I'd be better off raising a slab of roast pork than you

Three in the morning.

Pei Ji woke with a splitting headache.

His first thought was:

Those traitors!

Pei Ji had always been able to hold his liquor. Most nobles could hardly drink him under the table.

Besides, those effeminate fellows always took dainty little sips, using the drinks as an excuse to cozy up to him.

But today, when he scanned the crowd, he had actually spotted those little bastards from the Fourth Fleet.

Every last one wore a crisp military uniform, mingling among the nobles as though they were respectable people.

From a distance, his adjutant Luo Yuan mouthed at him: [General! We're here to rescue you!]

Pei Ji raised an eyebrow.

Rescue me?

You're obviously just bored and here to watch the show!

The gossip online wasn't enough, so you had to come see it in person?!

Still, there was no reason to waste an excuse delivered right to his doorstep.

Almost without hesitation, Pei Ji used entertaining his friends from the fleet as a pretext to extricate himself from the crowd of insincere nobles.

And then.

Those traitors had poisoned him with booze.

Of course, they hadn't fared much better.

The formidable combat soldiers of the Fourth Fleet had collapsed en masse in the cactus beds of Green Mo Garden.

"Hiss..."

He finally registered the stinging pain in his arm.

Pei Ji looked down to find scratches covering his muscular forearm.

It looked as though a cat had clawed him.

Alarmed, he hurriedly felt his face.

Thankfully, his face was unscathed.

Being disfigured was a minor issue.

Being too ugly for his darling Commander afterward would be a major one.

Wait... his darling Commander!

Pei Ji quickly opened his terminal.

When he saw that the last message was [Remember to take your medicine.], he breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, he hadn't sent anything strange.

Rubbing his throbbing temples, Pei Ji continued piecing together his memories.

He vaguely remembered Demi dragging him out of the cactus beds and hauling him here...

Here... where was here...?

Pei Ji surveyed the room. Judging by the elaborate, luxurious decor, it was probably one of the rooms... in Harmony Garden, where his dad lived.

His wandering gaze stopped. Pei Ji suddenly noticed a tiny red ember flickering on the sofa at the other end of the room.

A faint fragrance of flowers and wood hung in the air.

It was a cigarette.

He wasn't alone in the room.

Pei Ji rolled out of bed, strode over to the sofa, switched on the floor lamp with a click, and sat down.

"Stop smoking. The smell's giving me a headache."

Pei Li, lord of White Sand Star, sat in lavish formal attire with his legs crossed and cast a sidelong glance at the young Alpha.

"Your head hurts because you're hungover. So young, and already this cranky when you wake up..."

Pei Ji leaned back against the sofa with his head tilted up, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Dad, it's three in the morning..."

"Time to get up."

"Take another puff and I'm telling Mom."

Pei Li stubbed out the cigarette in an instant.

Beside the colorful glass lamp, dim, sunset-colored light illuminated two faces that bore a striking resemblance.

Pei Ji and Pei Li weren't particularly close as father and son.

Especially since Pei Ji had come of age, they rarely spent time alone together.

The reason was simple.

They were too alike.

From their arrogant, swaggering personalities to their overwhelmingly oppressive pheromones.

Whenever they met, they either clashed head-on or refused to yield to each other.

As a child, Pei Ji had been kept in check by Pei Li's dominance. But once he reached adulthood and his pheromones were no weaker than the older Alpha's, his innate wildness and urge to challenge authority had broken completely free.

Fortunately, he usually stayed with the fleet, keeping the two kings apart, so White Sand Star's development didn't fall victim to an absurd feud between father and son.

Yet perhaps because of that curious bond of blood, a subtle understanding also existed between them.

For instance, even though Pei Li hadn't said a word about it, Pei Ji knew why his dad was waiting in his room in the middle of the night.

He said, "An insect nest did appear near White Sand Star."

Holding the half-smoked, extinguished cigarette, Pei Li asked, "How big?"

"Small. Barely C-Class, fewer than a thousand. It was in Asteroid Belt 2315, coordinates 14.23."

