TL: Hua

Chapter 39

Not far away, Old Wang, who had been observing the situation, let out a “pfft” and started laughing.

“Sergeant Wang! What are you laughing at?! Is this the attitude of your logistics department?”

Old Wang reigned in his smile and slowly paced forward two steps. He took the documents from Ji Xuan’s hand, unhurriedly aligned the edges of the paper, folded them neatly, and handed them to Harvey.

“Don’t get so worked up, Captain. They’re just two trainees from the capital planet, not very good at handling things,” Old Wang said in a peaceful tone. “But they were just being plain-spoken; it’s hardly worth starting a war over, is it?”

Seeing that Harvey was unwilling to take the documents, he simply stuffed them into the man’s hand. “I’d like to give you your stuff sooner too, but rules are rules, and we’re truly short-handed. You’re a veteran of the fortress, you can’t possibly argue with two newbies over such a small matter, that would be too embarrassing.”

His words sounded like he was offering Harvey a way out, but they were saturated with passive-aggressive irony and a sharp warning.

Harvey’s face turned from red to white. He crumpled the documents into a ball in a few quick motions and stuffed them resentfully into his pocket.

“…Fine! Fine!” Harvey squeezed the words through his teeth. “Then you’d better follow the rules and have them delivered to me on time the day after tomorrow.”

With that, he turned his gaze back toward Ji Xuan and Pei Yingye.

Old Wang’s mention of them being “from the capital planet” was an obvious reminder that these two might have backgrounds not to be trifled with. But this was North Star Fortress, separated from the capital planet by an unknown number of jump points. Even if they did have backing, what could they possibly do to him here?

“I’ll remember these two newcomers!”

After dropping that cliché threat, Harvey spun around, slammed open the half-closed heavy door, and marched out of the warehouse with a gust of vented frustration.

The auxiliary defense force followed closely behind. The iron door slowly slid shut, sealing out the sunlight and the noise from outside.

The professional facade on Old Wang’s face vanished. Without even looking toward the door, he snorted, “The fortress prohibits the private release of pheromones and brawling. If you want to be thrown into solitary to write self-reflections, don’t drag me down with you.”

Pei Yingye, criticized without being named, looked up at the ceiling with a feigned innocent expression, pretending he knew nothing about it.

Old Wang looked at him in that state but didn’t press further. His gaze shifted to Ji Xuan. “Your tongue is sharp enough… You’ve only been here two days, and you’re already familiar with the Material Allocation Office’s business?”

Ji Xuan shook his head, not mentioning that Chen Shuo had told him everything through the earpiece.

Chen Shuo was the one who had rejected Harvey’s application last time. The little Beta was well-versed in keeping work records. Combined with the notorious reputation of the Fourth Galaxy’s auxiliary defense force, he knew he had to be extra careful, lest he cross them and be unable to clear his name even when in the right.

Unexpectedly, it had actually come in handy.

Even though Ji Xuan didn’t say it, Old Wang had clearly guessed. He glanced toward the shelf where Chen Shuo was hiding and said, “…At least you’ve got brains. The best way to deal with people like them is to be tougher than they are.”

It was unclear if he was teaching Ji Xuan or Chen Shuo.

Having said that, he didn’t dwell on the topic.

“Alright, the show is over. Get back to what you should be doing.” With his hands behind his back, he walked toward the inner section. After a few steps, he suddenly pointed to one of the rows of shelves. “From this row onward, the coding rules are different from the front. Read the supplementary notes in the optical computer yourself. Get these shelves finished before dinner.”

The workload wasn’t light, especially for newcomers.

Pei Yingye let out a groan and curled his lip, leaning his weight on Ji Xuan’s shoulder as he was dragged away. Chen Shuo crept out from behind the shelves and rushed to the optical computer to retrieve the supplementary notes.

Old Wang didn’t look at them again. He returned to his old wooden desk, sat down, and took a sip of strong tea from an old-fashioned thermos. The warehouse was filled only with the sounds of inventory checking and occasional low-voiced exchanges.

After a while, as Ji Xuan and the others were buried in their reconciliation work, Old Wang walked over again at some unknown point. He held a paper manual with curled edges and dropped it onto an empty crate next to them with a “thud.”

“Supplementary codes for Sector E3 and precautions for common instruments,” he said, his tone still stiff. “The instructions in the system are the generic version; some details don’t match up. Read this so you don’t blame me for not warning you when you mess up later.”

Having said his piece, he didn’t wait for a response and walked away again with his hands behind his back.

Chen Shuo picked up the manual in surprise and flipped through it. Sure enough, there were many handwritten annotations and pasted sticky notes inside. This was clearly a valuable asset accumulated over many years of experience.

Pei Yingye nudged Ji Xuan with his elbow and lowered his voice: “Tch, the old man really is hard spoken but soft hearted.”

