After the Qilin headquarters was bombed, the residual radiation levels remained quite high.

On the way there, Song Jin fished a small metal sphere from his pocket and tossed it to Li Xiao. “Take this.”

Li Xiao, with one hand on the steering wheel, caught it casually. “What is this?”

“A radiation shield.”

Li Xiao glanced at him. “What else do you have in your pockets?”

“This isn’t how the question game is played.” Song Jin propped his chin up, lazily watching the world outside the car window.

Li Xiao: “…”

That sounds familiar.

Li Xiao tucked the device into his breast pocket. “Am I the only one who thinks we’re already friends?”

Song Jin didn’t buy it for a second. “Yeah, just you.”

Li Xiao: “…”

The little brat is throwing a tantrum.

There was information he couldn’t share—not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. It involved Danse’ internal politics, and without concrete evidence, he hadn’t even finished piecing the puzzle together himself. Although they were collaborating temporarily, their positions were different. With the Shengya and Danse nations caught in the middle, they weren’t exactly partners who could say everything to each other.

There were Qilin helipads on both sides of the deep crater, filled with modified fighter jets and three large transport ships. After the Ravens’ bombing, they looked twisted and crooked, coated in a thick layer of dust. Seeing Qilin members still active in the area, Li Xiao lowered the altitude of the hovercar to avoid their attention and headed toward the newly discovered underground base.

The car stopped beside a heap of metal trash. The dilapidated outer shell of the vehicle blended almost perfectly with the surrounding discarded parts; without a careful look, it was impossible to spot.

After walking a short distance, they met up with the dark guards who had been staking out the place. “This way,” the guard said, scanning the surroundings before leading them quietly into the trash mountain.

Another guard, disguised as a worker, saw them approaching and joined his companion in heaving a thick steel plate to the side, revealing an opening beneath. Li Xiao crouched down to examine the material of the broken edge. It was completely different from the surrounding scrap; this metal had high stealth properties, was incredibly expensive, and was generally reserved for military use—rarely seen on the civilian market.

The guard whispered, “If the explosion hadn’t torn a hole here, our portable detectors wouldn’t have been able to scan the space below.”

The space underneath was quite large; the group used ropes to rappel down. “We’ve already confirmed that the sensors here were fried by the electromagnetic shells,” the guard said, turning on his flashlight and leading the way.

The space was walled with metal and stood about ten meters high, stacked with numerous wooden crates. Song Jin used his military knife to pry one open; it was filled with neatly arranged bullets. He picked one up to examine it under the flashlight.

“A Qilin weapon cache?”

Li Xiao looked at it over his shoulder. The shell casing had no serial numbers, but the craftsmanship was excellent—not something a black-market factory could produce.

“The quality is even on par with our Shengya military factories,” Song Jin said, holding the bullet up for Li Xiao. “Your Danse black-market workshops are this advanced?”

Li Xiao played dumb. “I don’t know anything about these things.”

Song Jin put the bullet back. “You’d better be telling the truth.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Leaving that thousand-square-meter warehouse and following the corridor forward, they discovered a dozen similar rooms, all filled with ammunition and firearms of various specifications. Li Xiao picked up a laser-composite rifle to inspect it.

This model, the KT936, was a new release from the Nanming sector of the military factory last year. It was likely that even the standard military bases hadn’t been fully equipped with them yet, yet here it was, appearing in a thieves’ den.

Song Jin’s flashlight beam swept across the gun. “Are all you Danse people like you—liking to play the pig to eat the tiger?”

Li Xiao turned his head to look at him. “Do I?”

“Don’t you?”

Li Xiao continued walking. “Lions are more fun than tigers, aren’t they?”

Song Jin: “…?”

This weapon cache was far larger than they had imagined, exceeding the scale such a rogue organization should have. They walked for a long time, still circling the small arms and firearm sections. Their monitoring equipment couldn’t scan the entire space, but Li Xiao suspected there was more than one floor.

Suddenly, slight movement came from the front of the passage. Li Xiao froze and grabbed Song Jin. Song Jin instinctively resisted, but then he heard the footsteps, so he followed Li Xiao and ducked into a side warehouse. Once the flashlight was off, they were plunged into pitch darkness.

A few minutes later, light appeared in the passage to their front-left, and two young betas walked by, holding flashlights.

“Good thing the Ravens didn’t find this place, or they would’ve cleaned us out!”

“Their equipment couldn’t have detected this place anyway!”

