The wind started to pick up.

The vast crematorium was silent and desolate, a breeze causing Li Po’s combat suit to rustle loudly. He lowered his gaze, staring at the blood-stained black fabric, his face expressionless.

Suddenly, his body swayed.

The recent exertion had drained his psychic energy too much, and his body was struggling to cope. He knew he should have used up that bottle of psychic recovery fluid back at White Tower.

Groggily, his vision began to blur, even the gun lying on the ground appeared doubled. But he didn’t have much time left; he had to muster his energy to quickly erase any traces at the scene.

Li Po pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing himself to wake up, and turned towards the pile of corpses.

A foul stench hit him as he held his breath and focused on the squirming shadow. The top corpse had been pushed aside, and he could vaguely make out the outline of the contaminant. Without hesitation, he slowly released his psychic power to suppress the contaminant.

His psychic power was already unstable, barely sufficient to restrain the contaminant’s movements to prevent it from attacking him, but it was enough for Li Po. He pulled out his dagger, cleanly slicing through his combat suit, and held it above his arm, poised to stab.

But as the blade nearly pierced his skin, he hesitated.

…Would it hurt?

Forget it.

His body was already covered in blood, and his combat suit was even bloodier. Fresh blood stained his pale skin, vivid as spilled red paint. Suddenly finding the color too harsh, he turned away and slowly cleaned his dagger.

After wiping it clean, he held the dagger in his teeth, crouched down, and began to clean up the surrounding traces.

Di Kai had been parasitized by the contaminant, and only death awaited him. Rather than let him continue a miserable existence, wasting water and air, it was better to end his life swiftly.

Li Po knew if Jiang Yu were here, he would do the same—kill Di Kai to prevent further trouble. But Li Po wanted to do it himself; he didn’t want Jiang Yu to handle it.

After all, he had despised this person for a long time. Since he had the chance for revenge, why not take it?

Once he had cleaned up certain traces, he staggered to his feet. The dagger was still in his mouth, and he nearly cut his lip as his form wavered. Blood instantly appeared at the corner of his mouth, which he carelessly wiped away. After wiping, he gripped the dagger, turned, and stared at the pile of corpses.

At that moment, he suddenly heard the thunderous noise of a starship landing.

So soon?

Li Po was surprised; he glanced at the time—it had only been 13 minutes.

Man, that was fast.

…

When Jiang Yu arrived, this was the scene he saw.

Li Po was blood-soaked, his body teetering as if the next gust of wind might blow him away. His slim body was covered in scars, his combat suit slashed repeatedly, even his exposed skin stained with blood.

Before him was a massive pile of corpses, bodies piled haphazardly like a small mountain, slimy creatures emerging from within, making their way toward Li Po. He neither ran nor hid, standing bloodied, his entire being radiating loneliness and despair.

Jiang Yu’s eyes flickered intensely for a moment as he stepped forward, his cold hand reaching out to support Li Po’s back.

Li Po trembled violently, as if startled. Eventually, he shifted his gaze from the pile of corpses and turned to look at Jiang Yu.

At that moment, his face was pale, his eyes filled with fear, his expression shattered. Blood on his nearly transparent face made him look fragile, like a broken glass doll.

Li Po’s eyelashes trembled as he laboriously raised his hand, pushing the cold dagger into Jiang Yu’s palm, then looked up, his voice unsteady, “Do it for me, kill it.”

That’s when Jiang Yu noticed his hand.

Once pale, his hand was now a mix of blue and purple, the flesh over his knuckles torn, still bleeding. His entire hand was a bloody mess, and when his fingertips touched Jiang Yu’s palm, he could feel the icy chill of death.

His expression darkened instantly, his eyes cold. But his touch was gentle, reassuringly patting the other’s back with a soft “Hmm.”

As if afraid, Li Po didn’t look back at the pile of corpses, instead lowering his head to rest his forehead against Jiang Yu’s shoulder. He felt dizzy, the world spinning, needing to lean on him to steady himself.

Jiang Yu’s scent was refreshing and cool, and Li Po couldn’t help but lean closer, deeply inhaling. He moved closer and eventually buried his face in Jiang Yu’s chest, greedily breathing in his scent.

Jiang Yu silently dealt with the contaminant. What was once a contaminant was now just a handful of ash. He looked down at Li Po, noticing how close he had nestled into his embrace. His arms stiffened, his movements slowed. After a pause, he didn’t push him away but instead lifted his hand, gently touching his head.

“Feeling better?”

Li Po, resting on his shoulder, rubbed his forehead against Jiang Yu’s fabric, shook his head slightly. Since Jiang Yu’s arrival, he had let his guard down, and suddenly all his strength had left him. Like now, he didn’t even want to respond, just rest against him.

