But in front of Zuo Shihuan, Gu Heng didn’t dare show the least bit of indifference or impatience. No matter how little he cared about whether Ji Shenwen and Yu Lizhu broke up, he swallowed all the sarcasm and answered obediently, “I’ll explain properly and tell Ji Shenwen not to… not to break up with Yu Lizhu so easily.”
Even saying those words left a bitter taste in his mouth.
That sharp-tongued, headstrong Omega woman, she’d just been full of energy arguing with him, sleeves rolled up and all, did she really need Zuo Shihuan worrying about her?
Zuo Shihuan finally relaxed a little, smiling in relief. “That’s great. Luckily you’re here, Gu Heng.”
Hearing the praise, Gu Heng’s expression softened, and when Zuo Shihuan leaned in to give him another kiss, his face flushed happily, unable to hide his pleasure.
His mood improved enough to finally deal with this troublesome favor.
Once Zuo Shihuan walked off, Gu Heng’s gaze lingered, following him until he saw Zuo Shihuan pull out his communicator and make the call.
When a woman’s voice faintly drifted from the speaker, Gu Heng’s expression darkened. He scowled and pursed his lips, finally turning away, unwilling to listen to whatever Zuo Shihuan and that “third wheel” Yu Lizhu were talking about.
As his gaze withdrew, his face gradually returned to calm. He picked up his own communicator, at last, time to check his messages.
Most of them were from subordinates in the Empire, reporting in or asking for his next orders.
***
In the Federation’s central city.
Inside a tall corporate building, sunlight poured in through the glass, dazzlingly bright. The streets below were crowded with weary, expressionless office workers squinting against the glare.
Even though major Federation companies spent astronomical sums on advertisements projected above pedestrians’ heads, colorful, moving screens featuring pop idols dancing and promoting products, not a single overheated, overworked commuter looked up.
Everyone just hurried by, eager to escape the scorching light.
A complete waste of ad money.
Amid the crowd, a few people threaded their way through.
Some looked like white-collar workers in suits.
Some looked like college girls with round glasses out shopping.
Some looked like flashy, gum-chewing punks.
Some like scruffy middle-aged men out of work.
But all of them moved, one after another, toward the same shopping mall, and disappeared at different times into a remote corner of the building.
Inside, behind layers of identity checks and security doors, was one of the Empire’s secret intelligence bases.
Due to the emergency operation yesterday, a large number of agents had been dispatched out, leaving the base unusually quiet for daytime. Most personnel were still on external missions, while those who had returned were already diving into new assignments.
A few agents finally came back to their trusted base, exhausted. They shed their disguises and, seeing the dark circles under each other’s eyes, couldn’t help laughing.
“What, just one all-nighter and you’re already worn out? Back in the Empire, you weren’t this weak, were you?”
The one who had disguised himself as an office worker loosened up immediately, dropping his stiff act and grinning. Sitting back at his workstation, he typed a string of codes into his computer and the screen lit up, rapidly displaying image after image of faces.
Seeing nothing out of order, he reached over to pat the shoulder of the man across from him, Ji Shenwen, and said with a teasing smile, “How’s it going, Shenwen? Doing alright this afternoon?”
Ji Shenwen froze for a moment, but still managed to put on a polite smile and replied, “I’m doing fine.”
The girl with round glasses rolled her eyes. “You’re one to talk about dark circles, you’ve got them too, Zheng Wang! Stop pestering Ji Shenwen already. He’s the one who’s actually the most exhausted among us. I heard he was with His Highness the Crown Prince last night and practically turned one of the Federation’s factions upside down, ”
Zheng Wang tugged off his blue tie that was choking him and muttered, lips curling, “Alright, alright, I get it. You just feel sorry for Ji Shenwen, huh, Little Li~~~”
The girl called Little Li immediately broke out in goosebumps. She wanted nothing more than to swat her shameless teammate like a fly.
She pulled off her round glasses, tied her hair back into a neat ponytail, revealing a bare, sharp, and bright face.
No trace of nearsightedness at all, the glasses were purely for disguise while operating in the Federation.
