Jiang Feng didn’t come on this expedition, so Yan Kai automatically took on the role of the little assistant, getting breakfast and bringing it to the boss early in the morning.

Standing at the door, he hesitated again.

What if the boss wasn’t awake? If he woke him up, would he still have a life to live?

Just as he turned to leave, the door opened in front of him.

Yan Kai’s eyes lit up. “Boss, I—”

His gaze swept over the boss’s hair, and his brain stalled.

In just one night, how did the boss get a perm with big, wavy hair?

So… so beautiful!

Jing Xi looked down at him slightly. “Report?”

Yan Kai snapped back to his senses, gesturing to the food container in his hand. “I came to bring you breakfast.”

Jing Xi had been about to go eat, but he turned and went back into the room.

Yan Kai brought the dishes out and placed them on the dining table, secretly sneaking several glances at the boss’s long hair, not daring to ask.

“Is there any new situation?” Jing Xi sat at the dining table and casually served himself a bowl of congee.

Yan Kai reported, “Commander Lu contacted headquarters at four in the morning, saying they encountered a wolf pack, but it’s still within a controllable range. He asked to notify the areas that might be affected, which I have already done. Commander Jin said they need a resupply of rescue materials—”

Jing Xi stirred the congee in his bowl, listening to Yan Kai’s report.

With the cooperation of the garrison, the battle situation was brought under control, but this was only temporary.

If they didn’t find the reason for the large-scale invasion of mutated beasts, it was very likely to spin out of control again.

Seeing Chi Yao come out of the room, Jing Xi gestured for Yan Kai to leave.

“This fake skin on my face is so damn uncomfortable.”

Chi Yao had a biomembrane for disguise on his face. Although it was almost imperceptible, he still felt uncomfortable.

He pulled out the chair opposite Jing Xi, glanced at the breakfast covering the table, and raised an eyebrow. “This kid is so on the ball?”

Jing Xi picked up a boiled egg and cracked it. “Now that we’ve switched back, you can stay or leave as you please.”

Chi Yao looked at him. “Use me and then throw me away?”

“Didn’t you say you don’t like staying here?” Jing Xi handed him the peeled egg.

Chi Yao took it naturally, his mood improving.

“Then do you want me to stay or leave?”

“Of course, you should stay.”

Seeing Jing Xi being so frank, the corners of Chi Yao’s lips lifted. Before he could speak, he heard him add with a deadpan face, “In case I lose control, I can borrow your gland for a few bites.”

Chi Yao was speechless.

His smile turned cold. “That can be borrowed?”

Chi Yao took a large bite of the egg and, while chewing, sized up Jing Xi, saying unhurriedly, “You can’t mark an alpha anyway, so biting is useless. You might as well find an omega—”

Before he could finish, Jing Xi interrupted him.

“I just like biting alphas.”

Chi Yao said, “That’s even simpler. The Flying Dragon is full of alphas. Can’t you just find any one of them?”

Jing Xi looked at him as if it were a matter of course. “Aren’t you my substitute?”

Chi Yao was speechless.

So stubborn.

A moment later, Jing Xi put down his chopsticks and waited for Chi Yao.

“You want me to mark an omega?”

Chi Yao’s chewing slowed slightly, and he answered nonchalantly, “Who you mark has what to do with me?”

Jing Xi was speechless.

Chi Yao chuckled lightly. “Isn’t our relationship purely a monetary one? You don’t have any special feelings for me, do you?”

Jing Xi gave him a deep look, then stood up and left.

“Don’t wander around if you have nothing to do. I’m going to a meeting.”

“Wait.”

Chi Yao stopped him.

Chi Yao walked up to him, took the wolf-tooth necklace from his own neck, and put it on Jing Xi. “This is for you.”

The act of putting on the chain was like an embrace.

Hit with a frontal assault, Jing Xi’s nose was suddenly filled with Chi Yao’s scent. The hand hanging by his side twitched and slowly clenched.

“This is yours,” Jing Xi’s voice was slightly deep.

Chi Yao fastened the clasp and carefully tucked the chain under his collar.

“But don’t you like it a lot?”

Being so close, Chi Yao’s voice vibrated by his ear, making Jing Xi’s fingertips go numb.

He looked away, trying his best to control his emotions. “Don’t just give away something so important.”

Chi Yao stepped back a little and tucked the dangling wolf tooth into his military jacket, hiding it perfectly.

