Chapter 26 1/2

The meteor shower, from a distant perspective, appears like a splendid cascade of Suzhou fireworks, but for the nearby battleships, it is a catastrophic event. The dense and fierce giant stones, carrying the explosive anger of small asteroids, thunderously descend, each capable of piercing through the side wings.

The White Flame battleship maneuvers horizontally to evade the meteor shower.

This is not Cen Lang’s first encounter with a meteor shower; he faced one when venturing alone into an unstable star system. He quickly planned an escape route, skillfully maneuvering to avoid the meteors. If necessary, he would launch weapons to shatter any obstructing or flanking meteors.

At the moment of the meteor explosion, the ship’s visibility was impaired, making the situation even more perilous. Unnecessarily destroying meteors is avoided, preferring to let them graze the ship slightly.

Cen Lang is confident in dealing with this meteor shower, but he doesn’t want Jiang Li to face an explosion-filled scene.

In case of any unforeseen events, Cen Lang ensures Jiang Li enters the hibernation chamber without any risk. Even if he dies, Jiang Li can still survive, and the Cen family will spare no effort to retrieve the hibernation chamber in the vastness of space.

Opening the chamber, Cen Lang discovers Jiang Li inside and finds it intriguing.

Once the hibernation chamber is sealed, it is in a semi-detached state, and a one-click open is not possible. Cen Lang brings a toolbox, tapping and working for half an hour to pry open a gap at the top of the hibernation chamber.

Jiang Li’s movement space inside the hibernation chamber is limited; his limbs are fixed. Until a voice from above says, “Jiang Li,” and the lid is opened, allowing light to penetrate.

He looks up, and Cen Lang is half-kneeling on the ground, looking at him.

“Hold on a moment.” Cen Lang reaches into the hibernation chamber, one by one unlocking Jiang Li’s restraints: first the arms, then the thighs. His arms are long, reaching almost half of his shoulder inside, and his palm can directly touch Jiang Li’s groin.

Jiang Li doesn’t know how to untie himself, so he allows Cen Lang’s hands to roam freely, holding his breath.

With a strong pull, the device restraining his thighs springs open. Cen Lang then grips Jiang Li’s armpits, gradually pulling him out.

Sitting on the ground, Cen Lang looks at Jiang Li’s expression and says, “Dr. Jiang, you’re tough; no vomiting.”

Jiang Li glances at him and stands up from the ground, but due to not moving for a day and the difference in gravity on different planets, he takes a step and kneels down as if floating.

Cen Lang reaches out to catch him.

Jiang Li’s knees rest on his muscular thighs, and his upper body lies on Cen Lang. Cen Lang says nothing, pressing down on Jiang Li’s back and saying, “Take a break; I’ll be your cushion.”

Jiang Li is stiff all over; it’s not the first time he has been in this position on Cen Lang. The last time was when he bit Cen Lang’s gland. His chin rests on his shoulder, and the hidden gland on his neck warms slightly.

Cen Lang’s gaze glances over the bright white neck. “Dr. Jiang is not happy.”

Jiang Li: “No.”

Cen Lang: “Yes, you are.”

Jiang Li closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Why should I be unhappy?”

Cen Lang: “Because I locked you in the hibernation chamber, and you missed the grand scene of the strongest Alpha crossing the line of fire?”

Jiang Li: “You’re right.”

Cen Lang: “I know you’re calm and not afraid of death. I’m not avoiding you in case you vomit and mess up the instrument panel’s sensitivity.”

Jiang Li states the fact: “I didn’t vomit.”

Cen Lang: “I know you have cleanliness habits and can endure it. We’re doing this to be foolproof, Dr. Jiang.”

Jiang Li purses his lips. The first time he experienced turbulence, his face turned pale, triggering morning sickness. How did he endure it? Because Cen Lang didn’t perform any fancy maneuvers—no, the battleship operated normally.

After asking if he had received flight training, Cen Lang seemed to forget about it. Although Jiang Li couldn’t see, he could feel the battleship tilting after being weakened. Occasionally, it would turn ninety degrees, as if turning over in bed. He could feel the driver’s restraint.

Jiang Li would never ask, “Did you lower your skill level for me?” That would be too naive. At a moment critical to life, it’s better to suspect, “Cen Lang is afraid I’ll vomit on the instrument panel and cause trouble.”

He believes that no matter who sits in the co-pilot seat, Cen Lang will choose to raise the hibernation chamber. Everyone has to follow Cen Lang’s arrangements.

Jiang Li is puzzled by his baseless speculation.

However, for a person experiencing nausea during pregnancy to not vomit is not strange at all.

Cen Lang helps Jiang Li stand up and says, “If you want to be with me in life and death, there’s a chance. We’re making an emergency landing on a desolate planet; the battleship is damaged.”

The good news is that he can repair it. Since the White Flame battleship entered service, it has not made an emergency landing.

However, with a slight turbulence, Cen Lang sees Jiang Li’s face turn pale. If he were to freely control the battleship, Jiang Li’s brain might turn to mush.

His intuition tells him it’s not possible. To ensure this, he has to sacrifice his personal battleship, White Flame, within a controllable range.

After escaping the large meteor shower, he chose a desolate planet nearby. After orbiting the planet once, he found a suitable atmospheric entry point and landing location.

The damaged White Flame wing turned crow-black from the atmospheric entry.

“I need about seven days to repair the White Flame’s wing,” Cen Lang apologizes. “The return to Earth will be delayed.”

He shouldn’t have had the idea of “repairing the battleship to delay time” before departure. He made a crow’s mouth.

Cen Lang brings out his flight plan, erasing the journey to Deer Star. “Too far; save three days.”

Jiang Li doesn’t care about adding ten or eight days, a bit puzzled: “Isn’t the Alpha on Deer Star very strong?” Deer Star is far away, and at first, Jiang Li said it didn’t matter, but Cen Lang insisted on going, saying his pheromones would be useful.

Cen Lang: “He is strong, so let him bring his blood over himself.”

Jiang Li: “Isn’t that too much trouble for him?” After all, he’s a high-ranking official.

Cen Lang closes the plan and says, “Not troublesome. Tell him Jiang Wanlan needs gland tumor medication; he’ll be very willing.”

Jiang Li waited for a moment, thinking Cen Lang would tell the truth as he had in the past, but Cen Lang didn’t say anything. Cen Lang only gossips about the deeds of wealthy families and evildoings. “It’s probably a very sad story,” Jiang Li thought.

“Do you need any help repairing the battleship?”

Cen Lang opens the battleship door, pointing to the empty space below. “Yes, run circles down there.