Tag: interstellar (page 4 of 6)

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After Luo Ran left the research institute, he once again plunged into his work, until the weekend arrived in the blink of an eye. He’d promised Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng that he would make a trip home.

It was already quite late when he arrived, yet Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng were waiting for him at the door as always.

“Ranran’s back.” Wang Zitong, frowning, pulled him inside. “You don’t look good.”

“I’ve been busy recently… It’ll get better soon,” Luo Ran said.

“You’re never not busy,” Wang Zitong scolded.

His little brother and sister had already gone to bed. Wang Zitong sat Luo Ran at the table and handed him a bowl of hot soup.

“We kept dinner for you, can you still eat?”

Luo Ran paused, not daring to say that he hadn’t had dinner yet. He could only smile and say, “I can eat it.”

Wang Zitong warmed up the food for Luo Ran. She could tell just from the way he ate that he hadn’t had dinner — after all, his appetite wasn’t very big in the first place. She met Luo Cheng’s eyes, neither of them very happy.

“Um…” Wang Zitong smiled hesitantly. “Mom and dad’s terminals both received a notification… so, are you and the admiral together now?”

“…” Although he was already prepared, Luo Ran’s face still felt a little hot.

“It was an accident…” Luo Ran explained. “Back then, Princess Lillia was about to fall, and when I went up to help, I accidentally stood on the platform.”

“And afterwards?” Wang Zitong asked with a smile. “You received a score like this with the admiral, what do you plan to do?”

“Not much…” Luo Ran looked down. “We only have an ordinary employer and employee relationship. He doesn’t want to fall in love, and I don’t have any plans to either.”

“Really?”

Luo Ran nodded.

In the dark of night, yellow-orange lights flickered gently within the dining room.

Wang Zitong poured tea for herself and Luo Cheng as they accompanied Luo Ran.

Seeing that he’d almost finished eating, Wang Zitong spoke. “Ranran, mom and dad will speak plainly: we don’t want you to be with the admiral.”

“Mom… that’s too much,” Luo Ran said helplessly, “he’s just my boss. If you knew him, you’d know that he hates romantic things like this the most.”

“We’re saying just in case,” Luo Cheng interjected. “Just in case.”

“Have you ever thought about it?” Wang Zitong asked. “He’s a soldier, an admiral who might hand his life to the Empire at any time. Yes, the Empire is entering an era of peace, but for soldiers, there’s no such thing as peace. The more we citizens enjoy peaceful lives, the more our soldiers pay.”

Luo Ran paused, then nodded in agreement.

Wang Zitong continued, “We know that the admiral gave a lot for the Empire, so a person like him… won’t have much to spare for his partner even if he wanted to, do you understand? This is inevitable. Think about it, in the past year, how much time has the admiral spent in the Empire, and how much time has he spent fighting somewhere outside?”

Luo Cheng also spoke up. “Dad isn’t a civil servant, but I also know a bit. You’re currently the admiral’s secretary. If, one day — I’m saying if — he sacrificed himself for the country, you would be very sad, but you won’t be caught in the power struggle afterwards. But if you’re the admiral’s partner, you won’t be able to escape.”

Of course Luo Ran understood his father’s words.

If Lucas was really gone, then the eldest prince and the second prince, as well as the Empire’s various forces, would all focus on annexing Lucas’ army. At such a time, Luo Ran would bear the brunt of the struggle, and it might be difficult to keep his own life.

But what Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng said about sacrificing for the country was very uncomfortable for him to hear, he didn’t dare to imagine it.

“Mom, dad!” Luo Ran interrupted. “That isn’t important. I’m just his secretary, I only help him do his official duties. That has nothing to do with me.”

“Then mom will say one last thing — you remember Admiral Alton, right? Think about it carefully,” Wang Zitong said. She hesitated, then lowered her voice. “We don’t want to restrict you, we just… want you to live well.”

Admiral Alton, who died on the battlefield in the prime of his life, never married, nor did he ever intend to marry.

“Ranran, before… we…”

Seeing Wang Zitong choke up, Luo Cheng took over and said, “We’re sorry that we couldn’t take care of you before, so we hope that you’ll be fine in the future. We won’t interfere with your decision, we just want to give you some advice.”

Luo Ran paused. “No, I never thought you weren’t good to me…”

This was what he truly thought.

When he’d been bullied throughout high school, his grades were slipping because he was trapped in cabinets when he should have been attending class.

No matter how he tried to hide it, Luo Cheng had noticed that something was wrong. When he found out what happened, he was so angry that he sued Luo Ran’s main bully, Du Huai, and kicked up a huge fuss. But in the end, the case was suppressed by the powerful Viscount family with some hasty compensation.

However, he did win the right to transfer schools. He transferred Luo Ran to another school, then personally tutored him in his studies.

This incident compounded their family’s later problems. After Luo Cheng’s younger brother recorded his debt in Luo Cheng’s name, the debt collectors only chased Luo Cheng, and they couldn’t evade it at all.

Thinking of this…

Luo Ran lowered his eyes slightly.

He thought that Lucas wasn’t at all like what his parents said. If Lucas had a wife in the future… although it wasn’t very likely, if it did happen, Lucas would definitely treat them well.

Du Huai still came to trouble him at his new school from time to time, but since it was the school where Luo Cheng was teaching at, there weren’t many opportunities for him.

It was only after things happened at home and Luo Ran went out to work that Du Huai popped up in his face again.

Until… Lucas discovered that Luo Ran had been sleeping at the company, discovered this matter, then gave Du Huai a fierce beating and easily solved the trouble he’d been entangled by for a long time.

At the time, he was obviously just a new secretary who couldn’t do anything right.

Lucas… was very kind.

Not like what others said.

“Like I said,” Luo Ran said slowly as he finished eating and put down his spoon, “the compatibility scanner was an accident, I don’t have anything going on with the admiral.”

“Then…” Wang Zitong glanced at Luo Cheng, then smiled. “Would Ranran like to go on a blind date?”

Luo Ran: Huh??

“A few days ago your Aunt Chang called me to introduce her family’s alpha. Your dad’s thought it over and visited them to take a look. There aren’t any problems with his character, personality, or family status. I’ve also seen him — he looks good, he’s tall, gentle and polite, and most importantly, he’s honest. He works in the government as an auditor.”

Since Luo Cheng said he was fine, then he must be acceptable, and should even be exceptional.

However…

After a pause, Luo Ran asked plainly, “But such a good alpha… won’t he look down on me?”

Wang Zitong and Luo Cheng’s eyes widened in unison, as if they couldn’t believe their ears.

“Ranran, what are you saying?!” Wang Zitong’s voice rose sharply.

Luo Cheng also became agitated, shouting, “Who dares to look down on you!”

The two parents became unusually emotional.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran reminded them: “The previous four candidates all disappeared.”

In the past few years, there were very few who could satisfy Luo Cheng, and only four met Luo Ran for a blind date: an alpha, an omega, and two betas. They were all pretty much perfect in terms of appearance, ability, and family.

Their conversations flowed smoothly. Although Luo Ran had never felt anything, the other party always seemed satisfied and liked him — however, every single one disappeared and lost contact.

“Hm…” Luo Cheng frowned.

“That’s because they don’t have eyes, or they don’t think they’re good enough for you,” Wang Zitong declared.

Luo Ran only hummed a reply.

“When you’re less busy, I’ll send your contact details to each other? Afterwards, it’s up to you how it goes.”

“Okay…”

Luo Ran nodded. He was used to these things being arranged by his parents and had no objections.

He’d wait to see how it went.

* * *

Elsewhere, Lucas, laying on his bed, was also on his terminal like Luo Ran.

He’d received a report from the research institute regarding the compatibility scanner’s 200% result, which they suggested had a few possible causes.

One: Lucas was an SSS alpha, and the other party was an SSS omega. When a triple S matched with a triple S, how could the result not be high?

Two: Lucas has already combined with the other party, and their pheromones matched perfectly.

Three: Lucas was unsuitable for all others except this person. The lower the compatibility between Lucas and others, the more of a rebound the suitable person would receive.

The research institute leaned towards the third option.

–Luo Ran is the only person suited for you, so the score is extremely high.

The only.

Lucas pinched the terminal in his hands, thinking that even that broken machine knew that Luo Ran liked him.

He… He didn’t know if he liked Luo Ran or not, but he knew that ‘the only’ was right. Except for Luo Ran, no one else was possible. It would be too disgusting.

Lucas glanced at the notification on the terminal he hadn’t dismissed yet, which wished him and Luo Ran a good relationship for a hundred years.

He suddenly became curious.

So, he clicked in and followed the notification to the starnet forum.

[Bump]* AAASDFJKJ THE SECRETARY AND THE ADMIRAL ARE REAL!

Lucas: confused.

Real what? Really handsome? Really strong?

Why do they only speak halfway?

[Pinned] A record of a wonderful love, connected and sorted! A complete timeline of love!

[RPF] Click to see Admiral/Secretary’s wonderful night — a collaboration between the great gods, papa and Kerria!*

[RPF] Great Author Chakran has been in seclusion for many years, but can’t resist this wonderful love, and once again picks up her pen to write the life of the admiral and the secretary! Can she become even more popular than Nana?

[Bump] AAAH why aren’t they married yet! Admiral Lucas, can you not do it?!

Lucas: deeply confused.

Except for the ‘Admiral Lucas, can you not do it’, he understood none of it.

What the hell was this place?

A group of devils danced wildly, crying and shouting everywhere.

Lucas frowned slightly as he tried to figure it out.

He saw the group ID at the top of the forum, studied it for a while, and finally understood that this was a chat group.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Join our group, we’ll take you to explore the meaning of love between the admiral and the secretary!

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

This should be an academic research organisation, right?

Would they discuss romance? And teach how to deal with playboys?

Lucas remembered Luo Ran telling him that when spending time online, he shouldn’t use his official account, otherwise he would affect the army’s image, so he switched to his smurf according to the notes Luo Ran gave him before applying to join the group.

Soon, someone with the ID ‘One Tender Blossom’ sent him a private message.

@One Tender Blossom: Hi cutie! Hahahaha your ID is so cute, it seems we have a fan of our admiral here! It’s like this, we don’t want antis mixing in, so we need some verification! Please give some evidence that you’re a CP fan!

@Lucas: Speak human.

Lucas really couldn’t understand it. He knew all those words separately, but not when they were put in that order.

@One Tender Blossom: …Fuck, cutie’s a talent, the tone is too similar. It’s like this, we need some evidence, for example receipts of charity donations or screenshots of buying merch, like buying the same style of clothing as the admiral or the secretary…

Lucas still wasn’t totally clear, but it seemed like they wanted something imitating what he or his secretary had, so it should be even better if he gave the real thing.

Thus, he took a photo of his own jacket.

It was the one Luo Ran took to repair before. Lucas was too lazy to put it away once he got it back, so he kept wearing it all this time.

After sending it, One Tender Blossom only returned an ‘erm…’ emoticon.

Then he was allowed to join.

@Triumphant Once Again: Ah! Welcome! Let’s do the ceremony! Shout with me three times: admiral x secretary is real!

@One Tender Blossom: Hold it! The newbie hasn’t passed verification yet, I just pulled them in to talk about it.

@Triumphant Once Again: ?

@One Tender Blossom: It’s like this, an earlier newbie sent a photo of a CGH jacket as their verification, the same style as the admiral. But CGH is a limited edition, there are only two in the world — one for the admiral and one for that newbie — so one of you must’ve bought a fake!

@Triumphant Once Again: I understand, @False Truths come out! After all, our group has always prohibited the purchase of counterfeit goods. I’d like to warn our other babies not to buy from black-hearted merchants who take advantage of CP hype to make money, our money must only go to aboveboard merch shops!

@Winter’s Autumn Sun: +1 our CP has political implications, so we have to be strict!

@One Tender Blossom: @False Truths @Lucas

@Triumphant Once Again: @False Truths @Lucas

@Qiao Beauty: @False Truths @Lucas

* * *

@Winter’s Autumn Sun: @False Truths @Lucas

Most of the moderators came out.

Lucas was very confused.

Fuck, were they now accusing his jacket as fake? He bought fake goods?

Outrageous. This jacket was a collaboration between Luo Ran and CGH, Luo Ran and CGH’s designer personally made it!

Elsewhere, Luo Ran was also very confused.

What he had was Lucas’ own jacket, how could it be fake?

---

Author:
Admiral: [grandpa on public transport looking at his phone.jpg]

Translator:
Research institute: option three
Me: what about all of the above

Lucas in this chapter:

Yes, the title is the same as chapter 39

Footnotes:

1. Bump [灌水]: lit. irrigation; refers to a netizen behaviour of users replying to posts with meaningless words or spamming expressions which add nothing to the topic, e.g. like, +1, thank you for posting
2. Kerria [地棠]: I think this is supposed to be 棣棠 from 棣棠花 (both pronounced dìtáng), which is the name of the Japanese rose (Kerria japonica), also known as Japanese kerria.

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Lucas froze, and Luo Ran also froze.

The people below boiled.

Lillia, who’d been pushed off the platform by Lucas and now had to see this, ran away in tears. It seemed that she was hit hard.

Then…

Then the people and ministers who came to join the fun began to shout.

“Not getting married is unreasonable!”

“Not getting married is unreasonable!!”

“Get married! Get married!!”

Lucas still stood as upright as ever, with only his bright red ears betraying anything amiss.

Meanwhile, Luo Ran couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into.

As the shouting got louder, Luo Ran jumped down from the platform and used his fastest speed to… run away.

Lucas paused a beat, then also strode away.

The two boarded a hovercar amidst deafening roars.

* * *

Then, there was silence.

An eerie silence.

An awkward silence.

Maybe… an anxious silence.

The hovercar took off and smoothly drove back to the company.

Along the way, it was so quiet that even the sound of Luo Ran flipping through his documents was piercing to the ear.

With Lucas stiffly sitting beside him with his arms crossed, Luo Ran felt that this sound was too incompatible, so he turned on his terminal.

[The whole world celebrates! The admiral and the secretary are official!!!]

XXX: AAAAAAAAH Hooray! Hooray! My CP is real!

XXX: Oh my gods, it’s too incredible for an alpha and a beta to have a fit like this!! I didn’t expect the system to actually go up to 200? I thought a full score was 100! As expected of my CP!

XXX: AAAAAA!!!!! It’s said that it was Luobing’s princess who dragged the admiral to the compatibility scanner and pulled him around, then Secretary Luo was so jealous that he stepped forward and pulled her away so he could test with the admiral, and proved his official status with a 200%!! Heavens, a jealous Secretary Luo is too cute!

XXX: AAAAAA!!!!! so this is an official announcement, right?! Are they going to get married! Then then then, then what do we call the future heir of the Imperial Army!

Luo Ran: “…”

He calmly closed the terminal.

The two of them sat face to face, and as if sitting on pins and needles, neither of them said a word until they reached their destination.

“Admiral, we’re here.” Luo Ran stood.

“Oh, yeah.” Lucas got up as well.

Maybe they were in too much of a hurry to exit, so they happened to bump into each other.

Luo Ran immediately took a big step back in fright.

Lucas: “…”

Luo Ran smiled, though he clutched at his documents. “Please go first, Admiral.”

Lucas touched his nose and also stepped back. “You, get off.”

“…”

Luo Ran was a little hesitant to go out. He probably hesitated for too long, because when he took a step forward, Lucas also thought he didn’t plan to go and moved as well.

The two collided again, and this time, Luo Ran slammed into Lucas’ chest.

“…!”

“I-I’ll go now.” Luo Ran quickly put some distance between them and jumped down.

He really never thought that although he and Lucas had been together for so many years, there would be a day when he’d be so embarrassed.

Lucas followed behind him. When they took the elevator, they could feel everyone’s curious gazes, which weren’t hidden in the least.

After all, everyone’s terminals had received the notification.

When they finally reached the top floor, they saw Rong Duo sitting obediently at her desk with shining eyes and clenched fists.

“Se-Secretary Luo!! Does the secretary’s office need to prepare PR!”

