Chapter 32

At Bai Ruonian’s request, Lu Mingjin had been accompanying him in the game lately.

The excuse was testing his talent.

With the top-ranked player acting as his coach, no one dared to show their face in the Arena.

The public chat was buzzing, but the Arena itself was utterly deserted.

Anyone matched against them lost ranking points.

The usually packed Arena had been empty for the past two days. No one dared enter.

Bai Ruonian was very distressed.

Looking at his shiny new mecha coating, he realized there was no one around to admire it.

It was as if the Arena had become their private playground, and his Master showed him absolutely no mercy.

“See it? Hit it.”

When a poor, unfortunate mecha finally appeared in the Arena, Lu Mingjin pointed at it. “This model, its weak point is the neural link at the junction of its left leg.”

The unlucky soul who was locked onto hadn’t been keeping up with recent events. He hadn’t logged into the Arena for a long time. Seeing the two figures in the Arena, he froze for two seconds. The space was filled with swirling dust, and before he could even see clearly, his day went from bad to worse the moment he saw the patterns on Lu Mingjin’s mecha.

What the hell?

Before the man could even react, an even faster white mecha charged in like lightning, undetected, light as a cat, landing right beside him. With a click, well then, easy points.

Lu Mingjin watched Bai Ruonian.

He had to admit, the kid had talent.

The man whose points were devoured fled the very next second, running incredibly fast.

The rumors were true, it was terrifying. If he didn’t log off and re-enter, he’d just get eaten again.

Recently, the Star Dome Bot had been overwhelmed with submissions.

【Star Dome Bot: Submitting a notice, absolutely do not go to the Arena recently… Anyone who doesn’t want their points eaten, stay off! Screenshot.jpg】

@ID: Who Took My ID?: I also want a screenshot with God L, BUT not in the Arena.

@ID: No Imperial Academy No Name Change: Avoid the edge of the blade. If you still want to get into Imperial Academy, definitely avoid it.

@ID: Grinding Until Blue Star Explodes: Damn, just when Emperor Shen the point-farming maniac finally logged off, now it’s God L’s turn?

@ID: God L’s Leg Pendant: God L doesn’t even have to make a move, but his wifey is seriously impressive… so fast, and with hubby there too, I was too scared to move.

@ID: No Name Change Until Star Dome Ranking: Oh man, what am I supposed to do? Imperial Academy’s internal assessment is about to start, I need to grind my ranking!

Posts like these were popping up endlessly. Bai Ruonian, who had been quite addicted to the internet lately, felt a bit gloomy seeing them.

Because his own ranking couldn’t climb either.

No transactions, no harm. If no one entered the Arena, where was he supposed to farm points? They were all scared off by his Master.

With the Arena empty, every day was just internal training led by his Master. He was exhausted and couldn’t even land a hit, giving him zero sense of accomplishment. He finally understood why Zhao Lixin and the others cried and complained every day.

Meow.

This wasn’t playing games at all!

On roughly the third day of this boot camp, Bai Ruonian finally mustered his courage. “Um… Lu… Hubby… I want to play on my own for a bit, mew.”

Lu Mingjin: …..

After a long pause.

“Didn’t you ask me to spend more time with you before?”

After what happened last time, he had even re-evaluated if his lack of time for Bai Ruonian was what led the little guy to become Shen Zeyi’s follower.

It clearly wasn’t the case now.

Bai Ruonian poked his fingers together.

“I meant in the real world, la.”

You know, things like kisses, hugs, and being lifted, cuddling and snuggling, and having his fur brushed.

Although he loved playing with his Master in the game too, but…

His pressure and presence were just too overwhelming, nee.

After speaking, he carefully glanced at Lu Mingjin. The latter didn’t show much reaction, didn’t even use voice chat, just typed a line directly: “Perfect, I have a meeting anyway.”

He logged off decisively.

Bai Ruonian wrinkled his nose.

Master shouldn’t be unhappy, right?

Probably?

He felt a little guilty too.

=

The members of the 10th Division didn’t need to guess like Bai Ruonian.

It was visibly obvious that Major General Lu, who had been in a good mood for days, was in very low spirits today.

“What’s the deal with the Boss…” Song Hanshan couldn’t help but whisper to Zhao Lixin.

He’d been swamped lately organizing those piles of files, utterly buried and rushed off his feet. He only felt Lu Mingjin’s volatility, but didn’t know why.

“He was fine just a few days ago, what’s up today? Oh, right, are you guys still doing that thousand-bug insect combat training every day?”

Zhao Lixin shook his head mysteriously. “We have a different mission now, that one’s been waived.”

In Star Dome Online, any member of that guild was to be fought on sight, again and again, until they logged off on their own.

So far, it had been going on for a week, like a game of whack-a-mole.

Sorry to say, but the Boss is actually incredibly vindictive.

Song Hanshan didn’t know the backstory and was eager to pry. Zhao Lixin patted his shoulder meaningfully. “The Major General is busy selecting talent for Military Command and Imperial Academy. Don’t meddle.”

Song Hanshan was skeptical.

“Are you sure? Recently, several other Division Commanders have gone to complain to the Marshal, saying our Boss leaves early and arrives late every day, just to flaunt his arrogance at them.”

