by the Empire’s soldiers, for fear of them meeting an accident. The many stationed soldiers would guard them throughout the night.

Luo Ran’s group only had three people, plus he was very recognisable, so they easily passed layer after layer of guards to arrive at His Highness Prince Andika’s residence.

Andika’s rooms were separated from the others by a certain distance and didn’t have any lights on. Everything was still.

Luo Ran slowly frowned, feeling that something was off.

The sky had just turned dark, yet the guards were all spread relatively far away. Although they could still ensure the safety of the people inside and prevent outsiders from getting in, there wasn’t a single person nearby and the house was too quiet.

Lu Cheng suppressed his worries and clenched his hand around the gun holstered at his waist.

Luo Ran first explained the situation to the guards and asked them to be ready to break in at any time, then turned and gestured to indicate that their trio would sneak inside to take a look.

There was no need to mention Lu Cheng’s abilities. Luo Ran and Shen Xiluo were also very skilled, so they simply acted separately.

Inside, not a single light was on, nor was any person present.

Luo Ran walked in through the back door and carefully observed the clues left behind.

But there was nothing there.

It was a little too calm. There wasn’t any sign of fighting — everything was in its place.

Just then, Luo Ran suddenly shuddered, whirled around, and found a fleeting shadow on a roof beam.

He wasn’t sure if it was his own illusion, so he backed into a corner to try and get a better look.

Something creaked.

Luo Ran paused. He seemed to have stepped on something. 

Looking down, he saw that he’d stepped on a wooden board, and below the board it sounded… hollow.

There was a space underneath!

The house was so quiet that this miniscule sound quickly made Lu Cheng come to take a look.

Luo Ran pointed to the wood boards beneath his feet and motioned for Lu Cheng to open it while he himself retreated a few steps and pointed his gun at it, just in case.

Lu Cheng nodded. He held the wooden cover with one hand and signalled to Luo Ran with the other.

One, two…

Three!

Boom!!

As soon as the cover opened, a person charged out and desperately stabbed Lu Cheng, who was the closest, with the knife in his hand.

“Your Highness…?!” When Lu Cheng recognised Andika, he immediately restrained him. He only dodged and didn’t retaliate.

“Let…! A-Adjutant Lu?” Andika originally fought like crazy, but Lu Cheng’s voice stunned him.

“It’s me, it’s me, what’s going on?!”

“I…” Before Andika could say anything, he saw that behind Lu Cheng, someone dropped down from the roof beam — a woman wearing Luobing’s maid uniform — with a pistol in her hand. She mercilessly shot at Lu Cheng, who held Andika protectively in his arms.

The maid fell from the sky in the blink of an eye.

Andika was shaking all over, but when he saw this, he gritted his teeth and exerted all his remaining strength to change positions with Lu Cheng.

The bullet pierced Andika’s shoulder but missed his vital points. The maid snorted and aimed again at Andika’s head.

Bang!

* * *

Someone collapsed.

But it was the crazy maid, not Andika.

Not far away, Luo Ran’s pistol was raised, its muzzle still emitting smoke.

No one could have imagined that in such a critical situation, when life and death were decided within milliseconds, Luo Ran could accurately shoot the maid.

This required extremely high spiritual power and concentration, but Luo Ran was clearly just a beta without spiritual power or pheromones.

However, this wasn’t the time to discuss it, because the sound of gunfire made Shen Xiluo and the guards outside rush over.

When Luobing’s guards arrived, they saw Luo Ran holding a gun, Andika injured, and the maid laying in a pool of blood. They immediately raised their guns towards the people from the Empire.

The people Luo Ran asked Wang Qiuyang to bring, as well as the Empire’s soldiers, also pointed their guns at Luobing’s guards. The situation immediately turned tense.

Andika couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted.

“What happened?!” The eldest prince and Luobing’s ambassadors also arrived, and each ordered their people to lay down their weapons.

Then Shen Xiluo simply asked Lu Cheng to put Andika on the bed and gave first aid on site, while the medical team also came to help.

The maid was also treated, but she was then detained.

Soon after, Andika opened his eyes, still looking a little frightened.