“How can a thing be as important as you?”

The pleasant voice trailed off with a lazy tone, as if it was just a casual remark, yet it was all the more moving.

Jing Xi’s heart thumped violently, and he turned his head to look at him.

Chi Yao looked directly into his eyes and smiled. “Do you remember how many photos you owe me? Until that debt is cleared, you are the most important thing to me.”

Jing Xi was speechless.

He turned and walked away.

Watching the door slam shut in front of him, Chi Yao couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Teasing my arch-nemesis is so much fun.

Remembering Jing Xi’s gaze from just now, Chi Yao touched his heart.

“Good thing that kid isn’t an omega—”

Otherwise, just stepping out the door would be life-threatening.

He’s just too damn alluring!

At the temporary command center, all the heads of the logistics departments were already in place.

Jing Xi walked to the head seat and sat down, signaling for them to report in turn.

“We have detected that the beast activity is most concentrated in the area of the southern sea region closest to the continent.”

“We’ve analyzed the movement tracks of the beast herds in various regions and found that it’s highly likely they all came from this one area.”

“We are currently using technical means to detect traces of Level 4 and 5 mutated beasts. We expect results in two hours.”

Jing Xi looked at the magnified virtual screen in the middle of the round table.

The southern coastal areas were all marked. From there to the nearest attacked town was a distance of over a thousand kilometers.

Even for mutated beasts, it would take several days to run the entire distance.

That was ample time for the garrison here to come up with a response plan.

If they had called for help immediately, reinforcements could have even arrived in time to save the first batch of victims.

But they did nothing.

Was there a closer connection between the garrison and this beast outbreak?

In the room, Chi Yao was dealing with a mountain of work.

After the virtual war, that group of people seemed to have evaporated, completely disappearing from his surveillance.

In the small digital group chat—

“The casinos in N9 have been unbelievably well-behaved lately.”

“Even the number of bosses coming to my high-end club has dropped. What’s going on?”

“I finally managed to get a ticket for the undersea beast fighting arena that was supposed to open early next month, and suddenly they say it’s canceled.”

“Have these guys earned enough money and are planning to run?”

Impossible.

Many thoughts flashed through Chi Yao’s mind.

A moment later, he typed a string of gibberish on the keyboard, and a communication dialing page popped up in mid-air. The contact’s name was displayed as—D.

It took a long time for the other side to pick up.

“How’s the battle situation?” Chi Yao got straight to the point.

The other end was silent for a moment before a deep, powerful voice sounded. “About what I expected.”

Chi Yao lay on the sofa with his head pillowed on his arms, looking at the chandelier on the ceiling.

“You just gave it up like that? The Empire owes you a saint’s trophy.”

“Watch your mouth!” D cursed. “I’m already very upset, can’t you say something nice to comfort me?!”

Chi Yao sneered, “Serves you right.”

D replied, “Did you fucking call just to get chewed out?”

Chi Yao asked, “How long until the election results are out?”

D answered, “It will be announced on the 15th of next month, but until the last moment, no one knows what variables might occur.”

Chi Yao said, “So you’re saying, they’ll lay low until the 15th?”

D was silent for a moment, then sighed softly. “On that day, perhaps we can narrow down our target range by half.”

Chi Yao’s expression was blank. “If you trusted the wrong person, that day will be your doomsday.”

“Pah, pah, pah! Bullshit!” D’s voice rose in anger. “Worst case, I’ll go be a star pirate too! With you around, I won’t have to worry about food in my old age.”

Chi Yao was speechless.

That old coot.

Just as he was about to hang up, he suddenly heard D’s serious voice from the black window.

“But I will not trust the wrong person.”

Chi Yao hung up directly and turned to lie on his side on the sofa.

Won’t trust the wrong person?

Jing Xi’s face suddenly flashed before his eyes.

If there was anything left in this world worth believing in, it would be him.

Jing Xi had been dealing with work all morning. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a bit tired.

Chi Yao’s command ability had amazed him, but he was completely unwilling to touch any administrative work, leading to a mountain of documents that needed approval.

A knock sounded, and Yan Kai came in.

“Boss, the test results are out. The number of Level 5 mutated beasts in the southern coastal region is over ten thousand!”

Jing Xi frowned and opened the feedback data to check.

The red dots were densely packed together.

“This is the number with energy reactions,” Yan Kai added.

