Sir, do you want the pheromones? - Chapter 11

Pei Xingyu, due to inertia, crashed onto Jin Ran, and the rack fell down with him. Instinctively, Jin Ran turned to shield him, but then immediately pushed him aside, feeling nauseous.

 

The hatch was closed too late.

 

Jin Ran’s pheromones fluctuated intensely. The surge of white musk made Pei Xingyu feel a bit dizzy. Sensing that Jin Ran’s consciousness was wavering, Pei Xingyu slightly frowned, bit his finger, and offered it to him. “Jin Ran, open your mouth.”

 

Jin Ran, feeling extremely dizzy, instinctively followed his command and opened his mouth. Pei Xingyu guided his pheromones through the blood, allowing Jin Ran to absorb a little to balance out his own white musk.

 

The way Jin Ran protected him just now was an instinctive reaction, done without thought. Although he often talked about divorce, in moments of danger, his first thought was to protect others.

 

Pei Xingyu lowered his eyes slightly.

 

Jin Ran, drawn by the scent of dendrobium orchids, wrapped his tongue around Pei Xingyu’s fingertip to draw in the blood, gradually regaining some clarity. Pei Xingyu quietly withdrew his hand.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Jin Ran was covered in cold sweat, clearly overwhelmed by the sudden pressure surge. His fingers were red from protecting Pei Xingyu, and there was a scratch near his eye.

 

“I’m fine.” Jin Ran stubbornly endured the nausea, dizziness, and the excruciating pain that seemed to crush every nerve in his body, putting on a facade of indifference.

 

Pei Xingyu knew he was just being stubborn. He patted Jin Ran’s back gently and reminded him, “If you need help, I’m here.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jin Ran, pale-faced, rubbed his ringing ears, determined not to show any weakness. “Even if the pressure increased two more levels, I’d still be fine.”

 

Pei Xingyu responded, “I couldn’t handle the propulsion power going up by four levels, so don’t push it.”

 

“There are lots of things you can’t handle, I—” Jin Ran suddenly felt a warmth below his nose, followed by the metallic taste of blood. He touched his face and realized he’d been pushed to the point of a nosebleed.

 

Pei Xingyu handed him a cloth handkerchief. “Here, wipe it.”

 

Jin Ran took the handkerchief, raised his head slightly to wipe the blood, then paused. “Are you laughing at me in your head?”

 

“No.” Pei Xingyu shook his head with a barely concealed smile as he watched Jin Ran’s “fierce” expression.

 

“You’d better not be.” Jin Ran wiped the blood, slightly tilting his head back to stop it. But Pei Xingyu immediately held his head up, saying, “Don’t tilt your head back; it’ll cause the blood to flow backward.”

 

Jin Ran pushed his hand away, unwilling to let him see him in such a state—it was embarrassing.

 

“Don’t even think about using this to threaten me, and you’re not allowed to tell anyone!” Jin Ran suddenly grabbed his wrist, putting on a fierce expression. “Got it?”

 

Pei Xingyu, half kneeling from being pulled, looked at him wiping his nosebleed with the handkerchief and, barely holding back laughter, asked, “Is this…threatening your superior officer?”

 

“Go ahead, laugh. I don’t care anymore.” Jin Ran sat with his legs bent, throwing the handkerchief aside, clearly uncomfortable.

 

Pei Xingyu wasn’t sure if it was Jin Ran’s resigned gesture, but this time, he really laughed, his eyes crinkling softly, his whole demeanor glowing with warmth.

 

The scent of dendrobium orchids and white musk filled the ecological chamber, raising the temperature significantly. For a moment, Jin Ran was stunned, watching Pei Xingyu for a few seconds before licking his teeth, wanting to bite him.

 

Just as the nosebleed had stopped, it suddenly started again.

 

Jin Ran turned his head, covering his nose.

 

“Pfft.”

 

If Pei Xingyu had only been suppressing a smile earlier, now he was genuinely amused. Jin Ran glared at him. “Laugh again and I’ll kill you!”

 

Pei Xingyu stifled his laughter, cleared his throat, and activated the holographic screen.

 

With a soft click, the reserve box of the ecological chamber opened, like an automatic vending machine from the Hall star system, dispensing a palm-sized canister with a clear mask resembling a respirator.

 

“Commander! Are you alright?” Wen Yu asked from outside, having evidently seen the two of them fall into the chamber together.

 

Pei Xingyu tapped the holographic screen, opening a small transparent panel on the hatch, then projected the exterior view into the ecological chamber. While administering oxygen to Jin Ran, he said, “No problem. Continue as usual.”

 

Wen Yu didn’t say anything further.

