"...That's what happened."
Xingyao stood in the middle of the lounge, looking nervously at the two directors, former and current, as though needles were digging into his back.
"Your assessment?" Ai Fan asked, sipping her tea unhurriedly.
Shen Que finished looking through the report, page by page.
"It's terrible."
He looked at Xingyao, his pale, thin lips parting slightly.
"Deputy Minister, I doubt anyone but you could understand this report."
Xingyao was on the verge of tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll go back and reorganize it right away. I'll definitely submit a new version tomorrow!"
He couldn't understand why Shen Que, an Omega, felt even more intimidating than an Alpha.
There wasn't even any pheromone suppression, yet he didn't dare so much as look at him.
If he'd known it would be like this, he should have begged Jin Yi to write the report earlier, instead of indulging his own little agenda...
Now Xingyao utterly despised how selfish he had been ten minutes ago.
Waaah, this is so awkward...
"Never mind..." Shen Que looked away.
He felt awkward too.
He hadn't said a single harsh word. Why did this Omega look ready to cry?
He was far too fragile.
"Go back and take care of today's work first. Send the report to the Fallen Star Palace next week. If you really can't manage it... ask your subordinates to help."
For the first time, the famously uncompromising former First Commander softened his tone.
Xingyao thanked him repeatedly, gathered up his disastrous report, and took his leave in a daze.
Shen Que sighed.
Was Jin Yi the only person in this department who could actually get anything done?
As though she could read his mind, Ai Fan said calmly, "If you think someone isn't up to the job, you can remove him at any time."
Shen Que was silent for a moment.
"That hardly seems necessary," he said, lowering his brows. "The report was terrible, but the data contained no errors or omissions. Deputy Minister Xingyao may simply... not be good at paperwork."
Ai Fan smiled.
"I thought you really hadn't understood it."
Shen Que let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
He genuinely hadn't understood the written portion.
But data consolidation was a required course for commanders. He had earned full marks in it at the Military Academy, and after graduation, he had processed tens of thousands of battlefield data points simultaneously through observation and mental arithmetic alone, in battles both large and small.
Even without written explanations, he could verify the figures in the report.
With his reason for visiting the General Affairs Office doomed to go unfulfilled, Shen Que stayed a little longer, then rose to leave.
Ai Fan didn't try to keep him. She only reminded him to look after himself and get some proper rest.
She watched Shen Que's retreating figure disappear behind the door.
Leaning back against the sofa, Ai Fan recalled their conversation.
She couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from lifting.
What a clever boy.
"If he's so clever, why isn't he my son?"
She murmured regretfully.
By the time he returned to the Fallen Star Palace, it was already dark.
He'd been running around all day.
No.
Counting those twelve hours in the treatment pod, he hadn't been home for two days.
Shen Que returned wearily to the bedroom, too tired even to eat.
The freshly washed bedding held none of that familiar scent.
For the first time, Shen Que resented Anya's diligence.
She was far too diligent.
It was only the first day since Pei Ji had left, and his scent was already gone from the bedding.
He curled up on Pei Ji's side, burrowing deeper into the covers. Just as he was drifting off-
A crisp knock sounded at the door.
The diligent Anya called worriedly from outside, "Madam, you haven't fallen asleep, have you? You can't just go straight to sleep. You need to eat first, then take your medicine, and have a bath before bed..."
"...I know," Shen Que sighed.
So tired.
I'll lie here for another five-no, ten minutes, then go eat.
As he thought that, Demi's voice suddenly came from outside.
"Is Madam in his room?"
Anya said, "Yes, he's still resting. What is it, Demi?"
Demi said, "Mm, let him rest first. We can tell him when he comes out to eat..."
Anya asked anxiously, "Did something happen? Should I wake him now?"
Demi said, "No, no, it's just... the General sent something back..."
Before she could finish-
Bang!
The door swung open.
Shen Que asked, "What is it?"
