Editor and proofreader: Oceanblue

---

The ring was firmly placed at the base of his finger, not easily slipping off.

Ye Qingyun rubbed his eyes and touched the ring.

The ring had now adjusted to the proper size, and the pain in his finger had mostly subsided. What he felt most distinctly now was a peculiar sense of being bound.

He had gone from being single to a married man in just a few days!

It was truly unbelievable.

He wondered how long it would take to install an anti-tracking device on the ring. If the modification took a while, he wouldn’t be able to wear the ring, and given Gu Shenyuan’s personality, he would probably be secretly unhappy about it.

“What are you thinking about?” Gu Shenyuan suddenly asked.

“Installing a tracking device,” Ye Qingyun replied honestly, “It might take some time.”

Hearing this, Gu Shenyuan lowered his gaze, hiding the turmoil of emotions swirling in his eyes.

The excitement of marking Ye Qingyun with the ring, signifying that he was now his person, gradually faded, replaced by a deeper sense of panic.

According to custom, after putting on the ring, it signified that both parties were officially bonded. To celebrate this moment, many would choose to engage in physical intimacy to express their excitement and affection for their partner.

Ye Qingyun’s reaction indicated that he truly didn’t know the customs associated with wearing a ring, so he wouldn’t want to get intimate with him.

In Ye Qingyun’s eyes, this ring was merely an ordinary prop, not imbued with any deeper significance.

If he hadn’t taken advantage of Ye Qingyun’s ignorance in this area and proposed using the ring as a tracking device, he might have missed the chance to become Ye Qingyun’s first official partner.

Ye Qingyun had only muddled through in agreeing to it, and would he regret it later if he found someone more suitable?

He felt like a cunning thief, occupying a place that should belong to someone else, so even if Ye Qingyun didn’t care about the ring’s significance now, seeing it merely as an ordinary tracking device, it was still his just deserts, and he couldn’t blame anyone else.

This was something he should have known. He should have been satisfied with this situation, planning carefully to eliminate all the potential rivals Ye Qingyun might consider, making himself the only choice, but…

Suddenly, Ye Qingyun gently pushed him, interrupting his swirling thoughts.

“What are you daydreaming about?” Ye Qingyun poked the quiet Gu Shenyuan sitting beside him, opening his palm. “Hand it over.”

“What?” Gu Shenyuan came back to his senses, confused.

“What else could it be?” Ye Qingyun glared at Gu Shenyuan, “Your ring.”

Right, Ye Qingyun wanted to take the pair of rings for modification, so he should give his ring to Ye Qingyun as well.

Gu Shenyuan took out his ring and placed it in Ye Qingyun’s palm.

After receiving the ring, Ye Qingyun didn’t withdraw his hand but held the ring in one hand while grasping Gu Shenyuan’s ring finger with the other.

Gu Shenyuan’s heart skipped a beat, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Ye Qingyun… was willing to actively put the ring on him?

“Why do you look like that?” Ye Qingyun thought Gu Shenyuan was nervous, joking, “You don’t want to? Just let me wear the ring while you don’t? Want to be a single noble behind my back? Hmph, dream on!”

Gu Shenyuan’s ring fit perfectly, and Ye Qingyun quickly placed it on Gu Shenyuan’s finger, then extended his hand, spreading his fingers over Gu Shenyuan’s, letting their ringed fingers touch.

Ye Qingyun felt a little dazed. He had once been a reader who eagerly followed stories, watching Gu Shenyuan being pursued by many yet remaining indifferent, cold, and unfeeling, as if born to be disconnected from love.

He had even imagined how Gu Shenyuan could end his single life but ultimately dismissed it because he didn’t think Gu Shenyuan would like anyone or could envision what Gu Shenyuan would look like when he did.

But now, he knew everything.

“From now on, you’re mine. If anyone else tries to flirt with you, you can only respond to me, okay?” Ye Qingyun, wanting to indulge in his favored position at this special moment, acted true to his nature, “Even if what I research gets dismissed by the entire galaxy as useless, you must say it’s practical. Even if someone smarter than me appears, you can’t learn from them; you can only let me teach you!”

Gu Shenyuan slowly took Ye Qingyun’s hand, softly replying, “Mm.”

Ye Qingyun felt satisfied, subtly responding, “I will be like that with you, too.”

How could he treat him? With only him in his eyes, speaking only to him, wanting to respond only to him?

Gu Shenyuan didn’t answer. He quietly looked at Ye Qingyun for a while before wrapping his long arm around him.

All emotions were held in the grasp of one person. This was a frightening thing, yet he found it sweet.