Wuwuwuwu my CP is real!!

Rong Duo had composed several symphonies in her heart, and cried enough to fill a lake. She’d also already planned out how to write the official announcement.

“Yes,” Luo Ran said, then took a deep breath. “Prepare public relations to clarify the truth, don’t let everyone continue to misunderstand.”

“Yeah… Huh?” Rong Duo thought she’d heard it wrong.

Luo Ran was incomparably calm. “I’ll write the manuscript myself, then you get all the official accounts to reblog it, so that we can clarify the false scandal between me and the admiral.”

Rong Duo was stunned.

Rong Duo was confused.

Rong Duo subconsciously looked at Lucas.

Lucas looked gloomy and expressionless, as if he would eat a child in the next second.

“Do as he says!” Lucas turned around, strode into his office, and slammed the door shut.

“Admiral, he…” Rong Duo gulped.

“Of course he’s angry…” Luo Ran lowered his eyes and said helplessly, “It should be because of the scandal, he’s always hated these things. It’s okay, we just have to clarify it as soon as possible.”

Rong Duo: “…”

W-Was it like this?!

Why did it seem like something was wrong…

Rong Duo blankly turned on the computer while recalling Lucas’ expression.

And in the office, Lucas was so angry that he guzzled down half a bottle of water.

Bastard!

This little bastard!

Lucas sat at his desk with a heavy face.

The little bastard clearly liked him so much, why was he so resistant to the official announcement?

Could it be that he despised him for being dirty?

Or was he worried that the interstellar pirates weren’t solved, so he might die on the battlefield at any time?

Or did he not like his personality?

Zhou Mingkai once told him that everyone thought he was too fierce and too difficult to get along with. Did Luo Ran also think like that?

So he only flirted and refused to be responsible?

Fuck, what a playboy.

This word that Zhou Mingkai mentioned was too suitable!

When he flirted, he let himself go and did whatever, but now that the time came, he refused to be responsible.

Scumbag!

Lucas angrily gulped down the rest of the water.

Outside, Luo Ran was also drinking water — to suppress his shock.

As he wrote the clarification, he also kept an eye on his terminal.

Xia Zhi and others who knew him all hurriedly messaged him to ask if he really got together with Lucas, and Luo Ran had to explain to them one by one.

He wanted to cry but had no tears.

Don’t mention the marshal and his wife who excitedly asked if they could arrange the wedding, even Luo Cheng and Wang Zitong had sent him messages to call him home for the weekend because they had something to discuss.

Their tone was especially, especially serious.

Luo Ran helplessly agreed, then posted the clarification.

@Luo Ran the Secretary: I sincerely apologise regarding today’s events. I should not have accidentally stood on the compatibility scanner and undergone matching with the admiral, which caused misunderstandings and consumed starnet resources. The relationship between the admiral and I is not one that requires testing with the compatibility scanner. The system showing 200% when its perfect score is 100% should be an error, and this will be investigated. Once again, I apologise for causing trouble for the admiral and contributing to false rumours.

I swear to be more attentive in the future, and hope that my friendship with the admiral will last.

Luo Ran sent a post, and everyone once again flocked to it to like and comment.

XXX: Okay okay okay!! The admiral and the secretary will always be friends!! Always!

XXX: AAAAH!!! Secretary Luo, you’re so beautiful and clever, I like you so much! You and the admiral will always be friends!

XXX: Always friends! 999999!*

Luo Ran felt a little relief at everyone’s reactions.

Then he noticed that the CP group he joined had posted a general announcement at some point.

[Notice] Secretary Luo posted! Everyone can go comment and support, restrain your emotions, and politely wish the secretary and the admiral a long friendship! Don’t scare Secretary Luo, he’s shy! Let’s wait until the official announcement!

Luo Ran: “…”

What… What kind of human suffering was this?

But after all the excitement, Luo Ran still had to return to the days when he didn’t even have time to be troubled. He also didn’t forget to ask the research institute to check how a 200% result came about.

The wedding, the UNK, and the imprisoned pirates… There was also the normal workload from the company and military HQ. When it was all added together with the backlog from his and Lucas’ absence, Luo Ran became so busy that he couldn’t even bother to eat dinner.

A few days later, Luo Ran visited the newly built UNK Special Research Centre.

He didn’t have the authority to go in himself, so one of the managers had to lead him through the many layers of defences and corridors until they reached the research centre’s laboratory.

“Ranran’s here,” Xia Zhi, wearing a white lab coat, greeted him with a smile and a file in his hand. “It’s more annoying the first time you come, next time you can use my ID, you won’t have to go through the checks again.” Xia Zhi shook his head. “It was the same my first time as well.”

As one of the project leaders, Xia Zhi’s ID would be very convenient to use.*

Luo Ran took it and thanked him with a smile.

Today, Luo Ran was here as a representative for Lucas and the military to follow up on the research centre’s progress and to confirm its security.

After all, the Empire’s ores and UNK had always been under the charge of Lucas’ company and army.

“Secretary Luo.” Shen Xiluo also stepped forward to say hello. “It just so happens that we have a test this afternoon, would you like to watch?”

“A test?”

“Studying the effects of UNK on the human body,” Xia Zhi replied.

So half an hour later, Luo Ran followed them to another lab.

Through a pane of glass, he saw several uniformed men inject something into two lightly-dressed men. Some machines were placed to the side.

Then the uniformed men all retreated behind the instruments and let the two men wrap sensors around their wrists and begin to fight.

Since it was just for an experiment, the two men didn’t go too far.

The uniformed staff inside began to record data, and Xia Zhi and Shen Xiluo were also observing the instruments from outside.

Shen Xiluo explained to Luo Ran, “According to our current research, after a small amount of UNK is injected into the human body, our brains will be stimulated and become clearer. Not only that, but strength, speed, and agility all improve as well.”

Luo Ran glanced at Xia Zhi in surprise.

Their previous conjecture was confirmed.

This UNK could act as a stimulant, similar to some banned drugs.

As a result, the immediate priority was to make sure that there were no side effects.

“Abusing it is a danger, but drug abuse is possible no matter which drug, not to mention something like this which can increase physical ability.” Xia Zhi shook his head. “However, the Council and the royal family were obviously very excited when they found out. They can’t wait to seize development rights and use it on all our Imperial soldiers.”

Luo Ran frowned slightly.

“Don’t worry, we’ll do our best to stop them,” Xia Zhi said, shaking his head again. “Me and old Shen were both under General Alton for a while, we won’t use soldiers’ bodies as tools.”

Luo Ran looked at the two men inside the room, who should be guards of the research centre.

As they sparred, Luo Ran could see that they moved extremely quickly, and that although they looked relaxed and obviously didn’t exert all their strength against each other, their punches held shocking force, and several holes had appeared in the floor.

“Hoo…” Xia Zhi lightly sighed. “If you injected someone like the admiral who’s already heaven-defyingly strong, that would really be a human-shaped machine gun…”

“No way.” Luo Ran’s face darkened.

“Huh…?” Xia Zhi jumped.

Noticing that he was a little rude, Luo Ran quickly smiled. “Sorry, it’s just that the admiral is mentally unstable… he can’t be injected with this. SSS alpha are inherently prone to going berserk, they can’t do it.”

“Hey…! You misunderstood, how would it be possible!” Xia Zhi swiftly explained himself. “I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry.” Luo Ran also felt a little embarrassed.

After the test was over, Luo Ran left in a hurry. He still had many documents to read, and his time was very tight.

“Secretary Luo loves the admiral very much.” Shen Xiluo pushed up his glasses and hinted bluntly, “I’m slightly envious.”

“…” Xia Zhi internally rolled his eyes. “That’s because my family’s Ranran is a stupid kid. As long as you treat him well, he’ll return it ten times over. Before, the admiral was good to him, so of course Ranran is devoted to him. It’s not necessarily love.”

Shen Xiluo frowned, seemingly puzzled.

“For some reason, Ranran was bullied while in school, that’s why he has claustrophobia — when he was young, he’d been locked in a school cupboard for a long time. After graduation, he had a sudden change in the family, and after he started to work he was inevitably bullied again, then the admiral was the first person to protect him.”

“Why?” Shen Xiluo always wanted to get to the bottom of things.

“Just…” Xia Zhi frowned deeply. “At the time, a pervert kept chasing him. They seemed to be the child of some noble family with money and connections, so everyone listened to him. Plus Ranran at the time was both good-looking and had good grades, and with his rare silver hair, he attracted jealousy everywhere.”

Shen Xiluo thought about it and felt that he had a faint impression. He seemed to have heard Lucas talk about it when Luo Ran first took office. “That pervert… was he the son of the viscount family?”

“Exactly,” Xia Zhi said. “The pervert still pestered Ranran even after they graduated. Later, when Ranran became a secretary, he was too scared to go home and kept sleeping at the company until the admiral chased him away. This isn’t a secret, if you want to know more you can ask him yourself, he won’t mind.”

Shen Xiluo nodded.

“So, don’t show those fucking videos to the admiral, how embarrassing,” Xia Zhi snarled angrily. “Ranran told me everything. Why the hell would you share those videos, are you crazy! It’s not like you’ve learnt anything, with such crappy skills, even a massage stick would feel better. Watching them was a waste of your time.”

Shen Xiluo: “…”

Shen Xiluo’s whole face alternated between white and blue, his entire body petrified, and his originally rational appearance was completely shattered.

“I…” Shen Xiluo was about to defend himself when Xia Zhi simply strode away.

Shen Xiluo: “…”

O-Oh…

---

Translator:
My life’s getting unfortunately hectic, so this novel will update every 2 weeks until further notice. On the bright side, Shen Xiluo is a laugh as always.

Footnotes:

1. 999999: in netizen slang, 9 represents 久 (meaning ‘a long time’) because they sound similar (jiǔ)
2. Don’t do this, it’s irresponsible (and may go very very badly for you, depending on lab protocol) to hand your access card to other people and you WILL get yelled at by your supervisor.

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The forum went crazy that night.

The Imperial fleet returned after obtaining victory, and both the Imperial citizens and its starnet exploded.

Another victory!

And the harvest was quite good. It was rumoured that they even had to transfer another battleship from the nearby B648 to hold all the captured pirates.

Both the officers and soldiers passionately described the day’s events.

There were quite a few soldiers who also excitedly talked about how Secretary Luo was so strong, so clever, how he was the admiral’s best support despite it being his first time on the battlefield, and of the deep bond of trust between the admiral and secretary.

@My Lucky Day: As a low-level military officer, I was fortunate enough to see that the colour of the admiral’s battleship and Secretary Luo’s hair are the same — what does this mean? Secretary Luo is the admiral’s strongest strength and his strongest shield! Secretary Luo is the admiral’s wife! Secretary Luo is very important to the admiral! Ah, it’s a wonderful love!!!

@Lu Cheng the Adjutant: Too amazing! No need to discuss at all! Secretary Luo whooshed and knew what the admiral was thinking! They worked together like duang duang duang! I can’t talk about the specifics, I can only say that they trust each other a lot! They handed their lives to each other on the battlefield!

Once, Secretary Luo risked using himself as bait, and boom! The enemy hit Secretary Luo’s fighter, but our Secretary Luo’s skills were brilliant! He escaped early, then boom! The admiral blew the enemy to smithereens! Then! Lion 01 stretched out his hand! And caught Secretary Luo’s escape pod! A big palm held a small escape pod!

Ah! A wonderful love!

@Autumn Sun, Winter Rain: I saw it! When everything was over, the admiral and the secretary hugged in the hangar! They whispered to each other, and Secretary Luo even got on tiptoe and kissed the admiral! Everyone exploded! Secretary Luo’s face was super red! The admiral looked serious, but in the end he couldn’t hold back his smile! An absolutely wonderful love!

@Lone Wanderer: With one hand, the admiral held the secretary’s waist, and on the other, he touched his forehead to his mecha. He guards the hallowed land with his mecha, and surrounds his lover with his body. A wonderful love!

The Empire immersed itself in revelry.

They revelled in their victory, in the trust and love between Secretary Luo and their admiral.

Everyone looked forward to it too much. They hoped to see Lucas and Luo Ran get married, to leave an excellent descendant for the Empire who would be a perfect heir to the army and continuously guard the Empire.*

Their names represented victory and hope for a good life.

However, the people involved had no idea this was happening.

In a corridor of the battleship.

Luo Ran followed behind Lucas through a meeting, sorted data, decided on a route… After everything was done and Lucas was walking expressionlessly to his room, it was already deep into the night cycle.

Luo Ran followed silently. When he saw that there wasn’t any official business, he stopped. “Take a good rest, Admiral, I’ll go back first.”

“Wait.” Lucas ordered, “Stay there, don’t move.”

Luo Ran: “…”

What should come still came.

Luo Ran stiffened his spine and endured his shame as he tried his best to keep his tone calm. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to do it back then, my apologies, I’ll pay attention next time.”

Lucas hated physical contact. Apart from his earlier rut, he could only stand a few light touches after they’d worked together for several years. Now, with this kiss… Lucas wouldn’t feel disgusted, right?

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Luo Ran explained. “It’s my first time here and I was caught up in everyone’s excitement, so I suddenly lost my wits for a while. I don’t have any other thoughts.”

“No need to explain.” Lucas thought to himself, Isn’t it just that you like me so much that you lost control?

Tsk. This little fool. The more he covered it up, the more obvious it was.

“Admiral, I…”

“Okay, you don’t need to say it.” Lucas looked sideways at Luo Ran with a smiling face full of doting, as if he’d seen through everything. “I’ll allow it.”

He was even a bit similar to the description in Nana’s stories — with his eyes curved up, he looked three parts cool, three parts arrogant, and four parts indifferent.

…Allow it?

Luo Ran was a little confused.

Did he mean… he didn’t mind it?

Repeating his words, Luo Ran said, “Admiral, what happened was a misunderstanding, please forget it as soon as possible.”

Lucas frowned slightly.

What’s he doing now?

Playing hard to get?

He sneered, then grabbed Luo Ran’s wrist and pressed him against the window.

“Luo Ran.”

“…” Luo Ran watched Lucas nervously.

“You’re really…”

Trying to play tricks again!

But then Lucas remembered what Zhou Mingkai said. He couldn’t do this, Zhou Mingkai reminded him, with Luo Ran’s high self-esteem, he couldn’t expose him.

Then thinking of what Shen Xiluo said… Forget it, they as alpha had to be more tolerant of their beta and omega.

Lucas generously chose to condone Luo Ran’s insidious scheming.

“Try another kiss,” Lucas said, unsubtly changing the subject.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran felt like dying on the spot, or digging a hole and crawling in. “Admiral, I am sincerely apologising, it really was a moment of impulse! I…”

His eyes widened.

Because… Lucas bowed his head and gently kissed him.

Luo Ran froze as soon as pressure met his lips. He was completely unable to react, not understanding why things developed in this way.

“Give it back to you.” Lucas smiled and raised his eyebrow. “You can try next time.”

Then he turned and walked away.

Luo Ran: “…”

Even as Lucas’ back faded out of sight, Luo Ran still stood there in a daze.

It was completely out of his expectations.

Incredible, unparalleled in the world.

Luo Ran’s face burst into flames, and the fire even spread to his ears and neck.

Although Luo Ran knew that Lucas didn’t mean anything by it, and was merely taking revenge in his straight man way, he still felt extremely… ashamed.

Elsewhere, after Lucas returned to his room and made sure there was no one around, he excitedly gave the wall a hard punch.

Holy shit!

Luo Ran kissed him, and he kissed back!

Lucas’ ears were also a little red.

Holy shit!

Why was his secretary like this? Just because he was beautiful, handsome, cool, had both a perfect figure and perfect personality, and was amazing even on the battlefield, he played with his feelings at will.

And…

Lucas found that ever since he watched Shen Xiluo’s damn video, he didn’t seem to be able to look straight at Luo Ran. He hadn’t felt anything before, but it was different now that they were done with work, especially just now when he shackled Luo Ran for an instant.

His mind became a mess as soon as he saw Luo Ran.