 

Pei Xingyu handed the oxygen mask to Jin Ran. “Once your nosebleed stops, take in some oxygen to stabilize yourself, then try to regulate your pheromones. Be careful not to trigger your heat cycle. There’s no suppressant here.”

 

After saying that, Pei Xingyu left.

 

Jin Ran tossed the oxygen mask aside, laying back with both hands behind his head, mind wandering to the way Pei Xingyu had smiled earlier—restrained, with a slight curve of the lips and a faint crease at the corner of his eyes, as subtle as ink spreading on paper.

 

To be fair…

 

Pei Xingyu was incredibly good-looking. In all his years, Jin Ran had never seen a man more handsome than him. Just now, when he held Pei Xingyu’s wrist, it felt even softer than that of some Omegas. But oddly enough, those hands had calluses, making Jin Ran’s fingertips itch.

 

Jin Ran turned his head to glance outside.

 

The small ship sailed smoothly and swiftly through space, weaving through the starry sea, piercing the dark, abyssal nebula like a fragile grain of sand, insignificant in the vast solar system.

 

Pei Xingyu returned to Wen Yu’s side, gazing at the misty interstellar space, recalling the day he first boarded the *Tianji*. The starry sky had been harsh, with endless darkness surrounding them.

 

Lost memories, enveloped by waves of blankness, weighed heavily on him.

 

“Commander.”

 

Pei Xingyu snapped out of his thoughts. “Hmm?”

 

“We’re approaching the jump point.”

 

Pei Xingyu glanced at the distance and propulsion speed on the control panel. “Prepare to jump.”

 

Wen Yu hesitated. “Without proper clearance? Just jump?”

 

“It’s a waste of time. The fewer people know that I’m not in Ziwei Yuan, the better. The longer we linger, the more danger Ziwei Yuan faces. We can’t ignore the threat from Huangquan either.”

 

“But…” Wen Yu was unsure. “Can your body handle it? Jumping requires increasing propulsion power. Even though this is a small jump point and doesn’t need to reach light speed, it still…”

 

Pei Xingyu didn’t want to hear more nagging, so he grabbed his protective suit and put it on. “Start the countdown.”

 

Wen Yu adjusted the power output and initiated the warp preparation sequence. The warship slipped through the warp gate in a flash, leaving the warning red lights far behind.

 

After passing the warp point, the nearest stop was a transit station, flanked by two asteroids. One of them was infamously known as the “interstellar black market” or “small convenience store” galaxy.

 

When following the always-smiling Lieutenant Colonel Lin Huaiyuan, they could usually take a stroll, but with the stern Commander Pei, there was no chance. Wen Yu obediently parked the mecha in the transit station’s docking bay, waiting for the military supplies to be loaded.

 

“Jin Ran.” Wen Yu confirmed the iris scan to open the ecological chamber door and knocked politely. “We’ve arrived at the transit station. You can come out for a break…”

 

The door opened from the inside, and Jin Ran staggered out, pale as a sheet, holding onto the door for support. Wen Yu was startled, “What’s wrong with you?”

 

“It’s nothing.” Jin Ran brushed him aside, shaking his nearly exploding head and slapping his temples.

 

Wen Yu noticed the discarded oxygen tank and caught a faint scent of white musk pheromones. He asked curiously, “You only used pheromone regulation and not high-pressure oxygen?”

 

Jin Ran straightened his back, though his slightly unsteady legs and trembling voice gave him away. “Are you kidding? I need that?” He looked around, not seeing Pei Xingyu, and asked, “Where’s your commander?”

 

Wen Yu replied, “He went to find Bu Yu. We’re waiting here for the military supplies to be loaded. He’ll be back in half an hour. Do you need him?”

 

Jin Ran said, “No, I’m just stepping out for a bit.”

 

Wen Yu hurriedly called after him, “Wait, wait! Commander Pei said not to wander off. There are too many people here, and it’s easy to get into trouble. Jin Ran, Jin Ran!”

 

—

 

Pei Xingyu opened the door and nodded slightly to the man sitting in the office.

 

The man was in casual wear, his hair cut very short, close to his scalp. He wore a black crew-neck T-shirt under a brown leather jacket, and a black earring stud glinted on his ear, giving him a somewhat unruly look.

 

“Commander Pei personally came to pick me up? Isn’t that a bit too grand?”

 

Pei Xingyu barely glanced at him, and before addressing the topic at hand, he said, “Before we head to Ziwei Yuan, take off the earring.”

 

Bu Yu shook his head, sighing, “I should’ve known you’d have so many rules. Coming here is pure suffering. Hey, Commander Pei, I’m not one of your soldiers. If you keep making all these demands, I might just skip out on this trip.”

 

Pei Xingyu sat opposite him, poured a cup of tea, and placed it in front of him. “Your transfer order is in my hands. If you don’t come, you’ll be disobeying military orders. It’s either take off the earring or face a court-martial. Your choice.”