If this was deception, he was willing to be deceived forever.

—

Ye Qingyun was brought to a house on another planet by Gu Shenyuan. According to Gu Shenyuan, this planet had a better environment, and since their relationship had developed to this stage, they should spend more time in such picturesque places to nurture their feelings.

Ye Qingyun had no objections; he only needed to praise Gu Shenyuan for his good taste, and he could effortlessly move in, leaving all other matters to Gu Shenyuan.

Once in the new environment, Ye Qingyun didn’t rush to have fun but planned to resolve his two main concerns first.

One was to install anti-tracking devices on their rings. The other was a particular detail he was quite interested in, something he had heard from the Second Princess about secret weapons that day.

—

If he doesn’t find out what that thing is in a day, he won’t be able to sleep peacefully for the whole day.

Hacking into the royal system and sneaking a peek at the royal secrets is not an easy task, but for Ye Qingyun, it is not impossible.

Long ago, when Ye Qingyun was interested in the technological level of this world, he had hacked into the royal system once.

At that time, he only took a brief look and learned that the technology held by the royal family was far superior to what was available on the market, but he just had a general understanding and did not specifically check out various weapons.

This time, Ye Qingyun spent a whole day once again hacking into the royal data network without leaving a trace, searching for that rumored weapon.

The search was not easy; Ye Qingyun had turned down Gu Shenyuan’s invitations to go out several times before finally finding a document in the highest authority archive that contained descriptions of the suspected target weapon.

The wording in this description was not official; it had a somewhat self-satisfied tone:

‘After hundreds of years, I have finally completed my ultimate weapon. With this ability decomposition suppression machine, no one can shake my power.

I witnessed it myself; even an SS-level ability user cannot resist it; their abilities are instantly shattered!

Hehe, only a useless emperor would allow humanoid weapons to use their powerful abilities to seize control, while I can turn around and nullify his abilities!

Not only that, if I find him, I will skin him alive and broadcast the execution process live across the entire star system, letting those ignorant citizens see who is the strongest person in this star system who cannot be trifled with. I will make sure they will never harbor any thoughts of rebellion and obediently remain as lowly subjects.

Just wait, once I find him, I will eliminate this hidden threat and completely erase his invincible reputation from this generation!’

The more Ye Qingyun read, the more shocked he became, and he faintly guessed who wrote these words.

— It was the emperor of the empire.

Perhaps during the reign of previous emperors, there had already been concerns about losing power, prompting them to find ways to create weapons to secure their position.

Now, with the weapon completed, the emperor also wants to use Gu Shenyuan as a target to intimidate others.

If what is written in this document is true, and that machine can instantly destroy even the abilities of SS-level users, then can it easily kill Gu Shenyuan too?

Ye Qingyun felt a hand rubbing his head; Gu Shenyuan’s voice came to his ear: “Stop looking, it’s too late; you should rest now.”

Feeling flustered, Ye Qingyun quickly closed the terminal page, grabbed Gu Shenyuan’s wrist, sat still, and looked up at him.

Ye Qingyun wanted to have a serious talk with Gu Shenyuan, but Gu Shenyuan clearly misunderstood his intentions and directly bent down to lift him from the chair.

Ye Qingyun was suddenly lifted off the ground, which startled him, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around Gu Shenyuan’s neck.

Gu Shenyuan walked steadily forward, his expression calm, but Ye Qingyun could tell he was quite happy.

Gu Shenyuan said lightly, “You can just say if you want to act cute; otherwise, sometimes I can’t grasp your thoughts.”

Ye Qingyun: ‘???’

No, he wasn’t trying to act cute! What exactly did Gu Shenyuan interpret?

Ye Qingyun kindly chose not to refute him. Once Gu Shenyuan set him down on the bed, he quickly sat up, moved to the inside, and patted the bed to indicate for Gu Shenyuan to sit down.

Perhaps because he was too proactive, Gu Shenyuan was momentarily stunned before finally sitting down and holding his hand.

Ye Qingyun tried to ask as subtly and kindly as possible: “Shenyuan, are you satisfied with your current life?”

Gu Shenyuan looked at him and softly replied with an “mm.”

Ye Qingyun was overjoyed: “That’s great! Since you’re satisfied with your current life, you must have given up on that ambition of conquering the world, right? I think we shouldn’t complicate things; let’s retreat to the mountains and live a simple life…”

Gu Shenyuan looked at Ye Qingyun, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: “It’s okay; I’m already doing it.”

Ye Qingyun: ‘…?’

Doing what? What does that mean?

He understood each of those words, but how did they come together to make no sense?