TL: Hua
It seemed his early departure from the banquet that day had caused displeasure. Coupled with his refusal of Ji Yan’s invitation to dinner yesterday and his trip to the chaotic Lower City, his eldest brother, who had just returned from the North Star Fortress, was quite angry.
Ji Yan kindly sent a message to warn him, telling him to behave and admit his mistake when he returned home today, and whatever he did, not to talk back to Ji Jingche.
Ji Xuan did not reply.
Returning to the Ji house was not like accepting Shaikh’s invitation; the latter at least had something that attracted him. Regarding the former, aside from being forced to “appreciate” the brotherly love between Ji Jingche and Ji Yan, Ji Xuan couldn’t think of any other benefit.
So, as soon as class ended, he packed his things to head back.
Unexpectedly, just as he reached the Omega dormitory area, he ran into an uninvited guest sent by Ji Jingche.
The person waiting for him was an elderly butler with meticulously combed gray-white hair, standing respectfully by a hovercar.
“Young Master Ji Xuan, Colonel Ji sent me to pick you up and take you home.”
Mephisto, who had been resting quietly under Ji Xuan’s sleeve all morning, sensed an unsettling, unfamiliar presence. It flicked its tongue, attempting to poke its head out from the cuff, only to be pressed back down by Ji Xuan’s finger.
“It seems I have no room to refuse today.”
He responded coldly, walking straight past the butler and getting into the car.
–
The hovercar passed through the sensor gates and came to a slow stop outside the Ji family’s vast lawn.
When Ji Xuan stepped out of the car, his gaze fell directly upon the scene nearby.
A tall young man sat at a tool table in the yard, with a holographic projection of a silver-blue mecha structural diagram spread out before him. He held small, delicate components in his hands, comparing them against the diagram. Ji Yan leaned in close behind him, his finger pointing at the projection from time to time, his eyes sparkling.
“A Type-III coupling must be used here; otherwise, by the time you reach the outer armor assembly, there will be a massive deviation.”
Ji Yan listened with rapt attention and said in a soft, sweet voice, “Now that Big Brother is back, it doesn’t matter even if I assemble it wrong. You will definitely help me fix it anyway, right?”
Ji Jingche let out a chuckle and reached out to move the part Ji Yan had just misplaced to its correct position. His voice was gentle: “You’re just acting spoiled on purpose; you already finished half of it yourself while I was away. You’re so smart; you don’t need my help at all.”
“I still need it, though. After all, I’m not a mecha major. If Big Brother is unwilling, I’ll just go ask Brother Shen Que for help.”
At the mention of Shen Que, Ji Jingche’s movements paused. After a long silence, he spoke up to remind him, “You and Shen Que have a special relationship, after all. He is Ji Xuan’s fiancé now; try to avoid suspicion as much as possible.”
Hearing this, a look of disappointment and grievance appeared on Ji Yan’s face, and he gave a sheepish “Okay.”
“But Big Brother, don’t be angry with Second Brother anymore. It must have been Shaikh who egged him on again. You know how Shaikh is. Besides, Second Brother doesn’t have any other friends at the military academy. You can’t blame him.”
“If he had come back with you yesterday, these complications wouldn’t have arisen,” Ji Jingche said. “The same goes for today. You wanted to pick him up, but was he even willing to come back with you?”
Mrs. Ji had died more than ten years ago in the same air crash that caused “Ji Xuan” to be stranded on the garbage planet. Father Ji and his eldest brother, Ji Jingche, were “Ji Xuan’s” only remaining blood relatives. However, the former was away from the capital planet year-round, and as a middle-aged man with thin paternal feelings, he didn’t actually have much sentiment for this biological son who had suddenly reappeared; he simply instructed Ji Jingche to take good care of him.
As for Ji Jingche… how could brothers separated for over a decade have any deep affection? Even with the pull of blood ties, there was always a layer of distance.
Besides, Ji Xuan was not a likable person.
He remembered the day Ji Xuan first returned home. At the first sight of him, Ji Jingche couldn’t quite describe the feeling.
He was very thin, skin and bones, with a pair of round eyes scanning everywhere, radiating a sense of misplaced nervousness from head to toe.
When Ji Jingche asked his name, he said he hadn’t had a name since he was a child; people on the garbage planet called him whatever they liked. It was only when he left that he gave himself a name: Ji Xuan.
“The ‘Xuan’ from mìng xuán yī xiàn (hanging by a thread).”
As if amused by this less-than-ideal omen, he had grinned foolishly. His lips were as pale as his face, so dry that dead skin was faintly visible.
So, Ji Jingche’s first impression of this younger brother was that he didn’t seem very bright.
As for what happened later, the less said, the better.
The Ji family was, after all, a prominent family on the capital planet. Ji Jingche had held himself to strict standards since he was a teenager. Although he had never demanded the same from Ji Yan, the latter had consciously grown into a well-behaved, obedient Omega who required not a single worry from him or their father.
But Ji Xuan was his complete antithesis.
The sound of Ji Xuan’s footsteps startled the two in the yard. Ji Yan flinched instinctively, his elbow knocking his terminal over. The holographic projection immediately retracted, and the mecha parts on it vanished into the air like fragments of light.
“Second Brother!” Ji Yan called out to him. “Are there really that many classes for the Combat Department today? I thought you’d be back earlier.”
Ji Xuan did not respond. His gaze swept past Ji Yan and landed on the nearby Ji Jingche.