“But everyone above is mostly dead. What’s the difference whether it was found or not? The Qilin are finished.”

“It’s possible people will come to loot the place in the next couple of days. Old Zhou and the others are already talking about running away.”

The first beta looked around like a thief and lowered his voice. “Let’s run too! We can steal some things from here to sell. Once we have money, who would want to be a lackey anymore?”

The other beta didn’t agree. “What are you thinking? Try moving a crate out of here—they aren’t blind!”

The first beta: “Isn’t there still the blood? Just stuff that in your pocket, they won’t notice!”

His companion was instantly tempted. “Let’s go!”

Li Xiao and the four guards watched as the two betas circled into the passage ahead. Song Jin wanted to follow, but Li Xiao pressed him down. [Let go.]

Li Xiao tapped him. [Don’t be impatient.]

It was too quiet here; following too closely made it easy to be discovered. Li Xiao listened to the sounds, mentally constructing a map of their route, and only signaled Song Jin to follow when they were almost out of earshot.

Song Jin followed closely behind as they wove rapidly through the corridors. Some junctions split into seven or eight paths, yet Li Xiao moved without a moment’s hesitation, entering the correct one immediately.

Tracking them so precisely just by listening? No wonder he got blasted half-dead by the sonic boom.

Sensing an intense gaze from behind, Li Xiao turned his head. [Are you cursing me?]

Song Jin raised an eyebrow. [You’re just too sensitive.]

Li Xiao: “…”

Hearing the footsteps stop, Li Xiao signaled a halt. A heavy metal gate appeared at the end of the passage; the two betas took quite some effort to get it open. The beam of their flashlights swept across the inside, revealing large storage tanks.

“It’s so cold in here!” one of the betas rubbed his arms and climbed the ladder in front of the tanks. “Hurry up!”

His companion climbed up and opened the lid of a storage tank, pulling out a storage box. “We’re rich! So many blood bags! One bag each?”

The beta grabbed three bags and shoved them into his chest indiscriminately. “Grab a few more!”

The two were just about to head down with the box when they heard movement behind them. Before they could react, they lost consciousness.

The dark guards dragged the stunned Qilin lackeys aside. Song Jin picked up a blood bag that had dropped to the floor and examined it under his flashlight. Compared to the well-crafted weapons, the blood bag looked incredibly low-quality, as if it had been bought from some scrap recycling station.

“Boss, the blood in the tanks over here isn’t packaged!” one of the guards reported.

Song Jin stepped forward quickly to check. The storage tanks, two meters tall and wide enough for three people to hug, were full, and the red liquid inside had frozen into a large mass.

“These don’t have any either!” another guard reported.

Out of ten total tanks, only the one the betas opened had been divided into bags. The storage method was too crude and cheap.

“Take samples from every tank,” Song Jin ordered.

“Yes!”

Li Xiao held up his flashlight to look around. “The more I look at this, the more it seems like a warehouse for gutter-oil workshops. This probably isn’t even human blood—it might be pig blood.”

Song Jin: “…”

Hard to argue with that.

Li Xiao walked further in and pushed open a small door. It was a small warehouse filled with empty reagent tubes and carrying cases for them. Hearing footsteps behind him, Li Xiao whispered, “These reagent tubes cost quite a bit. Even if they just fill them with water, the value of the ‘liquid’ inside would skyrocket.”

Song Jin picked one up and examined it; it was indeed more finely crafted than the blood bags. “What are you trying to say?”

Li Xiao looked at him. “I’m just curious. Why are you risking so much to find this kind of blood?”

Song Jin countered coldly, “I’m also very curious—why is your hearing so abnormal?”

“Born with it.”

“Is that so?”

Seeing Song Jin’s ‘do you think I believe you’ expression, Li Xiao couldn’t help but laugh. “Do I have any reason to lie to you?”

“Have you lied to me any less?”

Li Xiao: “Actually, if you just said, ‘I won’t let you see him if you lie to me,’ I might consider every answer carefully.”

“Unnecessary.” Song Jin tossed the test tube back lightly. “I have plenty of ways to make you tell the truth.”

The little golden lion’s pride is higher than the sky.

Li Xiao nodded, suppressing a laugh. “I look forward to it.”

Just as they were about to leave, his peripheral vision caught something unusual. Li Xiao walked over. Seeing him knocking on the inner metal wall of the warehouse, Song Jin followed, confused. “A double wall?”