It felt much too disrespectful towards Luo Ran, and seemed especially… immoral and unethical!

Lucas, sitting on the edge of his bed, frowned and resisted the urge to give Shen Xiluo a punch.

Just because of that depraved pervert, he, a dignified admiral of the Empire, had his mind filled with this trash!

…Speaking of.

Lucas suddenly felt very impatient. He wanted to quickly return to the capital and get Luo Ran to step up his investigation.

Who the hell was the omega that night?!

He took off his jacket, annoyed.

When can I fix this!

As a result, neither Lucas nor Luo Ran slept that night.

* * *

The fleet leisurely cruised their way back to the Empire and officially arrived two days later.

As the battleships made their way to the military camp, the Empire’s blue sky was covered with fireworks.

Except for the battleships’ flight path, the entire sky was filled with them.

The citizens, knowing that the army would be coming home today, had bought the fireworks in advance to welcome their heroic admiral’s return.

Gorgeous, colourful flowers bloomed among the clouds.

They competed with the sun for radiance.

It was also the first time for Luo Ran to be standing inside a battleship during this event. With him being so close, it felt as if he were in a sea of flowers.

Luo Ran suddenly felt a bit proud.

He felt proud of Lucas.

“We’re back,” Wang Qiuyang commented with a grin. He and Lu Cheng stood beside Luo Ran. “We’re back safe.”

The three of them watched the fireworks together, feeling a bit strange.

Previously, Wang Qiuyang had thought that he wouldn’t be able to come back, and even planned to exchange his and his brothers’ lives for time.

Yet things turned out unexpectedly well.

“Yeah.” Luo Ran smiled back. “Next, we need to start preparing for Adjutant Lu’s wedding with Prince Andika.”

Lu Cheng’s face flushed. “Ah… yes, yes.”

Lucas and Luo Ran soon became very busy, to the point that Luo Ran wanted to split himself into two.

Although Lu Cheng’s wedding arrangements were mostly handled by the Imperial government and Luobing’s royal family, he nonetheless had a military identity, so Luo Ran was also partially responsible.

A new batch of UNK had arrived safely in the Empire. The Imperial family and the Council took the opportunity to establish a new department — the UNK Special Research Institute — and transferred Xia Zhi, who was the first to successfully refine UNK, all the researchers and omega involved with UNK at the research institute, and their corresponding medical staff… all the relevant personnel were transferred. It instantly became the most important project of the Empire.

Apart from this, Luo Ran also had to take care of his usual military and company work, as well as the many documents which piled up during his and Lucas’ trip.

And with Luobing and the Empire’s renewed talks, everything happened to collide.

Marriage: between Lu Cheng and the little prince.

Changes to the contract: the Empire didn’t intend to let Luobing take cheap advantages.

Unusually, Lucas spoke up at the meeting.

The original contract was to exchange one ton of ore for five tons of food. Now, with the UNK as it was, Luobing requested to reduce the ore by a third, and — since the UNK was so precious — to increase the food to at least seven tons.

The lion opened its mouth, because UNK was indeed rare.

After Lucas and the Council discussed amongst themselves, they made a decision.

“One third less ore, no problem,” Lucas said with crossed arms and legs.

The Luobing envoys immediately became happy.

“The Empire can also ensure the safety of all future UNK ore transports.”

The envoys were even happier.

He continued, “It’s no problem to add two tons of food, the Empire can even give up to ten tons.”

Now, the envoys and princes who were observing the meeting began to feel that something was wrong. Luobing’s eldest prince furrowed his brows. “Conditions?” he asked.

Lucas smirked. “Luobing’s army will merge with the Imperial army.”

In other words, Luobing would become a true vassal state of the Empire, and all its military assets would be under the Empire’s control.

The prince’s expression froze.

Lucas raised his eyebrow. “You can refuse, but then the Empire won’t care shit about escorting the UNK.”

Those hyperlanes were all fought for by Lucas, inch by inch. If they lost the Empire’s protection, it was easy to imagine how the interstellar pirates would covet the UNK.

In this operation, after Lucas withdrew from the southeast hyperlane, Luobing lost quite a lot of their UNK and could only seek help from the Empire. Thankfully for them, Lucas left some people there to oppose the pirates, otherwise they would’ve lost even the little bit left.

It was a plain slap in the face.

Without the Empire, Luobing wouldn’t even be able to export UNK.

“Please let us… consider it again,” Luobing’s eldest prince sighed heavily.

* * *

After the meeting ended, Zhou Mingkai asked curiously, “Will they agree?”

“Yes,” Luo Ran replied with a smile.

Because they had no other choice.

This operation was the proof.

“So what if they don’t agree. We won’t die without the UNK, but if they don’t have food, hmph.” Lucas crossed his arms, full of arrogance.

Luo Ran, chuckling lightly, was about to say something when he saw Princess Lillia and Eldest Prince Zhou Mingyu approaching them.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran and Zhou Mingkai, who knew what was going on, started to have headaches.

“Admiral…!” Lillia cheerily skipped over. “My royal father wants us to try again! At least, we at least have to use the compatibility scanner first, right?”

Andika’s wedding would take place in just half a month and he instantly became the most important person among the Luobing royal family. With a previously inconspicuous illegitimate child suddenly stepping on her head, Lillia no longer cared about Lucas, nor did she care about liking Luo Ran, she just wanted to marry! And she had to marry someone more powerful than that Adjutant Lu!

Lucas’ expression instantly twisted, as if he’d eaten shit. “The fuck we’re trying, scram!”

Shivering, Lillia ducked behind Zhou Mingyu. “Y-you promised my royal father!” she said to him.

Zhou Mingyu let out a sigh, then looked at Lucas and Luo Ran. “This… I can’t do anything about it, it’s just going to the compatibility scanner to take a look, Admiral, we might as well try it?”

Since Zhou Mingyu already came forward, Luo Ran could only say, “Admiral, let’s have a try.” Then he added in a lower voice, “Do it once to cut off Luobing’s hopes, then they’ll never bother Admiral again.”

After swearing a few times under his breath, Lucas reluctantly agreed.

* * *

At the Empire’s compatibility scanner.

The compatibility scanner was just a small machine with a platform that could only hold a few people, and was built beneath the Empire’s tree of longevity.

Later generations didn’t deliberately modify it after its construction, instead leaving it largely as it was. They only added a large screen to the tree trunk to display the results.

The tree of longevity was a centuries-old tree that towered towards the sky and grew so wide that it needed several full grown men to encircle it.

Because of this, its branches were covered with red ribbons bearing names, all of which represented the wishes of many pairs of lovers.

It was a very romantic place.

“Admiral, don’t look so reluctant, and keep your mouth shut,” Luo Ran whispered to Lucas. “Look, a lot of people are here to watch the show.”

Knowing that Lucas was going to brave the compatibility scanner again, many enthusiastic people — normal citizens and nobles alike — were here to watch the fun.

Lucas rolled his eyes.

Then he and Lillia went up and stood on the platform.

Beep– Beep–

“Starting calculations…”

“Progress: 10%, 20%…”

* * *

“100%, calculations are complete.”

Everyone looked up at the screen.

“…”

Test results for Lucas Aldor and Lillia Grande:

-78%

There was also a line of automatic system comments at the bottom: work harder, you’ll find someone better in the future.

Lillia was stunned.

When she first saw this number, she thought that out of a perfect 100% score, she got 78%, which could be a record high, because it was difficult for ordinary people to pass 50%. But before she could scream with joy, she saw the ‘-’.

Lillia: “…”

The people below couldn’t help but laugh.

Luo Ran helplessly shook his head. As expected.

“No, no way…! Ugh…” Lillia cried unwillingly, still staring at the screen. “I-It must be because we stood in the wrong place! Admiral, come closer!”

Lillia stretched out her hand to drag Lucas over.

“Scram!”

Lucas was very annoyed, he’d already made a compromise to come at all. Now that Lillia wanted to touch him, Lucas, who was extremely disgusted by physical contact with outsiders, instantly erupted and viciously slapped her hand away.

With Lucas’ strength, he easily pushed a petite girl like Lillia quite a few steps away even if he didn’t intend to use force.

When Luo Ran, who stood below the platform, saw that Lillia was about to fall over, he immediately jumped up and supported her.

What a joke, if people knew that the Empire’s admiral pushed Luobing’s princess off the platform, that would be terrible.

Beep– Beep–

“Starting calculations…”

“Progress: 10%, 20%…”

Lucas: ?

Luo Ran: ?

Lillia: ?

…!

Only then did Luo Ran realise that in order to help Lillia, he had stepped onto the platform.

“100%, calculations are complete.”

Test results for Lucas Aldor and Luo Ran:

200%

Comments: not getting married is unreasonable.

Ding dong!!

“Congratulations on triggering the system’s hidden condition! A once-in-a-century 200%!”

Luo Ran: “……”

How could it be 200… how could there be a 200!

Wasn’t the highest score 100?!

Did it get a bug?

Or…

Why did he and Lucas get such a high score!!

Lucas clearly never got higher than a 20 with anyone else?!

Luo Ran cracked.

This triggering condition was added to the system later, and was connected to the display screen. As soon as the score exceeded 90, the system would set off fireworks and broadcast it on the starnet in real time. However, very few people had ever received this network-wide blessing.

And so, at this moment–

Boom—— boom——

Boom——

Five or six fireworks continuously flew up to the sky. This was already Luo Ran’s third time viewing fireworks in a short period.

…And it was related to Lucas every time.

The tree also exploded with colourful streamers.

Luo Ran and Lucas stood blankly on the high platform as ribbons of every colour rained down on their shoulders, with a tree of love behind them.

Just like…

A wedding scene.

At the same time, an automatic notification popped up on the starnet.

[Congratulations to Lucas Aldor and Luo Ran for achieving 200% on the compatibility scanner, we wish the two lovers well for a hundred years!]

---

Translator:
I… almost forgot to translate this chapter… so it’s a bit rushed and may have more mistakes than usual. Please point them out in the comments!

Footnotes:

1. This seems… like excessive expectations for a child. Poor kid, I wouldn’t want to grow up with all that on my shoulders. And for gods’ sake, let Lucas/Luo Ran have some privacy. At first the netizens’ support was cute, but now it’s verging on uncomfortably nosy for me.

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The starry sky lit up.

Amongst deafening noise, Luo Ran imagined that he could even feel the battleship shake.

Fireworks bloomed on the pirates’ warships, fighters, and mecha one after another. This wave of attacks caught them by complete surprise, so they could only passively defend and fall back under the onslaught.

“What’s going on?! Boss, this…”

“Boss, should we retreat?” the scarred man next to Huntsman asked in a low tone.

“We can’t retreat.” Huntsman’s gaze was heavy as he watched the bright red dot on the monitoring screen get ever closer. 

That was Lucas.

Single-handedly, fearlessly, he charged towards Huntsman’s flagship, followed by his troops.

“We can only fight to the end,” Huntsman sneered.

Not far away, Lucas set his sights on his person, as if he’d decided to behead the snake’s head first.

Huntsman saw his expression clearly.

It was as if Lucas was provoking and showing off to him, telling him: no matter where you go, whether that be the UNK hyperlane or B647, you will never win.

Victory does not belong to you.

* * *

“Barton, Zheng Lan, listen up!” Lucas sat within his mecha with a hand on the joystick and intently observed the display panels in front of him. “Prepare to bombard the enemy flagship!”

The Imperial army under Lucas’ command was extraordinarily organised, and quickly surrounded the interstellar pirates. Using a staggered firing sequence to attack and defend in turn, they slowly pressed their advantage.

On the one hand, Lucas gave orders to the adjutants and corporals leading their formations, and on the other, he brought two elite teams to rush straight to Huntsman’s flagship.

He didn’t stop for anything.

On the other side.

“Secretary Luo…?” Lu Cheng watched Luo Ran go into the launch bay and pick out a light starfighter rated for S-class agility.

“I’ll go out and help.”

Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then protested, “Don’t…! Now that the admiral’s here, we only need to wait!”

“It’s exactly because the admiral’s here.” Luo Ran raised an eyebrow. “What are you worried about?”

“…” Lu Cheng paused. H-He does make sense…

“Then… Secretary Luo should choose a sturdier aircraft!”

“No need.” Luo Ran climbed in and got familiar with the controls. He smiled at Lu Cheng. “This is more convenient.”

“Then I’ll…”

“I’m going by myself.”

Lu Cheng’s face was full of disapproval.

“Don’t worry. Only I can go, because there’s only one escape pod,” Luo Ran said.

As a result, an obvious silver fighter exited the flagship and charged recklessly into the enemy line.

“That’s…?” The scarred man reacted. “That’s Lucas’s secretary! Boss, should we chase him?

“Tsk, he’s obviously a newbie, his positioning is so bad, their formation can’t protect him at all there! He’s a sitting duck!”

Huntsman narrowed his eyes and considered his options.

That secretary… he’d seen him before.

Only after the fact did he learn that the person with delicious pheromones at the black market was Luo Ran, secretary-general of the Empire.*

He found several of his photos on the starnet, most of which were taken secretly by others.

Luo Ran was indeed very handsome in the photos.

He was also the original target of their mission.

“Boss, where’s he going?”

“He wants to find Lucas,” Huntsman replied with a frown. “Tsk.”

The two were inseparable at the black market, and acted so intimate as well — they should be a couple.

Hey, he’d almost caught Luo Ran just then, maybe he couldn’t resist looking for Lucas now?

Boom——

“Our ship can’t hold on anymore!” the scarred man cried nervously. “Boss, let’s find a stronger ship and leave first!”

Huntsman clenched his fists tight.

This time was his mistake. He was so proud of his plan, and arrogantly prophesied his victory.

But he didn’t expect that Lucas could detect the abnormalities so quickly and predict his thoughts.

“Huntsman!”

Lucas turned on the mecha’s external broadcast system and shouted again, “Huntsman! Before, I thought you were short of red blood cells, you looked like you crawled out of a morgue every day! Now I know you’re also missing fucking brain cells! You’ve never won a fight against me. Don’t say your dad six feet under can’t take it, even I can’t take it!”

The low yet arrogant voice spread everywhere, to the delight of the Imperial soldiers.

Lucas’ uncle, Admiral Alton, had fought against Huntsman’s father for many years until both their deaths — and now a new round of struggles began with Lucas and Huntsman.

Everyone expected Lucas to end Huntsman like his uncle did his father, but didn’t want him to use a similarly extreme method.

Huntsman’s expression darkened, and his originally pale white skin became dusted with red.

“Boss…!” The scarred man looked at the monitor, which showed that their flagship’s back half had already been blown up!

“Go! Find me a faster fighter to chase the secretary-general, don’t let them meet.” Huntsman turned, his gaze terrifying. “Catch him.”

* * *

Beep– Beep–

“An enemy spacecraft is approaching at full speed…”

“Coordinates X5, Y7, Z1…”

Luo Ran kept a hand on the joystick while he observed the displays.

He knew that his current position was outside the formation, and that the Imperial soldiers couldn’t protect him, because the formation was not allowed to be in chaos.

Lucas wasn’t far away, but someone else was closer still — Huntsman.

Luo Ran gently shut his eyes and lightly rested his fingers on the red emergency evacuation button.

Beep– Beep–

“Alert, alert, the enemy spacecraft has fired a missile…”

“T-minus five, four, three…”

“Two…”

“One!”

Boom——

Luo Ran’s fighter exploded, and at the same time, Huntsman’s fighter also disintegrated.

The two fighters were destroyed at the same time.

“Holy shit.” Lu Cheng, standing in command within their flagship, had a perfect view of how Luo Ran deliberately flew into a tricky angle of their formation, and how he incited Huntsman into chasing him.

As he watched Huntsman shoot at Luo Ran, he felt that even his palms were sweating.

Luo Ran successfully escaped in an emergency escape pod the instant before his fighter was scrapped.

However, Huntsman wasn’t so lucky. He’d been lured into a vulnerable position, which moreover was one where Lucas had a perfect shot.

Lucas’ artillery fire and lasers blasted towards him. Huntsman’s fighter, still firing its own missiles, couldn’t react at all. Under the intense barrage, his fighter’s safety system kicked in and forcefully ejected him in an escape pod.

