TL: Hua

Chapter 19

“Brother, what a coincidence. I can’t believe you’re here today too…”

A video call window overlaid the invitation prompt, and Shaikh’s dazzling blonde hair immediately appeared in their field of vision.

But he stopped mid-sentence upon seeing Pei Yingye beside Ji Xuan. His originally beaming face sank instantly; though the corners of his mouth remained upturned, the smile didn’t reach his eyes, presenting a sinister, scrutinizing look.

Pei Yingye let out an extremely displeased “Tsk,” his voice dripping with disgust: “…Stop right there. Did you take the wrong medicine this morning? How can you utter such a revolting title? You’re giving me goosebumps.”

Having said that, he rubbed his arm and held it out toward Ji Xuan.

Ji Xuan cast a light glance. Pei Yingye’s temperature had dropped a bit due to the smart air system, but when the arm came close, he could feel the high body heat even through two layers of clothing.

However, there were no visible goosebumps beneath the rolled-up sleeves, only well-trained arm muscles.

Shaikh’s eyes narrowed. When he spoke, he bared his teeth, though it was unclear if he was smiling or grinding them: “So you’re here too, Cousin.”

…Cousin?

No wonder.

Ji Xuan met Shaikh Roanne’s eyes on the screen. His eye color was slightly deeper than Pei Yingye’s. If Pei Yingye’s eyes were like a clear, transparent sea and sky, Shaikh Roanne’s eyes were like venom-dipped sapphires.

No wonder he felt those eyes were familiar the first time he saw him.

“Brother, if you wanted someone to practice mecha with you, why didn’t you call me?” Shaikh blinked, a look of hurt appearing on his face, though his gaze remained fixed intently on Ji Xuan. “Is it because you’ve found a new friend and plan to abandon me?”

Ji Xuan leaned lazily against the back of his chair, tilting his head to look at him: “Did I ever want you?”

Shaikh froze for a moment, then let out a chuckle. “You’re so heartless, Brother. It’s only been a few days since we were apart… How is Mephisto? It makes me very sad when you don’t contact me or reply to my messages.”

“It’s doing great,” Pei Yingye answered the question for Ji Xuan. “There’s no need to worry so much about something that’s already been given to someone else, is there, Cousin? The Roanne family isn’t so short on three million that you’d be this reluctant to let go.”

He crossed his legs in a carefree manner, one arm draped ostentatiously over the back of Ji Xuan’s chair. From Shaikh’s angle, it looked as if Ji Xuan was being pulled into his embrace. The Alpha’s gaze toward the camera was sharp and domineering; although pheromone pressure couldn’t be felt through the simulation pod, the possessiveness radiating from his body language was impossible to hide.

Shaikh’s eyes darkened.

No one knew that at this moment, his pheromones had quietly occupied his entire simulation pod.

“You’re right. One shouldn’t linger on things given to others,” Shaikh said, still smiling. The LED strips on the ceiling and the warm light from the screen reflected off his hair, making it look golden, yet he gave off a dark, serpentine chill. “But when I think about how much Brother ‘needed’ me when he first arrived at Mars Military Academy, and now he’s turned around and found a new playmate, it’s still a bit hard to let go.”

“So what do you want?” Ji Xuan said indifferently. “Being reluctant won’t change anything. If a toy is gone, just find a new one.”

“To me, every toy is unique,” Shaikh said, suddenly sighing. His gaze turned soft again, looking only at Ji Xuan: “It seems Brother and Pei Yingye don’t welcome me today. I originally wanted to play a ranked match together, but it looks like there’s no chance for that now.”

“However…” Shaikh licked his dry lips. “Can I have a 1-on-1 duel with you? I watched yesterday’s Group A assessment; you won beautifully. Can you give me a chance too?”

Pei Yingye’s hand on the back of the chair tightened, his curled knuckles pressing against Ji Xuan’s shoulder.

Ji Xuan’s nose wrinkled imperceptibly, and he glanced toward Pei Yingye.

The Alpha’s brow was pressed low, his originally loose and outgoing energy coiling into sharp aggression.

“Sure,” Ji Xuan agreed. As he did, he clearly felt Pei Yingye’s arm behind him suddenly tense, and a surge of irritable aura instantly filled the air. “But I’ve been practicing all morning, and I’m very tired. You spar with Pei Yingye—”

“I want to see.”

He said this softly and gently, with a hint of curiosity and a touch of coaxing, like a feather brushing against the heart. The two Alphas, who had intended to refuse, fell silent simultaneously. After a few seconds of silence, Shaikh smiled pleasantly: “Since Brother wants to see, I have no problem.”

“And you? Is it okay?” Ji Xuan turned his head to look at Pei Yingye.

“Why wouldn’t it be okay for me?” Pei Yingye sneered and stood up abruptly to switch seats with Ji Xuan.

In the cramped space of the simulation pod, as Ji Xuan stepped away from the pilot’s seat, his calf brushed against Pei Yingye’s. The decorative straps on his pants jingled from the friction.

Pei Yingye felt the other’s shoulder brush intimately against his chest. He lowered his head, his hot breath grazing Ji Xuan’s earlobe: “…The one who can’t is sitting right across from us.”

Ji Xuan looked up, his upper body leaning toward him without warning: “I heard both you and Shaikh have excellent piloting skills. Perfect—let me steal a few tricks.”

With that, he withdrew without a hint of lingering, light as air as he sat in Pei Yingye’s previous spot, leaving behind only a faint, soul-stirring scent.

