TL: Hua

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Chapter 38

When Ji Xuan woke up, the Alpha who had claimed to be afraid of thunder and insisted on squeezing into bed with him last night was nowhere to be seen. He reached back and felt the outer side of the mattress; only a faint, lingering warmth remained.

However, before he could wonder where Pei Yingye could have gone so early in the morning, the bathroom door was pushed open softly. A puff of cold water vapor billowed out, and Ji Xuan’s eyes met those of Pei Yingye, who was wearing nothing but a pair of trousers.

Pei Yingye: “…”

“Why are you awake so early?”

Ji Xuan didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze flickered downward, and he let out a meaningful smile.

Twenty-one years old—it truly was a vigorous and hot-blooded age.

Pei Yingye must have realized something from Ji Xuan’s look, but since the other party didn’t plan on exposing his “early morning cold shower” antics, he wasn’t going to bring it up voluntarily either. Acting as if nothing were wrong, he walked to the bedside, rummaged through his half-unpacked suitcase for a shirt, and pulled it on. Out of the corner of his eye, he was still secretly peeking at Ji Xuan’s movements.

Ji Xuan went into the bathroom to wash up in his pajamas. When he came out, he turned his back to change. As the soft fabric of his pajama pants was shed, the hem of his shirt covered only down to the tops of his thighs, revealing two straight, pale legs. Pei Yingye abruptly averted his gaze. His dry throat hitched; he suddenly missed the bathroom from when Ji Xuan was still asleep.

By the time the two finished getting ready and arrived at the Material Allocation Office, there were still about ten minutes left before the official work hour.

Their only colleague, Chen Shuo, arrived right on the dot. However, presumably because new tasks had been assigned today, leaving him no time to review for his exams, he walked in with a heavy sigh, looking as if the sky had fallen.

“The Ancient Earthlings said it well: going to work is like going to a funeral,” Pei Yingye actually teased Ji Xuan with some interest. “Someone like my dad, who loves working, is truly the weirdest of the weird.”

Yet, a second later, he fell into a pensive silence as he looked at the supply verification list Chen Shuo sent over.

“An annual inventory check was suddenly assigned this morning,” Chen Shuo explained with a distressed face. “Every warehouse in the fortress needs to be inspected to reconcile physical items with the system data. Director Lin has already taken a group of people over, saying that we are responsible for the remaining few warehouses.”

The urgent task sheet for this annual inventory involved the fortress’s seven major warehouses. It was dauntingly long, seemingly stretching on without end. Pei Yingye stared at the light screen, his fingers swiping so fast they nearly left afterimages before he finally skimmed through the basics: “This is the first time I’ve realized that coming to North Star Fortress allows one to experience the misery of being exploited by capitalists.”

Ji Xuan didn’t react in any particular way but simply asked, “Is there a priority order or zoning plan?”

“Yes, yes,” Chen Shuo hurriedly pulled up the warehouse layout map. “We’ll start with Sector E3. That area mostly holds daily consumables, so it’s easier to organize. However…”

He seemed to remember something and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Sergeant Wang, who oversees the E3 warehouse, has a bit of a… well, stubborn temper. He’s not very easy to talk to. We need to be a bit careful when we go over.”

“How stubborn can he be?” Pei Yingye asked.

“Well… he probably looks down on new recruits and office clerks like us who don’t have much experience.” As he spoke, his gaze instinctively flickered toward Ji Xuan. His meaning was clear: he likely looked down on Omega trainees even more.

“Oh—” realization dawned on Pei Yingye. He turned his head and nudged Ji Xuan with his elbow, saying, “But it doesn’t matter. Anyway, it’s not the first or second time we’ve met people who look down on Omegas.”

Ji Xuan even cooperated with him: “Yeah. The one before the last one already had his throat slit by my blade.”

Chen Shuo shuddered all over in fright.

A short while later, the three of them grabbed the necessary equipment and left the Material Allocation Office.

Pei Yingye tucked the scanner casually under his arm, walking leisurely and looking around with great interest. Every now and then, he would even offer a critique of the fortress’s architectural design: “North Star Fortress really did spend all its funding on building starships and mecha. The other areas have a post-modern industrial retro vibe. Even though they moved here later, they should at least fix it up a bit.”

