“Does it hurt a lot?”

Song Yu didn’t dare bite too hard. Seeing Rong Shi go blank, he thought the pain was severe and tested, “Want me to blow on it?”

Two identical voices of Song Yu reached his ears at once. Rong Shi stared dazedly between them a few times.

“Why the haunted look?” Song Yu waved a hand in front of him, teasing. “Not drunk, are you?”

A drunk bunny is sweet—truly sweet—and truly scary.

“Not drunk,” Rong Shi said quietly.

“Let’s go sleep,” Song Yu said, reaching for his hand. “There’s a lot tomorrow.”

Just as their fingers were about to touch, Rong Shi flinched as if shocked and instinctively pulled back.

Song Yu’s hand paused, eyes puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Realizing he’d overreacted, Rong Shi closed the video window and took the initiative to lace their fingers, leading him back to the tent. “Was just thinking about something.”

The tent was small. They lay on their sides under a thin blanket, shoulder to shoulder.

Rong Shi slipped his fingers into Song Yu’s collar and gently touched the bite he’d left. “Still hurts?”

“It does—but we’re even now.” Song Yu wrapped arms and legs around him, very satisfied with his oversized bunny body pillow. “Did my pheromones help?”

“Mm.” Rong Shi smoothed the hair at Song Yu’s temple back behind his ear. “The symptoms have eased a lot.”

Not wanting him to tough it out, Song Yu pressed an ear to his chest. “Still a little fast.”

But much better than before.

“The person I like is in my arms,” Rong Shi said. “Isn’t a faster heartbeat normal?”

Song Yu blinked, then laughed and teased, “Zero-score student finally aced one.”

Rong Shi didn’t answer. His head was full of the big cat.

The big cat in the video looked young but definitely older than 33.

Why did he start by calling him “Bunny”?

What did “successfully returned to eighteen” mean?

Was his rebirth related to the big cat?

In the last life, had they not been strangers after all?

A bellyful of questions rose to his lips, but Rong Shi didn’t know how to begin.

They’d need time to talk properly after they got back.

“Asleep?” Song Yu asked softly when Rong Shi stayed quiet too long.

Rong Shi kissed his smooth forehead. “Sleep.”

When Song Yu’s breathing evened out, Rong Shi silently signaled 01 and pulled the video back up.

He’d just watched it, but seeing the big cat again still stunned him all over.

“I don’t know how much you remember—you probably have a lot of questions. But I am Song Yu; that alone should be enough for you to hear me out—cough, cough—”

Watching him cough every couple of lines, Rong Shi’s brow drew tighter and tighter.

Already a king and still not taking care of himself—what were the palace physicians doing?!

“The rebirth experiment is very risky, with too many unknowns. I don’t know if the world you return to will be the original one. But you must be investigating the test subjects; I can give you some leads.”

The screen flickered to black at times—corrupted source file.

[01: I don’t have permissions for anything in the top-secret section—can’t repair it, Q_Q.[

Rong Shi: [Do you have logs from after my death?]

[01: No. Per your orders, all remaining power was used to preserve combat data. Everything else was shut down.]

On screen, the golden-haired ruler looked tired and worn. “Time travel can cause data loss. To be safe, I stored every file separately.”

Rong Shi opened the top-secret section. There were many videos and documents—most marked damaged.

The little cat was still so willful, even grown.

What if he hadn’t met him? What if they hadn’t ended up together?

Unlocking with pheromones was too risky. It might never unlock across a lifetime.

“Rong Shi.”

Hearing his name, Rong Shi jolted and focused.

The golden-haired ruler smiled, peach-blossom eyes narrowing.

The smile dazzled him. Thoughts fled, and only one notion remained—his wife is gorgeous.

“I know you like I know myself. If you successfully rebirth, we will meet. Once we meet, I will mark you.”

Rong Shi: …

Who’s marking whom?

“I’ll come to you once I’ve finished here.”

Rong Shi froze.

“The success rate for rebirth is less than one in ten million,” the king said. “But we will meet again.”

Less than one in ten million?

Rong Shi’s brow creased. He didn’t approve of this decision at all.

For whatever reason, the big cat must have learned who he was and used some means to send him back—achieving “rebirth.”

But the big cat was alive and well, a king—no need to take such a risk.

Just then, he heard the big cat give a chilly, lilting snort—so lethally pleasant to hear.

“You’d better prepare to not get out of bed for three days.”

Rong Shi: …………

So that’s the point of this video?

Blind confidence isn’t a virtue, little cat.

Before dawn, Song Yu was shaken awake. It was 5 a.m.—less than four hours of sleep.

Rong Shi was already geared up. He handed over a wet towel. “This is when the base’s defenses are weakest.”

Song Yu wiped his face. “How do you know?”

01 and 00 had only found the entrance. Inside, the counter-surveillance was too strong to scan from outside.

Rong Shi straightened his rumpled shirt. “You told me.”