“Mm.”

Li Xiao handed him the flashlight, fumbled for a moment, and pressed down firmly on one spot. The sound of gears turning echoed from within the wall. A strange sound came from behind them, and both of them turned sharply.

The wall opened to reveal a cold storage room. On the four-tiered metal shelves sat two test tubes. Li Xiao picked them up and examined them under the flashlight. The tubes were numbered—N1926.

“This tube has the same number.” Song Jin scanned the shelves with his flashlight, moved closer to inspect them, and found traces of labels on every shelf, though they had all been torn off. “Didn’t that Jin guy say the Fierce Tigers were at N1926?”

“Yeah. The ‘new blood’ they talked about is probably this.” Just as Li Xiao finished speaking, a bright light shone directly in his eyes. He turned his head and raised a hand to block it. “Stop it.”

Song Jin stood up straight, aiming the flashlight directly at Li Xiao’s face, his expression cold. “We were so far away just now—how did you find the double wall?”

Seeing his questioning gaze, Li Xiao instantly understood the implication and pushed his hand down. “Suspect me of leading you on on purpose?”

“From the moment you appeared on the helipad at the exam site, I’ve had to suspect you.” Song Jin pulled his hand away. “From my perspective, don’t you think I should suspect you?”

Qi Ge and Li Xiao could both see invisible equipment. Qi Ge’s pheromones could control others; who’s to say Li Xiao couldn’t do the same? Although the two of them appeared not to be a team, who knew if they hadn’t planned it all along? If they could point all suspicion toward Qi Ge, and Li Xiao could step out to testify at the right time, it would be easy to gain trust. Then, through him, they could contact his brother—the King—and perhaps control him.

Danse had been making small moves for decades, repeatedly testing Shengya’s stance. Looking at the exchange students sent this time, there was still no sincerity for diplomatic relations. If he wasn’t cautious, he would be letting a wolf into the house.

From Song Jin’s attitude, Li Xiao had guessed most of his internal monologue. Li Xiao looked innocent. “Am I really that untrustworthy?”

“You have the face of a disreputable scoundrel, and you’re full of lies. Why should you be trusted?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Disreputable? Scoundrel face?

Li Xiao was so angry he laughed. “Where am I disreputable?”

“This expression right here is very disreputable.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao: “Since I’m so disreputable, why do you still like staring at my face?”

Song Jin snorted. “The two things aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Li Xiao: “…”

So he doesn’t deny he likes staring at it?

Li Xiao handed the reagent to him. “If you’re so uneasy about me, you can tell him my name. Maybe you’ll get your answer.”

Song Jin frowned, watching him leave. Did his brother know a person named Li Xiao?

Afraid of alerting the enemy, Song Jin had the dark guards swap the blood, putting two dummy tubes into the cold storage instead. Their equipment was limited; they couldn’t accurately test the various indicators of the blood. After lingering for another day to confirm there were no other discoveries, they prepared to return to the exam site.

Before leaving, Li Xiao avoided Song Jin and used his backup terminal to send the coordinates of the underground base to Jiang Chi.

[N2533, B District Qilin Headquarters. Come pick up the scraps.]

The reply was fast.

Jiang Chi: [Coming! On my way! Thank you, Dad! Love you!]

Li Xiao: “…………”

The Qilin had been blasted into a scattered mess, and the surrounding factions were restless. Rather than letting that equipment fall into the hands of enemies, it was better to let Jiang Chi snatch it away while the chaos lasted, before the Meng family could take action. Even if the Meng family investigated later, they wouldn’t suspect him.

After Li Xiao was attacked by Qi Ge, he hadn’t appeared for three full days, and Qi Ge hadn’t been released either. The whispers among the students grew louder and louder, eventually hitting the military academy forum, where the thread hung at the top of the home page.

“The school is definitely suppressing the news. Normal pheromone attacks wouldn’t be this serious.”

“God, Li Xiao just became my god, and he got attacked? How jealous is that Qi guy of him?!”

“Any students with inside info out there? How is Li Xiao actually doing? Boohoohoo.”

“Qi Ge is so twisted—hurry up and send him back to Danse! Having him in the military academy is like a time bomb!”

“This probably isn’t Li Xiao’s first attack. Look at the analysis thread—Li Xiao’s jumping from the vehicle during the exam looks like an attack too!”

“The jumping part was definitely weird!”