Here’s what happened: ever since the Marshal decided a while back to adjust the exercises so each Division fought independently, the other Divisions had been training intensely. Only the 10th Division acted like nothing was happening each day. The Boss himself was never seen, which was one thing, but even the Squad Leaders under him were busy playing games every day—no, playing whack-a-mole.

So, the other Division Commanders lost face. They went to Gu Changde to tattle, saying the 10th Division was deliberately slacking off, which wasn’t good for unity or morale.

Gu Changde, of course, knew Lu Mingjin came late and left early, even knew he was playing games. The Star Dome Bot had been flooded recently with posts about him and his little wifey.

But what could he do?

He could only give those tattling Division Commanders a good scolding. Their own abilities were lacking, yet they still had their eyes on others.

Especially that 3rd Division, which got in through Royal Family connections to begin with—and they still didn’t know how to keep their tails between their legs.

But scolding aside, Gu Changde also felt the bad influence. So, he found an excuse to summon Lu Mingjin for a chat.

Well, calling it a chat wasn’t quite accurate.

“There’s a mission recently. Not too dangerous, but I need you to go to the Tolan Star Domain. A research result involving Zerg genetic modification has surfaced at the Laride Auction there. You’ll need your authorization to purchase that result.”

He needed to send him away quickly. If those Division Commanders saw Lu Mingjin playing games every day yet still crushing them in the exercises, not only would they be humiliated, but his own old face wouldn’t look good either.

Lu Mingjin didn’t respond, just stared at Gu Changde.

Gu Changde paused and added a line.

“Tolan Star Domain is a good place, you know that. Sending you out is practically giving you a vacation, understand?”

Lu Mingjin said flatly, “I’m preparing for the Science Department’s investigation mission. Also, the Capital Planet Speaker has recently loosened his tongue, so I’m busy catching people.”

Gu Changde naturally knew what he meant. The Science Department’s Chief Engineer weeping at that meeting, while the Emperor preferred funding the Capital Star over sending anyone to even take a look—it was truly a memorable impression.

“Don’t make me say it outright,” Gu Changde said. “I know your game ID, I know what you’ve been doing lately. Mind the impact!”

Lu Mingjin raised an eyelid. “And so?”

Gu Changde deflated a bit. After a long moment, his tone softened. “Not many people have this authorization right now. Besides, Tolan Star Domain isn’t a bad place. It’s a noble’s entertainment center, all kinds of pleasures available. Worst case… consider it a vacation, take your family member out to relax.”

Lu Mingjin raised an eyebrow. This time, he didn’t refuse.

Gu Changde thought to himself, Just as I figured.

This kid playing games was purely to accompany his newly matched omega.

Qi Jiheng had mentioned before that the omega was exceptionally beautiful, but he hadn’t paid attention.

…

Looking at it this way, he needed to get him far away from those bachelor Alpha eyes who had no wives. If those other Division Commanders found out Lu Mingjin’s lateness and early departures weren’t to provoke them, but to spend time with his wifey, they’d jump even higher.

He first put on a stern face. “This mission isn’t overly important. It’s mainly collecting scattered materials outside. But still maintain basic vigilance.”

“Okay.”

With official business done, as Lu Mingjin was about to leave, Gu Changde’s expression shifted. He paused and cleared his throat.

“Mingjin, I have a question for you.”

“Speak.”

Gu Changde lowered his voice. “The matched omega… how is it? Good-looking?”

Lu Mingjin glanced at him—a guarded, suspicious glance—then ignored him completely, pushed the door open, and left.

Like he had any reason to tell him.

That reaction… Ah, very beautiful then. Gu Changde coughed once. Honestly, acting like someone was going to covet his treasure. He’d lived this long, what hadn’t he seen??? So stingy.

At noon, Bai Ruonian was at home, about to sneak out to play, when he opened the door and bumped straight into Lu Mingjin’s chest.

Lu Mingjin looked down at Bai Ruonian.

“What happened?”

Bai Ruonian raised his face and gave a placating smile. He might have upset Master today, and now he was caught right as he was trying to slip out. So, he started acting cute. “I heard you coming, so I came to greet you.”

Lu Mingjin raised an eyebrow. “Your ears better?”

“Well…”

Bai Ruonian stammered, then made an excuse. “I smelled your scent.”

Just then, Lu Mingjin leaned down, his dark eyes unreadable. “Don’t lie to me. Did you want to go out and play?”

“…..” Bai Ruonian swallowed hard. Of course he did. He’d been playing Star Dome too much lately, he was completely beat.

“Yes…”

“Didn’t you say I don’t spend time with you in the real world?” Lu Mingjin said. “I’m taking you out to play. Coming or not?”

An omega wasn’t like a kitten, free-spirited and innocent. Keeping him cooped up like this really was unfair. Gotta say.

“Really??”

Having his thoughts seen through, Bai Ruonian felt a surge of happiness hearing it would be just him and his Master. If he had a tail, it would be wagging furiously. Unsure, he asked again, “Really?”

“Really.”

“But we need to make some preparations before we go.” Lu Mingjin raised an eyebrow, his tone unreadable.

Bai Ruonian naively asked what kind, and Lu Mingjin lifted the few bags in his hand.

“First, we need to get you changed into some proper clothes for going out.”

Looking at the clothes Lu Mingjin brought, Bai Ruonian felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

It was very much like that time he had chased Lu Mingjin around trying on clothes.

Master seemed to have had a rough time then.

This wasn’t good.

It was his turn now.