Cheng Jin was awakened by kisses while he was still enjoying his sleep. The night before had been too demanding; he had done it twice, until his legs went soft, and he had no idea how he fell asleep. He was dreaming about having fun with his husband when he suddenly felt his lips being intensely sucked, almost as if the air was being drawn from his lungs. He struggled briefly before waking up.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw Lu Tao’s handsome face, but it was filled with gloom and even a hint of embarrassment. Cheng Jin was a bit confused and opened his mouth to speak, “Husband, what’s wrong?” He only realized how hoarse his voice sounded after speaking.

Lu Tao seemed even more upset, biting on his lips, but not too hard. His arms wrapped tightly around Cheng Jin, his fingers already probing inside him.

Cheng Jin’s face flushed, and he gently pushed against Lu Tao’s chest, stuttering, “Wasn’t last night, last night enough?”

Lu Tao’s expression darkened, his voice chilling, “How many times did we do it last night?”

Cheng Jin was baffled, “Twice, don’t you remember?” He began to feel shy, “You were so vigorous last night… it seems a bit swollen now.” He tried to push Lu Tao’s hand away to stop him from going deeper, but Lu Tao just flipped off the thin quilt, saying, “Let me see.”

Before Cheng Jin could react, he was already positioned on all fours, his legs spread apart and his buttocks raised, exposing the overly used anus from last night. His anus was pretty, pink, and clean around the edges, tight inside but now slightly swollen, puckering up a bit, which darkened Lu Tao’s eyes as flames of desire seemingly burst forth.

“Is it swollen?” Cheng Jin asked shyly.

“It is swollen,” Lu Tao responded vaguely.

Cheng Jin blushed and said, “Then let me go, we definitely can’t do it today…” After being released, Cheng Jin crawled up, planted a kiss on Lu Tao’s lips, and said softly, “If you want, can we do it again tonight?”

Lu Tao stared at him, pinched his cheek, and muttered a sullen “okay.”

During their days on Planet Sunshine, they finally went out to enjoy themselves today. Their guide was the brother of the driver Lu Tao had previously saved, another taxi driver, who, out of gratitude for saving his brother, took them to an orchard for free.

The bloodshed from the night before had been completely cleaned off the streets. Although there were fewer people walking around, it seemed calm again. Cheng Jin was curious about how Lu Tao had managed to quell the uprising, but all he got was “classified information.” On the way, he saw the military dismantling something, and after asking the driver, he found out they were tearing down their “temple.”

“Ah? Such violent demolition, won’t it spark a new round of conflict?”

The driver scratched his head, “I don’t know, but even if there’s conflict, it won’t stir up much trouble, since it’s the Imperial Planet’s army handling it directly. It seems a new government is taking over, the news is branding the Divine Faith as a cult, convincing the public to wake up, and they’ve also released evidence of corruption between the eastern and western sects, even executing some leaders… In short, Planet Sunshine is undergoing a change, but whether it’s for better or worse, who knows. But privately, we always say, it couldn’t get worse, since our economy is already at the bottom globally, even the technology on Hell Star is better than ours. If not for this land that can grow delicious fruits, we’d barely survive.”

The driver was quite young, probably just over twenty, much more lively than his brother.

Cheng Jin wondered aloud, “You don’t seem to care much about the eradication of the Divine Faith?”

The driver laughed, showing a bright smile, “Because I don’t believe in any faith, I believe in science.”

Cheng Jin was even more puzzled, “Isn’t it said that everyone on Planet Sunshine is religious?”

“That’s a custom we can’t choose for ourselves, but once we grow up, we can choose not to believe in those backward practices. In fact, there are many of us who are non-believers, maybe around thirty percent on Planet Sunshine.” The driver brightened up again, “My dream is to save enough money to travel to other planets, ideally to visit the Imperial Planet. But I heard the Imperial Planet has strict regulations, only those with talent, wealth, or who marry a local can go there. I don’t meet any of these criteria, so this dream is probably unreachable.”

Cheng Jin felt sorry for him, but Lu Tao said, “Not necessarily.”

Both paused, the driver somewhat surprised, “You think I… have a chance?”

“Perhaps,” Lu Tao replied calmly, without elaboration.

The driver was pleased, “Even though I might think you’re just comforting me, thank you. Uh, the orchard is almost here, it belongs to my uncle, the biggest farmer in this town, with twenty-three types of fruit, twelve of which are ripe now, ready to eat. You can pick whatever you want, even take some with you.”

Upon arriving at the orchard, Lu Tao and Cheng Jin were warmly welcomed by the farm owner. Lu Tao didn’t reveal his identity, probably only his superiors knew of his visit to the military. But having saved the farm owner’s nephew the day before, the owner was particularly grateful.