Pei Ji had sent a package.
The Fully Automated Interstellar Mail Carrier held the package out. Once Shen Que had signed for it himself and left a five-star review, it flew leisurely away.
Inside the package were a Recorder and a white stone about three centimeters in diameter.
Shen Que picked up the stone and instinctively held it to the light.
The rough crystal was filled with cloudy impurities.
Just as he was puzzling over it, those cloudy particles suddenly began to move, slowly gathering near the fingertips holding the stone.
Was it... alive?
Shen Que paused, then looked at the Recorder that had come with the stone.
When he switched it on, a string of numbers appeared.
42.15.
After a brief moment of thought, Shen Que's lips curved slightly.
"Go prepare dinner," he told the maids. "I'll eat in half an hour."
Demi and Anya exchanged a glance, suppressed their curiosity, and reluctantly left.
Shen Que returned to the bedroom and locked the door.
He plugged the Recorder into the Terminal. With a faint electrical buzz, a screen of light opened. After a brief blank interval, the Alpha's handsome profile appeared on it.
"I was just wondering when you'd call."
Pei Ji wore a sharp black military uniform. Without the elaborate decorative cords, it made him look even cleaner and more handsome, radiating martial confidence.
Shen Que stood with his hands behind his back and raised his chin slightly.
"Why do I remember that casually revealing the fleet's coordinates is against regulations, General?"
Pei Ji's lips curved. "Is it? But I'm not with the fleet right now."
"I only gave you my own coordinates. You can't report me, Commander."
Shen Que asked, "Are you in the cockpit?"
"Yes. Devour Heaven, activate Autopilot Mode."
[Understood, General.]
The next second, Pei Ji turned his head, his gaze finally settling on his Omega.
"Lift your face, little one. Let me see if you've lost weight."
Shen Que let out a single word: "Scram."
But there was a smile at the corners of his lips, and he seemed to be in an especially good mood.
He couldn't help asking, "If I hadn't received the package, or had received it a little later, wouldn't you have missed my call?"
What Pei Ji had sent him was a fixed set of coordinates with a communication frequency.
As long as he stayed near those coordinates, he could receive the call Shen Que transmitted on that frequency.
A carefully calculated little trick.
"If I missed it, there'd be next time," Pei Ji replied casually. "I'd catch it eventually."
Shen Que said, "Going to all that trouble..."
"Missing you is more trouble," Pei Ji blurted out.
Shen Que fell silent. He could hear his own heart beating, very fast.
He spoke again. "What's that stone?"
Pei Ji smiled. "Guess."
Shen Que said, "I can't. Hurry up and tell me."
They didn't have much time. At Devour Heaven's speed, he would leave those coordinates in half an hour at most.
Pei Ji knew that too, of course, but he still didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly asked, "Have you had any trouble adjusting lately?"
Shen Que froze briefly.
He was the fourth person to ask him that today.
Charles Lee, Carolina, Ai Fan...
He had told all of them he was doing very well.
But...
He looked at Pei Ji and met the Alpha's eyes.
His voice was slightly hoarse.
"What do you think?"
Pei Ji's lips tugged into a helpless smile. "It's my fault. Don't act cute."
Shen Que's gaze cooled slightly. "Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about what acting cute means... So, where did the stone come from?"
"I bought it at the Black Market on an Unnamed Planet. The seller was a smuggler. He didn't know where it came from either, but my guess is the Sea of Life."
Pei Ji's voice over the call was a little quieter than before. He was moving away from those coordinates.
"The Sea of Life?" Shen Que stroked the stone, his pupils contracting. "Could it be..."
"A living Pheromone Memory Stone."
Pei Ji held Shen Que in his gaze, a searing light in his eyes.
"I saw one once at the Life Sciences Research Institute."
"If I haven't mistaken it for something else."
"Keep it beside you when you sleep tonight. By tomorrow morning, you should be able to smell my scent."
Before you continue