Pei Yingye couldn’t tell if it was his pheromones or the scent of shampoo; he only felt the places that had been brushed against burning hot.

“Which map are we playing?”

Shaikh said softly, “Let Ji Xuan decide.”

Pei Yingye turned the map selection panel toward Ji Xuan. The latter reached out and leaned forward, swiping across the screen. His hem shifted upward with the movement, revealing a small section of his flexible, pale waist.

So thin.

It looked like it could be held with just one hand.

“Cousin,” Shaikh suddenly called out from the other side of the video. Pei Yingye looked up with an unfriendly expression.

Shaikh asked, “Is your rut coming up soon?”

Pei Yingye replied, “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing,” Shaikh smiled harmlessly. “I just think your current state is a lot like a dog baring its teeth to guard its food.”

Pei Yingye didn’t get angry when he heard this. He just pulled the corners of his mouth and sneered with a hint of meaning, “A dog guarding its food at least gets to eat. That’s better than a dog that only knows how to wag its tail and can’t even catch a whiff of the scent.”

Having finished selecting the map, Ji Xuan leaned back in his seat and glanced at the two of them with a slight look of confusion, as if wondering what they were talking about.

“Watch and learn.” Pei Yingye leaned close to Ji Xuan, showing off almost right against his ear, his tone brimming with pride. “Ever since Shaikh Roanne started learning to pilot mecha at fourteen, he has never beaten me.”

—

Likely due to his confidence in his innate physical capabilities, Pei Yingye’s fighting style had always been bold and sweeping. Though his speed wasn’t lacking, he primarily relied on crushing strength. In a mecha, this manifested as a full integration of heavy equipment advantages with high mobility and a highly distinctive personal style.

Shaikh Roanne, however, was the complete opposite. He excelled at ambushes and pinning maneuvers, mostly relying on information advantages and long-range weapon systems. He would deploy interference barriers in advance and then use long-range firepower to restrict the opponent’s evasion space to carry out a trapped kill.

In their first exchange, neither gained the upper hand. The massive smoke from the particle cannon completely obscured Pei Yingye’s vision.

Whether it was because he trusted Ji Xuan’s character too much or was overly confident in his own skills, Shaikh shared his perspective with Ji Xuan via the terminal. At that moment, he was lurking like a ghost under a damaged elevated bridge nearby, his silver-gray fuselage nearly merging with the shadows.

Ji Xuan indeed did not tell Pei Yingye his location.

Of course, given Pei Yingye’s personality, he wouldn’t want to know anyway.

The interference layout Shaikh prepared in advance activated again. The moment the countdown hit zero, Pei Yingye suddenly surged his thrusters. The tracks plowed charred ruts into the road as the mechanical arm let out a sonic boom, smashing straight toward Shaikh’s hiding spot.

Shaikh immediately slid dozens of meters away using the bridge pillars as cover, simultaneously releasing interference waves. However, Pei Yingye seemed to have predicted this move. He maneuvered the mecha into a sudden barrel roll; the mechanical arm grazed the pillar again, sending debris flying everywhere. Then, amidst the rising dust, the mecha instantly achieved a secondary acceleration, somehow circling to Shaikh’s flank!

Energy blades clashed in mid-air, sparks flying through the dust. Pei Yingye licked the corner of his lip; close-quarters combat had always been his specialty.

The short blade scraped across Shaikh’s outer armor with a screeching sizzle of sparks, slicing through the hard metal shell and leaving a molten scar.

“This barbarian playstyle of yours is indeed a headache every time,” Shaikh said, his fingers immediately activating the long-range missiles he had set earlier. Two of them skimmed the ground through the ruins, while three others soared into the air and split into dozens of small bomblets, falling like a torrential rain of pear blossoms. The cannons on his shoulders simultaneously spat tongues of fire, and the dense energy rounds instantly trapped Pei Yingye’s mecha.

However, the latter was calmly explaining to Ji Xuan: “Normally in this situation, those with strong mental power would choose to directly hack the opponent’s mecha. Though, I hate to admit it, Shaikh’s level isn’t that far from mine. Doing that is too time-consuming and inefficient; it might even turn both of us into idiots. As for the other way, that’s purely my personal style. If anyone else tried it, they’d likely fail.”

As he spoke, he pressed the red button on the joystick, instantly overloading the thrusters. The engine erupted with an ear-splitting roar. The mecha moved at an incredible speed through the siege of energy rounds, the short blade in its hand dancing almost like a wheel of light, moving so fast it was a blur.

Debris flying under the wheel of light grazed the body of a missile, forcing one of them to detonate early. The shockwave of the explosion tore a hole in the smoke. Pei Yingye controlled the mecha to dive like a bolt of lightning straight at Shaikh, the short blade pointed directly at the cockpit.

In just a few meters, he had consumed several times the normal amount of energy, but Pei Yingye didn’t panic at all. Both his slashing speed and his cannon deployment were extremely steady.

And brutal.

Shaikh raised his arm to resist, but it was pierced straight through by Pei Yingye’s short blade, pinning him to the ruins.

With a thunderous boom, a particle cannon blast pierced the cockpit. Shortly after, the words “Combat Ended” appeared on the screen.

Pei Yingye casually shut off the communication with Shaikh and leaned back grandly. Just as he was about to claim his reward, the stray hairs from Ji Xuan’s scorpion braid inadvertently brushed across his face.

“It seems your relationship with your cousin isn’t very close.”

He stared intently at Ji Xuan’s bare neck: “You’re right. Otherwise, how could he have a ‘brother’ out there that I didn’t know about?”