Chen Shuo listened from the side, trembling with fear, terrified that a passing officer or supervisor might overhear.

Ten minutes later, the three arrived before the heavy iron doors of Warehouse E3. Chen Shuo stepped forward for identity verification; the doors slid open, and a wave of cold, dry air hit them.

The interior of the warehouse was massive. Rows of giant shelves formed a silent forest of steel. Since it was daytime, only a few lights were on to provide illumination.

Sergeant Wang, whom Chen Shuo mentioned, was bending over to inspect one of the rows of shelves. Hearing footsteps, he straightened up and turned around.

He looked to be around sixty years old. His skin was rough and dull from years of being away from sunlight, his face was lined with deep furrows, and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.

Chen Shuo was the first to speak, greeting him and explaining their purpose.

Old Wang’s gaze swept over him, lingered for a moment on Pei Yingye’s face, then shifted away with a hint of surprise, finally landing on Ji Xuan. His expression became as still as deep water; he didn’t seem to have much to say about “Omega trainees being dumped here,” as Chen Shuo had suggested.

“Are these two the new trainees stationed here?” Old Wang’s voice was coarse and lacked warmth. “The rules of Sector E: keep your hands clean, keep the numbers clear, and don’t touch what you shouldn’t. The inventory list is in the optical computer over there. See for yourselves. Ask if you have questions.”

Having finished, he ignored them and turned back to continue his work.

Pei Yingye’s gaze inconspicuously traveled over the man once. He followed along naturally, picking up a scanner and then half-pushing, half-leading Ji Xuan toward the shelves.

“…That whole body of his is covered in marks left by long-term mecha piloting in space,” Pei Yingye muttered in a low voice. “I bet he was originally part of the Alliance’s pioneer exploration teams. Maybe he even fought the Zerg.”

Ji Xuan glanced at him, silently inquiring: Why do you say that?

Pei Yingye pointed to his own neck: “Those should be burns from Zerg corrosive fluid. Luckily only a little splashed on him; he’s quite fortunate to be alive.”

Ji Xuan understood: “You have quite the sharp eye.”

Receiving praise, Pei Yingye beamed with pride, only to be barked at a second later by Old Wang from several shelves away.

“What are you mumbling about over there? Don’t want to eat lunch?”

Thus, the two stopped talking. After splitting the zones with Chen Shuo, they each began their work.

But after a while, Pei Yingye still couldn’t hold it in:

“What genius came up with this coding? Were they afraid someone might actually input it correctly?”

“Putting fragile items on the very top shelf—are they planning to give whoever comes next a ‘surprise from above’?”

He prattled on, whispering complaints into Ji Xuan’s ear. The latter usually didn’t respond, only glancing at him with a faint, cool look when he found him truly too noisy. At those times, Pei Yingye’s “mute” button would be pressed, and he would quiet down for a bit, though the grievance in his eyes would quickly become palpable.

The tedious work continued until afternoon. The warehouse doors were pushed open again, but it wasn’t the shift change. Instead, it was a flurry of noisy footsteps and the scent of sweat and dust. Several people wearing the uniforms of the Fourth Galaxy’s Auxiliary Defense Force walked in, led by an Alpha with an arrogant demeanor.

“Old Wang! Where are you?” The Alpha’s voice was loud, instantly echoing through the warehouse. Immediately after, he impatiently slapped the warehouse door several times with his palm, creating a loud “clang-clang-clang” noise. “When exactly are the batteries we applied for going to arrive? We’ve asked three times. Is your logistics department run by snails?”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the shelves, quickly locking onto Ji Xuan, who was currently on a high shelf verifying part information.

It was a figure that seemed completely out of place in the warehouse—ink-black long hair draped over one shoulder and a profile as beautiful as white porcelain under the sunlight.

A mocking smile curled the Alpha’s lips, and he deliberately raised his voice to speak to his companions behind him:

“The logistics at North Star Fortress have certainly made progress. They’re even recruiting thin-skinned, tender Omegas now? Is this some officer’s pet sent here to pad their resume? With those spindly arms and legs, they probably can’t even move a single part. We’ll end up having to lend a hand later; that’s just a waste of time.”

It was an obvious attempt to pick a fight; even if Ji Xuan hadn’t been there, he would have vented his frustration on someone else. It was just that Ji Xuan appeared to be the “weakest” among them, making him the natural choice for a “soft persimmon” to squeeze.

