Chapter 14: The Admiral Locks On

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Luo Ran stared blankly at Lucas.

Lucas tentatively called again, “Luo Ran…?”

“Oh, coming.” A tiny smile formed on Luo Ran’s face.

Luo Ran entered the hover car while Xia Zhi looked on, somewhat surprised.

This admiral… was a little different from the rumours, and also like night and day compared to the terrible asura he saw on the battlefield. He seemed pretty gentle?

After Luo Ran sat down, he watched Lucas silently.

Lucas looked back at him, and the hover car was silent for a while.

Then Luo Ran took the lead and said, “Sorry I was too busy today, I didn’t have the time to look at my terminal. Last night my hand slipped… I didn’t mean it.”

“Hn.” Lucas turned his eyes to Luo Ran’s wrist and slightly knitted his brows.

Luo Ran followed his lowered gaze with a bad feeling.

He’d asked Xia Zhi for an ointment today so he didn’t wear the terminal over it, now the medicine dried but he forgot to wear it again so the bruise was discovered.

“Luo Ran.”

“Mn…?”

Lucas paused, then said, “I’m sorry.” His tone was serious and somewhat vexed.

“It’s okay, no big deal.” Luo Ran really didn’t take a mere red mark to heart. If he wanted to pursue anything, he’d rather it be about the bruises and wounds Lucas left on him that night, which even now weren’t completely healed. He truly was a dog.

Lucas took over the navigation system and entered a new course.

Before returning to the company, the hover car detoured to an alley and finally stopped in front of a convenience store.

Luo Ran turned to Lucas with a questioning look, only to see him step out of the hover car.

When he returned, it was with two bags in his hands.

The small bag had medicine, while the big bag carried a hot and steaming boxed meal.

Luo Ran was taken aback.

Lucas took out the medicinal cream and reached for Luo Ran’s wrist, but froze just inches away. 

As if he just thought of something, Lucas’ hand suddenly hesitated and stopped next to Luo Ran’s.

He was probably afraid of not controlling his strength again, seeing as the injury was right before his eyes.

Seeing Lucas like this, Luo Ran extended his hand until he touched that cold hard metal.

“Admiral…” Luo Ran smiled helplessly, soft as the summer breeze.

Lucas subconsciously held Luo Ran’s hand. In that instant, he thought that Luo Ran looked beautiful.

He didn’t say anything, just lowering his eyes to focus on applying medicine to Luo Ran’s wrist. 

Lucas’ movements were unusually light and meticulous.

It made Luo Ran suspect that his hand was broken.

At this time, Lucas became conscious of the fact that in hindsight he despised other people’s touch, yet Luo Ran was an exception. 

Luo Ran, watching Lucas cradle his hand and gently apply medicine to the red mark on his wrist, realized that… Lucas didn’t seem to reject contact with him.

Luo Ran wondered, maybe it’s because I’m always by his side?

Seeing as Lucas’ movements seemed a bit clumsy, he should have something on his mind. Luo Ran blinked his eyes. “Admiral, you should reflect. Before you said if anyone bullies me you’d help me beat them up, how come you’re like this now? It’s clearly not right.”*

Lucas was silent for a while, then said in a suppressed tone, “I’m sorry.”

Luo Ran finally couldn’t resist laughing.

Lucas looked at him in a daze then realized his secretary was teasing him and playing around.

“Luo! Ran!” Lucas coldly bit out, “Are you seeking death?”

Luo Ran didn’t stop.

Lucas exerted his strength, grabbing Luo Ran’s uninjured wrist and pressing him on the soft seats. He threatened, “Keep laughing.”

Luo Ran pressed his lips together.

With the medicine applied, Lucas stuffed the boxed meal into Luo Ran’s arms.

He tilted his head. “How did Admiral know I’m hungry?”

Lucas was rarely so considerate.

Lucas glanced at the bag of snacks Luo Ran brought onto the hover car and replied, “You said before, don’t eat snacks when you’re hungry.”

Luo Ran smiled and quietly ate his hot boxed meal. There was meat and vegetables, and even a poached egg.

Like this, the previous grievances seemed to disappear like smoke, and the two would no longer pursue it.

The next day, Luobing met with the Empire for the second time.

As before, Lucas sat to one side bored out of his mind, only there to show his face.

