Chi Yao swiped the terminal over the sensor, but the bedroom door didn’t open. Instead, a virtual keypad popped up.

A password lock on the bedroom door?

What was he hiding that couldn’t see the light of day?

Chi Yao pulled up Jing Xi’s personal file from the terminal and entered his birthday.

[Incorrect Password.]

Refusing to give up, he tried “123456” and “888888,” all wrong.

Chi Yao: “…”

This kind of lock looked highly secure, but it could actually be cracked in about ten minutes.

However, it was too much trouble.

Chi Yao decided to give up. He looked left and right, then headed towards the study.

He was more interested in what was in there.

The house’s decor and layout were just like its owner: cold lines, extremely minimalist, with no frills whatsoever.

It was nothing but bland, completely devoid of any sense of life or charm, like a model home that had been on the market for decades and couldn’t be sold.

Chi Yao quickly scanned the shelves covering an entire wall, his peripheral vision catching sight of files on the desk.

On top were a few routine proposals for the corps’ internal development. He skimmed through them a couple of times and tossed them back.

He rummaged until dinner time and found nothing useful, but he did discover something interesting on the terminal.

The virtual screen enlarged in front of the desk, displaying a list—an organizational chart of key military personnel.

Chi Yao scanned the dense list of names, noticing a few familiar ones.

“Chen Bingfeng?”

He lightly tapped his finger, opening the person’s detailed file—

In the middle of the night, Adjutant Jiang Feng sent a communication.

“Sir, the military equipment inspection is complete. The relevant reports have been sent to your terminal.”

Chi Yao’s head was spinning from looking at the list. He said irritably, “Yes, anything else?”

Jiang Feng was taken aback, thrown off by his attitude.

Was the commander too tired?

“I’m here to report tomorrow’s schedule,” Jiang Feng said, flipping open his small notebook. “A report to the military headquarters at 8:30 AM tomorrow. I will be there to pick you up at 8:00 AM sharp. The weekly meeting is at 2:00 PM, and at 7:00 PM, you have a visit with Old Master Jing. I’ve already prepared the gift for you. At 10:00 PM, there’s an internal video conference for the corps—”

Chi Yao frowned as he listened and raised a hand to interrupt. “Isn’t this schedule a bit too packed?”

Jiang Feng looked at him innocently. “But this is your least busy day.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Do you have some kind of misunderstanding of the word ‘leisure’?

He had no need to worry about his nemesis’s career; in fact, making a mess of it would be more to his liking.

But he had to go to the military headquarters—

The refusal on the tip of Chi Yao’s tongue was swallowed back down.

The next morning, Chi Yao was woken up by the heat.

He raised a hand to his head and felt a helmet of cat fur. Meaty paws were hooked around his chin, perfectly fitting the side of his face as if tailor-made.

Chi Yao held it up in front of him. “…”

He wondered if it would taste good boiled.

As if sensing his malicious intent, the cat woke up in a daze, sniffed at him, and became fully awake in a second. It gave him a scratch and once again fled.

Chi Yao: “…”

At 8:00 AM sharp, Jiang Feng’s hovercar landed outside the courtyard gate.

He stood at the door and knocked three times, with no response.

He knocked three more times, and it wasn’t until 8:10 that the door finally opened.

Jing Xi was only wearing a pair of pajama pants, his waist-long hair messily draped over his shoulders, and he was holding a bag in his hand.

Jiang Feng’s pupils quaked. He struggled to tear his eyes away from his beautiful abs.

This was the first time he had ever seen the boss shirtless!

This body was too damn good, wasn’t it?!

They went through the same training, so why couldn’t he get a body like that? Sob—

Chi Yao yawned and tied a knot in the bag he was holding, hanging it on the doorframe.

“Wait for me to wash my face.”

Jiang Feng respectfully complied, his eyes unconsciously glancing at the bag above.

“Sir, what is this?”

Just as he asked, the bag moved violently, and a cat’s head popped out of a small opening with a ‘pop’.

One cat and one person stared at each other from a distance.

Yao Yao: “…”

Jiang Feng: “…!”

Why was the commander’s own dear daughter stuffed in a sack?!

Chi Yao scratched his stomach and walked upstairs sleepily. “I’ll take it to the barbecue shop later to be grilled into cat meat skewers.”

Jiang Feng: “!!!”

