Chapter 133: “Why don’t you… taste me?”
Liang Yeta left the restaurant first; whether he went to find Fu Qishang or went home to scheme, no one knew.
But just as Ai Li offered to drive Shen Zhuo back to the Royal Palace, Shen Zhuo received a phone call.
“Are you with Ai Li?” It was a counselor from Ares on the other end, sounding extremely urgent.
“Yes, what’s wrong?” Shen Zhuo glanced at Ai Li and put the phone on speaker.
Ai Li glanced at the phone in the interval of starting the sports car.
“Counselor, has something happened?”
Under the streetlights, the starry-purple sports car reflected dazzling colors, forming a flowing shadow on the road.
“We need you two to come to Ares immediately. There is a mission.”
The person on the other end seemed to have a genuine emergency; they hung up right after the next sentence:
“Come as soon as possible. His Majesty is here too.”
Ai Li and Shen Zhuo exchanged a look. Ai Li found a U-turn intersection, jerked the steering wheel two full rotations, and the sports car sped wildly toward Ares.
Upon arriving, Shen Zhuo discovered that besides all the members of Ares Class S, the people he had just met were also there.
Chu Baixian, Wei Qi, Fu Qishang, and presumably Du Feng and Feng Muya, who had rushed over from the Royal Palace.
Feng Muya was currently participating in routine training with Class S. The girl was naturally intelligent and had caught up with all the courses in just a few months.
Therefore, she was also arranged into the mission team.
“There is one thing we need you to do.” Seeing that everyone had arrived, Chu Baixian projected an image onto the white wall.
A creature appeared on the screenâimmensely huge, like a high mountain.
Shen Zhuo recognized it as a biological entity because its skin was a semi-transparent mucous texture, and it was slowly undulating.
It looked extremely bizarre and disgusting.
“Last week, a patrol unit discovered this thing in the Eastern Sector, Area 8-925.”
“To be specific…”
Shen Zhuo sat side-by-side with Du Feng, listening to the briefing.
The more he listened, the tighter his brow furrowed.
“So, you found a Variant Insect Body and need us to investigate it.”
Shen Zhuo tapped his temple. “I recall the military has reconnaissance drones.”
“Why not use those?”
Chu Baixian looked at the boy. “That is the root of the problem.”
Chu Baixian leaned both hands on the table. “The magnetic field around the Variant Insect Body is incorrect. Electronic signals cannot be transmitted; it even shields satellite signals.”
“Communication devices cannot get close.”
“Then…” A student raised their hand. Shen Zhuo glanced over; it seemed to be a classmate of Fu Qishang.
The classmate hesitated, then continued to ask, “Then why, for something that requires so much experience, are you not sending military personnel, but asking us students to go instead?”
“This is a reconnaissance mission, not an attack. The military’s intention is for you students to broaden your horizons.”
Chu Baixian smiled. “But don’t worry. I will accompany you as captain for this trip. His Majesty will resume his role as Commander-in-Chief and stay with us until the signal cuts off.”
Du Feng also nodded. “This is an advanced assessment. It can determine whether you can go to the units you volunteered for in the future.”
Once Du Feng spoke, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
The students in Ares Class S currently totaled fewer than twenty. Losing any one of them would be a huge loss to the Empire.
With two Commanders-in-Chief leading the way, this wasn’t a life-or-death situationâit could only be counted as training.
However, unlike the relaxed expressions of the surrounding students, Shen Zhuo, Ai Li, Fu Qishang, and Feng Muya exchanged glances.
They sensed that there seemed to be a problem.
Once the students left the conference room…
Those remaining were all familiar faces.
Among acquaintances, open honesty and trust were fundamental.
So, when Chu Baixian prepared to pack up and return to the military department, Feng Muya, who was closest to the door, blocked it directly.
“Spit it out. What is it that you can’t tell them?” Feng Muya lifted her chin. “You can’t tell them, but you can’t tell us either?”
“Exactly,” Ai Li echoed, crossing his arms and leaning back in a swivel chair. “Speak. Is there danger?”
Shen Zhuo was silent for a moment, then looked directly at Du Feng.
“That thing isn’t a Variant Insect Body, is it?”
Blocked and with no other choice, Chu Baixian stopped, returned to the conference table, and sat down opposite Du Feng and Shen Zhuo.
“It is.”
The conference room fell silent for two seconds before Du Feng took the lead in answering.
Du Feng had begun suspecting long ago.
He suspected that Tia was not the complete Bug Mother.
Because the Bug Mother’s regeneration and repair abilities were extremely powerful, but Tia’s regeneration ability was not high.
Furthermore, after Tia died, the Zerg at the border did not decrease; instead, they increased.
Therefore, after the Royal Palace incident ended, although Du Feng was in the palace, he continued to investigate the truth about the Bug Mother.
Du Feng and Chu Baixian suspected that a greater threat lay deep within the border.
Until they ventured into unexplored territory and it truly appeared before their eyes.
It was a continent that was gradually rising.
The speed of its elevation was astonishing. From being underwater to completely appearing on military sensors took until two months ago.
And on that continent was the thing in the projection.
The Variant Insect Body.
Or, one could say…
“The main body of the Bug Mother,” Shen Zhuo concluded calmly.
He raised his eyes to look at Du Feng.
“Is it?”
He didn’t even need to use his ability; he could deduce it simply based on the orders Du Feng had issued recently.
Du Feng met his gaze, his eyes full of helplessness.
“Yes.”
“Little Zhuo, you could pretend to be a bit stupider. Don’t be so smart.”
Chu Baixian finally sighed.
“Alright. The purpose of our trip this time is to bring back tissue samples of the Bug Mother to research how to completely annihilate it.”