“Your Highness, I… I will stay with you.” Lu Cheng stood to the side, as stiff as a block of wood.

In Lu Cheng’s impression, Andika was a timid person, and he was clearly afraid just now, but he still… chose to protect him.

“Your Highness, you can relax,” Luo Ran said. “We have already caught the assassin, but can Your Highness tell us what is going on?”

Luo Ran’s tone was gentle, plus he was the one who saved him just now, so Andika only hesitated a little before saying, “That maid…”

Then, as if remembering something, he looked fearfully at the people behind Luo Ran.

Every royal and ambassador of the Empire and Luobing was assembled behind Luo Ran.

“Apologies, may I speak with Prince Andika alone for a few minutes?” Luo Ran requested. “He is under a lot of stress right now.”

When the eldest prince glanced at him, he added, “Your Highness can rest your worries, I will deal with this properly.”

The eldest prince nodded and left, and the others followed him out.

“You can say it now.” Luo Ran looked at Andika. “With things as they are, you cannot avoid this.”

“I…” Andika sat up, then curled up in the quilt, clearly still scared. “I don’t know…”

“But I know,” Luo Ran stated calmly. “Doctor Shen examined Your Highness just now. You have been taking aphrodisiac drugs for nearly a month.”

Both Lu Cheng and Andika’s eyes widened.

“I do not know if this was intentional or not, but I do know that Your Highness took this drug at the emperor’s birthday banquet, then had a romantic encounter with Adjutant Lu. The drug is addictive and you can’t do without it, so your maid — that is, the spy interstellar pirates inserted into Luobing — extorted you and your mother with it to make your work for them, yes?”

This was why Andika was constantly in heat, and why he had to take so many doses of inhibitors.

Luo Ran glanced at the completely stunned Lu Cheng and continued, “However, Adjutant Lu confessed to you, which gave you a ray of hope. You wanted to try to resist, and so the maid took the opportunity tonight to silence you.”

Because Andika could no longer be controlled.

Outsiders couldn’t penetrate the many layers of guards, but the maid was originally on the inside.

When Andika heard this, he suddenly burst into tears.

“I, I… I really don’t know what to do…” He shrank into a ball, covered his face, and bawled his heart out. “I’m useless…”

Then Andika stuttered out, “I didn’t know that drink had drugs in it, I really didn’t know… I saw the admiral drinking it…”

Luo Ran stiffened.

Lu Cheng hugged Andika and used his pheromones to comfort him, since they already temporarily marked each other.

Andika clutched at Lu Cheng’s shoulder like a drowning man clutching onto driftwood.

“At the banquet, you saw Admiral Lucas drink something, so you also drank it?” Luo Ran asked.

“Um, yeah…” Andika frantically nodded his head. He was very scared when he first arrived at the Empire and was too afraid to eat anything, but he thought that since an admiral of the Empire dared to eat it, then there shouldn’t be any danger.

The depths of Luo Ran’s eyes froze over.

So that’s how it is.

Someone wanted to harm Lucas that day at the banquet but didn’t expect Andika to accidentally get involved, so they simply used Andika instead.

They thought they could control Andika, but didn’t expect Lu Cheng either. When Andika eventually outlived his usefulness, they tried to tie up loose ends, but couldn’t anticipate that he and Luo Ran, these two variables, would look for Andika tonight.

Fortunately, Lucas had an SSS-level physique, which made him so strong that even such a drug couldn’t affect him that much. It only made him lose control for a single night, but couldn’t induce addiction.

Fortunately…

Luo Ran tightly clenched his fists.

At this moment, a knocking on the door interrupted Luo Ran’s thoughts.

Luo Ran opened the door and greeted a guard, who handed him a transparent bag. “This was found on the maid,” he reported.

Inside was a dagger, a gun, and… a packet of drugs.

Luo Ran showed the packet to Andika. “Is this the drug?”

If yes, he could hand it over to the research institute for testing, then trace the black market connections to cut off all trade routes for the interstellar pirates.

“That’s…!” Andika subconsciously leapt up and reached for it.

He’d already developed a severe dependence on this drug.

“No, you can’t…” Lu Cheng wanted to stop him, only to hear Luo Ran say coldly, “Let him have it.”