Really tired. He hadn’t felt it just a moment ago, but now every muscle in his body ached.

Li Po closed his eyes wearily, then suddenly realized something, his heart skipping a beat.

Wait, doesn’t Jiang Yu have a thing about cleanliness? Being bloodied and leaning on him like this, might he not wait until they returned to Area S but deal with him right here in the crematorium?

…Ouch.

Li Po took a deep breath, struggling to lift his head, pulling back half a step from Jiang Yu’s embrace, weakly saying, “Commander, I got your clothes dirty.”

His light tea-colored pupils gradually unfocused, his voice drifting as he lowered his head, “I didn’t mean to, I’m just in pain, needed to rest…”

Fear still lurked in his eyes, his delicate wrists still trembling, his fragile appearance like he might collapse at any moment. Jiang Yu stared at him, his eyes unreadable.

Li Po was increasingly unsteady. He clenched his palm, fighting the pervasive dizziness. Just as he was about to faint, Jiang Yu suddenly raised his hand, supporting the back of his head, pressing him back against his shoulder.

At that moment, unknown to Jiang Yu, the omega leaning on his shoulder quietly curled his lips into a smile.

…

After what seemed like an eternity, the feeling of being drained of psychic energy gradually eased. Li Po breathed a sigh of relief, gathering his strength, and looked up at Jiang Yu: “Commander, I know how to control my pheromones now.”

Jiang Yu glanced at him indifferently, casually responding, “Hmm.”

“So… can I join you on missions now?” Finally, Li Po voiced the question that had been brewing in his heart for a long time.

Yes, this was why he had called Jiang Yu here. Bian Lu had told him to play up his misery, to make Jiang Yu pity him. So he had deliberately made himself look this miserable, to tug at his heartstrings. Although he thought Jiang Yu still might not agree, there was no harm in trying. Who knows, it might just work.

He had to deal with Di Kai before Jiang Yu arrived for this reason. Di Kai was bad and stupid, and not easy to fool. If he revealed his psychic power in front of Jiang Yu, that would be the end of him. If he wanted to personally take care of Di Kai, and still appear weak and pitiable in front of Jiang Yu, this was the only way to do it.

Thinking of this, Li Po suddenly felt tired.

Honesty is the best policy. What if Jiang Yu found out he had been deceiving him all along? Would he be angry?

He said before, he hated deception most.

Thinking of this, Li Po bit his lip anxiously. He dared not look into Jiang Yu’s eyes, only silently staring at his recently brushed shoulder.

Jiang Yu was not in combat gear, only in his sharp military uniform. The shoulder of his deep green uniform was creased by Li Po’s rubbing, looking out of place.

…Why is he still wearing his uniform?

Suddenly, Li Po thought of a question. Yang Guang had said that a round trip from here to Area S took at least 15 minutes, so how had Jiang Yu managed to get here in 13 minutes?

Was it because he was really worried about him?

Li Po suddenly realized he cared very much about Jiang Yu’s attitude towards him. With this thought, he furrowed his brow. If an uninformed bystander saw him, they might think he was enduring some pain.

Jiang Yu thought the same.

The handsome omega’s cheeks were blood-stained, even the corner of his mouth was torn. His lip, bitten by him, split even deeper, blood welling up to form a droplet at the corner of his mouth, close to his lips.

But he was oblivious, just biting his lip harder, his frown deepening until his entire face was nearly scrunched up.

Jiang Yu stared at him expressionlessly, wondering what he was thinking.

After a long while, he finally spoke, “Does it hurt?”

Li Po looked up blankly. He wasn’t sure what Jiang Yu was referring to, but his instinct told him that nodding was the right thing to do at this moment. So, he nodded, saying plaintively, “It hurts.”

The next second, the cold tip of a finger touched his lips.

The blood droplet at the corner of his mouth was wiped away by Jiang Yu, who looked down and hummed indifferently.

A slight sting came from the corner of his mouth, and Li Po froze. It wasn’t until Jiang Yu moved his hand away that he touched the corner of his mouth, finally realizing what had happened—his mouth had been cut by the dagger just now.

Suddenly, he asked, “Commander, you haven’t answered me yet, can I join you on missions?”

Jiang Yu glanced at him, his face expressionless, “I already answered.”

You answered? Li Po was momentarily stunned.

His finger pressed against his lip, and he touched it unconsciously. The next second, he paused, his eyes widening in disbelief.

…Wait, did Jiang Yu actually agree?!

Oh my God, the sun must have risen from the west.