 

Bu Yu leaned back in his chair and, playing dumb, asked, “Hey, I heard that little mad dog of yours went to the Ziwei Yuan. Have you seen him?”

 

Pei Xingyu didn’t respond, taking a sip of tea instead.

 

When Bu Yu was still a military doctor, Pei Xingyu had first met him after his secondary gender differentiation. Bu Yu had provided him with an inhibitor and helped him avoid detection by the Alpha cadets hunting him down. However, he hadn’t been able to keep Pei’s marriage to Jin Ran a secret.

 

Bu Yu leaned back, grinning. “A few days ago, I was handling some paperwork and heard Minister Jin go off in a rage. Apparently, it was because your little mad dog made a deal with Lian Jingfeng and set his own father up. You’d better watch out. One day, when he goes crazy, he might even bite you. Oh, and when I arrived, I ran into Meng Ruqian. He mentioned Jin Ran’s S-class pheromones tend to clog things up. Aren’t you afraid keeping him around might cause some fatal accidents?”

 

Pei Xingyu’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. Skipping the last joke, he asked with a slight frown, “Jin Ran and Lian Jingfeng? What kind of deal?”

 

Bu Yu replied, “I don’t know the specifics. No one airs their dirty laundry, and Lian Jingfeng, that old fox, wouldn’t blatantly admit to colluding with someone’s son to harm his own father. Minister Jin wouldn’t talk about it either. He’d rather smash things in private and then send people to drag his son back.”

 

Bu Yu chuckled as he spoke, “Jin Ran’s a madman. He’s hiding out with you now. Other people might give Minister Jin some face, but with your temper…”

 

Pei Xingyu cut in, “No, he came to me to ask for a divorce.”

 

Bu Yu was stunned, “Huh?”

 

Pei Xingyu didn’t elaborate further.

 

Bu Yu tilted his head slightly and changed the subject, “By the way, I heard that Minister Zhou Huaimao of the Seventeenth Legion might be stepping down soon. Between the constant harassment by interstellar pirates and the looming battles at the Yellow Spring Fortress, they’re probably going to want you to lead the charge. But given that you’re still ‘under scrutiny,’ the Interstellar Federation might not want to give you too much power. They could even assign a political rival to checkmate you. What are your plans?”

 

Pei Xingyu stared at the two white porcelain teacups on the table. A single tea stem stood straight in the middle of the water. His face remained calm, as still as a deep well. “Who the Minister is doesn’t concern me. The supreme command of the Ziwei Yuan must be in my hands.”

 

Bu Yu nodded slightly.

 

“Hey, you know it was Minister Zhou Huaimao who sent you to the Interstellar Military Hospital back then. Over the years, every proposal you’ve made for amendments and other suggestions has been flatly denied. He doesn’t even ask for reasons before saying no. Don’t you think he might be behind the mysterious explosion of the *Tianji*?”

 

Pei Xingyu pondered for a moment. Zhou Huaimao was cold, harsh, and inflexible, and the *Tianji* had been part of the Seventeenth Legion fleet.

 

Every fleet had numerous communication facilities linked to the Huoer Interstellar Federation. Pei couldn’t remember whether the *Tianji* had been bombed or had self-destructed. If it had been bombed, how could a mothership be bombed under the watch of the external patrol ships, and why had no one reported it to Huoer?

 

If it had self-destructed, the emergency response measures should have instantly contacted the Interstellar Federation. But as far as evidence showed, none of the warships had contacted the Federation.

 

Unless the communication systems had been jammed from the beginning, with the command ship’s master communication switch cut off.

 

If Zhou Huaimao had indeed betrayed the legion, the fleet, and the Federation, had he also implicated the commander at the time? Why had Pei been spared? Losing his memory hadn’t been intentional; didn’t Zhou fear something would go wrong?

 

Or perhaps, from the beginning, Pei had been set up as the scapegoat.

 

Pei Xingyu had investigated for years but found no clues. The explosion of the *Tianji* had left no traces, and as the only survivor, he had lost all memories of that period.

 

Straightening his sleeve, Pei Xingyu said calmly, “Let’s go.”

 

Bu Yu glanced at the time. “The military supplies won’t be loaded for a while. Sit for a bit longer. I don’t really want to stay on your ship. Everything feels so cold. Why don’t we keep talking about your—”

 

Pei Xingyu cut him off, “There’s nothing to discuss between me and Jin Ran. He…”

 

“Commander Pei!” Zhang Zhou burst in, panting, barely able to catch his breath. Flushed, he pointed behind him and stammered, “Jin Ran… Jin Ran’s gotten into a fight with someone! You should come… take a look!”