Chapter 39: Still Competing Even When Sick, So Disobedient

The next day, during combat training, the Alphas noticed that Eugene was absent from the practical session. They immediately started mocking the substitute instructors from the patrol team.

Throwing their arms around each other’s shoulders, they loudly discussed:

“Hey, where’s Senior Eugene today? I was hoping to learn some combat skills from him.”

“Learning combat from Senior Eugene? Bro, you must be mistaken. His real specialty is mental attacks!”

“Oh, my mistake. So sorry about that.”

With absolutely no sincerity in his voice, the freshman continued arrogantly, “I’m sure Senior Eugene wouldn’t mind.”

“Well, since Senior Eugene isn’t here, I assume the rest of the seniors must be good at mental attacks too?”

“Hahaha, didn’t get to see it yesterday, but maybe the seniors have improved a lot overnight.”

“This is amazing, guys. When we fight those Imperial dogs, we really won’t die from their attacks—just from laughing too hard.”

A wave of bold laughter spread across the area.

Alphas truly are creatures that never learn their lesson.

Ji Laili sighed, three black lines metaphorically appearing on his forehead as he gave the freshmen a deadpan look.

Hey, hey, have you all forgotten how badly you got beaten up yesterday?

And you’re not exactly in great shape today either. You just got out of the recovery room, and now, with those exhausted expressions, you’re out here provoking people again…

His lips twitched. This was beyond words.

Surprisingly, the Alphas from the patrol team just gazed at them coldly, exuding an air of noble indifference.

Not a single one of them got riled up.

No anger, no embarrassment—just the aloof expression of someone looking at a group of ignorant fools, with a touch of pride mixed in.

Ji Laili thought this was odd.

The freshmen felt the same way. Their punches seemed to land on nothing but air, leaving them frustrated.

What’s going on? Were their taunts not strong enough?

How did these arrogant seniors suddenly develop self-restraint? Something was definitely up!

That was when Shen Yu entered.

With an icy, breathtaking beauty, his black and gold uniform clung to his pale, almost bloodless skin. The cold, untouchable aura surrounding him was like an ice field atop a towering mountain. His pitch-black eyes swept over the crowd, distant and unreadable.

The freshmen, who had been provoking others moments ago, collectively thought:

Oh, shit.

Mystery solved. No wonder the seniors were keeping their mouths shut—Shen Yu had arrived.

Lei Po immediately turned to Ji Laili, nudging him with his elbow. When Ji Laili looked over, Lei Po exaggeratedly raised his brows, smirked, and signaled with his eyes.

‘See? What did I tell you? He’s here for you!’

‘You’ve been targeted!’

Ji Laili stared at him, confused. “Dude, is there something wrong with your eyes?”

“Maybe you should go to the medical bay?” He grew serious. “You shouldn’t be ashamed to seek medical help.”

“…” Lei Po choked for a moment before snapping, “What medical help?! I’m telling you to look at Shen Yu!”

Oh.

So, he wanted him to look at the little butterfly.

Ji Laili humored him, glancing at the strong yet elegant young man standing before them. “And?”

Why was this guy so dense? Lei Po frowned, but before he could explain, Zhai Yifei’s voice came in.

“He’s saying Shen Yu doesn’t have good intentions.”

Zhai Yifei’s eyes darkened, and his noble upbringing kicked in, filling his mind with all sorts of conspiracy theories.

“I heard Shen Yu is in his susceptibility period. There’s no way the Federal Military Academy would allow an Alpha in that state to become a substitute instructor.”

“Besides, everyone knows he despises Alphas. No one would dare to provoke him right now.”

“So…”

Ji Laili followed up, mimicking his serious tone, “So…”

“So he’s definitely here to mess with you!”

Zhai Yifei concluded gravely, feeling a bit worried for his friend.

Then, he heard Ji Laili’s bright, energetic voice ring out:

“So he’s really intense! Even in his susceptibility period, he’s still pushing himself as a substitute instructor!”

The curly-haired boy looked up, full of righteous criticism.

“Sick and still competing? That’s way too disobedient!”

Zhai Yifei, Lei Po: “…”

Did he even understand what the real issue was here?

Their conversation finally caught Shen Yu’s attention. The cold young man’s gaze swept over them.

Lei Po immediately felt a sense of doom.

He swore he saw a chilling glint in those dark eyes!

And then—

They were promptly assigned as demonstration dummies.

As in, human punching bags.

Meanwhile, Ji Laili was called aside.

As he walked off, his two friends watched him go with grim expressions.

They looked like they were watching an innocent puppy being swallowed by a python.

Ji Laili himself didn’t fully understand what was going on, but he did feel a little guilty.

Getting caught whispering behind someone’s back was never a good thing, and even though Shen Yu couldn’t have heard them, Ji Laili still felt a bit guilty about it.

So, he was exceptionally cooperative with Shen Yu’s instructions, obediently doing whatever was asked.

He seemed perfectly normal—until he hit the two-hundredth push-up and heard a clear, cold voice above him.

“Why aren’t you talking to me?”

“Are you mad? Because I didn’t listen to you and stay put?”

Ji Laili paused.

His first thought was that the little butterfly’s voice wasn’t as hoarse as before. That meant he probably hadn’t cried after going back…

Then, he realized the meaning behind the words. Somewhat surprised, he looked up.

From this angle, the golden sunlight cast a soft glow around Shen Yu, making it difficult to see his expression.

Ji Laili’s gaze instinctively landed on the nearest detail—Shen Yu’s lightly pursed lips, pale and tinged with soft red. Against his snow-like complexion, it was the only spot of color.

For some reason, he felt a bit dazed.

His eyes began to sting, so he blinked hard and muttered to himself that the sunlight was too bright.

After replaying Shen Yu’s question in his head, Ji Laili answered, “I wasn’t talking because I was reflecting.”

He slowly did another push-up, emphasizing the point—this was a punishment period.

As a student caught breaking the rules, silence was golden.

His explanation seemed to work. Ji Laili saw Shen Yu’s lips relax slightly. As he continued doing push-ups, he thought to himself—

So, that’s settled then.

“Then the punishment period is over now.”

…It’s over?

Ji Laili, who had only done two hundred or so push-ups, looked over at his friends, who were still serving as human punching bags.

They were wincing in pain, trying to maintain their dignity.

He hesitated for a moment.

This doesn’t seem fair…

The next second, he clapped the dust off his hands and stood up, smiling with upturned eyes.

“Senior Shen, should I return to the group now?”

“No.”

The cold, beautiful young man didn’t even hesitate.

“From now on, you’re under my supervision.”