Sir, do you want the pheromones? - Chapter 1

“Connection to the communicator failed.”

“Backup energy key is invalid. Please try again.”

“System malfunction. Forced reboot failed. Connection with ground control lost. Beep!!”

The cold electronic voice stopped, followed by an ear-piercing screech that could tear through eardrums, as equipment began to flash red lights one after another.

“Major General Pei, our ship is under unknown attack. Primary energy is depleted, and backup energy cannot be activated. If this continues, the only outcome will be the ship’s destruction and everyone’s death!”

“Major General Pei, interference detected in the fleet’s space network! Unable to re-establish contact with the Federation to request support! What should we do?”

“Major General Pei! The warship is in an emergency descent, and the control panel is malfunctioning!”

—

In the spotless control room, a man with a pale, cold complexion was restrained in a chair by mechanical hands. His hands were taut, veins bulging, and the overly white skin on the back of his hands looked grotesque.

The man’s eyes were tightly shut, his forehead covered in cold sweat as if experiencing a terrifying nightmare. His lips were deathly pale, completely devoid of color, and his breathing was unusually rapid. His hands struggled against the mechanical restraints, causing a dull clanking sound.

“Beep.” At the sound of the alarm, the man suddenly opened his eyes, his chest heaving violently. The eyes that had just woken up from the nightmare were still trembling, narrowing as they looked at the ceiling lit as bright as daylight. His dark pupils seemed like endless black holes.

He closed his eyes for a moment to adjust to the glaring light, then ordered, “Duyuan, release the mechanical hands.”

“Mechanical hands, release.” The flat mechanical voice concluded, and the man raised his hand to rub his forehead, removed a small blue chip attached to the center of his forehead, and stood up to straighten his slightly wrinkled military uniform.

He had activated the memory chip countless times, but every time it played the moments before the warship exploded. No matter how many times he stimulated his consciousness, it was useless; he couldn’t remember anything.

He had lost all memory of the time during the explosion of the “Tianji” ship.

“Commander Pei, would you like to store the memories?”

Pei Xingyu’s voice was cool. “No.”

The robot was not human; it only followed its programming and didn’t say anything unnecessary. After Pei Xingyu refused, it promptly asked the next question: “Commander Pei, it is now ten o’clock in particle time. Would you like to connect to the Interstellar Federation communicator?”

The man’s movement of adjusting his cuffs paused slightly. “Request connection.”

“Beep.” The mechanical hands rotated, creaking as they twisted and deformed into a stand that held a palm-sized communicator. “Requesting communication with the Interstellar Federation office from Commander Pei Xingyu, the highest-ranking officer of the ‘Ziwei Yuan’ fleet. Please wait…”

Pei Xingyu stood silently in front of the communicator, his eyes slightly lowered, his expressionless face exuding a cold aura of “hurry up, speak, and get out.”

“Don’t be so resistant; this is just a routine check to ensure the communicator is working properly. We don’t want a repeat of the unfortunate incident with the ‘Tianji’ ship due to negligence.”

Pei Xingyu didn’t have time to listen to this line that had been repeated thousands of times. He interrupted, “Hang up.” Then he glanced at the mechanical hands. “Disconnect.”

In less than five seconds, Pei Xingyu regained his peace. He ordered the mechanical hands, “You were two seconds late in disconnecting this time. Correct the program.”

“Program adjustment caused an error. Correcting now.” The mechanical hands retracted the communicator into its body, and after completing the correction, they twisted themselves into the form of a cleaning robot and began wandering around the warship, cleaning up.

Pei Xingyu walked to the cabin door, where the AI automatically scanned his facial authorization and opened the door. Commander Pei’s expression remained cold as if the one suspected of plotting a coup and being monitored by the Federation for thousands of days and nights was not him.

He exited the main cabin and headed straight for the reconnaissance communications room on the second floor. As he passed the finance department, he saw a tall, lean man standing at the corner muttering, “Last time, they only gave me 129 Interstellar Credits for developing a new type of particle cannon. This time, I’m paying out of my own pocket again, and the Federation won’t reimburse me.”