He thought, this kind of ceremonial but useless meeting still had to be held a few more times. If they wanted to meet then whatever, but they had to invite him as well.

But during the meeting, Luobing raised a new point. The previous evening, they received a report.

Luobing’s inspection team discovered a hidden village near the mine. The villagers said their ancestors left records of UNK which claimed that the rock granted longevity.

So now, not only was the energy abundant and its possibilities endless, but there was also the prospect of immortality.

Although it hadn’t been confirmed, it undoubtedly gave Luobing’s side more confidence.

As Luo Ran listened, he frowned.

When he was refining yesterday, his spiritual power was indeed stimulated. Was it because of this?

The representative from the research institute also read the report yesterday, however like Luo Ran he said nothing.

The empire’s matters were for the empire to deal with.

Luo Ran and Lucas left together after the meeting, but on the way to the hover car they bumped into Luobing’s royal siblings.

“Good afternoon, Admiral.” It was clear that Princess Lillia was very scared by Lucas before since she didn’t dare to be too arrogant even after so long.

Lucas looked at the two without a word.

“Um… I’m here to, to give this to the admiral.” Lillia held a pink invitation card to Lucas but he didn’t take it, so she turned to hand it to Luo Ran. “It’s an invitation from Luobing! Inviting the admiral to have dinner with us…”

So in the final analysis, it was just a date to get to know a potential marriage partner.

Lucas frowned. Extremely dissatisfied, he planned to simply bypass them and leave, but then he noticed the golden retriever in Prince Andika’s arms.

It wasn’t that he particularly liked dogs, only…

The DNA results were very clear, and the research institute couldn’t get any clues.

Lucas thought to himself, could that person have a pet dog?

Seeing that Lucas suddenly looked at his dog, Andika clutched the little creature closer.

“A-Admiral…” Andika stuttered out, “I-It doesn’t taste good… No, it…”

Lucas: “…”

Luo Ran: “…”

Pfft.

Luo Ran smiled and said, “The admiral only thinks it’s cute. He raises a wolfdog at home.”

“Ah, th-that’s not, that’s not what I meant…” Andika kept opening his mouth but felt that he’d only make it worse if he kept going, so he fell silent.

After the two boarded the hover car, Luo Ran opened the scented pink envelope and took out an exquisite invitation letter.

Before Luo Ran could say a word, Lucas said, “Not going.”

“Admiral, you have to go.” Luo Ran persuaded: “We can’t let Luobing have a chance to criticize us. We have to keep up appearances for now, it’s not too late to reject them later.”

Lucas didn’t care about these things. He directly changed the subject.

“Do you think…” Lucas stroked his chin with a dangerous glint in his eyes. “It’s possible that thing that night was the prince of Luobing?”

As the ‘thing’ that night, Luo Ran decisively replied, “He shouldn’t be.”

“Don’t you think it’s possible?” Lucas leaned back and crossed his legs. “Isn’t Luobing rushing to marry me? Wouldn’t it be easier after their rice is cooked?* They have the motivation. Besides, the prince also keeps a dog.”

“…I think,” Luo Ran said after a pause, “we can check it out. It’s never wrong to follow a lead.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows. “Then what did you find recently?”

“…There’s no progress for the time being.” Luo Ran told the truth, there really was nothing found because the one behind the drugs prepared for every eventuality. The trail of clues at the hotel was completely cold.

Unless, of course, they investigated everyone there one by one. But there were so many guests that night, not to mention the companions they brought whose names weren’t recorded, that it would take a year to go through them all.

“Tch.” Leaning on the armrest, Lucas said, “I’m not interested in dining with the princess. You can arrange it for the prince, I’ll leave after asking some things.”

Luo Ran: “…”

It’s really not him!

“Admiral.” Luo Ran hesitated then asked, “If we can’t find it… what then?”

“He’ll be found, even if we have to turn the empire upside down.” Lucas opened his eyes. “After that, that person is done for.”

To Lucas, that person’s impudence was the greatest provocation he had ever encountered.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran: “Got it.”

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Author:
At the time, he was terrified.

Footnotes:

1. Not right [只许州官放火，不许百姓点灯]: lit. ‘only allow officials to light fires, the people are not allowed to set lights’, meaning powerful people can do what they want while normal people are bound by laws; double standards; oppressive rule
2. After their rice is cooked [生米煮成熟饭]: after they get pregnant