"I had Luo Yuan patrol the surrounding area afterward. He didn't find any others, so it should be an isolated nest."

Pei Li nodded.

"Who was with you when you encountered the insect swarm?"

Pei Ji said, "Luo Yuan and a dozen or so combat soldiers."

Pei Li's voice grew grave. "That wasn't many people. Why weren't you more discreet?"

Pei Ji understood what he meant. "Every mecha has a Zerg detection device connected to Messiah's Brain Computer. The Empress can check it at any time."

"There were so many reporters at the wedding. I was afraid she'd think we were concealing enemy activity, so I reported it to you honestly."

Pei Li gave him an odd look.

Pei Ji guiltily rubbed his nose.

In truth, he had been afraid the Empress would call off the marriage in a fit of anger.

At the time, he hadn't known how big the nest was. If his husband was gone before he even made it home, he'd be done for.

Of course... he had actually been even more afraid Shen Que would misunderstand...

"Reckless!" Pei Li scolded. "White Sand Star hasn't had an insect nest in over a decade. What if this caused a panic on the Star Network?"

"If your reputation weren't so rotten that everyone on the planet thought you were making it up, this would already be beyond salvaging!"

Pei Ji: "..."

"In any case, stay out of this. The Fourth Fleet draws too much attention. Too much activity will inevitably arouse the suspicions of those old geezers in the Imperial Court and the Council."

Pei Li's tone brooked no argument.

"You have fifteen days of marriage leave left. Stay home and focus on making babies."

Pei Ji choked.

"Uh..."

"What do you mean, 'uh'?"

Pei Li gave Pei Ji a disdainful look.

"Other lords already have two or three grandchildren in their fifties. Now look at you. What can you do besides prance around the Star Network's trending topics every day?"

"I'd be better off raising a slab of roast pork than you!"

Pei Ji's gaze flickered. "We can't right now..."

"What do you mean, you can't?" Pei Li frowned. "Is it you who can't perform, or Shen Que?"

Pei Ji blurted out, "How could I possibly have that problem!"

"So it's Shen Que?"

Pei Ji said, "Uh..."

Pei Li's mouth twitched, and the hand holding his cigarette began to shake. "So everything online was true... he really can't have children..."

"Carolina, that vicious woman! She sent over a crippled Omega to end my bloodline... so she could regain control of the sand gold production lines!"

"All right, all right, what are you even talking about?" Pei Ji interrupted. "Could you try thinking like a normal person?"

"The Empress has plenty of ways to get your production lines. Why would she have to target a grandson you haven't even met?"

Pei Li gave a cold chuckle. "What do you know? It's called infiltrating first, then taking control. Corrupting from within and dismantling from the bottom up!"

"Those underhanded tricks are Carolina's specialty."

"You little brat, use your head. That vicious woman has shown a keen interest in sand gold in public more than once! The Star Network is full of analyses of her microexpressions. Look, just look..."

Pei Li opened his terminal and pulled up [Serious discussion: when the Council delegation mentioned sand gold procurement, the Empress's eyebrows rose three pixels higher than usual. What does this mean?]

Pei Ji sighed. "Fine, fine. You're brilliant. You've figured it all out again."

Pei Li said, "I also know they all say Shen Que really can't perform!"

Pei Ji's mouth twitched. "I don't even know whether my Omega can perform. How would they know... nosy bastards..."

Pei Li suddenly froze. After a long moment, he caught on. "...You don't... know?"

"Cough, cough!" Pei Ji abruptly leaned back. "Tonight's booze really went to my head."

Pei Li stared at him darkly.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a while.

Pei Ji lowered his voice. "He really isn't in good health."

Pei Li's voice instantly rose. "I knew it! Carolina, that vicious-"

"Enough!"

Pei Ji cut him off.

Aggressive pheromones spilled from his body.

The young Alpha lifted his head and met the older man's gaze.

"Don't casually discuss my Omega."

A hint of aggression flashed in his cheetah-like eyes.

"I don't like it."

A long moment passed.

Pei Li suddenly gave a mocking smile and voiced a question.

"Your... Omega?"