Song Yu looked puzzled. “Me?”

In a dream?

Rong Shi didn’t elaborate and headed for the inner cave.

“Wait,” Song Yu called after him. “Whatever needs doing—let me.”

Rong Shi shook his head. “I’m fine. I won’t be affected again.”

To infiltrate the base, they had to take 01 and 00—leaving the omega as a problem.

Unwatched, he’d run. With his skills, he wouldn’t last a day in a level‑4 danger zone.

Rong Shi stood before the cage and drew a cool breath.

“Open.”

The metal door split. Inside lay the half-dead omega.

203 slept fitfully—woke at the slightest sound.

Seeing the man who’d aimed a gun at him yesterday, he scrambled back. “I already told you everything I know.”

“I don’t particularly need your intel,” Rong Shi said coolly. “Even if you don’t, I have ways to find it.”

203’s eyes flickered—panicked.

No value meant… would he be killed?

“Saving you is easy,” Rong Shi said. The boy’s eyes widened, hopeful—then Rong Shi added, “But that depends on where you stand.”

“My… stance?” 203’s voice rasped.

“If you’re a victim, I will save you.” A beat. “If you’re a perpetrator, I can only kill you.”

Half-truth—delivered with such an unreadable face that 203 took it as gospel.

“I’m not a perpetrator!” He trembled. “I’ve never hurt anyone!”

“But you’re sheltering those who do—many will die for it.” Rong Shi’s voice iced over. “If the knife wasn’t in your hand, does that make it not yours?”

203 froze—no rebuttal came.

“How can this be…” his voice cracked to a sob.

“We’ll be gone for a day. We’ll leave you food,” said Rong Shi.

203 stared as he set a few ration packs in the corner.

“If you want to get out safely, sit tight and wait for us. Rethink last night’s answers. If you want to die, leave anytime.”

The door slid shut. 203’s eyes dropped to the food.

His throat burned; his stomach grumbled.

There was water and jerky. He fumbled the cap off, gulped half the bottle, then shoved jerky into his mouth.

As he chewed, tears spilled unchecked.

The instructor said the pain and hardship were for omegas’ liberation—to win back their freedom.

But what was freedom?

How do you seize what you’ve never had?

“I just want to live… sob…”

The base entrance was in a small cave where forest met rockface.

In battle armor, Rong Shi and Song Yu stood at the mouth, blending into the surroundings.

Song Yu triggered armor mode for the first time—wide‑eyed.

He asked 00, It can become this too?

[00: This is my real form.]

Rong Shi led him in, linking 01 and 00 together, and spoke by thought.

Rong Shi: [We’re using light-armor stealth.]

A thin metal skin wrapped their clothing—mimicking both the environment and their garments for double invisibility.

Song Yu: [Perfect for thieving.]

Rong Shi: …

At this hour, the entrance was empty.

He glanced upward; clusters of red highlights popped on the rock wall—micro-cameras, AI “eyes.”

Song Yu: [The trees nearby are thick with them.]

With this density, not even a fly gets through.

They walked straight in, through linked caverns, to a downward passage.

The layout rang a bell. He immediately thought of the flattened “fake” lab.

Song Yu: [They forged it with care.]

Rong Shi: [Doesn’t it strike you as odd?]

At the bottom, Song Yu looked around. If outsiders can’t enter, what’s the point of making it a look‑alike?

Only those who come inside would know the layout. To outsiders, no matter how similar two labs are, there’s nothing to compare.

The fake lab wasn’t for fooling outsiders—but insiders who knew the layout, i.e., the organization’s own people.

The passageways were bright, branching—a giant maze.

01: [Many traps and anti-scan devices. Be careful.]

 00: [Please be careful.]

Following the big cat’s hints, Rong Shi guided Song Yu through the corridors.

At this hour, most zones were AI‑patrolled only.

After a stretch, the space opened onto something the fake lab didn’t have—an undersea modification wing.

A row of transparent rooms, each with a single surgical bed. The rest sparse.

Song Yu pointed. What’s that—hams hanging?

Rong Shi looked.

In a large chamber, dozens of people were clustered—hanging midair like condemned prisoners.

He moved to take a closer look—but the alarms detonated.

Warning! Warning! External infiltration detected. Elevating to maximum defense!

[01: We’re toast! Their anti-scan really is something—I didn’t see this! Now what, Q_Q?]

Rong Shi’s eyes flashed cold. He pulled Song Yu to double back.

But before they could turn fully, hundreds of AI sentries poured in from every side—boxing them in—

__

Author’s Note:
Bunny Rong: Confidence is good, but don’t be blind about it.
Gorgeous Big Cat: ?
After learning the situation from the little cat—
Gorgeous Big Cat: Such a weakling—really me?
Little Cat Song: You don’t have a clue whether I’m “weak” or not?
Gorgeous Big Cat: … [exhausted]