Chapter 6

The other end was silent for a few seconds before replying: Received.

Lu Mingjin set down the satellite console, his face impassive.

A baffling 99% compatibility rate. Bafflingly familiar ease. And also…

He glanced towards the room. The dark door was tightly shut, but inside was a targeted omega.

Bai Ruonian.

He sent another message to his adjutant, Zhang Huaijin. [Get me Bai Heavy Industries’ data and network.]

Bai Ruonian was a planted nail, thrust beside him. He needed to trace the connections and uproot it completely.

The data came back quickly. Lu Mingjin hadn’t even glanced at two lines of it when the doorbell rang.

On the monitor, it was Song Hanshan’s face.

“Boss, open up!”

Lu Mingjin frowned and opened the door. “Where’s Zhang Huaijin?”

“He was called away by Major General Ji. The Medical Research Department wants mental power profiles for all A-Rank and above Alphas in the 10th Division. He went to fill out forms.”

Song Hanshan reported dutifully. It was the military’s internal self-supervision mechanism, to prevent freshly returned battlefield Alphas from suffering mental power rampages.

Though they were all extremely reluctant to be monitored, without an omega to stabilize their minds, they had no choice.

Speaking of omegas, Song Hanshan suddenly remembered why he’d come. “Boss, the clothes you asked for. Underwear, outerwear, every style. See what Little Bai likes?”

“Little Bai?”

Lu Mingjin’s voice wasn’t loud, but he enunciated those two words slowly and clearly, rolling them between his teeth. His tone was unreadable, yet the air around them seemed to instantly congeal and drop in temperature.

It was only then that Song Hanshan realized, with a jolt, his slip of the tongue.

The Boss’s former cat was also named Little Bai.

But that omega, especially with those blue eyes and that clingy demeanor, really was just like a kitty…

“I-I-I-I…” Song Hanshan exhausted his entire vocabulary, unable to find a way to smooth this over. Seeing it was a lost cause, was he supposed to say he’d actually meant to call him Little Sister-in-Law?

Cold sweat poured down like rain.

Lu Mingjin shot him a look. “Don’t let me hear it again.”

“Sir! Yes, sir! I-I-I-I’ll… go give him the clothes…”

That cat was the Boss’s absolute bottom line. Bringing it up in front of him was forbidden. That he hadn’t exploded this time was already unprecedented.

Song Hanshan hurriedly changed the subject, lifting the bags to go inside. He hadn’t expected Lu Mingjin to be utterly immobile, with absolutely no intention of letting him in.

“Give them to me.”

“Huh?”

Song Hanshan reacted.

Something was off.

The Boss, though cold, wouldn’t normally deny them entry at the door.

Song Hanshan gathered his courage and carefully scrutinized Lu Mingjin. The latter was still devastatingly handsome and coolly aloof, his features forceful, but he was no longer in that stern, crisp military uniform. His bathrobe was slightly open, clearly fresh from a shower. His hair was still wet, droplets tracing the sharp, severe line of his jaw, disappearing into the deep shadows below.

This…

Understood.

It was too obvious…

Too obviously the aftermath.

Song Hanshan fell silent, very obediently handing the clothes to Lu Mingjin, only sneaking a quick glance inside.

The room was pitch black. No sign of the omega.

Understood, understood.

Staying any longer now would just be him being tactless.

“Major General, there’s still business in the division. I’ll take my leave.”

Song Hanshan cast his own Boss an ambiguous look, turned, and fled.

Lu Mingjin, naturally, had no idea what was going through Song Hanshan’s mind. He looked at the clothes in his hand and frowned.

What was I thinking just now?

I should have let Song Hanshan take them in.

With a creak, the door handle turned. Bai Ruonian sniffled. Even through the blanket, he could still detect that scent of hurricanes and ocean tides on his Master.

He cautiously poked his head out from under the covers, tilting his face up. Master was looking down at him.

“Put these on.”