Luo Ran’s voice was absolutely flat. “He’s been controlled for his entire life, and now even just a drug can control him. Forget it.”

Andika froze with his hand still outstretched.

“He’s a coward, and has never fought for anything,” Luo Ran said sternly. “Now he doesn’t need to fight anything. Keep taking this drug, and in a year, or maybe only half a year, he can be free.”

“I…” Andika’s whole body trembled. “I-I’m not…”

He’s tried… He’s tried, but…

Andika stopped.

He seemed to have succeeded…?

Andika retracted his hand, and after a long silence, he grabbed Lu Cheng’s hand and choked out, “I don’t want it, I’m not touching it, I can… I can quit.”

“You can.” Luo Ran returned to his usual gentle appearance, as if the apathetic Luo Ran just now was a hallucination. “We brought back an omega from the black market who had more severe symptoms than Your Highness. He’s been placed in a rehabilitation centre for detoxification, which has been going well. Your Highness doesn’t need to worry,” he comforted.

After that, Luo Ran didn’t ask any more questions. Andika wasn’t in a good mental state today, and besides, someone else from the Empire and Luobing would take over the investigation.

Luo Ran left the room, leaned against the railing outside, and shakily closed his eyes.

He’d originally thought that the mastermind behind the drug wanted to send someone to Lucas’ bed, but no one visited Lucas that night. Instead, Luo Ran was the one who bumped into him and spent a crazy night with Lucas.

But if their goal was to hurt Lucas, why would the mastermind use an aphrodisiac instead of using a drug that directly destroyed spiritual power, like Cyril did when they were children?

The mastermind’s purpose and means had some contradictions.

And disregarding all this, the fact of the matter was that if Lucas wasn’t an SSS alpha, if he was even slightly weaker, then… he would probably be the same as Andika was now.

Someone wanted to ruin Lucas.

However, he didn’t notice, and allowed Lucas to drink the glass of water that day.

It was his dereliction of duty.

Luo Ran tightened his fists until his nails dug into the palm of his hand.

He’d once promised himself that since he would stay by Lucas’ side, then he’d never let him suffer through what happened in his childhood ever again. But he failed.

“What are you doing here.”

Luo Ran startled.

Lucas stood there, looking at Luo Ran in dissatisfaction. “Why aren’t you going back?!”

“I…” Luo Ran began, throat dry, as he stared blankly at Lucas.

Seeing that Luo Ran was in a daze with a pale face, Lucas thought he was cold, so he stripped off his large coat and tossed it over Luo Ran’s head. He grabbed Luo Ran’s hand and ordered, “Go back.”

A strong tobacco aroma rushed over them.

Luo Ran was pulled towards the hovercar, which was parked on a flat area not far away.

But Lucas suddenly stopped with a grimace and pressed his temples.

“Ugh…” Lucas pressed his fingers with more force. All the alpha pheromones nearby suddenly made him very irritated, and made his head hurt. He had the urge to get rid of them, to destroy the sources of all other pheromones.

“Admiral…!”

Then everything went dark, because Luo Ran covered Lucas with the same coat he gave him.

Lucas froze.

Out in the open, where anyone could see, two big adult men huddled together under a coat.

The coat, which covered them from head to shoulder, created a small private space for the two of them.

A delicate white tea scent penetrated Lucas’ senses. Maybe it was because it was the same as the incense he used that Lucas calmed down, and even the alpha pheromones outside didn’t seem as unpleasant.

Shit, this guy’s using perfume again, Lucas thought.

He clearly knew it was his favourite scent, so he teased him on purpose.

“Admiral, the hovercar isn’t far away, let’s go quickly.” Luo Ran gripped the jacket tightly, his eyes shining in the dark. “I’ll protect you.”

---

Author:
Ah, I miscalculated… although it’s part 3, the rut’s not over yet

Translator:
For people who’re concerned c34 was supposed to be c33 part 2, don’t worry, it’s supposed to be like that. The author’s got 14k characters (T∇T RIP me) across 3 chapters all named The Admiral’s Rut. Small mercies because if it were all one chapter, I might actually cry.

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