Little Li said, “I was actually studying for the Federation’s law exams, never thought headquarters would suddenly assign me a mission, and one involving the Crown Prince, no less. We’ve been up all night; I still don’t even know how things turned out.”
Zheng Wang said, “Just ask Ji Shenwen. He’s been following the Crown Prince the longest among us. Honestly, I’m kind of jealous. Usually His Highness comes and goes in a flash; it’s nearly impossible to see him.”
As Zheng Wang turned his envious gaze toward Ji Shenwen, who was focused on his work, he couldn’t help feeling even more envious when he remembered that Ji Shenwen had actually attended school with the Crown Prince, they were the same age.
It wasn’t that he was trying to be petty or stir up workplace jealousy.
Well… fine.
Zheng Wang admitted, he was a little jealous of Ji Shenwen.
Who wouldn’t envy him? A relatively ordinary Alpha, yet somehow he had become the Crown Prince’s most trusted subordinate.
Zheng Wang’s jealousy simmered hotly, his teeth almost aching with it.
If he ever got the chance, he’d love to take that position for himself.
But then again, what Imperial citizen didn’t harbor a certain awe and admiration for the royal family? It wasn’t blind worship, it was because every Imperial history book, every chapter, recorded the emperors founding the Empire, expanding its interstellar territory, repelling the Zerg, and defending humanity with glorious, heroic deeds.
Just flipping through those pages was enough to feel the fierce, tragic grandeur of humanity’s ancient wars against the Zerg.
Among those generations of heroes who rose to fight the Zerg, some became nobles, some became royals, and the greatest among them became the founding emperor of the Empire.
If it were only about ancient history, Zheng Wang, as an Imperial citizen, wouldn’t have felt much admiration for the current royal family.
After all, that was all thousands of years ago.
But unlike what outsiders thought, that Imperial royals lounged in palaces enjoying inherited luxury, every generation of royals personally fought on the battlefield. None ever retreated before the Zerg. Many princes and princesses, even reigning emperors, had died in combat.
Only those princes or princesses who proved the most courageous and outstanding, and survived the wars, could ascend as the next emperor.
The current emperor had nearly brought the Empire’s millennia-long conflict with the Zerg to an end. He had even forced out the hidden queen who controlled the Zerg armies from behind the scenes.
Just as victory seemed within reach, tragedy struck: the emperor was poisoned, left paralyzed from the waist down, and could no longer pilot a mech or fight on the front lines.
When the news broke, countless Imperial citizens wept, then turned their grief into fury, enlisting en masse to avenge their emperor against the Zerg.
But even with the emperor fallen, there was still His Highness the Crown Prince.
Though young, the Crown Prince had already surpassed his father in valor and brilliance. His military achievements were unparalleled, leading Imperial forces to rout repeated Zerg offensives and lifting the demoralized army back to new heights.
Unlike past generations, however, this Crown Prince never showed his face in public.
In the past, Imperial royals were often seen at ceremonies and festivals, never stingy about displaying their good looks, and they were all tall, striking, and beautiful. Many Imperials, even people from the neighboring Federation, were diehard fans of the royals’ beauty.
But this Crown Prince never revealed his face. Not even official media or news outlets were allowed to show his real image.
All the public ever heard were reports: “His Highness the Crown Prince repelled the Zerg army in Sector X today,” or “Tomorrow, he will defend the civilians of Planet Y.”
As for his personal details, there was virtually nothing.
Such aloofness only deepened the public’s fascination.
If not for the rumor that the Crown Prince was extraordinarily handsome, and for the childhood photo the Palace once released of a delicate, adorable boy, people might have truly believed something had happened to his face.
At one point, jokes spread online that the Crown Prince had been disfigured in battle, and Imperial netizens flooded the web posting photos of their own scars, declaring: Scars are the marks of warriors, nothing to hide or be ashamed of!
It even became a viral trend, topping the Imperial social feeds for days.
Eventually, the Royal Communications Office had to issue an urgent statement: His Highness was in perfect health, with no lasting injuries or scars, and expressed his gratitude for the public’s concern.
Only then did the rumors finally die down.
Since then, Imperial citizens had come to believe that the Crown Prince was probably just a shy, introverted person who disliked public attention, and they collectively decided that their current Crown Prince must simply be someone in need of gentler understanding.
