Chapter 26

What was Mate Mode?

Bai Ruonian didn’t have time to think it through. He hurriedly hit the confirm button. He really didn’t want to log out—logging out hurt!

And besides, maybe winning would have a reward!!

[Mate Mode Activated.]

The moment his fingertip touched the [Mate Mode] confirmation key, the entire mecha suddenly plunged into silence, as if thrown into absolute space.

Luo Xinghe, Hao Mingxu, and several other mechas charged towards Bai Ruonian, trying to tear through the Zerg Swarm from different directions. The white mecha looked pathetically fragile before the giant bugs. Just as the scythe was about to cleave the mecha, it stopped.

A sound like cracking ice echoed. Ice crystals began to grow wildly along the blade.

A vortex of black particles swirled into being. An indistinct afterimage appeared beside the white mecha. The phantom figure flicked a finger towards the void. A ring of ice-blue energy exploded outward with Bai Ruonian at its center. The Scythe Zerg lunging to attack were instantly frozen into ice sculptures.

Bai Ruonian was completely bewildered.

What was this??

Was this his Master’s mecha?

The channel erupted too.

Hao Mingxu’s eyes went wide. “That afterimage?? Why does it look more and more like…”

Like King Yama’s mecha…

Firefly was screaming, “Stop agonizing and run already!!”

[System Notification: Mate Form will deactivate in 1 second.]

Why was it so short!!

[System Notification: Duration is directly proportional to your Mate’s Public Network login time.]

Bai Ruonian shed kitty tears. It had been ages since Lu Mingjin played the game. Lasting three seconds was considered long.

The large Scythe Zerg before him had been frozen into an ice sculpture. Bai Ruonian fiercely headbutted it. A sharp snap rang out as the bug shattered into icy shards. As they fell, Bai Ruonian got distracted and even instinctively caught a piece in his hand.

It was blingbling.

“What are you doing?! Watch out—”

Zhao Lixin yelled from within a mountain crevice. Was this little guy too scatterbrained or what?

Bai Ruonian snapped back to reality with a start.

One wave hadn’t settled before another rose. After a wave of large Scythe Zerg died, another surged forward. Their ugly faces pressed against his beautiful white mecha again, the scythes right before his eyes.

Bai Ruonian’s fur practically stood on end from fright. It looked like Mate Mode was unusable for the time being. He closed his eyes, vowing never to grab blingbling things again.

But as he waited for death with his eyes shut, the several bugs in front of him seemed to freeze in time, stopping mid-air just five centimeters away. Looking closely, blue ice crystals had completely encased the bugs’ outer shells.

The entire Zerg Swarm was instantaneously frozen, like a black ocean wave hitting a pause button.

A mere second later, a thunderous explosion rang out. All the bugs, along with the Zerg Hive spawning them, were crushed simultaneously. Within sight, nothing drifted down except ice crystals and bug fragments.

It was over a hundred times stronger than the wave before.

The overwhelming Mental Power was so intense that even the several Alpha mecha pilots couldn’t withstand it and nearly dropped to their knees in submission.

“All this commotion just for training?”

Lu Mingjin hadn’t even switched into his mecha form. He appeared amidst the endless sandstorm, expressionlessly wiping ice crystals from his face.

Hao Mingxu couldn’t speak, only pointing towards the sky.

He hadn’t been forced back to his true form by the bugs, but by Lu Mingjin’s Mental Power.

“Fall to your death and just start over. No one will come to save you on a battlefield.”

Lu Mingjin assumed Hao Mingxu meant the trainees had fallen from above and didn’t think much of it. However, as he followed the direction pointed out—

His pupils contracted.

Right now, a silver-haired youth, separated from his mecha, was plummeting from the sky.

Everyone witnessed the scene before them.

To think the one piloting a mecha, charging into bugs to save someone, really was a little guy.

And such an incredibly beautiful omega.

Wait…

Zhao Lixin focused his gaze, his heart pounding fiercely.

Silver hair, azure blue eyes, delicate features—even covered in dust and dirt, he could tell. Wasn’t that the very wallpaper he had saved before??

Fragile and frail like a withering butterfly, vulnerable to being swept away by the gentlest breeze.

Before anyone could react, a black shadow flashed. A mecha identical to the afterimage from earlier shot towards Bai Ruonian.

There was no anticipated bone-shattering impact. Bai Ruonian felt something grab the crucial scruff of his neck. Thinking it was a bug, he thrashed in panic, kicking and punching. Then, the mecha identical to that afterimage appeared before him. He was lying right in the mecha’s palm.

In a daze, he reached out and touched it. It was icy cold, with black and gold patterns, incredibly cool and stylish. Tossed about until completely dizzy and disoriented, his speech wasn’t making much sense. Staring at the mecha in front of him, his first reaction was to reach out and touch its patterns. “This design… I want one too…”

Could he buy it in the shop?

Lu Mingjin felt the veins on his forehead throbbing violently.

What did this omega think about every day?

No, what was he doing every day??

Even those Alphas couldn’t handle training at this intensity. How could he still be smiling?

Bai Ruonian lay securely in the mecha’s arms until they landed. The cool black mecha vanished, revealing a cold, sharply handsome face. Very handsome, but Bai Ruonian was in no state to appreciate it right now.

His pupils were practically experiencing an earthquake.

Where on earth was this???

Why had he run into his Master??

“Mas…” Bai Ruonian stammered slightly. “Lu Mingjin… why is it you??”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Lu Mingjin asked, suppressing his anger, glancing around at the sky filled with bug corpses. “Bai Ruonian, do you want to see where the hell you’ve wandered into?”

Bai Ruonian blinked his eyes, shook his head with an utterly innocent expression.