However, the “hard spoken but soft hearted” old man still heard his whispering and let out a cold cough: “If you don’t want to eat dinner, just say so.”

–

Meanwhile, outside the warehouse.

Ji Jingche, who was just about to leave, happened to run into Director Lin, who was coming to check on the progress. After saluting him, the director teased, “Colonel, if you need any supplies, just send your subordinates to pick them up. Why come in person?”

As he spoke, he looked at Ji Jingche’s empty hands, feeling a bit puzzled.

Ji Jingche said in a calm tone, “I’m not here for supplies. I just returned to the fortress and decided to walk around.”

Director Lin looked at him with some confusion and smiled: “What is there to see in a place like this?”

Ji Jingche didn’t explain. His gaze passed through a small window outside the warehouse, catching a glimpse of the scene inside. His younger brother was standing before a shelf, comparing cargo codes against Old Wang’s handwriting. Beside him, Pei Yingye was holding a terminal in one hand to input data, while the other arm was draped over the shelf next to Ji Xuan. Seemingly to see the notes more clearly, his head was nearly resting on the other’s shoulder. At first glance, it was an extremely intimate posture, as if he were holding Ji Xuan in his arms.

How improper!

Ji Jingche frowned imperceptibly.

A few days ago, he received the rankings sent by Ji Yan. The latter mentioned in the message that Ji Xuan had teamed up with Pei Yingye for this assessment, taking first place in both the full-domain simulation and the annual assessment. He also knew that Ji Xuan would be coming to North Star Fortress with Pei Yingye for training.

In the message, Ji Yan expressed hope that he would look after Ji Xuan, but Ji Jingche had refused. No matter who came, he would not engage in such favoritism.

However, after hearing that Ji Xuan had been assigned to the warehouse for inventory, he still thought he would come by to take a look.

After all, while Old Wang was a man of integrity, he was indeed difficult to get along with. He was worried his foolish younger brother might provoke the man.

But everything he just saw told him he was wrong.

Ji Xuan was far more capable than he had imagined.

“Pei Yingye is a 3S-grade Alpha. According to the requirements, shouldn’t he be assigned to the Azure Bird Guard? Why did he come to the Logistics Department?” Ji Jingche asked, seemingly casually.

Director Lin paused and said: “I heard he was supposed to be assigned to the First Guard, but the other trainee who came with him was assigned to Logistics due to… special reasons. They probably have a good relationship, so he transferred over with him.”

Ji Jingche’s frown deepened.

Just as he had told Ji Xuan before, Shaikh Roanne was not a good person. Similarly, in Ji Jingche’s eyes, Pei Yingye, who shared a bloodline with Shaikh, was naturally the same.

If an Omega wants to rely on an Alpha to achieve something, the end result is inevitably being picked clean. Furthermore, the gap between their grades was like a chasm.

Additionally, there was still the marriage contract between the Ji and Shen families set by his mother.

What exactly did Ji Xuan want to do?

“Are you feeling regretful, Colonel?” Director Lin teased with a laugh. “Such an outstanding talent actually ended up here with me.”

Ji Jingche shook his head: “Since it was his own decision, even if General Ying came, there would be nothing to say.”

He took one last look at the two figures standing extremely close inside the warehouse, said nothing more, gave a slight nod to Director Lin, and turned to leave.

–

The warehouse inventory proceeded in an orderly fashion. After several days of high-intensity, back-to-back work, the E3 Sector warehouse was finally cleared.

Having submitted the final batch of data, Pei Yingye leaned back and sprawled out on one of the supply crates. He let out a long sigh and began to empty his mind, which had been occupied by chaotic data.

After checking their report, Old Wang’s face remained stern, but his tone was no longer stiff: “You did well these past few days. When it comes to the final ratings, I’ll give feedback to Director Lin.”

Pei Yingye thought to himself, I’m not doing this for some measly rating.

But on the surface, he still said with a grin, “Well, thank you very much, Boss Wang.”

A second later, a loud growl from his stomach made him spring up like a carp jumping through the air.

“Let’s go eat!” He reached out and tugged Ji Xuan. “I’m starving to death!”

But just as he was pulling him toward the warehouse exit, he heard a greeting from behind.

“What’s the rush? If you go now, you’ll just be squeezed in with all those people finishing their training drills!” The speaker was a dark-faced veteran who had seen Pei Yingye and the others a few times while swapping shifts with Old Wang.

Pei Yingye stopped in his tracks and said nonchalantly, “Then what do you suggest? It’s not like there’s a secret way to sneak into the back of the cafeteria.”

The dark-faced veteran waved them over. “Just endure it a bit longer. We happen to be three players short of a fourth; come play a few rounds of mahjong with us. The loser buys dinner. Killing two birds with one stone.”

Old Wang gave him a warning look, appearing to disagree with the proposal.