At the Q303 exam site, Da Bei went to Li Xiao’s rest cabin to deliver food again, only to be turned away. The emotions he’d been suppressing for days finally exploded.

“How is he exactly?!” Da Bei looked at Jiang Hao, his tone harsh. “Can’t you just let me take one look to confirm? I’m really worried about him!”

Jiang Hao blocked the doorway. “My Big Brother said he’s dizzy and nauseous and doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

Da Bei: “I’ll just take a secret peek!”

Jiang Hao said emotionlessly, “Big Brother hasn’t washed his hair and doesn’t want to be seen.”

Da Bei: “…??”

Hasn’t washed his hair?!

He had thought Li Xiao’s condition was serious; he’d thought Li Xiao had suffered mental trauma—but he never thought he wouldn’t be allowed to see him because Li Xiao hadn’t washed his hair! It was truly… reasonable.

Other students who had been attracted by the noise: “…” Is this the ‘burden’ of being a god?

Jiang Hao took the food Da Bei had packed. “With me watching, don’t worry. Big Brother has already suffered mental damage—don’t let his self-esteem be damaged too. That would be too pathetic.”

Da Bei: “…”

With it put that way, how could he find an excuse to go in? Just as Da Bei was about to give up, Meng Tao, Zheng Lin, and several others arrived together.

“Then we have even more reason to visit him.” Meng Tao walked to the door, his expression serious. “He’s become so severe that he can’t even get up to wash his hair? Isn’t that quite critical?”

Before Jiang Hao could speak, Zheng Lin added, “Exactly. Pheromone attacks can be big or small—don’t delay the treatment.”

Jiang Hao: “He said resting for a few days will be fine.”

Meng Tao sneered: “Usually, sick people say they’re ‘fine.’ How can you take that seriously?”

Zheng Lin: “If his condition worsens, are you going to take responsibility?!”

Behind them, a group of exchange students chimed in. Jiang Hao looked at Meng Tao and Zheng Lin, who were feigning concern, and said in a flat tone, “But Big Brother hasn’t washed his hair or bathed in three days and is afraid of being laughed at.”

“What time is it now, and you’re still only caring about your image?” Meng Tao took a step closer. “When we were in the exam site, didn’t everyone go days without being able to wash their hair or bathe?”

Zheng Lin crossed his arms, glanced at Jiang Hao, and snorted. “Too fussy. Is your life more important, or your face?”

With that, Meng Tao moved to push Jiang Hao aside to open the door. The more Li Xiao hid, the more he suspected he wasn’t even in there. This Second Prince, who had suddenly returned to the palace after ten years of disappearance, was far from as simple as he appeared.

Danse and Shengya hadn’t officially established diplomatic relations, so the scope of activities for these exchange students was heavily restricted. No matter where they went, they needed to report in advance. If they found out Li Xiao was going out without permission, Shengya could demand he be deported. As soon as he returned to Danse, Li Xiao would be a chick fallen into a wolves’ den—never to be this arrogant again!

Jiang Hao blocked the doorway, and a dispute erupted between him and Meng Tao’s group.

“What’s going on?!”

Everyone turned at the sound to see Qin Le and Qian Can approaching. Qin Le, as Student Council President, carried a lot of weight in the academy. Everyone stopped immediately.

“This is the resting area. What is this, arguing in the hallway?” Qin Le walked to the cabin door with a dark face, looking at Meng Tao and Jiang Hao. “What’s the matter?”

Meng Tao spoke first. “Li Xiao hasn’t come out for three days. We’re genuinely worried about him and want to go in to see him, but Jiang Hao won’t let us.”

Qin Le looked at Jiang Hao. “That’s where you’re wrong. Everyone is very concerned about him; I’m also worried about Li Xiao’s condition.”

“And saying he can’t be seen because he hasn’t washed his hair for three days,” Zheng Lin mocked with a smile. “What does a soldier need such heavy idol baggage for?”

“That’s actually true,” Qian Can said, walking over while eating a crepe. “An alpha of the new era can have their head cut off and blood flow, but they cannot go out without washing their hair.”

Qin Le frowned. “But he’s sick now; it’s different.”

Qian Can: “Then he should be seen even less. People are at their most vulnerable when they’re sick. If he sees us looking so handsome and dashing, how sad and inferior he’ll feel.”

Qin Le looked thoughtful. “That’s also true. We shouldn’t disregard his feelings.”