Yao Yao struggled for a long time, but the bag was too sturdy, and the opening was tied too tight. It couldn’t break free at all.

It looked at Chi Yao pitifully. “Meeoww—”

“You know how to act cute now? Too late,” Chi Yao said without turning back. “Hang there for three days.”

Yao Yao, swinging in the bag like a swing: “Meeeoowww—”

Jiang Feng: “…”

What kind of game was this?

By the time Chi Yao came downstairs, Jiang Feng had already prepared breakfast.

He took a bite of a sandwich and asked Jiang Feng to replace the milk with red wine.

Jiang Feng’s jaw nearly dropped. “Sir, you—you’ve never drunk alcohol before, have you?”

Chi Yao paused, then said nonchalantly, “Red wine is good for the skin.”

Jiang Feng: “………”

Good for the skin?!

Do you fucking need to be any more beautiful?!

On the way to the military headquarters, Jiang Feng felt particularly uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen.

In the past, he always felt a great sense of security whenever the commander was around. Today, it was the complete opposite.

Chi Yao looked at the scenery outside the window, in a good mood.

“Will Chen Bingfeng be at the morning report?”

Jiang Feng quickly glanced at him.

“Yes, he—he is your superior, after all.”

Something was definitely not right.

The commander actually called Lieutenant General Chen by his full name!

“That’s perfect, then.”

Chi Yao laughed, which scared the living daylights out of Jiang Feng in the driver’s seat.

The boss was already terrifying when he didn’t smile. He was even more terrifying when he did.

Someone was in for some major bad luck!

The imperial capital’s military headquarters was located in the center of the military district. They took the military hovercar track and arrived in less than ten minutes.

After getting out of the car, Chi Yao scanned the impressive complex of buildings and entered through the main gate.

Jiang Feng: “The report is about to start. You go ahead, sir. I’ll go print the report materials.”

Chi Yao: “Mhm.”

“Jing Xi.”

Just as Jiang Feng left, a voice called from behind. Chi Yao ignored it.

Soon, an arm was slung around his shoulder.

“Why are you ignoring me?” the newcomer said with a grin. “I heard you ran into Extreme Shadow again? Your luck is too good!”

The voice in his ear was incredibly noisy. Chi Yao looked over impatiently.

This alpha had a baby face, was half a head shorter than him, and wore the same military uniform.

This person was also on the list from last night.

His name was Huang Hao, thirty-five years old, commander of the Vulture Corps, also a major general.

Before he could speak, Huang Hao continued on his own, “I mean, you have so many things to do, but you just have to chase after Extreme Shadow. Aren’t you tired?”

“It is tiring,” Chi Yao said, brushing off his hand as if dusting off dirt. “Thinking about it now, I really regret it.”

Huang Hao didn’t expect him to agree and was also taken aback. “Extreme Shadow’s strength is one of the best in the star pirate circle. They’re too hard to deal with.”

Chi Yao: “Of course. Besides Extreme Shadow, all other star pirate groups can only be considered second-rate.”

Huang Hao: “Especially that young leader who appeared out of nowhere a few years ago. He’s so damn despicable! Last time, I heard Old Li from the White Crane Corps say they accidentally ran into Extreme Shadow. The other side completely dominated them. And guess what? They only looted the fruit from their spaceship and made them kneel and call them ‘daddy’. They don’t even respect the military. It’s outrageous!”

Chi Yao looked over. “Who did you say was despicable?”

Huang Hao: “Chi Yao, of course. That son of a bitch never rests. It would be best if a cosmic storm just blew him—Oof!”

Just as he was getting into it, a sudden pain shot through his face, and he was knocked to the ground by a massive force.

Huang Hao clutched his face, gasping for air. He shook his head and stared in disbelief.

“Jing Xi, what are you doing?!”

The lobby of the military headquarters’ main entrance was bustling during this peak work hour, with high-ranking military officers coming and going.

Hearing the commotion, they all looked over.

Chi Yao looked down at him from above, the corners of his lips slightly raised.

“Sorry, my hand slipped—”

__

Author’s note:

Jiang Feng: Boss, your cat has been hanging on the door for three days!
Chi Yao: Has it learned its lesson?
Jiang Feng: No, it said it’s fun up there and doesn’t want to come down.
Chi Yao: …
Jing Xi: What did you do to my cat? [fists hardening]
Chi Yao: QwQ