Chen Shuo’s voice immediately came through Ji Xuan’s communication earpiece: “That’s Captain Harvey from the Fourth Galaxy. There are auxiliary defense teams from the three other galaxies on the fortress, and their logistics go through us too… ignore him, wait for Old Wang to come out and deal with it.”

But Harvey continued his grandstanding, and Old Wang was nowhere to be found.

“Hey, you up there! I’m talking to you. Don’t you even know how to give a basic reply? When are the batteries coming?”

“…Tch, what can an Omega do coming here other than distract Alphas from their work? I see Old Wang is losing his spine as he gets older. If I were him, I would have chased this kind of ‘decorative vase’ back long ago.”

North Star Fortress was located at the junction of three galaxies, so each galaxy kept its own auxiliary defense forces on the station. Unlike the regular Alliance army, the Fourth Galaxy’s auxiliary defense force were notorious scoundrels. Most of the time, logistics personnel like Chen Shuo handled them with the mindset of “the fewer problems, the better.”

In the earpiece, Chen Shuo was still rambling about Captain Harvey’s “glorious” history, but Pei Yingye let out a scoff. He inconspicuously reached up to brush his hand over Ji Xuan’s neck collar and then jumped down from the shelf.

He brushed off non-existent dust from his hands and stood before Harvey. Although his eyes were slightly crinkled, they lacked his usual mirth.

“Captain Harvey, is it? I have a question I’m curious about,” Pei Yingye said leisurely. “In your Fourth Galaxy’s manual, are the regulations for resource supply still stuck in the primitive version where priority is determined by who has the loudest voice?”

Harvey froze, his face instantly darkening: “What do you mean?”

Pei Yingye curled his lip, revealing an innocent yet malicious smile: “I mean, if your eyes worked, you should have been able to see the notification on the internal fortress system or noticed the delay announcement on the screen outside the warehouse. Coming all the way here just to make a scene… are you trying to train your lung capacity?”

He paused, his gaze meaningfully sweeping over Harvey’s chest, which was heaving with anger: “Or do you just really enjoy the echo effect in here?”

Harvey’s face turned bright red, and his fists clenched until they cracked: “Which unit sent you? Don’t get too cocky! Where’s Old Wang? Is this how his subordinates handle things?”

“Am I being cocky?” Pei Yingye raised an eyebrow, his tone still light as air. “I’m clearly just kindly helping you analyze the cause so you don’t make a wasted trip like this next time. After all, while your time seems… well, quite plentiful, our time is very precious.”

Harvey was thoroughly enraged, looking as if he were about to lose control of his temper and step forward. The auxiliary defense force behind him also looked unfriendly, closing in. Old Wang, arriving late, frowned and seemed about to speak, but before he could act, he saw Ji Xuan put down his personal terminal, come straight down from the shelves, and walk toward the optical computer.

Old Wang stopped in his tracks, watching Ji Xuan operate it a few times. He pulled up the inventory, and the printer beside it hummed, spitting out a document and several attachments.

“Warehouse E3, the second batch of Type III batteries. The delay notice was posted on the internal system and announcement screens in various areas 36 hours ago.” He walked up to Harvey and handed over the documents, simultaneously raising a hand to stop Pei Yingye from releasing his pheromones and mental power. “Here are the screenshots of the notification and the original application receipt.”

Harvey looked at the documents held out before him, unsure whether to take them or not.

Ji Xuan didn’t even give him a chance to continue his harassment, continuing indifferently: “Additionally, the system shows that the Type B instruments you applied for last week were returned by the Material Allocation Office due to an error in the coding. You subsequently filed a complaint saying it delayed your team’s training plan. My suggestion is, before your next application, carefully check the supply coding manual, or…”

He paused, letting out a cold, mocking laugh: “Consult us thin-skinned and tender people directly. At least we can distinguish between models and won’t fill in the wrong codes.”

“And finally, whether I was sent here by an officer to pad my resume isn’t important. But if the standard for whether someone can work on this fortress is determined by their ability to move parts, then I think—”

His gaze swept over the muscles of Harvey’s arms, and he deliberately let out a scoff. Slowing his pace, he said one word at a time: “The robots on this fortress would be much better suited for your job than you are, Captain.”

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