Meanwhile, far away on the battlefield, Gu Heng had no idea that his image in the eyes of the Empire’s people had taken such a strange, tender turn.
As for those within the Imperial court who actually knew and worked with the Crown Prince…
(What? Shy and introverted? Which part of him is that?!)
Of course, the Palace staff couldn’t come out and correct the misunderstanding. And so, the rumor persisted.
When Zheng Wang first joined Imperial Intelligence, he too had been too nervous to approach His Highness, assuming the Crown Prince was indeed the quiet, reserved type who disliked conversation.
Afraid of disturbing His Highness the Crown Prince.
Even after actually coming into contact with the Crown Prince, Zheng Wang realized that His Highness was nothing like the rumors, rather than gentle or mild, he was cold, aloof, and few of words, with an extraordinary, commanding presence.
In short, Zheng Wang never really got to speak more than a few sentences with the Crown Prince.
Part of it was because he didn’t dare, the Crown Prince’s sheer aura made him wary of speaking too much. But the other part was… because His Highness truly was as noble and stunningly handsome as the rumors claimed.
The first time Zheng Wang laid eyes on him, he couldn’t reconcile the image. How could this cold and distant Alpha, like a god descended from the heavens, be the mysterious Imperial Crown Prince everyone spoke of?
It was no exaggeration to say that Zheng Wang froze on the spot, his heart pounding wildly, as if he had just witnessed the very definition of beauty that transcended race and gender.
It wasn’t only His Highness’s perfect features, but also his bearing, his strong physique, the smooth, refined lines of his muscles, and the overwhelming, dominant scent of Alpha pheromones radiating from him.
Even as an Alpha himself, Zheng Wang couldn’t help but tremble, his muscles tightening under the sheer force of that presence. The Crown Prince wasn’t even releasing his pheromones deliberately, just a faint trace leaking out was enough to make Zheng Wang’s body and soul feel the crushing grandeur of it.
Awe and yearning welled up in him, a natural reverence for power and strength.
He wanted to get closer to the Crown Prince.
To take one step nearer.
To become one of the retainers His Highness could truly trust.
Zheng Wang’s ambition flared instantly. He turned his gaze toward Ji Shenwen, seated across from him, his expression tinged with dissatisfaction.
“Shenwen, did you drink?” he asked.
Ji Shenwen blinked, then gave a dry smile. “A little.”
Zheng Wang studied him for a moment, then frowned. “Doesn’t seem like just ‘a little.’ You reek of alcohol, honestly, you look worse than the rest of us, and we’ve been up all night with dark circles.”
Little Li stepped in to help. “Zheng Wang, stop nitpicking. Shenwen and the Crown Prince have been running missions nonstop the past few days. Something urgent came up yesterday, and they couldn’t even take a break!”
Zheng Wang curled his lip. “But didn’t the higher-ups approve leave for Ji Shenwen last night? He was supposed to rest all day. If the Crown Prince suddenly needs him… fine, fine, stop glaring at me.”
Little Li turned to Ji Shenwen, who didn’t look well, and said gently, “Ignore him. He’s always looking for something to pick on. If you’re really that tired, you can take leave and rest a bit. I haven’t received any new orders from the higher-ups or His Highness, I don’t think anything major’s coming up soon.”
Ji Shenwen’s face was pale and weary. He forced a small smile. “I… I’m fine. As for drinking, I took some sobering pills.”
But in truth, he had spent the entire night drinking, while downing sobering pills in between.
His gaze turned dim and unfocused.
Last night…
Every time he thought of Yu Lizhu in her wedding dress, it was as if he were drunk all over again, dazed and heartbroken.
He drank.
And kept taking more sobering pills.
He didn’t want to tell dream from reality anymore. Half-awake, half-drunk, he downed one glass after another.
By the end, the sobering pills were dissolving directly in the wine.
His mind was hazy.
For some reason, Ji Shenwen began to smile faintly, a foolish, broken smile.
Staring at the pills melting into the liquor, he seemed to return to the first time he met Yu Lizhu.
Back then, she had been the one almost drugged by her so-called friends, and now, he was the one drugging himself.
Escaping from reality.
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