The Imperial Planet also grew fruit trees, but the varieties were common and the fruits lacked flavor, unlike here where the fruits were exquisitely sweet. Cheng Jin had his fill, particularly enjoying the honey grapes, eating until he was almost full, and tried many other fruits, some of which he had never seen before.

After eating for over an hour, Lu Tao finally stopped him, saying, “Don’t eat too much, be careful or you’ll get a stomach ache.”

Cheng Jin, always obedient, immediately stopped eating instead cheerfully picking fruits and even helping the farm owner with some work, even personally making a jar of grape wine.

Before leaving, the farm owner gifted them many fruits, including a jar of wine. The driver took them back to the hotel, and while unloading the car, Cheng Jin noticed Lu Tao slipping something into the car’s middle drawer, but he didn’t ask until they were back in their room.

Lu Tao pinched his cheek, smiling, “Money, what else could it be?”

“Oh, right, money. I forgot, we should pay them, otherwise we’re taking so much for free, that would be unfair to them.”

Lu Tao said, “Yeah, I left all the remaining paper money from Planet Sunshine there.”

Cheng Jin held his face, looking a bit reluctant, “Are we going back tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Lu Tao confirmed.

“It doesn’t feel like we’ve been here long.” Cheng Jin felt a bit down but quickly cheered up again, “No worries, we can travel to other planets next time. I used to be afraid, worried that places outside the Imperial Planet were full of bad people, but it turns out they’re quite nice.” He didn’t notice Lu Tao’s complex expression, worrying about how to transport all their stuff back, “Can we bring all these things on the train?”

“Yes.”

Cheng Jin cheered up again.

The return journey seemed shorter than the outward trip, even though they stopped at several planets along the way. Though they couldn’t disembark, Cheng Jin still got glimpses of the local scenes from the windows.

When they arrived back on the Imperial Planet, not yet home, Lu Tao received a communication from Fei Li.

Lu Tao glanced at Cheng Jin sitting next to him and activated the private mode before taking the call. Whatever Fei Li said, Lu Tao just responded with a “Hmm” before cutting off the signal.

“What’s wrong? Is there something at the military?” Cheng Jin looked at his tense face, growing worried, “Husband, did you do something on Planet Sunshine that broke the military’s rules?”

“No.” Lu Tao’s expression calmed, “Just something I need to take care of. I’ll drop you off first.”

Cheng Jin didn’t ask further, realizing he had already crossed a line; he had never dared to inquire about Lu Tao’s official matters before.

After unloading their belongings from the car, thanks to good packaging, none of the fruits were spoiled. Cheng Jin began planning how to divide the fruits and who to give them to, while Lu Tao changed clothes, greeted him, and then left immediately.

Fei Li was already waiting outside with a spaceship. Lu Tao boarded, and they flew directly to the Military hospital, where Doctor Tian Qi was already waiting.

Lu Tao greeted him, then asked, “What’s so urgent that you called me here? Is there a new development?”

Doctor Tian Qi was looking at a screen, where data flickered occasionally. He said, “The other day, I noticed something unusual with your brain condition, General Lu Tao. Was there an incident then?” He turned to Lu Tao, his gaze sharp, “I suspect you are showing signs of recovery.”

Lu Tao’s brain had a small observation device implanted by the doctor, which was connected to the machine in front of them, displaying any fluctuations clearly.

Lu Tao pinched his fingers, then said, “In fact, as a soldier, I do not intend to hide anything.”

Doctor Tian Qi replied, “I absolutely believe that, starting from when you showed no attempts to strangle the primary personality.”

His statement was casual, yet it startled Fei Li nearby, his pupils dilating slightly.

“I’ve actually thought about it,” Lu Tao found a seat and sat down, his lips curving into a bitter smile, “Who doesn’t want to survive?”

Doctor Tian Qi also sat down, his expression less stern than usual, “Whichever Lu Tao you are, you will live well.”

“But human existence isn’t measured by the physical body, but by one’s own thoughts, right?” Lu Tao reined in his smile, closed his eyes, “Until I realized, I am not as good as ‘him’.”

Doctor Tian Qi spoke seriously, “Please continue.”

“‘He’ came out the day before yesterday,” Lu Tao didn’t specify who, but they both knew whom he was referring to.

“What triggered it?”

Lu Tao took a deep breath and slowly said, “The trigger was during a moment of despair.”

Watching his loved one about to be struck by a blade, feeling utterly helpless due to the distance, he thought it was too late to save him. Then, the other persona emerged, took over the body, and moved with impossible speed to save Cheng Jin from the blade’s edge, all within 0.01 seconds.

After waking up the next morning, the first thing he saw was his sweetly sleeping little wife in his arms.

At first, he felt relieved, his heart brimming with joy at having regained what he thought was lost. Then, jealousy surfaced upon seeing the marks on his body, which eventually turned into deep frustration and sadness.

He was, after all, not as good as the other.