This automatic ejection was different from Luo Ran’s early retreat. Luo Ran left unscathed, but Huntsman… Luo Ran could see that the person in the escape pod was covered in blood and had obviously lost their capability to command.

Then Lu Cheng saw the pirates firing on Luo Ran’s escape capsule, which had lost the protection of the fighter.

But Lucas quickly arrived.

The mecha stretched out a large metal hand and caught the falling escape pod.

A tiny pod laid in a mecha’s giant hand.

Seeing their boss go down, the rest of the pirates immediately opened fire on Lucas’ Lion 01 like crazy.

Lion 01 wasn’t in a hurry to dodge. Instead, it first carefully retracted its hand and enveloped the escape pod in sturdy metal to protect it from harm.

This big guy wasn’t afraid of these attacks at all, because it was strong enough to tough it out.

It was the strongest mecha in the Empire. Because Lucas’ spiritual power could manipulate such a weight, the mecha designer didn’t worry about anything else except stacking more material into it until the Shield of the Empire was created.

Lu Cheng had goosebumps all over his body.

He hadn’t expected that Luo Ran and Lucas could cooperate to this extent.

They as Lucas’ adjutants sometimes couldn’t keep up with his thinking, and this was even Luo Ran’s first time on the battlefield. They didn’t plan anything together, nor had they discussed a single sentence.

Yet Luo Ran and Lucas could tacitly meet here, catch the enemies by surprise, and work together to counter Huntsman.

Although the situation wasn’t so suitable, and he had to control the flagship’s weapons system, Lu Cheng still wanted to say those four words.

* * *

Luo Ran watched his escape pod land in Lion 01’s palm. Now, he was so close to Lucas than he only needed to turn his head to see him.

When the two met eyes, Lucas glared at Luo Ran warningly.

Too dangerous!

Luo Ran only smiled in return. When Lion 01 retracted his palm, he could no longer see Lucas.

But he heard Lucas shouting over the comms, “The pirates’ leader has fallen! Fire at will–”

Luo Ran’s heart pounded as Lucas’ profile appeared in his mind. He could well imagine what Lucas looked like as he gave his orders.

Boom——

Boom, boom——

Each explosion rang louder than the last.

The starry universe was blown apart by gunfire, and the Empire’s warships, fighters, and mechas swarmed over the interstellar pirates like a black tide.

“The Empire is victorious!”

“The Empire is victorious!!”

“The Empire is victorious–!”

One of the very excited captains shouted it over the comms, then everyone followed suit.

For a moment, Luo Ran felt that the entire universe was filled with their voices.

They ignited this patch of stars.

　　—— XXXX ——

In the vast space, there was no such thing as day and night — there was only ever pitch-black silence.

But when Luo Ran checked his terminal, he saw that this battle had lasted for almost a whole day.

Now, he and Lucas stood in the hangar as they listened to Freeman and Lu Cheng’s inventory reports.

“The southeastern troops captured a total of 765 interstellar pirates, consisting of 231 females and 534 males. An estimated three hundred to four hundred have escaped…”

“The southwestern troops captured 1671 interstellar pirates, of whom three quarters were males, while two hundred to two hundred fifty escaped…”

Huntsman had also escaped. He unhesitatingly stepped over the corpses of his subordinates and used the remaining pirates to cover his retreat, using any means necessary to slip away. The people around him were also loyal enough — their families were in Huntsman’s hands, so they escorted him away with their lives.

But although they missed out on the leader, this mission was still very rewarding, and they could be considered to have dealt a serious blow to the vitality of the pirates.

Lucas was very satisfied with the adjutants’ reports.

He raised an eyebrow at Luo Ran. “It’s your first time here, how does it feel?”

“I won by laying down, Admiral took me to fly, it feels very good,” Luo Ran replied earnestly.

The people around them couldn’t help smiling.

“Of course.” Lucas crossed his arms. “This is my territory. Let me tell you, I’ve never lost a battle. Here, no one can bully you.”

The victorious general was in high spirits, and was immersed in an air of arrogance that Luo Ran had never seen before.

The people around them covered their mouths and cried.

They obviously came here to fight, but at the end of the day, they were stuffed with dog food.

“Give a hug.” Then, Lucas suddenly opened his arms.

Luo Ran froze.

Lucas was in the mecha the whole time, so his body was completely clean with not even a trace of battle — except for the suffocating aura on his body and the aggression in his eyes.

Everyone was watching, Luo Ran thought that he couldn’t let Lucas be embarrassed.

So he smiled, stepped forward, and rubbed himself into Lucas’ embrace.

Although Luo Ran wasn’t short, Lucas was too tall. At this moment, Luo Ran could hear Lucas’ heartbeat — it raced beneath his ears, having just left the battlefield, and was complemented by the heat emanating from Lucas’ body which almost melted him.

Lucas hugged Luo Ran with his arms around his waist and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Scared?”

“Not scared,” Luo Ran replied.

Lucas wanted to ask why, but as soon as the two hugged, everyone around them exploded.

“Ohh!! Kiss! Kiss!”

“Wow!! Kiss–!”

A group of grown adults shouted at the top of their lungs, and with the joy of victory in their veins, each was louder than the last as if they were injected with chicken blood.*

“Kiss!!!”

“Kiss!!!!”

It was so loud that Luo Ran became dizzy.

Perhaps it was because this was his first battle that he felt like his blood was boiling.

Or perhaps it was because it was the first time he saw such a Lucas who held his man close with deadly aggression, with such a stifling tobacco scent that it overwhelmed Luo Ran’s nerves.

Luo Ran subconsciously raised himself to his toes and gently kissed Lucas on his cheek.

Just like a dragonfly skimming over water, Lucas felt a pair of soft lips brush against his cheek, but before he could enjoy the warmth, Luo Ran had already moved away.

Only afterwards did Luo Ran begin to feel embarrassed and regretful.

I’m finished.

He… Did he go crazy?!

Their surroundings reached another level of noise.

“The admiral and secretary got together!!”

“The admiral and secretary got together!!”

“The admiral and secretary are marrying tomorrow–”

Luo Ran, quickly losing the will to live, wished he could give himself a few slaps.

And Lucas had completely turned into stone.

Fuck.

This little bastard.

Fuck. 

Seducing people in public, what a vixen.

Fuck.

C-Can’t you control your love a bit?!

Fuck.

He couldn’t move.

“Admiral…” Luo Ran’s face was about to be cooked through. He felt extremely humiliated and full of regret. “Let’s go back.”

“Yeah,” Lucas said blankly, “Back to the Empire.”

Before the two entered the battleship, Lucas glanced at Lion 01 parked in the hangar — his sturdiest, most powerful weapon.

With one arm still around Luo Ran’s waist, Lucas bowed his head and kissed Lion 01.

More precisely, it wasn’t a kiss but a touch of his forehead.

Such scenes weren’t uncommon among Imperial soldiers. Most of them would kiss their mechas before and after their expedition, and there were quite a few who considered their mechas as wives.

But at this moment, the one in Lucas’ arms was Luo Ran. This man with a deadly aura all over his body gently bowed his head and caressed the silver-blue Lion 01.

Luo Ran’s ears instantly turned red.

---

Translator:
Watch out for the first of several teaser chapters for a new novel live on the site, right now! It’s super low on the priority list though, so those will upload irregularly.

Footnotes:

1. Secretary-general [秘书长]: the chief administrative officer (CAO) of an organisation, who typically reports directly to the CEO. Luo Ran shouldn’t be the Empire’s CAO — that would be someone reporting to the emperor — and the only way I can think of to solve the contradiction is if Lucas’ company is named Empire or something. Which is vanishingly unlikely.
2. Injected with chicken blood [打鸡血]: very excited; the phrase originates from chicken-blood therapy, which was a pseudo-medical therapy (pseudo as in it doesn’t work) popular in China in the 1960s which involved drawing blood from a rooster and injecting it in people, with the aim of making them stronger and more aggressive (see Wikipedia)

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“Luo Ran.”

Just as Luo Ran was curled up in bed and falling asleep, Lucas called.

Luo Ran struggled to raise his eyelids, his voice hoarse as he replied, “Admiral…?”

The other side suddenly became silent for a long time.

Luo Ran was about to fall asleep again when Lucas’ voice came again, even coarser than Luo Ran.

“You… Don’t speak using that kind of voice.”

Luo Ran was a little dazed, plus he truly was sleepy, so he only hummed in reply.

The other side was silent again.

Wanting to finish this quickly and get to sleep, Luo Ran took the initiative to ask, “Do you have any orders, Admiral?”

“None.”

“Then…?” Luo Ran slowly frowned.

Silence fell once again.

Several long seconds later, Lucas said, “Luo Ran, I…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, I just think you look good.”

Then Lucas hung up.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran: ???

Recently, Lucas seemed… weirder and weirder.

Luo Ran was simply too sleepy, so he fell asleep without calling back.

But he had a smile as he did so.

To be honest, although he was very puzzled at Lucas suddenly praising him like this, Luo Ran was still very happy.

* * *

After Lucas hung up the call, he stared at the black screen absentmindedly.

Then he put the terminal away and strode to the control room.

After he and Shen Xiluo finished watching the video, the battleship finally arrived at its destination, and Lucas immediately switched states.

And the adjutants behind him had a few guesses when they heard what Lucas said to his terminal.

They were already used to it. Ever since the admiral had Secretary Luo, he would call him before every fight.

It seemed to be a ritual of his, one that even Luo Ran didn’t know about.

In other words, the admiral was planning to go fight now…?

Indeed, Lucas pointed to the red dot on the projected map as soon as he stepped into the control room. “In ten minutes, we’ll go into battle!”

It surprised everyone in the control room.

“Now is our best opportunity. Our enemies haven’t noticed us yet and we’ve just arrived, so our morale and concentration are at our highest.” Lucas tapped the map. “Divide into two, Freeman leads the vanguard, I’ll attack from the rear, the left and right flanks should keep up so that we can surround them on all sides. This is just a small pirate stronghold, and our current operation is just to test them, so we cannot let a single pirate escape, do you understand!”

Lucas’ tactical style had always been to strike hard and fast, sweeping his enemies away like a hurricane, and terrify them with his momentum.

Adjutant Freeman straightened and replied loudly, “Yes sir!”

“Understood!”

During the meeting, no one could keep up with Lucas’ thoughts.

For example, they didn’t know how Lucas could rapidly determine the pirates’ general strength and distribution from the tiny amount of clues gathered by scouts and satellites, and neither did they know how he calculated the best route to attack so quickly.

But they trusted him.

It didn’t matter whether they understood or not. They would fight wherever Lucas pointed.

Lucas took control of the computer and rotated the map.

“Barton and Zheng Lan, one of you go right and the other go left, follow behind my brigade in a wedge formation at coordinates Y8, X13.”

“Hill, Cooper, you support the vanguard from coordinates Y3, X1. Don’t use any missiles or bombs, we’re trying to keep this operation quiet.” Lucas tapped the map. “I’ll say it again — don’t let a single one go.

“This is the operation’s first battle.” It was almost time. Lucas looked up with eyes like a hawk’s. “Win for me! You have to win.”

“We have to win!”

“We have to win!!”

Everyone shouted in unison, their momentum was so great that they looked about to burst out of the battleship’s iron shell.

—— XXXX ——

Luo Ran slept for a while and woke up as dawn broke.

After tidying himself a bit, he headed to the battleship’s great hall. It must’ve been very lively in there, since he could hear the noise even from inside his room.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he was greeted with a large crowd of people gathered around a stage. Since they were on expedition and didn’t dare to drink alcohol, everyone held juice instead. They waved and cheered, looking comical yet harmonious.

The sound of screaming and cheering was deafening as Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng sparred on stage.

Luo Ran, feeling quite curious, found a seat to watch from.

Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang were equal. Their fight soon heated up, and the stage continuously shuddered as they let out big moves one after the other.

The people next to Luo Ran noticed him and handed him some juice.

“Secretary Luo, morning!”

“Secretary Luo, good morning!!!”

For many of them, it was their first time interacting closely with Luo Ran, so there was a group of grown adult men surrounding Luo Ran with their voices shaking in excitement as they all greeted him and pushed water and snacks into his hands.

“Morning.” Luo Ran patiently replied to them one by one while receiving the juice and bread. He took a bite of bread then asked, “Do you often play together like this while on deployment?”

“Yeah! If we’re on the road for a long time, we’ll all warm up and compete together, and whoever loses has to call dad! It’s actually the admiral who started this, but no one could beat him. His strength is simply unbelievable!”

“Every time Adjutant Lu and Adjutant Wang are together, they love fighting each other!”

“Then who won before?” Luo Ran asked curiously.

“Fifty-fifty, sometimes it’s Adjutant Wang, sometimes it’s Adjutant Lu. Anyways, they’ve taken turns calling each other dad quite a few times.”

Luo Ran found it interesting, and followed them to watch the two on stage.

Shouts and cheers in his ears made him a little confused, but in such a heated atmosphere, anyone would let go of their scruples and want to join in. It was the first time Luo Ran had such an experience.

Bang!

On the stage, Wang Qiuyang threw Lu Cheng over his shoulder onto the floor, then grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back to pin him in place.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!! Adjutant Wang wins–!”

Wang Qiuyang, grinning, pointed at Lu Cheng. “Come on! Since everyone’s here, shout louder!”

Lu Cheng: “…”

There was a roar from below, clamouring for Lu Cheng to hurry up.

Lu Cheng’s face lost all love for life, but he still took a deep breath and forcefully shouted, “Dad!!”

Wang Qiuyang and everyone else clutched their stomachs in laughter.

“Ah, good cub.” Wang Qiuyang patted Lu Cheng on the shoulder and smiled towards the audience. “Anyone else?! Come and recognise your father!”

Then, Luo Ran stood up with a smile.

“…”

The entire venue fell silent for a few seconds.

Then.

“Oh fuck–”

“Secretary Luo?! Really!!”

“Adjutant Wang, if you dare to beat up Secretary Luo we’ll record it and send it to the admiral!”

“Secretary Luo, don’t go up! Adjutant Wang is a gorilla!”

“Damn, it’s fine if Secretary Luo wins, but if he loses, the generations will be messed up!”

Everyone exploded again.

Luo Ran ignored their protests, he didn’t want to give them the image that he was weak or in need of protection.

He turned and looked at them. “Don’t worry, I’ve sparred with your admiral before.”

As soon as he said that, they became even more excited.

That’s right…! People say that Luo Ran was personally taught by the admiral!

Secretary Luo, the only student of the Empire’s god of slaughter.

“Secretary Luo! Beat the living daylights out of Adjutant Wang!”

“Kick his ass! Kick his ass!”

Everyone started to cheer for Luo Ran.

Wang Qiuyang looked at the slender person in front of him who had delicate features and long silver-blue hair tied up high and out of the way, facilitating movement.

At this moment, Luo Ran was taking off Lucas’ jacket and draping it nearby. As he looked down to concentrate on folding his sleeves back, his long eyelashes covered a pair of gentle eyes.

Even when merely rolling up his sleeves, Luo Ran’s demeanour was still graceful and unhurried.

Wang Qiuyang gulped.

This… if he hurt the admiral’s wife, would the admiral thrash him?

Would he be able to see the next dawn?

Luo Ran smiled. “Adjutant Wang, you don’t need to go easy on me.”

Wang Qiuyang smiled dryly and nodded, but regretted standing here a little.

He’d rather call Lu Cheng dad.

Who the hell would dare to do it seriously.

Luo Ran saw Wang Qiuyang standing still as if waiting for his move. He didn’t bother to be polite, rushing towards Wang Qiuyang and greeting him with a fist to the face!

Whack!

Wang Qiuyang wasn’t on guard and got punched in the face. Since it was just a competition, the strike wasn’t too harsh, but his nose was still smashed red and he had to retreat a few steps.

