When Chi Yao’s consciousness returned, he was lying on a bed.

His vision was blurry, and his head throbbed painfully.

He rubbed his temples, and after a moment his sight gradually cleared.

All four walls were metal—he must still be on the spaceship.

Chi Yao sat up, wanting to go outside to check on things.

But as soon as he lifted the blanket, he froze.

Something was wrong.

“Where did this long hair come from?”

As he spoke, Chi Yao was startled.

This voice was very familiar, but it wasn’t his own.

He rushed into the bathroom.

Seeing himself in the mirror, his brain short-circuited, a ringing buzzing in his ears.

What was going on—was this a dream?

The person in the mirror had sharply defined features; even with no expression, those beautiful, fierce phoenix eyes looked a bit cold. Disheveled long hair fell over their shoulders, but the alpha aura was undiminished.

Good-looking was good-looking, but this was his archrival’s face.

Chi Yao leaned in for a closer look, pinched his own cheeks several times, and felt smooth, warm skin.

He lifted his shirt—the defined abdominal and mermaid lines felt great.

This wasn’t a dream.

“Fuck.”

Chi Yao cursed under his breath, utterly unsure whether to panic or be surprised.

Why had he ended up in his enemy’s body?

And where was Jing Xi?

His just-awoken brain couldn’t keep up, and only after a long while did he recall what had happened yesterday.

Yesterday, he had simply snatched a mine, and had a routine fight with his archrival.

Could it have something to do with that geomagnetic storm at the time?

Knock knock knock.

Suddenly, a knock came from outside and someone walked in.

“Sir, are you awake?”

Chi Yao listened carefully and recognized the voice as Jiang Feng, Jing Xi’s adjutant and vice-commander of the Flying Dragon Corps.

“I’m awake. What is it?” Chi Yao mimicked Jing Xi’s cool tone.

Jiang Feng stood in the outer room, respectfully waiting. “I’m glad you’re awake, sir. Would you like me to call the military doctor?”

Chi Yao was about to refuse, but changed his mind at the last moment.

“Have him come over in twenty minutes.”

Jiang Feng: “Yes, sir.”

After the door closed, Chi Yao looked at the face in the mirror, undid his shirt buttons, and smiled wickedly.

He seemed to hear again that icy Major General scolding him for being “promiscuous.”

But he was all sweaty. He couldn’t possibly skip a shower, right?

The sound of running water lasted a while before stopping. Chi Yao wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom.

Jing Xi was about the same height as him, also an alpha, so there wasn’t much discomfort. The body’s explosive strength was excellent—this pleased Chi Yao.

The only problem was the hair: it was so long, washing it felt even harder than washing a dog’s fur.

In a good mood, Chi Yao towel-dried his hair and pulled out some water from the storage locker, downing half the bottle in one go.

The metallic surface reflected scars on his left shoulder and the right side of his abdomen.

The one on the left shoulder was only three or four centimeters long, but the one on his right side was longer.

A memory flickered in Chi Yao’s mind, and he immediately remembered.

All of those scars were from their previous fights.

But why keep the scars?

Chi Yao touched the raised scar at his waist.

Too ugly, not in line with his aesthetics.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Feng arrived with the military doctor, and when he looked up, he was stunned.

Jing Xi sat on the sofa by the window, the top two buttons of his shirt open, the right collarbone faintly visible, his damp bangs swept back, and long hair loosely draped over his shoulders.

Relaxed and lazy, but the aura wasn’t diminished one bit.

Today, the commander seemed somehow different from usual.

If the military’s omega saw this, they’d go mad.

“What are you standing around for? Hurry up.” Chi Yao impatiently tapped his long fingers on the armrest.

“Yes, sir!” Jiang Feng snapped back to attention and hurried the doctor over.

Chi Yao rested his chin in his hand, watching the doctor fuss with various instruments over his body—and evaluated the current situation.

Since Jiang Feng was here, this was almost certainly the Flying Dragon Corps’ main ship.

He’d fallen asleep and woken up at enemy headquarters—and stolen the enemy boss’s body.

Honestly, it sounded like a joke.

“Where’s Extreme Shadow’s crew?” Chi Yao asked nonchalantly.

Mentioning those star pirates, Jiang Feng gritted his teeth. “They got away! If it weren’t for the storm disabling a bunch of ship functions, we’d have blown them to dust by now!”

Chi Yao: “Any casualties?”

Jiang Feng shook his head. “None, all our people returned safely.”

Chi Yao: “I meant Extreme Shadow.”

Jiang Feng froze. “Should… be none? They ran faster than rabbits. If any of them had died, that Chi Yao pirate bastard would’ve come looking for trouble already.”

Pirate bastard?

Chi Yao laughed and said solemnly, “Chi Yao is so cute, why would you hit him?”

The commander smiled? Jiang Feng was so dazzled, it took a moment to sense that something was off.

If anyone hated star pirates in the Empire, Jing Xi was second—no one dared to claim first.

And now he was saying the pirate leader was cute?

Jiang Feng: “?”

Was there some hidden meaning to these words?

After a complete checkup, the doctor said respectfully, “Your health is good, and you’re fine now.”

Chi Yao: “Fine?”

A core swap couldn’t be detected?