He really didn’t know how he got here.

“I was just playing the game normally, and then some map suddenly appeared, and I was transported here…”

Nearby, Zhao Lixin tried to save face for this beautiful silver-haired boy. “Probably got transferred from the Public Network. Don’t blame him, it’s a bug…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Huaijin yanked him hard.

“Read the room…”

“He’s not Boss’s spouse. I’m competing fairly. It’s not overstepping to just ask for his Terminal number, right?” Zhao Lixin said confidently. When he first saw him on the Dark Net, he was already stunned. Seeing him in person, even more beautiful than the photos, he absolutely had to seize this opportunity.

Watching Lu Mingjin nearby, staring intently at that little omega without blinking, Zhao Lixin puffed out his chest, steeling his heart.

Sorry, Boss.

Hao Mingxu saw it all clearly from the side, snickering. “If the Boss has his eyes on him, how could there be any chance for you? Take a look in the mirror, huh? Are you higher ranked than him? More powerful than him? Got his looks? Hmm?”

Zhao Lixin refused to concede. “We still gotta hear what the omega thinks, right?”

Saying so, he very tactlessly squeezed his way in. The crowd on the sidelines buzzed. “Old Zhao’s got some guts.”

“That’s only ’cause the omega’s too gorgeous. Normally he’d never have the nerve.”

Hearing the commotion, Lu Mingjin cast a cool glance their way. The group instantly fell silent.

Zhao Lixin looked at the pretty silver-haired boy in Lu Mingjin’s arms, steeled himself, and still gathered the courage to step forward. “Boss, I’m here for nothing else, just… just to ask for a Terminal number.”

“Whose?” Lu Mingjin asked in a low voice.

Zhao Lixin froze. Whose could it be? Lu Mingjin’s?

He let out an awkward laugh. “This young man’s, of course. He saved me… the least I can do is treat him to a meal.”

Bai Ruonian’s eyes lit up at the mention of eating. He nodded. “Sure, my Terminal number is…”

But before he could finish, Lu Mingjin cut him off.

“Not possible.”

Zhao Lixin was frantic. “Boss… he was about to give it to me.”

“That’s because he doesn’t know what you’re really after.”

“What’s he after?” Bai Ruonian asked curiously.

Ignoring Zhao Lixin, Lu Mingjin looked down at Bai Ruonian in his arms. The little guy was actually quite energetic, just… a bit silly.

“He’s thinking that once he gets close to you, he’ll whisk you away. Then you wouldn’t have to stick with me anymore,” Lu Mingjin said slowly.

“No way!” Bai Ruonian’s eyes widened, shaking his head. “No, no, absolutely not.”

He wanted to be with his Master.

Lu Mingjin curved his lips.

Zhao Lixin was startled by the obvious familiarity between the two.

What, they were already living together or something?

What was going on?

Lu Mingjin then looked at Zhao Lixin and asked calmly, “Second Squad Leader, any questions?”

“N… No more…” Zhao Lixin was sweating profusely.

What kind of relationship did these two have?

They looked familiar—no, not just familiar.

Living-together familiar.

Oh fuck…

Zhao Lixin finally caught on.

Could it be… the omega Boss matched with before… was this very person standing right in front of him?

The onlookers gasped in shock.

“Huh??”

“Oh fuck???”

“No wonder the post got deleted… so it was the Boss who deleted it!”

“So Zhang Huaijin, you bastard knew all along? No wonder you forbade us from saving the picture.”

Hao Mingxu, having caught up, glanced at Zhao Lixin with pity. “This guy’s lost his mind to lust.”

Zhang Huaijin nodded solemnly. “Zhao Lixin is so dead.”

Lu Mingjin looked at the dumbstruck Zhao Lixin. “You. Extra training, five hundred reps on gravity resistance. You suck way too much.”

Zhao Lixin looked ashen. Someone nearby gloated, “That’s what you get for coveting the Boss’s omega.”

Lu Mingjin then turned to the others who had been stirring the pot.

The group immediately fell silent.

“Everyone. Forced log-out.”

“But we haven’t saved our data yet…”

“Come on… Major General…”

They hadn’t finished watching the show.

Lu Mingjin remained expressionless. “All counts as mission failure. Added to tomorrow’s log. Getting rescued on the battlefield by a rookie. You should be ashamed.”

Amid a chorus of wails, everyone’s figures gradually turned transparent, all kicked out by Lu Mingjin. Even the Observation Tower had its permissions locked.

The entire training star domain now held only Bai Ruonian and Lu Mingjin.

Bai Ruonian glanced around, his heart thumping nervously. Master was truly frightening just now.

Lu Mingjin reined in his temper. He grabbed Bai Ruonian, looking him over from left to right. No injuries.

Not bad.

However, Bai Ruonian was getting creeped out by the staring. He had probably caused trouble today. Although it wasn’t his fault, it was better to slip away early.

Thinking this, Bai Ruonian made a show of his eyes darting around, then leaned weakly against Lu Mingjin, coughing twice, looking pitifully fragile. Before Lu Mingjin could speak, he pre-emptively said, “My head hurts… I feel a bit unwell… I’m off to log out.”

He didn’t want the reward anymore. He just hoped his Master wouldn’t yell at him.

Lu Mingjin’s expression froze momentarily. Logically, there shouldn’t be any problems. He hadn’t broken skin anywhere. So it could only be mental. But before he could ask further, Bai Ruonian blinked, and his body slowly faded from solid to transparent phantom.

Then he vanished right from his arms.

A strangely familiar scene.

Lu Mingjin’s outstretched fingertips stiffened in mid-air. A faint, illusory touch still lingered on his fingers, but his arms were empty.

Dead silence.