Luo Ran’s fighting style was very similar to Lucas’ — to be precise, it was exactly the same. They both tended to strike first, and used overwhelming strength and technique to force opponents to keep retreating. This time was no different. Luo Ran didn’t give Wang Qiuyang any chance to breathe before he rushed up again, lifted his hand to give Wang Qiuyang’s neck a chop, then swept his legs from under him. The ruthless approach was a world of difference away from Luo Ran’s usual gentle image.

Shit…!

Wang Qiuyang switched to high alert as goosebumps rose all over his skin. As the audience below the stage did, he thought back to the days when Lucas dominated the stage, and also didn’t dare to underestimate his opponent or go easy on him anymore.

…It wasn’t as if he had a chance to go easy either.

A light flashed in his eyes, then Wang Qiuyang became serious. As he fought back and forth with Luo Ran, there was no longer any notion of ‘the admiral’s wife’, only that this was a powerful adversary.

“Go Secretary Luo!!!”

“Go Adjutant Wang!!”

“Secretary Luo! Finish him! Finish him!!”

Now the scene completely heated up. Everyone stood, and their voices became louder than trumpets.

On the stage, Luo Ran’s body was flexible and light, but his every move showed his strength and sharpness, and his long hair drew countless silver-blue arcs in the air.

“There! There!”

“Fuck!”

“Secretary Luo! Above!”

Wang Qiuyang’s eyes narrowed. As soon as he discovered Luo Ran’s flaw, he immediately pressed a hand against Luo Ran’s shoulder.

He was on the cusp of victory, yet Luo Ran only smiled. He grabbed the hand Wang Qiuyang sent over and swept him off-balance. Then he imitated Wang Qiuyang’s match against Lu Cheng just now — he gripped onto Wang Qiuyang and simply threw him over his shoulder!

Thump!

Wang Qiuyang, a burly man of 1.9m, slammed onto the floor, raising a cloud of dust.

He was stunned.

Luo Ran didn’t press him down for three seconds like Wang Qiuyang did before, but only stepped aside and smiled. “Well fought.”

He felt comfortable all over after working up a sweat.

With this, he had a little understanding of why these guys, and Lucas, liked to play on the stage.

“Secretary Luo is amazing!!”

“Secretary Luo is mighty–”

“Secretary Luo is invincible!! You’re my father!”

“As expected of the admiral’s wife!”

Luo Ran: “…”

Wang Qiuyang got up, clasped his hands towards Luo Ran, and bellowed at the top of his lungs, “Dad!!”

Below the stage, Lu Cheng also started shouting. “Dad! Daddy Luo!”Lu Cheng thought to himself, how can Secretary Luo have a good brain and good skills? This is too much!

Just as they were making a fuss and watched another round of sparring, the lights overhead suddenly flickered, as if they’d just lost power for a second.

The battleship’s alarm sounded. Then, through the broadcast system, the officers on duty in the control room issued an emergency assembly order.

* * *

In the control room.

“Fuck,” Wang Qiuyang swore when he saw the many red and green dots on the projected map. “What’s going on?!”

Lu Cheng had a serious expression.

The battleship was about to arrive at the transfer station at B647, however… According to data from a satellite, the station was completely occupied by interstellar pirates.

And now, not only was the transfer station taken, but the pirates had also sent countless warships to hunt them down, all coming straight for them.

Lu Cheng also let out a curse, then said, “The pirates are about to catch up.”

Luo Ran glanced through the information on the screen and analysed, “The station was captured half an hour ago, so we can be sure of two things: one, the pirates wanted to catch us by surprise; and two, they have sufficient troops to do so.”

The transfer station garrisoned imperial soldiers, so its combat effectiveness wasn’t bad, and it had always been a place that was easy to defend yet difficult to attack. To break through so quickly, not to mention getting it under control before they could send a distress signal, then…

Luo Ran frowned. “The pirates predicted our attack.”

“Yes.” Wang Qiuyang slammed his fist into the wall, saying viciously, “The admiral over there will come up empty-handed, and over here we’ll be dead.”

In the original plan, Luo Ran’s team would pretend that the Empire’s goal this time was at B647 and act as a decoy, while Lucas and his elite team would in fact be waiting in ambush along the UNK trade route on the southeast hyperlane, ready to catch the pirates in one fell swoop.

But maybe it was because the interstellar pirates lost contact with the maid, or maybe it was because of that guy Huntsman…

Huntsman’s mind and five senses seemed to be more sensitive than a normal person’s. Perhaps he detected something, so he gave up intercepting the UNK and came to B647 instead.

Their purpose must be to capture Luo Ran, Lu Cheng, Wang Qiuyang, and the others — especially Luo Ran — in order to use them as hostages.

He would also be able to get his hands on UNK this way.

Luo Ran’s back felt a little chilled.

With the lessons learned from last time, they paid special attention to keeping their movements confidential, so the highly-placed spy within the Empire should have no way of knowing about it.

Then… Huntsman was a little scary, he could think of what Lucas thought of, and use that to break the game.

“Can’t we fix the comms?” Wang Qiuyang asked irritably.

The soldier sitting in front of the machine shook his head.

The interstellar pirates destroyed the signal tower after taking over the transfer station, precisely to prevent Luo Ran and the others from contacting Lucas.

Right now, the battleship was still operational, because they had generators on board.

Everyone in the control room looked at Luo Ran, Lu Cheng, and Wang Qiuyang.

Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang met locked gazes. From their long years of comradeship, they could easily see each other’s thoughts.

Lu Cheng suddenly took out a die, then he and Wang Qiuyang both tossed it.

“Mine’s smaller.” Wang Qiuyang grinned. “Then it’s decided, Lu Cheng will lead an elite fighter team to escort Secretary Luo to the admiral, I’ll stay with everyone else as a rear guard and drag the time with these bastards!”

Luo Ran was taken aback. 

Lu Cheng clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. As the one who could leave safely, of course he wouldn’t feel comfortable.

But now wasn’t the time to be protesting, because he and Wang Qiuyang each had their duties.

“Don’t worry,” Lu Cheng said clearly to Wang Qiuyang, “I will bring Secretary Luo out safe and sound! If anything happens, don’t I still have a life here!”

The others had no opinion.

However, Luo Ran took a deep breath and said, “I don’t agree.”

“Secretary Luo, now isn’t the time to quibble!” Lu Cheng argued. “What we’re facing this time is the entire force of the interstellar pirates, all of them without reservation, there’s no way our battalion can compete with them. Then there’s no point for everyone to mess around here, and there’s even less of a point for Secretary Luo to stay!”

Wang Qiuyang also patted his chest and reassured him. “Don’t worry, me and the brothers will kill our way out. Killing one isn’t a loss, killing two is a bargain! There’s nothing more to it. If Secretary Luo doesn’t believe me, you can ask anyone you like, we’re all willing!”

Before departure, Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng had promised Lucas — had sworn — to guarantee Luo Ran’s safety, no matter what.

“Yes, this sacrifice is brave, it is heroic,” Luo Ran said solemnly, “however, I am now the master of this battleship, and it is my obligation to do everything in my power to keep everyone alive, not to sacrifice people to keep myself alive. It doesn’t make sense to do this.”

“Secretary Luo…” Lu Cheng frowned slightly.

Luo Ran, unusually resolute, interrupted him. “I’m not being capricious and neither is it that I do not understand the situation, but… I choose to trust the admiral.”

The military insignia on Luo Ran’s jacket shone brightly.

“Let’s take a gamble, let’s retreat together and rush to the southeast UNK hyperlane. If they catch up, we’ll kill them together. And if we’re lucky… we can make it.”

Lu Cheng still frowned. “We won’t be able to make it. Even if the battleship retreats at full speed, they can catch us in half a day at most.”

“Half a day,” Luo Ran said. “Then there’s still half a day.”

Even if they didn’t succeed, with him there as a clear target, they’d have a chance at negotiation and wouldn’t suffer a total destruction of the army.

But…

Luo Ran smiled. “We can make it. I believe in the admiral.”

Luo Ran chose to trust Lucas, while Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng…

This time, they also chose to believe in and obey Luo Ran’s judgement.

The battleship retreated at full speed with interstellar pirates hot on their heels.

* * *

“There are ten hours until the target reaches our location…” In the control room, a mechanical female voice emotionlessly broadcasted the distance between them and the pirates.

“There are six hours until the target reaches our location…”

Everyone got together for dinner, recharging their energy in preparation for the next challenge.

“There are four hours until the target reaches our location…”

* * *

“Two hours…”

Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng went to reorganise the troops in preparation for killing their way out.

“One hour…”

Luo Ran stared at the screen without moving.

“Half an hour…”

Wang Qiuyang brought soldiers outside, where they could already see the pirates’ warships with their naked eyes.

Luo Ran no longer looked at the map, but stood next to a window, quietly watching the starry sky outside.

“…What’s that?”

Lu Cheng, who stood guard next to Luo Ran, widened his eyes.

Behind them were the pirates’ battleships with red guidelights facing towards them.

But in front of them were countless lights.

Luo Ran smiled. “It’s the Imperial fleet.”

They made it.

Lu Cheng was dumbfounded.

Lucas, they… even though they didn’t receive any distress signal, they still came!

They and Luo Ran couldn’t reach them, but…

Lucas could come and join them!!

Luo Ran looked at the densely packed imperial warships ahead with a smile in his eyes.

He trusted his admiral.

He also trusted that his admiral must be stronger than Huntsman. Huntsman could flip the board, and Lucas could flip it again.

* * *

Ten hours ago, 05:08 a.m.

On the southeast hyperlane.

On the bridge of an Imperial battleship, a grim-faced man was tied up on his knees.

Bang!

Lucas finished the man in one shot, and blood gushed from the pirate’s head.

Done.

He didn’t have much of an expression as he stood on deck and watched the situation below.

“We’ve captured four hundred and three pirates! Of these, three hundred and forty-three are men, fifty-eight are women.” Freeman saluted and said proudly, “None escaped!”

“Mn,” Lucas grunted, “keep them alive, then bring them back to the Empire.”

Prisoners were often sent to work in the agricultural areas, but at least their food, drink, and shelter were guaranteed.

“Yes sir!”

Lucas tapped lightly on the railing, deep in thought.

After a moment, he turned and ordered, “Get ready! We’re turning around, back to B67!”

“Ah…?” Standing behind him, Barton and Zheng Lan were deeply puzzled.

They hadn’t reached the pirate stronghold, nor had they exterminated anyone. This group was only a vanguard.

“The UNK has already set off from Luobing, aren’t we going to intercept the pirates?” Barton asked.

“The hell we’re intercepting,” Lucas said, pointing below them. “Look closer at the formation of this vanguard, don’t you understand yet?”

There wasn’t any stronghold here at all.

“Go!”

Lucas strode back into the depths of the battleship.

“Admiral, we’re…?”

Lucas turned his head, revealing the curved corners of his lips. “We’re picking up my secretary.”

* * *

Ten hours later.

Luo Ran saw the lights, and also saw Lucas in the lead.

Lucas piloted his giant mecha, leading the brigade and its warships forward.

Then, the two teams blended together.

The battleship on Luo Ran’s side melded into Lucas’ army, and the two became one.

At the moment when the two teams crossed paths, everyone saw it — when the battleship carrying Luo Ran passed Lucas’ mecha, the two met eyes for an instant.

In that moment, Luo Ran’s long silver-blue hair was juxtaposed with Lucas’ Lion One mecha, with its silver body and blue decor.

They were the exact same colour.

Rrrrumble–

Boom–!

The Imperial fleet fired all its missiles straight at the oncoming interstellar pirates.

The starry sky became illuminated by firelight.

---

Author:
I, Lucas, a silly lion at home, a brave lion outside
I, Luo Ran, can’t unscrew the bottle cap at home, can burst the cap off outside

Today is a thick and long two-in-one chapter!!

Translator:
Lucas & Luo Ran: stupid-cute with each other, OP everywhere else

Thanks to Ko-fi Supporter for the Ko-fi!

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The hovercar started up and drove towards the military headquarters.

Inside, Lucas fixated his stare on Luo Ran, doggedly waiting for an answer.

Luo Ran rubbed his temples, wondering what Lucas was up to now.

“If that really happens, then… I can only be a secretary for someone else.”

Lucas: ???

Luo Ran touched his chin. “The conditions at the eldest prince’s don’t seem to be too bad.”

Lucas: “…”

Luo Ran smiled and said, “Otherwise, the second prince is fine too. And don’t forget the third prince, it must be very relaxing to work for him.”

A vein on Lucas’ forehead throbbed.

After thinking for a moment, Luo Ran continued, “Or… I can just find someone to marry.”

Bang——

Lucas was subconsciously about to grasp Luo Ran’s wrist, but when he saw his wound, he immediately braked and grabbed his collar instead.

“You dare!”

Luo Ran, who was pressed into his chair by his collar, blatantly smiled up at Lucas. “Then Admiral should work harder and not die.”

“You just wait, I won’t die even if everyone else dies,” Lucas sneered.

Luo Ran lowered his eyes. “Good.”

Soon, the hovercar arrived at the military headquarters, where Lucas and Luo Ran immediately devoted themselves to organising the troops.

They would set off in two days, and following that, the two of them would move separately.

This was the first time Luo Ran would accompany Lucas on an expedition. After he informed his family, he had to work overtime at the company to ensure that things wouldn’t come crashing down while they were gone. As a result, he got less than seven hours of sleep for the last two nights.

* * *

Two days later, the army officially set off in the morning.

Luo Ran stood at a window on the battleship as he watched the scenery outside change into an endless starry expanse.

It was the first time he left the Empire, and the first time he left solid earth for space.

When he looked at the Empire’s battleships in the past, he felt that they were tremendously powerful, and he couldn’t help but admire their designers and builders.

But when compared to the vast interstellar space, the battleship, as well as their own selves, were very, very small.

Luo Ran watched as the Empire planet gradually diminished, then they entered the hyperlane.

The hyperlane was a long tunnel. All around, Luo Ran could see stars, nebulae, and many scenes that he’d previously only read about.

“Does it look good?” Lucas, who wore a military uniform, stopped next to Luo Ran and smiled. “It’ll look better later.”

Luo Ran nodded.

As they stood in front of the window, Luo Ran thought, so this is the world Lucas sees every time.

He imagined roaming the stars in a mecha — would he feel even more insignificant?

Luo Ran heard that many people in the army had to overcome their fear of open space before they could become official soldiers, otherwise, they would feel fear and dizziness when stationed here.

“Scared?” Lucas pointed at the stars outside.

“It’s okay,” Luo Ran said, smiling. “I think… it’s very beautiful. Maybe it’s because I’m in a battleship, and there are many people beside me.”

“It’s because I’m here,” Lucas corrected him.

Luo Ran chuckled.

Then Luo Ran understood what Lucas meant by ‘it’ll look better’.

The hyperlane suddenly crossed the path of a gorgeously psychedelic nebula. Its purples and blues blended together harmoniously, as if a painter was mixing watercolours. Hidden within the cloud were countless eyes — or rather, glistening stars.

Luo Ran was a little absentminded as he watched.

Lucas grinned and put an arm around Luo Ran’s shoulders. The two stood together at the window, accompanied by an ethereal starscape outside.

Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang originally wanted to find Lucas to discuss their plans, but seeing this scene, Wang Qiuyang — a fully grown man — couldn’t hold back his urge to lift his terminal and snap a picture of their backs.

The two noticed movement. Lucas turned around and asked, “What?”

“Admiral, we’ve almost arrived,” Wang Qiuyang said.

The hyperlane terminated inside the nebula, where they would take the opportunity to stealthily divide into two teams.

Lucas’ team would start their detour from the southwest hyperlane, take a hidden path, and quietly lurk near the southeast hyperlane where the UNK would pass, in preparation for ambushing interstellar pirates.

And Luo Ran would take the remaining troops and warships to continue along the southwest hyperlane, heading towards B67.

Lucas announced that he would exterminate pirates at B67. With Luo Ran there, everyone would believe that Lucas was also on the battleship at B67, when in reality, he had long gone elsewhere.

“Hn.” Lucas nodded, and said, “You two, stay with Luo Ran.”