“You should also know that the Zerg are classified by rank.”
“It is safer for high-ranking individuals to carry out this operation.”
“And almost all military personnel of S-rank or above are either at the border or at the General Command…”
“There is no one in the military who can go. Only you guys.”
“So, whether this operation will be dangerous or not, I dare not guarantee.”
After Chu Baixian spoke the truth, the conference room fell into silence once again.
A few minutes later, Fu Qishang, who had not spoken, looked around at everyone’s expressions. His tone was very calm:
“At worst, we die. For a soldier to die on the battlefield is a worthy death.”
The air suddenly stagnated for a few seconds.
After they had formed their friendship, there was a subtle, tacit resistance to the word “death.”
Especially after witnessing Meng Xihe’s death with their own eyes.
Almost everyone kept their mouths shut about this word.
They couldn’t accept parting in life or death.
It was laughable, really.
From the moment they stepped into Ares, aside from illness and dying of old age, there was destined to be only one path.
To die for the Empire, to die for humanity.
So when Fu Qishang said those words in the most relaxed tone…
It was as if an invisible membrane had finally been torn.
The thing everyone had been avoiding was brought completely before them.
Only then did they realize.
This ending, which everyone had to experience, didn’t seem like such an unacceptably big deal.
It was as if a shackle weighing on their hearts had been unlocked.
Everything became clear.
Or perhaps it was a sudden awakening.
Shen Zhuo held the hand Du Feng extended and looked into his eyes. The panic and confusion that had appeared recently were gone.
The boy’s gaze became firm.
He wouldn’t forget why he joined Ares in the first place.
Nor would he forget their mission as S-ranks.
It was something they had to do, something only they could do.
It was their responsibilityâ
To protect humanity.
…At worst, they would die together on the battlefield.
That would be a form of completion too.
“Exactly. Qishang is right.” Ai Li clapped his hands.
Chu Baixian laughed instead. “It’s not that serious, is it? Isn’t there still me? Even if we really encounter danger, they’ll have to step over my corpse first.”
Shen Zhuo was stunned when he heard this.
Thoughtfully, he looked across the long table in the conference room and met Chu Baixian’s gaze from afar.
The latter responded with a brilliant smile.
Returning to the Royal Palace, Du Feng still went to his office first.
Before Du Feng was called away, he had been dealing with a historical issue within the Empire.
The Empire was vast, with a huge population base, and many people went missing every year.
When Feng Ling was on the throne, the Royal Family had raised this issue with the military.
But ultimately, the investigation ended with no information found.
Du Feng continued to flip through the relevant reports, feeling a kneading pressureâneither light nor heavyâon his shoulders.
Shen Zhuo stood behind the man, massaging his shoulders.
“Shouldn’t you take a break?”
Du Feng squeezed the boy’s hand on his shoulder.
When Shen Zhuo motioned to see the documents, Du Feng handed him a stack of missing persons lists and photos.
Shen Zhuo looked through the photos one by one. The notes below were very clear; the missing persons ranged from workers to nobles, spanning all three genders: Alpha, Beta, and Omega.
It didn’t seem to be targeted human trafficking.
“It’s fine. This matter has been left over for too long; I’m afraid it will still take some time.”
Du Feng turned his head. “Are you tired?”
The man leaned his body slightly, patted his lap, and opened his arms toward the boy, his eyes curving in a very doting manner:
“Come, let me hug you.”
The boy put down the documents and straddled him without much hesitation.
The scent of rosemary entwined intensely around them.
It made Shen Zhuo relax completely.
He really had felt so tired recently.
It was a physical exhaustion.
Shen Zhuo hugged Du Feng’s neck, leaning against the side of his face and closing his eyes:
“Recharging… I’ll be fine in a moment.”
The Alpha raised his hand and slowly stroked the boy’s back.
“I have indeed been too busy after the heat period passed. I haven’t kept you company properly.”
Shen Zhuo buried his face in his shoulder, shaking his head slightly from side to side.
“You are the Emperor now; you are not mine alone anymore.”
“How could that be?” The man’s voice was deep, carrying a husky smile. “Du Feng will always be Shen Zhuo’s Du Feng alone.”
These words were very comforting to hear.
Shen Zhuo hooked the corners of his mouth.
“You can recharge for as long as you like.” Du Feng gently patted Shen Zhuo’s back, a gentle motion like coaxing a child to sleep.
“Du Feng…” Shen Zhuo mumbled indistinctly.
“Don’t put me on the bed…”
Before Du Feng could respond, his breathing began to deepen.
“Alright, Madam.” The Alpha rubbed the top of the fluffy hair of the child in his arms.
Du Feng adjusted him into a more comfortable position and had someone dim a few of the lights.
It wasn’t until Shen Zhuo woke up in a daze…
He found himself leaning in Du Feng’s arms, while Du Feng was still looking through documents with his other hand.
“Do you want to have a late-night snack?” Du Feng stopped his movements, turning to ask softly.
Shen Zhuo looked into those gray-blue eyes.
It seemed that no matter how the outside world changed, his Alpha would always be like this.
Wrapping him up like warm water with such a profound gaze.
This was not their first time making eye contact.
Nor was it the first heart flutter.
But that throbbing emotion, with every meeting of their eyes, felt like a tiny electric current rising from his tailbone.
Then spreading throughout his entire body.
This was his lover, his husband.
His Alpha.
Shen Zhuo took the initiative to crane his neck and kissed the man’s lips.
Like a deer voluntarily offering itself as a sacrifice.
Mist lingered in his eyes.
Enchanting, hazy, his figure fluid as water.
“Why don’t you… taste me?”
T/n: Ta-taste??? đ
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