Chapter 47

Shen Tingyu received the terrible news on his first day back at work. The plan to clear the new region had to be shelved, and he spent nearly half a month leading his troops in a back-and-forth defensive struggle against the Devils attempting to invade the Aquila System. Only then did he manage to protect the repair crews long enough for them to restore the power station, safeguarding the homes and safety of the people on the affected planets.

Now that he was back, he naturally had to hold the leaders responsible for guarding the Aquila Defense Line to account.

The conference room was filled with the key elite personnel responsible for Aquila's defense, and the crisis had indeed been caused by their negligence. They had not expected the Devils in outer space to join forces with the Insect Race, which the Kaian Empire had once driven off. They had been at ease for too long and had failed to prepare a response, leading to that outcome, so they could only take the scolding.

Just as the atmosphere had sunk to its most oppressive, an abrupt, drawn-out beep sounded from behind Shen Tingyu.

A retractable projection screen slowly descended from above.

The headquarters' military intelligence system then activated a building-wide announcement: "Admiral Shen Tingyu of Golden Wing Headquarters has been detected going live. In accordance with regulations, all audiovisual playback at headquarters will be suspended, and the admiral's livestream will be connected immediately—"

The livestream soon appeared on the screen.

The expressions of everyone in the conference room, who had just been getting scolded, gradually shifted from guilt and shame to shock and disbelief. Then, as if on instinct, they all turned to look at Shen Tingyu, who was holding the review meeting with them.

The man in the main seat fell silent for a few seconds before slowly turning around in his chair.

Something the young man on screen had seen seemed to have irritated him slightly. He smiled at the camera with a proud, aloof air, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The next second, he said, "That's right. I'm Xu Qingran, the one you all hate most."

"Not only am I in your dream man's house right now, using his account to livestream, I also use his kitchen, use his bathroom, go into his room—oh, and sleep in his bed."

An explosive statement.

Though waves were already crashing in the hearts of the people in the conference room, none of them dared breathe too loudly. Ever since Shen Tingyu had turned around, he had remained motionless in the same position, staring at the screen. They couldn't see his expression at all.

There was no way he could be in a good mood, anyway!

Meanwhile, strange posts were beginning to flood the front page of the Star's Edge Forum.

There were several of them, all with blunt, straightforward titles.

[Holy—shit—!]

Clicking in and looking at the original post revealed nothing but a screen full of:

Holy shit!!!

Some netizens who didn't know what was going on posted question marks.

When they came back a few minutes later, they had gone just as crazy as the original posters.

Without any explanation from Shen Tianyi, Xu Qingran soon learned from the frenzied bullet comments that he had logged into Shen Tingyu's account and started a livestream. Watching the viewer count climb steadily, he thought, Shen Tingyu's pretty popular.

As expected, most netizens had a very poor opinion of Xu Qingran.

Lu Cheng was, after all, a celebrity in the Silver Dragon Camp, and Silver Dragon used him in all sorts of promotional material every day. Even Golden Wing's people knew him and followed the gossip about his love life. At first, they hadn't realized the person in the livestream was Xu Qingran, mainly because the Xu Family's eldest young master's notoriety was so deeply ingrained in their minds.

Who could have imagined that the rumored bully of a young master would be so good-looking and harmless?

Of course, that only applied before he opened his mouth.

Most of the viewers were Shen Tingyu's fans. Hearing him say such provocative things, they immediately lost their composure and unleashed a torrent of comments at him.

Xu Qingran himself, however, was entirely unfazed. He even smiled with a hint of schadenfreude. "Mad?"

"Then stay mad."

"No matter how mad you get, I can still eat and live with him, bathe with him, and see him naked."

[...]

"..."

The netizens were so angry they were speechless.

They had to admit that Xu Qingran was indeed the first person romantically linked to Shen Tingyu who had moved into his home. And looking again at this Xu Family young master, who had both the looks and the figure, could the admiral really see him every day without falling for him?!

The system, meanwhile, was wondering: would its host still be able to follow the script and restore his public image in the future, becoming a white moonlight loved by all?!

Part of the reason the smear campaign against the original owner had caused such an uproar was the social climate of the Kaian Empire. To most people, the public image of prominent figures from major clans or wealthy families was extremely important. No matter how terrible their personalities were in private, they had to present a pleasant and gentle attitude to the public.

Someone like Xu Qingran was simply rebellious by nature, determined to do the exact opposite.

[Damn it, why is that infamous eldest young master of the Xu Family so good-looking? I can't even find anything to criticize about his face!]

Xu Qingran happened to catch that comment in the sea of bullet comments and laughed when he read it. He singled it out and said, "Thanks for the compliment. So really, if your admiral gets together with me, he's the one marrying up."

[...]

The bullet comments were rendered speechless once again.

Shen Tianyi had long since been stunned by the ferocity of the bullet comments. He stood stupidly to one side, unable to speak, his mind full of thoughts about what he should do now that he had caused trouble. Worse still, his communicator chose that moment to sound, and the caller's name made his vision go dark.

Boo-hoo.

His uncle was definitely calling to demand an explanation.

Shen Tianyi answered with trembling hands. The other end was silent.

Tears in his eyes, he pitifully confessed before Shen Tingyu could speak. "I'm sorry, Uncle! I was wrong!"

After a long while, an even voice came through. "Give the communicator to Xu Qingran."

Shen Tianyi walked over to the figure in the kitchen and tugged at his clothes. The person in front of the camera paused his barrage against the netizens and, under Shen Tianyi's tearful gaze, took what he offered and hooked it over his ear.

He didn't need to think to guess it was Shen Tingyu.

Perhaps sensing his movement as well, the person on the other end spoke first. "Xu Qingran?"

His voice was low and slightly magnetic. He spoke the three words unhurriedly, his tone rising slightly at the end. Rather than confirming whom he was speaking to, he sounded more as though he were questioning what Xu Qingran was doing.