The eldest Ji brother possessed a refined and elegant countenance. His shirt was tucked in meticulously, and his posture looked as though it had been precisely trained. When he was speaking to Ji Yan earlier, his expression was extremely gentle, carrying a faint smile. But upon looking up and seeing Ji Xuan, that smile vanished in an instant, replaced by a gaze that seemed to fall behind an impenetrable mist.
Ji Xuan shouldn’t have had any reaction to this disparity.
He wasn’t the original owner; he had no feelings for these relatives and no expectations. To him, everyone here was no different from a stranger on the street.
Yet, for some reason, when he met Ji Jingche’s distant gaze, a thought uncontrollably surfaced in his mind, followed by a sudden throb in his heart—an emotion that was nearly sadness.
Too strange.
Counting that dream, this was already the second time.
“Since you’re back, let’s go inside to eat,” Ji Jingche said.
Ji Xuan was noncommittal.
This cold and aloof demeanor made Ji Yan somewhat surprised. In the past, whenever a situation like this occurred, Ji Xuan would immediately bow his head and admit his mistake the moment he got home, then find every possible excuse to cover it up. When had he ever acted like he was today?
But since Ji Jingche didn’t speak, he didn’t say much else.
He simply took Ji Jingche’s hand and said with a beaming smile, “I can finally eat the delicacies Big Brother brought back today. I’ve been craving them so much!”
Under the light of the crystal chandelier, the long dining table was gilded with a soft hue. White porcelain plates held prepared lobster, garnished with caviar. A domestic robot served medium-rare wagyu ribeye, the fat sizzling on the iron plate.
Ji Xuan suddenly felt that it might not be a bad idea to come to the Ji house for dinner often.
After all, the dishes in the Mars Military Academy canteen were barely enough to fill one’s stomach, lacking anything resembling color, aroma, or taste. The demon lord had abstained from food for many years and finally tasted human food again. But as soon as he had taken one bite, he wished he could drag the cook out and execute him.
—But unfortunately, the canteen cooks were robots. If he executed one, another soulless AI would just step up to take its place.
Ji Xuan elegantly speared a piece of beef and put it in his mouth. His dining etiquette was extremely refined, his posture relaxed without a hint of restraint or haste. He looked like a meticulously drawn classical painting, radiating nobility and composure even while sitting still.
Ji Yan couldn’t help but steal several glances, feeling that in just a few short days, his brother’s transformation seemed vast.
“Where did the money come from?” Ji Jingche finally broached the day’s main topic.
“Borrowed it,” Ji Xuan replied casually.
“Borrowed from whom? Shaikh Roanne?”
“Borrowed from his friend.”
Ji Jingche frowned. “You bet three hundred thousand on a Lower City fighter. Did you not think about how others would see you if word got out?”
Ji Xuan thought for a moment, then suddenly set down his fork and propped up his chin to look at him: “Six months ago on your birthday, I gave you cufflinks worth five hundred thousand. How did you see that?”
“…”
“You said you had no need for such useless things and returned them without even looking at them,” Ji Xuan said. “That five hundred thousand went completely down the drain. I might as well spend it on someone else; at least they can earn it back for me.”
Ji Jingche’s face immediately became cold and stern. “Don’t switch concepts, Ji Xuan. When you are outside, you represent the reputation of the Ji family.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he keenly noticed something moving under Ji Xuan’s sleeve.
What was that?
Ji Jingche leaned forward quickly and grabbed his hand.
“What did you bring back with you?”
Ji Xuan’s sleeve slid down, revealing the tattoo on his wrist and Mephisto coiled upon it, flicking his tongue. Ji Jingche recognized the snake’s species at a glance, and his already cold face turned completely frostbitten.
“Second Brother, isn’t this Shaikh’s snake…?”
“Xiao Yan, you recognize it?” Ji Jingche asked.
“Shaikh often posts about it on his StarNet account; I’ve seen it.”
Ji Xuan stared at Ji Jingche with a half-smile. He didn’t try to break free, simply saying, “Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t have the money to buy this snake; he lost it to me.”
“But its temper isn’t very good, so I advise you not to hold on too long. If it thinks I’m being coerced and suddenly decides it wants to bite someone, I might not be able to control it.”
However, more than that, Ji Jingche was concerned with the tattoo on his hand.
Due to technical limitations, Ji Xuan’s tattoo was entirely black ink, but the artistry and skill were top-tier for that world—after all, failing to tattoo the demon lord properly meant losing one’s head.
The design was too erotic. Whether it was the snake’s head pressed against the stamen, the probing tongue, or the flower branches and snake tail entwined around his pulse, everything exuded an inexpressible sensuality.
Especially since it appeared on an Omega’s hand, the fair skin making it seem even more decadent.
“When did you get this tattooed?” Ji Jingche asked in a cold voice. “Do you have any idea what you are doing?”
“A long time ago,” Ji Xuan said. “My apologies. I didn’t think you… would be so conservative.”
Ji Jingche flung his hand away, propping his head up with one hand. He took several deep, steadying breaths before cooling down. “The warning letter from Mars Military Academy has already reached me. Your assessment results have already flashed red twice. If there is a third time, you will be forcibly expelled. You have the heart to indulge in a life of debauchery with Shaikh Roanne, throwing away thousands on things of dubious origin and engaging in these flashy, meaningless gimmicks… Do you think you can become one of them?”
“Don’t be naive, Ji Xuan. Shaikh Roanne is not an easy person to deal with, and the Shen family already has plenty of criticisms regarding your presentation rank. When the next month’s assessment ends and you are kicked out of the military academy, where do you intend to leave the Ji family’s reputation?”
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152