Pei Xingyu stood and listened for a moment.

“The decryption fees were supposed to be settled in advance, but halfway through, there’s still no paperwork.”

Pei Xingyu coughed lightly, “What are you mumbling about?”

The man straightened up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, quickly turned around, clicked his heels together with a sharp “snap,” and saluted with a raised hand, “Commander!”

Pei Xingyu glanced at the items in his hand, “How much less did the Federation give you this time?”

Meng Ruqian, true to his name, was extremely fond of money and stingy. To be honest, there was no way to spend money on this warship, but he hoarded Interstellar Credits like a hamster, filling most of his space capsule with them.

Meng Ruqian held up two fingers, “Two hundred exactly.”

Pei Xingyu: “… Stop complaining. I’ll cover it for you personally.”

Meng Ruqian grinned, “Thank you, Commander!”

He and Pei Xingyu had once been classmates, and after years of fighting side by side, they were very familiar with each other. Seeing him come out at this time, he casually asked, “Do you have something to do right now?”

Pei Xingyu’s expression didn’t change, and he gestured for him to continue speaking.

“The recruits selected for the Tian Shu Operations Team were sent up today. You know me, I’m good at developing weapons and analyzing data, but I’m not good at dealing with those unruly little brats. Can you go and set them straight?”

The Tian Shu Operations Team was part of a plan proposed by the Federation last year, named “Tian Shu.” The goal was to search for the lost “Star of the Galaxy,” and the most outstanding graduates from the military academy were selected to join the “Ziwei Yuan” fleet under Commander Pei Xingyu’s leadership.

The “Star of the Galaxy” is a legend in the Interstellar Federation and throughout the entire interplanetary space. Whether it actually exists is unknown, but it’s not hard to guess what the Federation had in mind when they assigned him this task.

Pei Xingyu nodded. “Let’s go take a look.”

The recruits had just arrived on the “Ziwei Yuan” and were housed in a collective dormitory on a small cruiser at the rear of the mothership. The facilities inside were fully equipped, with everything from a dining room to a shooting range. Meng Ruqian poked his head in for a look.

No one was there.

“Where did everyone go?” he asked, grabbing someone.

“Commander Pei!” The man straightened up immediately when he saw Pei Xingyu, standing at attention and saluting. He cautiously glanced at the icy Commander Pei, and after seeing him nod slightly, he turned to Meng Ruqian and said, “Captain Meng, they are at the training ground.”

Meng Ruqian waved his hand, indicating that the man could leave, then muttered with a slight frown, “What are they doing at the training ground? Should we go take a look?”

The training ground wasn’t far, just two compartments away. As the two of them walked over, they could already hear the chaotic cheers from a distance. Meng Ruqian sighed, “Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard such youthful, energetic voices. I really miss it.”

He pushed the door open, and inside, two recruits were engaged in a fencing match. The mixed scent of pheromones filled the room, and even the most pleasant smells, when jumbled together, could be overwhelming.

“This one seems pretty good, agile in his movements.”

“And this one too, has a steady base. You know, those old fogies in the Federation have actually sent us some decent material this time.”

Pei Xingyu didn’t respond to Meng Ruqian’s comments, his gaze fixed on the profile of a tall young man. In a group of Alpha graduates, this man stood out. He was currently holding a rapier, its tip aimed directly at his opponent’s throat.

“Oh, he’s called Jin Ran,” Meng Ruqian noticed Pei Xingyu’s gaze lingering on Jin Ran and flipped through the documents in his hand. He found Jin Ran’s profile and read it out loud, “Admitted under special circumstances.”

Pei Xingyu frowned slightly. “Special circumstances?”

Meng Ruqian nodded, “Yes, although his grades are good, his overall score is below the standard. He ranks at the bottom among the new recruits, even with some extra help. No one knows how he got in.”