Lu Mingjin picked out a few items from the pile and tossed them to Bai Ruonian. Song Hanshan had sent over who knows what random assortment, the styles complicated, so elaborate they only lacked a camellia sprig pinned to the chest for him to be a socialite.

The moon-white shirt with Suzhou-embroidered crabapple flowers was the only relatively understated piece.

A hand emerged from the blanket. Bai Ruonian grabbed the moon-white silk shirt and dragged it back into the nest, shrinking back inside.

Only the collar had buttons. That was manageable.

Then the underwear. Then the trousers.

Lu Mingjin watched each article of clothing get pulled into the blanket, the lump rustling and bulging, exactly like some kind of small animal.

But humans and animals were ultimately different.

Lu Mingjin turned away. “Come out once you’re dressed. And don’t enter my room again in the future.”

Bai Ruonian, still hiding under the covers, paused in his movements. A little hurt.

Master didn’t like the human version of him. Master wouldn’t let him in his room, wouldn’t let him on his bed.

Right, Master also seemed to be sick, needing medicine.

Being sick was so uncomfortable.

“Achoo!”

Speak of the devil. The moment he thought of illness, he sneezed, immediately followed by another. His throat burned terribly.

Bai Ruonian had just finished dressing and tried to get out of bed when his legs buckled, his vision went black, and he nearly pitched forward.

He had a cold.

The original host’s medical knowledge was quite good. Combined with the information he’d absorbed upon becoming human, to be precise, it was probably catarrhal inflammation.

When he was a cat, he rarely got sick. Because getting sick meant Master would drag him off for shots. So he generally avoided getting sick.

Bai Ruonian struggled to his feet, swaying as he opened the door. Though his head was foggy, he had only one thought—he couldn’t infect Master. Stay far away from his room.

Master was already taking medicine. What if he got sicker?

Clutching the wall, he stumbled out. Passing the study, he subconsciously glanced inside. Lu Mingjin was in the middle of an interstellar conference call, a lit cigarette in his hand, its glow flickering, illuminating his deep, sculpted face.

Bai Ruonian stared, dazed. Usually, when Master had meetings there, he would hold him, play with his tail.

He would strut proudly across Master’s Terminal Starbrain, then curl up on the desk to sleep.

Not like now. So close, yet so terribly far.

“For this exercise, I expect all corps to cooperate fully. No underhanded tricks…”

“Achoo!”

Lu Mingjin’s words were cut off by the sneeze from outside. He followed the sound, seeing Bai Ruonian standing in the doorway.

“Mas…”

“Lu Mingjin…”

The youth softly called out to him. Standing there timidly in the moon-white shirt, he practically glowed. His small, palm-sized face held a hint of blush, his waist impossibly slender. The Suzhou-embroidered crabapple flowers shimmered faintly in the daylight, lovely and exquisite. And those azure eyes were fixed on him now. An expression wanting to approach, yet afraid to.

Suddenly meeting his gaze, Bai Ruonian’s eyes flickered with alarm. He coughed twice more—whether from fright or sickness—hurriedly averted his eyes from Lu Mingjin’s, and fled unsteadily.

Lu Mingjin paused. He spoke into the terminal. “Excuse me for a moment.”

The other end of the terminal was dead silent. The instant the camera caught Lu Mingjin rising to leave, it exploded.

“Just now… did I mishear? Was there… another voice in Major General Lu’s room?”

“Haven’t you heard? Major General Lu matched with a 99% omega.”

“I was wondering why he hasn’t been at Headquarters these past two days. He usually never misses a single meeting.”

“No wonder. Literally keeping a beauty hidden in a golden house.”

“No way. With Yama Lu’s temper, he’ll be sent back within three days, guaranteed.”

“But that voice just now was really… full of allure…”

Lu Mingjin had no idea that Bai Ruonian’s single sneeze had sent the other end into an uproar. He chased after him in a few strides, grabbing Bai Ruonian’s slender wrist.

“What are you doing?”

The response was a series of violent coughs.