Meng Tao saw that something was wrong—the Student Council President was here to help. He said, “Then let’s pick the ugliest one among us to represent us and go in.”

Everyone looked away, silently stepping back half a step. If you’re ugly, you go.

Jiang Hao lowered his head, hesitating. “If Big Brother knew you were all so concerned about him, he would definitely be moved to tears. The doctor said he shouldn’t have any major emotional fluctuations recently, so…”

“Don’t worry about that.” Meng Tao waved toward the other end of the hallway. “I’ve already invited the school doctor to help him with a re-examination.”

Jiang Hao and the others looked over. The alpha school doctor was a Danse national who had come with the exchange students. He had been staying at the military academy, but unexpectedly, he had rushed over here.

Since the doctor was here, there was no logical reason to block them from entering. Jiang Hao looked at Qin Le for help; Qin Le’s lips were pressed into a thin line, his brain racing for a countermeasure.

“So noisy.”

Song Jin’s voice came from the other end of the hallway. Everyone turned their heads abruptly. Song Jin had a dark face, a low-pressure aura of someone who had just woken up lingering around him.

Qin Le’s eyes flashed, and he apologized quickly. “Sorry, they just wanted to visit a patient. I’ll tell them to keep it down.”

“Visit a patient?” Song Jin swept his eyes over Meng Tao and Zheng Lin, his face mocking. “You don’t usually give Li Xiao a good look, but now that he’s fallen ill, you’ve suddenly regained your conscience?”

Meng Tao’s face darkened, and he suppressed his anger. “We can’t be as concerned about Li Xiao as you are, naturally—after all, we’re just ‘ordinary’ classmates.” He deliberately emphasized the word “ordinary,” which made everyone think of the fact that Song Jin and Li Xiao had married on the competition field. The atmosphere turned subtle. No matter how you looked at it, marrying on a competition field was too reckless.

Song Jin leaned against the door frame, snorting. “So, if I don’t let you visit, does that make me—his partner—the villain?”

“I’m not blaming you, I’m just looking at the facts.”

The Danse school doctor received a suggestive glance from Meng Tao and spoke up. “I received a notice from above to perform a physical examination on Li Xiao.”

As he spoke, he opened the notification for everyone to see. Zheng Lin took the opportunity to push Jiang Hao aside and rudely shoved the door open.

Inside the room, the two beds were empty—not a ghost in sight.

“Where is he?!” Zheng Lin pointed at the beds and questioned Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao: “He probably went to the bathroom.”

Zheng Lin: “He went to the bathroom, and he folded his quilt so neatly?!”

Meng Tao followed behind, trying to suppress the upward curve of his lips as he slapped the table hard. “Did he sneak out to play? Doesn’t he know exchange students aren’t allowed to wander around?!”

Da Bei, who had been squeezed out of the crowd, heard this and pushed his way in, discovering that there was indeed no one there—not under the beds, not in the bathroom!

“Where did he go?” Da Bei rushed to Jiang Hao in a panic, grabbing his shoulders. “What happened to Li Xiao? Hurry up and speak!”

The onlookers: “…”

Holy crap! He’s really gone! It was a waste to be so worried about him; he’d snuck out to play!

“I…” Jiang Hao hung his head, stuttering, unable to say a word.

“He’s in my room.” Song Jin looked impatient, tilting his chin at the Danse doctor, signaling him to follow. “He didn’t want to be disturbed, so he’s been resting in my room for the past few days.”

Meng Tao and the others couldn’t hide their astonishment, hurriedly following along. The door opened slowly, and Li Xiao was leaning against the headboard, reading a book. He was wearing a white shirt, with the buttons left casually open to the chest, revealing half of his attractive collarbone. A military jacket was draped over his shoulders, and his black hair was fluffy and slightly messy. He looked languid and casual—a stark contrast to his usual vibe.

Everyone peeking in on their tiptoes: “…”

Isn’t he still dead-drop gorgeous?!

If this counted as “not fit to be seen,” then they should be wearing bags over their heads every day!

Song Jin’s gaze landed on that collarbone, and seeing the group of students staring open-mouthed, he felt inexplicably annoyed.

Hearing the commotion, Li Xiao looked up, appearing slightly surprised. “Why are there so many people?”

“They were worried about you and came to visit,” Song Jin said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pulling Li Xiao’s collar shut. “Be careful not to catch a cold.”

Feeling his strength, Li Xiao: “…”

Is he trying to choke me to death?