Before Meng Ruqian could finish speaking, Jin Ran had already taken down his second opponent, once again pressing the tip of his sword against his opponent’s throat. His slightly raised chin exuded a sense of defiance, arrogance, and wildness.

Pei Xingyu scanned the room, then took off his military jacket and tossed it to Meng Ruqian. He casually grabbed a fencing helmet, put it on, and picked up a sword. Slowly walking forward, he used the tip of his sword to push aside Jin Ran’s blade, saying to the recruit on the ground without looking down, “Move.”

The Alpha recruits turned their heads, their attention drawn to the man in the fencing helmet. He had a tall, slender build, and the light blue military shirt he wore added a touch of coldness to his demeanor.

“Fight me,” Pei Xingyu said, pointing his sword directly at Jin Ran in a gesture of absolute challenge. His voice, modified by a chip, sounded somewhat muffled. Jin Ran smirked and accepted the challenge.

The recruits were well aware of Jin Ran’s strength, but the way this person had approached and challenged him seemed to suggest he was about to teach Jin Ran a lesson. It promised to be a good show.

The Alphas were excited, their pheromones buzzing as they eagerly focused on the two men in the center, itching to see the fight unfold.

Pei Xingyu flexed his wrist to warm up, then initiated the fight, each thrust targeting Jin Ran’s weaknesses. The two of them went back and forth, attacking and defending with no clear winner.

Meng Ruqian, holding Pei Xingyu’s military jacket, watched in amazement as he skillfully attacked Jin Ran, wondering to himself: Why is he suddenly so… He couldn’t come up with the right word, eventually attributing it to Pei Xingyu’s annoyance with the arrogant new recruit.

“Clang.” The sword fell to the ground. Pei Xingyu pointed his sword at Jin Ran’s throat, looked into his silver-grey eyes, and said coldly, “Don’t be too arrogant.”

Pei Xingyu tossed the sword aside, removed his helmet, and threw it carelessly into a corner. He then took his black military jacket from Meng Ruqian and walked out of the room, without noticing Jin Ran clenching his fists behind him.

Meng Ruqian pressed a button on his wristwatch-like device, and a large virtual display appeared in the training room, showing text and playing an audio message.

“According to the information on the display, find your assigned dormitory number. No fighting, no reckless use of pheromones. Even though there are no Omegas on this warship, Commander Pei has strictly prohibited the unauthorized use of pheromones. Pheromone activation can stimulate consciousness and adrenaline, which may impair judgment. Understood?”

“Understood!”

After giving these instructions, Meng Ruqian quickly caught up with Pei Xingyu and asked him, “So, how strong is he?”

“Hmm?” Pei Xingyu didn’t even glance at him.

Meng Ruqian continued, “I mean Jin Ran, the one you just taught a lesson to. You didn’t check his profile, so you might not know. He’s missing the little finger on his left hand, and he has a congenital pheromone deficiency. That alone is bad enough; he could live as a Beta. But did you notice the color of his eyes? It seems like he can’t see things clearly from a distance. His natural hardware is so bad that it’s like all the bad luck in the world has fallen on him. Although his grades are decent, if you don’t want to risk sending both him and the fleet on a one-way trip to the underworld, you shouldn’t take the chance. He likely won’t make it to the battlefield and might have to leave after his service ends, with no room for advancement.”

Pei Xingyu was silent for a moment, then asked, “How were his graduation grades?”

“Oh, those were pretty strong.”

“How strong?” Pei Xingyu tilted his head slightly, curious about how strong someone with Jin Ran’s innate disadvantages could be.

“97.3.” Meng Ruqian gave the number, then added for clarity, “Just 1.2 points lower than when you set the record at the Imperial Military Academy.”

Pei Xingyu frowned. Meng Ruqian asked, “Want me to call him over for you to take a closer look? His swordsmanship is quite impressive. He took down two people just now and even managed to hold his own against you. Maybe he was trained by the same master as you.”

“No need.” Pei Xingyu looked away, his tone as cold as ever, devoid of any unnecessary emotion. “I taught him that fencing.”