“Yes sir!” This matter had already been discussed before they left, and the two adjutants had no opinions on it.

On the other hand, Luo Ran was surprised. “Admiral, Adjutant Wang and Adjutant Lu are your left and right hands, you should take them with you.”

“Shh,” Lucas said, “it’s decided.”

“Admiral…” Luo Ran frowned slightly.

“Inside the Empire, we’ll listen to you. Out here, listen to me, okay?” Lucas asked.

Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng, who were still present, didn’t plan to intervene. Lucas’ tone was relatively low, and Luo Ran could only agree.*

Soon afterwards, the battleship left the hyperlane, and the brigade was about to depart.

Before he left, Lucas took off his coat and draped it over Luo Ran, to his surprise.

“Don’t take it off,” Lucas said, “If anything happens, tell me using your terminal, and wait for me to come back.”

The coat was covered in Lucas’ emblems and insignias. Luo Ran knew exactly what he meant by doing this.

Luo Ran lowered his eyes and smiled. “Okay.”

After this, Lucas turned and strode away.

As Luo Ran looked at Lucas’ back while breathing in a strong earthy tobacco scent from the coat on his shoulders, a somewhat peculiar feeling arose in his heart.

Lucas was completely different from his usual state.

The Lucas in his office was unorganised, irritable, impatient, and even reckless. Maybe it was because he was used to licking blood off knives that he didn’t bother to think deeply when he was in a relatively safe environment, and just did whatever he wanted.

Not to mention, there was Luo Ran.

But in this place, Lucas put away all his capriciousness in favour of showing a lion’s sharp fangs.

Steady yet courageous, strong yet astute, he was perfect in every aspect.

Here, he used everything in his power to protect Luo Ran.

It was only when he couldn’t see Lucas at all that Luo Ran looked away.

He turned to the two adjutants who were still waiting for orders with a smile. “Let’s go to the control room.”

The control room monitored the entire battleship, and had a large map projected on a screen. Luo Ran confirmed their route against it and the adjutants.

According to the plan, they would reach the transfer station outside B67 by noon the next day, and could officially land on B67 by evening.

There weren’t particularly many pirates on B67, and they must have run after getting the news, but the Empire would still send elites to chase down as many as they could.

It was Luo Ran’s first time leading an army to hunt interstellar pirates. Although he was smart and capable, he still lacked experience, so during the meeting, he was very humble and didn’t offer many opinions. He only listened and concentrated on analysing what the adjutants and captains said.

Luo Ran was already quite popular in the military. After all, he worked for so many years to clear away obstacles for Lucas when he was off the battlefield, and managed military affairs properly. Now, with him having such a good attitude, everyone treated him very well. On the one hand, they wanted to protect the admiral’s wife, and on the other, they were convinced of his ability and obedient to him.

And…

Luo Ran still wore Lucas’ coat.

It was a coat that symbolised an identity. Perhaps Lucas was worried that someone would hinder Luo Ran when he gave orders, so he left this coat as both a reminder and a warning — they had to take Luo Ran as Lucas himself.

The admiral is so concerned.

Oh, it’s truly a wonderful love.

–The Empire’s soldiers all said.

* * *

After the meeting finished and he took care of all his paperwork, Luo Ran went back to his room.

Luo Ran hadn’t slept well for the last few days, but when he fell onto the soft bed, he couldn’t fall asleep.

It seemed that he stayed up too many times, and his body hadn’t reacted yet.

Luo Ran could only turn to his terminal to watch a few videos, listen to a few songs, and let his mind relax.

As soon as he logged in, he found that the CP group and forum were very lively, as if it was New Year.

Luo Ran frowned slightly. He’d been busy with work these days and hadn’t gone to some amusement park with Lucas like last time, so this…?

@Lu Cheng the Adjutant: Everyone, thank you for your blessings! The wedding photos are almost done, I’ll send them to you later! Now I’m also someone with a family, I don’t need to be stuffed with dog food by the two bosses wuwuwu! A few days ago, the admiral fell into a rut, and Secretary Luo personally stayed with him all night! Ah, what a wonderful love!

@One Tender Blossom: wuwuwu As an insider at the Imperial Company,* I can’t help but blush when I see the secretary these days! It’s too exciting (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) The secretary’s lips are all torn, he’s hurt really bad, I feel so distressed but also can’t help being excited! Admiral, you have to control your strength! You can’t bully our Secretary Luo ahhhhh a wonderful love!

@XXXX: I am a low-level employee of the Imperial Company, it must be the blessing of my last three lifetimes for me to be able to glimpse the Empire’s secrets! It happened yesterday, right in the company’s kitchen! When Secretary Luo’s coffee beans fell and he bent over to pick it up, I saw that his tightly-covered neck was bright red (!!) and covered in tooth marks (!!!). Heavens, it’s a wonderful love!

@XXXX: I am a member of the Imperial Guard* who was fortunate enough to follow His Highness the Third Prince to the agricultural area! I witnessed the admiral and the secretary’s wonderful love with my own eyes. At a remote area, they acted very close — the admiral covered the secretary with his jacket, then the secretary pulled the admiral in, they must have kissed in there! Later, when they had enough love and stumbled into a hovercar, the admiral seemed unsteady on his legs!

Oh, they must’ve used tongue.

What a wonderful love.

@XXXX: I am a transporter, I’ll explain! In conclusion, the admiral is in rut, couldn’t help but have fun with the secretary in the outskirts, then the two spent a night together! The next day, the secretary’s lips were torn and his body was full of marks! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄) A wonderful love!

Luo Ran: “…”

If he read any more, he’d almost believe that he and Lucas were a couple.

But there were also some posts that made Luo Ran happy.

[Pinned] Thread to pray for the admiral

[Pinned] Pray for the admiral and the secretary, hope the trip to B647 goes well

Inside, they were filled with blessings, as well as photos of the many cranes* everyone folded.

It was a tradition in the Empire to fold paper cranes for friends and family, whether that be for travel, for examinations, for interviews… people used a thousand cranes to symbolise blessings.

Therefore, every time Lucas went to war, the Empire’s citizens would fold and hang up countless cranes.

Every time the battleship of the Empire’s admiral lifted off, it was accompanied by millions of colourful paper cranes.

Luo Ran smiled and gave the post a like, then watched some short videos to relax.

* * *

On the other side, Lucas was about to arrive at his destination, so he didn’t plan to sleep, and instead spent his time chatting with Shen Xiluo on the bridge.

However, neither of them liked to talk much, so they mostly sat together doing their own things.

Lucas, bored out of his mind, opened his terminal to take a look at what Luo Ran was doing recently. He directly used his backend access to see Luo Ran’s search history.

[Coffee Beans from Ancient Earth’s Spain, Have You Heard of This?]

[Tie Your Ties This Way!]

[Secrets of Spice: Stabilising Spiritual Power]

[Simple Food Can Be Delicious Too! Easy Cooking, Flavourful Taste!]

Still looking at these girly things, Lucas thought, his preferences really haven’t changed.

Boring.

* * *

Wait.

Lucas frowned slightly and took a closer look.

Why did he feel…

At Lucas’ serious frown, as if he were reading a secret report, Shen Xiluo also turned his head curiously.

He clearly saw Lucas log into the forums, right?

“Shen Xiluo, look.” Lucas showed him Luo Ran’s browsing records.

After reading for a few seconds, Shen Xiluo shook his head. “Secretary Luo takes care of you a lot.”

With his thoughts confirmed, Lucas touched his chin and grinned. “I also think so. Tsk, what a sticky guy.”

Shen Xiluo pushed up his glasses and said flatly, “Those omega and beta all love sticking to the alpha they like, just get used to it.”

“Geez. How annoying,” Lucas snorted.

But his laugh implied something very different.

Lucas raised his chin. “This secretary of mine, he’s not independent enough, always circling around me. It really makes me worried. He even came over when I fell into rut and thought of everything for me. It’s one thing to do it at work, but even the videos he watches after work is for me, that’s not very good, he has to think for himself.”

Shen Xiluo: “…”

He didn’t know why, but he felt that this was unbearable to listen to.

And watching the way Lucas’ tail was about to reach the sky,* something in his mouth tasted very sour.*

However, a good relationship between the admiral and his secretary was also good for the Empire, so Shen Xiluo only pushed his glasses up again and, keeping his rationality, said, “There’s no way, as alpha, we need to be more forgiving, and be patient and attentive to our beta or omega. At the same time, we need to improve our skills so that we can be a perfect husband.”

“Skills?” Lucas raised his eyebrow.

Shen Xiluo smoothly took out his terminal and navigated to a website with a black interface and a yellow rectangle for a logo.

“You can use the biggest same-sex dating website to learn how to please your beta or omega — it’s all based on science — and contribute to the next generation of the Empire.” Shen Xiluo clicked on an alpha x beta video.

Lucas: “…”

In all his life, Lucas never expected that he and Shen Xiluo would, on the bridge of a battleship, watch… this kind of video.

Lucas thought, ah, I’m dirty.

He was dirtied once again.

This time, he meant a dirty mind.

He’d also opened a strange door.

---

Author:
He’s here, he’s here, he’s here with his film!

Shen Xiluo: My character gradually changed from an elite doctor to a movie peddler. For the sake of the Empire’s excellent next generation, I’ve sacrificed so much [lights cigarette]

Translator:
I’ve spent two solid hours trying to work out the military units/sizes the author used by cross-referencing with US/UK/NATO military organisation, and you know what? I don’t care anymore. It’s hard enough doing it in English, but add in another language plus a (made up!!) country’s ranks, and I can spend another day arguing with myself whether to use this word or that. So you, my dear readers, get generic ‘army’ and ‘brigade’, don’t bother trying to get a sense of exactly how many people are counted in there.

Footnotes:

1. Not sure what’s the relationship here but that’s what the raws say
2. So is ‘the company’ an (or the official)  imperial company under the imperial family’s name? That’s certainly what 帝国公司 is implying. But Lucas isn’t an imperial family member? I’m so confused
3. A Japanese folk legend (千羽鶴 senbazuru, lit. 1000 cranes) states that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will receive a wish granted by the gods. The cranes are often given to people who are seriously ill to wish for their recovery, to athletes to wish them victory, and are often present at war memorials as a symbol of peace.
4. Tail reaching the sky [尾巴都要翘起来]: idiom for being very proud/smug
5. Sour [酸涩]: jealousy is represented by vinegar in Chinese netizen slang, hence the many memes about chugging vinegar/being a vinegar jar/feeling sour

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Lucas’ stiff hand rubbed the top of Luo Ran’s head.

He knew he had to control his strength, so he was careful to pat him very lightly.

Luo Ran truly was tired from consuming all his spiritual power, plus he hadn’t slept enough, so since Lucas didn’t have any requests, he simply turned over and kept sleeping.

He was dead to the world until noon, two hours later.

When Luo Ran finally got up, he was still a little tired. It wasn’t until he gulped down a tube of nutrient solution and swallowed a few caffeine pills that he slowly came around.

…Wait.

Luo Ran walked to a mirror and took a look. It was as he feared.

There were big red marks on his neck and wrists, as well as a wound on his mouth.

…As if he’d just finished some ‘intense activity’.

Luo Ran flushed red up to his ears.

Did he raise a flag for himself? Why was it that ever since he decided to keep a distance from Lucas and maintain a proper employer-employee relationship, inappropriate things kept happening?

…Fortunately, the other person was a blockhead.

Lucas is probably the most unique person I’ve ever seen, Luo Ran thought.

At least in his experience, most alpha and omega were happy to have fetters called ‘pheromones’, and to find a partner to enjoy it together. But Lucas, in their many years of interaction, had never shown any longing for it. It seemed that in his world, there was no such concept as love.

If Lucas ever said he liked someone, that would be the day the sun rose from the west and Zhou Mingkai became infatuated with a single person.

While thinking wildly, Luo Ran dug out a pair of gloves from a drawer.

In the end, Luo Ran wore gloves as well as a shirt with high collars, and generally wrapped himself up tight. As for his lips… a grown man wearing lipstick would be a bit too outrageous, so Luo Ran could only leave it.

If pressed, he could say he was sick, and try not to go out and meet people in the next few days.

Luo Ran prepared everything well, and bumped into Lucas right outside his door.

He was a little surprised. “What’s wrong, Admiral? Do you need anything?”

Lucas looked at him steadily.

After a beat, Lucas snorted coldly. “It’s nothing.”

Tsk.

This crafty little bastard, secretly having a crush on me!

Luo Ran must have seduced him on purpose.

First he made Lucas acclimatised to him being there day and night, and now he finally couldn’t help stretching out his claws?!

Shit, just because he’s got looks and smarts, he played him like a fiddle.

Hmph, so you like me that much.

Lucas crossed his arms and looked at Luo Ran with an inexplicably arrogant expression.

“Admiral?”

“Little bastard,” Lucas said, pointing at Luo Ran. “I’ve seen through your conspiracies and tricks, but I have to admit that you’ve succeeded.”

Luo Ran was deeply confused.

He was also worried that this was a delayed consequence of the rut, did Lucas turn stupid?

Conspiracies and tricks… did he think that he lied last night?

Luo Ran frowned and tried to clarify in a gentle voice, “Admiral, I… I am sincere, I wasn’t lying.”

He vowed to always be Lucas’ secretary, and to keep his promise.

“…Little bastard, you’re doing it again!” Lucas’ ears suddenly turned red. He viciously snarled, “If you keep doing this, I’ll seal your damn mouth shut.”

Luo Ran: “…?”

Lucas strode away. The 1.9m tall man was very angry yet strangely cute as he left, his big feet about to stomp through the floor.

Luo Ran: “…”

Never mind, forget it, people on their cycle were just like that.

—— XXXX ——

After lunch, everyone packed up and prepared to go home.

Lu Cheng already transferred the maid to their own jurisdiction. After ceaseless interrogation and investigation by agents stationed at the border, they confirmed that interstellar pirates were indeed gathering in preparation to act.

No matter if it were true or not, this was a good opportunity.

Lucas planned to go in person. He would lead troops to encircle the pirates on the Empire’s southeast trade route,* which was also the hyperlane used to transport UNK from Luobing.

Of course, they had to divert their attention first, so Lucas would set off on the pretext of exterminating pirates at District B67, which held one of the Empire’s largest agricultural zones. B67 was near the southwest trade route, which Lucas’ brigade would travel through.

Lucas had to set off as soon as he got back, so everyone bid him their customary farewells before he got in his hovercar.

Lucas was soon pulled aside by the second prince to talk. The latter had cold features which lent him a serious demeanour, and thanks to his martial spirit, he was a rare alpha who wouldn’t be too overwhelmed when standing next to Lucas.

The second prince, Zhou Mingjing, had previously served as a soldier for a short time, and had a relatively good relationship with Lucas. Neither of them liked to talk much, and it was the same on this occasion as well. Zhou Mingjing only placidly chatted for a while and wished Lucas a smooth trip.

On the other side, Zhou Mingkai was scared out of his skin when he saw Luo Ran’s lips and his tightly-wrapped neck.

He’d been under the impression that the ‘a bit much’ that Lucas talked about was an exaggeration, but this…??

Zhou Mingkai instantly became full of energy.

Was the Empire’s national CP about to be officially announced?!

Was the Empire’s wedding of the century about to take place?!

Was the Empire’s excellent next generation about to arrive?!

“What is it?” Luo Ran smiled at Zhou Mingkai, who was apparently dumbfounded. “Is there anything Your Highness would like to say to the admiral? I will pass it on.”

“Uh…” Zhou Mingkai froze, suddenly forgetting what he wanted to say.

“Just…” Zhou Mingkai clapped his hands together. “Right! I heard that Luobing’s Princess Lillia was very angry when she heard that His Highness Andika is going to marry Lu Cheng. She’s insulted that she’s not the one who’s getting married, and thinks they’ve robbed her of the limelight, so she’s been making a fuss for the last few days.”

“Ah…” Luo Ran was helpless.

This Princess Lillia was truly a catastrophe for the royal family.