Level 5 mutated beasts all possessed extraordinary abilities and astonishing attack power, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

But fortunately, Level 5 mutated beasts were rare, almost always existing as beast kings. On a typical deserted planet, there would be at most a hundred or so, basically scattered in their respective herds.

But it was different here.

These Level 5 mutated beasts were very concentrated, as if the entire herd was made up of Level 5 beasts.

In all his years in the military, this was the first time Jing Xi had seen such a situation.

His eyes darkened, and he walked around his desk and headed out. “Tell them to continue monitoring closely and report back to me directly every half hour.”

Yan Kai replied, “Yes, sir!”

Jing Xi strode toward the landing pad.

In this situation, he had to go see it for himself.

Halfway there, a wave of irritability suddenly washed over him.

His eyes grew hot, and an inexplicable sense of loss and despair made him feel suffocated.

The symptoms were worsening. He would fully enter his susceptibility period by tonight at the latest.

Based on past experience, there would be at least a full day where he couldn’t do anything.

Jing Xi took a deep breath and continued walking.

He had to take care of things before that happened.

After dealing with the pile of work, Chi Yao went out to find Jing Xi, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.

He saw Yan Kai outside the temporary command center, but even he didn’t know where Jing Xi was.

Running around during his susceptibility period?

Chi Yao felt a faint unease. He returned to his room and made a video call.

The other side picked up quickly.

From the background, he was in a vehicle.

Chi Yao said, “You’re going out to play without me?”

Jing Xi looked ahead and said in a calm voice, “Something came up. I’m going to take a look. I’ll be back soon.”

Chi Yao laughed in exasperation. “Do you know you’re about to enter your susceptibility period?”

Jing Xi said, “It’s a normal physiological period. It doesn’t affect my work.”

Chi Yao frowned, vaguely seeing the environment outside the vehicle window.

Was he going to the landing pad?

He walked out quickly, switching the video call to privacy mode.

“Wait for me there. I’ll go with you.”

Normally, Jing Xi would either agree or flatly refuse.

But his emotions were unstable right now, and hearing those words, he suddenly felt a little wronged.

“Does a purely monetary relationship require you to be so nervous?”

After saying it, Jing Xi immediately regretted it.

No matter how you heard it, that sounded like a complaint.

What position did he have to complain to Chi Yao?

They weren’t even friends.

But to Chi Yao, it sounded completely different.

Was Jing Xi acting coquettishly with him?

Who could withstand that?!

Chi Yao hurried downstairs.

Just as a soldier stopped his vehicle, Chi Yao pulled him out, got into the driver’s seat, and floored the accelerator.

The soldier’s vision blurred. By the time he stabilized and turned his head, he saw…

Holy cow, the vehicle had disappeared.

Chi Yao pushed the accelerator to the floor and spoke quickly, “Wait for me outside the main ship!”

But there was no sound from the other end, and a moment later, the busy tone of a disconnected call came through.

“Fuck!”

Chi Yao cursed under his breath as the vehicle sped through the base.

A ten-minute journey was covered in three minutes.

Chi Yao got out of the car and ran towards the main ship.

Outside the huge main ship, there was no one except the guards on duty.

“Where’s Jing Xi?!” Chi Yao grabbed the nearest soldier and asked.

The soldier was completely bewildered by him.

Glancing at the sergeant rank on his shoulder, he almost cursed out loud.

Was the boss’s name something he could just call out casually?

If Lieutenant Jiang heard this, he’d be getting at least a hundred strikes with a military baton!

Seeing him remain silent, Chi Yao looked at another soldier.

“Have you seen your boss?”

The soldiers finally came to their senses, their gazes toward him becoming strange.

“What do you mean, ‘our boss’? Which unit are you from, brother?”

“You can’t just call a superior officer by their name in the corps!”

Chi Yao couldn’t be bothered to say more, letting them go and walking inside on his own.

Seeing that he was about to force his way in, the soldiers became alert and rushed over to block him.

Chi Yao’s fists cracked. Just as he was about to make a move, he heard the low hum of the hatch opening. Soon, a pure white mecha flew out, made a beautiful arc in the air, and landed behind Chi Yao.

Chi Yao turned to look at the nearly twenty-meter-tall behemoth before him.

The mecha Flying Dragon had a streamlined body, its pure white metal shell reflecting a cold light, both majestic and beautiful.

When fighting with him, Jing Xi had never used his mecha.

