It was an hour later when Chen Bingfeng was finally rescued.

A group of people watched as he was helped out, his whole body steaming like a steamed bun.

“Lieutenant General Chen, are you alright?” Jing Xi asked with a cold expression.

Chen Bingfeng glared at him hatefully, then at the others.

“All of you, get lost!”

The others were startled and scurried away with their faces covered, hugging the wall, afraid that Chen Bingfeng would remember their faces and retaliate.

“Go in and see if the functions have been restored.” Jing Xi gestured for someone to go into the bathroom, then walked over and sat on the sofa in front of Chen Bingfeng. “I’m very sorry for the fright you’ve had.”

Chen Bingfeng gasped for air and threw the towel he was using to wipe his sweat onto the floor.

“Was it you?!”

“What do you mean by that?” Jing Xi looked up straight at him. “What benefit would this bring me?”

Chen Bingfeng sneered. “Then why did this happen as soon as I arrived? Give me a reasonable explanation!”

Jing Xi’s face was cold. “It’s not that this happened because you came. It has been happening all along. You just happened to run into it.”

Chen Bingfeng clearly didn’t believe him.

“You should be clear about the tricks Extreme Shadow plays. Li Bo still hasn’t been released, and Flying Dragon has been attacked by them quite a few times,” Jing Xi spouted nonsense with a straight face. “This time, they were targeting me. You were just caught in the crossfire.”

Of course, Chen Bingfeng was clear about Extreme Shadow’s methods.

It was precisely because he was clear that he had sent Jing Xi to follow this lead.

“Being played around by a pirate gang, unable to take them down for so many years, and you still have the face to say it?!” Chen Bingfeng roared in fury.

Jing Xi’s expression didn’t change at all. “Then you can deploy other excellent corps to deal with Extreme Shadow. I have no objection.”

One sentence shut Chen Bingfeng up.

If anyone could handle Extreme Shadow, why would there be a need for so much talk?

If Extreme Shadow had blown up a planet, the military could openly unite the major corps to capture them. But they didn’t harm civilians and mainly focused on pranks.

They couldn’t possibly mobilize several corps to capture Extreme Shadow’s people, only to hold them in administrative detention for a few days and then release them.

Extreme Shadow could afford to waste time; they couldn’t.

This time, Extreme Shadow had kidnapped Li Bo, which finally gave them a reason to send troops. But in the end, no corps was willing to go, afraid they would be the next unlucky ones to lose face.

It was simply too hateful!

Thanks to Chi Yao, the two had long since fallen out. Jing Xi had no patience to play games with him. After a few polite words, he left.

As he reached the door, he suddenly thought of something and turned back to say to Chen Bingfeng.

“If you’re afraid, you can change rooms. But this base only has one intelligent AI.”

Chen Bingfeng: “…”

Click.

The door closed in his face. Chen Bingfeng slammed a fist on the armrest.

[Were you calling me? I am your caring little assistant, Daddy Hei.]

“F—!”

Chen Bingfeng shot up from the sofa in fright.

After waiting for a moment and seeing no change in the room, he sat back down with lingering fear.

Before his butt could even touch the sofa, the voice sounded again.

[Would you like to eat, take a shower, or sleep?]

Chen Bingfeng: “I don’t need anything!”

[Okay.]

Hearing these two words, Chen Bingfeng reflexively shot up, warily looking up, down, left, and right. Seeing no change, he sat back down.

Chi Yao sat at the bar, watching the surveillance feed, laughing so hard he couldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny?” Jing Xi came back from outside.

Chi Yao turned his head and extended a hand to him. “Are his men still in the command post?”

Jing Xi naturally took his hand and walked closer, sitting on the high stool next to him. “They’re busy moving those people to new quarters.”

Chi Yao rested his chin on his hand and chuckled lightly. “One more night of this, and they should be moving back to their warship.”

“Going too far is as bad as not going far enough,” Jing Xi opened the holographic map. “It doesn’t matter if they are unwilling to go south. Let them defend this side. Our men will go.”

Chi Yao: “But that thing is in the south.”

Jing Xi: “Now is when the beast swarm is most scattered. Once they regroup, it will be another fierce battle.”

Chi Yao played with his long, slender fingers.

“Need my help?”

Emotionally, Jing Xi of course hoped Chi Yao could fight alongside him. But rationally, Chi Yao was not part of the military and had no obligation to help.

Jing Xi said in a low voice, “There’s one last day of the susceptibility period.”

Chi Yao chuckled lightly. “So?”

Jing Xi held his hand back. “Stay by my side.”