“What’s there to be afraid of? They’re just two young lads, and it’s not like they’re on duty,” the dark-faced veteran shouted. “Are you coming or not?”

Pei Yingye showed little interest. “Sorry, big brother, I’m a country bumpkin. I’ve never played Mahjong.”

“Then ask your partner!”

“My partner, he also…”

Before Pei Yingye could finish, Ji Xuan gave his sleeve a tug.

“Should we go play for a bit?” Ji Xuan whispered, leaning close to his ear.

His breath brushed past like a feather. Before Pei Yingye could even react, Ji Xuan was pulling him toward the group.

“I’m not very good at it either,” Ji Xuan said softly and slowly. “But I can give it a try.”

“Now that’s the spirit! Even though this is North Star Fortress, don’t force yourselves to be so boring.” As the dark-faced veteran spoke, he led Ji Xuan and Pei Yingye toward the cafeteria area.

This was the first time Pei Yingye had entered the small oval-shaped “egg” adjacent to the cafeteria. The interior was split into two floors consisting of sealed rooms. The lobby displayed strictly regulated opening hours, all restricted to off-duty periods. There was even an anti-addiction system in place.

The veteran opened a mahjong room via his smart terminal. Once inside, Ji Xuan sat to the right of Old Wang, facing a tall, thin man who was also a veteran guard from the warehouse. The mahjong table hummed, and a row of neatly stacked tiles quickly rose to the surface.

Pei Yingye walked behind Ji Xuan, leaning against his backrest in a casual, slouchy stance. “If Ji Xuan wins, can you guys cover both of our dinners?”

The dark-faced veteran burst into laughter. “You kid sure talk big! It’s just a meal. I’ll cover all three of you… Wait, where’s that Xiao Chen who was with you?”

Old Wang slowly arranged his tiles and said, “Xiao Chen wants to test into the Information Department. When has he ever been willing to play with you? The shooting range opened at five today; he left ages ago.”

“That little Beta is so ambitious, not like us. Guarding a warehouse is about enough for me.”

Ji Xuan: “What is the shooting range? … one Kong.”

“Your luck is something else…” The dark-faced veteran said as he discarded a tile. “There are several training grounds on the fortress. Once the regular soldiers finish their drills, they open up to the fortress staff. The Information Department exams require shooting and mecha piloting, so of course Xiao Chen runs there every day.”

“Sounds interesting,” Ji Xuan said nonchalantly. “If I go to the shooting range, is it possible to run into General Ying Xun?”

“You’re interested in Ying Xun?” the veteran asked curiously. “Makes sense, though. Eight out of ten Omegas who come here are interested in the General.”

Across from him, Old Wang inconspicuously glanced at Pei Yingye.

“Pity, though. The General seems to be off investigating some smuggling case recently and isn’t at the fortress. Don’t make a wasted trip.”

“Smuggling?”

“The border of three galaxies is a mess. I heard the guys at the command post are practically going bald over it. A few days ago when they came to pick up supplies…”

Old Wang covered his mouth: “Ahem, ahem.”

The dark-faced veteran realized his slip. “Anyway, that’s just how it is. Ever since that incident four years ago, this kind of thing has become more frequent.”

The Logistics Department, especially the warehouse, serves as a hub for all sorts of people on the fortress, so they have many channels for information. But some matters were sensitive and inappropriate to discuss openly, so Ji Xuan didn’t press further.

He casually drew a tile, flipped it with his slender fingers to show Pei Yingye behind him, and tilted his head with a smile. Sitting beside him, Old Wang saw the undisguised delight on Pei Yingye’s face and sensed something was off. However, before he could think further, Ji Xuan pushed his hand down—

“Winning hand. All one suit.”

The dark-faced veteran was stunned. “Little Omega, you’re good! A real dark horse! One more round.”

However, after one round:

“Winning on a Kong.”

“Again, again!”

After two rounds:

“All one suit, full straight.”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t know how to play? You’re pretending to be clueless! Again!”

The third round:

“Self-drawn. Seven pairs with dragons.”

“Aga—”

Pei Yingye: “No more! I’m starving to death!”

The poker cards used as currency in the veteran’s table drawer had been reduced by half. He was rubbing his face and wailing. The tall, thin man had also lost so much he was grinding his teeth in pain.

Ji Xuan leaned back, his back happening to press against Pei Yingye’s fingers on the chair. Feeling the hard pressure, he moved slightly forward again and said with a smile, “Thanks for the game.”

Consequently, when Ji Jingche finished his training, showered back at the dorms to avoid the peak dining hour, and arrived at the cafeteria, he was met with the sight of the dark-faced veteran and the tall man scrambling to pay for Ji Xuan’s meal. Meanwhile, Pei Yingye, who had already extorted a sum from the two, was leaning against a nearby pillar holding a food tray.

“Stop arguing. Whoever is short on the bill can just take us to the shooting range tonight for some fun.”