He used to think it was because the other’s personality was too strange and hard to grasp.

But now, watching it stand before him, Chi Yao suddenly thought that perhaps in Jing Xi’s heart, this kind of large-scale weapon of destruction was exclusively for dealing with real enemies.

There was a commotion behind him as the soldiers lined up, their eyes shining as they looked at the mecha.

It’s the boss!

The mecha knelt on one knee, its right hand extending towards them.

The soldiers were stunned. “!!!”

What was happening?! The boss wants to take them along?!

But when the mechanical hand stopped in front of Chi Yao, their excitement calmed down.

Oh, so he was taking him.

Looking at the large hand before him, big enough to lie down and roll around on, Chi Yao’s anxiety subsided, replaced by a joy that welled up from the bottom of his heart, completely irrepressible.

He stepped onto it.

The hand slowly moved to the chest, where a small door opened after several layers of the metal shell peeled away.

Chi Yao walked in slowly.

The interior of the mecha was much larger than he had imagined.

“I’m in the cockpit.”

Jing Xi’s cool voice sounded in his ear.

A little red dot floated before his eyes, guiding him forward.

The cockpit door opened. Jing Xi sat in front of a bank of virtual monitoring screens and turned his head to look at him.

“I thought you weren’t going to wait for me.” Chi Yao walked over, placed a hand on Jing Xi’s head, and ruffled his hair roughly.

Jing Xi looked away. “Leaving you here would be more trouble.”

Still so stubborn.

Chi Yao lifted his chin, his thumb brushing past the corner of his eye. “Your voice is already hoarse.”

His eyes were red too, looking both beautiful and pitiful.

It made him want to pull him into an embrace and rub him vigorously.

Jing Xi avoided his hand and pressed a button on the control console. A seat rose up beside him.

“Over ten thousand Level 5 mutated beasts have been discovered in the south. I have to go take a look.”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow. “Over ten thousand?”

“And that’s just the ones with detected energy fluctuations. The actual number might be even higher.” Jing Xi’s expression was grim. “If this is a new evolutionary trend, it will be very troublesome.”

Dealing with one Level 5 beast king versus dealing with a whole group required a military force that wasn’t a simple addition.

Chi Yao sat down, and the safety belt locked automatically.

“Let’s go take a look.”

The mecha ascended, and Jing Xi set the course.

The cockpit was not large, but the scent of wine permeating the air was very faint.

Chi Yao turned his head to look at Jing Xi’s nonchalant face, unable to imagine how he was controlling it.

His last susceptibility period had nearly driven him mad.

His tear ducts were completely uncontrollable, his emotions were on the verge of collapse, and any trivial matter could set him off.

“It’s just us here, you don’t have to hold back,” Chi Yao said.

Jing Xi looked at the monitoring screen.

“You’re not repulsed by alpha pheromones?”

Chi Yao replied, “I am, but yours is okay.”

Jing Xi’s fingers curled slightly.

He didn’t know if Chi Yao was being intentional or not.

He always put him in a “special” position, yet drew a very clear line between them.

Jing Xi was silent for a moment, his voice deep. “Pheromones during the susceptibility period are different from usual. They are very aggressive.”

Chi Yao propped up his chin and said casually, “I’m locked in now, I won’t attack you. Come on.”

Jing Xi was speechless.

He had been able to endure it, but with Chi Yao saying that, he suddenly felt he was about to lose control.

Just as Chi Yao was about to persuade him again, the scent of wine gradually grew stronger, as if the air was instantly ignited.

He took a deep breath, and his whole being felt unwell.

Forget repulsion, to him, this was a fatal temptation!

Chi Yao clenched his hands into fists.

If he weren’t locked in, he might not be able to stop himself from pouncing on him and taking deep breaths.

Without having to control his pheromones, Jing Xi relaxed a little.

In this small “territory,” the only one accompanying him was the person he liked. The unease and loss in his heart dissipated, replaced by a sense of security and contentment.

Seeing Chi Yao remain silent for a long time, Jing Xi felt uncertain.

“Chi Yao?” he began hesitantly.

After a moment, Chi Yao replied, “Forget it, you should probably hold it in.”

Jing Xi was speechless.

He lowered his eyes, hiding the disappointment welling up in them. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to accept it—”

Before he could finish, he heard Chi Yao say through gritted teeth, “If this goes on, even I’m going to fucking go into heat.”

Jing Xi: “……”