That evening, Jing Xi and Chen Bingfeng held their second strategy meeting.

As he had expected, Chen Bingfeng had no intention of heading south.

After the meeting, Jing Xi gathered all the troops except for the rescue unit and prepared to set off.

In the command post, the Cygnus deputy commander looked at the vast fleet departing and asked Chen Bingfeng in a low voice.

“Lieutenant General Chen, are we not moving out?”

Chen Bingfeng snorted coldly. “What’s the use of just working blindly?”

The Cygnus deputy commander didn’t understand.

Chen Bingfeng, with his hands behind his back: “The residents of 333 are in deep trouble. Let the rescue unit go and give them some food and clothes. Where Flying Dragon falls short, the Cygnuss should naturally fill the gap.”

The Cygnus deputy commander was thoughtful. A moment later, his eyes lit up.

“I’ll go arrange it right away!”

On the Flying Dragon warship, Jing Xi and Chi Yao sat together discussing the upcoming battle plan.

Lu Meng hurried in from outside.

“Boss, I heard that bastard Chen came?”

“Watch your words,” Jing Xi said, but his tone wasn’t very strict. “Let them rest well tonight. We move out at dawn.”

Lu Meng sat on the other side of Jing Xi, looking at the holographic map projected on the table, and circled a place with his finger.

“This area is full of rodent-types. They can dig tunnels, it’ll be a pain to fight them!”

Chi Yao: “Sonic waves can shake them out.”

Lu Meng was about to say it was useless, but then he thought of Chi Yao’s enhanced version and swallowed his words.

Jing Xi estimated the distance, marked a point about thirty kilometers from the southern cave, and then drew a circle with the cave as its center.

“We cannot approach this area.”

Lu Meng was confused. “Why?”

Jing Xi: “There’s a certain type of ore underground in this area that forms a natural barrier. Our detection equipment will have difficulty accurately locating the beast swarms.”

Lu Meng thought for a moment and looked at Chi Yao. “Do you have a solution?”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me?”

Seeing his teasing look, Lu Meng was at a loss for words.

It was indeed quite stupid to ask an enemy this kind of question.

“If we can’t go in, we’ll lure them out,” Jing Xi looked at Chi Yao. “What do you think?”

Chi Yao: “Mm, let’s try it first.”

Lu Meng: “…”

You’re so damn double-standard without a trace.

By the time the battle plan was made and personnel were assigned, it was already late at night. Jing Xi lay in the cold bed, tossed and turned a couple of times, then got up and quietly went to the other bedroom.

The room was dimly lit. Jing Xi quietly lifted the covers and slipped in.

The bed was warm and smelled of Chi Yao’s unique scent, which was very pleasant.

Jing Xi moved closer to Chi Yao, then moved again, wrapped an arm around his waist, found a comfortable position in his arms, and closed his eyes, ready to sleep.

Chi Yao was amused by this whole series of actions.

Was this person treating him like a pillow, hugging him whenever he wanted?

Chi Yao turned sideways, pulled the person into his arms, and chuckled lightly.

“These past few days, I feel like a mother hen hatching a chick. The chick can’t leave my side for half a step.”

As soon as he said it, he felt a light pinch on his back.

“I’m not a chick.”

Chi Yao brushed his long hair and smiled. “A big chicken then?”

He paused for a moment and said with great seriousness, “It is indeed quite big.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Shameless.

Chi Yao: “Next time, let’s test the endurance—mmph”

Jing Xi couldn’t take it anymore and covered his mouth.

“Sleep.”

After Jing Xi fell asleep, Chi Yao couldn’t sleep.

Looking at the beautiful and well-behaved sleeping face before him, he opened his terminal and switched to night mode.

He scrolled to his message box with Fang Liang, found a video, and opened it.

[If you’ve clicked on this video, you must be troubled by your poor kissing skills—]

Chi Yao: “…”

He wasn’t troubled, he was just browsing casually.

[Then let’s start with dating—]

Chi Yao: “…”

He fast-forwarded the progress bar by five minutes.

[Generally, after three to five dates, you can find an appropriate time and atmosphere to kiss your partner. The first time, remember not to force it. If it causes your partner to be repulsed, it’s very likely to signal the end of this relationship.]

Three to five dates—none.
An appropriate time—at the dinner table with Jing Xi’s grandfather.
An appropriate atmosphere—a sneak attack.
Not to force it—he forced it.
Causing the partner to be repulsed—they almost got into a fight.

In just one sentence, he had missed all the right points and hit all the wrong ones.