Zhou Mingkai continued in a numb voice, “Then, the Luobing royal family and her royal father were so annoyed that they requested my brother to let her and the admiral to go to the compatibility scanner,* so that she can stop hoping to be together.”

Luo Ran: “…”

The compatibility scanner was the most incredible invention in the Empire’s history.

As long as two people stood on its platform, the system would rapidly analyse their detailed information, including their personality, thoughts, past experiences, and so on, then produce a percentage of their suitability together.

And this machine was quite magical, since the percentages weren’t necessarily based on pure data. Many scholars had tried to explore its inner workings, but they still weren’t entirely sure of its rules.

Many young couples would try it before getting married, but as long as it wasn’t a negative number, most would be satisfied if it reached more than 30%.

After all, two individual people needed a certain period of time to get used to each other. Few couples could achieve over 60%.

“Princess Lillia’s temper… she must have been spoiled by her family, it’s no wonder it’s like this,” Luo Ran said.

She’s the one having a temper tantrum, yet Luobing’s royal family wanted everyone else to cooperate with her.

“Yeah,” Zhou Mingkai smiled. “My eldest brother and second brother also told me that they’re using the princess’ name to try marrying the admiral again, especially if their score is good. Aren’t they dreaming?”

Luo Ran shook his head.

But it wasn’t that big of a deal, so Luo Ran said with a smile, “It doesn’t matter, just test it if they want to.”

With a temperament like Lucas’, anyone who went up would get a negative result. His previous fiancées had all tried and failed one by one; Lillia might well compete for the lowest score in the system’s history.

“She’s too annoying,” Zhou Mingkai said, rolling his eyes. “Last time as well, didn’t she go crazy and decide on you? Fortunately, my brother suppressed the news, then accidentally said it later, otherwise you’d already have tied the knot.”

“…” Luo Ran paused, then frowned. “It was the eldest prince who told you?”

“Nah, he mentioned it casually when I was chatting with him.” Zhou Mingkai didn’t think much of it. “Then I told the admiral, but Her Highness didn’t seem to do anything about it, so the admiral also didn’t do anything.”

That’s because I solved it myself, Luo Ran thought.

Fortunately, he took care of it quickly, otherwise Lucas might have gotten angry and made trouble again.

Luo Ran faintly frowned.

He subconsciously glanced at Eldest Prince Zhou Mingyu, only to realise that Zhou Mingyu was also looking at him.

Their eyes met and Zhou Mingyu approached. “Secretary Luo, will you be busy again when you go back?”

“It’s fine.”

“If you run into trouble, remember that you can ask me for help,” Zhou Mingyu said.

Luo Ran paused. Seeing that Zhou Mingkai ran off to talk to Lucas, and there wasn’t anyone nearby, he replied, “Many thanks.

“I don’t need Your Highness’s help with anything, it’s just…” Luo Ran smiled a little. “I hope the admiral can keep serving as the Empire’s sword and shield, not as a gun in its politics. This would be the greatest help to me.”

Luo Ran knew that the Empire wouldn’t allow Lucas to marry, but must the imperial family push him out as a target just because it wasn’t convenient for them to do it themselves?

Zhou Mingyu was taken aback.

Luo Ran didn’t name anyone, only saying, “After all, the admiral uses his own body to protect the Empire, so he shouldn’t suffer from politics, right?” 

Zhou Mingyu quickly returned to his original smiling expression. “That’s true.”

Following this, Luo Ran boarded the hovercar to await departure.

An imperceptible emotion flashed in Zhou Mingyu’s eyes, so fast that no one noticed it.

It seemed like he was just warned by Secretary Luo.

The previous actions to win him over became useless in an instant.

Zhou Mingyu chuckled. Just as he turned to leave, he bumped into Lucas.

Lucas’ gaze was like a hawk’s. “What did Your Highness and my secretary talk about?”

“Just chatting.” The eldest prince’s smile was the same as always. “I asked if he’s been busy with work recently. After all, he has to investigate the omega from the hotel, track the drugs found this time, and prepare the things for the expedition.”

Lucas didn’t bother to talk to this guy who’s been eyeing his secretary all the time. He expressionlessly turned around and got on the hovercar.

After sitting down, Lucas looked at Luo Ran, who sat opposite him with his head down reading paperwork, and felt a little irritated.

Fuck.

I’m not clean anymore.

Zhou Mingyu’s words reminded Lucas.

The bitch who climbed his bed at the hotel still hadn’t been found!

Omega could only have one alpha in their lives, unless it was a temporary mark. Permanent marks couldn’t be washed away.

Since that was the case, Lucas felt that as alpha, they should also be single-minded towards beta and omega, and all their firsts should belong to that destined person.

But now, hmph.

Now, he’s dirty.

Lucas’ head buzzed with anger.

He had to find that person and fix this!

Luo Ran, flipping through the documents, said, “Now that we know the kind of drug they put in your drink during His Majesty’s birthday banquet, Admiral should do another physical exam when we get back. Afterwards, we can focus on the origin of the drink.”

“Go back and check immediately!” Lucas gritted his teeth. “Find that guy for me.”

Luo Ran paused. He’d thought that after so long, Lucas… should’ve stopped being angry, right?

“And after we find them, Admiral…”

“I’ll skin him alive!” Lucas snarled furiously. “He’s finished!”

“…Oh.”

His memory is bad, but he’s quite good at holding grudges, Luo Ran thought.

Lucas sneered, “I’m just curious, why’re they so damn capable! None of my guards, investigation team, or intelligence team have any clues about them? Are they all weaklings!”

“Indeed, it’s suspicious,” Luo Ran said with a bright smile.

Lucas rubbed his chin. “They’re either an acquaintance who hides a beastly heart or someone who holds so much power that it’s hard for us to find anything.”

After enduring a round of attacks on his person, Luo Ran still kept his smile and said, “Indeed, it’s possible.”

Then Luo Ran comforted, “Don’t worry, Admiral, I will work hard.”

Lucas paused, then frowned. “I’m not blaming you.”

It was Luo Ran’s turn to be surprised.

He felt rather complicated.

Why did Lucas seem to become… a little more gentle?

Luo Ran even felt that the word ‘gentle’ seemed inconsistent with Lucas, but then he remembered what happened that morning.

He saw Lucas in his half-asleep daze, then a broad hand fell onto his hair, and lightly patted him.

Then came a low, hoarse voice.

He said, I’m here.

Luo Ran paused, throwing away the messy thoughts in his head. “Admiral, our next step is to prepare two teams, without showing outsiders any flaws.”

One team, led by Lucas, would hide their presence in order to exterminate interstellar pirates.

The other team was a distraction to confuse both pirates and everyone else. Although this team didn’t require real combat power, they couldn’t let the pirates see through them.

“Yeah, go straight to the military HQ when we get back, don’t stop at the company.”

Ever since Lucas left the battlefield as a newly-promoted admiral and set up a company, the Empire ushered in an era of peace, but in the last few years, there were still some big or small skirmishes against interstellar pirates. Lucas also got used to exterminating however many pirates he could, and expeditions against them never stopped.

Luo Ran was used to Lucas going out from time to time, he would just stay at the company to take care of things at home so that Lucas didn’t need to worry about anything.

But the purpose of this expedition was different.

“It seems that I need to go with the admiral this time,” Luo Ran said.

Lucas frowned and said in a low voice, “What would you go for!”

Luo Ran explained, “Everyone knows that if I go with you, I must be together with you. So, if I’m actually with the other team…”

That would be the best way to cover their tracks.

It would be suspicious if Lucas didn’t show his face, but as long as Luo Ran was there, everything made sense.

“No way,” Lucas replied coldly. “The battlefield is dangerous, you can’t go.”

“Admiral…” Luo Ran smiled. “I’m not going to the battlefield, I’m just there as a decoration. Besides, I’m not that weak. I can still handle it if anything happens.”

Lucas slightly frowned.

“It’s fine, Admiral.” Luo Ran continued to read his documents.

“Luo Ran.”

Lucas hesitated, then suddenly said, “If I die in battle one day, what will you do?”

Luo Ran looked up at Lucas in surprise.

Lucas stared at him, stubbornly waiting for an answer.

Luo Ran lowered his gaze. “Such a thing won’t happen, Admiral, you’ve safely passed even more difficult battles before.”

“I’m saying, what if.” Lucas frowned deeper.

Damn it.

Lucas thought to himself, I’m a grown ass man, a blooded admiral who props up the sky, why am I acting like a young damsel falling in love for the first time?!

Luo Ran, you little bastard.

---

Translator:
Lucas is acting like a violated maiden and I find it absurdly funny

Footnotes:

1. Despite what this sounds like, this story does take place in an interstellar setting. I don’t know how space can have a southeast or southwest direction… I chose to copy hyperlane from Star Wars to get back a bit of the space-ness feeling.
2. Test bench [测试台]: a device to verify/analyse an item. I hate using this phrase, I really do, it just sounds so awkward and unspecific. Please give suggestions, I’m begging you. (Edit 18/05/22: changed to compatibility scanner, with thanks to H for their suggestion)

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Crazy.

This person’s gone crazy.

Lucas bit his sensitive, fragile lips hard. He didn’t control his strength at all, biting so forcefully that Luo Ran, who was completely unprepared, had tears in the corner of his eyes.

Strictly speaking, this couldn’t count as a kiss — there were no loving words, nor was there an intimate exchange of breath.

Lucas just stubbornly held on to Luo Ran’s bottom lip to leave a mark.

The bite mark, clearly visible even on the flesh beneath his lips, was ambiguously erotic.

After Lucas tasted the sweetness of blood welling up from the bite, his hands tightened around Luo Ran further.

“A-Admiral…!” Luo Ran was shackled and unable to move. He looked at Lucas in disbelief, suddenly feeling as if he’d foolishly thrown himself into a wolf’s den.

This person…!

He’s crazy!

Luo Ran’s eyes widened as he watched the lion in front of him frantically lay claim to his territory.

Are all alpha like this when they’re in a rut?

After Lucas had his fill, he shifted down and slowly turned his gaze towards Luo Ran’s throat and nape.

Luo Ran was a beta, he shouldn’t have any glands there…

But Lucas still wanted to take a bite.

“Admiral, it… it’s me,” Luo Ran choked out in a low voice. “Admiral! I am your secretary!

“Admiral, please let me go first.”

Lucas might’ve felt annoyed, because he fixed his mouth on Luo Ran’s rolling throat, blocking all his words.

“Oof…” Luo Ran subconsciously raised his head as if he was being strangled, and his entire body was stimulated into agitation.

Luo Ran’s first reaction was to kick him away, but for one, Lucas’ strength wasn’t something a normal person could overcome, and for two… he didn’t want to attack Lucas at a time like this.

Lucas was about to move on to his nape, but Luo Ran’s hands were still held high above him and his legs were still pinned to the door, so he could only close his eyes, take a deep breath, and say, “It hurts.”

Lucas froze.

Luo Ran repeated, “It hurts…”

Lucas frowned faintly.

Luo Ran had bite marks on both sides of his collarbones, he had bloodstains on his lips, and his two wrists were covered in bruises and bite marks.

He looked humiliated.

Lucas regained consciousness, sluggishly released Luo Ran, and stared at him blankly.

Luo Ran also didn’t dare to move, for fear of stimulating the lion in front of him.

Lucas looked at Luo Ran for several seconds, then lowered his head and panted, “Get out.”

He clenched his fists and studiously avoided looking at him.

Lucas knew that he was like a monster who couldn’t control his own strength, so he hated touching others, but when it came to Luo Ran…

He couldn’t resist.

He didn’t want Luo Ran to be angry with him, to be annoyed with him, and wanted even less for Luo Ran to hate him. But the self-restraint he clung on to for a whole day disappeared into thin air the moment he saw him.

Luo Ran was silent for a long time. He didn’t leave after calming down, and only stepped closer, saying warmly, “Go to sleep, Admiral, I’ll stay with you, okay?”

Lucas froze again and stared at Luo Ran with wide eyes.

He’d thought…

Acting exactly the same as before, Luo Ran smiled and gently pushed Lucas’ arm. “Let’s go.”

Afterwards, Lucas laid on the bed, and when he turned his head, he saw Luo Ran wiping blood off his lips.

“You should’ve escaped,” Lucas said. “Or you shouldn’t have come in.”

“It’s fine.”

“…Will you get angry?”

“I won’t.”

Lucas’ gaze turned into a fierce glare. “Will you get angry then run away?”

“…I won’t.”

Lucas began to dig up old grievances. “Really? What did you talk about with Cyril yesterday?”

Luo Ran didn’t outwardly react at all, he replied seriously, “He wanted to eat together with you, so I said that I would beat him up if he came.”

Lucas was satisfied with this, but then asked, “Then what were you doing to smile so nicely for the eldest prince?”

“I didn’t… The eldest prince asked me to help them next time as well, but I said no, because I’m busy with the Admiral here.”

Lucas was completely satisfied.

He patted the bed next to him and said, “Come up, join me.”

He had a fierce look as he glanced at Luo Ran’s wrist, but the tone of his voice was a little contradictory.

Luo Ran went up after hesitating a bit.

The bed was big enough for Luo Ran and Lucas to be separated by quite a distance, but they were technically sleeping together.

After nightfall, everything became silent. Moonlight flowed through floor-to-ceiling windows and fell onto the bed, softly framing two shadowy silhouettes.

Luo Ran saw Lucas staring at him in the darkness.

Noticing his mood, Luo Ran smiled, then reached out and gently held Lucas’ icy cold, hard metal hand.

“Admiral, I will always and forever be your secretary, until you are no longer an admiral.”

Lucas held on to the warm, soft hand in his grasp.

“I will always be your secretary. I will always protect you.”

The silver-haired man said this while haloed by moonlight.

Lucas’ heartbeat jumped.

He felt as if he’d just stepped off the battlefield after a slaughter, so excited that it was hard to calm down.

No, it wasn’t exactly the same.

After a moment, he said, “…I can make you fly with just one punch, I don’t need your protection.”

Luo Ran only chuckled. “That’s what you said before as well.”

Everything that happened tonight seemed to overlap with the events of yesteryear.

“Before? When?” Lucas frowned.

“You also made me a promise at that time, but you must have forgotten it.” Luo Ran shook his head. “It’s been too long.”

After that, Luo Ran didn’t speak any more. He and Lucas lay a little far apart, but their clasped hands crossed the distance.

Now, there weren’t any outsiders present and Lucas wasn’t wearing his gloves, so what Luo Ran held was cold metal without any warmth, but he didn’t mind.

“Good night, Admiral.”

With Luo Ran by his side, Lucas felt the uncomfortable feeling in his head ease a lot, and he slowly fell asleep.

On the precipice of sleep, Lucas thought, I still remember.

Luo Ran said he’d forgotten it, hmph, he remembered it clearly.

And the way Luo Ran cried, he remembered it even more clearly.

No, Lucas decided, tomorrow I must tell Luo Ran when we get up.

Tell him that he still remembered.

* * *

One night, many years ago, when Luo Ran just began working as a secretary for Lucas.

At that time, Luo Ran had short silver hair, he wasn’t as capable as now, and he couldn’t do many things well.

Someone blocked Luo Ran on his way home. Lucas didn’t remember who that person was, he only knew that they were bullying Luo Ran, maybe they’d been bullying him since they were classmates in school.

So Lucas chased that person away with a few punches.

“You always lived at the company and was afraid to go home because of this guy?” Lucas asked coldly. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I…” Luo Ran lowered his head, subtly trembling and his face pale.

“Idiot.” Seeing him like that, Lucas took off his jacket and threw it onto Luo Ran’s head. “Next time, say something! Don’t just hide it, you’re my secretary now, I’ll protect you from now on.”

Then Luo Ran buried his head in the jacket as his shoulders shuddered and he began sniffling.

The sound was very quiet and restrained, but it was Lucas’ first time faced with such a situation. He swore under his breath and pinned Luo Ran with a glare. “You’re a grown man, why are you crying! Stop crying, take it back!”

Lucas didn’t know that the young man was like this because no one had ever said that to him before.

