Be gentle

Just then, Zhou‌​‍‍‌⁠‍‍‍⁠​⁠⁠​⁠⁠​‍‌​‌‍‌​ Jiuya slowly woke up, pressing his hand on his head that was throbbing with pain. The liquor Ye Shu had brought had been specially selected to knock him out and it was even laced with an emotion-enhancing drug, so the hangover was hitting him extra hard.

Zhou Jiuya frowned uncomfortably, and gradually gathered his rationality.  After a few seconds, he looked up at Pei Changyun and it seemed like he was about to say something. At the same time, he caught sight of Jiang Ci and Huo Xianfeng by the door.

“…?”

Why were there so many people here?

At this point, Zhou Jiuya still hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation. He immediately stood up, his voice hoarse yet urgent.

“What happened?!”

In his mind, only something critical would cause so many people to gather here. After all, the last time they’d all assembled, it was because Huo Xianfeng had invaded Bright City, prompting a brief summit between the two sides.

No one replied and no one spoke.

An eerie silence filled the room.

Zhou Jiuya froze for a few seconds before finally noticing that something was off about the atmosphere. At that moment, the person on the bed behind him shifted. The still-half-asleep City Lord gave the Legion Commander a swift kick to the butt.

“Little Zhou Bird, shut the fuck up… you’re too damn loud!”

Zhou Jiuya hadn’t recovered from his hangover yet, so he stumbled forward from the kick.

The sudden movement triggered a burst of irritation in his Alpha instincts, and he reflexively grabbed Ye Shu’s ankle, roughly dragging him out from under the covers.

The three onlookers watched this unfold in silence.

Pei Changyun: “…”

Jiang Ci: “…”

Huo Xianfeng: “…”

For some reason, the two men at the doorway felt a sense of déjà vu watching the scene play out.

With a thud, Ye Shu hit the floor, jolting awake.

Unlike the Major General earlier, who’d been dragged out stark naked, Ye Shu’s clothes, while extremely wrinkled, were still on, though his hair was a wild mess, and his expression was thunderous.

He felt like his head was about to explode, although he couldn’t tell if it was from the hangover or the fall. The truth was, he’d initially planned to avoid drinking too much, knowing full well the potency of that liquor. But, caught up in the moment with Zhou Jiuya, he ended up downing drink after drink. In the end, he completely lost consciousness while chatting with Zhou Jiuya.

Similarly, Zhou Jiuya’s shirt was torn, but his pants were still intact, belt and all. However, whether or not they were wearing pants was no longer the issue.

Because they already sleep in the same bed.

“Zhou Jiuya, you son of a—”

The City Lord, who was mad after being woken up, was about to curse and maybe start a fight, but as he opened his eyes, he noticed—

Wait, why are there so many people here?

Ye Shu stood up unsteadily, frowning and reacting much the same as Zhou Jiuya.

After all, to two straight as an arrow Alphas, the idea of an Alpha-Alpha relationship was entirely absent from their mind.

“What’s going on? What happened? Is the Church attacking?”

Back in the day, when the Dawn Legion broke away from the Alliance, resources were so scarce that several soldiers often had to share a bed. Ye Shu and Zhou Jiuya had been that kind of brother-in-arms, crammed onto the same bed through many hardships, so neither saw anything strange about it now.

“…”

A heavy silence filled the room.

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Wan Jiang: “…?”

Why would I be upset?

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“Look at it this way: at least they didn’t do anything in your cockpit. That would be… something.”

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Wan Jiang felt like everyone had gravely misunderstood the situation. It wanted to clarify on its master’s behalf, but all personal matters related to the Legion Commander were restricted by its privacy protocols, so it couldn’t utter a word.

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The Emperor’s gaze moved between Ye Shu and Zhou Jiuya, with an unreadable expression on his face. He had assumed that the relationship he’d hidden with Huo Chao was perfect… but he realized these two had hidden it even deeper.

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And, perhaps, why both of them had failed so miserably at the blind dates back then.

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—Especially because Jiang Ci had seen his current state.

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His Majesty the Emperor waved his hand and turned his head away, signaling him not to say anything more.

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The Legion Commander was stunned and he didn’t understand exactly what the Emperor meant.

What relationship?

Why did he need to handle things with Ye Shu?

Ye Shu was equally baffled but, driven by his instinctive habit of retorting to Pei Changyun, he snapped,

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Once again, silence descended over the room.

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Jiang Ci had a complicated expression.

“It’s okay, Uncle. If you two are truly in love, then… then I wish you happiness.”

After saying that in a single breath, Jiang Ci felt he couldn’t face Zhou Jiuya any longer. Grabbing Huo Xianfeng’s hand, he turned and left without a second glance.

As he walked out, Huo Xianfeng threw a disdainful look over his shoulder, muttering, “…Tsk.”

And with that, the room was left with just the two dumbfounded Alphas.

What? 

What “truly in love”?!

“…”

Zhou Jiuya and Ye Shu’s minds went blank for several long seconds before they finally realized what the three of them had misunderstood. They subconsciously looked at each other, and both suddenly felt an indescribable nausea at the same time.

Ye Shu rushed into the bathroom first.

“Ugh—”

He threw up.

Zhou Jiuya was a step slower and could only stand there with a grim face.

At that moment, a head poked in through the doorway.

It was Huo Xianfeng.

“Oh, right. Jiang Ci asked me to borrow Wan Jiang for something.”

Wan Jiang: “…!!”

Originally, Wan Jiang had thought that since Jiang Ci and Zhou Jiuya weren’t that close—and Huo Xianfeng had his own mecha, the Forbidden Abyssal—he wouldn’t have to interact with that terrifying mecha-devouring Demon King. But before it could even enjoy this reprieve, it found itself  into the hands of others.

Wan Jiang: “…”

Apparently, no mecha can escape their fate.

Huo Xianfeng casually waved his hand at Zhou Jiuya and showed his empty ring finger, adding an additional explanation.

“You know, the Forbidden Abyss’ still being repaired at A-Ci’s.”

“…”

It was only in times like this that he referred to Jiang Ci with such familiarity.

Zhou Jiuya picked up on the careful nuance in every name Huo Xianfeng used for Jiang Ci, and he was obviously showing off now. The Legion Commander felt stifled, and he had a lot of things to say, but he couldn’t say a word.

For a moment, Zhou Jiuya thought about asking Huo Xianfeng to help clear up the misunderstanding with Jiang Ci, to explain that there was nothing romantic between him and Ye Shu. But the very idea of it felt too awkward to voice.

So in the end, he settled for grabbing the black armband mid-air and hurling it at Huo Xianfeng.

Thwack—

The young man casually raised his hand and caught it with ease.

As Wan Jiang fell into Huo Xianfeng’s hand, it visibly trembled. Huo Xianfeng toyed with it for a moment, tossing it back-and-forth in his hand before remarking,

“Oh, and one more thing. Just a suggestion: if you’re going to grab someone’s ankle, maybe be gentler. At least don’t throw them to the ground.”

Zhou Jiuya: “…???”