Chi Yao irritably fast-forwarded the progress bar. The video began to introduce the structure of the oral cavity.

After barely lasting for thirty seconds, Chi Yao’s eyelids grew heavy, and he fell asleep.

The next morning, Chi Yao was awakened by Yan Kai’s loud voice.

“So shameless!” Yan Kai said excitedly. “How could they do this!”

“What’s wrong now?” Chi Yao sat down at the dining table with his hair in a mess.

Yan Kai enlarged the screen. “Look at this report!”

Chi Yao, with a slice of bread in his mouth, looked up.

The interface was a famous social media platform that even he, who didn’t go online, knew.

At the very top was a message from an ID called “Cygnus Spreads Wings.”

[Sudden beast tide attack on Cetus 333. The Cygnus Corps rushed to the front line at the first moment to protect the safety of the affected residents.]

Below were many photos and a video.

In the video, a rescue team with the Cygnus logo was guiding civilians onto a warship and distributing water and food to them. The civilians were bowing to them gratefully.

Chi Yao clicked on the comments, and it was a stream of excessive praise mixed with putting others down.

“The people of the Empire thank you!”
“There’s no such thing as peaceful years; it’s the soldiers of the Cygnuss who are carrying the weight for us. [Tears]”
“As expected of the most reliable corps in the military! Much better than some corps that are all for show!”
“What has Flying Dragon been doing for so long?”
“Flying Dragon has been working very hard, but after all, the commander is still young, definitely can’t compare to the Cygnuss.”
“To be fair, Jing Xi’s looks are top-notch, but in terms of actual combat, the Cygnuss are still superior.”

“They just saved a few people and they’re already rushing to post an announcement,” Yan Kai said hatefully. “Afraid they’ll lose the opportunity and won’t get the credit.”

Jing Xi drank his coffee nonchalantly. “Normal operation.”

Chi Yao sneered. “Indeed, something a fool would do.”

Seeing that neither of them intended to pay it any mind, Yan Kai became anxious.

“Boss, can I post an announcement? We have more than enough similar materials, we could post a hundred without a problem!”

“It’s not necessary to be distracted by these things,” Jing Xi put down his cup. “Go and notify everyone, we’ll have a pre-battle meeting in ten minutes.”

Yan Kai pursed his lips, acknowledged, and ran off looking wronged.

“Not going to bother with it?” Chi Yao looked at the Jing Xi opposite him.

Jing Xi slowly adjusted his cuffs and tie. “No time.”

On a certain Flying Dragon warship, a group of refugees who had previously caused trouble were helping to distribute supplies and maintain order.

“Look, this war has finally made it to the trending topics!”
“What the hell is Cygnus? Weren’t we saved by Flying Dragon?”
“Did they write it wrong?”

The message from Cygnus was like a fuse, instantly pushing the heat of the whole matter to its peak.

More and more people started paying attention to this war.

Among the many voices praising Cygnus, different opinions gradually emerged.

“I personally experienced this disaster. I don’t know why so many people online are praising Cygnus. Everyone in my residential complex and I were rescued by Flying Dragon’s soldiers. [Image]”
“Currently on a Flying Dragon rescue warship. We have food and clothes, everyone is in good spirits. We have spontaneously organized personnel for daily management, hoping to lighten Flying Dragon’s burden. [Image][Image]”
“Seeing so many people praise Cygnus, I went back to check my residence permit. It is indeed 333, but we were saved by Flying Dragon, has nothing to do with Cygnus! [Image]”
“It’s one thing to give empty praise, but why step on Flying Dragon at the same time? Didn’t anyone report the garrison of 333? They did nothing before Flying Dragon arrived!”
“Flying Dragon has done so much and I haven’t seen them claiming credit. It’s weird.”

Before Chi Yao and Jing Xi could even make a move, public opinion on the internet gradually began to tilt in their favor.

When Chen Bingfeng saw these comments online, his face turned grim.

The Cygnus deputy commander stood three steps away from him, not daring to breathe too loudly.

While the internet was in an uproar, Flying Dragon was busy herding the beast swarm towards the southern mountains.

Chi Yao handled some official business, checked the time, then got up and went to the command cabin to call Jing Xi for a meal.

When a workaholic gets busy, it’s normal to miss two or three meals.

As he passed the kitchen door, his steps suddenly halted.

The person in the glass door’s reflection had eyes glowing with golden light, and the shape of his pupils was also wrong.

But in the blink of an eye, his eyes returned to their normal black.

Chi Yao’s face darkened, and the hand hanging by his side tightened.

Is it almost time?