“I said, stop crying!” Lucas rubbed his nose. “I’ll promise you, alright? In the future, as long as I’m here, no one will be able to bully you.”

The young man hugged the jacket and cried, “And, I’ll protect you too.”

“Tsk,” Lucas smirked, standing in the moonlight like a ruffian, “just you? I can take you in one punch.”

—— XXXX ——

When Lucas woke the next day, his headache had improved a lot, and his restlessness almost completely disappeared.

As if it’d never been there in the first place.

He shook his head, then found that Luo Ran had already left.

Memories of the previous night returned, and Lucas recalled what he did to Luo Ran yesterday.

…He winced and rubbed his temples.

He would never act this way in his right mind, and never thought that he would lose control against Luo Ran last night, randomly biting and pulling him everywhere.

Why would he do that?

As an SSS alpha, Lucas had confidence in his control over his pheromones.

But last night’s events blatantly slapped him in the face.

From the time he changed his clothes to eating breakfast, Luo Ran never showed up.

But last night also ended fine so he wouldn’t be angry… right?

Lucas slowly frowned.

“Morning, Admiral!” Zhou Mingkai burst in. “I wanted to go horse riding with you yesterday but I heard that your cycle* arrived, so I didn’t disturb you.”

Lucas looked at his fried egg with a serious face, directly ignoring Zhou Mingkai.

“Bro! Bro!” As soon as Zhou Mingkai arrived, it became a lot noisier. “What’s going on? You’re still affected by your rut?”

“Yesterday…” Lucas frowned. “I was a bit much with Luo Ran.”

Zhou Mingkai internally sighed at the wonderful love on display, then said, “Isn’t this normal during a rut? If a beta or omega I like is in front of me during my rut, I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself.”

“I’m not an animal like you,” Lucas replied.

“…” At this unexpected attack, Zhou Mingkai exclaimed, “If you don’t have a reaction at the person you like during a rut, then you can’t do it!* Men can’t not do it, Admiral!”

…The person you like.

Lucas stopped.

Did he like him?

He’d never thought about it before.

He was too used to Luo Ran. Every muscle in his body and every neuron in his brain was habituated to Luo Ran’s existence.

So after finding out that Luo Ran liked him, Lucas felt happy and proud. Of course his secretary should like him.

This was a self-evident fact of life.

But maybe it shouldn’t have been so self-evident.

Lucas hesitated, then asked flatly, “What’s ‘like’.”

As a qualified alpha, Zhou Mingkai didn’t even need to think before answering, “Want to fuck.”

Lucas: “…”

Zhou Mingkai: “Otherwise?”

Lucas, expressionless: “Other than that.”

“Uh, liking is a kind of feeling, it’s hard to explain.” Zhou Mingkai grinned. “Generally, if you ask this question, then you already understand it in your heart. Whether you like it or not, and what counts as ‘like’, Admiral should already know.”

“Useless.” Lucas waved him away. “Fuck off.”

“…”

Zhou Mingkai shouted, “I brought white tea wine for you!”

Lucas paused.

He reached over and grabbed Zhou Mingkai’s bag.

Lucas’ eyes unconsciously revealed some amusement at the memory of Luo Ran drinking alcohol last time.

Zhou Mingkai’s heart burst into curses, thinking that Secretary Luo must be a monster to be able to have Lucas make this kind of expression.

In the end, Zhou Mingkai successfully mooched breakfast before he left.

Lucas put the white tea wine away then got up, intending to find Luo Ran.

It’s so late, Luo Ran still hasn’t got up?

In reality, Luo Ran had unusually… overslept.

After all, he hadn’t slept for an entire night, afraid that Lucas would have another episode. He only went back to his room at dawn, when he confirmed that Lucas would be fine.

And during the night, Luo Ran took advantage of the time Lucas was sleeping to discreetly use his pheromones to soothe him.

SSS omega could use their pheromones to soothe SSS alpha, and the reverse was also true.

With Luo Ran’s little actions, Lucas had a restful sleep, and even ended his rut early.

But as the one who used his spiritual energy for the whole night, Luo Ran slept all the way from dawn until now.

Lucas opened Luo Ran’s door and walked to his side. Luo Ran, hearing movement, struggled to open his eyes.

Still curled in his bedsheets, Luo Ran drowsily looked at Lucas.

Lucas’ ears became a little hot when he saw the markings on Luo Ran’s neck, wrists, and lips.

Damn.

They obviously didn’t do anything, but why did this make it seem like he was a beast?

“Admiral…?” Luo Ran’s voice was hoarse just after waking up. “Do you need anything?”

“Nothing,” Lucas replied, “you can keep sleeping.”

“Hm…”

Lucas hesitated, then, imitating Luo Ran, he stretched out his hand and rubbed at Luo Ran’s hair.

“Be good, go to sleep, I’m here.”

---

Translator:
I like the way the author treats Lucas’ metal hand. I mean, I’m not nearly a definitive voice on this or any other disability topic, but… I like how the author treats it similar to a personality trait, not something to pity him for, not something that defines him. It’s a bodily appendage that just happens to be made out of metal. I dunno. What do you guys think?

Footnotes:

1. Cycle [大姨夫]: lit. great uncle; the male counterpart to 大姨妈 (lit. great aunt), which is an euphemism for your period
2. You know… that. ZMK is being dirty here.

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The two just hid their heads in the coat and stumbled their way onto the hovercar.

Lucas, with his eyes a little red, tightly grasped Luo Ran’s hand.

At times like this, alpha were more sensitive to omega pheromones; and towards omega whom they liked or already marked, they were completely unable to resist.

However, Luo Ran knew that he’d used a lot of scent blocker sprays and drugs to suppress his own pheromones.

Lucas was breathing hard, as if trying to hold something back.

“Admiral, do you have a headache?” From his research, Luo Ran knew that alpha would be very uncomfortable during this period. They felt like someone was fighting in their minds, so they couldn’t help but direct their aggression outwards to vent.

Luo Ran dug out the rut-suppressant medicine he carried in his pocket, and handed that along with a thermos bottle to Lucas.

Lucas swallowed it roughly.

Luo Ran lightly patted Lucas’ back.

Lucas’ eyes dimmed, and he quickly grabbed Luo Ran’s wrist again.

Ow.

It hurt, but Luo Ran held back from crying out.

Marks soon appeared on the wrist from the hard metal’s pressure. Luo Ran gritted his teeth, drooped his head, and waited for their destination.

“Admiral, we’ve arrived.”

Lucas didn’t look at Luo Ran again — he felt that if he took one more glance, he wouldn’t be able to hold back. He turned and strode towards his room as his chest heaved with breath.

Luo Ran locked the doors and windows, then stood outside his room. “If Admiral doesn’t feel well, or needs anything, send a message through the terminals, okay?”

An answering grunt came from within, then Lucas seemed to climb onto his bed to sleep. After all, Luo Ran dosed the white tea incense with a lot of sleeping aids.

Luo Ran let out a relieved breath, then smoothly took out an ointment to rub his wrists with.

Lucas didn’t really know how to control his strength and the force he used towards others was different from normal people, but Luo Ran didn’t plan to remind him.

Lucas’ rut usually lasted between one to three days.

Luo Ran pulled up a reclining chair, sat right next to the door, and took the time to do some paperwork.

The beta patrolling outside were also used to Luo Ran guarding Lucas through his rut.

The next day, the investigation into Andika’s case started in earnest. There were many things to look into, not least of which were the pirates’ supply route, the maid’s weapons, and the extent of the pirates’ infiltration.

According to Andika, the maid threatened him with both drugs and interstellar pirates, in order to force him to bring pirates to the Empire’s capital… and to arrange a meeting between the pirates’ leader — Huntsman — and a VIP from the Empire to take place during the banquet, for a business meeting. The plan was to disguise Huntsman as Andika’s bodyguard.

As for who the VIP was, Andika didn’t know.

But after careful consideration, Huntsman was present at every banquet.

He could only be there under the protection of the VIP.

Lu Cheng handed the report to Luo Ran, then summarised their progress in a few sentences.

“There’s one more thing… Andika told me something, but I didn’t let him report it to the authorities,” Lu Cheng said in a low voice. “Secretary Luo reminded me earlier to not report this kind of thing.”

Luo Ran raised his eyebrows and motioned for Lu Cheng to continue.

“Andika said that interstellar pirates are planning to steal UNK.”

The situation had changed immediately after Luo Ran successfully refined the UNK.

Repeated experiments showed that the refined UNK indeed contained more energy — up to five times more energy, in fact, compared to anything from previous mines.

The most important point was that it could not only power machines and factories, but if people ate it or were exposed to its radiation for a period of time, their spiritual and physical powers would increase dramatically. It was the equivalent of a new medicine and weapon combined.

Of course, the Empire immediately began making plans and setting rules, as well as officially launching a large-scale UNK refining project. All the omega from the research institute succeeded in refining UNK using blueprints from the ‘SSS omega’, and Xia Zhi, as the first to successfully refine it, was also invited to the institute as a researcher, which could be considered as returning to his roots.

It was also because of this that the meetings between the two countries would start again.

At present, Luobing had already promised to send another batch of UNK soon.

If interstellar pirates wanted to steal some, then they must be targeting this delivery of UNK.

Luo Ran frowned slightly, wondering why pirates would bother stealing it at all. It wasn’t as if they knew how to refine it.

But on second thought, that Huntsman seemed… a little mysterious.

Maybe he could figure it out? Or perhaps the pirates also intended to steal the blueprints, after all, Huntsman had that important friend of his.

Luo Ran rubbed his temples. “You’ve done a good job, this thing shouldn’t be reported to them, our army has always been the ones to fight pirates.”

Their superiors weren’t trustworthy. They didn’t know who the spy was, and they couldn’t defend against it at all.

Their operation couldn’t be interrupted again like last time.

“Go negotiate with them to transfer that maid to our detention facilities,” Luo Ran ordered, “then question her as harshly as needed about their plans for the robbery.”

With UNK containing this much energy, it might easily create terrifying new weapons if processed. They couldn’t let interstellar pirates get their hands on it.

“Yes sir!”

“Oh, right, Secretary Yuan Han asked me something this morning, and the imperial family is also very concerned.” Luo Ran stroked his chin and smiled. “You and Prince Andika…?”

At this, Lu Cheng scratched at his cheek, a little embarrassed. “He said it’s okay to… um, get married. But he’s afraid Luobing’s side won’t agree, so he asked me to mark him.”

An alpha could mark countless omega in their lifetime, but an omega could only have one alpha, and their marks could never be removed.

If Lu Cheng marked Andika, then Luobing wouldn’t have a choice about it even if their original plan was to have their prince matched with Lucas.

But this result was exactly what the Empire wanted. Not only would it satisfy Luobing’s requirement for a marriage, but it also wouldn’t let them take advantage of the situation.

Lu Cheng didn’t have a high status — he was neither of the imperial family nor did he have a hereditary title or military rank.

But he also couldn’t be said to have a low status — he was the chief adjutant of the Empire’s admiral, and was someone who held real military power.

Not too much or too little, just right.

Luo Ran chuckled a little. “We weren’t very clear before, but now we know. Prince Andika treats you very well, but he’s still a rather timid omega. You have to be patient while he quits the drug, the process might not be so smooth or beautiful, so you have to take care of him more and don’t show any impatience. It’s important to give him self-confidence and to keep encouraging him.”

Luo Ran remembered the Andika he saw at the banquet. At that time, the young man, who held an empty plate, stood next to the long table in a daze, staring at the many types of food. He obviously wanted to eat but dared not reach out and take any, and in the end, Luo Ran personally chose some food for him.

“He encountered something like this on his first trip to the Empire, plus he’s never lived well in Luobing before, so he must be very scared,” Luo Ran said, “you have to stay with him more. How about I ask the admiral to give you a holiday when he comes over, and give you a reduced workload for half a year?”

“Thank you, Secretary Luo!!” Lu Cheng solemnly stated, “I definitely will! I’ve already marked him, and I’ll protect him properly in the future, I won’t let him be bullied again.”

“Also… You must treat him well, but don’t think that you’re inferior to him. Altogether, his position in Luobing and your position in the Empire is about the same, so be confident.”

Luobing was a vassal state and Andika was an illegitimate child, while Lu Cheng was the adjutant of the Empire’s admiral.

“Yes sir!!” Lu Cheng’s heart was warm.

After that, Lu Cheng intended to leave, but he couldn’t resist a glance at the tightly closed door.

“Secretary Luo isn’t going in…?” Lu Cheng asked.

Finding Lu Cheng’s question very strange, Luo Ran raised his head. “It’s better not to disturb the admiral at this time.”

Lu Cheng hesitated as if uncertain whether to say something.

Secretary Luo was a beta, he… might not understand.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath. “Secretary Luo, I’ve also experienced ruts before. During ruts, alpha lose almost all reason and self-control, but can restrain themselves in the face of their favourite omega or beta and suppress all their instincts, do you know what this means?”

“…?” Luo Ran couldn’t quite react to this new topic for a while.

“This means that the alpha really, truly cherishes them, so that they can fight against biological instincts. That shows extraordinary determination and resolve, I-I might not be able to do it…”

Luo Ran smiled. “I know this.”

“Yes!”

Lu Cheng left. Luo Ran paused; putting aside liking him or whatnot, Lucas really was… trying his best to endure, he didn’t lose his temper or lash out.

Lucas didn’t have to.

Luo Ran lowered his eyes and gripped the report without a word.

* * *

Luo Ran sat near the door for the rest of the day, watching the patrolling beta go in to deliver food for Lucas.

Wang Qiuyang prepared a sandbag for Lucas, which he used in the room to exercise and vent. The sound of his fists hitting the sandbag was so intense that Luo Ran could hear them across the door, letting him feel the depths of Lucas’ irritability.

Luo Ran sat like that until evening, and when he returned after a shower, he saw that the door had opened.

Lucas stood next to the door and expressionlessly watched Luo Ran with pitch-black eyes.

Luo Ran immediately went closer and asked, “Admiral, do you need anything…?”

Lucas: “You.”

Luo Ran froze.

Lucas held the door frame. The man’s eyes were like those of a falcon, and his sharp aura made Luo Ran breathless.

Luo Ran replied blankly, “I… What about me?”

Luo Ran’s body smelled not only of white tea, but also of his shampoo from his recent shower.

“Can you come in with me?” Lucas asked in a low, hoarse voice.

Luo Ran’s reason was telling him: no, you can’t.

He was a secretary, an employee, and an omega masquerading as a beta, he shouldn’t approach his boss during his rut.

That would be overstepping.

But when Luo Ran met Lucas’ eyes, he suddenly thought of Lu Cheng’s words, and then… he nodded.

Luo Ran wanted to do his best to meet all of Lucas’ requirements and avoid making him sad.

Almost in the same instant Luo Ran nodded, he felt himself being dragged in.

Bang! As soon as the door closed, Luo Ran was pressed against it. The man in front of him breathed heavily. “I don’t want you to be anyone else’s secretary.”

“I won’t,” Luo Ran replied. After a beat, he repeated gently, “I won’t, Admiral.”

Lucas didn’t seem to believe it. He lowered his head, and bit at the junction of Luo Ran’s neck and shoulder.

Luo Ran frowned slightly at the pain.

Lucas stared ferociously at Luo Ran, wishing to leave his mark.

Luo Ran is mine.

Lucas bit hard, leaving a deep red tooth mark on that fair skin.

Then he turned his head and took a bite on the other shoulder.

“Admiral…!” Luo Ran reflexively raised his head and stared upwards. “You…”

Lucas grabbed Luo Ran’s left hand and bit his wrist.

“Mnh…” These were all vulnerable places, Luo Ran could only passively let this madman go crazy.

A bright red mark appeared on his left wrist.

It wasn’t enough. Lucas snared Luo Ran’s right wrist and lowered his mouth again.

—My mark has to be everywhere others can see.

As soon as this thought emerged, Lucas’ gaze moved to Luo Ran’s face.

This place was also his.

Lucas bit those soft lips.

---

Translator:
The first couple from the emperor’s banquet is set, and our ship is sailing! A good chapter, all told.

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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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