The doctor assumed he was asking about the sudden coma and explained, “It might have been due to geomagnetic fluctuations, combined with your recent exhaustion. I’ll prescribe you some calming medicine—just take it on schedule.”

Thinking back to right before he lost consciousness, Chi Yao clearly recalled heart resonance. Was it really the magnetic storm’s effect?

But would a magnetic storm cause a soul swap?

Jiang Feng quietly asked, “Should we go after Extreme Shadow? We could still catch them now.”

In the middle of a fight with the star pirates, the commander had run into trouble so they’d had to retreat.

Chi Yao spoke without missing a beat: “No need. The pirates are also citizens of the Empire. As the military, we should accept them with open arms, not drive them to extinction.”

Jiang Feng: “?…Roger.”

As they left, Chi Yao called after the doctor.

“Got any scar removal cream? Give me a tube, the best you have.”

The doctor was confused but dug a tube out of the kit and handed it over. “Best results used with a medical lamp.”

Chi Yao: “Okay.”

After leading the doctor out of the rest pod, Jiang Feng walked a good distance before suddenly dragging him into an adjacent room.

The doctor was startled, hands clutching his chest. “Commander, I have a wife and child—what do you want?!”

Jiang Feng, seeing this forty-year-old beta doctor with a mustache, rolled his eyes so hard they almost dropped out. “If I wanted to seduce someone, wouldn’t I choose a better option?” He punched the doctor, then whispered, “Is the Commander really okay? Are you hiding something?”

Doctor: “?”

Doctor: “No, everything’s normal with Major General Jing.”

Jiang Feng frowned.

It really was suspicious.

Why did the Commander seem so off today?

Jiang Feng: “His brain? There wasn’t any brain trauma?”

The doctor looked at him strangely: “Sounds like you’re the one with the brain problem.”

Jiang Feng: “…”

Back in the rest pod, Chi Yao turned on the personal terminal.

It unlocked automatically with a fingerprint.

These personal terminals were issued by the government to all Imperial citizens.

But he was a black-market citizen—he didn’t have one.

He fumbled around for a while before finding the communications interface and dialing a number.

The virtual screen showed a connection pending—finally, the other person picked up just before the last tone.

On screen, the alpha’s features were refined, his beautiful fox eyes staring at him coldly.

At a glance, Chi Yao knew he had guessed right.

He and his nemesis had swapped souls.

Looking at his own face across the screen, Chi Yao felt a strange sense of dissonance.

His body was in someone else’s hands, and that person’s character was nothing like his.

For a long moment, both were silent—the mood heavy.

Jing Xi: “If you dare do anything to my people, I’ll pay you back double, so think very carefully before you act.”

Chi Yao sneered. “Threatening me?”

Jing Xi’s face was icy: “Try it and you’ll get to reunite with your team in the Security Bureau.”

If his crew wound up in Security, they probably wouldn’t make it out.

“You’re so mean,” Chi Yao laughed shamelessly, “I’m sweating from fright. I might need another shower.”

Jing Xi replied coldly, “Let’s schedule a meeting.”

Chi Yao: “Begging me?”

Jing Xi: “Don’t you want to switch back?”

“Not really,” Chi Yao slouched on the couch, lazy. “I got promoted to major general without even trying. What’s not to love?”

Jing Xi nodded slowly. “That tier-4 mine you worked so hard to steal, I guess it’s mine to deal with now.”

Chi Yao: “You wouldn’t mess around.”

Jing Xi: “I won’t—but ‘Chi Yao’ might.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Shit.

After roughly agreeing to a meeting time, Jing Xi hung up and rubbed his aching forehead.

His body felt sticky, and the unfamiliar scent made him extra uncomfortable.

Yesterday, the Corps had been forced to make an emergency landing due to the magnetic storm while returning, waiting for the magnetic field to return to normal before departing, but they’d stumbled on Extreme Shadow robbing the mine.

Originally, he’d planned to take this chance to capture Chi Yao, but halfway through the fight, a stabbing pain hit his chest, and when he woke, he was already on Extreme Shadow’s ship.

Thinking of what Chi Yao might be doing to his body, Jing Xi’s fists clenched with audible creaks.

He got up abruptly and headed to the bathroom.

His shirt, soaked through with sweat multiple times, was tossed aside after he removed it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something in the mirror and his gaze sharpened.

The alpha in the mirror had a good-looking face, and the muscle lines on his body were smooth, with not a trace of fat or a single scar.

Jing Xi turned slightly, running his hand over his upper left arm near the shoulder—a brand in the shape of an “X,” about seven or eight centimeters long.

Below the “X” were some tiny characters, looking like knife marks—probably numbers.

Judging by the skin growth, the branding must have been done when he was a teenager or even younger.

Chi Yao might act like a madman, but even he wouldn’t get such a rough tattoo unless he was masochistic.

To call this a tattoo was misleading; it looked more like a brand.

The only people he could think of who might be branded like that were slaves from centuries ago, before emancipation.

Why did Chi Yao have something like this on his body?

__

Author’s note:
Jing Xi: We agreed on enemies-to-lovers, but you’re secretly using scar removal cream on me?
Chi Yao: Of course I have to take care of my wife’s body. [pats gently]

This is still a story of Cool Boss x Pretty Face~